//. /3. 23 
 
 LIBRARY OF THE THEOi^OGICAL SEMINARY 
 
 PRINCETON. N. J. 
 
 Presented by 
 
 
 V. 10 
 
 copY 2- 
 

Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2010 with funding from 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
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THE /^ ' 
 
 x-^- 
 
 SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 BT 
 
 DE. OTTO ZOCKLEE, 
 
 pSOFfiSSOR OF THEOLOGY IN' THE UNIVERSITY OF GREIFSWALD„ 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN, WITH ADDITIONS. 
 
 BY 
 
 W. HENRY GREEl^, D.D., 
 
 FBOFEBSOK OF ORIENTAL AND 0. T. UTERATURE IX THE TntOLOGICAL SEMINARY AT PRINCETON, K.J. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS. 
 
 189S 
 
Enteked, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER, &. CO., 
 
 In the Clerk'a Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District 
 
 of New York. 
 
THE 
 
 SONG OF SOLOMON 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I 1. NAME AND ARTISTIC FORM OF THE SONO OF SOLOMON. 
 
 The title O'TU'n T'E', " Song of songs," or, as it is more fully expressed in i. 1, D'"l''B'n T^ 
 113 7KJ^ liyx " The Song of songs, which is Solomon's," describes this book neither as a " series 
 (chain) or collection of many songs" (as Kleuker, Adghsti, Velthusen, Pahlus suppose), 
 nor as one prominent among the many songs of Solomon (according to Ibn Ezra's and D. Kim- 
 CHl's translation : "A song of the songs of Solomon "). " Song of songs " (Sept., aa/ia ^a/iuTuv ; 
 Vulg., canticum cmilicorum) is without doubt rather designed to characterize this poem as the 
 most excellent of its kind, as the finest, the most precious of songs. Of the many songs, which, 
 iL'cording to 1 Kings v. 12, Solomon composed, the author of this title, — whom we must at all 
 events distinguish from the poet himself, as is shown particularly by its "^KfX instead of the po- 
 etical abbreviation p, which is always used in the song itself* — would exalt the one before us as 
 e.speoially commendable and elegant. This sense, suggested by analogies like "heaven of hea- 
 vens" (1 Kings viii. 27), "servant of servants " Gen. ix. 25, "vanity of vanities " (Eccles. i. 2), 
 " ornament of ornaments " (Ezek. xvi. 7),t which Luther has briefly and appositely expressed by 
 " das Hohelied" is undoubtedly involved in the expression, whether riaiE'^ '^V.'^., " vvhich is 
 Solomon's," be referred (as is usually done) to the principal subject in the singular TK?, "song," 
 or to the immediately preceding plural D'^'C/n ("Song of the songs of Solomon^the noblest among 
 thn songs of Solomon;" so, e.g., Hitzig, Ewald, Dichler des A. Bds., 2d edit, I., 236; Bleek, 
 EinleU. ill!: A. T.. 2d edit., p. 636). J 
 
 * [There \b no reason whatever to suspect, much \em believe, that this title is of a later date than the book iteelf, of whoso 
 text it 13 without doubt a genuine and integral part. In its favor may be urged the usage of ancient writers, both SHcred 
 mid profdue, to preface their productioua by some Bucti brief statement of the nuthor, iheme or occiision. It stands upon 
 Iho same ground with the titles to tlie Psalms and prophecies, whose originality baa likewise been disputed, often on the 
 umst frivolous pretences, but never disproved. The correctness of this title is conceded, ur is capable of being readily 
 pstriMishod. It was neither indecorous nor unnatural for the author to designate his own productiin as the Song of fongs, 
 if it involved the sacred mystery which all but the lowest clas^ of erotic interpreters find in it. In tlie elevated diction of 
 lliis Song the abbreviated and unusual form of the relative, which occurs only sponidically elsewhere, is employed exclu- 
 sively throughout; but it surely need occ;ision no surprise thiit it is not found likewise in tlie prosaic title, as Zockleb. 
 himself confesses, g 3, item. 2. The occurrence of ^l^X in Judg. v. 27 casts no suspicion on the genuineness of that verse 
 though ty is used elsewhere in the song of Deborah, ver. 7. Nor, on the other h md. does a single (y, where "1[yN is, 
 the prevailing form, discredit Gen. vi. 3 orJobxix,29. Both forms of the relutivo likewise occur interchangeably in 
 Ecclesi;t3tes, and both are found in the writings of Jeremiah. — Tr.] 
 
 t I^Orher superlatives of like construction are the Holy of holies, Ex. xxvi. 33; King of kings, Ezek.xxvi.7 ; God of gods 
 and l.ordof 1 .rds. Deut.x.17 (but not Josh, xxii.22, where the original is different); see hIso Dan. viii. 25, Ps. Ixxii. 5, comp. 
 Rl-t. i. 6. Th-* same idiom is found in the Greek of the New Testament, e. g., an Hebrew of the Hebrews, Phil. iii. 5, and has 
 eveu been transferred to English as in the phrase " heart of hearts." — Tr.] 
 
 X [Rendered by Coverdale : Ballets. In Matthew's Bible. Cbanmer's and Bishops'*. Ballet of ballets of Solomon. Wick- 
 LiFFP and the common Enarlisb version : Songofsongg. Doww: i^olomons Canticle of canticles. Geneva: "an! excellent Song, 
 which was Solomon's." to wliich is added the note " Heb a Song of songs, so called l)pcause it is the chiefest of those thousand 
 and five wljich Solomon made, 1 Kings iv. 32." Patrick ; " The most natural meaning seems to be that this ia the moat ex* 
 
 1 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 The unity of its contents might accordingly be inferred from this most ancient denomination of 
 the book, traditionally preserved in the Bible. The Song of Solomon is one poem, a poetical unit 
 artistically arranged and con.sistently wrought out — not a collection of many songs put together 
 like a string of pearls (Herdek), a " delightful medley " (Goethe), an anthology of erotic poems 
 without mutual connection (Magnus), a conglomerate of "fragments thrown together in wild 
 confusion " (Lossner), etc. All these hypotheses which issue in the chcppmg up of this noble 
 work of art (with which is to be classed in the most recent times the view taken by the Reformed 
 Jews Rebenstein and Sanders, which pares away portions of ch. iii. and viii. as spurious, and 
 carves the whole into four songs) are utterly untenable. This appears both negatively from the 
 meaningless and formless character of the fragments, great or small, which they create, and 
 positively from the impression of unity and inner connection which an unprejudiced and thorough 
 study of the whole produces. That in several passages the same sentence recurs in identical 
 words as a refrain (see particularly ii. 7 ; iii. 5 ; viii. 4) ; that a chorus of " daughters of Jerusa- 
 lem " is addressed no less than six times, and a seventh time is mentioned in the third person 
 (iii. 10 ; comp. i. 5 ; ii. 7 ; iii. 5 ; v. 8 ; v. 16 ; viii. 4) ; that the relation of a lover to his beloved 
 runs through the whole as the prominent theme, and prevailingly in the form of a dialogue or res- 
 ponsive song (see especially ch. i.; ii. 1-7; ch. iv.; ch. vii. and viii.) ; and finally that references 
 not only to the times of Solomon, but to his person as the principal subject of all the descriptions 
 and amatory outpourings of the heart stand out every where over and over again (i. 4, 5 ; iii. 
 7-11; vii. 6; viii. 11, 12); these are incontrovertible criteria of the strict unity of the whole which 
 is not to be doubted even where particular portions seem not to cohere so well together, or where 
 it remains uncertain to which of the actors a sentence or series of sentences is to be assigned. TLf 
 whole is really a TE/, a song or poem, i. «.. not a carmen (a lyric poem, hymn or ode), to be 
 »ung with instrumental accompaniment — in which case it would have been called "'10|0 rather- 
 than TE?— but a poem of a more comprehensive kind and of lyrico-dramatic character, a cycle oi 
 erotic songs, possessing unity of conception, and combined in the unity of one dramatic action. 
 Whether now it be likened to the bucolic compositions of the later Greeks, and so be esteemed a 
 Hebrew idyl or carmen amcebsum (so Hug, Heebst and older writers before them) ; or a pro- 
 per dramatic character be claimed for it, and on this presumption it be maintained that it was 
 actually performed in public, being both acted and sung after the manner of an opera (BoTTCHER, 
 Renan), or at least was designed for such performance (Ewald) ; it must at all events be 
 maintained as scientifically established and confirmed by all the details of its poetic execution, 
 that its plan and composition are dramatic, and consequently that the whole belongs to the dra- 
 matic branch of the Old Testament Chokmah- (HOjn) literature, and is the representative of the 
 lyrico-draraatic (melo-dramatic) poetry of the 0. T., as the Book cf Job is the principal specimen 
 of the epico-dramatic (didactic dialogue). Comp. the Introduction to the Solomonic Wisdom-lit- 
 erature in general (in commentary on Proverbs), §5 and 10. 
 
 Remark 1. — Against the attempt of Ibn Ezra, Kimchi and other Rabbins to explain 
 D"l'tyn Tiy as meaning " a song of the songs " may be urged not only the analogy of the e.\- 
 pressions above adduced as " heaven of heavens," etc., but also the fact that this partitive sense 
 would have to be expressed by D'^'i^no Ti^. The expression " a song of the songs of Solomon '' 
 would also have been strangely pleonastic, and have conflicted unduly with the analogy of the 
 titles to the Psalms, which never contain more than the simple 1'E^ (or "'10."?, or "'in'O Tiff). — 
 On the other hand, it makes against the interpretation : " a song of songs," i. e., " a collection of 
 several songs, a chain of songs " (Kleuker, Sammhmg der Gedichte Salomo's, sonst das Hohehed 
 genannt, 1780, p. 6 f.; Auodsti, Einleitung, p. 213), that then 1'C' would have an entirely different 
 sense the first time from that it has the second, as though it were synonymous with the Chald. 
 Tty, " chain," and with the corresponding Arabic word, and signified " series " (so Velthdsen and 
 
 CBllent of all songs that Solomon made; yit llieClmUIee piirriphrjisc" and abundance of Christian writers think it called the 
 moBt excelli-nt song, with respect liliewisc to all the scmBS that hud been formerly made by any prophetical person, hh 
 tho.^e, Ex. XV.; Jiidg. v.; 1 Sam. ii., etc., becaufle tln:y celebrated only some particular benefits, this the immense love of God, 
 not only townrds that nation, but towiirds all mankind." Poole: "The most excellent of all songs, whether composed by 
 profane or sacred authors, by Solomon or by any other."] 
 
I 1. NAME AND ARTISTIC FORM OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 8 
 
 Pauhjs, in Eichhobn's Repertorium XVII., p. 109 f.).* This would the more conflict with He- 
 brew usage because this language has a special fondness for the combination of a noun in the 
 singular with a dependent plural of like signification to denote the superlative. Comp. Ewald, 
 Lehrb., i 313, c. [Green's Heb. Oram., I 254, 2, a]. — On Solomon's authorship indicated by 
 T\'a^\ah it?x comp. 1 3 below. 
 
 Remaek 2. — The unity of the Song of Solomon has been repeatedly contested in recent times. 
 Herdee (" Lieder der Liebe, die dltesten und schbusten aus dem Morgenlande," 1778) was fol- 
 lowed in this direction not only by Goethe (in the " Westdstlicher Divan" at least, whilst sub- 
 sequently in his "Kunst und Alierlhum " he declared for Umbreit's view that the whole pos- 
 sessed dramatic unity), but also by most of the theological commentators and critics down to the 
 20th year of the present century, particularly Eichhorn, Bertholdt, Augusti, de Wette, in 
 their Introductions to the Old Test.: Kleuker, Gaab, Doderlein, Gesenids, Paulus, Dopke, 
 and many others. And at a still later period, after Ewald (1826), Koesteb (in Pelt's "The*- 
 logisehe Mil.arbeilen," 1839), Umbreit (" Erinnerung an das hohe Lied," 1839) and others had 
 contended for the unity of the poem with considerable energy and success, Ed. Isid. Magnus 
 (Kritische Bearbeitung %md Erhldrung des Hohenliedes Salomo's, Halle, 1842) with the great- 
 est expenditure of acuteness and learning sought to prove that the whole originated from uniting 
 a number of erotic songs and sonnets in an anthology. This " floral collection " contains acconl- 
 ing to him fourteen complete odes besides a number of fragments, which may all but one (ii. 15, 
 fragment of a drinking song) be combined into three longer odes, together with two later sup- 
 plements to two of these 17 or 18 pieces, thus making in all twenty distinguishable constituent 
 parts, independent from one another in origin, and produced by several different poets at various 
 periods. The seeming microscopic exactness of this investigation of Magnus made an impres- 
 sion upon several of the later critics, notwithstanding the evidently arbitrary manner in which the 
 separate portions of the text " are shaken up together at pleasure like the bits of colored stone in 
 a kaleidoscope." Theod, Mundt, in his "Allgem. Literalurgeschichte," 1849 (L, 153) considers 
 it settled that the Song of Solomon is an anthology of disconnected popular erotic songs. E. \V. 
 LossNER (Salomo und Sulamilh 1851) in his exegesis of the Song chiefly proposes to himself 
 the task of " inventing some connection between the fragments thrown together in wild con- 
 fusion." And Bleek in his "Mnleilung in's A. T." (2d edit., 1865, p. 641), edited by Kamp- 
 HAUSEN, thinks that with the admission that the whole, as it now exists, proceeded from one re- 
 dactor, he must connect the assumption " that it contams sundry erotic songs," songs, too, only 
 a part of which were composed with reference to Solomon, the greater portion having " relation to 
 persons of the condition of shepherds,! and m the country." — The interpolation-hypolhesis of 
 the two Jewish interpreters, A. Rebenstein and Dan. Sanders, is likewise based upon at least 
 a partial dissection of the poem, the former of whom, in his "Lied der Lieder'' (1834), the latter 
 in Busch's "Jahrbiich. der IsraelUen," 1845, and in his little treatise lately issued, "das Hohe- 
 lied Salonionis" (Leipzig, 0. Wigand, 1866), maintain that at least chap. iii. — either the entire 
 chapter, as Rebenstein imagines, or its first five verses, as Sanders makes it — and the con- 
 cluding verses viii. 8-14 are later insertions, and that the book "purged" of these alleged spu- 
 rious additions contains four songs relating to Solomon's love for Shulamitli and so far connected, 
 but which are now out of their original order and somewhat divided. These four songs or sec- 
 tions of the " Idyl" are : 1) ch. i. 1-6 ; viii. 12 ; i. 7 — li. 6 ; 2) ch. li. 7-17 ; iv. 1 — v. 1 ; 3) ch. v. 
 2— vi. 10 ; 4) ch. iii. 6-11 : vi. 11— viii. 7. 
 
 * [So Good : *' Tlie word TK'- in the present ami most other instances trauslated snng, nieans in ita original accoptatiuu 
 ' a string or chain;' it is precisely synonymous with the Greek tretpa. The diffr-rent idyls presented in the collection br- 
 fore us were therefore probably regarded by the sacred poet, at the time of their composition, as so many distinct beads or 
 pearls, of which the whole, when strung together, constituted one perfect TC'i f-tring, catenation or divan."] 
 
 f [Good regards the Song '* as a collection of [12] distinct idyls upon one common subject — and that the loves of thn 11.-- 
 brew monarch and his fair bride. * * * The author of these exquisite amoreta was King Solomon." Fry also finds in the 
 Sung " a number of distinct pieces " proceeding, it is true, from a common author, and having " some unity of design in re- 
 gard of the mystic sense which they are intended to bear." But the parties described are not the same throughout. 
 '■Though King Solomon is mentioned, and his marriage processions perhajis gave occasion to some of these allegories, yet 
 the scene is every now and then changed, and we are led to contemplate the intercourse and concerns of some rural 
 or domestic pair in humble life." Noyes agrees Bubstantially with Fay, but without admitting the existence of a mystical 
 eense. — Tr.] 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 The internal grounds for the unity and integrity of the whole, as they have been recently put 
 together by Delitzsch particularly (" das Buhelied unlersuchl und ausgelegt,'' Leipz., 1851, p. 
 4 S.), following up the previous presentation of them by Ewald, Umbreit, etc. (see above) are 
 decisive against all these fragmentary and crumbling hypotheses, not to speak of the uniformity 
 throughout of the style of the language (of which more particularly in ^ 4). The first five and 
 the weightiest of these grounds are: 1) The name of Solomon runs through the whole, i. 5; iii. 
 7, 9, 11 ; viii. 11, 12; those passages also are to be included, in which he and no other is called 
 ■jSan, " the king," i. 4, 12; comp. vii. 6. 2) Throughout the whole there appears in addition to 
 the lover and his beloved a chorus of D''7BnT niJ3, " daughters of Jerusalem." These are ad- 
 dressed i. 5 ; ii. 7 ; iii. 5 ; v. 8, 16 ; viii. 4 ; and in lii. 10 something is said about them. This 
 shows the sameness in the dramatic constitution of the whole. 3) Throughout the whole men- 
 tion is only made of the mother of the beloved, i. 6 ; iii 4 ; viii. 2, (5), never of her father. 4) 
 Distinct portions of the whole begm and end with the same or similar words in the style of a re- 
 frain. A new paragraph begins three times with the question of surprise, U1 PNt 'D, " Who is 
 this," etc., iii. 6; vi. 10; viii. 5; the adjuration of the daughters of Jerusalem not to waken 
 [her] love three times forms the conclusion, ii 6 f.; iii. 5 : viii. 3 f. So the summons to the lover 
 to spring over the mountains like a gazelle manifestly stands twice at the end of a section, ii. 
 17, comp. 8; and viii. 14. 5) The whole is permeated too by declarations on the part of the 
 maiden concerning her relation to her lover which are couched in identical terms. Twice she 
 says " My beloved is mine and I am his, who feeds among the roses," ii. 16; vi. 3; twice "I 
 am sick of love," ii. 5; v. 8 ; and not only in iii. 1, 2, 3, 4, but as far back as i. 7 she calls her 
 lover 'tySJ n^nssy " he whom my soul loves." Likewise the address of the chorus to the be- 
 loved runs in a uniform strain, i. 8 ; v. 9 ; vi. 1, " thou fairest among women." — The last of these 
 arguments contains (as does also No. 1) a special refutation of Rebenstein's and Sanders' ob- 
 jections to the genuineness or integrity of Ch. 3. What are regarded as well by these critics as 
 by the rest of those who impugn the unity of this book, as repetitions or imitations by a later 
 hand, are shown by a true insight into the dramatic composition of the whole to be the necessary 
 repetition of certain characteristic formulas purposely made by the poet himself And as well 
 in this as in all other respects the final judgment passed by Delitzsch, p. 6, upon the whole 
 controversy respecting the unity and integrity of the Song of Solomon, seems to be abundantly 
 justified : "He who has any perception whatever of the unity of a work of art in human dis- 
 course, will receive an impression of external unity from the Song of Solomon, which excludes 
 all right to sunder any thing from it as of a heterogeneous character or belonging to different 
 periods, and which compels to the conclusion of an internal unity, that may still remain an enigma 
 to the Scripture exposition of the present, but must nevertheless exist." Comp. also Vaihinger, 
 del- Prediger und das Hohelied, p. 258 f. 
 
 Remark 3. In respect to the poetic and artistic form of the Song of Solomon, provided its 
 unity is admitted, and due regard is paid to the dialogue character of the discourse, there are on 
 tlie whole but two views, that can possibly be entertained, that it is an idyl or bucolic carmen 
 amcebcBum, and that it is a proper drama though with a prevailing lyric and erotic character 
 The former supposition was adopted by some of the older interpreters mentioned by Carpzov, In- 
 trod. in lihros canonicos V. T., and after them by L. Hug (" das Hohelied in einer noch unver- 
 ■'iuchten Deuluyij," 1813, and " Schulzschrift" 1816), who urges in its favor (he rural and 
 pastoral character of most of the scenes and the prevalence of the same form of alternate discuuree 
 between two lovers. He has, however, remained almost alone among modern students of the 
 Old Test, in this opinion as well as in the allegorical and political explanation of the Song con- 
 nected with it, as though it were a colloquy between the ten tribes of Israel and the King of 
 Judah. Only another catholic, Herbst (Einleilang in's ^. 7!, edited by Welte, 1842) sub- 
 stantially agrees with him; and the idyllic form of the whole as a group of twelve songs or 
 scenes is likewise maintained by A. Heiligstedt in his continuation of Maurer's Oommentar. 
 Gramm. Crit.in V. T-, (IV. 2, 1848). The decisive consideration against this idyllic hypothesis* 
 
 *[Sir William .Tones ^followed by Good, Frt and Noyes): SaUimonis sanctissimum carmen intfr idyllia Rebraa rectnsen- 
 dum puto. Taylor entitles the several divisions of tlio Soug " eclogues," but like Bossukt and Percy regiirds the whole a* » 
 yaatural (traiua. — Ta.] 
 
I 1. NAME AND ARTISTIC FORM OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. S 
 
 is the constant change of scene in the Song, the frequent transfer of the locality from the 
 country to the citv, and from Solomon's palace to Sbulamith's homestead, also the repeated 
 change of actors and tlie unequal length.of the intervals of time between the several scenes. 
 All these peculiarities are foreign to the nature of the idyl or pastoral poem, and agree better 
 with the view that the Song is a proper drama. The dialogue scenes, separated in time and 
 place, are closely connected together by their common reference to one and the same loving 
 relation ; and with a strict maintenance of the characters introduced, though without a proper 
 plot, they visibly depict the historical progress of the relation between a royal lover and his 
 beloved raised from an humble position to princely splendor and exaltation. No essential 
 characteristic of dramatic composition is wanting in this poem: from beginning to end it con- 
 tains conversations between two or more persons alternating with monologues or with narra- 
 tions of what had been said by others ; a chorus of the daughters of Jerusalem accompanies the 
 whole progress of the action and takes part in it ; the several scenes are more or less plainly 
 separated from one another, and at certain principal points, at least, are distinguished by the re- 
 currence of final or initial refrains. Only we must not go so far in maintaining the dramatic 
 character of the piece as to allege with Ewald [d.poet. Bucher des A. Bds. 2 Aufl 1866, I. 73 
 ff.) that it was actually designed for public representation, or even with Bottcher (" die dl- 
 testen Buhnendichlungen" Leipz., 1850; and " Neue exegelisch-krit. Aehrenlese" 3. Abtheil. 
 1865, p. 76 ff.) and Renan (Xe Canlique des Cantiques, p. 83 ff.) that it was actually exhibited 
 in the form of a play to be sung and accompanied by mimic acting, that is to say, in the style 
 of the Sicilian-Dorian mimes, the Etruscan fescennines, the Carapanian and old Roman fabul<e 
 Atellanse, etc. In opposition to such an exaggeration of the dramatical view into the grossly 
 realistic, HiTzm's remark {das Hokelied erklart. etc., p. 7,) continues in force almost without 
 limitation. " If the piece actually came upon the stage it would be necessary for a speaker, 
 where the language of other parties was introduced into the midst of his own, to change his 
 voice so as actually to imitate the voices of others, and not to leave this distinction to the 
 imagination merely: but the cases occur too frequently (ii. 10-15; v. 2, 3; vi. 10 ; vii. 1,) and 
 the matter appears quite too complicated for this to be credible. The author would also as- 
 sume the place of the chorus, and take part himself in the play; v. 1 6, (?? — see against this 
 improbable view \ 2, Remark 1, p. 8) ; but then the piece also ceases to be objective to him, 
 i. e., to be a drama to him. The poem certainly has a dramatic structure ; but ii. 8 already 
 proves that the author has not the power to continue in so objective an attitude, and he slides 
 into the more convenient path of description and narration. The action is often hidden behind an 
 imperfect dialogue ; and this is easily superseded by a prolonged discourse requiring no an- 
 swer; or if one is made, it is slim and scanty (vii. 11; iv. 16). Finally one may well ask, if 
 the piece were actually performed, what would be its moral eflfect, which must have been fore- 
 seen, and therefore intended? Would not vii. 2-10 represented on the stage have transferred 
 ihe illicit desires* of the speaker to the soul of the spectators? How could the sensuality of 
 the auditor excited by iv. 9, 10, 12 ff., be prevented from taking lire even in an extra-nuptial 
 direction ? The Song of Solomon is a drama which the poet saw in the spirit, as the apoca- 
 lyptic (prophets) Daniel and John had a series of scenes pass before their spiritual eye." — De- 
 LiTZsce, too, emphasizes in opposition to Bottcher's view of the mimic performance of the Song 
 of Solomon in the form of a rude and " unenviable " stage play of the times of the Israelitish 
 kings, the ideal character of its artistic and dramatic form, and the morally pure and elevated 
 spirit which it manifestly breathes from beginning to end. He put^ it, herein following the lead 
 of LowTH (de sacra poesi Hebr. jincl. 30 ff., and Ewald (Poet. B., 1st. edit., I. 40 ff., Comp. 
 2d edit., I. 73) as a representative of the .sacred comedy of the Old Test., beside the book of 
 Job as the chief product of the tragic art of the 0. T. people of God. This designation may be 
 allowed to pass as appropriate in the general, and not liable to be misunderstood. Nevertheless 
 the essential character of the artistic form employed in this composition seems to be more ac- 
 curately designated by the expression "melodrama" (v. Ammon) or lyrico-dramatic poetry, in- 
 usmuch as the relalion of this form to that of the book of Job (as the epico-dramatic, or didactic- 
 dramatic) is thus not only strikingly brought out, but also those defects and imperfections pointed 
 
 *[rhe3e bi'loiig to his own sensual interpretation, not to the Sonj; itiself. — Tk.] 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 out in the passage cited above from Hitzig in the carrying out of the dramatic form, which is 
 often exchanged for the purely lyric, are thus accounted for. 
 
 § 2. CONTENTS AND DIVISIONS (CONSTITUTION) OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 The Song of Solomon begins with a responsive Song between the chorus of the daughters ol 
 .Jerusalem and Shulamith, a simple country maid from Shulem or Shunem* in the north of Pal- 
 estine (see vii. 1) who, for her beauty, was chosen by Solomon to be his bride, and brought to 
 the royal palace in Jerusalem. With plain and lovely discourse, corresponding to the artless 
 disposition of an unspoiled child of nature, she avows both her ardent love for her royal bride- 
 ijronra, and her longing for her native fields, whose spicy freshness and simpler style of life she 
 prefers to the haughty splendor of court life, and especially to being associated with the great 
 number of ladies in the royal palace (these are the daughters of -Jerusalem), i. 2-8. These 
 feelings of love and of home-sickness which simultaneously assail her heart, she hereupon ex- 
 presses likewise to Solomon himself, with whom, after the exit of the chorus of those ladies, she 
 is left alone in the "house of wine," one of the inmost rooms of the palace, i. 9 — ii. 7. — Re- 
 turned to her country home (and this, it would appear, with .the approval of her royal lover), 
 she finds herself still more ardently in love with him, and reveals her longing for a union with 
 him ii. 8 — iii. 5, by relating two episodes from the previous history of their love, tnz., their first 
 meeting fii. 9-14) and a subsequent search for him, and finding him again (iii. 1-4). — Not long 
 after the king really comes out for her, and has her brought home with great pomp and princely 
 lionors as his royal spouse. Her festive entry into the royal palace excites the admiring curi- 
 osity, astonishment, and enthusiasm of the inhabitants of Jerusalem (iii. 6-11). The cordial 
 love, which her newly married husband shows her, makes her forget her home-sickness, and 
 causes her to enter with her whole heart into the rapturous rejoicings of the wedding feast (iv. 
 1 — V. 1). But the heaven of her happiness is soon darkened anew. A distressing dream (v. 
 2-7) mirrors to her the loss, nay the desertion of her husband; and soon after the way in 
 which he mentions his numerous concubines, with whom she is to share his love (vi. 8), in the 
 midst of his caresses and flattering speeches (vi. 4-9) shows her that she can never feel happy 
 in the voluptuous whirl of his court life already degenerated into the impure. Hence her long- 
 ing for the quiet and innocent simplicity of her rural home is awakened more strongly than 
 ever before, and drives her to entreat her lover to remove thither with her altogether, that 
 as at once a husband and a brother, he may belong exclusively to her (v. 2 — viii. 4). Over- 
 come by her charms and loveliness, Solomon yields and grants her her humble request to 
 become a plain shepherdess and vinedresser again, instead of a queen surrounded by pomp and 
 .splendor. He even takes part in the merry sport and innocent raillery with which she pleases 
 herself in her old accustomed way in the circle of her brothers and sister (one little sister and 
 several grown up brothers), and joins in the spirited encomium upon the all-conquering and 
 even death-exceeding power of wedded love and fidelity (viii. 6-8), by which, with a thankful 
 heart, she celebrates her return home (viii. 5-14). 
 
 This simple action, almost entirely free from exciting complications and contrasts, is divide 1 
 by the poet into five acts, of which the next to the last (v. 2 — viii. 4) is in striking contrast with 
 the rest from its disproportionate length, but yet cannot well be divided into two, beoause no 
 proper point of division can be found eitlier at vi. 9, 10, or at vii. 1. Instead of the number 
 six, maintained by Delitzsch, we shall, therefore, with Ewald, Bottchee and others have to af- 
 firm the existence of five principal scenes or sections of the piece. And in substantial adhe- 
 rence to the only correct view of the aim and constitution of the whole as given by Delitzsch, 
 we shall have to assign the following characteristic titles or statements of contents to these five 
 acts: — 1) Chap. i. 2 — ii, 7. The first time the lovers were together at the royal palace in (or 
 near) Jerusalem. 2) Chap. ii. 8 — iii. 5. The first meeting of the lovers, related by Shulamith, 
 who has returned to her home. -3) Chap. iii. 6 — v. 1. The solemn bringing of the bride, and 
 the marriage at Jerusalem. 4) Chap. v. 2 — viii, 4. Shulamith's longing reawakened for her 
 
 * Tlio identity of these two form-s of the nunn' is alrendy vouched for by Eusebids, Onmnast. s. ik SouA^^, comp. Ewald, 
 LfJirh. I l.')C, ■:, ;aj3ax. Lex. uoiler the letter 7J. 
 
g 2. CONTENTS AND DIVISIONS OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON, 7 
 
 home. 5) chap. viii. S-l-t. The return home and the triumph of the chaste love of the wife over 
 the unchiiste feelings of her royal husband.* 
 
 Remark 1. According to the ordinary erotic and historical interpretation of the Song of Solo- 
 mon, as it has been developed particularly by Umbreit, Ewald, Hitzig, Vaihinger and Re- 
 nan, after the previous suggestions of Jacobi, Ammon, Staudlin, etc., (comp. §G) Shulamith 
 is in love not with Solomon, but with a young shepherd of her country home, from whom the 
 wanton king, after getting her in his harem by force or fraud (i. 4; comp. vi. 11, 12) seeks to 
 alienate her by all sorts of inducements and seductive arts. But the maid, by her pure love to her 
 'quondam playmate, resists all the enticements which the king brings to bear upon her, partly 
 through' the medium of tlie ladies of his court, and partly in person by his own flattering speeches 
 and several times by direct and violent assaults upon her virtue [e. g., iv. 9 ff. ; vii. 2-10). Con- 
 vinced of the fidelity of her devotion to her distant lover Solomon is at length obliged to dismiss 
 her to her home, whitheraccording to Staudlin, Kenan and Hitzig she is taken by her affianced, 
 who has meanwhile hastened to her on the wings of love (vii. 12 ff. — ?), whilst Umbreit, Ewald 
 and others prefer to leave it undecided how she returned from Jerusalem to Sbulem. and con- 
 ceive of her in viii. 5 ff. as suddenly and in some unexplained way transported agdin to the en- 
 virons of her home and to the side of her lover. — This view, according to which the whole is to 
 be regarded as a " tribute of praise to an innocence which withstands every allurement/' as a 
 " song of praise to a pure, guileless, faithful love, which no splendor can dazzle, and no flattery 
 ensnare" ( Ewald), Beeras to be chiefly favored by some expressions of Shulamith in chap, i., as 
 well as here and there in what follows, which at first sight have the look of passionate exclama- 
 tions to her distant lover ; so particularly i. 4, *' Draw me after thee, then we will run,'* and i. 7, 
 '■ tell me, thou whom my soul loveth, where feedest thou?" etc. Comp. also iv. 16 ; v. 10 ; 
 vi. 2, etc. But everything is much simpler both in these passages and generally in the whole 
 poem, if Shulamith's avowals of love are in all cases referred to the king himself, and accord- 
 ingly the object of her longing as expressed, e. g,, in i. 6f. ; ii. 1, 3 ff. ; vi. 11, 12 ; vii. 12 ff., is 
 conceived to be not an absent lover, but only the peaceful quiet and beauty of her country home. 
 This ardent longing, or rather the childlike simplicity and humility which are at the bottom of 
 it, lead her to think of her royal lover himself as though he were a shepherd of her native fields, 
 and to describe all his acts and movements, his plans and occupations, by expressions drawn 
 
 * [We cannot but concede to this scheme the praise of great ingenuity, particularly in the form originally proposed by 
 Delitzsch, which was free from some of the objections that lie ag;nnflt it as modified by Zockler. And yet it cannot have 
 escaped attention that the uniting links are throughout supplied by the interfireter and not found in the Song itself. It 
 ia at lit-st but a plausible hypothesis, and it only requires thf application of like ingenuity to devise any number of othera 
 materially differing froii it, yet equally entitled to regard. The story sugg'-sted above is, after all, only a rum;ince of the 
 modern commentator with the elements of the Song woven in to suit his convenience or his taste. 
 
 There would be no serious objection, perhaps, to this or any other fanciful combination of the statements or intimations 
 of the poem, if it were not for the bias it creates in the mind of the interpreter, however unconscious he may be of it, and 
 ttie temptation to which it subjects him to explnin every thing in harm -ny with his preconceived scheme. The return 
 hi)niL' between ii. 7 and S, the marriage ceremony between chap. iii. and iv., the desire to return home in vii. 11, etc., tic, 
 )iin«t all be fuppliel. That the temporary interruption of the l-^vin? relation between the bridegroom and his bride was 
 line to the inronstancy of the former (one of the modifications hy Zockler, which is certainly not an improvement) is not 
 only purely imaginary, but at variance with the evident suggestions of the book, e. g., v. 3, and leads to a distortion of its 
 wlioie idea. What is fij:urative in the Song, and what is literal in its primary application, ii also determined mainly by 
 the exigencies of the scheme with which the interpreter sets out. Thus Zocklfr, who views the bride as a country 
 maiden, insists on the strict literality of all that is sad of h^r rural occupations or pleasures, while admitting that the 
 pastoral employments of the king i. 7 are only figurative, and explains away the statement vii. 1 that she is a prince's 
 daughter. They, who identify the bride with the daughter o*" Pharaoh, urge the literality of vii. 1. and convert her vine- 
 yard, etc., into figures WiTHiNoros in favor of his notion that she i^ a Sheikh's daughter and bred in rural life, claims 
 that there is no figure in either ca«p, since both may be adjusted in their literal sense in his hypothesis. 
 
 The numerous and persistent attempt.'* to discover a r'>gular plot or a con^ecufive etorv in the Song of Solomon, havrt 
 thus far failed so signally, that the words of TnRipp in the present st.ite of the question at least, seem to be justified : "It is 
 indeMl only by constraint that the Song can be viewed as a drama conforming to the rules of outward dramatic unity." It 
 is one continuous composition, preserving thronghnut the same theme, the love of king Solomon and his bride, the image 
 of a divine and spiritual love. But the scenes portmyed and the displays of mutual fondness mdulged seem to be grouped 
 i.ither than linked. They stand forth in their distinctness as exquisit^'ly beantiful and reflecting as much light on each 
 othfrand on the subject which they illustrate ani adorn. »s though they had been gathere 1 up into the artificial unity of 
 a consecutive narration or a ilramatir plot. And this looser m'?thod of arrangenjent or ac:grecation with its abrupt tran- 
 Bition»* and sudden changes of scene, is no less graceful and impressive, while it i? mofe in harmony with the oriental mind 
 and style of composition generally, than the rigorous, external and formal concatenation which the more logical but lea« 
 fervid Indo-^'Oropean is prone to demand. — Te.J 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 from rural and pastoral life (see i. 7, 13, 14, 17; ii. 3ff., 8 ff., 16 f.; v. 10 ff. ; vi. 2f.). She 
 continues this until her eager desires are finally granted, and her royal lover, vanquished by the 
 power and sincerity of her love, follows her to her quiet home, leaving all the luxurious splendor 
 and voluptuousness of his court in order to live as a shepherd among shepherds, and " like a roe 
 or a young hart on the mountains of spices " (viii. 14) to participate in the innocent amusements 
 of Shulamith and her brothers and sister. This happy decision is brought about mainly by the 
 glowing earnestness of Shulamith's language in vii. 10 fF., in which her love for Solomon and her 
 homesickness are both most strongly and most movingly expressed. Several things in this ad- 
 dress of hers are unaccountable upon any other view of the whole than that which is here pre- 
 sented, especially the wish " that thou wert to me as a brother," etc. (viii. 1), and likewise the 
 exhortation " Come my beloved, let us go into the country," etc. (vii. 12). And many previous 
 expressions of Shulamith, as i. 12 ; ii. 4 ; iv. 16, testify, with a clearness not to be mistaken, her 
 loving consent to Solomon's suit, and therefore cannot without forcing be reconciled with the or- 
 dinary profane-erotic explanation. It must in particular be regarded as extremely forced when 
 EwALD regards the passage iv. 8 — v. 1 as a monologue of Shulamith in which she describes the 
 plighted love of her distant lover, while nothing is clearer than that the familiar colloquy of the 
 bridal pair on their wedding day, which begins with iv. 1, is contiaued in this section, (comp. 
 Delitzsch, p. 33 f.). Several of the assumptions, by which Hitzio tries to bolster up his pecu- 
 liar modifications of the profane-erotic interpretation are quite as arbitrary, e. g. the assertion 
 that ii. 7 ; iii. 5 ; viii. 4, is the language not of Shulamith but of the poet, who here undertakes 
 to perform the part of the chorus, addressed to the " daughters of Jerusalem " just as in v. 1 6 
 also the poet "puts himself forward " ( ! ? ) ; the intolerable harshness of regarding vi. 8 as an 
 expression of the ve.xation at the coy beauty, with which Solomon turns away from her and back 
 again to the ladies of his court who are ready for every kind of indulgence; the opinion that in 
 vii. 2-10 Solomon makes a declaration of love not to Shulamith, but to some one of his concu- 
 bines, and that in a vulgar and indecent way; the assumption that Shulamith's country lover 
 was present in Jerusalem, not only from vii. 11, but from iv. 6 onward, and was engaged in the 
 business of taking his aifianced home from the royal harem, etc. Renan, who follows Hitzig in 
 the main has endeavored to extend some of these assumptions in a peculiar way, e. g., by the as- 
 sertion that the shepherd beloved by Shulamith, and who hastens to release her from the royal 
 harem, already comes upon the scene in ii. 2; by the romantic idea that the same languishing 
 shepherd utters the words iv. 8-15 " at the foot of the tower of the Seraglio," in which his be- 
 loved is confined, is then (iv. 16) admitted by her and enraptured exclaims to the chorus the 
 words V. 1 6. ; by the fantastic assumption that when finally released she is carried home asleep 
 by her lover, and laid under an apple tree, where she then viii. 5 f., awakes, etc. The like, only 
 in some respects more whimsical in Bottcher, die dllesten Buhnendiehtimgen, etc. The wide 
 divergence between these leading advocates of the view which we are opposing, and that in so 
 many and by no means unimportant particulars, must give rise to misgivings with regard to the 
 tenability of that fundamental conception which they have in common. Numerous other dis- 
 crepancies between them as well as between the critics most nearly akin to them will meet us 
 in the course of the detailed exegesis, and will confirm from the most diverse quarters the impos- 
 sibility of carrying consistently through the hypothesis of two rival lovers of Shulamith in any 
 of its phases.* The view advocated by us cannot, it is true, attain to absolute certainty, such as 
 
 * [Thrupp thii9 exposes the want of afrreetnijnt among the advocates of this extraonlinary hypothesis : '■ We find that 
 tlio pas-iiige i. 15 is assi-^ned by Ginsburg t > the aliepherd, by H[TZlrt and Renan to Solomon; ii. 2 is assigned by Ginsbcbg 
 and Kes\n to the 9h«'pherd, but by IllTZio to Solomon; Ginsdcro makes the shepliord the speaker in iv. 1-5, and ver. 7 
 to middle of 10, with part of v. 1, but Rsnan gives iv. 1-7 to Solomon, the remainder of the above to the shepherd, while 
 IIlTZio gives iv. 1-5, 7, 0, 10, 12, ete., to Solomon, 6. 8, 11 to the shepherd ; vi. 8 is given to Solomon by GlX-SBORO and HlTZlo 
 but to the shepherd by R!.skN; vi. 9 is given to Solomon by GiNSBnRO, but to the shepherd by HlTZin and RES4N. How 
 little value i< attached by Qixsboro himself to his own argument may he gathered from the circumstance that whereas he 
 assigns iv. 1-5 to the shepherd, he yet, when this passage is partially repeated in vi. 5-7; vii. 3. pnt.s the identical words into 
 the mouth of Polomon. It is clear that he sees no fun laraental difference in the language which his two male characters 
 use. And it is not pretended that they ever address each other ; n'-r indeed is tlier*' a single passage in which, according 
 to any probable interpretation, th -y ar< both addressed or spoken of to.jether. The distinction between them is in fact 
 purely fictitious; there is but one male character in the song, the true beloved." 
 
 In regard to the introduction of new and imaginary speakers, which has been carried to such extravagant excess by 
 BiTzio, the same able writer pertinently remarks: " It is evident that sufflcient ingenuity might make a complicated 
 
? 2. CONTENTS AND DIVISIONS OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 9 
 
 shall be perfectly satisfactory in all respects, because the absence of titles to the several acts, as 
 well as to the parts of each particular person, makes a reliable distribution of the action amongst 
 the several parties impossible in many cases ; and because, unfortunately, no old and credible ac- 
 counts of the original meaning and origin of the poem, that is to say no correct explanatory scho- 
 lia are in existence. Thus much, however, can be established with a high degree of probability 
 that amonc the various historical explanations of this drama that which is here attempted by us 
 as a modification of that of Delitzsch harmonizes particularly well at once with the contents of 
 the piece ascertained in an unprejudiced manner, and with its composition by Solomon, which is 
 attested by tradition and bv internal considerations ; on which account it is to be preferred to the 
 historical explanation of v. Hofmann, which is kindred to it in many respects. (He identifies 
 the bride of the song with Pharaoh's daughter,* celebrated in Ps. xlv., and takes the poem to be 
 a celebration of the marriage of Solomon and this Egyptian princess, moving in figures drawn 
 from the life of shepherds and vintagers). See further particulars concerning and in opposition 
 to this exposition of Hofmann in Delitzsch. p. 37 K ; and comp. ^ 4 below. 
 
 Remark 2. — The opinions of different interpreters also diverge considerably in respect to the 
 limits of the several scene? and acts or songs, whilst the piece itself does not furnish certain cri- 
 teria enough to verify either one view or another. Most of the recent writers agree in as- 
 suming about tenor twelve scenes; but less unanimity prevails in regard to the question how 
 these shorter scenes are to be apportioned among the larger acts, and how many such acts are to 
 be assumed. HiTzra altogether despairs of reducing the nine "scenes" affirmed by him to a 
 smaller number of acts. Delitzsch, Hahn, and Weissbach number sis acts with two scene.s 
 each. EwALD (after giving up the assumption of four acts previously maintained in his com- 
 mentary of 1826) and with him Bottchee, Renan, Vaihinger and many others make five acts 
 among which they variously distribute the thirteen to fifteen scenes which they assume. E. F. 
 Friedrich reckons four acts with ten scenes. And finally von Hofmann assumes but three 
 principal divisions of about the same length (i. 2 — iii. 5; iii. 6^v. 16; vi. 1 — viii. 12) to which 
 he supposes a brief conclusion of but two verses (viii, 13, 1+) to be appended. The assumption 
 of five acts might be recommended in the general bj' the consideration that the action of any 
 (Ir.ima by a sort of necessity passes through five main steps or stages in its progress to its con- 
 summation; whence we see Greek dramas invariably, and the old Indian at least prevailingly 
 divided into that number of acts, and the dialogue portion of the book of Job, the other chief 
 product of the dramatic art in the Old Testament besides the Song of Solomon, is most clearly 
 separated into five divisions (comp. E'wxld, d. Dichter d. A. Bdi., I. 69; Delitzsch, d. £., 
 Job, p. 12, in the "BibL Commenlar." by IvElLand Del.). To this may be added that judging by 
 tlie quintuple division of the Song of S ilomon found in some old Ethiopic versions, the Sept. 
 which is at the basis of the^e vf rsions would seem to have divided the book into that number of 
 sections (Ewald, Bibl. Jalrb. 1849, p. 49), and that exegetical tradition, in so far as it gives ma- 
 nifold testimony even in the patristic period (e. g., Origen, Jerome) to the dramatic character 
 of this piece, likewise confirms, though indirectly, its separation into the five customary divisions 
 of every drama. Against the assumption made by Delitzsch and Hahn of six acts may be 
 further urged in particular that the assertion on which it is based that the larger act v. 2— viii. 
 4 is plainly divided into two acts by the recurrence in vi. 10 of the admiring question IJi nxt "D 
 from iii. 6 is certainly unfounded, because this question is here manifestly only a statement of 
 
 cross-dialogue of this kiadoiitof almost anvthin.;; each difficulty ih it might arise, w tuld oal.v rcq lire at most one ad*'i- 
 lioiial c ►mplicatiori. or one additi unal speaker" Nevertheless this extreme isa n;\funil sequence of the nieth(»d adopt<'d. 
 I ft he lover mn.v be divided into two, why not the beloved, and why may not each resulting character be subdivided again, 
 h process which must very goon f irni-li. and in fact in HlTZlG's and Ren.^n's hands may be regarded as having already 
 y.iriiisiied its own redu-tio ad absurdum. — Ta.J. 
 
 * [Tiiis idea has been a favorite one with English Commentators. The book bears this heading in Matthew's Bible ; 
 " Solomon made this ballad or song by himself and his wife the daughter of Pharaoh, under the shad .w of hims If figuring 
 <'bri8t and under the person of his wife the church." And among the more recent expositors, WoRDSW. : " It is probable 
 that ihe miniage of Solomon with Pharaoh's daughter may have given occasion to the comp nition of the torly-fiflli 
 Psalm and also of the Canticles.'' So H\R3ier (Outlines, p. 27 ff.), Ltortf.oot (Chronology of Old Te.st. in his Work**, I. p. 
 '"Ji. Taylor (Fcairments appended to Caluiet. No. 345 ff.) and with mure or less c ■nfidence many others. It is expressly 
 controverted by Gill (who finds a chronoloLjical difficulty in vii. 4, comp. 1 Kin. vi. 3S; vii. 1, 2), Percy (who argues from 
 lit. 4, 10; viii. 2, 8, 12), Thropp, AVf.iss. (who urges the incongruities of the literal hypothesis generally, and especially i.-\ 
 «; IT. 8; V. 2, fitc). Moody Stuart ;who adls to the pr-'ceding i. 7, It; vii. 4) and others — TR.j. 
 
10 INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 what was thought and said by the women mentioned in the preceding verse, and is therefore most 
 closely connected with ver. 9, as this with ver. 8 of the same chapter (oomp. the exeget. explana- 
 tions in loc). A separation of what is certainly a disproportionately long section v. 2 — viii. 4, 
 into two or more of similar size seems on the whole to he impracticable on account of the unifor- 
 mity and continuity of its contents, and we shall for this reason have to assume that the five acts 
 enumerated above in the text of this section are probably the original ones ; especially as there can 
 be no doubt of the correctness of the points of division assumed by Delitzsch in substantial agree- 
 ment with EwALD (ii 7; iii. 5 ; viii. 4^neach case the well known refrain: " I adjure you, ye 
 daughters of Jerusalem," etc.). We differ in this division from Ewald and Bottcher only in that 
 we make the third act end with v. 1, because Bwald's assertion that this characteristic concluding 
 verse " I adjure you, etc.," has been dropped after v. 8, cannot be proved, and the attaching of v. 2- 
 7 to the third act appears on the whole inappropriate (as was also seen by Renan). Our division 
 is distinguished from that of Renan" by the different compass which it assigns to the last two acts, 
 of which the fourth extends according to him from v. 2 to vi. 3, the fifth from vi. 3 to viii. 7, and 
 filially viii. 8-14 is a small appendix or epilogue — all this in virtue of the strangest and most forced 
 assumptions, which will be remarked upon as far as is necessary in the detailed interpretation. On 
 the compass and limits of the scenes, into which the five acts are again, divided, we shall have to 
 treat in connection with the detailed exegesis.* 
 
 * [Good, Fry, and Noyes, who adopt the idyllic hypothesis divid& the book as follows, wis; 
 
 GOOD. 
 
 IdTL 1. i. 2-S Royal bride, attendaat virgins. 
 
 2. i. 9— ii. 7 King Solonian, Royal brido. 
 
 3. ii. 8-17 Royal bride. 
 
 4. iii. 1-5 Royal bride. 
 
 5. iii. 6 — iv. 7 Roynl bride, attendant virgins, king Soloman. 
 
 6. iv. 8 — V. 1 King Solonian, royal bride. 
 
 7. V. 2 — vi. 10 Royal lirtde, atten lant virgins, king 3oloman» 
 
 8. vi. 11-13 Royal lirid(.% atteniJaiit virgins. 
 
 9. vii. 1 — 9 Royal bride, attendant virgins, fciiig Solomao. 
 
 10. vii 10— viii. 4 Royal bride. 
 
 11. viii. 5-7 Virgins, rnyal bride, king Soloman». 
 
 12. viii. 8-14 Royal bride, king Soloman. 
 
 FRY. 
 
 IstlobPa&ablb 1. i. 2-6 A bride from a low station- cnndtrcted to- the house of the king. 
 
 2. i. 7, 8 Shepherd and shepherdess. 
 
 3. i. 9— ii. 7 Royil brid« and bridegroom. 
 
 4. ii. 8-17 Lovers in the country, residing at a distance. 
 
 5. iii. 1-5 Scene from humble life in tlie city. 
 
 6. iii. 6-11 Marriage procession of the king. 
 
 7. iv. 1— V. 1 A lover to hi^ affi^mcjd. 
 
 8. V. 2 — vi. 1 A domestic occum-nire in liumMe life (in two parts). 
 
 9. vi. 2-10 A bride lehearsing the languige ot her hnsbaud. 
 
 10. vi. 11— vii. 9 A bride in a garden with a company of women. 
 
 11. vii. 10— viii. 4 A bride invites her husband to the country. 
 
 12. viii. 5-14 A married pair contemplated and overheard. 
 
 NOYES. 
 
 XKL 1- i. 2-8 An innocent country maiden accompanied by virgins is anxioos to see her lOTor. 
 
 2. i. 9 — ii. 7 Conversation between a lover and maiden. 
 
 3. ii. 8-17 The maiden's meeting with her lover in a vineyard. 
 
 4. iii. 1-5 The maiden's search for her lover. 
 
 5. iii. 6-11 The conducting of a spouse of Solomon to his palace. 
 
 6. iv. 1 — V. 1 Convei'satiou between a lover and maiden. 
 
 7. T. 2— vi. 3 The maidi^n's search for her lover by night, and praise of his beauty. 
 
 8. vi. 4-9 The lover's praise of the object of his attachment. 
 
 9. vi. 10 — viii. 4 Conversation between a lover and maiden. 
 
 10. viii. 5-7 Chorus of virgins, maiden and lover. 
 
 11. viii. 8-12 A convermtion of two brothers about their sister, with her remarks. 
 
 12. vlli. 13, 14 The lover sent away. A fragment. 
 
 BosaoEl suggested the idea that aucces.'iKe portions of the Song of Solpmon wera designed to be sung on each of the eer- 
 
§ 3. DATE AND AUTHOR OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. U 
 
 i 3. — DATE AND AUTHOE OP THE SONO OP SOLOMON. 
 
 That Canticles was composed in the age of Solomon aa the flourishing period of the Old Tes- 
 tament Chokmah-literature may be argued not only from manifold indications of the affinity 
 between its ethical tendency and view of the world and those of Solomon's collection of pro- 
 verbs, but chiefly from the certainty with which its author deals with all that is connected with 
 the history of the Solomonic period ; the exuberant prosperity and the abundance of native and 
 foreign commodities whose existence he assumes in Israel at thit time, and the remarkably rich 
 round of figures and comparisons from nature which is everywhere at his command in his de- 
 scriptions. And that this author is no other than Solomon himself is shown by the extensive 
 knowledge which he exhibits throughout the entire poem of remarkable and rare objects from all 
 of the three kingdoms of nature, and by which he may be most unmistakably recognized as that 
 wise and well informed king, who was able to speak " of trees from the cedar tree that is m 
 Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall ; also of beasts and of fowl and 
 of creeping things and of fishes," 1 Km. v. 13 (iv. 33). Solomon's authorship is likewise con- 
 firmed by the equal acquaintance which the poet shows with all parts of the land of Israel ; the 
 easy and familiar way, indicating not only accurate knowledge but royal possession and owner- 
 ship, in which he speaks of horses in Pharaoh's chariot (i. 9), of wood from Lebanon (iii. 9), of 
 
 en diiya, during which the marriage festival lasted. Percy, Williams, and Taylor (in fragments to Calhet's Dictionary 
 of the Bible) base their diviaions of the book on this conception. Thus : 
 
 BOSSUET. PERCY. 
 
 1st Day i. 2— ii. 6 i. 2— ii. 7. ' 
 
 2d Day ii. 7-lT ii. 8— iii. 5. 
 
 3d Day iii. 1 — t. 1 iii. 6 — iv. 7. 
 
 4th Day T. 2— Ti. 9 ir. 8— t. 1. 
 
 5th Day Ti. 10— vii. 11 t. 2— ri. 10. 
 
 6th Day yii. 12— Tiii. S Ti. 11— Tiii. 4. 
 
 7th Day Tiii. 4-14 Tiii. 5-14. 
 
 'V7II,LIAMS. 
 
 let Day— morning i. 2-8 evening i. 9-14 
 
 2d Day " i. 15— ii. 7 - ii. 8-17. 
 
 3d Day " iii. 1-5 " iii. &-11. 
 
 4th Day " iT. 1-6 " iv. 7— t. 1. 
 
 5th Day " t. 2— Ti. 3 " Ti. 4-13. 
 
 6th Day " vii. 1-10 " Tii. 11 — yiii. 4. 
 
 7th Day " Tiii. 5-7 " Tiii. 8-14. 
 
 Taylor supposes the seTeral *' eclogues " to be sung on six days, and before the marriage ceremony instead of after It 
 He divided the book thus: 
 
 1st Day— morning i. 2-8 eTening i. 9— ii. 7. 
 
 2d Day " ii. 8-17 « iii. 1-5. 
 
 3d Day " iii. 6 — iv. 6 " iv. 7— v, 1. 
 
 4th Day " t. 2 — vi.3 " vi. 4-13. 
 
 5thDay " vii. 1-5 " vii. 6 — viii. 4. 
 
 6th Day " (after the marriage ceremony) viii. 5-14. 
 
