THE SONG OF SOLOMON -Year from the Creation of the World, according to Archbishop Usher, 2990. -Year from the Flood of Noah, according to the common Hebrew text, 1334. -Year before the birth of Christ, 1010. -Year before the vulgar era of Christ's nativity, 1014. CHAPTER I _The bride's love to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Song of Solomon 1:2. _LET HIM KISS ME, C._] She speaks of the bridegroom in the _third_ person, to testify her own _modesty_, and to show him the greater _respect_. _THY LOVE_ IS _BETTER THAN WINE._] The _versions_ in general translate דדיך _dodeyca_, thy _breasts_ and they are said to repres... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Song of Solomon 1:3. _THY NAME_ IS AS _OINTMENT POURED FORTH_] Ointments and perfumes were, and still are, in great request among the Asiatics. They occur constantly in their entertainments. Thy _name_ is as refreshing to my heart, as the best perfumes diffused through a chamber are to the sen... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Song of Solomon 1:4. _DRAW ME_] Let me have the full assurance of thy affection. _WE WILL RUN AFTER THEE_] Speaking in the plural through modesty, while still _herself_ is meant. _THE KING HATH BROUGHT ME_] My spouse is a _potentate_, a mighty _king_, no ordinary person. _INTO HIS CHAMBERS_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Song of Solomon 1:5. _I_ AM _BLACK, BUT COMELY_] This is literally true of many of the Asiatic women; though _black_ or _brown_, they are exquisitely beautiful. Many of the Egyptian women are still fine; but their _complexion_ is much inferior to that of the Palestine females. Though black or... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Song of Solomon 1:6. _BECAUSE THE SUN HATH LOOKED UPON ME_] The bride gives here certain reasons why she was _dark complexioned_. "The sun hath looked upon me." I am sunburnt, tanned by the sun; being obliged, perhaps, through some domestic jealously or uneasiness, to keep much without: "My mo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Song of Solomon 1:7. _TELL ME - WHERE THOU FEEDEST_] This is spoken as if the parties were shepherds, or employed in the pastoral life. But how this would apply either to _Solomon_, or the _princes of Egypt_, is not easy to ascertain. Probably in the marriage festival there was something like... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Song of Solomon 1:8. _IF THOU KNOW NOT_] This appears to be the reply of the _virgins_. They know not exactly; and therefore direct the bride to the _shepherds_, who would give information.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 9. _I HAVE COMPARED THEE - TO A COMPANY OF HORSES_] This may be translated, more literally, "I have compared thee _lesusathi_, to _my mare_, in the chariots or courses of Pharaoh;" and so the _versions_ understood it. _Mares_, in preference to _horses,_ were used both for riding and for chario... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 10. _THY CHEEKS ARE COMELY_] _D'Arvieux_ has remarked that "the Arabian ladies wear a great many _pearls_ about their _necks_ and _caps_. They have _golds chains_ about their _necks_ which hang down upon their _bosoms_ with strings of coloured gauze; the gauze itself _bordered_ with _zechins_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 11. _BORDERS OF GOLD_] I have observed several of the _handkerchiefs_, shawls, and head attire of the Eastern women, curiously and expensively worked in the _borders_ with _gold_ and _silver_, and variously coloured silk, which has a splendid effect.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 12. _WHILE THE KING_ SITTETH _AT HIS TABLE_] במסבו _bimsibbo,_ in his _circle_, probably meaning the circle of his friends at the marriage festivals, or a _round table_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 13. _HE SHALL LIE ALL NIGHT BETWIXT MY BREASTS._] Mr. _Harmer_ contends that it is the _bundle of myrrh_ which the bride says shall _lie all night betwixt her breasts_, to which she compares the bridegroom, his name being as pleasing and refreshing to her mind, as the myrrh or _stacte_ was to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 14. _A CLUSTER OF CAMPHIRE_] Mr. _Hasselquist_ supposes this to mean a _bunch of the Cyprus grape_; but this is supposed to mean a _shrub_ so called, not any production of the isle of _Cypress_; the best kinds of which were found at _En-gedi_. This place belonged to the tribe of Judah. Perhap... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 15. _THOU_ HAST _DOVES' EYES_] The large and beautiful dove of Syria is supposed to be here referred to, the eyes of which are remarkably fine.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 16. _ALSO OUR BED_ IS _GREEN._] ערס _eres_, from its use in several places of the Hebrew Bible, generally signifies a _mattress_; and here probably a _green bank_ is meant, on which they sat down, being now on a walk in the country. Or it may mean a _bower_ in a _garden_, or the nuptial bed.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Song of Solomon 1:17. _THE BEAMS OF OUR HOUSE_ ARE _CEDAR_] Perhaps it was under a _cedar tree_, whose vast limbs were interwoven with the ברות _beroth_, a tree of the _cypress_ kind, where they now sat. And this natural bower recommended itself to the poet's attention by its strength, loftine... [ Continue Reading ]