 MOODT Stdaet divides the book aa is done by Zocklee, hut entilles the sections differently. 
 Canticle I. i. 2— ii. 7 The bride seeking and finding the king. 
 II. ii. 8 — iii. 5 The sleeping Iiride awakened. 
 
 III. iii. 6— v. 1 The bridegroom with the bride. 
 
 IV. T. 2— viii. 4 The bridef-rnom's withdrawal and reappearance, and the bride*3 glory. 
 V. viii. 5-14 The little sister. 
 
 DiTiDSOK and GlNSBtmo, adherents of the shepherd-hypothesis, follow the same division. 
 
 Tbeupp adopts substantially the same, only snbdividing the fourth and last sections, thaa 
 1 i. 3 — ii. 7 The anticipation. 
 
 2. ii. 8 — iii. 5 The awaiting. 
 
 3. iii. 6 — V. 1 The espousal and its results. 
 
 4. V. 2-3 The ab.sence. 
 
 5. v. 9 — viii. 4 The presence. 
 
 6. viii. 5-12 Love's triiim[ih. 
 Tiii. 13, 14 Cuuclusion, 
 
12 INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 the tower in Lebanon looking toward Damascus (vii, 5), of the pools of Heshbon and 
 the forests of Carmel (vii. 5, 6), the tents of Kedar and the mountains of Gilead (i. 5; 
 iv. 1), of the beauty of Tirzah and th* loveliness of Jerusalem (vi. 4; comp. iv. 4), etc. 
 The peculiarities in the language of the poem, rightly estimated, likewise testify rather in 
 favor of than against Solomon's authorship. For the Aramaeisms and apparent traces of 
 later usage, which it presents, are, like similar phenomena in the Song of Deborah, in the 
 Book of Job, in the prophet Amos, etc., to be attributed entirely to its highly poetical character. 
 And the occurrence m individual cases of foreign non-Semitic words {e.g. D^."^? iv. 13, ]Tli3X 
 iii. 9), if this were actually proven, would be least surprising in a writer of such many-sided 
 learning and of so universal a turn of mind as Solomon. And finally the contents of the piece 
 are of such a nature as not only to admit but actually to favor the supposition that Solomon is 
 the author, provided that m a^scertaining these contents we discard the common assumption of 
 the profane-erotic exegesis that this king is introduced as the seducer of the innocence of a 
 country maid who adheres with steadfast fidelity to her betrothed. For the fundamental 
 thought set forth above {? 2, p. 6) in opposition thereto, of a purifying influence proceeding from 
 Shulamith's devoted love upon the heart of the king, already partly tainted by the sensuality 
 of polygamy and the voluptuous manners of the harem, harmonizes very well with the reference 
 of the poem to Solomon ;* especially as the mention of the sixty queens and the eighty concu- 
 bines compared with the numbers stated in 1 Kings xi. 3 as belonging to his later years, seven 
 hundred queens and three hundred concubines, p lints to an earlier period in the life of this king 
 as the date of the poem, a time when his many wives had not yet ensnared his heart in unhal- 
 lowed passion,' nor " turned him away after strange gods " to the extent that this took place 
 shortly before his d^ath, 1 Kings xi. 4. It is, therefore, Solomon, when he had not yet sunk to 
 the lowest stage of polygamous and idolatrous degeneracy, but was stdl relatively pure, and at 
 any rate was still in full possession of his rich poetic productivity 1 Kings v. 12 (iv. 32) whom we 
 must suppose to have been the autlior of this incomparably beautiful and graceful lyrico-dra- 
 matic work of art, in which he on the one hand extols the virtue of his charming wife, and on the 
 other humbly confesses his own resistance at first to the purifying influence proceeding from her. 
 On this view, therefore, the statement of the title (i. 1), which, though post-Solomonic ['], is 
 yet very ancient and certainly prior to the closing of the Canon, is justified as perfectly true 
 historically ; and it is unnecessary, for the sake of setting aside the direct Solomonic origin of 
 the poem, to give to T\thv\, in violation of the laws of the language and of the constant usage 
 of *? in the superscriptions to the Psalms, the explanation, " in reference to Solomon," or " in the 
 style of Solomon." to which e. g. U.mbreit, following the lead of some older commentators like 
 CoccEiDS, shows himself inclined (perhaps also the Septuag. with its translation : 'h-tcua 'aafiaruv, 
 tOTiv rij 2a?.u/;(ji').-j- 
 
 Weiss, accorJiiig to his historico-prophetic acheme, divides the book into three parts, «a related to three successive dirine 
 manifestations, togetlier with a conclusion, thus : 
 
 1. i. 2 — ii. 7 The dedication of the tabernacle. 
 
 2. ii. 8 — iii. 5 The dedication of Solomon's temple. 
 
 3. iii. 6 — viii. 4 The advent of Christ, 
 viii. 5-14 Conclupion. 
 
 BlTRROWES also divides into three parts, vis.: 
 
 1. i. 2— ii. 7 Successive manifestatione of divine love to the believing soul. 
 
 2. ii 8 — vii. 9 Motives to allure the sou! from the world to Christ. 
 
 3. vii. 10 — viii. 14 Kffects p-oducrtd by those manifestations and motives]. 
 
 * [The discredit, which ZiJCKLER's hypothesis nnwarrantiibly casts upon Solomon as exhibited In this Song, plainly 
 tends so fir :iH it goes to encumber unnec- p>arily the question of his authorship. — Tr.] 
 
 I fWFiss (and more dctubllully Patrick. Ainswouth and Gill) translates, -'concerning Solomon." conceiving that it 
 is a heavenly and not an earthly personage, who is go designated in this verse as well as in the rest of the Song. NoVRS 
 (on the griiind of i. 4, 5: iii. 6-11; vii. .5; viii. 11, 12) and Tiiaiipp deny that it was written by Solomon. Th.. former 
 supposes ''Canticles t(» have been written by some .Tuwisli pfiet either in the reign of Solomon or so.m after it." TBRlipr 
 objects that 8r>Iomon w.os not fitted by his training to appreciate or depict a pure and holy love; the absence of any allu- 
 sion to the temple; tlie lypicnl nsc made of ihe fig'ire of Solomon ; the mention of Tirzah, vi. 4; certain passages upon 
 which he lias put fin.irul interpretations, e.ti. i. l.'i, I'nmi wh'eh he infers that ■' .le^nsalem was no linger the religious 
 metropolis of the whole nation ;" iv. 4, " the shields of suveral successive generations of warriors ;"' ii. 16, foxes rava^iinjj the 
 
g 3. DATE AND AUTHOR OF THE SONG OP SOLOMON. 13 
 
 Remark 1. The position of the Song of Solomon in the literature of the Old Testament is thus 
 defined by Delitzsch (Section II., p. 9 ff.) aa the result of a careful investigation ; With the 
 exception of some points of contact with Genesis (comp. e.g. vii. 11 with Geii. iii. 16; iv. 11 
 with Gen. xxvii. 27; viii. 6 with Gen. xlix. 7), it contains no references to the earlier writings 
 of the Bible. Quite as little does it betray any close relationship in ideas or language with the 
 Psalms of David or the Book of Job, the principal productions of the oldest lyric and dramatic 
 literature of the Old Testament. But on the contrary it presents more numerous and significant 
 instances of resemblance to or accordance with those sections of the Book of Proverbs, which 
 date from the time next afterSolomon, especially with Prov. i.-ix and xxii.-xxiv ; and these are 
 of such a nature as to assert its priority and the imitation of many of its ideas and expressions 
 by the authors of those sections. The correctness of these observations, from which it follows 
 at least that Canticles originated in the Solomonic period, can scarcely be impugned, in view 
 especially of such manifest coincidences as that between Prov. v. 15 ff. and Cant. iv. 15, between 
 Prov. vii. 17 and Cant. iv. 14, between Prov. v. 3 and Cant. iv. 11, between Prov. vi. 30, 31 
 and Cant. viii. 6, 7, between Prov. xxiii. 31 and Cant. vii. 10. More important, however, than 
 these and like internal testimonies to the existence of the Song of Solomon in an epoch which 
 at any rate was very near that of Solomon (comp. various other characteristic coincidences in 
 individual expressions between this Song and the Proverbs collected by Hengsienberg, da$ 
 Hohelied Salomo's, etc., p. 23-1 f., and Haevernick, Einleil. I., 1,211) are the indications which 
 point directly to Solomon himself as the author, such as the Song contains in no small numbbr. 
 First of all, it moves among the historical relations of the time of David and Solomon with the ut- 
 most confidence. It knows the crown, with which Solomon was crowned by his mother Bathsheba 
 on the day of his marriage (iii. 11), likewise his bed of state made of cedar wood from Lebanon 
 (iii. 9, 10), and his sedan surrounded by sixty of the heroes of Israel (iii. 7) ; further, the tower 
 of David hung with a thousand shields (iv. 4), the ivory tower of Solomon, as well as the watch- 
 tower built on Lebanon toward Damascus (vii. 5). All these things, to which are to be added 
 the " horses in Pharaoh's chariot," i. e. the chariot horses of the king imported from Egypt 
 (i. 9 ; comp. 1 Kings x. 28, 29 ; 2 Chron. ix. 23) ; likewise Solomon's " sixty queens and eighty 
 concubines " (vi. 8 ; comp. 1 Kings xi. 3) ; the royal vineyards at Engedi and at Baal-hamon 
 (i. 14 ; viii. 11) ; the pools of Heshbon (vii. 5) ; Shenir, Hermon and Amana, peaks of Lebanon 
 (iv. 8) ; the plain of Sharon and Mount Carmel (ii. 1 ; vii. 6), etc. — all this is taken in so readv 
 a way from objects immediately at hand, and described upon occasion with such an accurate 
 and thorough knowledge of the things themselves that we cannot deem the author of such de- 
 scriptions to have been a subject or citizen of Solomon's kingdom or any other than this king 
 himself, the possessor and ruler of the whole. And this especially for the reason that in the 
 way in which the manifold beauties of nature and of art in the kingdom just mentioned are bv 
 bold comparisons and luxuriant figures employed to exalt the Shulainite, there is a rtianifest endea- 
 vor to connect whatever in it is grand and entrancing with the king's beloved and to represent 
 the whole as personally concentrated as it were in her. That along with this Solomon is often 
 mentioned in the third person and by name, that not unfrequently he is spoken of in a lauda- 
 tory way, and once particularly (v. 10-16) the praise of his beauty is dwelt upon at length and 
 ill lavish terms from the mouth of his beloved — this can no more be regarded as disproving the 
 authorship of Solomon, than it can be inferred from the mention of Tirzah along with Jerusa- 
 lem in vi. 4 that the poem did not have its origin until after Solomon's d^ath, in the time when 
 the kingdoms were divided. For Tirzah was doubtless already under David and Solomon a 
 city distinguished for its greatness and beauty, and was only made the royal residence in the 
 northern kingdom by Jeroboam and his immediate successors (1 Kings xiv. 17 ; xv. 21 ; xvi. 
 
 vineyard of Israel woald not be thought of in Solomon's prosperous reign ; Ps. xlv , which is imitated in this Song 
 "probably dates from the reign of Jehoahaphat." From these data, which are so intangible a9 not to require and .scarcely 
 to admit of refutation, he infers that the " Song of songs was prohably composed about a century or more after the d"ath 
 of Solomon by a member of one of the prophetical scbooU in the kingdom of the ten tribes." GlHSBURQ says: " Th« 
 title of this poem designates Solomon as the author, but internal evidence is against it," that is to say, the explanation 
 wliich he, in common with other advocates of the shepherd-hypothesis, puts upon it is inconsistent with its having been 
 written by Solomon. But whether in this case the well accredited fact of Solomon's authorship must be given up or the 
 untenable hypothesis must fall is another matter. — Tr,] 
 
14 INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 S. 23), for tbe reason that it had previously attained to a highly flourishing condition and to 
 great consequence, comp. Josh. xii. 24, wliere it already appears as an ancient -city of the Ca- 
 naanitish kings. The laudation of Solomon, however, hke the frequent mention of his name ii 
 sufficiently explained by the dramatic constitution of the whole, which made it necessary for the 
 royal poet to speak of himself as objeotiv^-'ly as possible (comp. much that is similar in the 
 Psalms of David, e.g., Ps. xx., xxi., ex., likewise in Ps. Ixxii. by Solomon) and which in parti- 
 cular" unavoidably brought with it the mutual praise of the lover and his beloved " (Del. p. 17). 
 But a more emphatic testimony than any hitherto adduced, is borne in favor of Solomon him- 
 self as the author of the poem, by the extraordinarily developed appreciation of the beauties 
 of nature which the singer exhibits at every point of his performance, and his fondness, which 
 reminds us at once of 1 Kings v. 13 (iv. 33), for figures, tropes and similes highly imagina- 
 tive in conception and in execution, and drawn from every realm of nature, particularly from 
 animal and plant life. There are mentioned in tbis poem nearly twenty names of plants 
 
 {lUS nut, nnnx Ugnaloes, '|^X cedar, flSsan wild flower, D'Bn wheat, 133 cyprus-floioer, 
 
 P313 crocus, T\l2'l frankincense, 13 myrrh, 113 nard, ^^3"^ pomegranate, [iyiE' lily, Hjxri flg^ niijri 
 apple, r\113 cypress, \^}vine, D'XI^I mandrakes, HJp calamus, \'''^^^. cinnamon), and almost as 
 many names of animals (Q^y^i jjanlhers, HD^D horse, 3^1;? raven, D'JJ;' goats, D"7"Xn liji' a 
 young hart, HTiyn PS'X hind, Q'^^VS foxes, liil turtle-dove, nVIX lions, HVIJ kids, D'Jl' doves, 
 'ax gazelle, D'/ni sheep ; comp. also \'0 ivory, which is named several times). And not a few 
 of these names are Hapaxlegomena or like the names of valuable minerals (as t^iy marble, E'"B'"'j1 
 turquoise, 1'3? sapphire) which are also found here, occur but rarely m other books of the Old Tes- 
 tament. If we duly consider the small compass of the piece in which such an abundance of names 
 of remarkable natural objects is crowded together, and estimate besides the repeated occurrence 
 of many of these names and the " various points of view under which they are contemplated 
 (e. g. in the pomegranate, its pulp when cut, iv. 3; vi. 7; its buds, vi. 11; vii. 13; its juice, 
 viii. 2)," we can scarcely help, in view of the fact that numerous intern il and external indica- 
 tions poim to the age of Solomon as the d.ite of the Song, finding its author in Solomon himself, 
 the renowned royal sage, whom the book of Kings [loc. cil.) praises as at once the greatest of 
 natural philosophers and the most fertile composer of songs. Moreover the criterion afforded in 
 vi. 8 for the more exact determination of the period of his life, in which Solomon composed this 
 poem, must in no wise be overlooked. From a comparison of this passage with 1 Kings xi. 3 f. 
 we can c )nclude with entire certainty that the period in question was that middle age of the 
 king when his decline from his former sincere obeJience to the commandments of the Lord 
 had already begun, without having attained that depth of moral degeneracy which it sub- 
 sequently reached. This was already substantially the opinion of Grotius in his Adnotat. in 
 V. T. respecting the date and origin of the Song of Solomon (after those Jewish interpreters 
 in Bereshilh Ribba, Jalkut and Pesikta, who supposed that Canticles was composed hy 
 Solomon in his younger years*), only he (as also v. Hopmann, see ^ 2 Remark 1) emn.'- 
 ou->ly explained it of the marriage of Solomon with an Egyptian princess and mingled m 
 mj.ny notions of its contents as referring to the mysteries of married life, which were offen- 
 sive to the aesthetic and moral feelings of Christian readers. (Comp. DELiTZsca, p. 14, b't). 
 
 Remark 2. The mist considerable objections of m->dern critics against the Solomonic 
 authenticity of Canticles are those which are drawn from its lang lage. Yet nodeois.ve argument 
 against its genuineness can be constructed out of them, b^icause the alleged traces of a later 
 AramfBizing type of the language, which it presents, may all without exception be explained 
 as characteristic of the poetic character of its diction. So, first of all, the abbreviated relative 
 
 • [MiODY SroART atifl others imagiue that this Song was written b? Solo-mn before he ascended the throne, conceiv- 
 ing this toba tlio reason w'ly hi) is n')t called king, i. 1; comp. Pniv. i. 1: Eicles. i. 1. Gill thinks the omission of h.s 
 ruga! title is an intimation uf the allegorical iiatnre of the Song, an I argues from thi mention, vii. 4, of the *■ tower ol 
 L-^banon," which he idflntift's with the "lionsi of the forest of L?baaon," 1 Kings vii. 2. that Solomnn must have he.-;] 
 king fir at least twintv v -afi. w'lm tills 'i-i ik wflj written. Pools; "ConipoHPI by Solomun, but whether before his f.ili 
 or after Iiis r.-p -atiav). in n it e isy to deter ;nino, nor necessary to lie kiown."— TR.j 
 
? 3. DATE AND AUTHOR OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 15 
 
 ■^ for "^B^X' which, though foreign to prose and to the semi-prosaic language of the gnomic 
 poets of the earlier period, and on this account neither used by the author of the prosaic title 
 to this book (comp. above, p. 1), nor even by Solomon in his proverbs (Prov. x. 1 — xxii. 16, where 
 as in the Proverbs generally the forml^X is invariably found), nevertheless occurs in several 
 poems, of acknowledged antiquity, especially in the Song of Deborah, which is certainly pre- 
 Solomonic (Judg. v. 7; mm 'HOpyJ nj?), as well as in the book of Job (chap. xix. 29), which 
 probably dates from the time of Solomon. The fact, that a part of the poetry designated as 
 Solomon's in the canon, viz., the Proverbs and the 72d Psalm (which presents however some 
 other coincidences in diction and expression with Canticles), uses the prosaic "^t^X, and this 
 Song alone the highly poetic 'Ef is entirely analogous to the circumstance that the prophet 
 Jeremiah only makes use of this abbreviated form in his Lamentations (e. g. ii. 15 f. ; iv. 9; 
 v. 18), whilst his prophetic discourses, which often pass into the poetic, always have "^t^S only. 
 It follows hence inevitably that E7 is essentially poetic, while yet it is not necessarily adapted to 
 all kinds of poetry ; and for this very reason it cannot be regarded as a sign of the post-exilic 
 origin of this poem. The same judgment precisely must be passed upon the form TVZ^O i. 7 
 (a combination of the confirmatory t? and the interrogative HD?, not a modification of the 
 Aram N07T "perhaps"). Likewise the Araraasisms 1B3 for "^VJ (i. 6; viii. 11, 12), nna for 
 tyiia (i. 17), inp "winter" (ii. 11) are sufficiently explained from that preference for a 
 recherche and highly poetical style of expression, which also led the poet to adopt the unusual 
 forms nin3a for "r\3i? (iv. 3), "^210 for ns [ibid.), riy-> for r\y-} (i. 9, 15; ii. 2. Comp. Ps. 
 
 xlv. 15), D"3J for ni3J (iv. 15; vi. 2; viii. 13), and many more of the same sort; and conse- 
 quently there is the less need for regarding them (with Ew-vld and some others) as idioms in 
 the dialect of Northern Palestine,* and consequently as proofs that the poem originated in one 
 of the northern tribes, whether before or after the division of the kingdom. Many peculiarities 
 of language are also without doubt to be imputed to Solomon's cosmopolitan turn of mind and 
 views of the world, which inclined him to introduce all the foreign artists and works of art 
 that he possibly could into his kingdom (comp. 1 Kin. vii. 13 ff. ; x. 11 ff ), and would also 
 impel him to incorporate words from foreign lands into the not very copious language of 
 Hebrew poetry. There may thus be referred to a foreign origin, if not exactly the names of 
 plants 7'?A (comp. Sansc. naladd, old Pers. narada), D3'^3 (Sansc. kunhuma, lat. curcuma), 
 ^^ 'V**? (Sansc. aguru or aghil), yet perhaps the expressions D^^3 for " pleasure garden" (iv. 13) 
 and P'"^3S* for '' royal litter" or " palanquin" (iii. 9), the former to the Indian -pradic^a " wall" 
 (Hitzig), or to the Zendpairidaiza "mound of earth, wall" (according to Spiegel, Haug, 
 Ew., eCc), and the latter to the Sansc. paryCma "riding saddle" (not, as Jerome, and most 
 recently Magnds and Schlottmann supposed, to the Greek (popslov). And yet even in the 
 case of these two words a foreign origin is not demonstrable with absolute certainty, for D"Ti3 
 might bean Aram, quadrilaleral for 0^3. and of the same signification with p3 "plain, field," 
 and P")3S a derivative from the root mD after the analogy of P'^3, etc., synonymous with 
 the Aram. N'^1'3 " bed;" comp. Delitzsch, p. 22-26. But even though the foreign origin of 
 these expressions, and of many others besides, were to be regarded as made out, the possibility 
 of Canticles having been composed by Solomon, or having at least originated in the time of 
 Solomon, could not in any case be denied on this ground, or on that of its other linguistic 
 peculiarities. And the less so, because so many other indications point to its origin in a much 
 earlier period than e. g. that of the exile assumed by Umbbeit and others, or even that of the 
 Greek domination assumed by Hartmann (on the ground of [V13S ipopelov. iii. 9). On the 
 whole, the judgment expressed by Hengstenberg (Comm. p. 237 f.) in regard to the linguistic 
 peculiarities of the Song of Solomon, still remains correct : " That the author is not 
 dependent on the Aramteizing usage of later times, but is governed throughout by design and 
 by free choice, is plain 1) 'from the ftict that with the exception of !? .scarcely anything is to be 
 
 * [So Tlirupp, who also classes hen.- tho " ch:iriots of my people," vi. 12 ; comp. 2 Kin. ii. 12; xiii. 14.— Tr.] 
 
16 INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 found, which recurs again in the later usage of the language ; the foreign forms are exclusively 
 peculiar to the Song of Solomon" — (but here 0^'}3. which is also found, Eccles. ii. 5, is an 
 exception) [that is, on the assumption in which Zocklek and Hengstenbeeo concur, that 
 Ecclesiastes was not written by Solomon, but belongs to a later age.^TR.] — 2) " that the languao-e 
 has a youthful freshness, as m none of the products belonging to the times of a degenerate 
 Hebrew." Comp. also Dopke, Hohel , p. 28 ff, Ewald, p. 16 If., Hitzig, p. 8 ff. (who, 
 however, like Ewald, gathers up the Aramaeisms of the piece ir. a one-sided way in favor of 
 his hypothesis that it belongs to the north of Palestine, and hence was not written by Solomon) 
 and Delitzsch, p. 19 flf. 
 
 I 4. THE ETHICAL IDEA AND THE TYPICAL IMPORT OF THE SONG OP SOLOMON. 
 
 The conjugal love of Solomon and Shulamith, described in Canticles, has a significance 
 beyond itself and its own times. As the love of the wise and glorious king of Israel to a 
 plain, pure-minded and marvellously beautiful maiden from among his people, it mirrors forth 
 the relation of .Jehovah, the covenant God of the theocracy to the Old Testament people of 
 God as His bride, and the chosen object of His love (comp. Hos. ii. 18, 21 ; Isa. liv. 5 ; Ixii. 4. 5 ; 
 Jer. ii. 2; iii. 1 ff. ; iv. 30; xiii. 22, 26; xxx. 14; Ezek. xvi. 8, etc.), and is a prophecy of the 
 far stronger, and more tender manifestation of His love, which God has condescended to bestow 
 on all mankind in the times of the New Testament salvation. The love of Solomon to 
 Sliulamith is a type of the loving communion between Christ and His Church (.John iii. 29; 
 Mat. ix, 15, etc.), nay. a prophecy of that glorious culmination and final act in His loving union 
 with it, which Paul, Eph. v. 31 f. designates as the " great mystery," which is to form the last 
 and highest fulfilment of nature's sacred law of marriage (Gen. ii. 24 : " For this cause shall 
 a man leave his father and his mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and thev two shall be 
 one flesh"). It is no objection to this assumption of a typical and Messianic character of the 
 Song of Solomon, that the idea of conjugal or wedded love is not exhibited in it in unsullied 
 moral purity, but impaired in various ways by the dark back-ground of polygamy, and that it 
 is Solomon who appears as the guilty party, as the cause of this partial spoiling of the ideal 
 substance of the action. For in spite of Solomon's sad degeneracy, which had already, by the 
 time of the action described in this poem, seized upon his heart, once devoted beyond others to 
 obedience to the word of God (see 1 Kin. iii. 9 ff.), and in spit<i of the merely temporary nature 
 of his conversion wrought by Shulamith, which was afterwards followed by a still lower fall, 
 he nevertheless is and remains one of the most distinguished types of the Messiah in the 
 entire series of Old Testament preflgurations, as Christ's own comparison of His wisdom and 
 glory with that of Solomon teaches us (Matt. xii. 42; comp. vi. 28). But Shulamith, the en- 
 chantingly beautiful daughter of the land of Israel, in whose fair body dwelt a still fairer soul, 
 and among who.se noble virtues a chaste but fondly loving heart, and an humble mind of 
 child-like simplicity shone in the first rank — Shulamith appears as a striking tvpe of the 
 Church of Christ. And this becomes the more appropriate in proportion as the Church more 
 and more plainly presents the figure of a maiden raised from a low condition to glorious 
 communion with her royal bridegroom, and as her cordial, humble, loving attachment and 
 adherence to her Lord, faithful unto death, such as she should manifest according to her true 
 idea, and as she actually does manifest in growing measure in her true members, resembles the 
 love of that plain shepherd's daughter to her royal lord and master. There is certainly this 
 dissimilitude in the parallel, that the morally purifying, ennobling and delivering influence in 
 the typical relation between Solomon and Shulamith, proceeds from the wife, while in the 
 grand antitype, the formation of the new covenant by Christ, the redeeming and sanctifying 
 agency belongs to the husband (comp. Eph. v 25 ff ). But a partial discrepancy of this nature, 
 or even contrast between the type and its prototype, is found in a greater or less degree in every 
 prefiguration of the history of redemption ; comp. the Old Testament parallel between Adam 
 and Christ, Rom. v. 12 ff., between the termination of David's earthly life and that of Christ's, 
 Acts xiii. 36, 37, between Jonah and the Lord, as a greater prophet than he, Matt. xii. 40. And 
 furthermore, that very dissimilitude involves also an important resemblance, inasmuch as 
 Christ's coming down to His people was one with the riches of heaven becoming poor, and one 
 
■i 4. THE ETHICAL IDEA OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 divinely glorious becoming a servant (2 Cor. viii. 9; Phil. ii. 6 flf.), induced thereto retiUy by 
 their mute waiting and supplication; and inasmuch as this bemg drawn by the power of a 
 child-like confiding love, is repeated again and again between the Lord and every believing soul 
 among His people, and shall be repeated to the end of time (John xiv. 23; Matt, xviii. 20; 
 Rev. iii. 20). 
 
 It will constitute the task of the sections in this Commentary, which relate to the develop- 
 ment of the doctrinal and ethical ideas, to point out in detail the peculiar combination of the 
 typical by analogy, and the typical by contrast in the relations between the persons of this 
 Song on the one hand, and Christ and His Church on the other, Shulamith will prevailingly 
 appear to be an ethical, and Solomon a metaphysical type of Christ. The character of the 
 former will offer an abundance of models for the direct imitation of Christians in their religious 
 life, whilst her royal lover, by his position in the theocracy and in the history of redemption, 
 and by the elevation to a dignity of equal distinction which he accords to the poor maiden will 
 be a direct type of the Redeemer. The allegorical exegesis which fails to recognize or obliterates 
 the partial contrast between him and the Saviour, or the attempt to make out the unconditional 
 and thoroughly Messianic character of the piece at the expense of its historical truth, will find 
 its refutation and correction step by step along with this E.xposition. 
 
 Remark 1. — That the fundamental thought of the Song of Solomon lies essentially in the 
 praise of the joyful happiness of wedded love, that its mystery therefore is no other than the 
 mystery of marriage (Eph. v. 31, 32), and that this its mystical idea is vividly presented in one 
 of the most remarkable events ot Solomon's life, which is of such great significance in the 
 history of redemption, — this is the estimate put upon it, and the position accorded to it in 
 Biblical Theology by Delitzsch, and in substantial agreement with him by von Hofmann, 
 and this we are convinced is the only correct one. The latter says (in a " Supplement " to 
 Delitzsch's Jlohe Lied, p. 237 f.) : " Canticles is a song of love, which is here exhibited in all 
 the fulness of its beauty, grace and power, richly adorned besides with the royal splendor of 
 Solomon, and still in the purity and chastity of the marriage bond. As opposed to any heathen 
 composition that can be compared with it, it is a monument of the unfolding of the natural 
 life to the splendor of its full bloom of earthly bliss in a manner pleasing to God, such an 
 unfolding as was possible only where the natural life was under the protection of a guidance 
 which was shaping its way to the ultimate redemption. And if we look at the place which it 
 holds in the sacred history, at the end of five hundred years' direct development of Israel, when 
 in his king and his king's son (Ps. Ixxii. 1) the complete form of national sovereignty had been 
 reached, it has its significance in regard to the spiritual counterpart of this glory, that in his 
 whole estate the king has nothing on earth to which his heart is so completely given, as 
 Shulamith, his only love: in this personal, human relation he finds the full satisfaction of his 
 life. When the King of glory, in whom we hope, appears, His people shall also be His bride. 
 His Church is to Him both people and wife, as the relation between man and woman established 
 at the creation is no less a prophecy of Christ and His Church, than the relation of the king 
 of Israel to His people in the history of redemption. The relation, m which the Lord stands to 
 His Church is entirely a personal one, like that between Solomon and Shulamith. Then we 
 shall not expound this or that particular in the Song of songs of him. but the glad antitype of 
 the loving communion which it sings shall have come to pass, identical with the antitype of 
 the relation between the anointed of the Lord and Israel." Comp. SchriHbeweis II. 2, p. 370 f. : 
 "The poet sets before our eyes the depth and the blessedness of this love of the sexes (of which 
 it is said viii. 6 that it is "strong as death'") and the glory of corporeal beauty, when love is 
 awakened and nourished by it, both of them as the natural products of creative energy, and 
 therefore abstracted from those moral qualities which impart to corporeal beauty a value 
 dependent on the individual, and lend to the love of the sexes a basis and a substance dependent 
 
 on the individual Only in the same sense, therefore, in which the creation of woman 
 
 was the institution of marriage, can Canticles be called an extolling of marriage. The divinely 
 created relation of the sexes as differing and yet belonging together, upon which marriage rests, 
 is praised, and that in the richness of its beauty.by the king in whom the people of God attained 
 its highest earthly glory, as the good which in his view surpassed all the good things in his royal 
 
 31 
 
18 INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 magnificence," etc. From this statement of the fundamental idea of the poem by Hofjians, 
 Delitzsch differs principally in doing fuller justice to the noble virtues, which in addition lu 
 her physical beauty adorn its heroine, and consequently making not merely marriage in general, 
 marriage as belonging to the realm of natnre and of sense, but an ideal marriage, or at leas-t 
 an ideal wedded love and fidelity the object extolled by the poet. He hopes (according to 
 p. 155 ff.) that he has by his exposition led to the recognition of a side of the Song of Solomon 
 hitherto ignored or neglected: "viz., the ethical character of Shulamith, the fine and feeling pic- 
 ture of her soul, fairer even than the fair body which it tenanted, and in general her profound, 
 persistent and calm moral earnestness, the golden ground on which the smiling colors of this joy- 
 ous song are everywhere laid." " Shulamith's beauty," he continues, " is not mere physical 
 beauty of the corporeal form, nor the beauty of a Grecian statue of Aphrodite, when one feels 
 as though the finely shaped marble began to live and to walk. Her beauty is not merely natu- 
 ral, but moral and living. This moral life is not indeed the New Testament spiritual life from 
 God, which will finally transform the physical life into its own likeness, but at the same time it 
 has not the mere semblance of virtue, in which what are only splendida viiia so often shine not 
 only in the heathen world, but in the world at large. The morality of Shulamith is no more de- 
 void of substance and value than the Old Testament morality in general. Shulamith is still na- 
 ture and not spirit, but her nature has been well trained in the fear of Jehovah, hallowed by the 
 grace of Jehov.ah. What is specifically Israelitish indeed recedes in Shulamith quite into the 
 background behind the universally human. This is the fundamental character of all the written 
 productions of the Chokmah in the time of Solomon. But this splendid and fragrant growth of 
 a hallowed nature and a noble maidenhood does not disown the soil on which it has grown. It 
 is the soil of the revelation deposited in Israel."* As the particular moral traits or virtues in Shu- 
 lamith's character, he then specifies — 1) her sincere, really personal and not merely sensual love 
 for her royal lover ; 2) her child-like and naive simplicity ; 3) her hearty delight in nature : 4) 
 her chaste and pure womanhood ; 5) her sisterly love and filial affection for her mother. The ef- 
 fect which this profoundly moral character of hers has upon Solomon, consists in his " becoming 
 a child himself in the noblest sense of the word through the influence of Shulamith." " The 
 love with which, simple, humble, chaste as she is, she inspires the king, teaches the wise man 
 child-like simplicity, brings the king down into the vale of humility, sets respectful bounds to 
 the impetuous lover. He is compelled to acknowledge that this lily of the field in the artless at- 
 tire of her beauty and her virtue is more richly adorned than he in all his glory. Nature no 
 longer speaks to the natural philosopher the language of perplexing enigmas, but the gentle lan- 
 guage of love. The possessor of a full harem has found the one to whom henceforth his heart be- 
 longs, and to no other besides. Following her he willingly e.xchanges the bustle and splendor of 
 court life for the retirement and simplicity of the country. Afar from his palace, if he but has 
 her on his arm, he roves over mountain and meadow, and with her he is contented in her cottage. 
 Shulamith has become queen without surrendering the virtues of the plain, poor country maul, 
 and Solomon has become Shulamith's husband without losing his royal dignity. Solomon's cha- 
 racter in fact appears in twice as fine a light in his self-humiliation, and so does Shulamith in her 
 exaltation." Further considerations respecting the ethical character of the two lovers and the typi- 
 cal significance of their relation to each other, and its place iu the history of redemption, will be 
 adduced in the "doctrinal and ethical" remarks upon each section of the Song, 
 
 Remark 2.— Hitzio has attempted to treat the action of the poem as purely ideal, as mere fa- 
 ble or fiction without historical truth. " It is not to be supposed," he says on p. 3 of his Com- 
 mentary, "that a real history, which either contained this moral of itself, or admitted of its in- 
 troduction, lies at the basis of this Song. On the contrary, some occurrence living in story may 
 have suggested just this dre.'^s. If it concerned merely the king and his lady love, the poet might 
 match Solomon and Shulamith about as well as Tryphon and Tryphasna. The partner introduced 
 for Solomon is n'37l0n, " the Shulamite," so like the name of the king, that the resemblance 
 
 • [The implication that the lifo of tlio people of God \inder the Old Testaniynt waa not only upon a lower level, lint vr»it 
 •pccifically different from that uniler the New Tefltament, belongs t^t the philoaopliical f-peciilaliona wliich Delitzsch in 
 fond of indulging. He conceives tint thn fact of the incarnation introd iced an entirely new element into liumau n:ilurt 
 which did not exist, and could not have oxiHti*d prior to that event. -.Ta.] 
 
I i. THE ETHICAL IDEA OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 19 
 
 cannot be mistaken. Now a fair damsel from Shunem (Shulem) really was at one time brought 
 to court, when Solomon was young (1 Kings i 3, 4), on whose account Solomon had his half-bro- 
 ther put to death for proposing to marry her, 1 Kings ii. 13-25. This deed, which might seem 
 to have sprung from jealousy (comp. the thesis viii. 6 ; Prov. vi. 34 f.) together with the similarity 
 of "Shulamith" and "Solomon," may have first determined the direction in which the idea 
 should incorporate itself." — Against this combination of HiTZlo's (substantially adopted by 
 Weissbach, p. 66 f ), which is designed to show the mythical character of the piece, may be 
 urged in general all the probable grounds for its composition by Solomon himself, or even for its 
 originating in Solomon's time, which were presented in ^3; and in particular still further : 1) 
 the complete unison — not partial merely — between the historical situation described in the piece 
 and the state of culture in the times of Solomon as depicted in the books of Kings, or, in other 
 words, the absence of any contradiction between the Solomon of history and the Solomon of this 
 book, together with the numerous striking and wholly undesigned coincidences in the situation 
 and character of both. 2) The improbability of an intentional parallel between the names " So- 
 lomon" and "Shulamith," which have no surprising similarity of sound, and are not contrasted 
 any where in the piece, though opportunities for doing so were not rare {ii. 16 ; iv. 1 flf.; vi. 3; 
 vii. 11 ; viii. 11 ff ). 3) It is extremely forced and far-fetched to identify the heroine of the Song 
 with Abishag of Shunem, David's concubine, and especially to explain viii. 6 of a supposed jea- 
 lousy about this Shulamitess, which might have moved Solomon to put his brother Adonijah to 
 death. 4) It is a very probable and obvious assumption that Shunem, on account of the re- 
 markable beauty of its daughters, may bave been the home of one of the concubines of the king 
 of Israel in more instances than just this one, 1 Kmgs i. 3,4, and that this furnishes the explana- 
 tion of the gentile denomination of the heroine of this piece as " the Shunamitess " (Shulamitess). 
 5) The analogy of the book of Job, which likewise has a historical fact as its basis underneath its 
 dramatic form (comp. Hirzel, Job, p. 7ff.), in spite of the fact that its peculiarly speculative 
 character seems in a much higher degree to favor the assumption that its contents are purely 
 fictitious.* 
 
 [Note on the Inteepretation of the Song op Solomon — By the Translator. — The substi- 
 tution of the typical method, for which Zockler contends, in place of the allegorical, which has 
 hitherto chiefly prevailed among evangelical interpreters of this book, marks a decided and most 
 wholesome advance in its exposition. It is bringing into the study of the Canticles that method 
 which has been applied with such salutary effect to the investigation of the Old Testament in 
 general, and of its types in particular, by the most recent and able biblical scholars, and which 
 13 represented, for example, in the well-known writings of Kurtz and Fairb.4.irn. 
 
 1. The allegorical method, which it is proposed to discard, regards the persons and objects de- 
 scribed in this song, as in themselves unreal, as mere figures or names for spiritual persons and 
 objects, which latter were the actual and only things contemplated and intended by the inspired 
 penman. In what he here writes of Solomon and Shulamith he had before his mind not two real 
 or even imaginary persons possessing dofinite characteristics, and sustaining a known relation to 
 eich other, which were symbols of spiritual characteristics and of a spiritual relation, the con- 
 leniplation of the former being a medium through which he and others might rise to a fuller and 
 more correct comprehension of the latter. But in all the language which he employs he is di- 
 rectly and consciously describing Christ and His Church. He imputes certain physical attributes 
 or outward acts to Solomon, but it is not because they in fact belonged to him personally, or 
 were appropriate to him as a man, a monarch, or a husband, but because there are certain attri- 
 butes or works of Christ, of winch these are or miy be constituted emblems. And so in every 
 expression used respecting the bride he is not depicting a human person real or ideal, but is 
 simply employing a figure of speech which is to be applied directly to the Church, and which finds 
 its justification in its fitness to set forth some feature or characteristic of the Church. 
 
 Hence, it happens that the great boily of the alle:;oric il interpreters, even the ablest and the 
 best, refrain from inquiring into the meaning of the language used in its literal application, as 
 
 *[Iho connecti'.n of Shiiliimith with Shunem does not ewm to be aa certain, «8 Zockibr conceives it, thongli hi» 
 ni-huniBiif the book ii larg-ly Imilt npon it. The Jerivmion of the name from Solomon has oommendoil itself to m.inj w hu 
 iiavo uo Byiiipathy with [Iitzig'b ridicul uis conceit about Vbishag. — Tr.J 
 
20 INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 though this were no part of its true and proper intent, but apply it immediately to Christ and 
 His Church as the parties directly described, and the only ones, in fact, who come fairly within 
 its scope. So far from possessing themselves first of the literal sense of the Song in its primary 
 application to the sphere of natural life, and making this the basis from which to rise to a spirit- 
 ual significance which should carry the same principles into a higher sphere, viewing in the out- 
 ward and the human a reflection of the inward and divine, they positively assert that no consist- 
 ent literal sense is discoverable. And they triumph in the assertion as an unanswerable argu- 
 ment, precluding the possibility of any other than a spiritual interpretation, whereas they are 
 destroying the foundation underneath themselves, and making it impossible upon their princi- 
 ples to build up any exposition of the book which shall not rest upon the sand. It is certainly a 
 most extraordinary procedure by which to substantiate the claim that the spiritual and the di- 
 vine are in this Song set forth under tlie image of the earthly, to annihilate the latter with a view 
 to e.xalting the former. If there is no substance nor consistency in the earthly image, what be- 
 comes of the heavenly counterpart? They who proclaim that they can make no consistent sense 
 of the Song in its literal acceptation, should remember that the natural presumption wi.l be not 
 that no such sense e.xists, but that they have failed to find the key to its understanding. And 
 if they cannot interpret the earthly meaning which lies upon the surface, what assurance can 
 they give that they are safe guides to its heavenly and hidden mysteries? What is this but to 
 play into the hands of those who claim that they can give a consistent sense to it literally under- 
 derstood, and that no higher meaning is necessary or possible? 
 
 We greatly deprecate such language as the following from so devout and evangelical a com- 
 mentator as W^oEDSWORTH : " Upon the principles of the literal interpretation, how can it be ex- 
 plained that in the Canticles, the bridegroom is called by such variou.s names? How are we to 
 account fgr the fact that the same person, who is called the beloved, is also designated as a king, 
 as King Solomon, as a shepherd, as feeding among lilies, as an owner of a garden and of a vine- 
 yard, which he has let out to keepers, and of which he will require the fruit?" This is, in our 
 ]udgment, simply a concession to those who insist that there is more than one lover here spoken 
 ot, or who make of the Song itself a jumble of incoherent fragments. Again, we must utter 
 our most vehement protest against such statements as these from the same able writer: " If the 
 objects to which the bride is compared in the Canticles are understood in their literal sense, such 
 a picture will be produced as would deserve to be censured and condemned in the strong lan- 
 guage of the Roman critic denouncing a tasteless and ill-assorted rhapsody of incongruous enor- 
 mities." " How, again, are we to interpret the description of the bridegroom's features ? Ex- 
 pounded literally, some of tlie details in the portrait are absurd and ridiculous, others are even 
 repulsive and revolting." It becomes a question whether it is not more reverential to divine in- 
 spiration to abandon the spiritual sense altogether, if it can only be maintained by thus vilifying 
 this sacred Song. 
 
 2. Besides this neglect and undue depreciation of the literal sense, we object to the allogoricai 
 method, in the second place, that it inverts the true relation between the outward form and tiifc 
 spiritual substance in this Song. By an original divine constitution there are thoughts ana 
 ideas embodied in the sphere of natural life, which reach into the spiritual sphere, and these ara 
 made use of as helps for climbing from the lower to the higher. We must not lose sight of the 
 divine economy in this matter. There was not, first, the communication of a complete system o( 
 doctrine in its fulness and in abstract form, which the sacred writer, being in entire possession 
 of, seeks to impart to others— and in so doing, looks about for some analogy which he strives to 
 adapt to it, even at the risk of utterly distorting the inferior object which he so employs. But 
 tlie type comes before the doctrine, and is preparatory to it. God places before the eyes of His 
 inspired servants, and through them before all others, these outward types, with their correspond- 
 ences to the heavenly and divine. These natural objects and relations furnish the lessons which 
 under divine guidance they are to study, by which they are to be educated to the comprehension 
 of the spiritual, which is wrapped up in them, and which they are adapted to convey. 
 
 .3. The allegorical method further violates the analogy of Old Testament instruction. This was 
 once the favorite mode of dealing with types, but it led to such fanciful, grotesque and far-fetched 
 explanations as to bring the whole subject of typology into disrepute, and it has now been dis- 
 
g 4. THE ETHICAL IDEA OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 21 
 
 carded by sober inquirers. The true principles are thus stated by Prof. Faibbairn, Typology. 
 I., pp. 81 ff.: " In the interpretation of types our first care must be to make ourselves acquainted 
 with the truths or ideas involved in them merely as providential transactions or religious ser- 
 vices — to make what they were in their immediate relation to the patriarchal or religious wor- 
 shipper, the ground and matter of what, as typical, they are now to the Christian." " Their typi- 
 cal import is not something apart from their natural and immediate design, but consisting of lliat 
 and growing out of it." "The essential character and objects of the transaction, in which the 
 type consists, become thus the ground and matter of its typical relation to the realities of the gos- 
 pel. But if we shiuld proceed in an oppasite direction and make the essential qualities of the 
 antitype the measure of what we are to expect in the type, then, as a matter of course, we shall 
 be driven to seek in the latter many trifling and fanciful resemblances, which have no idea or 
 principle in them whatever." The Messianic teaching of the Psalms, which belong to the same 
 stage of divine revelation with the Song of Solomon, is entirely of the typical character. It is' 
 wholly drawn from the personal experience or the official position of David or of Solomon, more 
 or less idealized, with or without a removal of human limitations. It is not until we reach the 
 period of the prophets that the typicil element recedes into the background, and is partially, 
 though not entirely, superseded by a m^re didactic style of instruction. No one can fail to re- 
 cognize the distinction in this respect between Canticles and Ezekiel, ch. xvi., xxiii. 
 
 4. It also disregards the needs of the people of God under the Old Testament. It must be 
 assumed that Canticles, like every other boolc of Scripture, had its special adaptation to the wants 
 of those for whom it was immediately prepared. It was part of the divine system of instruction 
 under which they were placed, and had its determinate function to fulfil in preparation for Him 
 that was to come. Now if it contained the mysteries which allegorical interpreters find hidden 
 under its language, it must have been to its earliest readers a sealed book. They did not have 
 before them the detailed history and doctrine of Christ and His Church, from which conjecturally 
 to fit expressions in the Song by a mere casual and superficial similitude. Nor could they be ex- 
 pected to have any inkling whatever of the meaning of passages, whose sense is elicited by pun- 
 ning upon words, as though the " chains," i. 10, represent the '' law," because D")ir\ bears some 
 resemblance in sound to mw, and the ''Cyprus flower," i. 14, alludes to the atonement because 
 of an ambiguity in the word 133. If this is the way that Canticles is to be expounded, it is a 
 mere book of riddles, whose solution is sufficiently puzzling and doubtful with all the facts and 
 teachings of the gospels before us, but which could not possibly be comprehended while the ob- 
 jects referred to were still veiled by the future. If, hosvever, the language of Canticles describes 
 not future or unknown objects in enigmatical terms, but scenes real or ideal belonging to the sphere 
 of earthly love, which is a symbol of the heavenly, then the analogies of thought must lead di- 
 rectly from one to the other. And Solomon's contemporaries, as well as later generations, could 
 rise at least to a partial comprehension of its meaning; not, it is true, to an exhaustive under- 
 standing of it, for the deep meaning of Scripture grows with growing light and fuller knowledge 
 and further revelation. But the more advanced interpretation must lie in the line just indicated, 
 only penetrating further, not in the way of loading the text with far-fetched and fanciful senses. 
 Scripture does not have a multiple sense, if by this be meant that it is to bear every signification 
 ■which can by possibility be put upon its disconnected words; but the ideas manifestly underlying it 
 may be followed out into further developments and wider applications. 
 
 5. Our last objection to the allegorical method is that it cmnot achieve a well grounded and satis- 
 factory interpretation of this book. It loses itself perpetually in details, where it spends its 
 strength in random guess-work. The ingenuity with which this may be done, and the devout 
 Bpirit with which it may be pervaded, cannot alter the essentially vicious character of the pro- 
 cess. As Adam Clarke justly says, he could make anything whatever out of this Song that he 
 was disposed to make, if he were allowed equal liberty : he could find Arminianism in it or any 
 type of doctrine he chose. The pious use made of the language of the book cannot redeem it 
 from the charge of mal-interpretation. It is not exposition but substituting human fancies for 
 the true meaning and intent of the divine Word. The pious senses inserted, the edifying re- 
 flections and the devout meditations do not sanctify a mode of dealing with the book of God so 
 utterly unwarrantable. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 This mode of expounding each separate particular, not with a view to its place in the des- 
 cription in which it stands, but as a distinct reference to the spiritual object typified by it, neces- 
 garily leads both to a senous distonioa of the lessons to be conveyed, and to a marring and 
 mangling of the symmetry and beauty of the objects depicted. Thus Dr. Addison Alexandeb 
 in his Commentary on Isaiah v. 3, " The parable, as a whole, corresponds to its subject as a whole 
 but all the particulars included in the one, are not separately intended to denote particulars in- 
 cluded in the other. A lion may be a striking emblem of a hero ; but it does not follow that 
 the mane, claws, etc., of the beast must all be significant of something in the man. Nay, tley 
 cannot even be supposed to be so, without sensibly detracting from the force and beauty of the 
 image as a whole." See also similar language used on Isaiah Ix. 7, and in his Commentary on 
 Mark iv. 13, and xii. 6. Is it surprising that Woedswoeth could see no beauty in the figures 
 of this book literally understood after mercilessly carving them to shapeless fragments by his 
 dissecting knife? 
 
 For these reasons we believe the typical to be the true method of interpreting this Song, and 
 we shall conceive it to be a most important service rendered by this commentary if it shall in 
 any measure contribute to check the unbridled extravagance of the prevalent devotion to alle- 
 gory and encourage a simpler and juster style of interpretation. According to the typical un- 
 derstanding of Canticles, which has already been characterized in the general, but may here be 
 more exactly described, its primary subject and that which is denoted by its language in its 
 literal acceptation is the loving intercourse of king Solomon and his bride. But in consequence 
 of Solomon's representative character as the vicegerent and type of the divine king of Israel, 
 his individual and earthly relations become the mirror of the spiritual and the heavenly. His 
 human love to the woman of his choice is the symbol of the love of God to His elect people, of 
 Jehovah to Israel, of Christ to His church. This latter is not directly and enigmatically described 
 by the terms of the Song, but is shadowed forth by the scenes and the feelings which are de- 
 picted in it. The Solomon of the Song is not the heavenly, but the earthly Solomon: he is pre- 
 sented, however, not in his individual personality merely, but in the capacity of a king and a 
 lover or a husband, thus suggesting the ideal king and the ideal lover, and to this extent, and in 
 t'lis manner, shadowing forth the greatest and most glorious of monarchs, the most tender and 
 affectionate, the most loving and the best of bridegrooms, Jehovah-Jesus. 
 
 The very first step toward the correct understanding of this book as of any type, or parable, 
 or similitude whatsoever is the inquiry after its literal sense, — what is the object itself that is here 
 presented? It is impossible to develop the spiritual meaning of a symbol until it is first ascer- 
 tained what the symbol is. The literal sense is the foundation of the whole. If this be not cor- 
 rectly gathered and distinctly apprehended, every ulterior result is vitiated. The most cursory 
 inspection shows this book to relate to the loving intercourse of a bridegroom and his bride. 
 But what is the precise nature and the mutual relations of the several scenes depicted? Do the 
 various parts cohere in one connected narrative, which traces through successive steps the grow- 
 ing intimacy of the loving pair ? if so, what is the story, or the plot which forms the ground work 
 of the book? Or does it contain a series of detached scenes, each complete in itself? if so, 
 what are the limits of each, and what the precise situation and action depicted in it? Is the 
 whole prior to marriage, or subsequent to marriage, or does the marriage occur in the course of 
 the Song, and if so, where? A true conception must first be gained of the book in the exhibi- 
 tion which it makes of the human love described in it, before we can be prepared to understand 
 the particular aspect, method, or measures of divine love which it is adapted to set forth. 
 
 The service performed by the erotic commentators on this Song in the history of interpreta- 
 tion, is that of directing attention to this most astonishing oversight on the part of the allegoiists, 
 one extreme as usual generating its opposite, and thus preparing the way for its own correction. 
 The egregious perversions of the literal sense by those who have bestowed upon it their exclu- 
 sive attention can only be fairly refuted and their utter baselessness shown, when the correct 
 scheme of this book shall be fully drawn out and fortified in every part. 
 
 In our opinion Zocklee has not been as successful in his results as he is correct in his method. 
 Neither he nor Delitzsch, whom he follows with some mollifications, has solved the problem of 
 the book so far as to make a faithful exhibit of its literal sense. They are both captivated with 
 
2 4. THE ETHICAL IDEA OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 the idea, which we are persuaded is fallacious, of finding a regularly unfolded plot, and in their 
 eagerness to make out continuity and progress they have obtruded upon this sacred poem what 
 tinds no warrant in its text, and marred the artless sunpiicity of its struclure by needless com- 
 plications. A complete and satisfactory presentation of the literal sense of Oanticles is a very 
 I'l-eat desideratum ; and this is the direction in which we are disposed to look with the greatest 
 hope for further progress in unfolding its more profound inystenes. 
 
 Upon the literal is built the ethical sense. Delitzsch here loses himself too much in a mere 
 romantic sentimentalisra. The erotic interpreters, as Ginsbdeg, discover an example of virtue 
 superior to the greatest temptations ; they make it a story of faithful love shown in a maiden, 
 whom the kinc^ by all his arts and by the most dazzling allurements cannot seduce from her 
 shepherd lover to whom she had given her heart. Zockler here attempts a compromise which 
 is an attitude he frequently occupies in the course of his commentary. He drops the shepherd 
 Inver, but still represents Solomon in an unfavorable though less repulsive light, and makes all 
 the pure and elevating influence proceed from Shulamith, who is the true heroine of the Song, 
 and by whom her royal husband is completely over-shadowed. The discontent with Solomon's 
 court and with the style of life prevailing there, which Delitzsch aiBrms, is pushed by Zockler 
 to what is perhaps its legitimate result, dissatisfaction with Solomon himself who was tainted 
 by the corrupting influences around hiiu. She however wins the proud lord of a harem com- 
 pletely to herself and makes him all her own; from love to her he forsakes his voluptuous court 
 for the retirement and gentle pleasures of her country home. He thus finds in it the triumph of 
 chastity over sensuality, of a pure monogamy over the voluptuousness of polygamy. 
 
 We cannot deny that there is a certain attractiveness at the first view in the thought of a re- 
 buke to polygamy in the person of one, by whom it was carried to such unheard of excess, if it 
 were not that the whole thing is imported into the Song by the mere fancy of the interpreter. 
 Whatever unfavorable surmises might attach to Solomon's life as recorded in Kings, there is 
 nothing whatever in this book to justify them. He says and does nothing to warrant the sus- 
 picion of a want of constancy in his love for Shulamith or a fickle preference for others. Shula- 
 mith never betrays any apprehension that she has not her full share of his love, or that his conduct 
 belies his professions of fond attachment. The temporary separation — it can scarcely be called es- 
 trangement — which gives her so much pain, is traced by herself to her own drowsy inaction, v. 
 i. The only allusion to the existing number of queens, vi. 8, is for the sake of ranking her above 
 them all as the idol of her husband's heart. The daughters of Jerusalem never appear as rivals, 
 toward whom Shulamith expresses or cherishes any jealousy. But apart from the unfounded pre- 
 sumptions on which the whole is based, it involves a preposterous conflict between Solomon's 
 regal dignity and his married state, that in order to possess Shulamith as his own, and be com- 
 pletely hers, he should have to abandon his capital and his court and the occupations of royalty, 
 and go to live with her in her mother's house at Shunem. And further, it is a most extraordi- 
 nary mode of inculcating monogamy for Shulamith to marry a king already the possessor of 
 sixty queens, and then to set about securing him entirely to herself, and leading him to abandon 
 all the rest. Would not this be more like the artful intriguing favorite than the guileless, sim- 
 ple-hearted child of nature, which she is represented as being? 
 
 All that can in fairness be made out of the ethical view of this book, as it appears to us, is 
 that two parties are here described who live in and for each other. Proofs and instances are 
 given of their devotion and fondness, their ardent longing for each other when separated, their 
 lielight in each other when united, their increased enjoyment in every source of pleasure, of 
 which they partake together. The constancy, the tenderness, the purity, the fervor of wedded 
 love, finds repeated and varied exemplification. Canticles does not rise to the inculcation of 
 monogamy nor assert for marriage that according to its primeval institution and its true idea 
 it must be between one man and one woman. It alludes to polvgamy, vi. 8, without disallowing 
 or positively prohibiting it as an offence against the ordinance of God and the welfare of man. It 
 belongs to a dispensation under which for the hardness of men's hearts this institution had been 
 sufl'ered to be clouded, and its original brightness dimmed. It issues no interdict against po- 
 lygamy, but it undermines it. First, by drying up its source. It exhibits a style of intercourse 
 between the sexes which is pure, elevated and refined, sensitive to the charms of beauty and of per- 
 
24 INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 sonal attractions, but without a trace of sensuality. There is no grossness, no impurity, no in- 
 delicacy even. Everything of that nature which has been attached to this gem of songs, should 
 be laid to the account of mistranslation or misinterpretation. Secondly, ijy raising up an ad- 
 versary too powerful for it. This Song depicts a mutual love which is absolutely exclusive, 
 ii. 2, 16; iv. 12; vi. 3, 9; vii. 10; viii. 6, 7; and before which polygamy must fall, not be- 
 cause it is forbidden, but because it cannot be endured. 
 
 Greatly as we approve of Zockler's typical method of dealing with Canticles, we cannot 
 accept what is peculiar in the typical views which he deduces from it. This follows, of course, 
 from the exceptions we have taken to his literal conception of it, upon which it is based. Some 
 may probably be shocked by the fact that he represents Shulamith as Solomon's superior in point 
 of virtue and purity, and the instrument of working at least a temporary change for the better in 
 him, while at the same time he says that Solomon and Shulamith are types of the Lord and His 
 church. This, however, is not of itself sufficient to condemn his view. All types have their 
 deficiencies. Some are deplorably defective, without after all ceasing to be types. There is a 
 real foundation for what Zockleb calls types of analogy and types of contrast, or as we have 
 ourselves been in the habit of designating them, direct and inverse types, the former being ob- 
 jects which directly shadow forth the future good, and the latter such as stand in opposition to 
 it or represent a want which it can supply. And in every individual type there are at the same 
 time elements of correspondence with the ultimate ideal and of divergence from it, both of which 
 must be taken into the account if its full lessons are to be unfolded. 
 
 If the question respected the typical character of Solomon on the whole, as a personage in the 
 sacred History, it could not be objected that a more unfavorable view is taken of him than the 
 facts recorded warrant. And it may be added that in the book of Ecclesiastes, which is inversely 
 or negatively Messianic, the kingdom of Solomon is shown upon its unsatisfying side, in which it 
 presents a marked contrast with that of his great antitype. We are now, however, solely con- 
 cerned with Solomon as he is represented in the Song of songs. The typical, as the other les- 
 sons of the Song must be drawn from itself, without any such supplement at least from other 
 sources as would distort the image presented here. A picture is presented tons belonging to 
 the sphere of natural life; this must be simply transferred to the spiritual sphere to yield its 
 typical or higher meaning. Features of Solomon's character which would have marred the 
 significance or effect of the whole, may be neglected or lost sight of. They do not belong to the 
 conception of this Song, which must be interpreted by itself. 
 
 Did the writer of this book intend anything more than the literal and ethical sense ? Zockler 
 thinks not. He supposes him to have composed this poem, setting forth this incident in the 
 life of Solomon. He had no more in his mind than the human parties, the play of their affec- 
 tions, and the fond relation constituted between them. But the nature of the transaction itself, 
 and the position of the principal actor in the sacred history impart to it a typical import, of 
 which Solomon himself, in writing it, had no conception. Its connection with Solomon, and its 
 ethical bearings in his view justify its place among the sacred oracles, even apart from its mys- 
 tical meaning. This is a question of some difficulty. For, 1. It cannot be affirmed that the 
 book itself contains any clear indication of its higher meaning ; what has been adduced as 
 showing that the writer intended something more profound than lies upon the surface, is mostly 
 of doubtful interpretation, and is scarcely sufficient to produce conviction. 2. Such instances as 
 Ruth, Esther, and many of the Proverbs may make us cautious in undertaking to determine in 
 advance what amount of evident religious character is necessary to entitle a book to admission 
 to the canon of the Old Testament. 3. The sacred historians in all probability were ignorant 
 of the typical nature of much th.at they have recorded. 
 
 Nevertheless, we cannot but believe that the writer of this divine Song recognized the sym- 
 bolical character of that love, which he has here embellished. The typical character of the 
 king of Israel was familiarly known, as is apparent from many of the Psalms. The typical 
 character of Solomon's own reign was well understood by himself, as appears from Psalm Ixxii. 
 That the Lord's relation to His people was conceived of as a marriage from the time of the 
 covenant at Sinai, is .shown by repeated expressions that imply it, in the law of Moses. That 
 under these circumstances, the marriage of the King of Israel should carry the thoughts up Vy 
 
I 5. HISTORY OF THE INTERPRETATION OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 25 
 
 a ready and spontaneous association to the covenant-relation of the King par excellence to the 
 people, whom He had espoused to Himself, is surely no extravagant supposition, even if the 
 analogous instance of Psalm xlv. did not remove it from the region of conjecture to that of 
 established fact. The mystical use made of marriage so frequently in the subsequent scriptures, 
 with evident and even verbal allusion to this Song, and the constant interpretation of both the 
 Synagogue and the Church, show the naturalness of the symbol, and enhance the probability 
 that the writer himself saw what the great body of his readers have found in his production. 
 And whatever may be said apologetically of the saoredness of this book, if its inspired author 
 intended it in its literal sense alone, it exalts it so prodigiously, and frees it so completely from 
 every shadow of objection, to suppose him to have employed this symbol with some conscious- 
 ness of its sacred meaning, that I cannot bring myself to believe that the wise King of Israel was 
 so blind as some have imagined him to be. And I am not sure but the absence of the name 
 of God, and of any distinctive religious expressions throughout the Song is thus to be accounted 
 for that the writer, conscious of the parabolic character of what he is describing, felt that there 
 would be an incongruity in mingling the symbol with the thing symbohzed. See Isaac 
 Tayloe's Spirit of the Hebrew Poetry, pp. 174, 5]. 
 
 I 5. HISTOEY and LITERATUEE (BIBLIOGEAPHY) OF THE INTERPRETATION OF THE SONG OP 
 
 SOLOMON. 
 
 a. Ths allegorical attempts at explanation in ancient and modern times* 
 It is as impossible to deny that the mystical and allegorical view of the Song of Solomon, 
 which entirely disregards the literal sense, and sees nothing in it but an exhibition in a figura- 
 tive dress, of the covenant-relation between Jehovah and Israel, or of the loving communion 
 of Messiah with His Church, may have had advocates among the Jewish scribes before the close 
 of the Old Testament canon, as it is to prove that this view was the only one in the period 
 before Christ, or that it was the conditio sine qua nan of the reception of the book into the 
 canon. For neither the acquaintance which the author of Prov. i-ix,xxii.-xxiv betrays with it 
 (see ^ 3, Rem. 1), nor the frequent use made of it by the prophet Hosea at a somewhat later 
 period (comp. Hos. xiv. 6-9 with Cant. ii. 1, v. 15, iv. 11, vi. 11, etc.), affords any certain proof 
 that the allegorical explanation was already cultivated before the exile at the expense of the 
 historical. That according to the tradition of the Talmud (see R. Az.\rias in Meor Enaim, 
 p. 175 h), Ezra only admitted such books to the canon as " were composed by the prophets in 
 the Holy Spirit," can no more be esteemed a historical testimony for the exclusive prevalence 
 of the allegorical interpretation at the time of the collection of the canon, than the statement 
 of the Taequm on i. 1, that the Song of Songs was sung " by Solomon the prophet and king 
 of Israel in the spirit of prophecy." Nor can any proof be brought from the Old Testament 
 Apocrypha of the existence of the allegorical mode of interpretation before the time of Christ. 
 The passages adduced for this purpose by Rosenmtjellee, Wisd, viii. 2, 9, 16, 18 ; Eccles. x.xiv. 
 18, 19, by no means necessarily imply that the bride of the Canticles was taken to be the divine 
 wisdom ; and against the validity of the passage Eccles. xlvii. 15-17 urged by Keil, even 
 Henqstenbeeg has shown that Solomon's irupm/itat, ■Kapajio'Xai and ipn7{vtlai, " proverbs, 
 parables and interpretations" h^re extolled, simply refer to the proverbs and enigmatical say- 
 ings of the king mentioned, 1 Kin. v. 12 (iv. 32) ff., x. 1 ff , not to any mystical sense of thi.s 
 "Song of songs." Nor can the Septuag. be adduced as representing the allegorical interpre- 
 tation of this Song; for though it renders Hjr^X t^XSO iv. 8 by avo apxK ^'lOTeu^ and rii'7»7^ by 
 if cvioKia, these are errors of translation, which only show that the two localities in question 
 (Amanaand Tirzah) were no longer known to the authors of the Alexandrian version. No 
 certain traces of a use of the Song of Solomon in an allegorical sense can be pointed out even 
 in the writings of Philo ; and the same is true of the New Testament, where, at the utmost 
 Rev. iii. 20 might be regarded as an expression taken from the Song of Solomon, explained of 
 
 * Comp. iu general Ed. Ounitz, Histoiro Critique Jo 1 interproMtion du Cant, ties Cantiques. Srasburg, 1834, [also the 
 account given of preceding commentjitors in the commentaries of W1LU.4MS, pp.l08-12G, Ginsburg, pp. 20-102, Moody Stuart 
 pp. G2rt-640, and TflRUPP pp. 16-36, of which the translator has freely availed himself in such additions as he has thought it 
 needful to make.] 
 
26 INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 the Messiah, but is more probably to be traced, like what is elsewhere said of Christ as th« 
 bridegroom of His Church (e. g. Mat. ix. 15, John in. 29, etc.), to the correspoudiiig ideas and 
 expressions in the figurative language of the prophets in general* Comp. g 4, p. 16, and in 
 opposition to the different judgment expressed by HENosruNBERG respecting these passages of 
 the New Testament, comp. especially Umbreit in Herzug's Real Encyc, vol. vi. p. 207 f. 
 
 Accordingly, it is not until the period after Christ and His apostles thai really unmistakable 
 traces are found of the allegorical understanding and treatment of the Song of Solomon ; and in 
 the first instance in the way that the author of the fourth bouk of Esdras, an apocalyptic pro- 
 duction of a Jewish Christian, written probably in the time of Domitian, uses the expressions 
 ■•lily" and "dove," v. 24, 26, with unmistakable reference to Cant. ii. 1, vi. 9, as mystical 
 designations of the Church of God. Then in an allegorical explanation of iii. 1 1, given by R. 
 Simon ees Gamaliel about the year 120 of the Christian era (see Taanith, IV. 8) ; and 
 finally in the solemn asseveration of R Akiba, the celebrated contemporary of this R. Simon 
 (in Yadaim III. 5), that Canticles defiles the hands, and is to be regarded not only as a holy, 
 but in comparison with the rest of the Hagiographa as a most holy bookf (Q'i^''p l^lp). The 
 Synagogue, from the first centuries of the Christian era, must have universally proceeded on 
 the assumption attested by this declaration of a hidden allegorical sense to this book. For 
 Oriqen and Jerome testify that it was a universal custom among the Jews in their time, not 
 to allow any one to study the Canticles, the account of the creation in Genesis (the nb'j;a 
 n'E^KIJ) or the 1st chap, of the Prophet Ezekiel (the n3jnD n^i'O) before the thirtieth year of 
 his hfe. And Ibn Ezra declares that it was an undoubted and undisputed fact that nothing 
 in the Canticles was spoken literally, but all figuratively.! 
 
 Great numbers of both Jewish and Christian interpreters have since treated the Song of 
 Solomon in this one-sided allegorical metho I, which fritters away the historical sense altogether, 
 and sets it aside as offensive. Of the foruier, the most ancient whose work has come down to 
 us is the author of the Targum, which is at all events post Talmudio. The model thus giveu 
 was followed by most of the Kabbins of the middle ages, particularly Rashi, Kimchi, and 
 Ibn Ezra, of Toledo, in the twelfth century, who has already been mentioned, and who sees in 
 the book an allegorical and prophetical representation of the history of Israel from the time of 
 Abraham (whilst the other rabbinical interpreters almost universally, like the Takgumist, 
 make the action begin with the exodus from Egypt under Moses) ; likewise Moses Maimonides 
 (+1204), who in his More Nebochiin, explains some passages at least of the poem, and tins in 
 such a way that "its historical contents vanish entirely, and the mystical significatio.i of its 
 poetical and figurative expressions is alone of any worth." In the Church Oriqen brought 
 the mystical and allegorical mode of treatment into vogue, and by far the greatest number of 
 the fathers and the theologians of the middle ages, and even of more recent times, have followed 
 lam, with however the subordinate variations that to the mystico-spiritual view represented by 
 him, by Jerome, Macarids, Theodoret, Bernard of Clairvaux, etc., there have also been 
 added in the course of lime a mystico-doctiinal (Cyprian, Athanasitis, Joachim Lange. 
 Kambach, Starke, etc.), a mystico-political or historical (Augustin, Luther), a mystico- 
 pi-ophetical (Cocceius, Gulich, Heunisoh, Reinhaedt, etc.), a mystico-Mariological (Ambrose, 
 KirpERT V. Deutz, Dionysids Carthdsianus, Mich. Ghislerius, Salmeron, Cornelids a 
 
 * [Thrupp remarks on the contrary : " It is indeed there never directly quoted ; but, on the other hand, the passagefi in 
 which itB language and its imagery are in various ways emboiliej, are numerous ; the use thus mjide of it is uniformly anegor- 
 icai ; the cumulative cogency of these repeated dependences upon it in favor of the allegorical interpretation becomes very 
 great; and througiiout the New Testament no hint is to be found that it bore or could bear any other than an allegorical 
 meaning." The passages, which he cites in proof of this cnncjusion in his commentary pp. ,'>3-ij.'>, are not all equally convinc- 
 ing; some are wholly fanciful. But enough remain to siiti^fyati unprejudiced mind that the inspired writers of the New 
 Testament and our Lord Himself found a deeper nwiuiint; in tliia Song than appears upon its surface. — Tb.] 
 
 t See the passage in J. D. Mich\eli8" Preface : " Al)sit omni niodo ut qui Isrjielita negaret, quod canticum canticorum 
 nou polluat manus sive non sit sacrum ; quia totus mundus tanti non est ac ille dies quo canticum canticorum Israeli est 
 datum. Omnia •nim Hagiographa sacra sunt, sed canticum canticorum est s.acr.atissimum. Etsi qua de Salomonis scriptiB 
 dissensio fuit (viz., whether they belong in the canon — comp. Aboth de Rabbi Nathan, c. 1 in Delitzsch, Hohel , p. 48), ea 
 tantum de Ecclesiaste fuit." 
 
 X Prasf., in Cant. Cantic. ; " Absit, absit, ut canticum canticorum de voluptate camali agat; omnia potins figurate in eo 
 dicuntur. Nisi enim maxima ejus dignitas, inter libros Scripturae sacrffi relatnm non esset ; nequo ulla de so osteon* 
 1 1 overs ia." 
 
H 5. HISTORY OF THE INTERPRETATION OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 27 
 
 Lapide, etc.), and even a mystico-hieroglypbical (Pupendorf and Eunge, 1776). They are 
 ail agreed, however, that the whole poem was conceived by the author with a conscious alle- 
 gorical design. The most recent allegorical expositors also occupy substantially the same 
 ground, now inclining to one and now to another of these modifications ; as Rosenmueller 
 Hog and Kaiser have sought each in his own way to reproduce the mystico-historical oi 
 poUtical method of explanation of former times ; GoLTZ, the mystico prophetical ; H. A. Hahn. 
 Keil, 0. v. Geelaoh, Henqstenbeeg, the mystico-doctrinal ; Gcsi. Jahn and others, the 
 mystico-spiritual mode of explanation. 
 
 SPECIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 I. JEWISH ALLEGORICAL EXPOSITIONS. 
 
 Targdm in Cant. Oanlicorum (contained in the Targum to the five Megilloth, viz., Song of 
 Solomon, E,uth, Lamentations, Esther, Ecolesiastes), best printed in the Paris and London 
 polyglots. It betrays, by its references to the Talmod, and even to the Mohammedans, that 
 it was not composed until the eighth century probably, which, however, does not exclude a 
 higher antiquity for many of its remarks and stories strung together in the style of the 
 Haggada. It forms a continuous "picture of Israel's history from the exodus out of Egypt 
 through the oppressions of the kingdoms of the world until his final redemption." "Draw me 
 after thee " (i. 4), is explained of the march of the people under the conduct of Jehovah to 
 Sinai ; " Look not at me, because I am black " (i. 6) of the penitent confession of sin by those 
 who had forsaken Jehovah for the golden calf; "Tell me, thou whom my soul loveth, where 
 thou feedest," etc. (i. 7), of Moses' supplication for the transgressing people; the festive pro- 
 cession described in iii. 6-11 of the taking of the promised land by Joshua, and the building of 
 Solomon's temple ; the words (vii. 1,3) " let us go to the vineyards," etc., of Israel praying for 
 deliverance from the Babylonish exile; the "odorous mandrakes" (vii. 14) of the period of 
 deliverance already come; and finally, the concluding verse (viii. 14) is explained as a petition 
 to the Lord, that He would speedily bring back the scattered people to the " spice mountains," 
 t. e., to the temple mountain in Jerusalem, with its fragrant offerings of incense — all this is 
 interwoven with gross anachronisms, strange leaps of thought, and extravagant fancies of everv 
 description ; comp. ZuNZ. Gollesdienstliche Vortrdge der Juden, etc., p. 65 f. ; Delitzscu, 
 Hohel., p. 49; Umbreit, he. cit., p. 208 f [See the English translation of this Targum ui 
 Gill on Canticles, 1728, and in Adam Clarke's Commentary.] 
 
 Rashi (t- e, R. Solomon ben Isaac, f 1105), Cimimentai-ius in libros historicos et Saloinonis 
 V. T., in Lat. vertit J. Fr. Breithadpt, 1714 (on the rabbinical editions of this Commentator, 
 who is particularly valuable on account of his copious communications from older Jewish 
 allegorical interpreters, comp. de Rossi, Histor. Wbrlerbuch der Judischen Scltriflsteller, from 
 the Italian, by H.^mberger, 18-39; also J. Chr. Wolf, Biblioiheca Hebrcsa, 1715-33, 4 vols.) 
 
 DiviD Ki.MCHi (son of Josei-u Kimchi, born at Narbonne, 1190, died after 1250), Commen- 
 tariusin Canlic. Canticor. (in the rabbinical Bibles of Bomberg and Buxtorf; inclining to the 
 literal interpretation of Scripture, yet setting the greatest store also by the older allegorizing 
 tradition, especially in the exegesis of Messianic passages; comp. M. Heidenheim in Herzog's 
 Real-Encyklop. XIX. 693). 
 
 Ibn Ezra (tll67) Commentar. in Qant. Cant., also in Bomberg's and Buxtorf 's Bibles; 
 differs from the Targum and most of the other rabbins in finding the history of Israel from the 
 time of Abraham allegoncally and prophetically represented in the Song of Solomon, and hence 
 it is not until chap. li. that he comes down to the times of Moses and the giving of the law; he 
 sees, for example, in the voice of the bridegroom, " who comes leaping over mountains and 
 hills," ii. 8, the thunder of Jehovah, by which Sinai was .shaken (comp. Ps. xxix.), refers the 
 " peeping of the bridegroom through the window " (ii. 9), to God's looking down upon His people 
 oppressed in Egvpt for their help, etc., etc, 
 
 Moses Maimonides (f 1204) Moreh Nebochim sen Doctor perplexorum, ed. Jo. Buxtorf, 
 1629, comp. the Arabic and French edition " le Guide des Egares," by S. MuNK, Par. 1856-61, 
 2 vols., explains in the first part of this work in addition to many other passages of the Old 
 Test., which represent the divine under sensible images, various sentences from the Song of 
 
28 INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 Solomon, and in so doing returns to the extremely arbitrary and desultory method of the oldei 
 Midrash which "at every verse or clause of a verse pours out a perfect cornucopia of the most 
 heterogeneous thoughts and fancies," without aiming at any continuous hi8torico-allegorica\ 
 explanation of the whole. A characteristic specimen is afforded by the remark upon the open- 
 ing words i. 2, where the " kiss of his mouth " is taken to be a mystical designation of the 
 union of the Creator with the creature [apjyrehensio Oi'ealoris cum summo amore Dei conju7icta 
 s. NeMkah), and the well-known phrase of the rabbins that Moses, Aaron and Miriam died 
 " in the kiss of God " is traced back to this as its origin. Comp. Boxtoef's JSdit. p. 523, and 
 generally Jost, Art. " Maimonides " iu Heezog's Encycl. VIII. 691 ff. 
 
 Moses ben Tibbon, Immanuel ben Salomo the Roman, and other rabbinical adherents of 
 the cabalistic and philosophical exegesis of the Jews of the middle ages differ from the common 
 historico-allegorical interpretatiim in that Solomon is to them a symbol of the highest spiritual 
 will (the intellectus agens), Shulamith a symbol of the lower, merely sensuous and receptive 
 understandmg (the intellectus niaterialis) , and the whole is a representation of the union of both 
 effecting the purification of the latter. On the contrary the religious poetry of the Jews of 
 Spain in the Pijut, in so far as it is baaed on the Song of Solomon, rests on that more widely 
 diffused allegorical view, which sees in Shulamith the " congregation of Israel " (7N1B'' nDJ3). 
 Comp. Sachs, Relig. Poesie der Juden in Spanien, p. 267 ; Delitzsch, Hohel. p. 50.* 
 
 II. CHRISTIAN ALLEGOEISIS. 
 
 a. The mystico-spiritual interpretation. (Regarding the whole as a figurative representa- 
 tion of the intercourse of Christ with the believing soul). 
 
 Origen m Cant. Canticorum Ifomilia; duo translated into Lat. by Jerome (see his 0pp. ed. 
 Vallars. Vol. III., p. 500 ff.) is the founder of that method of interpretation which sees in the 
 bride of the Canticles the soul pining for union with God, and in the bridegroom the divine love 
 which sanctifies, purifies and elevates it to itself; he accordingly e.xplains the whole in a moral- 
 soteriological or myatico-psychological manner. Comp. what Jerome says in his tr.inslation : 
 " Canticum canticorum amorem ccelestium dii>inoru?nque desiderium incutit animoB sub specie 
 sponscB et sponsi, cariiatis et amoris oiis pervenienduin docens ad consortium Dei." — In his more 
 extended commentary in XII. roiioi, of which only four books are still extant in the Latin 
 translation of RnriN (see Origenis 0pp. ed. Lommatzsch, Vol, 14, 15) he had explained the 
 bride of the Canticles by turns of the individual souls of Christians striving after union with 
 Christ, and of the Church as the collective body of believers, thus combining the mystico-doc- 
 trinal with the mystico-spiritual interpretation; and yet through Jerome, who translated the 
 former work only into Latin, and not the latter also, the mystico-spiritual interpretation was 
 rendered almost exclusively influential as a model for later interpreters, particularly in the West.** 
 
 Edsebids of Caesarea, Oimment. in Cant. Ca?ilicor. (lost except a few questions). 
 
 Macarius the elder or the Egyptian (f about 390) Opera ed. Peitids, Lips. 1699 (explains 
 the Song of Solomon likewise of the loving intercourse of the soul with God). 
 
 [Gregory of Nyssa, In Canlica Canticorum Explanatio : fifteen homilies continuing the ex- 
 position to the middle of the sixth chapter. " Of the two alternative interpretations of Ori- 
 gen, that which identified the bride with the human soul is peculiar, as an exclusive interpreta- 
 tion, to the homilies of Gregory of Nyssa."— Thrupp.] 
 
 Theodoretus, Interjrreiatio in Cantic. Canticorum, 0pp. Vol. II. ed. Schultze, Hal. 1770. 
 [" Of all the patristic comments on the Song those of Theodoret are the most valuable. They 
 are executed with judgment, and with a careful but discriminating regard to the labors of 
 earlier writers; are sufficiently full without being prolix; and have come down to ua com- 
 plete. In them Christ is the Bridegroom ; the Bride is the Church, more especially as the 
 
 • On the biWiography of tho Jewish expositions of the Song of Solomon in general comp. Kleokee, Sammlurtg drr 
 Grdidile Sulnnui's, etc., pp. .i8-07, [also GlxSBCni:, T/if Srmg of Smgs, pp. ■24-00]. 
 
 «* The well.Iinciwri comparison of tlie contents of the three Looks of Solo.i on.rlz., Proverhs, Ecdesiastes and Canticles, 
 to the philosophical triicili9iiti*u(Ti«^ uii 1 AovL«^(..r eeupi«^), which Origen first suggested andJKUOME adoiited from him, 
 ulso rests upon a mystico-spiritual sense of the Canticles. Comp. the Introduction to tho Proverbs of Solomon, p. I. 
 
§ 5. HISTOKY OF THE INTERPKETATION OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 29 
 
 company of those who have been perfected in all virtues ; those who have not yet reached 
 the full degree of perfection being represented as the Bride's companions." — Thrdpp.] 
 
 M.\xiMUS Confessor, Paraphrasis in Cant. Canticorum (in the Greek Catena to the O. Test 
 in FroNTO Ddcaeus, Auclar. Bibl. Patr. II. 681 ff. and in the Bibl. Patr. ed. Morell, Vol 
 XIII. ; somp. also the Catena in Chnt. Cantic. by MEURSins, Lugd. Balav. 1617 t)- 
 
 WiLLiRAM (Abbot at Ebersberg in Bavaria f 1085) Paraphrasis in Cant. Canticorum, ed. 
 Merula, Lugd. Bat. 1598, and H. Hofpmakn, Bresl. 1827, gave a twofold paraphrase of the 
 Song of Solomon, in which he followed the customary .allegorical method, one in Lat. hexameters, 
 the other in old high German prose, in both regarding the whole as a colloquy between Christ 
 and the believing soul. The old high German treatise like Notkee's somewhat older para- 
 phrase of the Psalms is of great interest in the history of language. Comp. Hoffmakn in the 
 German Edition already mentioned, as well as W. Scherer, L^ben WiUirams, etc., Vienna, 
 1866. 
 
 HoNORius of Autun, Exposi'io in Cantica Canticorum Salomonis, in Bibl. Patrum Lugdun. 
 Vol. XX. (the Proefalio especially important on account of its laying down the theory of the 
 fourfold sense of Scripture, which the exposition of particular passages then seeks to point out 
 everywhere, according especial prominence to the sensus moralis). 
 
 Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermones 86 Super Cant. Chnticorum, 0pp. Vol. II. ed. Venet. (a 
 diffuse mystico-practical exposition, which, however, only treats the first two chapters and the 
 opening words of the third, and explains the whole of the soul seeking her heavenly bridegroom 
 and introduced by Him first into the garden, then into the banquet hall, and finally into the 
 sleeping chamber, sometimes, moreover, weaving in a doctrinal interpretation as on i. 2, where 
 kissing with the kiss of His mouth is explained of the incarnation of Christ, this " condescend- 
 ing miracle of a kiss, in which not mouth is pressed to mouth but God is united with man," 
 etc.* The continuation of this gigantic work attempted by Bernard's pupil, Gilbert v. Hot- 
 LAND, only carries it on to v. 10 in 58 discourses). Comp. also Fernbacher: die lieden des 
 heil. BER'snAUS iiberdas Hohehed, detUsch bearbdtet ['The Discourses of St. Bernard on 
 the Canticles," rendered into German], Leipz. 1866. 
 
 PacHARD A. S. ViCTORE, Thomas Aqdinas, Bosaventura, Geeshon and others represent 
 in their Expositiones in Cayitic. Canticorum the same mystico-psychological explanation, ac- 
 cording to which the Song of Solomon forms a compendium of the science of inward Christian 
 experience, an inexhaustible mine of ideas and fancies as profound as they are arbitrary. 
 [•' AftDiNAS IS said to have dictated his commentary on his death-bed."] 
 
 Teresa de Jesus, Conceptosdel amor de Bios sobra algunas palabras de las cantares de Salommt 
 {" Thoughts on the love of God suggested by some verses in Canticles)'' — explains particularly 
 the passages i. 2; ii. 3 ; ii. 4; ii. 5, etc., of the marriage of the enraptured soul with the holy 
 Trinity, or of the fourth and highest stage of her peculiar mystical theory of prayer ; comp. my 
 essay " Teresia v. Avila," etc., in the Zeitschr.f. Lnth. Theol. 1865, I. and II. 
 
 Juan de la Cruz (John of the cross), Cantico espiritual enire el alma e C'hristo su esposo 
 ("spiritual song between the soul and Christ its bridegroom" — a free poetic imitation of some 
 of the principal passages of the Song of Solomon, especially from chap, lii.-vi. ; comp. the essay 
 already referred to in the Zeitschr. f. Luth. Theol. 1866, I , particularly p. 59 ff.). 
 
 [The commentary of the Spanish Jesuit, Gaspae Sanciius (or Sanchez), published in 1616, 
 forms a quarto volume of nearly 400 pages, which is highly commended by Moody Stuart for 
 its learning and research and the spirituality of its views.] 
 
 Delrio, Deloado, Sotomator, Pineda, Oroczo. These and other Spanish mystics adopt 
 the same allegorical method in their commentaries with those before named, explaining the 
 " cheeks of the bride," iv. 3, of outward Christianity in good works ; her slender neck, vii. 5, 
 of the constancy of the love of Christ; her golden chains, i. 10, of faith; the silver points on 
 the ornaments of gold, i. 11, of the holiness of the walk ; the spikenard, i. 12, of redeemed 
 
 * His representatiun of the iadiridual soul of the ChrNtian as in some sort the bride of Christ is jiistiflod by Berkari 
 by a reference to the fact that individuals ns nenibers of the Church, which is the proper bride of the Lord, evidently 
 have part in this common title of lioaor and in the blessiiics therewith connected. " Qund enim sirnul omnes plcne intS' 
 greque possidemus, lioc smguli sinr. contradictime participamm." (Serni. XII.). 
 
30 INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 humanity ; the bunch of myrrh, i. 13, of the passion of Christ ; the " thorns about the rose," 
 ii. 2, of temptations by tribulations, by all sorts of crimes or by heretics ; the " chariots of Am- 
 minadab " of the devil, etc. Corap. C. A. VVilkens, Fray Luis de Leon : eine Biographie am 
 der Geschichle der Spanischen Inquisition und Kirehe (E.a\\e., 1866), p. 206 ff. 
 
 John Mich. Dillherr, Go/Uiche Liebesflamme oder Betrachlung miterschiedlicher Slellen 
 des Hohenlied'! [Divine flame of love or a Consideration of divers passages in the Canticles], 
 Nuremberg, 1640 ; also, Atinotationes in Oanlicum, Wratislaw, 1680. 
 
 J. Marie Bouhrieres de la Mothe Guyon. Le Cantique des Oantiques, interprele selon h 
 sens mystique; Grenoble, 1685. In this conamentary, composed, according to her own confes- 
 sion, in one day and a half, but which was nevertheless commended by Bossuet above her 
 other writings, she closely resembles the preceding adherents of the mystico-spiritual interpre- 
 tation, and seems particularly to have drawn from Theresa and St. Bernard. 
 
 [J. Hamon (t 1687), Explication du Cantique des Canliques. " Physician of Port Royal and 
 continuator of the expositions of Bernard."] 
 
 Joachim Lange, Ramb.^ch, Starke and others in the last century seek to connect as f:ir as 
 possible the mystico-doctrinal view of the Song of Solomon with the mystico-spiritual ; comp. 
 the following rubric, p. 31. 
 
 The Berlebtjko Bible (Berleb. 1726 ff.) pays less regard to the doctrinal view of the Song 
 of Solomon or tbe explanation of the bride as the Church, than to the spiritual, according to 
 which the conditions and stages of progress in the individual Christian life are repre.sented in it. 
 
 Gdstav Jahn, Das Hohehed in Liedern [Solomon's Song in Songs], Halle, 1848, divides the 
 whole into 62 longer or shorter sonnets in which is sung 1) the work of faith; 2) the labor of 
 love; 3) confirmation in grace ; and 4) the yea and amen of the bride. 
 
 b. The Mystico doctrinal Interpretation. (Understanding the whole as a description of the 
 relation between Christ and His Church). 
 
 Athanasius, Exposilio in Caiit. Canticorum (now lost, but still known to Photius Cod. 
 139; preferred the explanation of the bride as the Church above that of making her to 
 be the individual soul; so also the pseudo-Athanasian Si/nopsis div. Scriplurm, 1. XVI).* 
 
 Epiph.anius, Commentarius super Cant. Salomonis ed. P. F. Foggini, Rom. 1750 (of doubt- 
 ful authenticity, especially because the eighty concubines of Solomon, vi. 8, are here explained 
 of dumb, i. e. non-prophesying spirits of the prophets, whilst Epiphanius in his Panarion 
 (1. III. p. 2) finds in those concubines the eighty heresies of Christendom prefigured. It is at 
 all events very ancient, e. g. already attested by Cassiodorus de Inst, divin. liter, c. 5, and i,« 
 extremely rich in whimsical interpretations, as e. g., that the winter, ii. 11, denotes the suffer- 
 ings of Christ ; the voice of the turtle-dove. ii. 12, the preaching of Paul, the former persecutor 
 of the Christians, etc. Some would regard it as a work of Bishop Philo of Carpasus ; see e. g. 
 M. a. Giacomelli [PhUonis episc. Carpasii, enarralio in Cant. Canticorum, RomcF, 1772). [It 
 is evidently a breviary, or short expository compendium, mainly derived by the author from the 
 writings of others ; occasionally, as on iii. 6-8, containing a double exposition of the same pas- 
 sage. In it Christ is the Bridegroom, the Church the Bride." — Thrupp.] 
 
 Cyril ot Jerusalem, Calechesis XIV., 0pp. ed. Touttee, Par., 1720 (explains (he litter, 
 iii. 9, of the cross of Christ; the silver of its feet of His betrayer's thirty pieces of silver; the 
 purple of its cushion of the purple robe of the suffering Redeemer ; Solomon's wedding crown 
 of Christ's crown of thorns, etc.). 
 
 [" Of the same spiritual kind was the general interpretation of the Christian Fathers ; of 
 Basil, of Gregory of Nazian/.us, of even (as we learn from his scholar Theodoret) the literal 
 ihterpreter Diodore of Tar.'^ns, of Chry.?ostom,'' etc., etc. — Thrupp.] 
 
 [Polyoiironius Diaconus, Enarralio in Canticum Canticorum. 
 
 Cassiodorus, E.rpo.tit'0 in Cant. Cant. 'I'hough passing under the name of Cassiodorus, its 
 authorship is doubtful and it may belong to a later date. 
 
 ♦ In like manner Cyprian, who particularly refers the passage Cant. vi. 9 of preference to the Church as fbe one dove, 
 I. «. the one chosen, beloved of Christ, e. g. Ep. G9 ad Magnum, c.2\ de. unit. Ecctesia;, c. 4. 
 
i o. HISTORY OF THE INTERPRETATION OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 81 
 
 Justus ORGEiiiTAUUs (Bishop of Urgel in Catalonia, Spain, cir. A.D. 529), In Cant. Cani. 
 txplicatio mystica. 
 
 IsiDORDS HiBPALENSis, Eiposilloin Cantka Canticorum. For the titles of various commenta- 
 ries of little note, belonging to the middle ages, see Dabling's Ot/clopcedia Bibliographicn 
 (Holy Scriptures), pp. 578 ff.— Tr] 
 
 ["Genebrand, Bishop of Aix (f 1597), a learned Benedictine, wrote two comments, a largf-r 
 and smaller, both in the latter part of the sixteenth century, and his work is distinguished by 
 collections from the Rabbins." — Williams.] 
 
 HiERON. OsORlus (canon at Evora in Portugal about IGOOl : Paraphra.iis et Ojmmentaria in 
 Ecclesiasten et in Canticum Canticorum, Lugdnni, 1611 [" maluinn Chrinti el Ecclesixr; amorein 
 Salomon explicare volens, fcemincB el viri, miUuo se amantium, affrctinnes ehgantissime de- 
 scripsii "). 
 
 John Piscator, Commentarius in Proverbia Salomonis itemque Caniicum Canticont/m, Her- 
 born. 1647. 
 
 John Gerh.^rd, Predigten uber das Hohelied [Sermons on the Song of Solomon] in his Po.s- 
 tilla Salomonea, Jena, 16(56, adopts the allegorical interpretation prevalent in the Church ; so 
 also A. Calov in the " Blhlia ilhistrata," as well as L. Osiander in his Bibehverk, Carpzov 
 in his Inlroductio inlibb. V. T., J. H. Michaelis in his Anjiotail. in Hagiogr. Vol. II., Joach. 
 Lange in the Salomonische Lichl und Recht, Buddeus, Wilisch and many others. 
 
 Starke, (Synopsis, Part IV. ) closely follows those last mentioned in seeing in the Song of 
 Solomon "a treatise, in which the union of Christ with believers is set forth under the emblfiin 
 of the most tender love of a bridegroom and bride," or in some sense also a " prophetical book,"' 
 in which (without chronological order) is represented : " the coming of Messiah in the flesh, the 
 outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the gathering of the N. Test. Church from Jews and Gentiles, as 
 well as the special trials and leadings of the Church," etc.). 
 
 Magn. Fr. Rods, " Fussstapfcn des Glaitbens Abrahams " [Footsteps of the faith of Abra- 
 ham], St. 5, 1773 (the bridegroom is Christ, the bride the Church, the daughters of Jerusalem 
 and the queens, concubines and virgins mentioned in vi. 8 represent the various clas.ses of be- 
 lievers ; the whole describes the loving intercourse of Christ with His people in this world, etc.: 
 comp. further particulars in Delitzsch, Hohel. pp. 58-61). 
 
 0. V. Gerlach, das Alle Test., etc., Vol. III., 1849. The whole "portrays the various 
 advances and estrangements conducting ever to a more perfect union in the love of Jehovah or 
 Christ and His Church, yet not in the form of a regularly unfolding history but jn certain signi- 
 ficant transactions, which though related to each other are without any close connection." In 
 the explanation of the details much uncertainty and capricious vacillation. 
 
 K. F. Keil, Lehrhur.h der hislorisch-kritischcn Einleitung in's A. T. [Historioo-critical In- 
 troduction to the 0. Test.], 1853, finds as already in Haevernick's Introduction, Part 111., 
 edited by him, " under the allegory of the conjugal love of Solomon and Shulamith " the loving 
 communion between the Lord and His Church, depicted according to its ideal nature, which 
 results from the selection of Israel to be the people of the Lord. 
 
 Henostenbbro, das Hohelied Sa'omonis ausgelegt, [the Song of Solomon Expounded], Berl., 
 1853, makes the only correct '' spiritual interpretation " of the Song of Solomon to lie in this 
 that the " heavenly Solomon " must be distinguished from Solomon, the earthly author of the 
 Song, as the object of its descriptions : and the beloved of this heavenly Solomon must be con- 
 fessed to be the "daughter of Zion." and the whole, therefore, like the 45th Psalm, which i.s a 
 sort of " conipenduim of the Song of Solomon," must be allegorically explained of the Messiah 
 and His Church in the Old and the New Test. In the details there is much that is trifling and 
 arbitrary ; e. g. the hair of Shulamith compared with a flock of goats, iv. 1, signifies the mass 
 of the nations convened to the Church of the Lord: the navel of Shulamith, vii. 3, denotes 
 '•the cup from which the Church refreshes the thirsty [i. e. those longing for salvation) with a 
 noble and refreshing draught ;" the sixty and eighty wives of Solomon point to the admission 
 of " the original gentile nations into the Church," because 140 or seven multiplied by two and 
 by ten forms the '■ signature of the Covenant," and because in the formation of his household from 
 
32 INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 women of tlie most diverse nations Solomon's purpose was directed " to a symbolic prefigura- 
 tion of the kingdom of Christ," p. 169, and so on. 
 
 H. A. Haiin, das Hohelied von Salomo, uhersetzt und erkldrl [The Song of Solomon, translated 
 and explained], Bresl., 1852, explains the Song of Solomon as setting forth under a dramatic 
 dress and in the course of six acts, the fundamental thought that " the kingdom of Israel is 
 called to vanquish heathendom finally with the weapons of righteousness and love, and to con- 
 duct it back again to the peaceful rest of a loving communion with God." According to this, 
 therefore, Shulamith is a representative of heathendom, and particularly of Japhetic heathen- 
 dom ; and her younger sister, viii. 9 ff., corresponds to Hamitic heathendom, which is at last 
 also to be converted too. 
 
 6. HoELEJiANN, Die Krone des Hohenlieds [The crown of the Song of Solomon], Leipz. 
 1856, approaches most nearly to the view of Hengstenbero, only he avoids the too specific ex- 
 planation of minute details and declares it iuadmissible — comp. below, p. 43. 
 
 c The Mystico-political or Mysticohistorical Interpretation. (This differs from the pre- 
 ceding mainly in that it understands by the bride not the Church but the theocracy of the Old 
 Test., and consequently approximates more to the Jewish allegorical explanation). 
 
 AuousTiN, de Ctvit. Dei, 1. XVII. e. 8, 13, 20 (ed. Bened. Tom. VII., p. 71-1 ff.), refers the re- 
 lation of the two lovers to the theocracy in the Old Test, and its fortunes. 
 
 Luther, Brcvis enarratio %n Canlica Canlicorum, 0pp. ed. Erlang. Vol, XXI., explains — 
 herein differing from many other expressions, in which he adopts the common mystico-doctrinal 
 interpretation — the bride to be the Old Test, theocracy in Israel at the time of its greatest 
 splendor, and makes the whole a eulogy by Solomon of this his kingdom. "Eu enim encomium 
 politim, quae temporibus Sahmonis in pulcherrima pace floruit. Quemadmodum enim in S. 
 Scriplura, qui scripserunt Canlica, de rebus a se gestis ea scripserunl* sic Salo?non per 
 hoc po'ema nobis suam politiam commended, el qiuxsi encomium pads el prcBsenlis stalus rei- 
 publica; insliluU in quo gratias Deo agit pro summo illo beneficio, pro externa pace, in alio- 
 rtim exeniplum, ut ipsi quoque sic discant Deo gratias agere, ajnoscere beneficia summa, et 
 orare, si quid minus rede in impcrio accideril, ut eorrigatur" (p. 278). " Constituit Deum 
 sponsum el populum suum sponsam, atque ita cartit, quantopere Deus populum ilium diligat, 
 quol el quantis beneficiis eum afjicial, el eumulet, denique ea benignilate et dementia eundem 
 complectalur ac foveal, qua nullus unquam sponsus sponsam suam complexus est ae fovit " 
 (p.276).t 
 
 [John Brentius, the Suabian reformer, adopted the same theory. Ginsburo quotes from 
 his 32d homily the following language respecting the Song of Songs : "Car-men encomiaslicum, 
 quod de laude regni et polilice sum Solomon emiscripsil."] 
 
 Leon. Hcg, " Das Hohelied in einer noch unversuchten Deulung," [The Song of Solomon 
 in a hitherto unatterapted explanation], 1813, and " Schutzschrifl fiir seine DeMung des Hohen- 
 liedes und desselben tveitere Ur'duterung" [Deknoe of his explanation of the Song of Solomon 
 and its further elucidation] 1815 sees in the bride the kingdom of the ten tribes, in the bridegroom 
 king Hezekiah of Judah designated as Solomon, in the brothers of Shulamith, viii. 8, 9, a party 
 in the house of Judah, in the whole a re-presentation clothed in idyllic form of the longing felt 
 by the kingdom of the ten tribes for reunion ^vith Judah but which those "brothers " opposed. 
 Comp. m opposition to this allegorical explanation favored only by Herbst in Welte's IH71I. 
 ins A. T. [Introduction to the Old Test.], Ewald, p. 40. 
 
 Kaiser, " Das Hohelied, ein Colleclivgesang auf SeniMbel, Esra und Nehem.ia, als die Wie- 
 derhersteller einer jtidischen Verfassung in der Frovinz Juda " [Canticles, a collective song re- 
 specting Zerubbabel, Ezra and Xehemiah as the restorers of a Jewish constitution in the pro- 
 vince of Judah], 1825, a peculiar politico-allegorical explanation, which is wrecked by the 
 
 * He here has in mind Mnses as ttie mithir of Kx. tt.; Dfbnrnh, Jnclg. v.: Hnnnah, 1 Sa-n. il.. 'tc. 
 
 t By ills own confession Luther li-anel in tliis perilliar explanation upon the Emperor MlsIMIUAN's " Tlicwrdank," 
 as well M on lilie "c^rmina amatorU principiim, qua vulgus a^Jjiit d'. sponsa aid amicz cantata cum tamm politia et 
 popiiH mi statum his (IfpinfiTnt." He enzaites in zeaionn polemics against the nllegorical explanation common in the 
 Cliurch. ' *- conjunctinw Dei fi smagtijx " iin.i says at the rlose, in justification of his attempt at a new explanation: 
 **'piOd si erro, veniam merdur primus labor. Nam aliorwn cojitatioms lonji plus absurdit itis habcnt.^ 
 
i 5. HISTORY OF THE INTERPRETATION OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. S3 
 
 untenable character of its historical basis alone, altogether apart from the artificial and arbitrary 
 nature of much beside that it contains. 
 
 RosENMUELLEB, " lAber des Hohenliedes Sinn und Auslegung [On the meaning and interpre- 
 tation of the Song of Solomon] in Keil'.s und Tzschip.ner's AnalekLen, Part I., Art. 3, 1830, 
 seeks to establish anew the old Jewish allegorical explanation of the Song of the relation of 
 Jehovah to His people, with reference to the analogy brought forward by Jones: "On the 
 mystical poetry of the Persians and Hindoos" (in the Asiatic Researches, Vol. III.) with the 
 Gitagovinda and the religious poetry of the Soofees — which analogy, however, is more apparent 
 than real, and proves nothing for the far older Song of Solomon ; (comp. Ewald, p. 38 ff. ; De- 
 LITZSCH, p. 66 ff.). 
 
 d. The viystico-prophstic or Chronological Interpretation. (Regarding the Song of 
 Solomon as a prophecy of the development of the Church in its several periods, as a sort of 
 Apocalypse, therefore, or as a prophetic compendium of the history of the Church and of 
 heretics). 
 
 ApoNius, Exposilio Cant. lib. VI., of the seventh century; takes the Song of Solomon to be a 
 continuous picture of the history of revelation from the creation to the final judgment. [" A 
 sentence near the opening of his commentary has apparently induced the assertion that he fol- 
 lows the Chaldee in viewing the Song as of a historico-prophetical character. An inspection of 
 the commentary will show that it contains no trace of the influence of the Chaldee, and that it 
 is not more historico-prophetical than the commentaries of the earlier Christians. Aponius 
 nnds in viii. 1, 13 an indication of the ultimate conversion of the Jews after much suffering ; 
 but the germ of a corresponding interpretation of other passages may be traced also in Cassio- 
 DORUS." — Theupp.] 
 
 NicoLArs DE Lyka, Postilla in universa Biblia finds represented in chaps. i,-vi. the history 
 of Israel from Moses to Christ, in chap. vii. and viii. that of Christianity to the time of Con- 
 
 STANTINE. 
 
 G. Ederus, Jacobus de Valentia, etc. (see on these and other advocates of the chrono- 
 logical explanation of Cocceius, Delitzsch, p. 56 f.). [The Spanish prelate, James Perez 
 of Valentia (1507), "instead of dividing the Song into Old Testament and New Testament por- 
 tions, viewed it as setting forth throughout, primarily the different phases of Old Testament 
 history, and then also under the figure of these and simultaneously with them the mysteries of 
 redemption. He divides the Song into ten separate canticles, commencing respectively i. 2 ; 
 i. 12; ii. 8 ; iii. 6 ; iv. 1; iv. 16; v 8; vi. 1; vii. 13. " Return, return, etc.; viii. 5. These 
 severally delineate the promises to the patriarchs ; the construction of the tabernacle ; the speak- 
 ing of God from the tabernacle ; the carrying of the ark through the wilderness with attendant 
 miracles; Moses' ascent of Pisgah ; the death of Moses; the entrance into Canaan; the con- 
 quest and partition of Canaan ; the conflicts and victories under the Judges ; and the prosperity 
 and peace under Solomon. The corresponding events typified by them are the general expeota- 
 lions of the Old Testament saints ; the incarnation of Christ ; His teaching ; His earthly career 
 and miracles; His going up to Jerusalem ; His death; the gathering into the Church of the 
 first Jewish converts ; the mission of the apostles to the Gentiles ; the conflicts and victories of 
 ;!ie martyr church ; and the prosperity and peace under Constantine." " Eder, rector of the 
 University of Vienna (1582), divided the Song into ten dramas, on the same principle apparently 
 as Perez." — Thrupp.] 
 
 John Cocceius, Cogitaiiones de Caniico Canlicorum Salomonis, Opp. ed. Amsterd., 1673, 
 II. vols, finds, vi. 9, the contest of the Guelphs and Ghibellines ; vii. 5 (in the comparison 
 of the bride with the pools at Heshbon the weeping Church of the 15th century as the 
 period of laborious struggle for the reformation of the Church by the great reformatory 
 councils ; vii. 6 ff. Luther in his conflict with the degenerate courts of the 16th century ; 
 vii. 11 the capture of the elector John Frederick at Miihlberg, etc., etc.) 
 
 Groenewegen, Gulich, Reinhard and other followers of Cocceius attach themselves closely 
 to the preceding ; so also partially at least 
 
 John Marck, In Cant. Canlicorum Salomonis commenlar., Amstel., 1703. 
 32 
 
34 INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 Casp. Heunisch (Luth.) Oommenlarius apocalyplicus in Cant. Caniicorum, 1688, finds, as 
 CoccEius had already done, seven periods of the church represented in the Song of Solomon, 
 corresponding with the seven apocalyptic epistles, the seventh of which depicted in chap, viii., is 
 to begin in the year A. D., 2060. 
 
 G. P. G. GoLTZ, Bas Hohelied Salomonis, eine Weissagung von den letzlen Zeiien der Kircht 
 Jesu Oiristi : [The Song of Solomon, a prophecy of the last times of the Church of Jesus Christ], 
 Berl., 1850, regards in the interest of Irvingite speculations the Song of Solomon as a propheti- 
 cal book, which .sets forth the final fortunes of the Church. " shortly before, during and after the 
 second coming of Christ," and accordingly describes, e. g., in oh. iii. the restoration of the original 
 apostolic constitution of the Church, etc. 
 
 e. The Mystico-Mariological Interpretation. (Conceiving Shulamith to be identical with 
 Mary, the mother of God.) 
 
 Ambrose, Sermo de virginitate perpelua S. Marice, 0pp. ed. Paris, 1642, Vol. IV, explains 
 in addition to the " shut gate " Ezek. xliv., many passages of the Song of Solomon likewise, es- 
 pecially that of the " locked garden " and the " sealed fountain " iv. 12 of the perpetual vir- 
 ginity of Mary. 
 
 [Gregorius Magnus, Exposilio super Canlica CarUicorum. Moody Stuart says : " The tv/o 
 most distinctive features in his exposition are a great expression of desire for the conversion of 
 the Jews in expounding the passage ' I brought him inlo my mother's hou.9e,' which he inter- 
 prets of ancient Israel; and the introduction of the Virgin Mary into the song, hut it is only to 
 the effect that ' the crown wherewith his mother crowned him' was the humanity which Christ 
 derived from Mary." 
 
 Michael Psellus, Junior, in the eleventh century " wrote a metrical paraphrase and a prose 
 commentary on the Canticles'' in Greek. Moody Stoart says of it: "The Virgin Mary is 
 brought in most fully and zealously; and to the writer nothing can be more clear than that she 
 is 'the dove and the only one ' in contrast to the surrounding multitude of queens and prm- 
 cesses." 
 
 " A similar view is taken of Cant. vi. 8, 9 in western literature by the Abbot Locas, the 
 epitomizer of Aponius." Thrupp.] 
 
 Rupert v. Deutz, in Cant. Caniicorum, II. VII., carries out this suggestion of Ambrose in a 
 continuous exegesis of the entire book. 
 
 DiONYSius Carthusianus, Gulielmus Parvus, Michael Ghislerius, Salmeron refer ac- 
 cording to the hermeneutical rule of the threefold sense, all that is said of the spouse in the Song 
 of Solomon: 1. To the Church ; 2 To the individual believing soul; 3. To the holy Virgin. 
 
 Cornelius a Lapide, Commentarii in V. T., Venet., 1730 £f., as the foregoing, only he makes 
 the explanation of the holy Virgin to be the sensiis principalis.* [Ginsburg remarks that " be 
 was the first who endeavored to show that this song is a drama in five acts." The themes of 
 thtse five parts are stated by Thrupp to have been respectively " the infancy of the Christian 
 church, its conflicts with the heathen power, its establishment under Constantino, its suffer- 
 ings from heresy, and its renovation under the later Fathers."] 
 
 /. The Mystlco-hieroglyphlc Interpretation. (Conceiving the figurative language of Can- 
 ticles to have been the offspring of some esoteric doctrine or Egyptian hieroglyphical wisdom 
 of Solomon.) 
 
 V. PuFENDORP (Vice-president), " Umschreibung d?s Hohcnliedes, oder die Gemmie mil 
 Christo und den Engeln ini Chrabe" [Paraphrase of the Song of Solomon or communion with 
 Christ and the angels in the grave] edited by RuNOE, 1776. The object described is supposed 
 to be the participation of the believers of the Old and New Test, in the grave and death of the 
 Saviour, in which also their desire for His appearing is likewise represented, and the future ol 
 
 • The ylew of Shulamith as the hypostatical wisdom taken by Leo IIebraeds (de amnre dial. c. 3), by J. G. Eosenmcellui 
 (.^holia in V. T.), and suggested likewinn by Delitzsch (HoliHirA, p. 6.") ff.), is akin to this mariological explanation : au<J 
 witli this again, that of the Rabbis Mossa BEN TiunoN, Immanuel ben Solomon, dc. is closely related, who make Simla 
 mith the inUlUctus materialis (comp. above, p. 28.) 
 
g 6. HISTORY OF THE INTERPRETATION OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 35 
 
 the Church until the general resurrection is prophetically prefigured. The " virgins " (nio^^i 
 i. 3 ; vi. 8, etc , are the '' pure and chaste souls shut up ui the dark grave and waiting for the 
 hght," because they are so denominated from D7^ " to be hidden," etc., etc. 
 
 KisTEMAKER (Cath. clergyman) Canlic. CaiUtcorum illuslratum ex hierographia orientali, 
 1818, agreemg in method with the precedmg, but in results with the common interpretation of 
 the synagogue and the church, according to which the bride is the people of God. 
 
 [••Cantica Canticorum chymice explicata is the title of a book in the library of the British 
 Museum, but the book itself in the lapse of years has gone astray ; and we can form no con- 
 jecture of its contents except from the words of Carpzovios, that the Alchymists dream that 
 under the shadow of his words Solomon has delineated (in the Song) the whole secret concern- 
 ing the philosopher's stone." Moody Stuart.] 
 
 I 6. CoNTINnATION. 
 
 b- The profane-erotic or one-sided Interpretations of the Song as secular history. 
 
 That many of the most ancient Christian interpreters regarded Canticles as a Song of worldly 
 love portraying voluptuous and sensual images, is attested by Philastrius, bishop of Brescia, 
 (t about 390) who adduces this view in his list of heresies as one of the heresies of his time. The- 
 ODORET (t 457), who combats the same opinion, already enumerates several modifications of it. 
 According to one, Shulamith was some bride or concubine of Solomon's, according to another Phar- 
 aoh's daughter, 1 Kings iii. 1, according to another still Abishag of Shunera. Among the ad- 
 herents of this profane-erotic exegesis, Theodoret had doubtless in his eye Theodore of Mop- 
 Buestia {f 429), the well-known advocate of a strictly literal method of interpreting Scripture in 
 the sense of the liberal theology of Antiocli, and who was reproached by one of his later an- 
 tagonists, LEONTins of Byzantium, for having interpreted the Canticles "libidinose pro sua 
 menle el lingua meretricia," and whose commentary, therefore, together with the rest of his works, 
 was ecclesiastically anathematized by the fifth ecumenical council in the time of the emperor 
 Justinian (553), and has in consequence been lost. During the middle ages this profane mode 
 of explanation entirely ceased even among the theologians of Judaism.* And subsequently in 
 theperiodof the reformation the reformed humanist, Sebastian Castellio (1544), was the first to 
 venture again to explain the Song as a " colloquium Salomoiiis cum amica qiuidam Sulainitha," 
 and on account of this alleged purely worldly character to demand that it should be banished 
 from the canon of Scripture, which led to his own speedy banishment from Geneva, at the in- 
 stance of Calvin.** In the following century Hugo Grotius trod partly at least in his footsteps, 
 who, it is true, theoretically admitted the propriety of a typical and allegorical Messianic inter- 
 pretation, but in fact continued to stand by a one-sided literal and pretty profane interpretation ; 
 also Richard Simon, the well-known free-thinker of the oratorio, to whom the book appeared to 
 be an anthology of erotic pieces of poetry without order or connection — whilst others went 
 further and either warned against reading the book as a publication injurious to morality (Si- 
 mon Episcopius), or thought they must see in it a mere idyl, an eclogue with coarse compari- 
 sons like those of Polyphemus in Ovid's Metamorphoses (John Clericus). Then, soon after 
 Semleb's and J. D. Michaelis' attempts to prove, in a critical way, the impossibility of an 
 allegorical or in general of any spiritual and Messianic view, the eighteenth century brought the 
 beginning of that splintering or crumbling process initiated by Lessing and Herder (see § 1, 
 Rem. 2), as well as the modern-drama mode of understanding it, the way for which was paved 
 by J. C. Jacobi, v. Ammon, Keller and others, both resting on the assumption that the con- 
 tents of the book were decidedly secular and erotic, and both cultivated and variously modified 
 by numerous partisans, scientific and unscientific, down to the most recent times. And then 
 
 * Yet tha party combated by KiMCHI in his Commentary on account of his assertion thai Canticles was ft .Song of worldly 
 love composed by Solomon in his youth, may p isaibiy have been a rabbi of an earlier period in the middle ages. Comp. 
 ElCHHORN, Repertorium, Part XII., p. 2S3. 
 
 «* [Henet, the biographer of Calvin, gives a full account of this whole affair. Das Lebm Johann dttvins. Vol. II., pp. 
 384-390. He affirms that Castellio withdrew of his own accord from Geneva, and was not banished from the place nor 
 Bent away in disgrace. Calvin, though obliged to express his disapproval of his views, conducted himself with great 
 lenieDcy towards Cabteluo personally, and gave him on his departure kindly letters to his friends. — Tr.] 
 
86 INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 especially in the dramatic mode of understanding it, besides the assumption of a simple action 
 with but one love in the case (so in particular Weissbach), various hypotheses of a more com- 
 plicated sort are in vogue, according to which two (Umbp.eit, Ewald, e^c.and generally speak- 
 ing the majority) or even three pairs of lovers (Hitziq, Renan) come upon the stage. 
 
 SPECIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 I. THE OLDER PBOPANE-EROTIC INTEBPRETEBS. 
 
 (Until the middle of the 18th century, all proceeding from the simple assumption, that tha 
 poem sings of but one loving relation, viz., that between Solomon and Shulamith.) 
 
 Theodore of Mopsuestia (see on his Commentarius in Cant. Canticorum, which is unfor- 
 tunately entirely lost : Leontius of Byzantium, adversus iVeston'a/iOs el Eulychianos, in Gal- 
 LANDH Bihliotheca Palrum, Vol. XII., and comp. the monogriiphs of Sieffert (1827),Fbitzsche 
 (1836), Klener and others). ["In the tifth century Theodore of Mopsuestia ventured on as- 
 serting that the bride of the Song of Songs was none other than the Egyptian princess whom 
 Solomon espoused. Whether or no any relics of the interpretation had been traditionally pre- 
 served in the East, we find the Jacobite primate Abul-Faraj (t 1286) allowing in his Arabic 
 history the Song to be outwardly a dialogue between Solomon and Pharaoh's daughter. Other- 
 wise the name of Pharaoh's daughter has not been traced in connection witli the Song till the 
 occurrence of a reference to her, though even then ' merely in passing,' in some of the first printed 
 English Bibles in the sixteenth century. [See note to p. 9.] The assertion of Davidson and 
 others after him that she makes her appearance in Origen is most improbable ; and after a care- 
 ful search I feel assured that it is incorrect. I may add that Perez unjustly charges the ancient 
 Jews with asserting that the Song was written in praise of her." Thrdpp. Moody Stuart 
 says to the same purport: ''There may have been oversight on our part, but we have not found 
 in any of these ancient authors [from Origen to Bernard] the remotest allusion to Pharaoh's 
 daughter, and must confess ourselves quite baffled in a somewhat laborious attempt to trace her 
 introduction into the Song of Solomon."] 
 
 Sebast. Castellio, Psallenum reliquaque saeranim literarum carmina cu7n argumenlis el 
 brevi locorum difficilionnn declaratione. Basil, 1547, labors in general to dress up the contents 
 of Holy Scripture in Latin as classical and smooth as possible, and hence everywhere substitutes 
 respiiblica for ecclesia, heroes for sancli, genius for angelus, Phcebus for sol; Jupiter or even 
 Gradiviis, Armipolens for Deus, lolio for baptismus, etc., and in Canticles in particular makes 
 use of sugary fondling and softly expressions to characterize its amatory contents, e. g., i. 14 f. 
 " Mea columbula oslende mihi tuum iruliiculum. Fac ut audiam tuam voculam, nam el voculavi 
 venuslulam el vulliculum habes lepidulum," ii. 15 ; " capite nobis vulpecidas, vinearum vaslatricu- 
 las," etc. — He had already in Geneva, shortly before his exile noted in his Bible at Cant. vii. 1 
 the words " Stdamilha, arnica Salomonis el sponsa," and had declared orally to C.\LVIN : " que 
 Salomon, quand il fil le chapitre vii, Hail en folie el conduil par viondanili el non par le Sainl 
 Esprit. ■' — for which reason Calvin, without further ado, charged him with the view that Canti- 
 cles was a " carmen obscosnum el lascivum, quo Salomo impudicos sues amores descrijiseril." — 
 Comp. also his complete Latin translation of the Bible : Biblia V.etN.T. ex versions Seb. Cas- 
 TALiONis c. ejusd. annolall., Basil ap. Oporin , 1551, and frequently ; as well as Seb. Castalionis, 
 defensio suarum lra7islalionum Bibltorum, Bas., 1562; finally his biography by Jac. Maehlt, 
 Bas., 1863.) 
 
 Hugo Grotius, Annolaliones in V. T., Par. 1664 (declares the Song of Solomon to be an 
 idyl-like carmen nupliale, representing the '' garrilus conjugum inter se, Sahmonis et filiw 
 regis ./Egypli, interloquenlibus eliam choris duobus lam juvenum quam virginum, qui in 
 proximis ihalamo locis excubabant." " Nap}liarum arcana" he says further, "sub honeslis 
 verborum involucris hie latent: quae etiam causa est, cur Hebrwi veleres hunc librum legi 
 noluerint nisi a jam conjugio proximis." Besides the sensus hleralis, the allegoricus and li/jneus 
 are also to be duly regarded — a rule, however, which is almost entirely disregarded by him even 
 in the main controlling passages. Comp. the still bolder and more open procedure of S. Epis- 
 copius in his Instiluliones TheologicB. 
 
§ G. HISTORY OF THE INTERPRETATION OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 37 
 
 Richard Simon, Hisloire Qriiique du V. T., 1685, Vol. I. c. 4 ; Canticles, a collection of 
 erotic idyllic songs, without order or unity. 
 John Cleeicus, Commentarms in V. T., Tiibing., 1733 ff. 
 
 II. LATER AND LATEST SINCE THE MIDDLE OP THE 18TH CENTTIEY. 
 
 a. The founders nf the modern profane erotic view (adhering in the first instance only to 
 the more general results of the negative criticism). 
 
 John Solomon Semler, "Kurze Vorslelhmg wider die neue Paraphrasin uber das Hohelied" 
 [Brief remonstrance against the new paraphrase of the Song of Solomon], 1757, and " De 
 mysliccK interpretationis studio hodie panim utili," 1760. 
 
 John David Michaelis, in Rob. Lowth. prmlectiones de s. poesi Hehraorum notm et epimetra, 
 Gcetting., 1758 ; ed. II, 1768 f., rejects, nay ridicules the allegorical interpretation as well of the 
 Church as of the Synagogue ; holds the poem to be a mere earthly love-song, and nevertheless 
 supposes that he can relieve or remove the offence of its standing in the canon by seeking to 
 understand its amatory contents of the " casti conjugum amores," instead o{"de sponso 
 sponsaque ante nuplias " In the " Neuorientalxsche und exeget. Bibliothek;" Part IV, 1788, 
 he affirms that he would rather venture upon the explanation of the Apocalypse than upon 
 that of the Song of Solomon, and in his "Deutsche Uebersetzung des A. T. mit Anmerhmgen 
 fur Ungelehrte " [German translation of the 0. Test., with remarks for the unlearned] 1769 ff. 
 he leaves it out entirely. 
 
 b. The Divisive attempts or fragmentary hypotheses. (Canticles, a conglomerate of erotic 
 songs and fragments of songs). 
 
 J. Th. Lessins, Edogce regis Salomonis, Lips. 1777, compares the alleged idyls of Canticles 
 to those of Theocritus and Virgil. 
 
 J. G. Herder, " Lieder der Liebe, die dllesten- und schonsten aus dem Morgenlande " [Songs 
 of love, the oldest and most beautiful of the Orient], 1778, declares the love depicted in Canticles 
 to be essentially pure and innocent, to be compared with the love of Adam and Eve, whilst 
 they continued naked and sinless in paradise, and censures the profane mode of treating it 
 equally with the allesorical explanation as hypocrisy, and lacking in moral and esthetic purity. 
 (Comp Umbreit, in Herzog's Heal Enc. VI. p. 215 : " All the lily purity and the full fragrance 
 of the Song has been transferred to his composition, which is in entire sympathy with it, and 
 even the clare-obscure, which is elsewhere made an objection to this extraordinary man, is here 
 an advantage to him as an interpreter; the rosy morning light, which is spread over the Song 
 itself, floats likewise over his exposition, and invests it with its very peculiar charm and fasci- 
 nation. To this belongs even his profound and delicate distribution of the whole into separate 
 voices, accordant only in the breath of love, though here we cannot agree with him," etc.) 
 
 J. G. Eichhorn, Einleitimg in's A. T. [Introduction to the 0. Test.] Vol. III. Leipzig, 1780, 
 ff., agrees in all esspntial matters with Herder's esthetically -sublimating and critically-dissecting 
 view: so Hupsagel, in Eichhorn's .Sepertoriwrn, VII, 199 ; Paulus and Velthusen, iiirf, 
 XVII, 108 ff (see above, I 1, Rem. 1) ; Jahn, Einl. in's A. T. II. p. 816 ff. ; Pareau. Inslita- 
 tio interpretis V. T., p. 559 ; de Wette, Einleitung in die Kanon. und Apokryph. Buck, des 
 A. T, Berl,, 1817, and repeatedly; Auqdsti, Grundriss einer Hist.-Kril. Einl. [Outlines of a 
 historico-critical Introduction]. 1806, 1827. 
 
 J. F. Kledker, Sammhmg der Gedichle Salome's, sonsl das Hohelied genannl [Collection 
 of the Songs of Solomon, otherwise called the Canticles], 1780, reproduces the view of Herder 
 with slight modifications, only somewhat more learned and thorough ; comp. § 1, Rem. 1. 
 
 J. Che. Doderlein, Salomo's Prediger und Hoheslied neu uhersetzl mit Anmerkungen 
 [Solomon's Ecclesiastes and Canticles, newly translated, with remarks], 1784 ; 2d edit., 1792, 
 likewise adheres most strictly to Herder. 
 
 Velthusen, "Der Schivesternhandel, eine morgerddndische Idyllenkette" [The affair of the 
 sisters, a series of oriental idyls], 1786, and: "Amethyst, Beitrag hist.-krilischer Unter- 
 suchungen uber das Hohelied" [Amethyst; a contribution to the historico-critical investi- 
 
38 INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 gation of Canticles] Brunsw., 1786; likewise: OantUena CarUilenarum Salomonis dupUci 
 inlerpretcUione iUusirata, Helmst., 1786. 
 
 J. F. Gaab, Beitrdge zur Erkldrung des sog. Hoherdiedes und der Klagelieder [Contribution* 
 to the explanation of the so-called Canticles and the Lamentations], Tub., 1795 ; Canticles an 
 " anthology" of erotic songs. 
 
 JnsTi, Blumen alt-hebraischer Dichtkunsl [Flowers of the ancient Hebrew art of poetry], 
 Giessen, 1807. 
 
 J. C. DopKE, Philologisch-kritischer Commenlar zwrn Hohenliede Salomo's, Leipz., 1829, holds 
 that the songs forming the Canticles, " many of which appear in a mutilated condition, were 
 not originally composed and committed to writing at the same time, but were prepared on various 
 (looaaions, probably preserved in the mouth of the people, and afterwards put together." Comp. 
 in opposition Umbeeit's review in the Slud. und Krit., 1829, II. 
 
 Ed. Isid. Magnus, Kritische Bcarbeitung und Erkldrung des Hohenliedes Salomo's [Critical 
 treatise on and explanation of the Song of Solomon], Halle, 1842, makes out no less than 
 twenty distinct songs and fragments of songs in the course of the poem ; comp. | 1, Rem. 2, as 
 well as DELITZ.SCH, p. 2 ff. 
 
 Heiligstedt, in Mauree's Commentarius grammaticus crilieui in V. T. IV, 2, 1848, regards 
 tlie whole as a combination of twelve erotic songs in one idyl ; comp. \ 1, Rem. 3. 
 
 Rebenstein, Das Lied der Lieder [The Song of Songs], 1834. 
 
 Dan., Sandees, Z>a.s.flbAefierf &ifeTOO??is [The Song of Solomon] Leipz. 1866. Comp. on this 
 modern Jewish attempt at exposition, as well as on the preceding, which serves as its basis and 
 model, I 1, Rem. 2, and Delitzsch, p. 6 f. 
 
 E. W. Lossner, Salomo und Shulamith, die Blumen des Hohenlieds zu einem Strausse gebun- 
 den [Solomon and Shulamith, the flowers of the Canticles tied together in one nosegay], Leipz. 
 1851 (comp. likewise | 1, Rem. 2). 
 
 c. The modern dramatic view. (The Song of Solomon an erotic drama with two or mor'^ 
 principal personages, that is, either with a simpler or — by the assumption of several love affairs 
 — a more complicated action). 
 
 J. C. Jacob! (Preacher at Celle), Das durch eine leichfe und unqekHiutelte Erkldrung von seinen 
 Vorwurfen gerettefe Hohelied [The Song of Solomon freed from objections by a simple and in- 
 artificial explanation] 1771. The whole a song in praise of conjugal fidelity, if not strictly dra- 
 matic, yet preserving the dialogue form, worthy of a sacred poet, and instructive and .salutary 
 for the times of Solomon and his successors. — "Shulamith is by reason of her beauty brought to 
 Solomon's court together with her husband, who has been moved by kindness to divorce her (?) ; 
 and as they are taking her away from her husband's side and presenting her wine, the king ap- 
 proaches and offers to kiss her. Shulamith is alarmed and cries to her husband: " he is going 
 to kiss me ! " etc. — The entire attempt is very awkward and clumsy throughout. 
 
 J. W. Fb. Hezel, Neue Uebersetzung und Erkldrung des Hohenlieds [New Translation and Ex- 
 planation of the Song of Solomon], 1777. 
 
 Che. Fr. v. Ammon, Salomo's verschmdhte Liebe oder die bdohnte Treue [Solomon's love dis- 
 dained, or fidelity rewarded] Leipz., 1795 (likewise important on account of the attempt to show 
 that the poem is strictly one melodramatic whole). 
 
 K. Fe. Staeudlin, uber das Hohelied [on the Song of Solnrann] in Paulas' Memorabilien, Part 2, 
 p. 178 ff., like Jacobi only in a more di-licate and skilful manner he makes Shulamith's country 
 lover come likewise upon the stage, and assigns to him a considerable share in the action, espe- 
 cially from ch. 6 onward. 
 
 K. Fr. Umbreit, Lied der Liebe, das dllestr und sclwnste aus dem Morgenlande [Song of love 
 the oldest and most beautiful of the orient] Gott. 1820; 2d Edit. 19,2%, mA Erinnerung an 
 das Hohelied [Reminder of the Song of Solomon], 1839, aims at the utmost simplification of the 
 plot, andlikewi.se the ethical idealizing of its contents in imitation of Herder's esthetic view; 
 he moreover declares viii. 8-14 to be a spurious addition. 
 
 H. Ewald, Das Hohelied Salomonis iibersefzt mil Einl., Annierkungen, etc., [The Song of Solo- 
 mon translated with an Introduclion, Remarks, etc.] G(itt., 1826; comp. die poet. Bvchcr dis A. 
 
J 6. HISTORY OF THE INTERPRETATION OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 39 
 
 rV, I. 1839; 2d eJit, with the title: Die Dichter des A. Bds., etc. [The poets of the Old 
 Test.], 1806 (see above, J 3, Rem. 1 and 2.) 
 
 KosTER, iiber das Hohelied [On the Song of Solomon] in Pelt's Theol. Mitarbeiten for th« 
 year 1839, No. 2. 
 
 Bebnhard Hiezel, Dm Lied der Lieder oder der Sieg der Treii^, ubersetzt und crkldrt [The 
 Song of Songs, or the triumph of fidelity, translated and explamed]; Zurich, 1840, substantially 
 follows EwALD, whose view he seeks to correct in particular pa.ssages. 
 
 Fb. Bottcher, Die ditesten Buhnendichtungen [The oldest stage-poetry], Leipz., 1850; comp. 
 Ex:eget.-Krit. Aehrenlese z. A. T. [Exegetical and critical gleanings in the Old Test.], 1849, p. 
 80 ff , and Nexie Exeget.-Krit. Aehrenlese [New exeget. crit. gleanings]. Part III., 1865, p. 76 
 if. He explains the Song of Solomon as " a melodramatic text of a popular stage-play per- 
 formed in the kingdom of Israel about B. C. 950, directed against the royal house of Solomon 
 and the morals of his harem so menacing to family life, and the exhibition accompanied after the 
 manner of Hindoo, Chinese and even ancient Italian dramas by acting and brief improvisa- 
 tions ;" in order to give the whole as burlesque and clownish a character as possible, he makes 
 the shepherd penetrate several times into the royal harem from i. 15 onward (i. 15 flf. ; iv. 7 flF. ; 
 vii. 12 ff.), treat his comrades, v. 1, to the viands and liquors of the wedding feast, and finally, 
 vii. 12 fF, go off with his beloved, without the king doing anything to prevent it, etc. — Comp. \ 2, 
 Remark 1. 
 
 G. M. RocKE, Das Hohelied, Erstlingsdrama aus dem Morgenlande, oder Familiensunden 
 und Liebesweilie . Ein Sittcnspiegel fiir Brautsland und Eke [The Song of Solomon, a primitive 
 drama from the orient, or family sins and love's devotion. A moral mirror for the betrothed 
 and married], Halle, 1851. He explains a large part of the various scenes as dreams, some of which 
 were directly represented (by apparitions of ghosts), and some narrated subsequently (so, e. g., 
 ii. 8-17 ; iii. 1-5 ; v. 2-vi. 3) ; he takes other sections as v. 8 ff. ; vi. 11 ff. to be rhapsodies of 
 Shulamith's romantic and enthusiastic fancy, etc.) 
 
 E. Meier, Dm Hohelied, etc. [The Song of Solomon] Tubingen, 1854, returns to the sim- 
 pler and more moderate view of Ewald. 
 
 F. HiTZiG, Das Hohelied erkldrt [The Song of Solomon explained] in the Kurzgefasstes exe- 
 get. Handb. zum A. T. [Condensed exegetical manual to the Old Test.], Part 16, Leipzig, 1855. 
 brings in besides Shulamith and her country lover — comp. § 2, Rem. 1, — also Solomon's wife 
 (e. g., iii. 6-11 ; iv. 16 ff.), and one of his concubines (vii. 2-11) speaking and acting, thus making 
 the plot as complicated as possible. 
 
 E. F. Feiedp.ich, Cantici Canticorum Salomonis poetica forma, 1855, and " Das sogen. Ho- 
 helied Salomonis oder vielmehr das pathetische Dramation 'Sulamiih ' parallelistisch aus dem 
 Hebr. iiberselzt " [The so-called Song of Solomon, or rather the pathetic drama ' Shulamith ' 
 translated from the Hebrew in parallelisms]. Reprinted from the Alfpreussische Monatsschrift , 
 Konigsberg, 1866. He seeks with the minutest care to dissect the artistic structure of the dra- 
 matic whole in its details, distinguishing four acts with ten scenes and one hundred and sixty 
 chain-links [calellas], or clauses into which the verses are sub-divided ; he mingles with it 
 much that is trifling and incongruous without doing justice in any way to the theological 
 character of the poem. 
 
 J. Q. Vaihisgee, Der Prediger und das Hohelwd rhythmisch ubersetzt und erklavt [Ec- 
 clesiastea and the Song of Solomon rhythmically translated and explained], Stutt., 1858, 
 follows for the most part the view of Ewald, but with a critically independent attitude. 
 
 Fe. Ed. VVeissbach, Das Hohelied Salomo's ubersetzt erkldrt und in seiner kunstreichen poet. 
 Form, dargestellt [The Song of Solomon translated, explained and exhibited in its highly artistic 
 and poetical form], Leipz., 1858; by an acute and thorough criticism of the other erotic and dra- 
 matic views he simplifies the action of the piece to the extent of making it refer simply to ona 
 loving relation between Solomon and Shulamith, but denies the reality of the transaction (comp. 
 34, Rem. 2), and in connection with this refuses also to admit the existence of a more profound 
 ethical idea, or a typical and Messianic significance of the poem). 
 
 Ernest Renan, Le canlique des cantiques, traduit de I' Hehreu, avec une etude sur le p'",n. 
 V ige et le caraclere dupoeme, Paris, 1860, 2d edit., 1861, approaches, most nearly to the views 
 
40 INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 of BbTTCHEK and Hitzig, only he fantastically remodols them after his own fashion, and thus 
 brings out a romantic sentimental pastoral piece, in which even a ballet is introduced (vii. 2 ff; 
 "une dameme dii Harem"). Comp. ? 2, Rem. 1. 
 
 g 7. CONCLUSION. 
 
 e. ITie typical- Messianic view, or that based upon its position in the redemptive history. 
 
 The two principal modes of viewing the Song of Solomon thus far considered, the purely alle- 
 gorical as well as the one-sided treatment of it as secular history, not only have the suspicious cir- 
 cumstance against them that the greatest vacillation prevails in shaping the views of their ad- 
 herents in detail from the earliest periods to the present, and that no one of these views com- 
 mends itself at first sight as a perfectly satisfactory solution of the enigma ; but both of them in- 
 troduce into the test of the Song strange and unproved assumptions which are in flat contradic- 
 tion with its peculiar character both internally and externally. The allegorical explanation, 
 however it may be modified in its details, malies the utterly inconceivable and improbable, nay, 
 monstrous assumption, that by the " king Solomon " of the song is meant not the historical ruler 
 so named, but a heavenly prototype of the same name, nay, in actual fact, no other than Jehovah 
 Himself, and then further involve3 itself in inextricable difficulties in its explanation of particu- 
 lars, e.g., of the sixtv queens and eighty concubines of this heavenly Solomon, as well as of his 
 mother, his sedan and crown, etc. To which is to be added further the suspicious circumstance 
 that in every other instance in which the figurative language of the Old Test, symbolizes the re- 
 lation of Jehovah to Israel as a marriage or betrothal, it is the bride that is represented in the 
 least favorable light, nay, that is mostly described as a harlot* (so particularly in Hosea, Jere- 
 miah, Ezekiel; comp. above, ? 4, p. 16), whilst in the Song of Solomon the precise opposite of 
 this is the case [?]. The profane secular-history explanation not only sees itself driven to various 
 artificial hypotheses and auxiliary hypotheses, especially to the introduction of one, two, three 
 or more subordinate persons, whose entrance upon the scene there is nothing in the text to indi- 
 cate, and which, as particularly the "shepherd" or "herdsman," are introduced as apparitions, 
 suddenly and without any thing to prepare the way for their coming ; it also leaves totally un- 
 explained how this mere worldly love-song, in which Solomon is alleged to be represented in so 
 extremely disadvantageous a light as the seducer of female innocence, could have found admis- 
 sion to the canon of Scripture, and this with a title, which prefixed to it with commendatory 
 emphasis the very name of Solomon himself, the great royal singer and sage (comp. | 1 and 3) ! 
 Against the allegorical or directly Messianic view testimony is borne by the too earthly and even 
 sinful colors, in which Solomon, the historical Solomon of the 1st book of Kings, is depicted as 
 the hero of the piece. The one-sided secular history explanation with its directly anti-Solomonic 
 and consequently also an ti- Messianic tendencies is refuted by the fact that Solomon's perseve- 
 rance in his adulterous designs and polygamous desires in the face of Shulamith's innocence, 
 cannot be shown to be a matter belonging to the subject of the piece by a single decisive proof- 
 passage, but that on the contrary it is evident to an unbiassed exegesis that he and no other is 
 Shulamith's lover, and the real object of the dramatic representation is his being brought back 
 from the dizzy heights of a harem's voluptuous morals, to the morally pure and inviolable 
 standpoint of conjugal chastity, love and fidelity. 
 
 Since the typical reference of the loving relation depicted in the piece to Christ and His Church, 
 enters into combination with this simple and worthy view in the most unconstrained manner 
 and of its own accord as it were, as has been already briefly intimated J 4, and as the exposition 
 of the Song will have to show more in detail, this may be designated the typical-Messianic, or — 
 since every element of the redemptive history possesses of itself, and by an inner necessity, a 
 typical virtue which points forwards and upwards — the redemptive-history view. Attempts to 
 establish and carry it out were probably already made here and there in the ancient church, es- 
 pecially as New Testament pa.ssages, such as above all Christ's declaration respecting Himself as 
 a greater than Solomon (Matt. xii. 42; comp. Matt. vi. 28; Rev. iii. 20), a p near to favor it 
 
 • [This Scriptural uaago manifestly lies against ZOckler's own interpretation rather than the allegorical, os commonlj 
 held.— Tr.] 
 
§ 7. HISTORY OF THE INTERPRETATION OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 41 
 
 rather than the allegorical or the direct Messianic interpretation. But the greatly preponder- 
 ating inclination of the fathers, which soon attained exclusive sway, to plunge immediately and 
 at once into the spiritual sense, must have stifled in its birth every attempt to assert at the same 
 time a historical sense, and branded it with the same anathema as the profane-erotic interpreta- 
 tion of Theodore of Mopsuestia. It was not until after the middle ages, therefore, that more 
 numerous and important attempts were made to unite the historical with the more profound 
 spiritual meaning by the intermediate link of the type.and attempts not barely of the half-way, 
 external sort, like that of Grotius (see ? 6), but such as were seriously meant and worthily 
 maintained. Thus above all that of the noble Spanish mystic, Louis de Leon (t 1591), who had it 
 is true to pay the penalty in the prisons of the inquisition of his departure from the broadly 
 trodden path of the traditional allegorizing, as well as his choice of the Spanish language for 
 the composition of his commentary; and further the like attempts of the reformed interpre- 
 ters, Mercieb, Lightfoot and Lowth, as well as of the famous Catholic preacher and his- 
 torian BossuET. VON HoFM.!iNN still tries to maintain the assumption common to these former 
 adherents of the typical view, that the bride of the Song of Solomon was a daughter of 
 Pharaoh, king of Egypt, whilst Delitzsch and Naegelsbach who in the main agrees with him, 
 espouse the view, which is without doubt to be preferred by reason of vii. 1, that the bride was 
 an Israelitish country girl from Shunem. 
 
 SPECIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 Luis de Leon [Ludovicus Legionensis), Cantar de los Cantares — a translation and explana- 
 tion of the Song of Solomon in classical Spanish, written about 1569. (According to the ex- 
 tracts given by G. A. Wilkens, Fray Luis de Leon, p. 206 fF., and the remarks by which he 
 characterizes it, this expositor every where gives most prominence to the historical sense which 
 he grasps with sound esthetic feeling and artless simplicity. " Only in individual passages is 
 the veil lifted and the love of Jehovah to His people, of Christ to the soul, of believers to the 
 Lord, appears as in the highest sense the rightful bearer of all the attributes heaped upon hu- 
 man Inve. For pure human love is the noblest copy of the divine. They are alike in their 
 mutual aspirations, alike in their beginning, nutriment, development, operation, end ; as also 
 earthly beauty is the shadow of the eternally beautiful. Thus, too, the reception of the book 
 into the canon is explained. The divine Spirit has in condescension to human weakness veiled 
 the spiritual beauties of good things yet unknown in figures of things which are real, lovely and 
 well known. We should learn to joy over the distant from the joy which the near affords, and 
 thus suffer ourselves to be drawn to Him, who loves us above all." — Fray Ltjis conceives the 
 theme of the book to be simply " the bliss and pain of love " described in the form of a pastoral 
 poem, in which king Solomon is represented as a shepherd, and his bride Shulamith, the daugh- 
 ter of the Egyptian king, as a shepherdess. Their love is depicted in the nicest and most per- 
 fect manner ; in other amatory poems there is only found a shadow of the feeling and bliss of 
 love, here love is described in primal perfection even to the most subtle features of its being. — 
 As the inquisition at Valladolid took offence at this treatise on Canticles, partly on account of 
 its contents, and partly because it was written in Spanish, it remained unprinted, and Leon 
 published subsequently, after he had languished five years in prison, for his complete justifica- 
 tion a Latin treatise " Fr L. Legionensis, In Cantica Caniicormn Salomonis explanaiio" (Salom., 
 1580), in which, besides the historical sense, he also stated the spiritual more fully, and this 
 partly in the allegorical, partly the typical method. Comp. Wilkens, Ibid., p. 317 ff.). 
 
 Jo. Mercerus [le Mereier), Commentarius in Job, Proverbia, Ecclesiast el Cant. Canticorum, 
 1573. 
 
 John Lightfoot, Harmonia, Chronica el Ordo Vel. Testamenli: Opera, Traj. ad Kh. 
 1699. [A Chronicle of the Times and the Order of the Texts of the Old Testament; in his 
 Works, London, 1684. He says I , p 76. "After the building of the summer-house in the for- 
 est of Lebanon, Solomon pens the book of the Canticles, as appeareth by these passages in it, 
 Cant. iv. 8; vii. 4. Upon his bringing up Pharaoh's daughter to the house that he had prepared 
 for her, 1 Kings ix. 24, he seemeth to have made this Song. For though the best and the most 
 proper aim of it was at higher matters than an earthly marriage, yet doth he make his marriage 
 
42 INTRODUCTION TO THE SOXG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 with Pharaoh's daughter a type of that sublime and spiritual marriage betwixt Christ and Hij 
 church. Pharaoh's daughter was a heathen and a stranger natively to the church of Israel ; and 
 withal she was a black-moor, as being an African, as Cant. i. 4, 5 alludeth to it; and so she was 
 the kindlier type of what Solomon intended in all particulars. — Tr.] 
 
 Rob. Lowth, De Sacra poesi Hebrmonim prcBlectiones academicce ; Oxon., 1753, 1763 (prcel. 
 ?>0 ff.) [In the scheme and divisions of the book he adopts the view of Bossuet to be stated 
 presently. In regard to its spiritual meaning he contends that it is neither a " continuous met- 
 aphor," nor a " parable properly so called," but a " mystical allegory in which a higher sense ia 
 superinduced upon a historical verity." The bride he decides, though not without hesitation, to 
 have been Solomon's favorite wife, the daughter of Pharaoh ; his marriage with an Egyptian 
 being an apt adumbration of the Prince of peace, who espouses to Himself a church composed 
 of Gentiles and of aliens. Her name he expresses in the form Solomitis, as denved from Solo- 
 mon, like Caia from Caius, and intended to be suggestive of the higher sense of the Song. — Tb.] 
 
 Jacques-Benigne Bossuet, Libri Salommiis, Proverhia, Ecdesiasles, Caniic. Canticorum, 
 So,pieniia, Ecclesiaslicus, cum notis, etc. Paris, 1693. [He supposes the Song to be divided 
 into seven parts, corresponding to the seven days of the marriage feast. It commences with the 
 bride's being brought home to her husband's house on the evening which, according to Jewish 
 reckoning, ushers in the first day. Then the successive mornings are indicated by the adjura- 
 tion of the bridegroom as he leaves his chamber, ii. 7; iii. 5; viii. 4. or by the admiring lan- 
 guage of the choir of virgins as the bride herself appears, iii. 6 ; viii. 5 ; vi. 10. The evenings 
 are either expressly mentioned, iii. 1 ; v. 2, or may be inferred, ii. 6 ; viii. 3. The seventh day 
 is shown to be the Sabbath by the fact of the bridegroom coming in public attended by his bride, 
 viii. 5, instead of going forth alone to his occupation as he had done previously. — -Tk.] 
 
 [A. Calmet, Commentaire litMral sur k Cantiqm des Cantiques. " His views are substan- 
 tially the same as Bossuet's."] 
 
 (Harmer), Maierialien zu einer neuen Erkidrung des Hohenliedes, Vom Verfasser der Beo- 
 h'lr.htungen ubcr den Orient. From the English, 2 Parts, 1778-79. [The original title is. The 
 Outlines of a New Commentary on Solomon's Song, drawn by the help of Instructions from tho 
 East, containing^!. Remarks on its^eneral nature; II. Observations on detached Places of il ; 
 III. Queries concerning the rest of this poem. By the author of Observations on divers Pas- 
 sages of Scripture. London, 1768.] He explains like those before named, the whole as a cele- 
 bration of Solomon's marriage with a daughter of the king of Egypt, and leaves the profounder 
 spiritual meaning almost entirely out of sight. [He finds two queens in the course of the 
 Song — the former principal queen who speaks, iii. 1, etc., and the daughter of Pharaoh who is 
 henceforth made her "equal in honor and privileges," and who is " frequently mentioned after- 
 wards in history, while the other is passed over in total silence," this new marriage being an apt 
 representation of the ■' conduct of the Messiah towards the Gentile and Jewish churches."— Tr.] 
 
 Salvador, Hinloire des institutions de Moise, Vol. II. Paris, 1828 (like the preceding.) 
 
 J. Chr, K. v. Hoffmann, Wiissagung und ErfuUung [Prophecy and Fulfilment] I., 189 ff.; 
 ftchriflbeweis [Scripture proof] II., 2, 370 fif. (corap. above | 2, Rem. 1, J 4, Rem. 1.) 
 
 Feanz Delitzsch, Das Hohelicd unlersucht und ausgelegl [The Song of Solomon investigated 
 and expounded], 1851 (see above, I 2 and 4.) 
 
 Ed. Naegelsbach, in Reuter's AUg. Repertorium der theol. Liieratur, 1851, No. IV. 
 
 Schlottmann, see immediately below. 
 
 contributions to the explanation of the song of Solomon in monographs. 
 
 G. A. RuPERTi, Sijmbolce ad interpretationem S. C'odicis. Vol. l.,/asc. 1, 2, Gotting., 1782. 
 
 P. Andr. van Kooten, Observatiniies ad nnnniMa Cantic. Canticorum toca ; disseriat., Ul- 
 tra]., 1774. 
 
 J. F. Neunhoper, Versuch eines ne^ien Beitrags zur Erkidrung des Hohenlieds [Essay toward 
 a new contribution to the explanation of the Song of Solomon], Leipz., 1775. 
 
 .\nton, Satomonis carmen melicum ad metr. prise, et mod. music, rcvocatum. Viteb., 1793. 
 
 J. P. Gaab, Beitraeoe, etc. See above, p. 37. 
 
 Lisdemann, in Keil's iirarf Tzschirner's Anakktcn, III., 1, p 1 ff. 
 
? 7. HISTORY OF THE INTERPRETATION OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 43 
 
 Hartmann, in Winer's Zeitackrift, I. 3, p. 420 ff. 
 
 G. HoELEMANN, die Krone des iZoAenfo'ecb (allegorical explanation of ch. viii), Leipz., 1856. 
 
 see above, p. 32. 
 
 ScHLOTTMANN, The bridal procession of the Song of Solomon (iii. 6-11) in the Studien und 
 Kritiken, 1867, II, ranges himself at the very begiuning decidedly on the side of the typical 
 expositors: "Whatever we may think of the origin and strict literal sense of the Song of Solo- 
 mon, the right will ever verify itself anew, to see in the love there represented the emblem of 
 the higher divine love which unites the church to her heavenly Lord," etc.) 
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY BIBLIOORAPHY ADDED BY THE TRANSLATOR. 
 
 Englwh Commentaries on the Song of Solomon. 
 [Venerable Bede wrote seven books on the Canticles. The first is " a controversial preface 
 warning his readers against the Commentary of Julian of Eclanum which that writer had made 
 a vehicle for his Pelagian doctrines." This betrayed Williams (and Ginsburq, who copies him) 
 into the error of supposing that the whole " work was intended as a defence of the doctrines of 
 grace against the Pelagians." The seventh book "comprises a series of extracts from all parts 
 of Gregory's writings, bearing upon the Song." In the other five books "he has followed the 
 footsteps of the fathers, leaving the works of Gregory intact." 
 
 "The Commentary of Foliot, Bishop of London in the 12th century, with the Compendium 
 of Alcuin, was printed in 1638, and is repeatedly referred to by Dr. Gill." 
 
 ScoTus is favorably spoken of by Poole, Si/nopsis Crit., Vol. It., Pref., as not one of the last 
 to be named of this period ; " author no7i inter postremos memorandus." 
 
 The first three chapters of the Canticles, with Beza's sermons on them, translated bv John 
 H.vrmar, Oxford, 1587. 
 
 Thomas James (librarian at O.xford), Expositio libri Cantioorum, ex patribus. 4to, Oxford 
 1607. 
 
 Thomas Wilcocks, An Exposition upon the book of the Canticles, London, 1624. 
 
 Henoch CLAPHAif, The first Part of the Song of Songs expounded and applied, London, 1602. 
 
 Bishop Hall, An open and plain Paraphrase upon the Song of Songs, London, 1609. 
 
 .1. Be.\le, Solomon's Song with an Exposition, London, 1615. 
 
 Henry Ainsworth (a Brownist divine), Annotations upon the five books of Moses, the book 
 of the Psalms, and the Song of Songs or Canticles, London, 1639. This volume has done much 
 to shape the current allegorical exposition of the Song. It is accompanied by a metrical para- 
 phrase. 
 
 Thomas Briohtman, Commentary on the Canticles, London, 1044. '■ He regards the book as 
 prophetic, and divides it into two parts ; the first, chap, i.— iv. 6, describes the condition of the 
 
 legal church from the time of David to the death of Christ: and the second, chap. iv. 7 viii. 14 
 
 the state of the evangelical church from A. D. 34 to the second coming of Christ." 
 
 John Cotton, A brief Exposition of the whole book of Canticles, London, 1648. He likewise 
 regards it as descriptive of the state of the church from Solomon's own time to the last 
 judgment. 
 
 John Robotham, Exposition on the whole book of Solomon's Song, London, 1652. 
 
 .\SSEMBLY of Divines, Annotations upon all the books of the Old and New Testament Lon- 
 don, 1657. Very brief notes raamly occupied with suggesting the spiritual import of the 
 Song. 
 
 W. Guild. Love's Intercourse between the Lamb and his Bride, Christ and His Church, in a 
 clear explication and application of the Song of Solomon, London, 1658. 
 
 •James Durham, fjavis Cantici, London, 1668. " Published after his death with a recommen- 
 dation by Dr. Owen." 
 
 De Veil, Explicatio Literalis Cant. Cant., London, 1679. 
 
 John Collinoes, The Intercourses of Divine Love betwixt Christ and His Church, or the 
 particular believing soul, metaphorically expressed by Solomon in Canticles i. and ii , 2 vols. 
 Iiondon, 1683. 
 
44 INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 John Trapp, A Commentary upon the book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solo- 
 mon, London, 1650. 
 
 Bishop Patrick's Paraphrase and Annotations on this Song were published in 1700 ; Mat- 
 thew Henry's Exposition a few years after. 
 
 Whiston published an Essay in 1723, charging the Song of Solomon with containing " from 
 the beginning to the end marks of folly, vanity and looseness, ' maintaining " that it was written 
 by Solomon when he was wicked, and foolish, and lascivious, and idolatrous," and urging its re- 
 jection from the sacred canon. 
 
 John Gill, An Exposition of the book of Solomon's Song commonly called Canticles, London, 
 1728. "A vast treasure of varied learning, sound doctrine and spiritual experience ; but it is neither 
 sufficiently condensed, nor is it so digested by the author as to present to the reader a clear idea of 
 his own interpretation." He pushes the allegory to the furthest extreme, and attaches every sense 
 to the words which they can possibly bear. The first edition contains a translation of the Tar- 
 gum upon this book. Another comment by the same author is contained in his Exposition of 
 tlie Old and New Testament. 
 
 John Wesley, in his Explanatory notes upon the Old Testament, Bristol, 1765, also defends 
 the allegorical interpretation of this book, and especially disallows its reference to Solomon and 
 Pharaoh's daughter. 
 
 [Qifford], a Dissertation on the Song of Solomon, with the original text divided according 
 to the metre [upon Bishop Hare's hypothesis], and a poetical version, 1751. He " considers the 
 poem as a pastoral composed by Solomon as the amusement of his lighter hours, just after his 
 nuptials with Pharaoh's daughter, and before God had so remarkably appeared to him and given 
 him that divine wisdom, for which he was afterwards so eminent." 
 
 [Bishop Percy], The Song of Solomon, newly translated from the original Hebrew, with a 
 commentary and annotations, London, 1764. He confines himself to the literal sense, and 
 adopts substantially the view of Bossuet that it was written on the occasion of Solomon's mar- 
 riage with Pharaoh's daughter, and is divided into seven parts answering to the seven days of 
 the wedding feast. 
 
 Mrs. Bowdlee, Song of Solomon paraphrased, with an introduction, containing some remarks 
 on a late new translation (Percy's) of this sacred poem; also a commentary and notes critical 
 and practical, Edinburgh, 177-5. 
 
 DuRELL, Critical remarks on Job, Proverbs, Psalms, Ecclesiastes and Canticles, 1772, follows 
 the same general theory, but " totally excludes any allegorical or spiritual design." 
 
 The Song of Solomon paraphrased, with an Introduction, Commentary and Notes (published 
 anonymously), Edinburgh, 1775. 
 
 W. Green, The Poetical Parts of the Old Testament translated, with notes, 1781. 
 
 Bernard Hodgson, Solomon's Song translated from the Hebrew, Oxford, 1786. " The mys- 
 tical sense of the Song is never referred to — not denied, still less acknowledged." 
 
 T. Williams, The Song of Songs, which is by Solomon, a new translation with a commentary 
 and notes, London, 1801. Republished in Philadelphia, 1803. Adopts like the preceding the 
 general hypothesis of Bossdet and Lowth, and takes note of the spiritual meaning throughout. 
 
 John Mason Good, Song of Songs, or sacred Idyls translated, with notes critical and explana- 
 tory, London, 1803. Containing a literal prose translation and a very elegant metrical version. 
 "A work of great beauty, in which the author allows and defends the allegorical, but confines 
 himself to the literal sense." He " regards the entire song as a collection of distinct idyls upon 
 one common subject, and that the loves of the Hebrew monarch and his fair bride." 
 
 William Davidson, Brief outline of an examination of the Song of Solomon, with remarks 
 critical and expository, London, 1817. He interprets "the Song of Solomon of the Christian 
 church from the time of John the Baptist." 
 
 Scott's Notes in his Commentary on the Bible follow the current allegorical exposition, and 
 are largely drawn from Bishop Patrick. 
 
 Adam Clarke eschews the allegorical interpretation, and assigns as his reasons : " 1. Because 
 we do not know that it is an allegory. 2. If one, the principles on which such allegory is to be 
 explained do nowhere appear." Appended to his commentary is a translation of the Targum or 
 
§ 7. HISTORY OF THE INTERPRETATION OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 45 
 
 Chaldee paraphrase of this book ; also the Hindoo mystical poem, the Gitagovinda, which, agreea- 
 bly to the suggestion of Sir William Jones, he regards as illustrative of the Song of Solomon. 
 
 B. BooTHEOYD, The Hebrew Scriptures of the Old Testament without points after the text of 
 Kensicott, accompanied with English Notes, critical, pliilologioal and explanatory, 2 vols. 4to. 
 The notes consist for the most part of extracts from preceding commentators, chiefly Percy, 
 Geeen, Good, Hodgson, and Haemee. 
 
 John Fey, Canticles, a new translation with notes, London, 1811. The book is regarded as a 
 collection of idyls, some of which were suggested by the marriage of Solomon, others by different 
 domestic scenes in humble life ; but all are parables of the love of Christ and His Church. 
 
 Charles Taylor in the Biblical Fragments (Nos. 345-453) appended to Calmet's Diction- 
 ary, 1838. Well characterized by Moody Stdaet; '-His translation and arrangement of the 
 Song of Songs — relating merely to its outward structure as Solomon's marriage festival — evince 
 great research, abundant ingenuity, the utmost delicacy and refinement of feeling, along with a 
 most exuberant fancy." 
 
 W. Newman, Solomon's Song of Songs, a new translation, London, 1839. 
 
 Pye Smith in his " Scripture Testimony to the Messiah," 1847, " regards this Song as a pas- 
 toral eclogue or a succession of eclogues representing in the vivid color of Asiatic rural scenery 
 the honorable loves of a newly married bride and bridegroom." This led to a controversy be- 
 tween him and De. Bennett in the Congregational Magazine for 1837 and 1838, respecting the 
 proper interpretation of the Song. A subsequent article in the same periodical (for 1838, p. 
 471 ff.) declares that there is ''no more reason for its spiritual interpretation than for its appli- 
 cation to the revival of letters, the termination of feudalism, or any other gratifying circum- 
 stance in civil or political life." Ginsbueg. 
 
 J. Skinnee, An Essay towards a literal or true radical exposition of the Song of Songa. 
 
 Robert Sandeman, On Solomon's Song. 
 
 W. RoMAiNE. Discourses upon Solomon's Song. 
 
 R. Hawkee, Commentary on Solomon's Song. 
 
 Meditations on the Song of Solomon, London, 1848. 
 
 Feancis Baeham, The Song of Solomon. 
 
 Adelaide Newton, The Song of Solomon compared with other parts of Scripture, 1852. 
 
 Peter Macpheeson, The Song of Songs shown to be constructed on architectural principles, 
 Edinburgh, 1856. •' His supposition that this song consists of verses written round an arch- 
 way, is so entirely gratuitous, that it is only misguiding and deceptive." Moody Stuart. 
 
 Kitto in his Pictorial Bible and in his Daily Bible Illustrations " presents much useful infor- 
 mation on the Song of Solomon." 
 
 Samuel Davidson, (The Text of the Old Testament Considered, London, 1856, and Introduc- 
 tion to the Old Testament, 1862) adopts the shepherd hypothesis, regards it as a purely amatory 
 poem, having neither an allegorical nor a typical sense, and written not by Solomon, but by a 
 citizen of the northern kingdom twenty-five or thirty years after Solomon's death. 
 
 A. Moody Stdaet, An Exposition of the Song of Solomon, London, 1857 (republished Phila- 
 delphia, 1869). The peculiarity of this eminently devout and spiritual commentary is the par- 
 allel instituted and carried out in a most ingenious and elaborate manner between the Song of 
 Solomon and the Gospels and Acta of which it is regarded as a prophetic epitome. He regards 
 i. 2 — ii. 7 as descriptive of the period immediately before and after the birth of Christ ; ii. 8 — iii. 
 5 from the appearance of John till the baptism of Jesus ; iii. 6 — v. 1 from Christ's return out of 
 the wilderness till the last supper ; v. 2 — viii. 5 from the agony in the garden till the evange- 
 lizing of the Samaritans; viii. 5-14 from the calling of the Gentiles till the close of revelation. 
 
 Benjamin Weiss (a converted Jew), The Song of Songs unveiled, a new translation and exposi- 
 tion of the Song of Solomon, Edinburgh, 1859. He conceives it to be " half historical and half 
 prophetical," and to embrace the entire interval from the dedication of the tabernacle of Moses to 
 the resurrection of Christ and the formation of churches among the Gentiles. 
 
 Christian Ginsbueg, The Song of Songs translated from the original Hebrew, with a com- 
 mentary historical and critical, London, 1857, and in his article on Solomon's Song in the third 
 Edition of KiTTo's Cyclopedia, advocates the shepherd hypothesis. " This song records the his- 
 
46 INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 tory of an humble but virtuous woman, who after having been espoused to a man of like humble 
 circumstances, had been tempted in a most alluring manner to abandon him, and to transfer her 
 affections to one of the wisest and richest of men, but who successfully resisted all temptations, 
 remained faithful to her espousals, and was ultimately rewarded for her virtue." The historical 
 sketch of the exegesis of the book is very full and valuable, though warped by the peculiar views 
 of the writer. 
 
 Joseph Francis Thrupp, The Song of Songs, a revised translation, with introduction and 
 commentary, Cambridge, 1862, divides the Song into six groups ; see note on p. 11. " The theme 
 of the first group is the anticipation of Christ's coming; the second represents the waiting for 
 that blessed time ; in the third he is arrived, and we have there the description of the espousal and 
 its fruits. The fourth group delineates the subsequent bodily departure of the Bridegroom from 
 his Bride ; the fifth his spiritual presence with her ; and the sixth their complete and final re- 
 union." '• The earlier half of the Song presents to us only those glories which older seers had in 
 various ways also heralded. With respect to the latter half of the Song the case is different. The 
 distinctness with which it is there unfolded that the coming of the Messiah will not of itself be 
 the final termination of all earthly expectation and anxiety is unparalleled not merely in all 
 earlier Scripture, but throughout the whole of the Old Testament. Nowhere else do we find a 
 passage which speaks as Cant. v. 2-8 speaks of a withdrawal of the Messiah from the church for 
 whose salvation He has once appeared." This he accounts for by supposing it based on a typical 
 application of the translation of Elijah. The untimely removal of this distinguished prophet, 
 who was fondly styled " the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof," and the painful void 
 created by his departure, foreshadowed a similar experience in the case of Messiah, the last and 
 greatest of the prophets, who should in like manner forsake His sorrowing people for a season, 
 though with the view of ultimately returning never to leave them more. The Song he supposes 
 to have been written a century or more after the death of Solomon by a member of one of the 
 prophetical schools in the kingdom of the ten tribes. 
 
 Isaac Taylor, The Spirit of the Hebrew Poetry ; republished in New York, 1862, devotes chap. 
 X. to Solomon and the Song of Songs. 
 
 Chb. Wordsworth, The Books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon in the au- 
 thorized version, with notes and introductions (Vol. IV. Part III. of his Commentary on the 
 Bible), London, 1868. He regards it as a prophetic allegory, suggested by the occasion of Solo- 
 mon's marriage with Pharaoh's daughter, and descriptive of " the gathering of the world into 
 mystical union with Christ, the consecration of the world into a church espoused to Him as the 
 Bride." 
 
 W. Houghton, Translation of the Song of Solomon, and short explanatory notes (London, 
 1865), in which, as stated by the American editor of Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, the Song 
 is viewed as secular and the theme conceived to be the fidelity of chaste love. 
 
 American Commentaries. 
 
 Of the discussions of this book which have appeared in this country, the most noteworthy are 
 the following : 
 
 Moses Stdart, in his Critical History and Defence of the Old Testament Canon (Andovej-, 
 1845), devotes pp. 364-385 to a consideration of the Canticles. He regards it as " expressing 
 the warm and earnest desire of the soul after God in language borrowed from that which charac- 
 terizes chaste affection between the sexes," and as applicable to the church only in so far as what 
 pertains to individuals who are pious is common to the entire body of believers. He thinks the 
 book to be so peculiarly Oriental in its imagery and style of thought, that while adapted to the 
 religious wants of those amongst whom it originated, and probably reserved for a new period ol 
 usefulness in the East when Christianized, it is of inferior value to occidental Christians generally. 
 
 George R. Notes, A new Translation of the Proverbs. Ecclesiastes and the Canticles, with 
 introductions and notes, chiefly explanatory, Boston, 1846. He conceives the book to be a col- 
 lection of amatory songs " written by some Jewish poet, either in the reign of Solomon or soon 
 after it," and without any " express moral or religions design." 
 
J 7. HISTORY OF THE INTERPRETATION OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 Calvin E. Stowe, in the Biblical Repository for April, 1847, gives a partial translation of 
 the Song of Solomon, and defends its allegorical interpretation. 
 
 George Borrowes, A Commentary on the Song of Solomon, Philadelphia, 1853; also an ar- 
 ticle on the Song of Solomon m the Princeton Review for October, 1849. " The Song is a con- 
 tinuous and coherent whole, illustrating some ol the most exalted and delightful exercises of 
 the believing heart." He deems it " more profitable and natural in meditating on this book, to 
 view the bride as the representative of the individual believer rather than of the whole church. 
 As the church is a collection of individuals, its state must be that of the members composing it ; 
 and no distinction can be drawn between the love of Jesus for the collective body and His love 
 for the several persons constituting the whole mass." The illustrations from Oriental manners 
 and parallel passages in ancient and modern literature are particularly copious and judicious. 
 
 Leonard Withington, Solomon's Song translated and explained, Boston, 1861. The bride 
 of the Song is the daughter of an Arab Sheikh (vii. 1), whom Solomon married, as he did a mul- 
 titude of other princesses from the little tribes around Palestine, with the " wish of spreading the 
 Hebrew empire and religion through the vicinity. And he writes this poem to show how pure 
 his felicity, how happy his marriage with a rural bride taken from a pagan nation, whom never- 
 theless he brings under the influence of the true religion, and hopes to convert to the true faith, 
 and make one of the instruments of promoting the glory of his peaceful kingdom. But the oc- 
 casional song was exalted by the providence of God into a higher purpose. That purpose was 
 mainly and primarily to foreshow the formation and union of the Gentile church with Christ 
 when a more sublime and spiritual religion should be presented." 
 
 A. R. Fatjsset and B. M. Smith, The Poetical Books of the Holy Scriptures with a critical 
 and explanatory commentary, Philadelphia, 1867. Largely based upon the commentary of 
 MooDT Stdart, whose divisions and historical application it adopts. 
 
 Metrical Translations. 
 
 The metrical translations of the Song of Solomon are very numerous. In addition to the Latin 
 paraphrases by A. Johnson, (Physician to Charles I.) and J. Kee (Professor of Greek in Aber- 
 deen, 1727) commended by Moody Stdart for their elegance, and an anonymous English para- 
 phrase "'The loves of the Lord with his troth-plight spouse" quoted and spoken of with appro- 
 bation by the same author, it has been versified (either separately or combined with the Psalms 
 or other poetical portions of the Old Testament), by William Baldwin, 1549 ; J. Smith, 1575 ; 
 Robert Fletcher, 1586; Dudley Fenner, 1587; Markhau, 1596; Aruall, 1621; A ins- 
 worth, 1623; Sandys, 1641; Boyd, 1644; R. Smith, 1653; Hildersham, 1672; T. S. (Lon- 
 don) 1676 ; Woodford, 1679 ; Hills. 1681 ; Lloyd, 1682 ; Mason, 1683 ; Reeve, 1684 ; Bev- 
 erley, 1687; Barton, 1688; Fleming, 1691; Stennett, 1700; Symson, 1701; Ralph 
 Eeskine, 1736; Tansur, 1738; Elizabeth Rowe. 1739; Bland, 1750; Johnson, 1751; 
 Gifford, 1751; Barclay, 1767; Ann Francis, 1781; Good, 1803; Mason, 1818; Taylor, 
 1820 ; a late graduate of Oxford, 1845 ; Metrical Meditations, 1856. Another is announced as 
 forthcoming by Mr. William S. Rentool, of Philadelphia, to accompany his edition of Moody 
 Stuart's commentary. 
 
 For Sermons preached on different passages from the Song of Solomon, see Darling's Cyclo- 
 paedia Bibliographica : Holy Scriptures, pp. 583-586. — Tb.] 
 
THJii 
 
 SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 TITLE: 
 
 I. 1 THE SONG OF SONGS, WHICH IS BY SOLOMON. 
 
 FIRST SONG. 
 
 The first time the lovers were together at the royal palace {in or near) Jerusalem, 
 (Chap. I. 2— II. 7). ^ 
 
 FIRST SCENE: 
 
 Shulamith and the Daughters of Jerusalem. 
 
 (Chap. I. 2-8). 
 
 Shulamith. 
 
 2 ^Let him kiss me with kisses^ of his mouth, 
 
 %r better is thy love than wine ! 
 
 3 In fragrance thine unguents are good ;* 
 
 ^an ungueut^ poured forth is thy name/ 
 therefore virgins h)ve thee. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 • [Wiclipfe; The Church of the coming of Christ speaketh, saying. Matthews: The voice of the Church. CoTsft- 
 T>vLE : that thy mouth would give m.* a kiss, for tUy breasts are LQure pleasant than wine, and that because of the good 
 u.iii pleaaanl savor. J. 
 
 J On the combination of the kindred words pu'J and n"5''i!/J- Comp. 1 Kin. i. 12; ii. 16; Isa. i. 13; ¥iii. lOi 
 
 .Inn. i. 10, 16, nnd ffenorally Ewald, Lphrhiich^ § 281 o, [Qr.BEs's Heb. Gram. § 271, 3]. 
 ^ [Wicliffe: The voice of tha Futher.] 
 
 * lThrupp'3 proposed emendation D^"11£3p 'JDE^ H'T? '*l'ke as the scent which cometh from incenses," ia 
 
 iiothint; but ingenious trifling, and haa not even the merit of being good Hebrew. — Tr.J 
 ^ Wir. The voice of tlie Oliurch.j 
 a Observe the assonance in TOIV and ^'^ which is probably intentional. [TffBOPP: as ointment thou art, by thy 
 
 name, ponred forth.] 
 
 ' In regard to the construction of the words 1012^ pl^H TO:!' four views are possible: 1. Qt^ is taken as the 
 
 «ul>ject, and p'lin ^ 3 pers. fem. here employed because Qii' is exceptionally used as a feminine after the analo;j:y 
 of the Ethiopia (so Ew. : "thy name is poured oat as an ointment;" Vaih.: "as th" frngrancn of balsam thy namn 
 pours itself forth," etc.) 2. TOi!/ is regarded as the subject, which is herj exceptiona.ly treated as feminine, and (■< 
 which pT^n helongs as a relative clause; "an unguent, which is shed forth, is thy name" (so the Septuag., Vulg., 
 I.UTa. and the generality of interpreters). 3. TDti-* is taken as a masc , but the form p'l-'P i-* regarded aa a hardened 
 firm for p*1V (after the analogy of Isa. xliv. 28; Eccles. x. 1.5). an i accordingly tr.inslated as before (Hitzio). 
 *■ p'H^n 's held to be the 2 pera. sm'z.. fut. Hophal with a double accusative : " thou art poured forth in respect to 
 
 tliy name as ointment," i.^., thou, or more preci-^ely thv nnme, diffnsest a noble fragrance, like a box of ointment 
 wliich is emptied of its contente (so J. 11. Michaelis : '■ sicut oe.un effwuleris nnniin'. ttw;"' Hengstenb., AVeissb.). 
 This last construction ie tu be preferred aa grammatically the best established, while it agrees in sense substantialtr 
 with Nob. 2 and 3. 
 
 :3 49 
 
60 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 1. 1— 11. 7. 
 
 Shulamith and the Daughters of Jerusalem (in responsive song). 
 
 4 Draw me ! — after thee will we run !— ' 
 
 ^The king has brought me into his chambers I ' 
 We will exult and be glad in thee, 
 will commend' thy love beyond wine ! — 
 Rightly* do they love thee ! 
 
 Shulamith. 
 
 5 'Black I am, but 'comely, ye daughters of Jerusalem, 
 
 as the tents of Kedar, as the tent-cloths of Solomon 
 
 6 Look" not at me, because' I am dusky,'" 
 
 because the sun has scorched" me ; 
 "my mother's sons were angry" with me, 
 made me keeper of the vineyards ; — 
 mine own vineyard I have not kept." 
 
 {Looking around for Solomori). 
 
 7 '^Tell me, thou whom my soul loveth, where'^ feedest thou ? 
 
 where makest thou (thy flock) to recline at noon ? 
 For" why should I be as one straying" 
 by the flocks of thy companions ? 
 
 Daughters of Jerusalem. 
 
 8 "If thou know not," fairest among women, 
 
 go forth in the footprints of the flock 
 
 and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents. 
 
 1 [Matt. Tea, that same moveth me also to run after thee.] 
 
 ' IM-ATT. Tho spouai'SS to her conipaiiions] 
 
 3 [Cov., Cra.nmcr, Bisaops : " privy c:iariilier ;" Dowat : " cellars," altered in later editions to "store-rooms.'M 
 
 * Upon "T3tn prop. " to meutioQ, bring to remembrance," then " to raeation with praise, celebrate," comp. 
 
 Ps. IX. 8; Isa. ilviii. 1; Ixiii. 7; also Ps. xiv. 18; 1 Chron. xvi. 4, where it is parallel to mlH thank^ praise. 
 
 T 
 
 s rCov. Well is th-m that love thee. Exo. Ver. The upright, Marg. uprightly. Notes, Borrowes: sincerely.] 
 
 6 [SVlc. Tho Cliiirch, ot her tribulations. Mat. The voicn of the Church in persecution. Cov., Cran. I am black, 
 
 (0 ye (Jauiihters of .Terusalem) like a.s the tents of the Ceitarenes and as the hangings of Solomon; but yot I am f.*ir 
 
 and well-favored witlial. Gi.nsbuko: swarthy.] 
 ^ [Withinoton; fair; Bcrrowes: lovely.] 
 
 8 [Cov. marvel; Dow.AT : consider; Williams, Notes: gaze; With, scorn; Ginsburg : disdain.] 
 » ty signifies in both instances, in ""JX^ and in ^jniJlL^iy not "for," but '-for the reason that," "because" 
 
 (eis exeti-o on) ; comp. Ex. ii. 2. The second clause is therefore co-ordinated with the first, although explanatory of 
 it (comp. WeiiSB. in loc.; 
 
 10 [Cov. : so black. E. Ver. black; Dowat : brown; Weiss: swarthy; BoR., Theopp: dark.] On n^mnt? 
 
 blackish, dusky fnnt " very black deep black," as Uitz. and formerly Ewald too would have it), comp. on ver. 5 
 above [iJreen's H.'.b, Gran , § 188]. 
 
 11 n;!y is not "look upon" [so E. V. ; Cov. shiued; Will, beamed; Thrijpp : fiercely scanned; Weiss: glanced) 
 
 (Septaag. jrape'^Aeifie, comp. Job XX. 9), but is here=nnty (Gen. xli. 23) "scorch, blacken," the sense already expressed 
 
 liy Aqcila (aivtKavri (Le) and the Vnlg. (d'ci'tornvit me) [Good: discolored; Bob., Gins, browned], and retained by 
 moat of tliL- recent interpreters (in oppi)sitiou to Rjse\m., Uenqstevb., Weissb.). 
 
 12 [Mat. Tile voI'm- or' the Svnagoi;ue.] 
 
 " ?"inj either Niph. of Tin '" O'Jrn, g!om, (so Ew., Meier, IIitz.), or more probably from HITI (so that the 
 
 sing, would be mn] or Hlnj); for tho Niph. of "nn always elsewhere means "to be dried, parched" (Ps. Ixix. 
 4; cii. 4, etc.), whilsD Ihe meaning demanded here is "to be angry, wroth." Comp. asSEmos' Lexicon and Weissb. in 
 loc. [Civ.: had evil will.] 
 
 1* I C »v. : rhtis WIS I fain to keep a vinevaTd, which w.os not mine own.] 
 
 15 (Wic, MlT. The voice of -the Chur.h to Clirist.] 
 
 '° riD'S elsewhere /lowf [which Weis'. retains] is here=ni3'X wheref so too 2 Kin. vi. 13, K'thibh, whilst the 
 
 Kri has^O-N. 
 
 " rrobu' properly "for why" (comp. H'sS ItyS, Dan. i. 10), a fuller exoression for the simple n"37 '"hi/, as 
 
 T T - T T V -: T T 
 
 in Job xxxiv. 27, t3"7;T IK?** stands for \3'1}?. Ps. ilv. 3. The sense is correctly given by the Sept. and Syr., 
 
 which here and in Dan. i. 10 translate "that not, lest" j,i>/nor«). [Coy.: and that. Tho critical coiyeclure menticned 
 
 by Williams, that this word should be pointed as a proper name fl""?!^ O Silomin is unworthy of attention.— Te.I 
 
 '8 [Wic. go vagrant; Cot. lest T go wrong and come unto the flocks of thy companions; B. Ver. one (Gen'.v. 
 Bhei that inrneth aside; Good, PtRCV. Clarke: waiilerer; Williams. Frt : stranger; Taylor: rover; Ginsb. ; roaming; 
 B. Ver. Marg. one that is veiled, so Notes, Wi-'Iss., Taaopp.] 
 
 " [Wic, Mat. The voic» of Christ to the C lUrch.J 
 
 20 'iS is here added inasmuch as the urtion returns upon its subject (comp. Prov. ix. 12; and ii. 6; viii. 14 below); 
 
 •O In general EwiLD, L'hrb. J 315 a [OaEIS's tTeb. Chrtst. note on Isa. xl. 9.] 
 
I. 1— II. 7. THE SONG OF SOLOMON. CI 
 
 SECOND SCENE: 
 
 Solomon and Shulamith. 
 
 (Chap. I. 9— II. 7). 
 Solomon. 
 
 9 To my horse' in Pharaoh's chariots 
 I liken' thee, my dear.' 
 
 10 Comely are thy cheeks with chains,* 
 thy neck with beads.*^ 
 
 11 Chains^ of gold will we make thee 
 with poiats' of silver. 
 
 Shulamith. 
 
 12 ^Whilst the king is at his table,' 
 my spikenard yields its fragrance. 
 
 13 A bundle"* of myrrh is my beloved" to me, 
 that lodges between my breasts. 
 
 14 A cluster of the cyprus-flower" is my beloved to me, 
 in the vineyards of Engedi. 
 
 Solomon. 
 
 15 "Lo ! thou art fair, my dear, 
 lo ! thou art fair ; thine eyes are doves. 
 
 Shulamith. 
 
 16 "Lo ! thou art fair, my beloved, yea sweet; 
 yea our couch is green.'^ 
 
 17 The beams'" of our houses are cedars, 
 our wainscot" is cypresses." 
 
 IL 1. "I am (only) a wildflower of Sharon, 
 a lily of the valleys. 
 
 Solomon. 
 2 As a lily among thorns, 
 
 so is my dear among the daughters. 
 
 ' [Wio. my ridins: Gsnev. troop (E. V. company) of horsei; Will.: the horse; NOTES; th« Dorsee: Qins. : mj 
 
 [Cov. There Will I tarry tor thee, my love, witli mine host and with my chariots, which ehall be no fewer thfin 
 Pharaoh's ] 
 
 3 Theplur. nVJ?^ [rather nVJ^T— Tk] JuJg. xi. 37 K'lhibh. [E. Veb. my love, Marg. in ver. 15: companion: 
 
 Will.: consort; Fry: partner.] 
 
 * [Uenev. rows 0/ itAiuts; E. Ver. row^o/Jtwels; Fry; jewels; With, chains; Thrupp, Ginsb. ; circlet; WxlSfs.: 
 reins.] 
 
 6 [Genev. chains; E. Ver. chains of gold ; Dow.iY ; jewels; Fry: strings of beads; Good. Bdrrowes: strings of 
 pearls: Thropp, With., <Jin?b. m.-irklace; Weiss.: chains, i. e., snch as are attached to the polo or beam of the carriage, 
 .lud which the horse we trs on lii-i necli.] 
 
 * [In atliiitioo to ttio reudeimifs ^'iven to this word in the preceding verse, Wic. here translates it : ribands; Cov. 
 Deck-band; E. Ver. borders; With, culiars.] 
 
 ' [Gov. buttons; E. Ver. studs; With, stars.] 
 
 8 I Wic. The voice of tbt? Ciiu cii, of Christ. Mat. The voice of the Church.] 
 
 9 [So Oov., Exa. Ver.; Genev. repast; Doway : repo-e, alter the V clo. acc«6i(u and the LXX avtucMfftt.; Good: 
 banquet; Fry: ' the king in his circ lit ' ni:iy either reft-r to his go n;^ round in some ptrt of the procession, or to taking his 
 Stan 1 in the midst of his retiuue, or we m ly translate, 'until the king 'jad takeu his seat;' Will., Burr, circle of friends ; 
 Weiss.: with iiis guest.] 
 
 10 [AlVHW.: bag; Taylor: scent-bair; GioD : ca-ket; Burrowes : amulet.] 
 
 " [Oov O my OeloveJ. E. Ver. my well-beloved, so consuutly throughout the book in Genev., except once ia 
 V. 9, " lover."] 
 
 " [So Cov , Dow AY, E. Ver. Marg. The text of the Eng. Ver. has caraphire.] 
 
 13 Wic, M\t. The vice of Christ to the Church.] 
 
 '* [Wic, M\T- The voice i,f the Church to Christ.] 
 
 16 Gov.. Cran., BlsH. Our bed is decked with flowers. Dow : our little bed is tiourishing.] 
 
 ifi Cov. ceilings.] 
 
 " Cov. balks; Cran.. Bish. cross-joints ; E. V.: rafters, ^larg.: galleries; Good, Notes, Fry: roof; Thbupp; 
 boardings: Parkhurst: 'eiiing; Gesen. : carved ceiling; Fuerst: carved beams]. 
 
 IS ft;. Ver. tir; .ai.ns. bruiin-tree.] 
 
 I'J [Wic The voice of Christ, of Hi.u and of the Church; M\T. The voice of Christ.] 
 
 8t«ed.] 
 
5? 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 L 1— II T 
 
 Shulamith. 
 
 3 'As an apple-tree among the trees of the wood, 
 
 80 is my beloved among the sons. 
 
 In hia shade delighted I sit. 
 
 and his fruit is sweet to my palate.' 
 
 4 He has brought me into the wine-house, 
 
 and his banner over me is love. 
 
 5 Stay me with pressed grapes,^ 
 
 refresh* me with apples, 
 for I am sick of lnve. 
 
 6 His left hand is under my head, 
 
 and his right embraces me. 
 
 7 *I adjure you, ye daughters of Jerusalem, 
 
 by the gazelles or by the hinds of the field," 
 that ye wake not, and that ye waken not 
 love till it' please. 
 
 ' [Wic, Mat. The Toice of the Church, of Chr'af.] 
 
 ■* [Cov., Cr.A.v., li se.. Dow. throit; (.i.:vEV. in<>iith; E. V. taste]. 
 
 •* jiJjV. grapes; Cb.\n , BiSH. cup:*; tjEVEV.. K. \'. ti.igoasl. 
 
 * [£. V. r.onifupt; M irg. atr-ikV inw; DjwvY, comiJ.a^i me about; .\lN'SwoaTH : strew lue a bed; Williams ; 
 riToii.< iirouiiii me; Thrupp: strew me with citron 1 uves]. 
 
 -' [^Vic. Mat. The voice of Christ, of the Chur.'h; Wlc, Dow. I adjure you; Gov., Cran., Gekev., B. 
 charge .vou.] 
 
 * [Tbrdpp has; "fells," so as to rhyme with " gazelles," in fancied imitation of the original]. 
 ' [Cov., Dow., Gknev. she ; B. V. correctly : he; Ui.**sb., Thrdpp: itj. 
 
 EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 1. For the explanation of the title, see the In- 
 troduction, ^ 1 and § 3. To the view of those 
 who asjign vers. 2-4 entirely to the " dauglitcrs 
 of .Jeriisalem," and suppose the words of Shuha- 
 lEiith to begin with ver. .5 (Hitz., V.^ih. and 
 others, so too Del ) staudsopposed — I. Tliat tlie 
 wi.sh "to be kissed with the kisses of his mouth" 
 could scarcely have been expressed by the ladies 
 of tlie court, or even by one of them, without 
 lining Shuiamith with indignation, of which, 
 however, she shows nothing in what follows. 
 2. That the way in which the lover is extolled in 
 vers. 2, 3, agrees perfectly with the fond en- 
 comiums and enlhusiastic descriptions which 
 Shulamith subsequently, i. 13, if., and ii. 3, if., 
 bestows upon her lover. 3. That the interchange 
 of the 1st sing, and the 1st plur. plainly points 
 to a diversity of persons speaking, or to an 
 alternation between a single speaker and a 
 wliole chorus. This latter circumstance likewise 
 renders their assumption impossible, wlio (as 
 Ew., Hengstenb., Weissb. and most of the older 
 interpreters) suppose that the whole of vers. 2-7 
 is spoken by Shulamith. Undoubtedly Shulamith 
 and the ladies of the court here respond to each 
 other in speech or song ; yet not so that only 
 the words *' Draw me after thee . . . chambers " 
 ver. 4 a belong to Shulamith, and all the rest to 
 ver. 5 to the " women of the harem" (so Renan), 
 but simply that all that is in the singular is to 
 be regarded as spoken by her alone, and all that 
 iB in the plural by her and the ladies together, 
 so that in particular HXllJ (we will run) and 
 
 1J1 717' JJ (we will be glad, etc.) are to be assigned 
 to the ladies who confirm the words of Shula- 
 mith l)y joining in them themselves, while 'JDtyo 
 
 ynnx (draw me after thee), Vnn "jSon "JN'^H 
 (the king has brought me into his chambers) and 
 
 ■jUnX D'^tya (they rightly love thee) belong to 
 Shulamith alone* (comp. Dopke in loc.) Then 
 vers. 5-7 unquestionably belong to Shulamith 
 alone ; ver. 8 again to the ladies of the court, who 
 reply with good-humored banter to the rustic sini- 
 ])licity and 7i«((V/e with which she has expressed 
 ver. 7 her desire for her royal lover; vers. 9, tf. 
 to Solomon, who now begins a loving conversation 
 with his beloved, reaching to the close of the act.f 
 During this familiar and cosy chat, which forms 
 the second scene of the act, the chorus of ladies 
 withdraws to the back-ground, but without 
 leaving the stage entirely; for the concluding 
 words of Shulamith ii. 7 are manifestly directed 
 to them again, and that not as absent, but as 
 present on the stage. The place of the action 
 must be supposed to be some locality in llie 
 royal palace or residence in or near Jerusalem, 
 
 some one of the "king's chambers'' (l^on '"nri) 
 ver. 4; whether precisely the "room devoted to 
 wine parties," the " wine-room of tlie royal 
 palace" (Del.), cannot, as it seems, be certainly 
 determined from the repeated reference to the 
 excellence of wine (i. 2, 4), nor from the men- 
 tion of the "house of wiue'' (["n jT3 ii. 4); 
 
 * [So Patrick, Good, Wii.i.iam.s. Taylor, Fry, the la.st two of 
 whom divide ver. 5 in like manner, assigning the words " but 
 comely," and " as the curtains of Solomon " to the dauglitem 
 of .Jerusalem, who compliment the bride on herlieauty, while 
 
 I she in the remaining clauses speaks depreciatingly (tf herself; 
 
 i Taylor also apportions vers. ;i. 3 between the bride and her 
 attendant ladies, to whom Fry adds an imaginary messenger 
 frcm the king. Harmer carries the sulKdivisiou of parts t^* 
 
 ; an equal extent, claiming that not only the variation in num- 
 ber, but the change of person from third to second, and vice 
 vf.rsa, indicates a diversity of speakers. The miyority of Eng- 
 lish Commentators regard the Iiride ap the sole speaker in ver. 
 ■2, as is done also in the headings to this chapter in the author- 
 ized version, and either find in the change of number evi- 
 tlence of the plurality involved in the unity of the speaker, 
 (Poole, Thrupp), or suppose that phe in thought aiwociat^-a 
 her companions with herself, we, t. f.. " I Hiid the virgins fore- 
 mentioned" f.\ixswoRTH), or that it is the language of mod- 
 esty, tliough she means only herself (Clarke)]. 
 
 t [Patrick. Scott and Ta'vlor suppose it interrupted by t!ii 
 attendant ladies in ver. 111. 
 
J. l-II. 
 
 THl 30NG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 53 
 
 ftnd even the " table " of the king spoken of 
 i. 12 does not afford a perfectly sure support to 
 this opinion. Only it appears to be certain 
 from i. li), 17 that we must imagine the scene to 
 be open outwards, and to afford a prospect of 
 fresh verdure and stately trees, such as cedars, 
 cypresses, etc. It must therefore have been 
 either a room in the king's p.ilace upon Zion 
 immediately adjacent to parks or gardens, or 
 what in view of vi. 2. 3 (comp. iv. 10) is still 
 more probable, an open summer-house (or pavil- 
 ion) in the royal pleasure gardens of Wady 
 Urtas, south of Jerusalem, near Botlileliem and 
 Etam, in those magnificent grounds of David's 
 splendor-loving son, wliich probably bordered 
 upon Zion itself, and theace extended southward 
 for several leagues, and of which there still re- 
 mains at least a grand aqueduct, with three 
 b tsins lying successively one above another, the 
 so-called "pools of Solomon" (comp. K. Furbeb, 
 Wand^rungen durck Faldstina^ Zlirich, 1806, p. 
 178, etc. ; C. Heeut, Paldslina, p. 278, etc. ; 
 EwALD, Geschickte des Volkes Israel, III. 1, p. 64, 
 etc.). That Shiilamith had formed a personal 
 acquaintance with the royal gardens in the 
 neighborhood of Jerusalem directly after she 
 liad been brought from her home in the north 
 of Israel to Solomon's court, is shown by her 
 mention i. 14 of the "vineyards" or "vine- 
 gardens of Eiigedi," near the Dead Sea, five or 
 six German miles south-east of Jerusalem, from 
 which however the conclusion must not be 
 drawn that these pleasure-grounds of EngeJi 
 formed the scene of the action in the opening 
 of the piece; see on that verse. Weissbach 
 very properly locates the second scene of the 
 Song from i. 9 onward in the gardens of Solo- 
 mon near Jerusalem, bat puts the action of vers. 
 1-8 somewhere on the way to this retreat, where 
 Sbulamith in her search for her lover chances to 
 meet the women of Jerusalem. But in opposi- 
 tion to this may be urged — 1. That there is 
 nothing in the context to indicate a change in 
 the locality between vers. 8 and 9. 2. The men- 
 tion of the "king's chambers" in ver. 4 cer- 
 tainly implies the immediate vicinity of a royal 
 pal.ace, and probably the presence of the speaker 
 in it. 3. It by no means follows from the meta- 
 phors borrowed from pastoral life, in which Sbula- 
 mith speaks of her lover, ver. 7, that she thought 
 he was really to be found in a " pasture ground," 
 and engaged in feeding sheep. 4. With as little 
 propriety can it be inferred from ver. 8 that Sbu- 
 lamith is represented as wandering about over the 
 country and "accompanied by some little kids, 
 searching for her lover in or near Jerusalem." * 
 2. First Scene. Shulamith. Vers. 2, 3. — Let 
 him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. 
 — ''JPtS'''. — for which Htxzio needlessly reads 
 "JpB'^i "let him give me to drink," etc. (comp. 
 
 * [Taylor and Williams malie the place to have been the 
 hride'8 parlor in Solomon's palace, and the time the first day 
 of the week preceding the marriage, i. 1-8 belonging to the 
 morning, and 1. 9 — ii. 7 to the evening of the day. BcR- 
 ROWES follows Harmer in the conjecture that " in the open- 
 ing scene of this poem the king had probably gone forth, ac- 
 cording to Oriental customs, to meet the bride, and was 
 awaiting her with his princely retinue in an encampment 
 where his rich pavilion, ver. 6. stood pre-eminent. The spouse 
 on coming in eight of those kingly tents, gives utterance to 
 the s*»"ong emotions of her heart]." 
 
 viii. 2) — is manifestly the utterance of a wish, 
 "0 that he would kiss me;" and its subject is 
 not 'i7\'ii, "his mouth," which is too remote and 
 manifestly stands in a genitive relation lo mp''E>J 
 "kisses;" nor nip^D^O, equivalent to "one ot 
 his kisses" (Ewald, E. Meieti), for "a ki^s 
 kisses not but is kissed, and j"i1p'n3"2 includes :ia 
 accusative" (Hitzig). The speaker's lover is 
 rather thought of as the kissing subject, the 
 same, whom in the vividness of her conception 
 she immediately afterwards in b and in ver, 3 
 addresses in the second person, as though he who 
 is so ardently longed for were already present.* 
 The partitive jp properly points to but one or a 
 few kisses of her lover as the object of the be- 
 loved's wish; comp. Geu. xxviii. II; Ex. xvi. 
 27; Ps. cxxxii. II, and generally Ew., Lehr., 
 I 217, b, 294, c. [Green's lleb. Gram., ^ 24'2, a] ; 
 J. H. MiCH.^ELis, in he , " una tantnm vet altero dt 
 oscuUk." — "Kisses of his mouth "f are, moreover, 
 in contrast with the idolatrous custom of hand- 
 kisses, or kissing the hand to any one (Job xxxi. 
 27; comp. Del., in loc), tokens of honest love 
 and affection between blood relations and friends 
 (Gen. xxix. II ; xxxiii. 4 ; xli. 40 ; 1 Sam. x. I ; 
 XX. 41 ; comp. Ps. ii. 12), and especially between 
 lovers (Prov. vii. 13). It is not likely that the 
 similarity of the words ptyj kiss and Hpt!' drink 
 gave occasion to the comparison in b of caresses 
 with wine (Weissb.); this comparison is of itself 
 a very natural one ; comp. iv. 10; v. 1 ; viii. 2. — 
 For better is thy love than -wine. — D"'^T 
 different from D^'IT "breasts, paps" (whicli 
 the LXX here express by fiaaroi, and the Vulg. 
 by ubera [so Wic, Gov., Dow.]), as well as from 
 0"in plur. of in "beloved" (v. 1), denotes ma- 
 nifestations of love, caresses, (l>i?u)^pncji'vai (comp. 
 iv. 10, II; vii. 13; Prov. vii. 18; Ezek. xvi. h; 
 xxiii. 17), i. e., dalliance, exhibition of H^nx 
 (vii. 7; viii. 6), fond endearments, (in bad taste 
 Vaih., "J^ifieZei," flirtation. ) In thecomparisonof 
 such love with wine, the tertium comparationis is, .-is 
 is shown by the parallels iv. 10, ff.; v. I; vii. 9, fT. 
 not the intoxicating power of wine, but primarily 
 its sweetness J ouly ; comp. Acfsii. 13. The figure 
 of intoxication indicates a higher grade of loving 
 ecstasy than is here intended, comp. v. lb; Prov. 
 v. 19; vii. 18, and in general Weissb.. in loc. 
 Ver. 3. In fragrance thine unguents are 
 
 good. — n'^7. " in respect to odor, as to fra- 
 grance,"' limits DOID, "good " (comp. Josh. xxii. 
 10; 1 Kings X. 23; Job xxxii. 4), and is emphati- 
 cally placed at the beginning of the sentence. 
 Commonly : " to the smell," or " for the smell," 
 against which, however, lies the twofold objec- 
 tion : I, that n'"]! denotes not the organ of smell, 
 nor the act of smelling, but the odor which any 
 
 * [Patrick. As in John XX. 15 " the pronoun is used with- 
 out a consciousness of the absence of the antecedent. Her 
 heart is so full that she supposes every one must know wtm 
 she means by /tim]." 
 
 t ( " Permission to kiss the hand of a sovereign is considered 
 an honor; but for that sovereign to give another the kiBSes 
 of his mouth, is evidence of the tenderest affection, and is the 
 highest possible honor." — Bcrrowes.] 
 
 j [ " Thy love is more reviving and exhilarating than the ef- 
 fects of wine. Comp. Ps. civ. \o ; Prov. xxxi. ti." — Burkowkk^ 
 
64 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 I. 1— II. 7. 
 
 thing exhales {odor, halitut), comp. i. 12 ; U. 13 ; 
 i». 10; vii. 14; Hos. xit. 7, «<c. ; 2, it is not 
 
 n'"l^, but simply n'^'?- Hitzig's construction is 
 quite too artificial; he connects 3 a with 2 A as 
 its sublimilation, and translates " thy caresses 
 are more precious than wine with the odor of thy 
 precious ointment " (comp. the like mode of con- 
 nection adopted in the Vulg., " ubera^ragantia 
 unguentis optimis" [so Coveruale, DowayJ). So 
 also is that of Weissbach, '• thy ointments are 
 good to serve as a perfume," where too much is 
 
 evidently foisted into the simple tl'^S.* — An un- 
 guent -which is poured forth is thy name. 
 
 — The comparison of a good name with a fragrant 
 unguent is also found, and ou the basis of this 
 passage in Hos. xiv. 7, 8 ; Eccles. vii. 1 ; Ecclus. 
 xlix. 1. The ideas of smelling and being (or be- 
 ino- named, bearing this or that name) are, as a 
 general fact, closely related through the interme- 
 diate notion of breathing, respiring ; comp. in 
 German " Geriichl, ruchbar."f That the name 
 of the lover is thus compared to a costly 
 perfume diffusing a wide fragrance (comp. 
 Mark xiv. 3; John xii. 3) plainly indicates 
 that it is only the renowned King Solomon, 
 an actual possessor of UV (name, i. «., fame, 
 gloria — comp. Prov. xxii. 1; 1 Kings i. 47; Job 
 XXX. 3), wlio can be thought of as this lover, and 
 not a simple country swain (so Weissb. properly 
 against Heed., Umbr., e?c.).— Therefore vir- 
 gins love thee — i. e., not barely on account of 
 this thy renown, but on account of all the excel- 
 lencies celebrated in ver. 2, 3. Observe that 
 
 mO^l^ is without the article. It is not the virgins 
 universally, but simply virgins, such as Shula- 
 uiith herself, or the "daughters of Jerusalem," 
 the ladies of Solomon's court, by whom she sees 
 herself surrounded, that she describes as lovers, 
 as reverential admirers of the graceful, brilliant 
 and lovely king. The guileless country lass, who 
 has but recently been transferred into the circle 
 of the countless virgins of the royal court (comp 
 vi. 8) here accounts to herself for the fact that 
 many other virgins besides her are attached to the 
 king with admiring devotion and love ; comp., 4. e. 
 
 3. Shulamith and the daughters of Jeru- 
 salem. 
 
 Ver. 4. Drav7 me after thee — as it is to be 
 translated with theTAuo., Luth. and most of the 
 recent expositors, connecting contrary to the 
 common accentuation T'l.ns? ^''^^^ 'A^.^'^i which 
 requires it as its proper complement ; J comp. Hos. 
 
 * [ Weiss.: Besides or in addition to the savor, f.ti:. A sense 
 wliich the prep, rarely lia.s, and wtiich is neither admissible 
 here nor in Ex. xiv. ^8 ; Lev. xi. 2(i ; xvi. 16, to which he ap- 
 peals. Incorrectly also the Eng. Ver. ; Because of the savor, 
 <:<^., which most then be connected with "therefore," etc., in 
 tlio last clause, the second clause being parenthetic. " Slie 
 ha.s ointments preparatory to her exaltation ; just as Esther 
 was puriaed to go in to the king, Esth. ii. 12."— Withington]. 
 
 trOomt). Eng. 'To be in good or bud odor' for good or ill re- 
 pute. This explanation of the relation of these ideas, which is 
 lieveloped at length by Bakfir. SymboUk d. Max. Cutlits, I., p. 
 4,'',i> ff., appears to be too subtle and remote. It is simpler to 
 find the connection in the fact that the odor, like the name, 
 indicates the character or quality of that from which it priv 
 ceeds, or to which it belongs. It is an efflux from the object 
 itself, the impression which it makes ad extra. — Tn.] 
 
 i [ There seems to be no sufficient reason for departing from 
 the authority of the accents in the present instance. " We 
 will run " requires " after thee " as ita complement to indicate 
 
 xi. 4; Jer. xxxi. 3. By this drawing is meant, 
 as appears from b, a drawing into the king'a 
 chambers, or at least into immediate proximity 
 to him, not a conducting out of the palace into 
 the country, as the advocates of the swain-hypo- 
 thesis suppose, who see in these words an ardent 
 call upon her distant lovei-. — TATe w^ill run — 
 i. e., not, "let us take flight, and hasten hence" 
 [so GiNSBUEG : " Oh, let us flee together !"], as 
 though here again there were a cry for help to 
 her absent lover ; but : " we will hasten to him," 
 viz.: the gracious king; a lively exclamation ut- 
 tered by Shulamith, and at the same time by the 
 chorus of the daughters of Jerusalem catching 
 the word from her. — The king has brought 
 me into his chambers — a simple expression 
 of the virgin's rapturous joy at the high honor 
 and delight granted her by the king, ^s the 
 words stand, they contain neither an indirect pe- 
 tition or complaint addressed to her distant lover 
 (to which the following clauses of the verse would 
 agree poorly enough), nor a wish directed to the 
 king — as though the preterite "JS'pn were to be 
 taken in the senseof aprecative or optative: "O 
 that the king had brought me into his cham- 
 bers" (so, e.g., Hug, Weissb.), nor finally a con- 
 dition dependent on the following 1J1 Til^li (so 
 Hahn, who supplies DX, if, before ''JN''3n. " If 
 the king brings me into his chambers, we will,"* 
 etc. Furthermore, the "king's chambers" are 
 by no means simply identical with the harem, the 
 liouse of the wemen belonging to the royal palace 
 (Vaih., Ren., elc); this would rather have been 
 designated D'tyjn n"3, as in Esth. ii. 3, 9, ff., or 
 simply called n'3, house, as in 1 Kings vii. 8 ; ix. 
 24; Ps. Ixviii. 13, elc. They are 2 Sam. iv. 7; 
 xiii. 10, the king's own rooms in the palace, his 
 sleeping apartments and sitting-rooms, ^ene^ra/ia 
 regis, in distinction from those of his wives and 
 the ladies of the court, which formed a particular 
 division of the royal palace. Comp. 1 Kings vii. 
 8 ; Esth. ii. 12-14. Into these the king's own 
 innermost, apartments, Shulamith, as the favored 
 object of his special love, had been repeatedly 
 brought, — nay, she has in them her own proper 
 abode and residence. She had therefore a per- 
 fect right to say : " The king has brought me into 
 his chambers"! — 'We ■will exult and be glad 
 in thee. — With these words, which recall Ps. 
 xxxi. 7; cxviii. 24; Isa. xxv. 9; Joel ii. 21, 23, 
 the ladies of the court again chime in with the 
 language of Shulnmiih, in order to commend with 
 her the happiness of belonging to the number of 
 those who were loved by the king. ^3, in thee. 
 
 the direction of the running more than "draw me," where 
 the direction is sufficiently implied. The violation of the ac- 
 cents is merely for the sake of evading the evideuce afforded 
 by the masc. pron. H^inX, that "after thee we will run" it 
 
 still the language of the bride to Solomon — not of her virgin 
 companions to the bride. — Tr]. 
 
 * L So too Weiss. : " When the king shall have brought me;" 
 nor is it a prophetic preterite, the bride anticipating the time 
 when she shall be brought (Thrupp). Gissburo insists that 
 the changes of person in this verse "clearly show that the 
 king here referred to is a separate person from the beloved to 
 whom the maiden is addressing herself." But he is compelled 
 to acknt.wledge that just before in ver. 2 the third person 
 and till. secoiKi lioth refer to the same subject. — Tr.) 
 
 t [ This would seem to compel the conclusion that the mar- 
 riage has already tjiken place, and is not still future, as our 
 author sujiposes. — Tr.] 
 
r. 1— II. 7. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 5-, 
 
 belongs in equal measure to both verbs ; comp. 
 Isa. IxT. 19. — 'We will celebrate thy love 
 more than ■wine. — Comp. ver. 2. — Rightly do 
 they love thee. — The most obvious coustruciiou 
 id to make the virgins again the subject, as in 3 
 c, and consequently to regard Shulamith as again 
 the speaker. But the Sd plur. might also be 
 taken impersonally (they, i. e., people generally 
 love thee. Comp. 1?3', thej/ despise, viii. 1), and 
 then the clause might be spoken by the entire 
 chorus. Cljy'O, an adverbial accusative (as, 
 
 e. g., D'X7i3, wonderfully. Lam. i. 9), means nei- 
 ther "without reserve" (Weissb.), nor "sin- 
 cerely" (Gese.v., Del.) [so Noyes ; Eng. Ver. 
 marg.: uprightly], but, as appeal's from the con- 
 text and the parallels Ps. Iviii. 2; Ixxv. 3, "with 
 good reason, rightly" (Ew., Hitzio, Vaih., etc.). 
 This word is taken as the subject by the Sept. 
 (fiicJiVz/f), Vulg. (recti diligunt te), Hengstenb. 
 (rectitudes, !. c, abst. for concrete, the upright 
 love thee), U.mbr. (0 favorite of all the virtues), 
 etc. [so Eng. Ver., Thrupp, Wordsworth, With- 
 INOTO.N, Gi.NSBURo], interpretations as ungram- 
 matioal as they are unsuited to the connection. 
 The attempts at emendation proposed by Velth., 
 ScHELLiNQ, .A-UocsTi, are altogether Unnecessary* 
 (see Weissb., in loc). 
 
 4. Shulamith. Vers. 5-7. 
 
 Ver. 5. Black I am, but comely. — The ex- 
 planation of" the fact that she was black 
 (min0) contained in the following verse shows 
 that by this blackness can only be meant her be- 
 ing browned by the hot sun. Then too in Lam. 
 iv. 8 the substantive ^int? denotes only the livid 
 or swarthy appearance of one who has sutfered 
 long from famine and wretchedness, and in this 
 very passage the strong expression " black " is 
 qualitied by the diminutive "blackish" (nimnty) 
 iu the verse immediately following. — Moreover, 
 the whole statement before us was occasioned ac- 
 cording to ver. 6, by the curious looks with 
 which Shulamith had meanwhile been regarded 
 by many of tlie daughters of Jerusalem and pro- 
 bably also by jeering remarks which they had 
 made (comp. ver. 8). " But comely " [T.wlor: 
 attractive, engaging] (msj., lit., "agreeable") ; 
 the plain country maid hereby expresses with 
 frank, straightforward simplicity her conscious- 
 ness that nevertheless she was not altogether un- 
 worthy of the love of Solomon. There is no vain 
 lelf-laudation in the words. — As the tents of 
 Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. — The 
 hrst of these comparisons is designed to illustrate 
 and set before the mind the idea of blackness, the 
 second that of comeliness or elegance. "Kedar 
 is a Bedawin tribe near Palestine in the Arabian 
 ilesert. Gen. xxv. 13; Isa. xxi. 17, which is here 
 named in preference to all others, simply because 
 the name lip. seems originally to denote 
 "blackness." Tents of poor Bedawins, which 
 are always exposed to the heat of the sun, must 
 certainly appear blacker and less attractive than 
 tliose of Solomon; and we need not therefore 
 with other interpreters (see especially Hitz. and 
 
 *rFRy, who disregards the points; they do right in loving 
 thee. ttooD altent the text into: thou art every way lovely.] I tion, Noyes.] 
 
 Weissb. who refer to the observations of modern 
 
 travellers as DELL.tVALLE,BDKCKHARl>T,HARMER, 
 
 Volsey, etc., ) have recourse to the tents now com- 
 monly covereii with black goat skins, as Shulamith 
 only has in mind the bhvckness caused by tli? 
 
 I sun's rays. But Solomon's tents as a figure of the 
 
 j greatest elegance can only correspond to HIXJ 
 Cornell/, We may without difficulty assume that 
 the splendor-loving Solomon adopted the cus- 
 tom of oriental monarchs of living in tents once 
 in the year in some charming district and in the 
 utmost elegance and splendor (comp. the re- 
 marks above, ver. 1, respecting the pleasure 
 grounds at Etham and Engedi.) It is, therefore, 
 wholly unnecessary to understand by Jllj^'i' (with 
 Del., Hitz., e^c,) tapestry,* which is neither per- 
 
 I mitted by usage nor by etymology, from i'y con- 
 tinuit, prop, velum, then tent-cloth." We shall 
 have in the main to abide by this explanation of 
 the passage given by Ewald, although we might, 
 assign to Hi?""!' a different etymology, and derive 
 it perhaps with Gesenius from }!y to tremble, 
 
 flutter, or with Weissb. from yy to be bad, i. e., 
 of coarse, inferior workmanship. The two com- 
 parisons are in any case understood in quite too 
 artificial a manner by the latter and by several 
 others, whoassume thatbolhthetentsof Kedarand 
 
 ^ the tent-coverings of Solomon set forth the pecu- 
 liar combination of dark color with attractiveness 
 in Shulamith's looks (for which an appeal is made 
 ' to the testimony of travellers like D'Arvieux, 
 Shaw, etc., according to whom a plain filled with 
 the black tents of the Bedawin presents a very 
 pleasing and even beautiful spectacle. ) In oppo- 
 sition to Bottcher's view, who though he assigns 
 the words "Black am I, daughters of Jerusa- 
 lem, as the tents of Kedar " to the " vinedresser," 
 i. e., to Shulamith, refers the rest (" but comely " 
 and " as the tent cloths of Solomon ") to an " elder- 
 ly princess," who looks with astonishment at the 
 new comer, comp. Hitz. in loc, who properly re- 
 bukes the extravagance of the dissecting mania 
 here exhibited. 
 
 Ver. 6. Look not at me because I am 
 dusky, because the sun has scorched me. 
 There is nothing in the context to indicate that 
 the "look " is one of approval, in admiration of 
 her beauty •)• (i'crsusBoTTCHEE, liiTZ., etc.) Comp. 
 above on ver. 5. My mother's sons ^vere 
 angry with me. Velth., Umbr., Ewald 
 needlessly think of step- brothers or half- 
 brothers ; the passages adduced for this pur- 
 pose Lev. xviii. 9; xx. 11: Deut. xxiii. 2, 
 etc., are outweighed by many others as Gen. 
 xxvii. 29; Ps. 1 20; Ixix. 9; Deut. xiii. 7, where 
 " mother's sons " corresponds in the parallelism 
 to " brothers," and consequently is entirely sy- 
 nonymous with it. And this expression is the lesa 
 surprising in Shulamith's mouth siuee like a true 
 Hebrew daughter she is in the habit of denomi- 
 nating everything after her mother ; comp. "my 
 mother's house," iii. 4; viii. 2. and so too Ruth 
 i- 8. We need not even assume that she would 
 intimate a less favorable judgment of her brothers 
 
 * [Eno. Ver.. curtains. Ainsworth : the goodly hangings 
 that were in his house and about his bed.] 
 
 I [Look not di-sdainfuUy upon me. Hall ; do not too accu- 
 rately scrutinize, T.\rLOR ; Gaze with wonder at her preaump- 
 
66 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 I. 1— II. 
 
 as more or less strange or distant in their bear- 
 ing to her (RocKE, Hitz.) ; and there is still less 
 to justify the assumption that her brothers are 
 by this expression emphatically designated as 
 Shulamith's own broihers-german (vs. Magnus.) 
 Yet it may with considerable probability be in- 
 ferred from the expression before us, that Shula- 
 mith's father was no longer living at the time of 
 this transaction, and her brothers had assumed 
 the prerogatives of a father (comp. Gen. xxxiv. 
 6, ff. ; 2 Sam. xiii. 20 ff.), but that her mother 
 meanwhile was still living, which also seems to be 
 favored by vi. 9, (viii. 2; iii. 4). — Made me 
 keeper of the vineyards. This manifestly 
 does not assign the reason of her brothers' an- 
 ger, nor is this intimated in the following clause 
 (vs. Hengstenbero and E. Meier), it is rather 
 passed over in silence as irrelevant. But this 
 clause tells what her brothers did in consequence 
 of their anger, and then the last clause states 
 what further happened to her wlien degraded into 
 a vineyard-keeper. — Mine o'wn vineyard I 
 
 have not kept. — The addition of 'W not only 
 gives a special emphasis to the suffix in ''P")3, 
 but distinguishes the vineyard of Shulaniith here 
 named as quite distinct and of another sort from 
 those of her brothers, which she had been 
 obliged to keep (soviii. 12). It is a vineyard of a 
 higher and more valuable kind, which alas! she 
 had not carefully guarded. She herself with all 
 that she has and is, must be intended by this 
 vineyard of her own (comp. Del. and Weissb. tn 
 loc), or it may be her beauty (Ew., Dopke., Magn., 
 Heiligst., Hitz., Vaih.), — at all events every 
 thing that she had to surrender to Solomon and 
 devote to him when she became his beloved and 
 followed him. There is, in these words, no se- 
 rious lament for her lost virtue (on the con- 
 trary see iv. 12-10) or for her forsaken lover (as 
 BoTTCHER, Meier and tentatively also Vaih.); 
 but they contain a lament half in jest or with 
 mingled sadness and irony for her forfeited 
 freedom, for which she constantly longs in spite 
 of her attachment to her royal lover. In favor 
 of this double meaning of " vineyard" may also 
 be urged the etymology ot 0'}2, which agreeably 
 to its derivation from the root C^D, signifies the 
 "noblest," the "most valued possession," the 
 "highest good," (comp. Hos. ii. 17: Isa. v. 7; 
 I's. xvi. 6, as well as Ewald and Hitzig m loc). 
 Ver. 7. Tell me, thou whom my soul 
 loveth, ■where feedest thou? To this dreamy 
 exclamation of longing desire for her still absent 
 lover, the close of the preceding verse forms a 
 thoroughly appropriate introduction. Despoiled 
 of her freedom and her beloved home she can 
 only then feel happy amid the new and splendid 
 objects which surround her, when he from love 
 to whom she has forsaken all and to whom her 
 whole heart belongs, is actually close beside her. 
 
 ''1 nTjn "inform me" not "cause me to be in- 
 formed," for T'JH always denotes an immediate 
 declaration or announcement. This expression 
 would manifestly be less suited to an address to a 
 far distant lover. The paraphrase of the idea '"in 
 by the fond circumlocution " whom my soul loveth" 
 in found four times beside in the beautiful section 
 
 iii. 1-4. — Shulamith represents her royal lover 
 as "feeding" and then as " reclining" (or more 
 exactly as "causing to recline," riz , his flock ) 
 simply because, as a plain country girl, she suji- 
 poses that she can directly transfer to him the re- 
 lations and occupations of country life, and hence 
 assumes that the king may now be somewhere in 
 the fields with his flocks, and have sought with 
 them some shady resting-place as a protection 
 from the hot noon-day sun. That Solomon was 
 just then residing in his pleasure grounds near 
 Jerusalem, that is to say in the country, miglii 
 favor this artless conception of hers (comp. above 
 on ver. 5.) But the assumption of Weissbach is 
 needless, that Solomon was then actually engaged 
 in the over-sight of his flocks (Eccles. ii. 7) like 
 .Vbsalom and his brothers who, according to 2 
 Sam. xiii. 23, ff., were accustomed to manage 
 the sheep-shearing themselves, and to convert it 
 into a merry-making. Nothing further is to be 
 sought in the expressions before lis, than a ready 
 trope from pastoral life, and consequently one of 
 those criteria which mark this poem as at least a 
 partially idyllic or pastoral drama (comp. Intro- 
 iluc. § 1, Rem. 3). That Joseph's going to the 
 pasturage of his brethren, Gen. xxxvii. 1h, 16, 
 was what specially suggested the present figura- 
 tive representation is too far-fetched, though as- 
 serted by Hengstenbero, and connected with his 
 allegorical mode of interpretation. Parallels lor 
 this " reclining at noon " may better be adduced 
 from the figurative language of the prophets, as 
 Isa. xlix. 10; Ps. xxiii. 2; Ezek. xxxiv. 13-1.5, 
 or even from the ancient classics, as Theocritus, 
 Id., i. 14, 15; vi. 4; xxv. 216: Horace, Orf., 
 III. xxix. 21 ; Virg. Georg. III. 324 ff.* 
 
 [*The introduction of these figures from pastoral life liaH 
 occasioned much needless perplexity among interpreters. 
 Clarke says : " How this would apply either to Solomon or 
 to the princess of Egypt, is not easy to iiscertain. Probahly 
 in the marriage festival there was something like our masks, 
 in which persons of quality assumed rural chanicters ami 
 their employments." Some have thought this to he a sepa- 
 rate and independent comijosition, unconnected with the pre- 
 ceding in which the king was spoken of. So besides the tier- 
 man fragmentists, Fry, who begins a new idyl with ver. 7 on 
 account of "the entire change of imagery." Othery maint<un 
 that the unity of the poem is unbroken, but insist that the 
 king and the shepherd are distinct i)ersons; so Ginsbub(; and 
 the entire chiss of interpreters to which he belongs, and ex- 
 tremes meeting here as not infrequently elsewhere, allegori- 
 cal interpreters have gone so far in the same direction as to 
 allege that these diverse representations are incompatible in 
 application to any literal subject, and that no consistent sense 
 can be made of them but by referring them to Christ. Thif. 
 however, is to prejudice the beauty and perfection of the alle- 
 gory, and to damage the spiritual' inten^retation of the Song 
 itself The author of the Song is not writing directly of 
 Christ and His church, but only under the figure of a briiie- 
 groom and his bride. His language must, therefore, in all 
 Ciises have immediate application to the latter, and can set 
 forth the former only as the character and relations in which 
 the more immediate subjects arc presented, serve as their 
 faithful image. If this image is distorted, wanting in con- 
 sistency, and its various parts mutually discordant, the eftect 
 of the whole is marred, its beauty and its truth are defaced. 
 It is at least safe to say that this is an assumption, which 
 should not be made without neces9it.y. 
 
 The objection to the explanation of the bride's language 
 given by Zockler is. that it seems to impute to her the silly 
 conceit that her royal husband or betrothed was actually en- 
 gaged in the occupation of a shepherd, and it makes the rejdy 
 by the daughters of .lerusalem utterly immeaning. WliH- 
 l.NOTON presents three alternatives, the last of which is the 
 only simple and natural one. This speech "may be a natu- 
 ral mistake of the rural lass on her first union with tlie kjng. 
 or it may be the king went into her country to rusticate, or 
 it may be an allegorical expression by which she signifiei 
 that the king is a shepherd and his kingdom is a flock." W'lL- 
 Ll.iMS: "If he be like a good shepherd feeding b*s flock, ad* 
 
r. 1— II. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 r.T 
 
 For ■why should I be as one straying ? etc. 
 n'Di'3 is very variously explained. DBJ? " to 
 cover" is commonly regarded as its theme, and 
 it is accordingly translated ■' as one veiled " [so 
 Eng. Ver. margin] i. e., as a harlot, Gen. xxxviii. 
 14, 15 (RosBNM., Del.) [so Thrupp, Burbowes, 
 Notes]; or as "one ashamed, veiled through 
 shame" (Umbreit, Dopke, He.ngstenbeeo), or 
 "as one unknown" (Ewalo, Heiligst., who 
 
 compare the Arab. 
 
 \^ obs' 
 
 xcurus fuit, oc- 
 
 cultavit) [Williams: as a stranger], or "as a 
 mourner," (so some of the older commentators, as 
 R. .Solomon ben Melek, [.\i.\sworth] after 2 
 Sam. XV. 30). [Weiss. : Muffled up as eastern wo- 
 men always were when exposed to the eyes of 
 strangers, and as a shepherdess subject to insolent 
 and injurious treatment from theshepherds, comp. 
 Ex. ii. lH-19]. Bui the signification "cover" can 
 no more be proved for nD>?. than that of " pining 
 away," which Schultens ( Op. Min. p. 240), Rockb 
 and others have sought to establish for the word. 
 The V^ulgate (ne vagari incipiam), Svmmach. (<jr 
 peftSufih'i/'j, Syr. and Targ.. favor the meaning of 
 wandering or straying, which is admirably suited 
 to the context; [Clarke: as a wanderer; one 
 who not knowing where to find lier companions 
 wanders fruitlessly in seeking them.] In proof of 
 it we shall not need B<jttcher's emendation 
 ri'OJJ'P ("as a country-stroller"), but simply 
 Hitzig's assumption that r\'0}! by a transposi- 
 tion of the V is for n;71D (= n>'ii"i comp. Gen. 
 xxxvii. l-j) ; comp. '\''P ^ ']V< ^tSi'^ Arab. 
 
 I 1 etc., (a view as old as Kleuker in loc, 
 
 who with S. BocHAKT actually proposes to read 
 n'iTOD). The following expression " by the 
 flocks of thy companions " is closely connected 
 with this idea as the more exact limitation of the 
 "straying." The "straying by the flocks of the 
 king's companions," is notiiing but a figure of 
 speech for remaining among the throng of ladies 
 in the royal court without the presence of the 
 king himself; and that is just the veritably deso- 
 late and forlorn condition, from which Shula- 
 mith wishes to be released by the return of her 
 lover. HiTziG arbitrarily explains the wander- 
 ing of a wandering of her thoughts; and still 
 more arbitrarily Weissb.^ch seeks to give to HOy 
 
 (with the following 7^ for 7N) the sense of 
 "laying hands upon, purloining" ("that I, by 
 the flocks of thy companions, be not regarded as 
 one who will lay hands upon them," and for that 
 reason is sneaking about them watching his op- 
 portunity.) 
 
 o. The daughters of Jerusalem. 
 
 Ver. 8. If thou kno'w not, fairest among 
 ^omen, etc. This address (lit. " tlie fair (one) 
 among the women." compare [Green's He- 
 brew Grammar, ^ 260, 2 (2)], Ewalu, Lehrbuch. 
 J 513, c ) which is also used v. 9; vi. 1 by the 
 
 ministering pnljlic benfifits and dispensing judgment, w!iy 
 should not I enjoy the common benefit? It he be indulging 
 in retirement, why may not I, who am admitted as his wife, 
 tnjoy his company and conversation ?"] ( 
 
 " daughters of Jerusalem " in speaking to Shu- 
 lamith, does not prove that the counsel here given 
 " to follow the tracks of the flocks and pasture 
 her kids beside the shepherds' huts" is a seri- 
 ously meant exhortation to Shulamith to return 
 to the condition of a shepherdess, or a friendly 
 direction to her on her way to the royal flocka 
 (Weissb.). This language is evidently an "an- 
 swer adapted to the narrow range of thought iii;- 
 plied in Shulamith's question (which must neces- 
 sarily appear foolish to the ladies of the court) 
 and hence an unmeaning one, after which the 
 fair shepherdess kntw neither more nor less tliaii 
 she did before" (Del). It is therefore jceringly 
 I intended, and if it did not exactly wound her 
 deeply, it was certainly adapted to increase Sim- 
 
 lamith's longing for her lover. — '"i*"?'!] "'^"DX 
 means neither "if thou do not know thyself" 
 (.Sept., Luth.), nor " if thou art deficient in un- 
 derstanding" (Ew,ald, HiTZiG, e/c, whoappeal to 
 Isa. i. 3 ; Ivi. 10, passages not appropriate in this 
 connection), but conformably to the similar pas- 
 sage, vi. 12, "if thou know not," viz..- where ihy 
 lover feeds, this object being readily supplied 
 
 '3pj^'3 ^S-xy 
 
 go out 
 follow 
 there- 
 2C; 2 
 going 
 
 from the context. — ]XSn 
 at the heels of the flock," i. e., go after it, 
 its tracks, comp. Judg. iv. 10; v. 15. Ni" 
 fore denotes here, as the Hiphil in Isa. xl. 
 Sam. V. 2, going forth with the flock, not 
 out of the palace (Vaih., etc.). — " Thy kids, 
 !. e., the kids which as such an enthusiastic ad- 
 mirer of country life, and a shepherd's occupa- 
 tion you must certainly have. That she actually 
 had some with her (Weissb.) by no means fol- 
 lows from this expression. 
 
 6. Second Scene. Solomon, vers. 9-11. The 
 king has now returned from the engagements, 
 which had hitherto detained him from his wo- 
 men, and he begins a tender conversation with 
 Shulamith, who is favored by him above all the 
 rest ; during which the others withdraw into the 
 background. Comp. No. 1, above. 
 
 Ver. 9. To my horse in Pharaoh's chari- 
 ots, literally: "to my mare;" for DDID can 
 scarcely stand collectively for D"0?D " horses, 
 a body of horse," (Vulg. " eguitatui ; Hengstb., 
 Weissb., etc.), and there is nothing to justify its 
 
 being pointed 'riD^D; (Maon., Hitz.). The 
 singular ''riD^D/ evidently refers to a favorite 
 mare of the king (comp. Zech. x. 3), to a partic- 
 ularly fine, and splendidly caparisoned specimen 
 of those Ttocapei; ;^7Aid{5ef -ififMiat "imroL, which ac- 
 cording to 1 Kin. X. 26, Sept., Solomon had for 
 his chariots; and more exactly to such a steed 
 used on state occasions in Solomon's " Pharaoh- 
 chariots," (. e., in those costly Pharaonic spans 
 of horses, which according to 1 Kin. x. 28, 29, 
 he had imported from Egypt. Solomon conj- 
 pares his beloved to this mare of his, harnessed 
 and magnificently decorated before stately Pha- 
 raoli-chariots (not exactly before one of them, 
 Vatabl.), and that " on account of her youthful 
 bloom and her unaflecled demeanor, whose lovely 
 charms are still further heightened by the sim- 
 ple ornaments worn upon her head and neck, 
 vers. 10, 11 " (Del.). The point of the compa- 
 
58 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 I. 1— II. 7. 
 
 rison is ttot to be sought exclusively in the proud 
 bearing of the horse, Job xxxix. 19, etc. (Ewald, 
 Vaih., etc.), any more than in the glittering or- 
 naments of his head and neck. In opposition to 
 Wbissb., who thinks merely of the latter, and re- 
 ferring to Hartma.nn's Hebraerin am Putztische, 
 (Hebrew woman at her Toilet), Oleaeius "Per- 
 tiache Seiten " (Travels in Persia), etc. [see also 
 Harmer's Oullines, p. 205, and the illustrations 
 of a bride's dress, in Calmet's Dictionary'\ main- 
 tfiins that there was a marked similarity between 
 the ornaments of pearls and chains worn by horses 
 and by women in the East, and consequently by 
 Shulamith in the present instance, it may be said 
 that according to ver. 11 Solomon now first pro- 
 poses to adorn his beloved with the proper gold 
 and silver ornaments, and therefore she did not 
 yet wear a burdensome head and neck ornament 
 like a richly bridled mare.* — My dear ; comp. i. 
 15 ; ii. 2 ; iv. 1, etc.y where the same familiar form 
 of address recurs. 
 
 Ver. 10. Comely are thy cheeks in 
 chains. 1W kindred with "111, 1113 etc., is 
 equivalent to a circle, ring; in the plural con- 
 sequently it denotes a chain composed of many 
 rings, which goes around from the head under 
 the chin, by which therefore the cheeks are en- 
 circled. Shulamith may not have brought this 
 ornament together with the necklaces named in 
 b (D'Hin kindred with Cin, Din, little disks 
 of metal or corals pierced and strung together) 
 with her from the country, but may have received 
 it as a present from Solomon since her coming to 
 the royal court. Solomon, however, is not satis- 
 fied with this simple ornament, but promises her, 
 ver. 11, much richer and more splendid jewels, — 
 scarcely with the view of alluring her and bind- 
 ing her to his court (as even Del. supposes) but 
 simply to adorn yet more handsomely one who is 
 so lovely, and to have his full pleasure in her as 
 a magnificently attired princess. f 
 
 * [Claeke, Bitrrowes, and others adhere to the singular, 
 " to my mare or steed." Good drops the pronoun : " one of 
 the steeds," supposing the final yodh to be paragogic. So the 
 common ling. Ver., which takes the noun in a collective sense 
 *' company of horses," and is followed by the majority of Eng- 
 lish commentators, who find in this a proof of its allegorical 
 meaning. The point of comparison according to the West- 
 minster Assembly's Annotations is " comeliness," according 
 to Fry " splendid decoration." Poole, "An horse is a very 
 stately and beautiful creature, and the Egyptian horses were 
 preferred before others, and Pharaoh's own chariot horses 
 were doubtless the best of their kind." Thrupp, Words- 
 worth, Moody Stdart suppose special allusion to the formid- 
 able character of Pharaoh's horses and chariots at the Red 
 Sea, Ex. xiv. 9, 23. Several classic parallels have been ad- 
 duced as Theocritus, /dy/, xviii. 30; IIorace, Odes, iii.W; 
 Sophocles, Electro. 2.?. — Tr.] 
 
 t [" The mention of the Egyptian steed in ver. 9 naturally 
 auggested the reference here made to the beautiful head-dress 
 of the spouse." Burrowes. " Whether she be still compared 
 hereby to a company of horses, as in ver. 9, or to a woman is 
 doubtful, for both similitudes do agree to the things here 
 spoken of. The bridles of horses are often adorned with rows 
 (of jewels) especially in kings' chariots. Also the next words 
 ' thy neck with chains ' may have like reference ; for the 
 kings of Midian when they went to war had chains abont 
 their camels' necks, Judg. viii. 26." Ainsworth, bo too Gill. 
 Of the ornament spoken of in_the first clause Ainsworth fur- 
 ther says, " The same word "^ijl is also used for a 'turtle- 
 dove,' which some therefore take here to bo jewels or orna- 
 ments that had the figures of ' turtle-doves.' " It is so in fact 
 traiirdat'-fl both in the Sept. and VuLO., followed by Wicliffe 
 and IIOWKV, "tliy cheeks are beautiful as the turtle-doves," 
 So too Cranmer and Bishops ; " thy cheeks and thy neck are 
 beautiful a« the turtle's." It is needless to say after the ex- 
 planation given in the commentary that this rendering con- 
 founds two entirely distinct words. — ^Tr.] 
 
 Ver. 11. Chains of gold — ■writh points ol 
 silver. Needlessly, and quite too artificially, 
 Weissb. will have us understand by the PnPl 
 ^03n something similar to the D'H'in little 
 disks of silver pierced and strung together, which 
 might be worn along with the gold chains. But 
 Di^ with by no means requires this explanation 
 (comp. iv. 13) : it rather leads to the far mort 
 natural assumption that the golden chains were 
 dotted with silver ^'pu?icltji argenttis distincti'* 
 (Hitzig).* 
 
 7. Shulajiith vers. 12-14. 
 
 Ver. 12. 'Whilst the king (is) at his table, 
 my spikenard yields its fragrance. If these 
 words were to be translated : " whilst the king 
 was at his table, my spikenard yielded its fra- 
 grance" (Rosenmueller, Ewald, Henqstenb., 
 Vaih., Weissb., f^c), they could only mean : "as 
 long as Solomon was absent, and did not burden 
 me with his attentions, I was happy in the mem- 
 ory of my friend ;" they would accordingly 
 bear an emphatic testimony to the correctness of 
 the herdsman or shepherd-hypothesis; for that 
 the " fragrance of the spikenard " is to be taken 
 literally and explained of the costly nard-oil on 
 Shulamith's hair and garments, which had been 
 as it were suppressed and far exceeded by the 
 coming of her lover with his much more delight- 
 ful fragrance (Weissb.) is a very far-fetched ex- 
 planation of these simple words, j They are ra- 
 ther to be taken as referring to the present, be- 
 cause the fact of there being no T^'T^ was in the pro- 
 tasis makes against the preterite sense of tnj ffive^ 
 (comp. HiTZ. in loc.) and because 3DD does not 
 properly mean table, but rather company, festive 
 assembly (comp. the adverbial use of the word in 
 the singular, 1 Kin. vi. 29, and in the plural. 2 
 Kin. xxiii. 5; Job xxxvii. 12) and consequently 
 points to the place where the king then was, to 
 the women's apartment of his palace or park in 
 contrast with his former stay in the fields, with 
 the soldiers, on the chase, or elsewhere. The 
 fragrance of Shulamith's nard is accordingly a 
 figurative designation of the agreeable sensations 
 or delightful feelings produced in her heart by 
 the presence of her lover (comp. Del. : "it only 
 
 [* Burrowes adopts the conjecture of HaR5ier in his Out- 
 lines, p. 206. that this is the description of a crown. So Moody 
 Stuart : These silver studded circles of gold mean either the 
 royal or the nuptial crown, or both in one. Patrick, Wil- 
 liams, Taylor make this the language not of the bridegroom, 
 but of the attendant virgins.] 
 
 [■fMuch less BO, however, than that which would make the 
 nard refer to a distant shepherd lover, of whose existence 
 there is no evidence. Weiss, who adopts the above rendering 
 gives a peculiar turn to the thought : " The bride is supposed 
 to have been proviiled with a bundle of spikenard, with which 
 she intended to regale her bridegroom, when he entered the 
 banqueting house or saloon, where the guests and the bride 
 await him, and he approached to salute her according to cus- 
 tom. But unfortunately the bridegroom being detained a 
 long time in another chamber by one of the guests, the bride's 
 precious bundle of spikenard yielded all its fragrance, and l>e- 
 came useless. When he enters, however, ver. 13 it is morv 
 than supplied by the delicious odors of the bridegroom's oint- 
 ments and spiccx, « liich till all the room." This belongs to 
 his historical int'Tpretation of it as an emblem of Israel's 
 losing his piou.'* fervor and lapsing into gross sin. while the 
 Lord was with Moses on Mount Sinai, and the subsequent for- 
 giving love and condescending grace of God. — Tr.] 
 
 [I There is no need of departing from the preterite form t^ 
 the Hebrew verb to obtjiin the sense desired. It should bs 
 rendered "Whilst the king has been (as he still is) with liiH 
 company, my nard has yielded its fragrance." — Tr.] 
 
I. 1— II. 7. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 39 
 
 eaiits again that fragrance, which it has absorbed 
 from his glances "), a representation which by no 
 means sounds too refined and courtly for this 
 simple country girl, this child of nature, which 
 therefore Hitzig very needlessly puts (as well as 
 ver. 13) into the mouth of an enamored court 
 UJy as a voluptuous piece of flattery for Solomon.* 
 For T^J, which must here denote not a stalk of 
 the well-known Indian plant Valeriana Jatamansi 
 ( M.\qm.,Bottchek), but the aromatic unguent pre- 
 pared from it, and that as poured out, and con- 
 sequently emitting its fragrance, comp. Wi.ver, 
 R. W. B. Art., " Narde." [Smith's Dictionar;/ 
 of the Bible, Art. Spikenard. Kitto's Biblical 
 Cyclopedia, Art. Nerd]. 
 
 Ver. 13. A bundle of myrrh is my beloved 
 to me. Evidently an advance upon the figure 
 of the fragrant nard. The royal lover, who now 
 rests upon Shulamith's bosom, is compared by 
 her to a parcel of the costly myrrh-gum such as 
 the ladies of the East are in the habit of carrying 
 iu their bosom. "i^H IIIX is not a bunch [so 
 Notes] or sprig of myrrh (Ewald, Delitzsch, 
 elc.) for there is no more evidence of any aromatic 
 quality in the branches and leaves of the myrrh 
 tree than there is of its occurrence in Palestine 
 at all. We must therefore think of a bundle or 
 box (not exactly a flask, as Weissb. proposes, 
 contrary to the meaning of "lilX) of semi-fluid, 
 or fluid myrrh gum, and must besides compare 
 the use of this gum as an unguent, which is 
 vouched for also in v. 5, 13; Eath. ii. 12; Ex. 
 ixx. 28. On the carrying of boxes of ointment 
 by Hebrew women, comp. also Isa. iii. 20 ; Job 
 xlii. 14, and H.VRTM.iNN, die Sebrderin am Putz- 
 lische II., p. 280 t 
 
 Ver. 14. A cluster of Cyprus is my be- 
 loved to me. ^33 Sept.: (/iin-pof here and iv. 
 13) is the Cyprus flower or Alhenna, which is 
 indigenous to India, and probably to Egypt 
 (Flint, H. N. xii. 24) and may have been trans- 
 planted by Solomon in his vineyards at Engedi 
 (on whicli comp. No. 1 above) for the sake of the 
 peculiarly strong odor of its yellowish-white, 
 grape-like clusters of flowers. [See Harmer's 
 Outlines, pp. 218-221; Shaw's Travels, pp. 113, 
 '4: SoNNiNi's Voi/age, pp. 291-31)2]. Comp. in 
 respect to the fondness of oriental women for this 
 aromatic plant the testimony of a recent traveller 
 
 ["*The meaning of this verse is differently given by CovER- 
 d\le: " When the kingsitteth at the table, he shall smell my 
 ninlas." Her spikenard was not for her own gratitication ; she 
 lial i)*?rfumed herself with it for the king's sake alone, Esth. 
 ii. 12. and it now gladly diffuses its fragrance in his presence 
 to atford him pleasure. This Frt takes in its literal sense, 
 supposing allusion to the throwing of flowers and perfumes 
 as a token of high respect and complimentary congratulation. 
 To this NoYES adds with an unnecessary degree of hesitation 
 its emblematic sense: "It would seem to be too harsh a fig- 
 ure to suppose 'my spikenard' to mean 'my personal charms 
 and gracis' though such a supposition is favored by the next 
 verse." AiNSWORTH suggests the spiritual application: "In 
 her and from her so adorned by her beloved, the odor of the 
 Spirit of God in her, flowed forth and spread abroad to the de- 
 light of herself and others." Thrupp: "The symbolism of the 
 .^..ntj of songs was outwardly acted, as is recorded in the gos- 
 pels in the earthly life of the Lord Jesus, and is also perma- 
 nently embodied in the worship of the Christian church. It 
 was while He sat at table that the feet of our Saviour were on 
 two separate occasions anointed, Luke vii. 3t>-50 ; John xii. 3 ff. 
 And it is in the celebration of the Lord's Supper that the 
 church still most solemnly presents her sacrifice of praise and 
 thanksgiving, which she beseeches God of Hifl fatherly good- 
 aeii to accept." — ^Te.1 
 
 in the " Ausland," 1851, No. 17. " The white 
 Henna-blossoms, which grow in clusters and aro 
 called Tamar-henna, have a very penetrating odor, 
 which seems disagreeable to the European who ii 
 unaccustomed to it; but the Orientals have au 
 uncommon liking for this odor, and prefer it to 
 any other. The native women commonly wear a 
 bouquet of Tamar-henna on their bosom." The 
 Hebrew name of this plant might with Simonis 
 and others be derived from 13D to cover, with 
 allusion to the custom which prevails among Ori- 
 ental women of staining their finger nails yellow 
 with Henna powder, but it is more natural to re- 
 fer "^3.3 as well as Kxjrrpo^ and the Lat. cuprum 
 to the Sanskrit root cuhh, "to shine, be yellow," 
 whence cubhra. The exact parallelism between 
 ver. 13 and 14, and in general the intimate con- 
 nection of vers. 12-14, with their figures taken 
 without exception from the region of vegetable 
 aromas further yields decided testimony against 
 Hitzig's division of the passage as though vers. 
 12, 13, belonged to one of the women of the Ha- 
 rem, and only ver. 14 to Shulamith. 
 
 8. Solomon, Shulamith, vers. 15-17. 
 
 Ver. 15. lio! thou art fair, my deat. The 
 fond ardor, with which she has just spoken of 
 her lover, has doubled the expressive beauty of 
 her features. The perception of this leads Solo- 
 mon full of rapture to praise her beauty. — Thine 
 eyes are doves, i. e.,not "thine eyes are doves' 
 eyes," as though (like Ps. xlv. 7 ; 1 Kin. iv. 13, 
 Ezra X. 13) the const, ^i')! were to be supplied; 
 
 and the dove-like simplicity and fidelity of Shu- 
 lamith's eyes were to be brought into the account 
 as the point of comparison (Vulg., Str., Ib.v 
 Ezra, Vat., Gesen., Del., etc.), [Eng. Ver.] ; but 
 as is shown both by the context and the parallel 
 passage, v. 12, " thine eyes resemble the lustrous 
 and shimmering plumage of doves," wherein 
 more particularly the white of the eyes is com- 
 pared to that of the body, and the lustrous iris 
 to the metallic lustre of the neck or wings of the 
 dove (comp. Ps. Ixviii. 14). Correctly therefore 
 the Sept. : boftaXfioi gov TTtpiOTepai, and in the later 
 times 'I'arg., Rashi, Hengstenberg, Hitzio, etc.) 
 [So Hodgson, Williams, Frv, Thrupp, etc.'\. 
 
 Ver. 16. Lo! thou .art fair, my beloved, 
 yea s'weet. The exactly analogous form of ex- 
 pression, with which Shulamith here answers the 
 flattering caresses of the king, makes it appear 
 to the last degree forced to regard these worde 
 of hers as addressed to a distant lover. The cli' 
 macteric C)!} '^N " yes sweet, yes charming' 
 is only the expression of her loving transport 
 and finds an illustrative commentary in the de- 
 scription ii. 3-5. [Will., Gins, connect this ad- 
 jective with what follows : " Lovely is our ver- 
 dant couch "]. — "yea, our couch is green, lit. : 
 " greens, grows green " (njJV"^) a reference to 
 the stately, verdant, and refreshing natural sur- 
 roundings, in the midst of which to their delight 
 their loving intercourse now takes place, and 
 perhaps more particularly to a shady grassplot 
 under the trees of the park, upon which they 
 were for the moment sitting or reclining ; comp. 
 § 1 above, and Weissb. in loc. In opposition to 
 Henqstenb., who takes V}'})!_ iu the sense of 
 
60 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 I. 1— II. 7. 
 
 "marriage-bed," and ]^2 in a purely figura- 
 tive sense of a gladsonre and flourisliing condi- 
 tion, may be urged that no mention can be made 
 of a marriage-bed for Shulamitii and Solomon 
 before their nuptials, which are not described 
 until iii. 0, etc. ; likewise the contents of the fol- 
 lowing verses, especially ii. 1-3, which point to 
 a continued stay of the lovers in the open air, 
 under shady ti-ees, and beside fragrant flowers * 
 Ver. 17. The beams of our houses are ce- 
 dars, our vrainscoting cypress-trees. Tliis 
 can neitiier be the language of the "choir of 
 women belonging to the harem" (Bottcuek), 
 whose entrance here would be to the last de- 
 gree disturbing ; nor even of Solomon (Hitzig, 
 Weissb., Ren.) to whom the beauty of the place 
 where they are, is a matter of perfect indiffer- 
 ence, by reason of the rapture with which he 
 regards his beloved ; but only that of Shulamith, 
 the innocent, light-hearted child of nature, who 
 has just begun to express her pleasure in that 
 lovely spot in the open air, to which her lover had 
 conducted her, and whose words would sound quite 
 unfinished and end abruptly if nothing further 
 were added to the commendation of their verdant 
 couch. — "Cedars" and "cypresses," also named 
 together Isa. xiv. 8: Zech. xi. '2, as costly species 
 of wood for building and stately, lofty trees, are 
 here evidently meant in the literal sense, of liv- 
 ing trees of this description, such as were to be 
 found, along with other rare and noble plants, 
 in the royal gardens of a king so skilled in na- 
 ture and so fond of splendor. The figurative 
 part of her language lies rather in the " beams " 
 and the " wainscoting" (O'DTIT from Om ^ 
 
 Ar. 
 
 ' to hew," hence = laquearia of 
 
 the VuLG., wainscoting on walls and ceilings — 
 not "pillars," Weissb., nor "rafters," Vat.\bl. 
 and L. Cappei.l, [so E. V.], nor "floor," Heng- 
 gTENBEUG, who prefers the K'ri D'O'ni). She, 
 
 who had hitherto been without Solomon in the 
 showy apartments of the palace, felicitates her- 
 self that she can now rest with him under the 
 green trees of the garden, which seem to her to 
 arch over them a far finer ceiling than those 
 richly adorned halls. It is impossible to recon- 
 cile the mention of cedars, which only grew 
 wild in Lebanon, not in central or northern 
 Palestine, and consequently not in the vicinity of 
 Shunem, with the shepherd hypothesis, whose 
 advocates here find expressed Shulamith's long- 
 
 * [" The scene seems to be luid in the kiosk or summer- 
 house in the royal garden. The green flowery turt is our 
 place of repo.se; our canopy is cedar interspersed witli tir, 
 richly carved." Burrowes. Better still, Good : The lovers 
 are not in a liouse, hut a grove, where the spreading branches 
 of the lirs and the cedars are poetically called the beams and 
 the roof of their chamber. Thus Milton, describing Adam's 
 bower, Pir. Lost., iv. 69:J, comp. HoMKft tl., xxiv. lyl. H,\R- 
 MER supposes ver. IG to be the language of the liride, and ver. 
 17 that of the bridegroom. She commends the ruml beauty 
 of the spot in which they then were. lie, impatient to intro- 
 duce her to his palace, replies in eubatjince : " Arise, my love, 
 and (juit this phoce, pleasant -an it is. for equally pleasant and 
 much more ctmimodious will you tind the abode to which I 
 am conveying you, it being built of the fragrant cedar, and of 
 other precious wood." PooLR, with many others, supposes 
 the nuptial bed to be referred to "miorned with green gar- 
 lands or boughs." AlNswoRTlI : " Green is not meant bo 
 much of color iw of flourishing growth and increase."] 
 
 ing for the verdure and shade of her home (t. g 
 EwALU, Vaih.). 
 
 9. Shulamith and Solomon, ii. 1-7. 
 
 Ver. 1. Shi'lahith : lam (only) a ■wild 
 flower of Sharon, a lily of the valleys. 
 The connection with the preceding is not to be 
 denied altogether (with Delitzsch, who makes a 
 new scene begin with this verse) ; still we must 
 assume a pause of some length after i. 17, 
 during which Shulamith who continues to tarry 
 in the garden at the side of her lover, reflects 
 upon her great good fortune in being selected to 
 be the darling of the king, and by the comparison 
 of the splendor which now surrounds her wifii 
 the meadows and valleys of her home is disposed 
 to humility and at the same time filled with long- 
 ing for that simpler condition which she must 
 forsake. She gives an artless as well as a deli- 
 cate and striking expression to these feelings by 
 calling herself ''a wild-flower," a "lily of the 
 valleys," which was not congruous to the many 
 ornamental plants and artistic beauties of the 
 royal court.* — Which flower of the plain of 
 
 Sharon is intended by int^n nSxan, it is diffi- 
 cult to determine. Its identity with the " lily 
 of the valley " (Sept., Vulg., and Takq. on Isa. 
 XXXV. 1, the only other passage of the 0. Test. 
 
 in which nVxDn occurs), [Crah., lily ; so Lee], 
 is contr.adicled by its being mentioned in a paral- 
 lel with it. a circumstance which requires us to 
 tliink of some similar plant, but one which is 
 
 ■specifically different from it. If r\7S3n were 
 really connected with VDn, "to be red" (comp. 
 VIDn red, Isa. Ixiii. 1), as HiTZio, Weissb., etc., 
 assume, the simplest course would be with A<jdila 
 and R. Kimchi on Isa. xxxv. 1, to translate it 
 "rose," [so Bish., Genev., E. Ver.], and then 
 to compare the combination of rose and lily in 
 Ecclus. xxxix. 13, 14 as probably drawn from 
 this passage. But another etymology, which sup- 
 poses the word to be in some manner compounded 
 
 with 7X3 onion (whether n is prefixed, which 
 serves to form quadrilaterals, or the adj. ypn 
 "sour," lurks in its initial letters), points rather 
 to some bulbous plant, perhaps the meadow- 
 saffron, which the Old Syriac seems to have in- 
 tended (comp. Mich., Ewald, Gesenius, etc.), 
 [so lloYLE, Wordsworth, Notes and Thri'pp. 
 wlio however translates it " daisy "], or the tniip 
 (Velthi?sf.n, Magn , Vaih.), or the narci>'sus, 
 for whicli last the Targ. already testifies with iis 
 DlplJ. As no one of these significations can be 
 demonstrated with absolute certainty, it may be 
 most advisable with the Sept. and Vulg. to abide 
 by the indefinite "flower" [so Gov., Dow.], or 
 
 * [P.ITRICK, Poo'.E and Dowav follow WlcurpE and Matth- 
 ews in making ver. 1 the language of the bridegroom. The 
 greiit body of commentators with better reason assign it to 
 the bride! Buerowes: "Reclining thus on a bed of gnisK 
 and flowers, the beloved and the bride naturally speak of each 
 other in language drawn from the beautiful objects under 
 their notice." Still more appropriately Williams : " The 
 spouse with the most beautiful productions of the royal gar- 
 den in her view, ventures to compare herself, not with them, 
 but with the more bumble natives of the fields and valleys. ' 
 Tlie " longing," which ZocKLBR here finds for her home a.oti 
 former buinltle station, belongs purely to his theory of the 
 plot in the Song, and has no place in the text itself.— Tk. | 
 
I. I— II. 7. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON 
 
 61 
 
 ••wild-flower" [soWiTHi.vGXON.GiNSBnRo]. Also 
 in regard to the name Sharon pit?, it cannot be 
 said decisively, whether it denotes the well- 
 knovra plain along the coast between Cesarea 
 and Joppa (Acts ix. 35), or the 'rans-jordaaic 
 plain named 1 Chron. v. 16, or finally a third 
 rneadow-land of Sharon between Tabor and the 
 lake of Gennesaret mentioned by Eusebius in the 
 Onomast. This last might perhaps be most rea- 
 dily thought of on account of its vicinity to 
 
 Shunem.*— Further [ntjn nSs^n is, notwith- 
 standing the article before [lit?, to be trans- 
 lated "a wild-flower of Sharon" (comp. Gen. 
 ix. 20; XKXV. 16; Jer. xiii. 4, etc.), and 
 no conclusion can be drawn from this ex- 
 pression in favor of the allegorical explanation 
 of Shulamith as the Church (against He.noste.n- 
 BERG).f — -In both these comparisons, that with 
 the flower of Sharon, and that with the lily (by 
 which must be meant not the strongly scented 
 Hlium candidum, but rather as appe.ars from 
 i. -5, 6 ; V. 1.3 the Palestine red lily, liliiim rubens 
 of Pliny H. N. xxi. 5), the terlium coniparat. is 
 both the diminutive size of these plants com- 
 pared with cedars, cypresses, etc., and also their 
 l)eauty and elegance (Matt. vi. 28; Luke xii. 
 27), so that, although Shulamith refers to her 
 lowliness and rural simplicity, she yet says no- 
 tliing derogatory to herself,^ and quite in ana- 
 lo'^y with i. .5 manifests a certain self-regard 
 though genuinely modest, and pure as a cliild. 
 
 Ver. 2. As a lily among thorns, so is my 
 dear among the daughters. That which had 
 l)';en to Shulamith an expression of her lowliness 
 is seized upon by Solomon with courtly skill in 
 order to bring out of it the more emphatic praise 
 of her grace and beauty. .More strongly almost 
 than afterwards in vi. 8, 9 he puts all other wo- 
 m«n in the sliade in comparison with his chosen 
 one, likening them to thorns, tlio well-known 
 Hgure of whatever is mean, troublesome and of- 
 fensive (comp. .Tudg. ix. 14; 2 Kin. xiv. 9; Isa. 
 vii. 2.3, ff.; xxxii. l5; Iv. 13; Ezek. ii. G; xxviii. 
 24; Ho3. ix. 6; X. 8; Ps. Iviii. 10: Prov. xxii. 
 '>, etc). [NoYES : " It is not implied that the lily 
 grows among thorns, but that his love surpassed 
 other women as much as the lily the thorn." 
 Moody Stuakt quotes the following as illustra- i 
 i 
 
 • [HenostenbbRG argues that "the valleys," whk-h corres- 
 pond in the parallelism with " Sharon," must alfli> have the 
 force of a proper name, and on tlie j;round ot 1 Ohron. xii. 15, 
 lie decides that the valleys on either side of the Jordan are re- 
 ferred to. Gov., tiENEVv, Dow.\T, Fry, TtiRUPP, With., Gins., 
 follow the LX.K in giving to Sharon an appellative sense ; 
 meadow, field or plain. The par.\lleli.sm is, of course, not suf- 
 liiMent to justify either conclusion, iimn tiiuls an allusion 
 here to her birth-place; "she was not of Egyptian origin, or 
 loyal descent, but a rose of the fields of Sharon — jt native of 
 Palestine." Of coui-se the famous Sharon must he the one in- 
 tended in such a passage na this. — Tr.] 
 
 t [The article is always definite in Hebrew ; and the only 
 correct translation is therefore, *' i/ie flower of Sharon," where 
 the article, however, ia not to be taken in an eminent or ex- 
 clusive sense, "Cic flower " par excf.l^erKe (as Wordsworth; 
 tin flower of the whole earth ; Dow VY ; the flower of mankind) 
 but has its generic sense, as is usual in comparisons. We may 
 in conformity with our idiom substitute our indefinite for the 
 Hebrew definite article in such cases, but this is by way of 
 paraphrase, not exact ti-anslr.tion. See Grken'.^ Heb. Gram, i 
 ■IV\ a, d.— Tr.) 
 
 * If n 7V3n really tneint the "saffron." C\jhhicum au- 
 iumriale, the comparison would contain what was damaging 
 .lUil def^radiu.; to Sbiilariiitli ; hut tins i^ not admissible on I 
 »,;couui 'f the pHr.illfl, ''lily of the valleys." 1 
 
 five from Bonar: "Close by these lilies ther* 
 grew several of the thorny shrubs of the desert; 
 but above them rose the lily spreading out its 
 fresli green leaf as a contrast lo the dingy ver- 
 dure of Ihe-se prickly shrubs."] With the trans- 
 lation "rose " [so Cot'., Cr.\n ] (which is more- 
 over absolutely inadmissible, since the fem. 
 riiC'lB' must unquestionably have a sense like 
 that of the masc. [E'ltj or WW "lily") the 
 strong contrast intended would almost entirely 
 vanish, for tlie thorns serve only to adorn tlie 
 rose. Kenan regards this verse and ver. 7 as 
 spoken by the shepherd (!) entering here for the 
 lirst time ["entrant brusquement en sc>ne"){ 
 [GiNSBORO imagines that i. 1.5 is also spoken by 
 this imaginary shepherd. — Tr. ] 
 
 Ver. 3. As an apple-tree among the trees 
 of the Tvood, so is my beloved among the 
 sons. Observe the exact parallelism of this 
 sentence with ver. 2. Shulamith gives back the 
 flattering commendation of her lover with a still 
 closer adherence to his expressions than above 
 in i. Ifj, and thus their conversation assumes the 
 appearance of a "contest of mutually eulogistio 
 love" (Delitzsch). The reference of Shula- 
 mith's language to an absent lover, whom sho 
 praises in opposition to Solomon, who is indiffer- 
 ent or repulsive to her (Ew., HiTZ., Vaih., etc), 
 destroys the simple beauty of the dialogue. It 
 is inadmissible to understand by the "apple 
 tree (H'SH, Sept. fif/'kov) some nobler fruit tree 
 than the common Pyrus malus, as for instance, the 
 quince [Pyrus cydotiia), or the citron [malnsmedica) 
 [so Good, Williams, Tatlok, Thrupp, With.], 
 or the orange (as is done by Celsius in his 
 Ilierobot. Velthus., Rosenm., Van Kooten, etc.), 
 on account of I he mention made immediately afler- 
 w:irds (ver. 3(/, and ver. 6) of the sweet fruit of the 
 tr,^e, because those acquainted with the East in 
 former as well as in more recent times commend 
 even the common apples of Syria and Palestine 
 as an exceedingly generous fruit, of fine flavor 
 and a pleasing fragrance (comp. Harmer, 
 Observationti, etc.,), and because the compa- 
 ratively rare occurrence of n'3i^ in the Old 
 Test., and its combination with the fig, pome- 
 granate, palm, etc. (Joel i. 12; comp. Sol. Song 
 vii. 9; viii. 5) point to its belonging to the 
 nobler fruit -bearing plants of the flora of an- 
 cient Israel. [Wordsworth : It is a generic word 
 (like malum in Latin), and may include the citron 
 and lemon]. — In his shadow delighted I sit, 
 lit., " I delight and sit" ('i^^u/'l ''l")?!?) [C.iss.: 
 I delight to sit "], a construction like l"l3"2n K^ir) 
 1 Sam. ii. 3, where the first verb seems to have 
 only an adverbial force and the second expresses 
 the principal idf'a,* comp. also below iv. 8 ; v. 6, 
 and EwxLi), Lehrbuch, ^ 285, b. [Green's Heb. 
 Gram. ^ 269]. Further it is no more neces- 
 sary to take these verbs in a preterite sense here 
 (Ewald, Hitz., etc.) than in i. 12. [strictly: I 
 have been sitting and still sit. — Tr.], so that this 
 passage supplies no valid argument in favorof the 
 shepherd hypothesis. In the figure of the sha- 
 
 * [WoRDSW. preserves the distinct verbal forco of both 
 words: "I long for his shadow and sit beneath it." Cov.; 
 "My delight is to sit under his shadow." Knq. Ver.; "I sat 
 doAvn under his sh:idow with great delight." Geneva: "Un- 
 der his sa.idow I had delight and sat down."] 
 
e2 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 I. 1— II. 
 
 iow the point of comparison is not tlie pro- 
 tection afforded (as e. g. Ps. xvii. 8; xci. 1 ; Isa. 
 XXT. 4, etc.), but the refreshing and reviving in- 
 fluence of the nearness of her lover, just as the 
 eweet fruit of the apple-tree serves to represent 
 his agreeable caresses, so iv. 16; vii. l-t (comp. 
 Weissb. !» toe). 
 
 Ver. i. He has brought me into his vrine 
 bouse, r'n n"3 must be the same essentially 
 
 as I'TI nnC'O n'3. that is to say, a room or 
 apartment for drinking wine, a banquet hall 
 [Eno. Ver.], not a •• wine shop" {! Bottch.), or 
 a "wine cellar" (Vulg. : " cella vinaria," Luth., 
 Ren., etc.), [Cov., Ce.\n., Genev., Dow.^y, Wil- 
 liams], or a "vine-arbor" (Vaih., etc.), or a 
 "vineyard" (Ew.vld, Heiliqst., etc). But so 
 surely as the expressions in the context, espe- 
 cially the "fruit" of the apple-treein ver. 3(/, and 
 the " banner " in 4 i, are to be understood figura- 
 tively, with the same certainty must the literal 
 interpretation of " leading into the wine room" 
 be rejected, and the sense of this expression 
 must be found rather in an increased participa- 
 tion in the sweet tokens of his love, an intoxica- 
 tion from caresses (already essentially correct 
 
 RUPERTI, DiiDERL., GeSENICS, DoPKE, WeISSB , 
 
 etc.). [So Good, NoYES. GiN.s. : "bower of de- 
 light."] The words need therefore neither be 
 taken as a wish (Sept., Fianyiiy^ri fie eli oiaov tov 
 oliinv, Velth., Am.m., Hug, U.iibreit, etc.), [so 
 Good, Fry], nor as a narrative of what her 
 country lover had previously done with her 
 (EwALD, Vaih., Bottcher), nor as the enthusi- 
 astic exclamation of a lady of the harem, who 
 was now embraced by Solomon instead of the 
 coy Shulamith (! ! HiTZ ), etc. There is no alter- 
 native but to regard it as a figurative description 
 of the love which she had experienced from 
 Solomon, h.aving its most exact analogon in i. 4 
 b, " the kiug has brought me into his chambers." 
 — And his banner over me is love, t. c. not 
 "he bears his love as an ensign before me who 
 follow him" (Gkotius. Hitzig, Weissb., etc.), [so 
 Notes, Thritpp, etc.], but "love waves as a pro- 
 tecting and comforting banner over my head 
 (Ps. XX. 6) when I am near him " So correctly 
 DoPKE, Del., [Wordsw., Burrowes]; .also Ew- 
 ALD, Vaih., etc., only the latter here again find 
 described the love formerly enjoyed with her 
 
 shepherd in the country. The banner {'.i"}.) is, 
 wherever it occurs in the Old Test., n military 
 figure (comp. besides Ps. xx. 6, also Num. i. 52; 
 ii. 2, ff ). It must accordingly be explained 
 here too in this sense, and not with BiixTCHER 
 of the sign before a wine shop (a tavern sign- 
 board !).* 
 
 Ver. •'). Stay me with grapes, refresh me 
 'With apples. The caresses of the king, who 
 is clasping and embracing her (see ver. b) pro- 
 duce an effect upon one so ardent in her love, 
 which even if not "thoroughly agitating" (De- 
 LITZSCii), or "taking away her breath and almost 
 stifling" (Hoelem), is yet powerfully exciting 
 
 •[The meaning of this clause is well expressed Iiy Cover- 
 bale: He lovetb mespociallvwell. Dowwhas: He hath or- 
 dered in me rhastity. I'arkiiur-it, without reason, supposes 
 a reference to " a light or lamp, such ax was carried lieforo the 
 new-married couple on the evening of their wedding, comp. 
 Vull XXV. 1, 2."J 
 
 and as it were intoxicating, and directly wakens 
 in her, probably for the first time since she came 
 to the court, the consciousness that she is sick 
 of love (comp. v. 8), and therefore needs to be 
 strengthened by eating some refreshing fruit, or 
 something of the sort. She directs her request 
 for it, as is shown by the plurals 'J03D (liter- 
 ally, fulcite me, support me ; comp. Gen. xxvii. 
 37 ; Ps. civ. 15), "JIIS"!, not to her lover himself 
 (Weissb.), but to the ladies of the court near 
 her, to whom also the lively exclamation, ver. 7, 
 is uttered. /llty'iyX are neither aromatic un- 
 guents (Sept., fivpa), nor flowers (Vulg : fulcite 
 me florihus [so Dowat] ; so too Stmm., etc.), but 
 agreeably to its probable derivation from E/E'X 
 "to found, 'o make firm" (see Knobel on Isa. 
 xlvi. 8), pressed grapes, and so perhaps wine 
 ^yrup, or better raisin cakes, grape cakes, which 
 is favored both by the verb ^OD and by the use 
 of the word in Hos. iii. 1 (where the Sept. trans- 
 late, TCfi/ia-a), and in 2 Sam. vi. 19 (Sept. : 
 Aayavov dwb Tfp/di'ov, pancakes). 
 
 Ver. 6. His left hand is under my bead 
 and his right embraces me. 'Jpsnil must 
 mot be taken in the optative here any more than 
 in viii. 3, where the entire passage recurs, as 
 though the sentence expressed a wish, "let his 
 left hand be under my head and his right em- 
 I brace me"* (Ewald, Vaih., Weissb., f/c, [so 
 GiNSB.]. — This is contradicted by the whole 
 situation as well in this passage as in viii. 3. 
 On the score of language too it is simpler 
 and more natural to understand it as an indica- 
 tive. 
 
 Ver. 7. " I adjure you, ye daughters of 
 Jerusalem," etc. In favor of Shulamith as the 
 speaker in these closing words, it may be said ; 
 1. That she is unmistakably the speaker of these 
 words in iii. 5 and viii. 4, where as here they 
 introduce a " pause in the action " of considera- 
 ble length (Ewald). 2. That Shulamith already 
 addressed the ladies of the court in ver. 5, who 
 must accordingly be supposed to be near at hand 
 as spectators of her joy. 3. That what she has 
 said of her being "sick of love" prepared the 
 way for this adjuration, and the latter is well- 
 nigh unintelligible without reference to the for- 
 mer. We may from the outset, therefore, repel 
 the attempts to treat the verse as the language 
 of the queen mother, who enters here (! BtixTCH.), 
 or of the celestial Solomon (Hengstenb., after 
 many older expositors as Starke, Jo. Lanoe, 
 etc.), or of the poet (Umbr., Hitzig),! or. 
 finally of the shepherd speaking to the chorus 
 (1 Renan). "I adjure you," literally, I cause 
 you (as much as in me is) to swear, I exact 
 from you the s.acred promise, I earnestly beg 
 you. J Compare Gen. 1. 5; Num. v. I'J. By 
 
 * fTnaOPP insists on the future sense : The time shall come 
 when that sickness of love, of which I now complain, shall be 
 solaced and satisfied. TxrioR makes vers. 4-i; the proUwis of 
 the sentence completed in ver. 7, " when he brings me, etc., 
 when his loft hand is, elc, I adjure you," etc.] 
 
 t [tliLL, Patrick, SeoTT and Williams make this the lan- 
 guaKC of the bridegroom ; the great body of English commen. 
 tators refer it to the bride. — Tr.] 
 
 JfWlTHlNGTON, in accordance with his supposition that the 
 bride is the daughter of an .\rah chief, whose adjuration ie 
 conseipiently by the roes and hinds of her native fields, re- 
 marks : "The semi-paipinism of the oath is extremely naiu 
 
1. 1— II. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 (^3 
 
 the gazelles or by the hinds of the field. 
 
 Tlie.se animils are not named in the adju- 
 ration, because animals generally in contrast with 
 men have " fixed annual rutting seasons" ( Hitzig ; 
 likewise also Herdkk and others) ; nor because 
 the ladies of Jerusalem w -re in the habit of 
 keeping little pet gazelles (J. D. Mien.)' "»>''. ^^ 
 account of the resemblance of HIXDV and m^''X 
 mOT to the divine names m'Xli' mtT' and 
 
 VT - T : T : 
 
 D'D'Jn TISk (Weissb.); but doubtless on account 
 of their pretty and graceful appearance (comp. 
 Prov. V. 19), which mikes these animals in par- 
 ticular fit symbols of tender and ideal love, and 
 must make them especially dear to women in 
 this point of view. Comp. particularly Dopke 
 in he, likewise Ewald : " In common life people 
 swore by things, which belonged to the subject 
 of conversation, or were especially dear to the 
 speaker. As therefore the warrior swears by 
 his sword, as Mohammed by the soul of which lie 
 is just about to speak (Ivor. ch. xci. 7), so here 
 Shularaith by the lovely gazelles since she is spea- 
 king of love."* — That ye wake not nor awa- 
 ken love until it please. n'j;n DX, literally, 
 "if ye wake," efc. (Ewalu. ^ 320, b), [Green's 
 Heb. Chrestomathy on Gen. xlii. 15]. The verb is 
 here masc, corresponding to D3J^.^ in a, not be- 
 cause the daughters of Jerusalem were not re:il 
 female personalities, as IIkxgstenberq [so too 
 Wordsworth] iasists, but because the primary 
 gender is here used as common, as in ver. 5 
 above, and Judg. iv. 20; Isa. xxxii. 11; and 
 frequently in the imperative. [Turupp explains 
 it by •' the general iudefinitencss of the character 
 which the daughters of Jerusalem as members 
 of the chorus here sustain " But see Green's 
 Heb. Gram. § 275, 5. — Tr.] — H^H.'^H is certainly 
 not " the loved one," as though the warning here 
 were not wantonly to wake Shulamitli who had 
 fallen asleep (Vclg. d/lectam, 8yr., Gesen., 
 Ewald, Kosenm., IIengstenb., Renan and J. D. 
 Mighaelis who for the sake of tliis sense points 
 
 nnnXT), but as this meauinc; would be in the 
 
 T\ -:t'' ° 
 
 higaest degree unsuit^.ble in the parallel passa- 
 ges iii. 5 and viii. 4, and as love as .an ethical 
 idea comes significantly forward elsewhere in 
 this poem (vii. 7 and viii. G f. ), it is manifestly 
 love itself as a passion slumbering in the heart, 
 which it would not do over-curiously to rouse or 
 kindle to a flame, runxn I'^H cannot possibly 
 mean " disturbing love " before it has attained 
 full satisfaction of its desire for converse with 
 the beloved object (Delitzscu, Weissb. J, for it 
 certainly expresses something analogous to "^'J-'H 
 
 ral." Moody Stdart: "This is no oath by the hinds of the 
 fields, but a solemn charge with the strength of an oath," 
 W'lLLi VM8 infers, from a comparison of (rcn. xxi. 30, that the 
 " antelopes and hinds of the field " are referred to as witnesses 
 of this solemn adjuration made in their presence. — Tr.] 
 
 [* Henry ; " Hhe gives them this charge by everything that 
 ie amiable in their eyes and dear to them." Fry : "The bride 
 bids her attendants tu be cautious not to disturb or call off the 
 attention of lier husband, whose society she has so coveted, 
 fts though tliey were approaching the giizelles or the deer 
 of the plain." Taylor and Bdbrowes likewise find the point 
 of tlvi allusion in the timorousue.ss of thes^ animals. CIill 
 and Scott combine both : " They are gentle and pleasant 
 creatures, but exceedingly timorous." Words.: "The roes 
 and hinds love their mates with tender affection and steadfast 
 reliance and will not disturb them in their shimbers."! 
 
 nX3p "stir up jealousy" Isa. xlii. 13, and the 
 Pi. '^'^ij?, which is added to strengthen it, always 
 and only has the sense of exciting or awakening 
 €. g. strife, Prov. x. 12, strength or power, P^. 
 Ixxx. 3, etc. Comp. also irritata voluplas^ irrila- 
 menta amoris seu veneris in Latin poets (e. y. Ovid, 
 de arte am. 2, 681; Metam. 9, 133; Juven. 11, 
 1G5) ; although here we are certainly not to 
 think of any magic charms or philters to inflame 
 love or lust, such as love apples. Gen. xxx. 14, etc.^ 
 or quinces (Bottcher). The meaning of the ad- 
 
 ' monition is rather simply this : "■ Plunge not rasii 
 and unbidden into the passion of love, that is to 
 s;iy not before love awakes of itself (till heart is 
 joined to heart, till God Himself awakens in yot. 
 an aifection for the right man), be not forward 
 to excite it in your hearts by frivolous coquetry 
 or loose amorous arts." This caution may in 
 some measure be regarded as the moral of tije 
 entire poem, inasmuch as it aims at the preser- 
 vation of the chaste, truly moral, and conse- 
 quently truly natural, character of love. It is, 
 
 I therefore, most suitably put into the mouth of 
 Shulamith as the bearer or representative of such 
 pure ethical love in contrast with the women of So- 
 lomon's court.* Comp. the like sentence viii. 7 6. 
 
 * [ This surely cannot be accepted as a satisfactory expla- 
 nation of this ditKcult verse. The spontaneity of love, which 
 no effort must be nuule to awaken, but which must be excited 
 nf itself, so far from being accounted a worthy lesson of di- 
 vine revehition, is not even a doctrine of ethics, and would re- 
 (juire considerable qualification before it could be admitted to 
 be sound rational advice. If inspired instruction were to be 
 given on the subject of conjugal love, and a wliole book de- 
 voted to the treatment of it, we might reasonably expect that 
 its constancy, purity and strength would bo prominently 
 dwelt upon, that due attention would be paid to the quaUties 
 on which it should be based, the affectionate oflBccs by whidi 
 it should be mainfciined, and the holy principles by which it 
 should be regulated. But instead of all this tho one thing in- 
 sisted upon is tliat love must be spontaneous and unsolicited. 
 AVliat is this but to convert it into heedless, inconsiderate 
 pa;5riion, the spring of ill-judged attachments, which prove j^ 
 inharmonious in their issue as they were irrational in iheir 
 origin? This is, besides, a very difiereut thing from tiie 
 thcDie of this book, as Zockler hioiself conceives and repn-- 
 sents it, wliich is the commendation of a pure and chaste con- 
 jugal affection as opposed to the dissuluteuess and sensuality 
 fostered by polyg-amy. It would also be a most extraordina- 
 ry admonition for ShiUamith to tho daughters of Jerus;ileju, 
 among whom, according to Zockler's hypothesis were the 
 wives of Solomon, married to him long before Shulamith had 
 ever seen him. 
 
 Then besides the feebleness and lnapproi)riateness of the 
 sense obtained, it is doubtful whether the language of the 
 verse can be made to yield it. The expressions thus explained 
 are exceedingly vague. There is nothing tu indicate in 
 whom they are cautioned nut to awaken love, whether in 
 themselves or others ; or in what way — may they not in any 
 way seek to win another's affection or to excito their own, 
 not even by exhibiting or discerning what is worthy of re- 
 gard ? And " till it (». e., love) please," is to say the least an 
 unexampled phrase. It is a very singular form of speech for 
 any one to adopt : " do not excite a passion until that passion 
 is willing to be excited," 
 
 Of the English commentators, who take "love " in its sub- 
 jective Bense of the feeling or emotion, Gir^siiCRG under the 
 bi;is of the unfounded shepherd-hypothesis translates : " nei- 
 ther to excite nor to incite my affection till it wishes another 
 love," the words " another love " being introduced without 
 any warrant from the text or context. Patrick paraphrjisea 
 thus : *' I conjure you not to discompose or give the least dis- 
 turbance to that love; but let it enjoy its satisfaction to the 
 height of its desires." So substantially Tatlor and Thrupp. 
 Weiss.: "if ye disturb this love until it shall become com- 
 plete, i.e., until the marriage be consummated." But tha 
 verbs here employed me;iu to awaken or excite, not to di*r- 
 turb. It seems better, however, wit.h the great body of in- 
 terpreters to take " love " here as in vii. 6 in its objectivw 
 sense of one who is beloved. Wordsworth compares " the 
 words of S. Ignatius ud Ktnn. 7, 6 «ai6s ep(i>5 eaTaupioTat." 
 The bride is locked in the fond embrace of him whom sht 
 loves. She would not have him aroused by the intrusion of 
 
54 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 I. 1— II. 7. 
 
 DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 
 
 1. The allegorical interpretation current in the 
 Church regards all the particulars in the forego- 
 ing description of the loving intercourse between 
 the bridegroom and the bride, as allusions veiled 
 under mystical figures to the relation of Christ 
 to the Church and further to the soul of the in- 
 dividual Christian. It sees in the opening words 
 of Shulamith i. 2-4 a manifestation of the long- 
 ing of the Church for union with her heavenly 
 bridegroom, whilst the partial identification or 
 combination of Shulamith with the other virgins 
 was especially designed to indicate that the 
 speaker was an ideal person as well as her lover, 
 who is now addressed, now mentionetl in the 
 third person, and who forms the object of her 
 longing desire. It further supposes in what 
 Shulamith says vers. 5, G of her ''blackness" 
 and of her " not having kept her own vineyard," 
 references to the sins of the cliurch, as the 
 causes of her temporary separation from God 
 and her enslavement by the empire of this world; 
 and accordingly finds, in ver. 7, a prayer to be 
 informed respecting the way which leads back 
 to communion witli God and Christ, in ver. 8 a 
 statement of this way vouchsafed to her by divine 
 grace ; vers. 0-17 depict the emulous contest of 
 love, which proceeds between the Church peni- 
 tently returned to her heavenly bridegroom and 
 Christ, who graciously receives her; in which 
 the cordial promptness and address, with which 
 the bride immediately repeats in application to 
 her bridegroom everything said in her praise, 
 indicate the faith of the Church working by love 
 and making constant progress in holiness. Then 
 \n ii, 1 — 7^ it is alleged that "declarations of 
 love advance to the enjoyment of love," and this 
 latter is represented in ver. 6 as having already 
 attained its acme under the emblem of an em- 
 brace, or of the nuptial couch. The epiphonema 
 iti ver. 7 brings the entire development to its 
 conclusion, and shows by its twofold recurrence 
 subsequently in iii. 5 and vili. 4, that the same 
 subject is treated in successive cycles, and the 
 Drocess by which the loving union of Christ 
 with the Church is effected is thus repeatedly 
 symbolized under an allegorico-dramatic veil, 
 varied with every iteration. — So among the more 
 recent allegorizers, ?. (^., HENGSTENByRfj (pp 2ft'., 
 24 ff., 36 ft'.), with whom the rest, as Hahn, 
 HoKLEMANN, c/c, agrcc in everything essential, 
 and particularly in the assertion of a cyclical 
 i:H>de of presentation, by which the dramatic 
 unity ot the whole is fundamentally destroyed, 
 and several successive tableaux or portraitures 
 of character are assumed, all relating to the 
 same subject (or as Hahn expresses it, each 
 *• serves to supplement or further explain " its 
 predecessors). Similarly the older allegorical 
 interpreters, only they go intO' more d<.-i;iil in 
 the mystical exposition of the individual figures, 
 and see e. ff. in the bundle of myrrh, i. l^i, a 
 reference to Christ's bitter passion, or to His 
 
 perfect sacrifice for the sins of men (comp. 
 Starke in he), whereby consequently an allu- 
 sion to His munus sacerdotaU is added to that to 
 the munus propheticum (i. 7, Christ as shepherd), 
 and rcyium (i. 12, Christ as king) ; or expound 
 the *' golden bracelets" i. 11 ot the growth of 
 faith, the *' silver points," in the same passage, 
 of holiness of life; or hold the "wine cellar" 
 ii. 4 to be an emblem of Christian churches and 
 schools as "houses of wisdom," or see in it 
 whether "the altar of the Church, where the 
 body and blood of Christ are dispensed," or the 
 Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, 
 with their various sorts or stages of divine 
 revelation.* 
 
 2. In opposition to such aimless and unbridled 
 
 othera to the iotorruptiug or abriJging of her joy. Poole, 
 with an oyo to its Bpiritual application ; " Di> not Uisturit nor 
 otrentl him by your miscarriages." Words.: " TIir church 
 conjures her children that they be not impatient but wait in 
 ftitih and hope for God's own time, when it may plea-sr- Ilin- 
 t<> \T\A<* and deliver hor." — Tr.J 
 
 * [Geneva Bible, note on i. 2 : "This is spdken in the per- 
 son of the Church or ul the faithful soul intlamed with the 
 desire of Christ, whom she loveth." Ainsw. : "The bride is 
 the Church espoused to Christ." In i. "l she " desireth to 
 have Christ manifested in the flesh, and to have the loving 
 and comfortable doctrines of Uis gospel applied unto her con- 
 science." " By virgins (ver. 3) are meant all such (whether 
 whole churches or particular persons) who with cha-ste and 
 pure mindd serve tlie Lord only." The daughters of Jerusa- 
 lem are "the friends of Christ and Hi3t.lnirch, theelect of God, 
 though not yet perfectly instructed in the way of the Lord." 
 The bride's blackness (ver, 5) is " the Church's afflictions and 
 infirmities." Hor mother's sous, "cither false brethren, 
 false prophets and deceivei-s, or inordinate lusts and sins 
 which dwelt in her. and were conceived with her." " The 
 vineyards opposed to her own vineyard seem to mean false 
 churches, and in them the coiruptiuu of religion, whereunto 
 her motlier'e sons sought to draw her; setting her to observe 
 the ordinances and traditions of men, or otherwise to undergo 
 their cruelty and wrath." In ver. 7 "the Church maketh 
 request unto Christ for instruction in tlie administration of 
 His kingdom here on earth." BURROwis regards this section 
 as exhibiting, in successive steps, " the progress of the pious 
 soul in the enjoyment of Christ's love and favor." 1. We 
 enjoy the love of Josus as nianifested in private communion 
 "in His chambers," i, 4. 2. In the way of duty and self-de- 
 nial, i. 7-11. 3. lu sitting with the King in the circle of His 
 friends, and enjoying, iis one of tlieni, the delights of social 
 communion with Him, i. 12-lt. 4. In delightful repose with 
 Him, amid enlarged prospects of spiritual beauty, i. 15-17. 
 5. In the protection and delights set forth in ii. 1-3. 6. 
 In enjoying at last the pleasures mentioned in ii. 4-7, tha 
 greatest possible on earth." 
 
 WoRDsw. finds expressed in i. 2 "the fei-vent yearnings of 
 tlie Church for the advent of Christ." " Tlie mother of the 
 Bride (i. e., of the Church of Christ) is the Jewish nation, and 
 her mother's children are Jews or Judaizers. It was the de- 
 lin^UL-ncy, ingratitude and cruelty of the "mother's child- 
 ren " which made the Christian Church become the "keeper 
 of the vineyards." 
 
 According to Thrupp, " the Church of Israel, in i. 2, desires 
 the very presence of her Saviour. She had been instructed 
 and wooed through the messages of the prophets ; she desired 
 now that her promised Messiah should pour into her mouth 
 words froia His own mouth." The daughters of Jerusalem 
 are " the members of the Church of Israel in their contem- 
 plative capacity ; not necessarily different persons in their 
 outer being from the virgins of ver. 3 (the upright), but yet 
 represeating them in a ditferent point of view, with refei'enco 
 solely to their intelligent and emotional survey of what is 
 passing, and without regard to their own spiritual state." 
 The mother of'the Bride is the nation of Israel. The mother's 
 sons are " the several members of the nation, viewed only in 
 their civil dealings, in their relation to the State, not in their 
 relation to the Church." Their anger was the rebellion of 
 the ten tribes. Her own vineyard was the religious culture 
 of all Israel. Hindered in this by the political condition of 
 the nation, she was driven to the establishment of colleges of 
 holy disciples, the sons of the prophets at ditferent centres, 
 whu-ie spheres of action are denoted by the vineyards, of 
 whicli the anger of her l)rethren made her the keeper. Wkiss 
 refers this section to the time when Israel lay encamped at 
 the foot of Sinai. Tlif blackness of the bride (i. 5) was tho 
 win of the goldem calf, the sun that occasioned it was the 
 bondage in Kgypt. The petition' (ver. 7) concerns the loading 
 through the wilderness, and the house (ver. 17) is the taber- 
 naclf- of Mdhl's. Moodv Stu.\rt supposes the longing for 
 Christ's appearance, and His actual birth among men, to bo 
 the subject of this section ; his interpretation of which id 
 specialized even to the extent of making the "green bed " of 
 i. IG refer to the fresh gnws upon which the newly-born 
 Saviour was laid in the maug'-r for the cutth'. 
 
:. 1— II. 7. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 trifling, which lays no sure historical and exe- 
 getical foundation at the outset, and hence sup- 
 poses that it can bring every possible mystery 
 into the simple language of this poem, an un- 
 prejudiced historical exposition can see nothing 
 in the seclio;i explainea above, but the first act- 
 of a more prolonged lyrico-dramatic action, 
 which by a gradual progress brings to its de- 
 nouement the relation of two lovers, king Solo- 
 mon and a fair Israelitish maiden, whose pre- 
 vious condition was that of a shepherdess or a 
 viue-dresser The development in this first secdoa 
 is not carried beyond the exhibiting a decided ethical 
 contrast between the character of this maiden and 
 that of the daughters of Jerusalem, i. e., the ladies 
 of Solomon s court or harem, and the knitting in 
 addition of a firm bond of loving heart-communion 
 between her and the king, loho for her sake alreadg 
 begins to contemn all the others, and even to find them 
 unlovefg (see li. 2). It is not exactly the very 
 first of the "mutual attachment" of the two 
 lovers (Delitzsch). but it is the first conscious- 
 ness in both of the incomparable strength and 
 ardor of their reciprocal affection (see particu- 
 larly ii. 5, 6), which is exhibited in this act, to- 
 gether with the first evident cropping out of an 
 inner contrariety between this closely united 
 pair and the other persons of the court; and 
 this is brought by the principal person in the 
 piece to the briefest and most emphatic expres- 
 sion possible, by the remark at the close in ii. 7, 
 as a contrast of true and false love, or that 
 which "awakes of itself," and that which is 
 ■•' excited" by amorous arts.* 
 
 ;J. Only thus much can be maintained as the well 
 assured result of a sober, yet earuest-minded 
 
 * [The contnist in character, which Zockler finds already 
 indicated in this section between Shulamith and tlie daugh- 
 ters of Jerusiil'm, though essential to his scheme of the boult, 
 is purely imaginary. It certainly is not established by ii. 2, 
 thtt only passage that can, with tho slightest plausibility, ba 
 urged in its favor ; whilst i. 3 and 4 speak decisively against 
 it. 
 
 Whether the cyclic or the dramatic view of this book is to 
 b" preferred, may be left an open question at this stage of the 
 exptwition. If oui author succeeds in showing a continuous 
 progress in the. action from first to last, the latter view is of 
 course entitled to the preference. But if he fails in this, ils 
 in the translator's judgment h? do ■> a, and as all have don* 
 who have m;ide the same attempt before him, we seem to bo 
 ■<hut tip to the former; unless indeed even the cyclic view, at 
 I.Mdt ;is refined by some of its later advocates, is too artificial 
 for the artless simplicity of this beautiful poem, in which the 
 Biimrt theme recurs under varied aspects, but the law of suc- 
 t-ession is rather that of poetical association than logical ex- 
 actness. 
 
 And the general character of this section creates an ante- 
 cedent presumption favorable to this view. The intimacy 
 herfl de.scribed is of the strictest and most loving nature, and 
 neems to leave no room for any further advance. Instead of 
 preparing the w.iy for a married union, it rather implies that 
 the marriage has already taken place. The "bed" i. IG is 
 in all probability not the nuptial couch. But Shulamith's 
 presence in the king" s apartments, the kisses and embraces, 
 her open expression of her passionate fondness for the king 
 would be unbecoming and inadmissible, especially amid the 
 restraints of oriental society, prior to murriage. — ^Te.] 
 
 exposition of this first division, which keeps 
 
 aloof from the profane assumptions and artifi- 
 cial combinations of modern shepherd-romances 
 and amatory poems ; and it is simply on this 
 basis, therefore, that a practical applicatica of 
 the contents of this chapter and a half must pro- 
 ceed, if it is to be conducted upon sound and 
 worthy principles. Its aim must consist essen- 
 tially in pointing out and devoutly estimating the 
 typical analogy which undeniably holds between 
 what is hert* found and tho dealings of the Re- 
 deemer with ilis Church. As Solomon raised his 
 beloved from a low condition to his own glory, 
 and that from mere love, and drawn by her 
 beauty and charms, so the Lord has exalted man, 
 sunk in misery and degradation, from no other 
 motive than His love, His mere personal regard 
 for our race, upon winch His divine glory and 
 blessedness were in no manner dependent ; for 
 
 **Nothirig brought Him from above, 
 Nothing but redeeming love." 
 
 As further Solomon's love to Shulamith ap- 
 pears in a gradual growth and a progression by 
 successive steps, so loo Christ lifts both His entire 
 church and the individual souls that compose it, 
 only step by step to the full and complete fellow- 
 ship of His grace. To the call into His kingdom, 
 which corresponds with the establishing of the 
 relation of conjugal love in the royal gardens at 
 Jerusalem represented in this act, succeed th<i 
 higlur stages of illumination, conversion, sancti- 
 fication ; but they do not follow immediately 
 upon the heels of the former. As finally the 
 lovely combination of child-like humility and of 
 inward longing for her beloved, which Shula- 
 mith's character already exhibits in this first 
 Sung, forms her chief attract on which first 
 makes her appear truly worthy of the love of her 
 royal bridegroom, so in the soul of every Chris- 
 tian whom the Lord calls into His kingdom and 
 will make partaker of His grace, the necessity of 
 surrenderingliimself voluntarily to these gracious 
 drawings with a hearty desire for a complete 
 union with liim becomes His highest duty; for 
 *■'• non visivolentes trahuntur a Deo'^ (Matt, xxiii. 
 37.) — Besides these analogies a sound and sober 
 practical exposition of this section must also hold 
 up the numerous points of difference between the 
 historical type and the soteriological and Mes- 
 sianic antitype; and among these it must par- 
 ticularly point out the dissimilitude, nay the con- 
 trast between the earthly Solomon, and the di- 
 vine-human Redeemer, as well as between the 
 surroundings of both. For it is only in this way 
 that the total of what is contained in this action 
 can be duly developed and converted to practical 
 profit in both a positive and a negative r«spect. 
 Comp. Introduction, J 4, pp. 16 ff. 
 
K6 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 11. 8— lU. 6. 
 
 SECOND SONG. 
 
 The first meeting of the lovera, related by Shulamilh who has returned to her kon*. 
 
 Chap. II. 8— III. 5. 
 
 FIRST {and only) SCENE: 
 
 Shulamith (alone). 
 
 8 Hark !' my beloved ; lo ! here he comee, 
 
 leaping'' over the mountains, 
 bounding over the hills. 
 
 9 My beloved is like a gazelle 
 
 or a young hart.' 
 
 Lo ! here he stands behind our wall,' 
 looking through* the windows, 
 glancing through the lattices.' 
 
 10 Answered my beloved and said to me : 
 
 " Up,' my dear, my fair one and go forth ! 
 
 11 For, lo! the winter is past, 
 
 the rain is over, is gone. 
 
 12 The flowers appear in the land, 
 
 the time for song* has arrived, 
 
 and the voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land. 
 
 13 The fig-tree spices" its green figs 
 
 and the vines are in bloom,'" they yield fragrance, 
 "up! my dear, my fair one and go forth ! 
 
 14 My dove, in tlie clefts'^ of the rock, 
 
 in the recess of the clifis," 
 
 let me see thy form," let me hear thy voice, 
 
 for thy voice is sweet and thy form is comely." — 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 1 [Wic. heading: The voice of the church of Christ. Mat.: The voice of the church. Gov.: Methink I hetf the Toiol 
 
 •f my beloved. So CRiN., Bisa.] 
 
 2 " Whilst the verb J7T snggeets hia long leaps, as he springs, comp. Isa. xxxv. 6; Ps. xviii. 30 ; Zeph. i. 9, the verh 
 V3p i.^^ older form for T3p and related to VOp to press together, as well as to T*Dp to gatlier ; in the Piel " to cause tc 
 
 draw together ") lets us. as it were, see the gazelles, with which the lover is compared, as in galloping they draw their feet 
 together again, alter being stretchnil go wide apart." Wbissb. 
 
 3 [AINS. : a fawu of the hinds ] 
 
 4 ^ni) according to the Targ. on Josh. ii. 15 equivalent to l^p " wall " occurs nowhere eUe in the Old Testament ex- 
 cept in the Chaldee forms 7j"\3 Dan. v. 5, and (plur.) X'/)"!? Bzr. v. 8. 
 
 6 [R. Ver.: '■ forth at." Gov.: better ''in at." Wouos.: "'spying in at the windows."] 
 6 [Gov.: peepetb through the grate. Al."»>. : flourishing through the lattices.] 
 
 ' The two-fold "V^ to thee after ^O^p arise and after ''37 go, throws back the action, as it were, upon its subject and 
 
 thus serves to impart to the language an ea^y, colloquial and kindly character, comp. i. 8, also vers. 11, 13, 17 ; iv. 6 ; viii. 14. 
 
 WmssBlOH correctly remarks that it is chiefly verbs of motion to which this kindly "VJ or ^7 or f07 is added. [Mat.: 
 
 't t 
 
 The voice of Christ.] 
 
 8[B. Ver. : "singing o/fnrds" which Harmeu refers especially to the nightingale. Wic. : "cutting." Gov.: the 
 twisting time. Doway : "pruning," so Thrdpp and Weiss. Poole ; cutting or cropping for nosegays.] 
 
 ' [So Notes. Gov.: bringeth forth. E. 'Ver. : putteth forth. Good, Qinsb. : sweeten. Williams: ripen. Fry: em- 
 balm. Weiss: perfume. Thrupp: mrtinre.] 
 
 10 [Wic: flowering.Gov.: blossoms, so Frt, Notes, Thrupp. Dowat: flower. E. Ver. : tender grapes ; so Good, Wjusfl, 
 6IM8B. Williams : lender buds.] 
 
 11 [Wic: The voice of Christ to the church.] 
 
 '* yhOT} ^Un appears here as well as in Obad. ver. 3; Jer. xlix. 16, which are probably derived from the passage be- 
 fore ns, to be not rocky heights, lofty refuges on tnp of the rocks, (Schult., Gesen.. HENaSTENn.. Weissb., f(c.,) but rather 
 "Assures, clefts in the rocks" (comp. Ewald and IIiTzio in lor..) For the latter figure manifestly agrees better with the 
 
 present situation, (see ver. 9) and m.iy also have a better etymological basis (comp. Arab. ^^. to split.) 
 
 " nlJ"nD (from JIT kindred to -111) comp. Ezek. xxxviii. 20, the only other pasmgo in which the word occurs 
 " On the form TXTD as a singular, comp. EwiLD, J 256 b, [Green'b Heb. Oramm. § 221, 7 a.] 
 
JI. 8—111. 5. THE SONG OF SOLOMON. i.7 
 
 15 Catch' us foxes, 
 
 little foxes, spoiling vineyards ; 
 for our vineyards are in bloom. 
 
 16 My beloved is mine, and I am his, 
 
 who feeds among the lilies. 
 
 17 Against^ the day cools, and the shadows flee 
 
 turn thee, my beloved, and be like 
 a gazelle or a young hart 
 on the cleft' mountains. 
 
 (She sleeps and after some time awakes again ;) 
 
 III. 1 *0n my bed' in the nights* 
 
 I sought him whom my soul loves ; 
 I sought him but I found him not. 
 
 2 " I will rise now and go about in the city 
 
 in the markets and in the streets ;' 
 
 I will seek him whom my soul loves." — 
 
 I sought him but I found him not. 
 
 3 Found* me the watchmen, who go about in the city ; 
 
 "'Whom my soul loves, have ye seen?"" 
 
 4 Scarcely" had I passed from them, 
 
 when I found him whom my soul loves. 
 
 I grasped him and would not let him go, 
 
 until I had brought'^ him into my mother's house, 
 
 and into the chamber of her that conceived" me. — • 
 
 5 I" adjure you, ye daughters of Jerusalem, 
 
 by the gazelles or by the hinds of the field, 
 that ye wake not and that ye waken not 
 love until it please. 
 
 * [Wic. : The voice of Christ to the church against hereticB. Mat. : The voice against the heretics.] 
 
 * [Adopted from Thrupp.] 
 
 ^ [E. Ver. marg; divisi m, Imt in the text : Bether. as though it were a proper name which Patrick identifies with 
 Bethel; Ainsworth and Poole with IJithron ; and Clarke with Beth-horon. Cov.: simply, •'monntaius" omitting Bether. 
 Bisa., Oran. : wide mountains. Parkuurst, Williams : craggy mountains. Bubrowes : a region cut up or divided by 
 mountains and valleys, rough, craggy and difficult to cross. With.: our secluded hills.] 
 
 * [Wiclipfe's heading: The voice of tu« church gathered togelherof Gentiles. Mat.; The voice of the church which is 
 chosen out of the heathen,] 
 
 » [Wic. : little bed.] 
 
 [So AiNS. ; Wic. by nights. Mat., E. Ver., hy night.] 
 
 ' Cpll^ plur. of p^ty, as D^in from ^^^ [Green's ijet. Gramm. § 207, 1. f] related to TyT)]^ to run (whence also 
 , . I-t; 1 -t: II- t 
 
 pliy '<?) denotes "places where people run," bustling public places, hence the Sept. correctly iv ayopaU. Comp. Ecclee. 
 
 xii. 4, 5 ; and Prov. vii. 8. — For ni^TT^ streets (irAartiai) comp. Prov. i. 20 ; vii. 12. Without sufficient proof from the lan- 
 
 guag'' Weissbacb claims for this lUff-r exjire'ision the meaning " markets, open squares," and for the former the meaning 
 "streets." [Wic: by towns :ilid str. ets. Cov. ; upon tlio market and in all tlie streets. Genev. : by the streets and by 
 
 the open places. E. Ver. in the streets and in the broad ways. Patrick; Q^pll*? are the lesser thoroughfares in the city 
 
 I-T : 
 or the streets of lesser cities; as ni^n"^ are the greater, wider streets, or rather the streets of the royal capital city.] 
 
 8 On a^O '* to strike upon any one, fin'I. ment him." I Sam. x. .^; Song Sol. v. 7. 
 
 [Wic Th" church saith uf Christ to the apMstk-s. Mat. : The church speaking of Christ.] 
 
 10 The interrogative particle H is omitted Lit-fore the verb DH^XT, because it is at so great a remove from the be- 
 ginning of the clause. Comp Ewald. Lehrbuch, ?■ 314 a, b. 
 
 11 On 0^03 {OyO with J verUatis) "as much as a little." Comp. Isa. i. 9. 
 
 « On the form VriX'^Hty for VnN'DHC; see HlTZla m ioc. [Ureen's Beb. Gram., J 160, 2.] 
 ^ ^XT^in synonym of QX as Hos. ii. 5. 
 
 •T 
 
 1* [Wic. ; The voice of Christ to the church. Mat. : The voice of Christ.] 
 
 the formula of citation ii. 10 "h ^DX1 nh ipS 
 EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 1. It is the fixed opinion of almost all the more 
 recent interpreters that this act contains two 
 monologues or sonnets sung by Shulamilh alone, 
 ftnd nothing more ; and this is verified by all the 
 particulars that it contains. The attempt of 
 Maunds and Delitzscu to strike out as spurious 
 
 and so to gain a dialogue form for the first and 
 larger division (ii. 8-17) is wrecked not only by 
 the evidence of genuineness afforded by all MSS. 
 and .ancient versions in favor of these words, but 
 also by the closing verses of the section (vers. 
 15-17) which correctly interpreted represent her 
 lover as present only to the iniagin;itlon of Shula- 
 milh or to her memory, which vividly recalled 
 
<••» 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOiMON. 
 
 II. 8— III. 4 
 
 him. Whether the two monologues are regarded 
 
 us two distinct scenes, (as is commonly the ciise), 
 or the scene is allowed to remain the same in both 
 without change and only a pause of some length 
 isinterposed between them (Ewald, Hitz., Hau.s.) 
 is on the whole but an unessential ditt'erence. For 
 a pause after ii. 17 is as undeniable and as uni- 
 versally admitted as is the peculiar character of 
 the second sonnet iii. 1-5, which as the narration 
 of a dream (with the apostrophizing of the daugh- 
 ters of Jerusalem therewith connected) is sharply 
 and distinctly sundered from the preceding mo- 
 nologue, though this too is of a narrative charac- 
 ter. As to what takes place between the two 
 monologues or scenes, we may either suppose 
 (with EvvALD and others) a prolonged meditition 
 and silence on (he part of Shulamith, exhausted 
 by the foregoing lively expression of her longing 
 desire for her lover, or, as intimated in the above 
 translation, that she sinks in'o a brief slumber, 
 which brings before her in a dream the lover for 
 whom she so ardently longs, and thus in the mo- 
 ment of her awaking recalls to her remembrance 
 a like dream from the early days of her love, 
 which she hereupon relates. No sufficient proof 
 of this assumption can, it is true, be brought from 
 the context. Yet it undoubtedly has more in its 
 favor than, e.g., the hypothesis proposed by Um- 
 itREiT, RooKE, VAiniNGEK, Rena.n and several of 
 ihc older writers, that Shulamith utters the words 
 li. 8-17 in a dream, and then, after awaking, she 
 relates (to the women of the harem around her) 
 a dream which she had previously had, iii. 1 if., 
 in order to "prove her changeless love to the 
 friend to whom her heart was given." The lan- 
 guage in ii. 8-17 has, to be sure, a certain dream- 
 like vagueness, rather than the character of a 
 strictly historical narration. But this is suffi- 
 ciently explained by the highly excited fancy of 
 the singer, which brings up the past before her, 
 aa though she were experiencing it anew, and 
 which in this lyrical recital, that is anything but 
 dry narration, here and there springs over what 
 intervenes between the separate particulars of 
 the action, especially in ver. 9 and between vers. 
 14 and 15. 
 
 2. It is, however, far more difBcult to deter- 
 mine the scene or tiie situation, and the external 
 .surroundings of the speaker during this act, than 
 to decide upon the form and style of thediscour.se. 
 The adherents of the shepherd-hypothesis, who 
 here conceive of .Sliulamith as continuing at Je- 
 I'usalem in tiie royal harem, and expressing her 
 longing for her distant lover, can urge, it is true, 
 in favor of tliis the repetition of the address to 
 the "daughters of Jerusalem " at the close of the 
 section (iii. 5), but are not able to explain why 
 the description in ii. 8-17 presupposes an un- 
 doubted country scene, with mountains, hills, 
 vineyards, Howery fields, etc , or why it i.s a sim- 
 ple monologue of the beloved, and neitlier Solo- 
 mon nor the daughters of Jerusalem utter a word. 
 BiiTTciiER's view, therefore, seems to have some- 
 iliing in its favor, that the locality of the action 
 was a royal country house not far from Jerusa- 
 lem, where Shulamith was detained a solitary 
 [irisoner. And the one circum.stance at least 
 iliat according to ii, 8 tf. the s(;tMi" appears to be 
 in the country, might be conveniently combined 
 with the asaumptiou that Shulamith here contin- 
 
 ues to stay in the royal pleasure-grounds south 
 of the capital, and that Solomon has only left her 
 again for a while for some unknown reasons. 
 But Shulamith's place of abode plainly appears 
 to be one further removed from Jerusalem, and in 
 fact to be located in the region of her home. For 
 1) the mention of her mother's house, with it.'» 
 wall and its latticed window (iii. 4 ; ii. 9) makes 
 it probable that she is there. 2) We are also led 
 to the very same result by 1JS"1N3, " in our land," 
 ii. 12, the mention of the "vineyards in bloom," 
 ii. 13, 15, as well as the iri3 '^n, ii. 17, whether 
 this difficult expression be rendered "separating 
 mountains," or "cleft mountains," or "spice 
 mountains" (seem/oc). 3) Shulamith brought 
 in solemn pomp to the wedding by her royal 
 bridegroom, as described for the first time in the 
 following act, iii. 6-11, presupposes that she had 
 before been staying again in her parents' house; 
 for it is from thence that according to the custom 
 of the ancient Hebrews, the bride must always 
 be brought (comp. 1 Mac. ix. 37, 39 ; Matth. xxv. 
 1, ele.). 4) That Shulamith came from northern 
 Palestine to Jerusalem for her marriage with Sol- 
 omon, is also rendered highly probable by the 
 mention of Lebanon in what her newly espoused 
 says to her, iv. 8; and further, the "coming up 
 ot the bride out of the wilderness," as described 
 in iii. 6, in her entry into the capital, might point 
 to a coming from the north, and not out of the 
 wilderness of Judah, which lay south of Jerusa- 
 lem (comp. in loc). Accordingly the parental 
 residence of the bride, or its vicinity is, with 
 DoPKE, Heiligstedt and Delitzsch, to be re- 
 garded as the scene of this passage— that is to 
 say, Shunem or some neighboring locality in the 
 tribe of Issachar north of Mount Gilboa, or on 
 the south side of "Little Hermon." How Shu- 
 lamith came thither again from the royal resi- 
 dence, whether peaceably dismissed to her horn© 
 by agreement with her bridegroom, or conducted 
 thither by himself in order to be subsequently 
 brought with solemn pomp to the wedding, is not 
 clearly explained in the piece. Only every 
 thought must be excluded of a possible flight of 
 the virgin from the royal harem to her home, for 
 s!ie cxliibita her longing for her royal lover in 
 undiminished strength, and this too not as though 
 it had arisen from regret at her too hasty flight 
 from him (comp. Delitzsch, p. 99 f.). — As re- 
 gards the time of the action, it appears to follow 
 from the way that, ii. 11-13, the winter is de- 
 scribed as past, and the fair spring-time as come, 
 that an interval of some months had elapsed be- 
 tween the summer or autumn scene of the pre- 
 ceding act (i. 14, IGf.; ii. 3 S.) and the present, 
 or more briefly, that "the entire rainy season lies 
 between ii. 7 and ii. 8" (IliTZ.). But as that 
 charming description of opening spring belongs 
 to a narration, and furthermore to a poetic and 
 ideal narration of what Solomon said to his be- 
 loved on his first meeting with her, no conclusion 
 can be drawn from it in respect to the time of 
 this action. And neither the "winter" in ii. 11 
 nor the "nights" in iii. 1 (according to Hixzio 
 the "long winter nights !") afford any support for 
 that opinion, whicdi would cliarge upon t[)e poet 
 too great a vi(dation ot the .Aristotelian demand 
 of the unity of time. On the contrary, there m 
 
II. 8— IIL 5. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 69 
 
 Dolhing in the way of assuming witli Ewalt), Bott- 
 CHEE, Del. and most of the later interpreters, an 
 interval of but a few days between Act 1 and 2 
 (which certainly need not be narrowed down to 
 the space of a few hours, as, e. g., Vaiuinger as- 
 sumes), nor of regarding the entire action of the 
 piece generally as taking place in the course of a 
 single spring, and occupying, at the utmost, a few 
 weeks.* Comp. on vii. 13. 
 
 3. Ch. ii., VERS. 8, 9. 
 
 Ver. 8. Hark! my beloved. — Literally, 
 "the voice [or sound] of my beloved," — 
 
 """yn Sip, to which abrupt expression T\'T\ it 
 is or y012i is heard is to be supplied as in 
 Isa. xl. 3,'6 (Matt. iii. 3); 2 Kings vi. 32. [It 
 is rather an exclamation, to which no verb need 
 be supplied, see Green's Ueb. Chres. on Isa. 
 xl. 3, 6]. And the following expression, "lo! 
 there he comes," elc, shows that it is not the 
 words of the bridegroom (Hknoste.nbero, after 
 MiCHAELis and many of the older writers), but 
 his coming itself or the sound of his coming 
 and bounding over the mountains and the hills, 
 
 in short his steps, which are indicated by 7lp. 
 comp. V. 2; Gen. iii. 8; 1 Kings xiv. 6. That 
 Shulamith was shortly expecting her lover, may 
 be probably inferred from this exclamation of 
 hers which may be supposed to have been occa- 
 sioned by some noise in which she thought she 
 heard the steps of him for whom she longed. 
 But that whicb further follows is not a descrip- 
 tion of his arrival, which now actually ensues 
 (Maqn., Dei.), nor a mere airy fancy sketch or 
 
 * [If Shulamith is here describing her first meeting with her 
 royal lover, there is no reason why slie miglit not remember 
 uad reliite it u^ fully as is here done, without the necessity of 
 being transported for the purpose from Jerusalem to Shunem, 
 even supposing th.at to have been her original home. Espe- 
 cially as her adjuration of the "daughters of Jerusalem," iii. 
 5, is a more evident proof of her still being in the royal capi- 
 tal, than any which ZdCKLER has been able to bring to the 
 contrary. He seems to have made the mistake of confounding 
 the locality of a p;ist event narrated with the place of the nar- 
 rator. It may be a necessity to the dramatic hypothesis to 
 get her ba^-k again to Shunem, after her residence with the 
 king in his palace, in order that she may come thence in so- 
 lemn pomp to her marriage at a subsequent period. But this 
 Bcarcely warrants the drawing of so large a conclusion from 
 BO slender a premise. 
 
 The advociUes of the idyllic hypothesis find here a distinct 
 song, describing a visit paid by the lover to the fair object of 
 his affections, without being at any pains to trace a connec- 
 tion between it and what had preceded. Taylor thinks that 
 this belongs to the second day of the marriage feast ; the bride 
 from her window in the palace is attracted by the sound of a 
 hunting party (ii.I5); the bridegroom, who is one of the 
 party, looks up and addresses her. Withinqton supposes 
 some time to have elapsed since the preceding scene. " The 
 Dride had gone up to Jerusalem, and after .a stay there had 
 gone bjick to the country, and was to remain there until the 
 season came of her husband's rustication, whicli would natu- 
 rally be in the spring." BURROWES: "The beloved hsul left 
 the spouse; these words describe his return." WoRltswoRTR 
 connects this scene directly with the immediately preceding 
 verse, the slumber of the bridegroom there described being 
 equivalent to his absence or withdrawal : " The patience of the 
 bride, after long waiting, is rewarded by the joyful sight of 
 the bridegroom bounding over the hills." Ginsburg, with 
 his peculiar modification of the shepherd-hypothesis, descril>es 
 the situation iis follows ; " The Shulamite, to account for the 
 •everity of her brothers, mentioned in ii. (i. relates that her 
 iKsloved shepherd came one charming morning in the spring 
 to invite her to the fields (8-14): that her brothers, in order 
 to prevent her from going, gave her employment in the gar- 
 dens (l.'jj ; that she consoled herself with the assurance that 
 her beloved, though separated from her at that time, would 
 come again in the evening (16,17); that seeing he did not 
 come, she, under difficult circumstances, ventured to seek him 
 and found him (iii. 1-4)."— Tr.] 
 
 dreaming description of what her friend would 
 say and do, if he were now actually to com* 
 (Umbr., Hitz., Vaih., etc. — see No. 1, above), 
 but a vivid reminiscence of the way that he had 
 actually come to her the first time and of the 
 loving conversation which had then taken place 
 between him and her by the wall of her parental 
 home. It was the more natural for the bride lo 
 be thus vividly transported to the past, as she 
 was hourly expecting her bridegroom back 
 again at the very spot where he had then met 
 with her for the first time.* — Leaping — 
 
 bounding (J^l?"]'?.!!?)- From this descrip- 
 tion of her lover's first coming to Shulamith, 
 which is further illustrated by the following 
 figures of the gazelle and the young hart, we 
 may perhaps conclude that Solomon while hunt- 
 ing on Mount Gilboa, or in its vicinity, saw his 
 beloved there for the first time, and formed a 
 connection with her in the manner ideally de- 
 scribed in what follows. 
 
 Ver. 9. My beloved is like a gazelle or 
 a young hart. Hitzig calls in question the 
 genuineness of these words, with no other 
 grounds of suspicion than such as are purely 
 subjective. They are designed more particularly 
 to illustrate and justify in their application to 
 her lover the somewhat bold and in themselves 
 
 not very intelligible terms J7T " leaping." and 
 yap "bounding." And this they manifestly do 
 in so far as they call attention to the fact that he 
 resembles those fair and noble animals not in his 
 speed and agility merely, but generally in the 
 charming grace and lofliness of his whole bear- 
 ing. Comp. passages like 2 Sam. ii. 18; 1 Chron. 
 xii. 8; Prov. vi. 5, where speed alone is the ten. 
 comp. in this figure, with Ps. xviii. 34 ; Hab. 
 iii. 19; Prov. v. 19, where the other qualities of 
 these animals are also taken into the account. — 
 Lo here he is, standing behind our wall. 
 Judged by the analogy of other pasfiiges, in 
 which it is found, the word here used docs not 
 mean the wall about the vineyard but the wall 
 of the house, to which the mention of the win- 
 dow immediately after also points. f "Our 
 wall," because Shulamith means the house 
 belonging to her family, in or near which she 
 now is again [or which she so well remembei* 
 — Tr.]; comp. viii. 8 "our sister," and "our 
 vineyards" ver. 15. — Looking through the 
 windows, glancing through the lattices — 
 literally, "from tlie windows, from the lattices." 
 It is a matter of indifference from whicl) window 
 he looks into the interior; it was only worlli 
 while to affirm in the general that he looked in 
 from the region of the windows, that is from 
 
 without. "Window" (pSn), and "lattice" 
 (N3'}n — according to the Targ. Josh. ii. 1.5, 18 
 
 * [There is no propriety in sundering this from what fol- 
 lows. The succeeding verses evidently continue or explain 
 this opening exclamation. If it belongs to the present, so 
 does the entire description which it introduces. If tin- 
 coming of the beloved here narrated is past, her exclamation 
 on hearing the sound of his approach is past also. — Tr.] 
 
 f [Harmer supposes the reference is to a kiosk or eastern 
 arbor, and quotes the Letters of Lady Montague, who speaks 
 of them II. p. 74 as " enclosed with gilded lattices, round 
 which vines, jessamines and honeysuckles make a sort ol 
 green wall."] 
 
THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 II. 8— III. 5. 
 
 equiTalent to f^n, of the same meaning also 
 with 3JE^K Judg. v. 28 ; Prov. vii. 6, as well as 
 with n3^X Hos. xiii. 3; Eccles. xii. 3) are plainly 
 only different names for the same thing, of which 
 however the latter expression is the more special 
 or precise; for the lattice properly closed the 
 aperture of the window and consequently was 
 that through which he must have looked, comp. 
 2 Kin. xiii. 17. — '("SO literally, "blooming" 
 (comp. Isa. xxvii. 6; Ps. cxxxii. 18 and especi- 
 ally Ps. Ixxii. 16, where V'i'O occursof men bloom- 
 ing out of the earth) does not express a " transient 
 appearing" or a "quick and stolen glance," but 
 evidently describes the blooming and radiant 
 appearance of her lover, who is also called " white 
 and red," V. 10. "He blooms in through the 
 window" (comp. Michaelis: '' roseum suum vul- 
 tum instar fioris jucundissimi per retia canclloTuni 
 osUndens") is a pregnant expression, and reminds 
 one of Gen. xlix. 'SI, where Joseph is described 
 as a young fruit tree of luxuriant growth, whose 
 "daughters" run over the wall.* 
 
 4. Solomon's first geeetinq to Shulamith, 
 vers. 10-14. 
 
 Ver. 10. My beloved answered and said 
 to me. In opposition to the doubts of Magxus 
 and Delitzsch regarding the genuineness of 
 these words, see above No. 1. In respect to T\yj 
 in the opening of a discourse and consequently 
 in the sense of "beginning to speak" (not " an- 
 swering" Hengstesbekg), comp. Deut. xxi. 7 ; 
 xxvi. 5; 2 Chron. xxix. 31; Isa. xiv. 10; Job 
 iii. 2, and a—nKpiyeadai, which is frequently so 
 used in the New Testament. f Arise, my dear, 
 my fair one, and go forth, viz., out of the 
 house. — not "out cf the city into the country," 
 as the adherents of the shepherd-hypothesis sup- 
 pose, who think the shepherd utters these words 
 to Shulamith in her captive condition (similarly 
 also Weissbach).J: 
 
 Ver. 11. For lo, the winter is past. ^^\D 
 (for which the K'ri VHO to fix the correct pro- 
 nunciation instead of IjlD as it might possibly 
 be read) denotes, as also in Aram., the winter 
 and that on the side of its cold, as the parallel 
 expression DC^J (comp. Eccles. xii. 2 ; Job 
 xxxvii. G) denotes the same on the side of its 
 jnoisture, that is to say, as the raiity season 
 t.D'OUl nj; time of rain, Ezr. x. 9, 13). The 
 winter as the cold season of the year necessarily 
 keeps people in the house; whence the allusion 
 to its being p.ist adds force to the solicitation to 
 come out of the house. 
 
 Ver. 12. The flowers appear in the land, 
 literally, "are seen (IKlJ) in the land." On the 
 rapidity with which the spring with its new ver- 
 dure and its blooming attire usually follows the 
 winter iu the East, comp. Hasselquist, Reism, 
 
 * rW'oRPSw. : Literally, sprouting and hlormiing like a 
 flnwerin;^ nhnib or creeper, whose hloasnms peep aiici glance 
 tiiroijfrli the trellis or lattice work of a window, and griving 
 hriKhtpess and loveliness to the apartment.] 
 
 t f WoRDsw. : Here is an anticipation of the phrase so often 
 applied in the gospels to Christ, who answered even the 
 thoughts of His hearers.] 
 
 t [It can scarcoty he anything but aslip when Withington 
 puts these words into the mouth of the bride : *' He hears her 
 distant voice ; Rise up, my love," etc. — ^TB.j 
 
 p. 261.— The time of singing has arrived. 
 
 T'Otn nj^ is not the "lime for pruning vines," 
 as the old translators explained it, after the anal- 
 ogy of Lev. XXV. 3 f. ; Isa. v. 6 ; for in vers. 13 
 and 15 the vines are represented as already in 
 blossom, the time for pruning them was therefore 
 long since past; but it is the "time of singing, 
 of merry songs." By this, however, we are not 
 to understand the singing of birds (Ibn Ezea, 
 Rasui, E. Meieb), but conformably to Isa. xxv. 
 5 (T3I), xxiv. 16; Job xxxv. 10 ; Ps. cxix. 54 ; 
 2 Sam. xxiii. 1, etc. (niTDT), the glad songs of 
 men, such as spring usually awakens, especially 
 in the life of shepherds and country people 
 (comp. Judg. xxi. 20 f. ).— And the voice of 
 the turtle is beard in our land, v(z. in Pales- 
 tine, the land of Solomon and and Shulamith. 
 This ^JVHNS does not by any means require us 
 to regard Shulamith's country lover as the 
 speaker, although it favors the assumption that 
 the scene of the narrative lay in the country 
 rather than in the city. The "turtle-dove" Ohi) 
 as a bird of passage (Jer. viii. 7) is a fit repre- 
 sentative of spring, and it need not therefore 
 symbolize the Holy Spirit (Takg ), nor the meek 
 (Hengstenb.), nor Israel in general (Hahn). 
 
 Ver. 13. The fig tree spices its fruit. As 
 D'JS means not the early figs but the late figs, 
 i. e. the small fruit of the fig tree which con- 
 tinues to grow during the winter, and does not 
 ripen until spring (Septuag. b'/ivSut, Vulgate, 
 yrossi), and as Djn signifies. Gen. 1. 2, 26, " to 
 spice, to perfume," this verb must here too have 
 the sense of spicing and denote that "aromatic 
 sweetness" which figs attain about the lime of 
 their ripening (comp. Schubekt, Reise III. p. 
 113). We must reject, therefore, both the "put- 
 ting forth " of the ancient versions (Sept., Aq., 
 Vulg., Syr.), and the signification of "redden- 
 ing" or"browning,"preferred by Ewald, Hitzio, 
 Renan, etc.; for the late figs are of a violet color 
 even during the winter, when they are still unfit 
 lo eat (comp. IMeiee and Weissbach in loc). — 
 And the vines are in blossom, literally, 
 "are blossom." ITrSD a substantive, which oc- 
 
 - T : 
 
 curs again ver. 15 and vii. 13, and whose etymo- 
 logy is very obscure (comp. Velth., Ewald and 
 HiTziG in loc), can mean nothing but " blossom, 
 vine blossom" either here or in the other two 
 passages; and this is confirmed by the ancient 
 versions (Sept. Kinzpi^etv, Vvlg. fiorere, Svmm. 
 o'lvdvd?/; also the Syr. on Isa. xvii. 11). It 
 plainly makes no difference in the sense whether 
 we translate "the vines are blossom (comp. e. </. 
 Ex. ix. 31), give fragrance" (as is commonly 
 done) or "the vines in blossom, i. e. since they 
 are blossoming, yield their fi-jigraiice" (see e. {j 
 Weissb. comp. Delitzsch). With regard to the 
 fine delicious fragrance of the vine blossom comp. 
 also Ecclus. xxiv. 23. 
 
 Ver. 14. My dove in the clefts of the 
 rock. — No pause is observable between vers. 13 
 and 14 (HnziG; comp. Weissbach). The ten- 
 derly caressing and alluring language continues 
 without change. Solomon here entitles his be- 
 loved a "dove in the clefts of the rock," because, 
 as appears from ver. 9, the bars of the latticed 
 window still separate him from her. The allu- 
 
11. 8— III. 5. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 :i 
 
 sion to her dove-like ianocence and her lovely 
 form is altogether subordinate, but must never- 
 theless not be left wholly out of the account as 
 e.g. Weissbach insists; for "dove" is undoubt- 
 edly a lender pet-name, comp. vi. 9, and even i. 
 l.j. The allegorical interpretation, which sees 
 in the dove -'persecuted innocence" (Hengsten.), 
 or even the righteous hiding himself in the 
 gaping wounds of Christ (Theodoret, Greq. the 
 OREAT, J. Gerh. ) has clearly noexegetical justi- 
 tioation.* In the secret of the cliSs, literally 
 '■ in the hiding-place of the ladder of rock, of the 
 steep rocky precipices," for this appears to be the 
 meaning of the word here used. The expression 
 evidently serves only to finish out the figure em- 
 ployed immediately before of the clefts of the 
 rock concealing the dove. No conclusion can be 
 based upon it respecting Shulamith's place of re- 
 sidence, as though it actually were a rock-bound 
 castle (BoTTCHER), or were in Solomon's lofty 
 palace upon Zion (EwALD, HiTZio, Vaih., ete.)| 
 Tcie present description would rather ap- 
 pear to indicate (comp. above No. 2) that Shu- 
 lamith's country home was surrounded by a 
 iiioinlainous and roijky region (Delitzscu). — 
 Let me see thy form, HSTO denotes in this 
 poem not barely the face (this Solomon already 
 saw through the lattice) but the entire form, 
 comp. V. 1-5. also Gen. xii. 11; xxix. 17; xxxix. 
 ti. — Let me hear thy voice. Evidently an in- 
 vitation to sing, with which Shulamith complies 
 ill ver. 15. — ^'The following fortifying clause re- 
 minds of the similar oue in ver. 9, a. 
 
 h. Shulamith's answer. 
 
 Ver. 15. That this verse is a little vintagers' 
 song or at least the fragment of one, and that 
 Shulamith sings it in answer to the request of 
 her lover in vers. 10-14 is regarded as settled by 
 most of the recent interpreters since Herder. 
 Only the allegorists, as He.ngstesberq, Hah.v, elc. 
 see expressed in it Shulamith's fear of the foes 
 of God's vineyard (/. e. heretics according to 
 He.nostenberg, [so Gov., Patr., Poole and the 
 generality of English Commentators], pagan Ha- 
 mites according to Hahn.); and Ewald inap- 
 propriately puts the words into the mouth of the 
 lover, who thus makes the connection again with 
 what he had said in ver. 13. That we rather 
 have here a separate ditty or fragment of a song, 
 is shown not only by the plural form of address, 
 
 but also by the accumulation of rhymes (D'^J'ty, 
 
 D-:op, D'S^nO, D^niD). And that this ditty is 
 
 sung by the bride, not by the bridegroom, ap- 
 l)ears from its contents, which seem perfectly 
 
 * IIarmer sayg, on the authority of Dr. Shaw : " Dove^ in 
 
 tlio^e countries, it seems, take up their abodes in th^^ hollow 
 
 plaices of rocks and clitfs." WoRDSW. suggests th.it tlie com- 
 
 puriHon is " to a dove Heeing to the clefts of the rock for rcluf^u 
 
 from the storm." CtOOD quotes a^ parallel the following simile 
 
 IVoiu IliMER's description of the wounded Diana, II. xxi. 493. 
 
 '• As when the falcon wings her \\ay above. 
 
 To th'» cleft cavfi-ti spei'ds the atfrighted dove. 
 
 Straight to her shelter thus the goddess flew."] 
 
 f [So Harmer, who supposes an allusion to "her apart- 
 ments in a lofty palace of stone." Good ; " The common ver- 
 sion, 'secret places of the stairs' is erroneous. The mistake 
 has obviously originated from a wiph in the translatoi-s to 
 give a literal interpretation to this highly figurative phrase- 
 ology. Stairs may well enough apply to the royal fair-one 
 jij a bride, but not as a dove."] 
 
 suitable for the keeper of a vineyard (see 1. 6), 
 but not for her lover, be he king or shepherd.* 
 It is, however, arbitrary and preposterous to 
 assume with HiTzio and Re.nan, that Shula- 
 mith sings this sonnet at one of the win- 
 dows in the harem at Jerusalem in order to in- 
 form her lover from her old home, who was in the 
 vicinity of the place of her abode, in nearly the 
 same way that Richard Ooeur de Lion betrayed 
 the place of his captivity to Blondel, his faithful 
 minstrel, by singing the refrain of a song famil- 
 iar to them both. The whole situation too is 
 not in the remotest manner adapted to such a 
 romantic and sentimental meaning and design of 
 the sonnet. Its context rather indicates plainly 
 enough that it still belongs to Shulamith's narra- 
 tive other first meeting with her lover, and coti- 
 sequently is neither more nor less than her 
 answer to his request to come out to him and to 
 sing to him, — an answer, which whether actually 
 given by her in just these words or not, at all 
 events concealed a delicate allusion to her lover 
 under a popular veil artlessly employed and half 
 in jest, and intimated to him that she was not 
 disinclined to let him take part henceforth in her 
 care for the security of her vineyard. If she 
 really sang these words, she did so while open- 
 ing the doors of her house to admit her 
 lover who stood without before the wall, or 
 while she stepped out to him singing and smiling 
 (comp. Delitzsch in loe.) — Catch us foxes, 
 little fozes, spoiling vineyards. The foxes 
 deserve this name, not because they attack the 
 ripe grapes themselves (Theocr. Id. I. 46, ff; 
 V. 112), but because by their passages and 
 holes they undermine the walls of the vine- 
 yards and injure the roots of the vines ; and 
 they also gnaw the stems and young shoots. f 
 It was important, therefore, in the spring when 
 thevines were blossoming, to protect the vineyards 
 from these uninvited guests ; and the more so, 
 since the spring is the very time of the coming 
 forth of the young foxes from their kennels. The 
 predicate D'J£3p little refers to//o«rty foxes (comp. 
 Gen. ix. 24; xxvii. 15; 1 Kin. iii. 7), not to the 
 diminutive size of the animals which nevertheless 
 do so much damage [so Har.mer, Goou, Wil- 
 liams] ; in that case the smaller variety of the 
 jackal, which is known by the name of adwe, would 
 
 be specially intended by Wl^\^ (Hitziq). But 
 as the jackal is always called 'S or |jl (.Job xxx. 
 29. Mic. i. 8) in every other passage in which it 
 is mentioned in the Old Testament, whilst l^W 
 
 * [Goon, BURROWES, Notes, .^del-Ude Newtox, Withing- 
 TON, Thrupp, make this the language of the bride ; Patrick, 
 Poole, Ainsworth, Hs.vrt, Scott, Taylor, Fry, Clarke, 
 Wordsworth the language of the bridegroom. Ginsbdro 
 puts it in the mouth of Shulamith's brothers. W1LLIAM.S is 
 led by the plural form of the pronouns both of the first and 
 secoTid pv-rsons to suppose that the chorus of virgins is here 
 adriressing the companions of the tjridegroom. The ingenioua 
 suggestion that these words may be borrowed from a popular 
 song, '.vhich here receive a new meaning from their connec- 
 tion, .agrees well with this peculiarity in the form of expres- 
 sion and also with the intimation in the preceding verse. 
 
 WoRDSw. : " He commands her to look well to her vineyard. 
 Ho calls it our vineyard ; it is his as well as hers." Withing- 
 tox, (after Taylor, who thinks this verse a summons to a 
 cha.se) sees in it an allusion to the "sports and employments 
 of the care-worn king" in his seasons of relaxation.] 
 
 j- [Patt.ick; Aristophanes in his Equifs, compares sol- 
 diers to foxes ; spoiling whole countries as they do vineyards.] 
 
THE SONG OP SOLOMON. 
 
 II. 8— III. 6, 
 
 is the constant designation of the fox proper, we 
 are not justified here in departing from this usual 
 meaning of the expression, comp. Oedmann, 
 Sammlunffen II. SS; W iser, Seal- Worterl/uch, Art. 
 Fiichse, also P. Cassel ou Judg. xv. 4. More- 
 over the expressions ** little foxes" and ''de- 
 stroying vineyards" are simply related as in 
 
 apposition to the principal object O'T^ty; and 
 both this and the words named as in apposition 
 are without the article, because it is not the foxes 
 universally, but just foxes, vineyard-destroying 
 foxes that are to be taken. Hitziq seeks without 
 necessity to base upon this absence of the article 
 
 before Wi)3'iO his translation "hold for us, ye 
 foxes," e?c., which he makes equivalent to "wait, ye 
 foxes. Ml give it to you ! " — For our vineyards 
 are in bloom, literally "and our vineyards 
 are in bloom;" comp. in respect to this specifying 
 "and, and in fact." which here has a specially 
 motive character, Eccles i. 1.5; viii. 2; Judg. vi. 
 25; vii. 'Z'l; Mai. i. 11, and in general Ewald, 
 { 340, b. By the expression TlOi? the singer 
 takes up again what had been said by her lover, 
 Ter. 13, a, whether she altered her ditty in con- 
 formity with it, or that expression in tlie mouth 
 of Solomon recalled to her mind this vern.al song 
 with the like-sounding refrain ; this latter view is 
 evidently the more natural. 
 
 6. Co.vcLUSiON OF THE FiBST MONOLOODE. Vers. 
 16, 17. 
 
 Ver. 16. My beloved is mine and I am 
 bis. — This declaration that she has become the 
 properly of her beloved .and he hers, that they 
 have mutually surrendered themselves to one ano- 
 ther (comp. vi. 3; vii. 11), does not contiuue 
 Shulamith's answer to the greeting of Solomon, 
 ver. 10 i-14 (Delitzscu, Weissbach, etc.), but 
 after her account of her first meeting with him, 
 which terminates with ver. 15, she takes up again 
 the expression uf her desire for her absent lover 
 uttered in ver.s. H, 9, by asserting in the first in- 
 stance that though still absent, he was inseparably 
 bound to her.* — W^ho feeds among the lilies. 
 — Manifestly a figurative expression for "who, 
 wherever he abides, spreads radiance, joy and 
 loveliness about him," or "in whose footsteps 
 roses and lilies ever bloom. "f With reference to 
 the figurative nature of this form of speech as a 
 fixed and favorite poetical phrase, comp. its re- 
 currence with two ditferent applications, iv. 5 
 
 * [Williams : " Thesp verses stand perfectly distinct from the 
 preceding.'* Others endeavor to establisli a direct connection 
 with the foregoing verses. Thus Taylor paraphrases : " I am 
 all obedience to his requests; it shall be my happiness to ac- 
 complish his desires." And Wordsworth in its spiritual ap- 
 plication : " The (Church thankfully catches up the expression 
 'our viney.ird;' Jind rejoices that nut only have they one 
 vineyard, but that He is hers and she is His."] 
 
 t fQooD, with an entire misapprehension of the figure in- 
 t«nded : " So sweet is his breath, that surely he feedeth among 
 the lilies." GivsB.: "Who tends his flock in the meadows 
 abounding with flowers." A figure for "the best pastures." 
 According to Wiluams, "for in such lilies appear to have 
 grown spontaneously ;" or for " sweet and lovely pastures." 
 occortling to PoOLB, " where there is not only herbage to feed 
 them, but lilies to delight them." Frv suggests as the con- 
 nection between the clauses of the verse : " let him drive his 
 flock to pasture in the flowery meads and I will accompany 
 him." Al.vswoRTH, Henry. Words, and others find in the lilies 
 a figurative reference to the bride herself as the olp.iect of his 
 fond attu-hment, and one who had been compared to a lily 
 among thorns, ii. *2.J 
 
 and vi. 3. Shulamith had already represented 
 her royal lover as feeding his flock, i. 7. 
 
 Ver. 17. Against the day cools and the 
 shadov7s flee. — Contrary to the division of the 
 verses, as well as to the analogy of vi. 3, Herder, 
 Amm., Kleuker, Dopke [so Coverdale, Dowat] 
 connect these words with the participial clause 
 at the close of the preceding verse. "Feeding 
 among the lilies till the day grows cool " would 
 yield a very tame and trivial thought, whilst, on 
 the other hand, the following solicitation, " turn 
 thee," etc., can scarcely dispense with some more 
 particular statement of the time up to which or 
 about which it should be complied with. Upon 
 W. "^S (literally, "enduring till," "waiting 
 tiir')=:" until," "whilst," by the time that, 
 comp. the like forms of expression. Gen. xxiv. 
 33 ; xxvii. 45; Ex. xxii. 26; 1 Sam. i. 22; xiv. 
 19, etc.; also i. 12 above, where, it is true, the con- 
 nection demands a somewhat ditferent transla- 
 tion. Shulamith evidently bogs her lover to re- 
 turn to her before the coming on of the shades oi 
 evening (before the day wholly cools, and the 
 ever lengthening shadows melt quite away in the 
 darkness — comp. Job xiv. 2). By evening, at the 
 latest, and before night, he should come over the 
 mountains to her swift as a gazelle, as at that first 
 time when she had seen him bounding over the 
 summits and the bills (ver. 8).* — Turn thee and 
 
 be like, etc. — 3D neither qualifies D^l adver- 
 bially, "resemble hereabouts a gazelle," etc. 
 (Weissbach); nor is it an invitation to her friend 
 already present to ramble with her upon the 
 mountains in the neighborhood" (Delitzscu); 
 nor equivalent to "turn back again,' as though 
 it were intended to call back one who had shortly 
 before been near her and who was going away 
 (Bottchek); but Eimply:^"turn thyself hither, 
 direct thy steps hither" (comp. 1 Sam. xxii. 18; 
 2 Sam. xviii. 30). The Vulgate quite correctly, 
 therefore, as regards the sense, revertere ; so 
 also the Syr., Luth., etc. — The call upon him 
 to "resemble the gazelle" is evidently connected 
 with the description given of her lover in ver. 
 8. She wishes that her lover would novv soon 
 return, .as she saw him then, swiftly and grace- 
 fully, like the sudden appearing of a noble deer 
 on the mountain height. — On cleft mount- 
 ains. — This translation of the difficult "IH'Su 
 
 "T ^ 
 
 ins is especially favored by the c-l dp)/ kul'/m- 
 !iaTuv of the Sept. The usuiil signification of 
 1113, "piece," "severed portion" (Gen. xv. 
 10; Jer. xxxiv. 18, 19, etc.) lies at the basis 
 of it; and both the name of the place, PinS, 
 Bitbron, the designation of a mountain ravine 
 east of the Jordan, 2 Sam. ii. 29, and the Greek 
 
 * [Good ; "Till the day breathe. The expression is truly ele- 
 gant and poetical. At midnight all nature lies dead and life- 
 less. The shadows, however, at length fly ; the morning 
 breathes and nature revivifies. The intrinsic excellence of 
 the metaphor has seldom been understood by our commenta- 
 tors, who have almost all of them referred it to the day breeze 
 of the country, or at least to that peculiar current of air which 
 is often found existing in most climates at the dawn." Wil- 
 liams: "Return, my beloved, and remain with me until the 
 day breathe." Noyes: "This is understood by many of tlu- 
 morning. But the more recent commentators refer it to sun- 
 set or the evening." Woedsw.: " Before the first cool gales 
 of the evening."] 
 
n. 8— in. 5. 
 
 THE SONG f)F SOLOMON. 
 
 payciQ, "fissure, cleft," offer themgeWes at once 
 as confirmatory analogies (comp. Gesen., Let., 
 also Vaiu., Kenan and Delitzsch in loc, "riven 
 mountains"). Commonly, "on mountains of sep- 
 aration," i. f., on the mountains that separate 
 us (comp. Luther, "auf dert Scheiiebergen ;" 
 Merc, Ewald, Hitzig, also the Tarq., Ibn Ezra 
 and Jarchi) [so Ginsburg]. Peculiarly Weiss- 
 BACH "on the spice-mountains" (or"Bathrum 
 heights," comp. Vulg., "super monies Bolfier," 
 and Theodoret, who, as well as the Syr., trans- 
 lates similarly " etri ra dpi ^ii/iia/idruii") ; by this 
 he supposes to be meant Shulamilh's breasts per- 
 fumed with aromatic betel-leaves, i. e., with 
 liaXojidiipov, malabalhru)n=Syr.. bathrum. But 
 such an adducing of the D'pC/3 '171, mountains of 
 spices mentioned in viii. 14, and that as identical 
 in signification with the "mountain of myrrh" 
 and "hill of frankincense" mentioned in iv. 6, 
 «. e., with the fragrant breasts of his beloved (?), 
 is in the present inslance manifestly destructive 
 of the sense and repugnant to tjie connection, and 
 would besides yield an absolutely lascivious 
 sense, which the expressions in question do not 
 have in the two passages alleged. 
 
 7. Shulamith's dream with the epiphonema 
 TO THE daughters OF Jerus.vlem, iii. 1-5. — Comp. 
 above No. 1 and 2. This brief section, the nar- 
 ration of a dream which she had previously had, 
 need not be referred to any other place than that 
 of the preceding action ; and no convincing 
 ground can be gathered from the passage itself, 
 either for the view of Delitzsch that from the 
 scene of the present action "Jerusalem was visi- 
 ble in the distance," nor for that of Weissbach, 
 who imagines the scene to have been the very 
 streets of Jerusalem. The adjuration of the 
 daughters of Jerusalem at the close by no means 
 implies their presence, but is sufficiently ex- 
 plained by the fact that the speaker, led by the 
 same feelings as before (ii. 5 If. ) to a lively ex- 
 pression of the harm resulting from a self-induced 
 exciting of the love sickness, clothes this expres- 
 sion in exactly the same words now as then, and 
 conceives of the same witnesses present here as 
 there. As besides the exclamation in question 
 has also the character of a gener.il moral senti- 
 ment (comp. above p. 55) intended for the specta- 
 tors (real or imaginary) of the piece, the address 
 to the women of Jerusalem conceived of as really 
 distant from the speaker, would be the less sur- 
 prising. .Vnd fui'ther, in the third passage, in 
 which the exclamation occurs, viii. 4, the ab- 
 sence of the persons addressed is more probable 
 than their presence (see in loc). 
 
 Ver. 1. On my bed in the nights — 
 •'. e., agreeably to the context and the wliole 
 situation the same as " once in a dream," 
 "lying upon my bed by night and dreaming."* 
 
 * fSo Good : " The word ' dream ' does not occur in the 
 original ; but from the period of time, the place and position 
 of the fair bride, there can be no doubt that she is here de- 
 scribing a dream." Scott ; " The circumstances of this nar- 
 ration (and of one in some respects similar in the fifth chap- 
 ter) are so improbable, if applied in their literal meaning to 
 the newly-espoused queeu of King Solomon, that to avoid 
 the difficulty and to maintain the consistency of a dramatic 
 poem on occasion of Solomon's marrijige, it has been con- 
 sidered merely as a dream of the spouse. But the narrative 
 gives not the le;ist intimiition of this." To which, however. 
 Notes replies: "The author would not be more likely to 
 violate probability or propriety in an allegory than in the 
 
 nib'S| belongs not to the verb "I sought," 
 but to the preceding, "on my bed" (comp. the 
 like connection in ii 8) ; and this entire state- 
 ment of the place and time "on my nightly 
 couch," is plainly not designed to declare where 
 she had vainly sought her lover, viz., in her bed 
 (Luther, so too Hengstenbero, Delitzsch, 
 Weissbach), but how she had sought and not 
 found him, oiz., sleeping and dreaming at night. 
 Delitzsch, c g , has sought to set aside what 
 is morally oflFensive in the former explanation, 
 by the assertion that " in a dream she might 
 miss her lover even in the night, as though he 
 were already her husband, who shared her bed." 
 But thus it is clear that the otfence is not re- 
 moved; it is only increased. Far more attrac- 
 tively, and answering more exactly to the true 
 construction, Hitzig: "It would be inadmis- 
 sible to understand it: I thought to find him on 
 my bed. Rather : I on my bed thought to find 
 him. And not him too on the bed. She after- 
 wards in ver. 2 resolves to seek him out of the 
 house ; so she seeks him now in the room, inside 
 of the house, as far as her eye can penetr.ate, 
 not barely within her bodily reach." Moreover, 
 " in the nights" is certainly not equivalent to 
 "in long and dreary nights" (Henostenb., and 
 in general almost all the allegorists), nor "in 
 the long winter nights" (Hitzig), nor " in seve- 
 ral nights," as though the same dream had been 
 repeated more than once (Vaiuinoer) [West- 
 MiNST. Annotat.: " night after night ;" so Pat- 
 rick] ; but the plur. stands poetically for the 
 sing, as more general and pictorial [Green's 
 ffeb. Uhresl. on Gen. xxxvii. 8]; comp. the 
 "clefts of the rock" and "steeps," ii. 14 and 
 
 r\l^'^3 again, ver. 8. — I sought him -whom 
 my soul loves. Comp. on 1. 7. — I sought 
 him and I found him not — viz., in my im- 
 mediate surroundings, which my dream had in 
 the first instance conjured up before me. 
 
 Ver. 2. I -will rise no'W and go about in 
 the city. With life-like vividness of descrip- 
 tion she relates what she said in her dream, as 
 though she were saying it now for the first time. 
 It is therefore unnecessary to supply '^^'2'* ' 
 said (comp. vii. 9) before NJ HOIpX. The city 
 with its markets and streets, where she proposes 
 to wander about seeking her lover, is certainly 
 Jerusalem, the royal city itself. She was there 
 when she had the dream, and the action of the 
 dream accordingly takes place there too. — In 
 the markets and in the streets. The im- 
 propriety that there would be in an Israelitish 
 maiden's actually roving about the streets in 
 such a search (comp. Prov. vii. 11) disappears 
 of course, if Shulainith was dreaming. 
 
 Ver. 'A. Found me the v^atchmen ^ho 
 go about in the city. Such niglitly guardians 
 
 ordinary products of his imagination." With. : " She ima- 
 gines herself in the city, and relates the incidents in vers. 
 'A, 4. There is no need of supposing it a dre4im ; it may be 
 accounted for by the vivacity of eastern thought." TwLOR 
 thinks that what is subsequently said of the nocturnal 
 search is not descriptive of what the bride actually did. but 
 optative or hypothetical. Fry springs over the difficulty by 
 means of his idyllic hypothesis, conceiving that this has no 
 relation to the " nuptials of King .Solomon." but that it re- 
 lates " a circumstance in domestic life, among the lower or 
 middling classes of society "]. 
 
74 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 II. 8— III. » 
 
 of the public safety might easily occur to the 
 simple country maiden in her dream, because 
 she had heard of their existence, or also because 
 she had seen some of them at night from her 
 residence. Comp. Ps. cxxvii. 1 ; Isa. lii. 8. — 
 Whom my soul loves, have ye seen ? 
 The emotion of the questioner led io the prefixing 
 of the object " whom my soul loves," as the word ' 
 of greatest consequence to her.* 
 
 Ver. 4. Scarcely had I passed from them- | 
 literally "what I had passed from them was a! 
 little, until I found," elc. (So correctly HiTZic, I 
 Weissbaoh). — 'When I found him whom 
 my soul loves. Not because she thought her- 
 self at once transported from the city to her 
 home (HiTzio), but simply in virtue of the 
 easily shifting and quickly changing scenery of 
 dreams, which bring now this person, now that 
 immediately before us. — I grasped him and 
 did not let him go. So also Delitzsch, Hit- 
 zio, etc., after the Sept. Cod. Vatic. (Kai ovk aijifjKa 
 avTov), the Syk. and R.\shi. On the contrary, 
 the VuLG. " tenui eum, nee dimittam," and similarly 
 Vat.\bl., Ewald, Hengstb., Weissb., etc. [So 
 
 Co v., Dow.iY: will not let him go]. But X/1 
 ^J3"^N by no means compels us to regard the ac- 
 tion as future, "for the connection with Vav relat. 
 [conversive] was simply severed by the negative 
 and the second mode [future] was allowed to 
 remain, comp. Job xxiii. 11; Jer. xliv. 42; 2 
 Sam. ii. 28, Ewali), Lekrb. § 333 c." (Hitzig). 
 The immediate linking too of VipfnX with 'JINXD, 
 as well as the circumstance that the language 
 does not pass into the form of aft address to her 
 lover ("I grasp thee and will not let thee go," 
 elc), shows plainly enough that Shulamilh is 
 continuing her account of what occurred in her 
 dre.iin.f Until I had brought him into my 
 mother's house. The house or tent of the 
 mother is, in the East, the proper residence of 
 the female members of the family, comp. Gen. 
 ixiv. 67; Ruth i. 8. In the mouth of Shulamith 
 the expression properly vouches only for her 
 childlike, artless and dutiful disposition (comp. 
 Iiitroduc. ^ 4, Rem. i.), not for the specially 
 chaste and pure character of her love for Solomon 
 ( Delitzsc'II ), and still less certainly for any impure 
 lusts that she might cherish (Weissbach). And 
 there is no intimation of the latter in the words 
 added, simply for the sake of the parallelism, 
 "and intothechamberof her that conceived me. "J 
 Ver. 5. Comp. on ii. 7, as well as above, at the 
 beginning of this No. 
 
 * [Poole : She accosted the watchmen " without either 
 fear or shame, aa being transported and wholly swallowed up 
 with love. She doth not name him [her husband] because 
 ah'- thought it needless, a^ supposing that a person of such 
 tniuscendent excellency could not be unknown to men in 
 that public capacity. Their answer is not mentioned, either 
 b'Tjiuse they gave her no answer, at least no satisfactory an- 
 swer, or because ijy their silence she gathered that they were 
 iiii;i!)le or unwilling to inform her; and being eager in the 
 pursuit of her beloved, she would not lose time in imper- 
 tinent discourses with them "]. 
 
 t [The second verb is certainly future, though the act de- 
 scribed may still be past, its time being reckoned not from 
 the moment of speaking, but from the period denoted by the 
 antecedent verb. The future, when thus emjiloyed, indicates 
 that the act is siibsequent to or conditiimed liy "the jireceding 
 preterite. Orren's Hf.b. Grnm.. § 2R3, ."i a. The shade of 
 thought so suggested is well expressed in the Knolish Ver- 
 •inv ; " I held him. and ivoitld not let iiim tin." — Tr.[ 
 
 J [Hodgson ; " This passage seems to prove that the person 
 
 DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 
 
 1. According to the allegorical exegesis of ancient 
 as of modern times, the essential thing described 
 in this song is the " painful search," which must 
 precede the -finding of the heavenly bridegroom 
 on the part of his church, as well as on the part 
 of the.soul of the individual believer. And they 
 commonly find in ii. 8-17 the development of 
 the thought "that sore trials will precede the 
 appearing of the heavenly Solomon," while iii. 
 1-5 sets forth the truth that the salvation of the 
 Messiah cannot be brought to pass by one's own 
 strength, nor by earthly and human means, but 
 that whoever seeks to draw the Saviour down 
 from heaven in this way, not only will not find 
 Him, but will be found and punished by His 
 watchmen. In short, the native inability of 
 man to achieve his salvation of himself, and the 
 necessity of a saving interposition of divine 
 grace from above to deliver us from our distress 
 and disquiet, is thought to form the principal 
 object represented in this section (comp. Hengs- 
 TENBEBG, pp. 49-66; Hahn, p. 46; Starke, 
 Synops., p. 2404, 2426 f., and the older interpre- 
 ters there adduced).* 
 
 here married was not Pharaoh's daughter ; for if she had 
 been Pharaoh's daughter, her mother's house would have 
 been in Egypt, whereas this scene lies in Jerusalem ; for in 
 the next line she addresses the daughters of .Jerusalem, and 
 desires them not to disturb her sleeping husband "]. 
 
 * [Dow.w, note on ii. 8 : " The voice of my beloved : that 
 is, the preaching of the gospel surmounting difficulties." On 
 ii. l.'i: "Christ commands His pastors to catch false teachers, 
 by holding forth their fallacy and erroneous doctrine, which, 
 like foxes, would bite and destroy the vines." On iii. 1 • 
 "The Gentiles as in the dark, and seeking in heathen delu- 
 sion what they could not find, the true God, until Christ re- 
 vealed His doctrine to them by His watchmen (ver. 3), that 
 is, by the .apostles and teachers, by whom they were con- 
 verted to the true faith. And holding that faith firmly, the 
 spouse, the Catholic church declares (ver. 4), that ' She will 
 not let Him go, till she bring Him into her mother's house,' 
 that is, till at last the Jews shall also find him." 
 
 Geneva, note on ii. 8 ; " This is spoken of Christ, who took 
 upon Him onr nature to come to help His Church." On ver. 
 t.5 : " Suppress the heretics while they are young, that is, 
 when they begin to destroy the vine of the Lord." On iii. 1 ; 
 " The Church in troubles seeketh to Christ, but is not incon- 
 tinently heard." 
 
 WoRDSW., on ii. 8 : " After absence the bridegroom returns. 
 The Church is comforted after her trials. Thus it was at the 
 first advent, when Christ came to the Church after long ex- 
 pectation; and thus will it be when He will come at the 
 great d.ay." On ver. 15 ; " The duty of the Church to main- 
 tain the faith and to repress heresy. The poisonous error is 
 to be nipped in the bud." On iii. 1 : "The Bride seeming to 
 herself to be left a widow, seeks her Beloved in a time of 
 darkness and sorrow, and she finds Him not ; she therefore 
 goes forth in quest of Him. This has been verified at divers 
 times in the history of the Church, specially was it true at 
 the time of our Lord's passion. So will it be in the dark 
 night of Anti-Christianism, on the eve of the second advent 
 of Christ." On ver. 4 : " The Church passes from the watch- 
 men, because they would not help her to find Christ. This is 
 a very important text, in reference to the iiuestion of schism. 
 If the watchmen of a church do not direct the eyes of the 
 faithful to Christ, the faithful must pass from them — what- 
 ever the consequences m.ay be — the faithful must seek for 
 Christ until they find Him." 
 
 According to Thrupp, this section describes the Church as 
 patiently awaiting the advent through a long season of dark 
 storms, of iianefnl attiicks and of anxious searchings. MooDT 
 Stdart makes its subject to be "the sleeping Bride awak- 
 ened;" first, "the call to meet the bridegroom" through 
 "the preaching of .John the Baptist," ii. 8-1 ."S ; secondly, 
 "the response to the call," ii. 16 — iii. 5, when ".John's dis- 
 ciples seek Christ." Weiss, finds the winter (ii. 11) in the 
 forty years' wandering of the children of Isniel in the desert; 
 the foxes (ver. l.'i) are the idolatrous Canaanites whom they 
 were bidden to destroy ; the night (iii. 1 ) is the period of th» 
 Judges, marked by few revelations ; the watchmen (ver. 3) 
 
II. S— III. 5. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 2. A considerate historical exposition also re- 
 cognizes the loving desire and search of a bride 
 for her bridegroom, as the main object described 
 in this act. But it ayoids seeing anything morally 
 reprehensible in this longing desire of the maiden 
 separated from her lover. It rather, in aocord- 
 auoe with the unmistakable design of the poet, 
 regards this very fidelity with which the bride 
 clings to the friend of her choice even during a 
 long separation, as one of the loveliest traits in 
 her character. Neither by day nor by night, 
 neither waking nor dreaming can she turn her 
 thoughts away from the object of her affection.* 
 Every noise seems to her to betoken his coming; 
 in the sound of every voice she fancies that she 
 hears him for whom she ardently longs, and 
 whom she is expecting back with painful eager- 
 ness. With perfect distinctness and the ulmost 
 vividness the glad event of her first meeting with 
 her lover still stands before her eyes. She re- 
 calls most clearly all the particulars of an occur- 
 rence, the most enrapturing she has ever known. 
 Of the sweet and flattering words, which her 
 royal bridegroom then addressed to her, not one 
 has escaped her. She can still relate most ex- 
 actly both the words perfumed with the sweetest 
 frao-rance of spring, with which her nature- 
 loving, nature-appreciating friend then enticed 
 her out and irresistibly drew her to himself, and 
 the verse of the rustic song, by singing which 
 siie playfully gave him to understand (hat she 
 returned his affection, that her vineyard should 
 hanceforth blooai for him, and that he should 
 help her to guard and keep it. And that other 
 painful and yet blessed moment of her former 
 intercourse with her royal lover stands no less 
 olearly before her eyes, which taught her, in a 
 dream it is true, and yet with hearl-stirring 
 ])ower, that she could no longer live without 
 him, that she could not be for an instant sepa- 
 rated from him without experiencing a painful 
 longing for him, and that this loving desire and 
 languishing for him would never henceforth 
 cease until she had him and held him, until she 
 was wholly and forever united with him. This 
 yearning of her heart, so affect ingly described 
 by her, attains its acme once iu the conclusion 
 which she reaches in her account of her first in- 
 terview with her lover (ii. Iti) : " .My beloved is 
 mine, and I am his, who feeds among the lilies ;" 
 and again, in the closing words of her recital of 
 her dream (iii. 4) : "I grasped him and did not 
 let him go until I had brought him into my 
 mother's house and into the chamber of her that 
 conceived me." 
 
 are Samuel and the prophets of his school ; following their 
 directions Israel soon found his Lord in the days of David 
 (ver. 4). BCRROWES: In ii. 8-17, our Lord allures us by the 
 beauty of heaven ; iii. 1-5 describes a *' season of spiritual 
 desertion," diifering from v. 2-8, " in this respect that in the 
 latter the beloved is repulsed by neglect, while in the former 
 iMthing of that kind seems mentioned." Patrick ri'iiiarka 
 upon the words ''on my bed," iii. 1 : "This is ex(ii>uiiiii-il with 
 strange variety by interpreters ; some understanding hereby 
 tlie bed of affliction, others the bed of ease and pleasure, 
 others of weakness and infirmity, ftc. But I have taken 
 both bed and night in the most simple sense, to signify the 
 time and place for most composed thoughts ; comp. Ps. 
 iv. 4 "J. 
 
 * [So WlLLUMS : " This dream shows how mnch the mind 
 of the spouse was occupied with the object of her atfection. 
 He was the subject of her inquiry both by day and by 
 night." BuRROWEs: "This illustrales the earnestness of a 
 soul in seeking Jesus during a time of His abseoce"]. 
 
 3. In this double confession of a love faithful 
 unto death, which cannot rest until its longing for 
 a complete and permanent union with the beloved 
 object is appeased, is evidently disclosed the 
 fundamental thought of this section of the piece. 
 For the epiphonema to the daughters of Jerusa- 
 lem (iii. 6) which is here again added as the con- 
 cluding words of the entire act, has a subordi- 
 nate significance as a refrain repeated verbatim 
 from ii. 7 and only appears as a practical infer- 
 ence, with the limitations due to the time and 
 the place from the real summit of contemplation 
 before ascended, ver. -1. Applied to the entire 
 body of the kingdom of God and especially to 
 the relation of the New Testament child of God 
 to his Lord and Saviour, this practical inference 
 must necessarily assume a somewhat different as 
 well as deeper and broader form and meaning 
 than in its relation to the "daughters of Jeru- 
 salem." In the case of Christians the meaning 
 of the loving desire and waiting of a bride, who 
 can no longer live without her bridegroom, who 
 feels herself to be wholly his as he is wholly 
 hers, and who will then first be satisfied when 
 his house has become hers, and her house his, — 
 the meaning for Christians of such a bride-like 
 longing is just a powerful admonition to strive 
 after a complete and permanent union with the 
 Saviour as the true bridegroom of souls, and not 
 to let Him go until He has made His entry into 
 both house and heart with all the fulness of His 
 heavenly gifts. The Christian should not grow 
 weary of longing for and imploring the advent 
 of his Lord into his heart, until, become en- 
 tirely His and His alone, he can say, "My be- 
 loved is mine and I am his," until he feels that 
 his soul is espoused to Him as the bride to her 
 bridegroom (John xiv. 23; xvii. 21 ff.). And as 
 the Church, in so far as she is the true and pro- 
 per bride of the Lord, cannot cease to long for 
 His glorious appearing, by which she shall be- 
 come one flesh with Him for ever and ever (Eph 
 v. 32; 2 Cor. xi. 2; Rev. xxii. 17), so also the 
 soul of each individual Christian should be ever 
 saying to the heavenly bridegroom, with the 
 fervent petition of earnest love, "Come, Lord 
 Jesus; come quickly." The typical exegete, 
 whose task coincides in essential particulars with 
 that of the practical expositor, must keep him- 
 self in the main to these principal and funda- 
 mental thoughts as suggested by the contents of 
 this section devotionally considered, and must 
 most carefully avoid, as destitute of the requisite 
 exegelical basis, the too special exposition of de 
 tails, such as e. g. the reference of the " clefts of 
 the rock," ii. 14, to the wounds of Christ; of the 
 " little foxes " to heretics and other seducers ; of 
 the "nights " to dark seasons of affliclion ; of the 
 "watchmen" to angels, etc. Models of a truly 
 edifying typical treatment of the Song ,of Solo- 
 mon as a whole and of the present section in 
 particular maybe found in those precious pearls 
 belonging to the hymnology of our Evangelical 
 Church, which have drawn their loveliest figures 
 and their most characteristic and leading motives 
 from the ideas which underlie this section, with- 
 out falling into a too labored or trifling allegori- 
 cal interpretation of subordinate details, e. g. 
 such hymns as W. C. Dessler's "Friend of 
 souls, how well is me," A. Dbese's "Bridegroom 
 
76 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 III. 6— V. I 
 
 of souls," p. Geehard's 
 grieve ?" L. Laurentius' 
 
 'Why then should I 
 *' Take courage, ye 
 
 * In the hymn of Scr[V£R abive quoted the refrain at the 
 end of each Btunza is *' I am thine und thuu art mine, I will 
 no other's be." — P. iiERH\RD'd " Vt liy ihen should I grieve ?" 
 ends with the following etauzis, (suggestive of the same pas- 
 •age (Cant. ii. Oj, as well as of iii. 4 : 
 
 Lord, ray Shepherd, fount of pleasure, 
 
 Tbou art mine. I am Thine, 
 No one can us sever. 
 
 I am Thine, for me Thou saveet, 
 And Thy blond, fur my good, 
 
 On the Cross Thou gavest. 
 
 ThOQ art mine, and I embrace Thee, 
 Nought has might, O my Light, 
 
 From my heart t' erase Thee. 
 
 Let me come, bring me thither; 
 
 Tboa with me, I with Thee, 
 For aye shall be together. 
 
 pious," Chr. Scriter's *'Life of my soul,"* etc 
 
 In Laurentids' Advent Hymn, "Take courage, ye pious,^ 
 the fourth stanza, which describes the speedy coming of tli» 
 bridegruom, is baaed upon tlie beautiful description of tb* 
 reviving life of spring ii. ll-i;j; 
 
 Ee'Il not be long delayed, 
 Up from thy sleep arise; 
 The trees in bloom arrayed. 
 
 And fair spring's brightening skies 
 Times of refreshing pledge. 
 Predicts a beauteous day 
 The evening bathed in red, 
 The darkness flees away, etc. 
 [As samples of English sacred verse suggested by this portion 
 of the Song of Solomon may be mentioned the familiar hymns 
 of Watt's. "The voice of my beloved sounds," "Hark'! the 
 Redeemer from on high," "Often I seek my Lord by night," 
 *' Of all the joys we mortals know ;" and upon the Song gene- 
 rally Watts' Hym/ns, Book I. 66-78. Translations of some of 
 the (Jerman hymns named in the text may be found in the 
 Lyra Germanica and in Dr. Sobaff'8 "Christ in Song." — Tr.] 
 
 THIRD SONG. 
 
 The solemn bringing of the Bride and the marriage at JerutdUm, 
 
 Chap. III. 6.— V. 1. 
 
 FIRST SCENE: 
 
 The entry of the bridal pair into Jerusalem. 
 
 (Chap. III. 6-11). 
 
 Daughters of Jerusalem (as spectators of the bridal procesaion). 
 
 6 Who' is this coming^ up out of the wilderness, 
 
 like pillars of smoke, 
 
 perfumed^ with myrrh and frankincense, 
 
 with* every powder^ of the merchant? — 
 
 7 Lo !® Solomon's' own palanquin,^ 
 
 sixty heroes about it 
 of the heroes^ of Israel. 
 
 textual and grammatical, 
 
 > fWic: The Synagogue, of the Church. Mat.: The voice of the Synagogue marvelling in Itself at the Charch of 
 ChristJ. 
 
 * [Dow. : That asceudeth by the desert as a little roij. 
 
 » The Masoretic HIPPO, for which H'^bpO (Aq., Svmm., Volq., Luther, Schlottm. [so Fry]) is a mere shift to obtain 
 
 an easier reading is nio-e correctly rendf red '•surrounded with perfumes." or " thoroughly perfumed," than with boiiir 
 recent interpreters "exiialiug odori " (Ew^ld, Umbr., Meier, Ren.), [or "fuming," Tatlor, Williams]; comp. Weissba'ih 
 •n ioc. and the TtBvti.f.atLivt\ of the Sept. [Gov., Mat., Cran., As it were a smell of]. 
 
 * This cxpressioo is also dependent upon n^l313 so Ihat 1*3 in 730 is consequently not comparative (Dopkj: ['■'* 
 
 WiLUAMS. Taylor, doubtfully suggested also by Ains'worth], but partitive as in i.2. The clause if completed would thi-rr- 
 fore read: •'S-'lected as aromatic powder from out of every sort of aromatic powder of the merchant, i. f. the best of wll 
 aromatic powders." 
 
 ^np3f< properly denotes simply "dust," but is here necessarily the dust of pounded spices. [Comp. Eng. Ver., 
 Itt-; 
 1 Ein. X. 15. Gov., Mat., Gran., All manner spices. Dow., Aroraatical spices. Genev., All the spices]. 
 
 * [Wic, Mat. : The voice of the Church]. , 
 
 7 Literally: " Lo, bis palanquin which is to Solomon." j}^ with the preceding suffix has an intensive sigDification. 
 
 ■A i. 6; viii. 12. 
 
 « [So rendered by Good. Taylor, Parkborst, Wiluams, Pry, Withinotow, Weiss.. OiNSBinio. Habher has "liiter. 
 palanquin «»r something of that sort;" so Moody Stoart, Kobinsov in Ges. />-a;., Davidson in Fuerst'- Lex. Notes; Carriage, 
 a kind (»f open vehicle now usually called a palanquin; Wicliffe: litil bed (litter); Matthews: bedstead; other 
 English veraitins: bed. Four different words are remk-rnd "bed" in the Mitho\\z*id Engliih rerjion of this Song : HDD 
 
 in this pasHage, 'W^^^ in i. 16. "2^^^ 'Q "'■ 1- ^i"'* HJ^;? (a garden bed) in v. 13 ; vi. 2.— Tr.] 
 
 » Od '^Klt?^ ""SiSJ comp. the precisely analogous expression "733 ^^13J Jer. Ii. 30. 
 
3--V. 1. THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 8 All of them practised* with the sword, trained to war,' 
 
 each with his sword upon his thigh 
 against* fear in the nights. 
 
 9 A litter* has king Solomon made for himself 
 
 of the wood of Lebanon. 
 
 10 Its pillars he made of silver, 
 
 it3 support^ of gold, its seat® of purple; 
 its interior' was embroidered, from love, 
 by the daughters of Jerusalem — 
 
 11 Come® out, ye daughters of Ziou, and see 
 
 king Solomon with^ the crown 
 
 wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his nuptials 
 
 and in the day of the gladness of his heart- 
 
 SECOND SCENE: 
 
 Solomon and Shulamith (at the wedding feast in the royal palace). 
 
 (Chap. IV. l.-V. 1.) 
 
 Solomon. 
 
 IV. 1. ^"^Lo ! thou art fair, ray dear ; lo ! thou art fair, 
 thine eyes (are) doves" behind thy veil ;^^ 
 
 1 3Tn ^TnX Ii^ "taken of the sworl," grasped, held by the aworil, i. p. familiar with its management, practiseJl 
 la ita use ; conip. the like intransitive use of passive pirticiples such as n^D3t tOti') "^O? (P^* ^'"- l"*'t cxii. 7 ; Judg. 
 
 - T I T T 
 
 Tiii. 11). eis. [Genev. : They all handle the sword. Wicl., followed by the rest of the EnR. versioiia : holding swords; 
 ii]K>n which iiO'>:» ri-marka: "This ia ohviously inaccurate; for in the next member of the verse we are expressly told that 
 their s ^urd^ w -re undniwn and girt upon therr thighs." Hodgson: " holders, possessors of eworda, that ia, warriors;" 
 so MoODV Stuakt. GiiNSUORG : "skilled in the sword "]. 
 
 2 With n^niO ^n!D7D comp. the Homeric iiSaa-Kdjuei'os iroAeftoio, 7^.16,811; only *T370 ia a past participle. 
 
 T T : ■ ■• : \ : *':*■.■ 
 
 [Tin Hebrew paitictples do not, properly spe.iking, express relations of time. Seo Green's Htb. Oram. ^ 266], 
 
 3 TO 'lere has the sense of nVHO " that there may not be terror," e/c. [Good: against the peril of the night; Thrupp: 
 against nightly alarm]. Ewald*s explanavion "out of fear "is accordingly to be rejected; so ia that of RosENMnELLER. 
 KiiPKR. Vaihinoer, etc., who render ro because of. [So Eng. Ver]. Comp. Tlrl 103 Ps. xci. 5. 
 
 * [Wicl. : Of Christ and of the Church chosen of the Gentiles. He renders TV13K "chair ;" Cov., Mat.: bedstead ; 
 
 ('rfAv., Bisa.: palace; Gensv.: palace or cha,riot (nwg.i; Eno. Ver.; chariot or b 'd (marg.); Dow.: portable throne; 
 iJojd: bridal C'liic I ; Willi\mj: "'carri.ige." whidi he oxplaiiii as a " kind of palanquin of state ;" Moody Stuart: '-not 
 a wiieeied carriaije but a lit er or iiahinquiu ," Wordsworth : httor or palanquin or sedan ; Taylor, Fry, Withington, 
 'i'H.iijpp, GiV:*uiJRg: pilitiqun; Wehs, who explains it ol" thy mo-it holy place m Sidomon's temple : throne cb tmber]. 
 
 * ni^S"! is scarcely the cover, the canopy of the sedan (Ewau), Maqn.j, or the bjttom of ihj couch (VVtiaSBACH), 
 
 T • 
 but rather its support for the back, as most recent interpreters correctly assume, with an eye to the Sept. (ocaxAiTOF) 
 iinl ht Vdlg. {rectiniiOiritim). [WiCL. : the le luing i)lace; Gov., M\t.. Crvn., Bish. : niv-ring; Genev. ; pavement ; How : 
 M-**t; so Withivgton; Kng. Ver.; bottom; Good: its insidt) (the wrought roof); Taylor: canopy; Williams: carpet; 
 Fry: mattress; Hi sburg ; supp.irt, that «hicli supports the back wnen sitting; so Wordsworth, Thrupp; Noyes ; 
 r^iliag; Weiss: overlaying (i. c. wainscot, platuigj]. 
 
 ^ 33^3 from 33"^ " to sit upon " is here unmistakably a " seat;'* comp. Lev. xv. 9. [Wicl.: thesteiging up, identi- 
 T : V ~ T 
 
 oal in sense with the Oowat; the going up, i. e thn perpendicular sides; Gov., Mat, Cran., Bisn.: seat, so Williams, 
 Thp.dpp, Noyes; Oenev.; hangings, so Good, Fry, Moody Stuart, Weiss; Eng. Ver.: covering; Taylor: the carriage 
 bodyj. 
 
 7 [Wicl. : Themidat he adorned (Dow at : covered) with charity (br the daughters of Jerusalem. Cov., Mat., Cran. : 
 the ground pleasantly paved for, etc. liisa. : the ground pleasantly paved wiih love. Genev.: paved with ih« love ol the 
 dant^Ut'Ts, etc. Eng. Ver. : paved with love fur, e;^c. Williams: lined (Fry: spread over) with love by, etc. Good: its 
 cov jiing is paved with needle work by his best beloved among the daughters, etc. Note-* : its interior curiously wrought 
 by a iovely one of the, etc. Ginsburq : teaaelated most lovely by, etc. Thrupp; tesselated with love because of, etc. 
 W^i.s-i: within it is strewn of love, etc ]. 
 
 ^ 1 Wicl.: The voice of the Church, of Christ. Mat.: The Church speaking of Christ]. n^XX for njXV for the 
 
 TV: T V 
 
 irtke of the ass 'nance here designed with nj'N'l ; see Ew.xld, Lehrh. g 198, 6. [Green's Heh. Gram. §164, 'A], 
 
 T '.■ ; 
 
 9 [Wicl., Dow.: in the diadem. Thrupp: gaze on kinir Solomon and on the crown]. 
 
 ■'0 [Wicl. 'I'he voice of Christ to the church. Mat. The voice of Christ. Mat., Cov. : how fair art thou, my love ; how 
 fair art thou; th m bastd )ve"s eyes besides that which lieth hid within. Thy hairy locks are like a tlock of sheep that be 
 clipped, which go first up from the washing place.] 
 
 " [Genev. : Thine eyes are like the dove's. Dow. ; thine eyes aa it were of doves. Eng. Ver. thon haat dove's eyes.] 
 
 12 EwALD takes ^^3^ to be synonymous with 3*^00 and 713 V in the seuse of " tress, lock of hair " (i. e "about 
 
 ■ ■ T ■ T - 
 
 thy locks,*' similarlyalso Uhbreit). H nosteN3. follows Ldthsr in trauslatiog "between thy braids." But JTSV relate 1 
 
 lo the Ch.^ld. DOV. DVOV " to coviir" (com;.. T\RG.nn Gr^n xxwiii. 15.1 cannot, a.^ appears from Isa. xlvii. 2, mean any- 
 thing bui '• veil ;" and this meaning decid.s likewise in itip c wa ui 1^30 in lavjr ot the signification " forth from be- 
 hind * or " through." [Wicl.: Without it Ibut within is liM. Dow.: b^^ilps that which lieth hid within. Genev. ''amoDg 
 tliy locks" connected with whit follow-. Evi. Vrk., witriiii ih/ lo^:k4; si Ainsworth, Good, Taylor. Fry: tresses; 
 Thkupp: plaits; Parkhurst Percy, Williams, Wituinjton, \V.:iss, GiNsanao, Wordsworth : veil]. 
 
■^ THE SONG OF SOLOMON. III. 6— V. 1. 
 
 thy hair like a flock of goats, 
 reposing* on Mount Gilead. 
 
 2 Thy teeth like a flock of shorn^ sheep, 
 
 which have come up from the washing, 
 
 all of which bear^ twins, 
 
 and a bereaved one is not among them. 
 
 3 Like a crimson thread* thy lips, 
 
 and thy mouth^ (is) lovely ; 
 
 like a piece of pomegranate thy cheek* 
 
 behind thy veil. 
 
 4 Like the tower of David thy neck, 
 
 built for an armoury ;^ 
 
 a thousand bucklers are hung upon it, 
 
 all the shields® of heroes. 
 
 5 Thy two breasts are like two fawns, 
 
 twins of a gazelle, 
 
 that are feeding among lilies. 
 
 Shulamith, 
 
 6 UntiP the day cools and the shadows flee, 
 
 I will get me to the mountain of myrrh 
 and to the hill of frankincense. 
 
 Solomon. 
 
 7 Thou'** art all fair, my dear, 
 
 and there is not a blemish in thee. — 
 
 8 With me from Lebanon, my bride, 
 
 with me from Lebanon thou shalt come ; 
 shalt journey" from the top of Amana, 
 from the top ofShenir and Hermon, 
 from dens'^ of lions, 
 from mountains of panthers. 
 
 9 Thou hast ravished'* my heart, my sister, my bride, 
 
 hast ravished ray heart with one of thy glances, 
 with one chain of thy necklace. 
 
 ^ Literally, *' which have couched {^ty7Jt7) from Mount Gilead downward {'^V7} IHO) »'■ «■ not "at the foot " of 
 
 :lTv t:* 
 
 tbis mountain, but on it, so that they are visible to the beholder in a line from Us summit. [Dow. which have come up 
 from; Cran., BiSH. : are mhnrn. Genev.: loon diwii trom ; Enu. Ver. appear from, or eat of (marg ); Parkhurst : glisten; 
 Fry, after ScnuLTENs; go in the morning to wnter; Withington, han-c over the clefts of; Thrupp. hanging down the 
 slope of; GiNSBURG after FUERSr in bis Lf;x. (not his Concord. where he baa " decumbere, cottsidere") "springing down."] 
 
 ^ niD-IVp literally '' shorn " inz.: sheep, D'' /TT^ vi. 6. [Cran. : Thy teeth are like sheep of the same bigness, which 
 
 went up from the washing place. Genev. : a flock of sheep in gnod order. 
 
 3 (^GiNBB. '• paired , the Uiphil of DXj"1 t" ^^ double, to be pairs (Ex. xxvi. 24 ; xxzvi. 29) is to make double, to make pairs, 
 
 - T 
 
 to appear paired." Fry quotes from Henley's note in Gregory's translation of Lowra'S Lectures; " The Arabic v*Tb 
 denotes not only to bring forth twins, but also to have a companion."] 
 
 * (Dow.: Scarlet lace; Gov., Mat., Cran., Bish., rose-culored ribbon; Genev., Eng. Ver., thread of scarlet.] 
 
 6 [WiCL. ; thy fair speech sweet ; Cov., Mat., thy words are lovely ; Genet. ; thy talk is comely ; Eng. Ver. thy speech is 
 comely.] 
 
 * I WicL., Cov., Mat., Cran., Bish., Dow. ; cheeks. Genev., Eng. Ver. temples.] 
 
 ' [WiCL. : with pinuacles. Gov., Mat., Dow.: with bulwarks. Cran., Bisn. ; with costly stones lying out on the s^iiifs. 
 
 Genev., for defence. Ginsburg follows Rashi and Rashbam in taking r\r37n as a contraction for nV£)7Nn fromnSN 
 
 to teach, and renders : ''for the builder's model, i. e. so that architects might learn thefr designs from itl "] 
 
 8[WicL. The armor of strong men. Gov., Mat., Cran., Bise. : the weapons of the giitnts. Dow. : the armor of the 
 valiants.] 
 
 * [Mat. The spouse speaketh to himself that I might go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense 
 till the day break and the HhaHows lie past iiway.] 
 
 i*^ [Mat. The voice of Christ speaking tn the church.] 
 
 '1 ^"l^tyn parallel with ^NOH must be derived from ^H]^ in the sense of "jonrneying, travelling," confirmed by 
 
 T ■ T 
 
 Isa. Ivii. 9, not in that of " looking" (for which it is true Num. xxiii.9, might be adduced); comp.SEPT. (eAevuTj Koi SteAevafj-. 
 Svr., KiJST., Magn., BiJTrcu, IIitz . e/c. [This argument cannot be esteemed decisive except ujjon tlie assumption tlint 
 parallol clauses must lie identical in signiticatii^n, which is nut always nor even usually the case. WiCL.. Dow.: thou l^haU 
 be crowned. Other Eng. Versions, look]. 
 
 '3 [WjcL. from the coi'ching lions and the hill of paradise. Witiiinqton: from the cottages of Araotfa, from the bills of 
 Nemalrim]. . , 
 
 '3 In relation to this privative sense of 33/ comp. e. g. 7pD *' to free from stones " (Isa. v. 2), tS^^t^ " to uproot " 
 
 fPs. Hi, 7 ; Job xxxi. 12^, f.ic ; and f'r the thnu-^ht comp. Ovid's *oculos^qui rapufre meos " and the Greek 0c'Ay«"' which 
 differs from ^aa-Kaiveiv in expressing an enclmntment by love. [WiCL., Gov., M\t., Genev., Dow., wounded, k ran.. Bish., 
 bewitched. Kng. Veh. marg.: tiiken away. Ginsu.: oinb»Idened. Noyes; taken captive. Weiss, who compares theOer- 
 Djftii herzen (o press to the Iienrt : cherished.] 
 
III. 6— V. 1. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 7b 
 
 10 How fair is thy love,' my sister, my bride, 
 
 how much better thy love than wine, 
 
 and the fragrance of thy unguents than all spices. 
 
 11 Liquid honey thy lips distil, my bride, 
 
 honey and milk are under thy tongue, 
 
 and the fragrauceof thy garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.' 
 
 12 A garden locked' is my sister, my bride, 
 
 a spring locked, a fountain sealed. 
 
 13 Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, 
 
 with most excellent fruit; 
 cypress flowers with nards, 
 
 14 Nard and crocus, calamus and cinnamon, 
 
 with every variety of incense-woods ; 
 
 myrrh and aloes, 
 
 with all the chief spice plants. 
 
 15 A garden spring* art thou, a well of living water, 
 
 and streams' from Lebanon. 
 
 Shulamith. 
 
 16 Awake,' north wind, and come thou south, 
 
 blow upon my garden that its spices' may flow ! 
 Let" my beloved come to his garden 
 and eat his excellent fruits.' 
 
 Solomon. 
 V. 1 1'° come to my garden, my sister, my bride, 
 I pluck ray myrrh with my balsam, 
 I eat my honeycomb" with my honey, 
 I drink my wine with my milk. — 
 
 {turning to the wedding guests) : 
 Eat'^ friends, drink,'' and drink to repletion, beloved. 
 
 * rWlCL. teats. Gov., Mat., Cran., Bish., Dott. : breasts]. 
 
 * I VVlCL. incense. Cov., Mat . Dow.: frHukincense.J 
 
 3 I Eng. Ver. inclosed, or barred ( inarg). Cov., Mat. : Thou art a well-kept garden, O my sister, my spOQse, thou art a 
 well kept water spring, a sealed well. The fruits that sprout in thee are like a very paradise of pomegranates with 
 sweet fruits.] 
 
 * [Thrupp proposes a needless change of text; '* The Hebrew text has □"'J J T^^'O * a fountain of gardens." This seems 
 
 inappropriate ; partly because the introduction of the ' gardens ' tends to confusion with the previous image, partly because 
 as that spoke of "a garden ' in the singular, we should hardly here have mention of 'gardens ' iu the plural. Houbigant 
 
 conjectured with unusual felicity, that for □"'JJ we shouldread D' 7j : and (his though unconfirmed by external authority, 
 has so striiDiilv the appearance of being the true reading, that we may without much rashness venture to accept it. Tiie 
 word denotes the waves of the fountniu continually welling upwards.] 
 
 * ICov., M\t . Cran., Bisti.: which run down. Dow.: which run with violence.] 
 « [Mat. Christ callelh the heathen.] 
 
 ^ [ D''0U'3, here uot the solid aromatic substances themselves as ver. 14, but the odors streaming front them ; Or 
 
 the assonance with D* 7T3 ver. 15, appears to be intentional. fCov., M-AT., Cr.an., Bish.; the smell thereof may be carried 
 
 on every side.] 
 
 8 (In Wicliffe'3 and the Doway Biblb as in the VraoATE the fifth chapter begins here. Wict. The church saitli of 
 Christ.] 
 
 9 ICov., Mat. : eat of the fruits and apples that grow therein. Dow.; fruits of his apple trees.] 
 
 10[W1CL.: Christ saith to the church. Mat.: Christ speaketh to the church. WiCL., Cov., Mat. : Come into ray garden 
 my lister, my spouse.] 
 
 " [ l^*" lit. "a wood, thicket" here denotes the honey-comb, as in 1 Sam. xiv. 27 the feminine form rT^J^^ (IT^l?^ 
 
 E'Oin) prop, the rough or harsh in honey in contrast with the smoothly flowing.] 
 
 '2 rWicL. Christ to the Apostles saith. Mat. Christ speaketh to the .\postles.] 
 
 isfWicL.: be inwardly made drunken. Cov., Mat., Oban, Bise.: lie merry, O ye beloved. Oenev. : make yon merry, 
 well-beloved. Enq. Ver.: drink abundantly, O beloved; marg. be drunken with loves.] 
 
 EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 1. The contents of this section rightly under- 
 stood, place it beyond doubt th.at iii. 6-11 de- 
 scribes a brid.ll procession, i. «., the solemn bring- 
 ing of a bride to her marriage, and iv. 1 — v. 1 
 the marriage itself, or more exiictly the loving 
 conversation of the newly wedded pair at their 
 
 nuptial feast. The dramatic vividness and 
 life of the description reaches its highest point 
 precisely in this middle section of the piece, 
 and in fact, Renan seems to be not altogether 
 wrong when he says of it, or at least of its first 
 scene (iii, (>— 11): '*No portion bears so many 
 traces as this of a real representatiotj, and even 
 of a certain amount of stage apparatus and of 
 costumes." Yet the thought of an actual perform- 
 
90 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 III. C- 
 
 ance (even if only in the private circle of a 
 family engaged in a wedding feast, as Renan 
 proposes, pp. 83, tt. ) is forbidden first by the fact 
 that the dramatic style is not sutficiently sustained 
 in the other acts, e. g. that which immediately 
 precedes with its simple monologue; and second- 
 ly by the scanty change of person and the char- 
 acter of the dialogue in both the scenes of this 
 act, which is more lyrical and subjective than 
 dramatic and objective. For in the first instance 
 with regard to iii. 6-11, the speaker in this sec- 
 tion, although not tlie poet himself (Herder, 
 Umbreit), is simply the band of the "daughters 
 of Zion,'' ver. 11, whilst the priucipal personages, 
 Solomon and Sliulamith, remain niere objects of 
 sight to these women of Jerusalem, and attended 
 by a brilliant retinue pass mutely over the stage. 
 Now since the spectators designated in ver. 11 
 as the daughters of Zion, are scarcely different 
 from the "daughters of Jerusalem" elsewhere 
 introduced (comp. on ver. 11), and little or noth- 
 ing that is well founded can be alleged in favor 
 of the assumption of those recent writers, who 
 conceive the speakers to be " citizens" or "resi- 
 dents" of Jerusalem (Ewald, Maosos, De- 
 LiTzscH, HiTziQ, Ren.^n), or "men and women" 
 alternately (Bottcher), or "courtiers of Solo- 
 mon" even (Weissbach), itisjust the chorus of 
 the piece that speaks exclusively in this scene, 
 the same chorus which made its appearance both 
 speaking and acting only in the first part of the 
 first act, while in the second part it withdrew 
 more into the background, and in the second act 
 dill not come into view at all. A partition of 
 the several utterances contained in the four 
 strophes of the section (ver. 6, vers. 7, 8, vers. 
 9, 10, ver. 11) among different persons or groups 
 of persons in the chorus is perhaps admissible. 
 and this most probably so that the first three 
 strophes may with Delitzsch be put into the 
 mouth of different particular groups, and the 
 last (ver. 11) assigned to the wliole body of 
 spectators, or to "the entire festive multitude " 
 Vet no greater multiplicity or life is thus gained 
 for the action after all, for the discourse con- 
 tinues nevertheless to be limited exclusively to 
 the persons of the chorus. — Again in iv. 1 — v. 1 
 it is only Solomon and Shulamith, who are en- 
 gaged in conversation, although they are not 
 ;»lone. but as v. 1 shows, in company with the 
 merrily feasting wedding guests. The alteuipts 
 of HiTzio and Renan to bring more life and va- 
 riety into the action by introducing the shepherd 
 from ver. 8 onward, are to be rejected as empty 
 conceits ; especially that of the latter who makes 
 the shepherd stand "at the foot of the seraglio- 
 tower " [an pied de la tour de atrail) as a languish- 
 ing lover, and speak all from ver. & to ver. 16a 
 to his beloved, until she finally grants him ad- 
 mission, and he then v. 1 "celebrate* together 
 with the chorus the triumph of his love" (simi- 
 larly also Bottcher). The wht>le impression 
 especially of what the enraptured bridegroom 
 says in his description of the charms of his bride 
 (iv. 1 ff., 9 ff.) is that of an extremely simple- 
 action, which aims at a description of the feelings 
 of the loving pair at the celebration of their mar- 
 riage and the utterances of their emotion far 
 more than at an exhibition of what tbey did, and 
 consequently betrays again more of a lyricil 
 
 than a strictly dramatic character. But even if 
 there really were reason to assume a scenic rep- 
 resentation or at least a seriously intended 
 destination to that end, no such indecent contents 
 could in any case be admitted in this representa- 
 tion, as HiTzia and Renan maintain, the former 
 by his assertion that with what the bridegroom 
 says V. 1 his conjugal embrace of the bride 
 begins before the eyes of the spectators (!) ; the 
 latter by his remark upon what he takes to be the 
 words of the shepherd " 11 se rassure sur ta 
 fidilite (.'), etc. With as little propriety could a 
 burlesque character be attributed to the repre- 
 sentation, as is done by Bottcher, who e. g. sees 
 in V. \c a direction from the shepherd to his 
 comrades to fall upon the wine and the provi- 
 sions of the wedding table and to drink them- 
 selves drunk. — Moreover the bride is with most 
 of the recent interpreters (even Umbreit, Ewald, 
 Vaihinger, Renax, and most of the other advo- 
 cates of the shepherd-hypothesis) to be supposed 
 to be no other than Shulamith, and she exalted 
 to the rank of a queen in the proper sense, a 
 wife of Solomon preferred before all others, as is 
 shown by the appellation "my sister bride," 
 which is first used in iv. 9 ff., and further by 
 the passage vi. 8, 9, as well as the fact that Shu- 
 lamith is subsequently denominated a "prince's 
 daughter," vii. 2. Neither iii. 6 where "out of 
 the wilderness" is by no means to be explained 
 of a coming of the bride from the south, nor iii. 
 11 (see in loc.) stands opposed to this assumption 
 or compels a return to tlie opinion of many of the 
 older writers that the bride was a daughter of 
 Pharaoh coming up from Egypt. Solomon is be- 
 sides to be thought of as participating in the 
 festive procession, whether we imagine him 
 seated in the sedan along with his bride or on 
 horseback at the side of it. For the marriage 
 customs of ancient Israel required (comp. 1 Mace, 
 ix 37, 39, and see above, p. 60) the bridegroom 
 to bring the bride from the house of her parents 
 wiih an honorable escort even though the distance 
 from thence to his residence amounted to one 
 or to several days' journey. And an intimation 
 appears to be contained (ver. 8) in the mention 
 of the "terrors of the nights" (see in loc.) that 
 he had in fact conducted her by a march of several 
 diiys to Jerusalem, and consequently had him- 
 self brought her from her home in Shunem. 
 .Against the view of Delitzsch and Schlottmann 
 (•• Der Brautzug des Hohenlieds," Stud, und Krit., 
 1867, 11., 239 f.) that Solomon himself was not 
 with the bridal procession, but simply awaited 
 its arrival, and at length, when it liad come near 
 enough, went forth from his palace to show him- 
 self to the bride and likewise to the festive mul- 
 titude, may be urged not indeed the mention of 
 the " sedan of Solomon " in ver. 7, for this is not 
 necessarily a sedan in which Solomon himself is 
 sitting, but the circumstance that Solomon is 
 nventioned (ver. 11) in a manner which implies 
 that he was with the festive procession rather 
 than going to meet it or receiving it at the door 
 of his palace. The contents of the preceding act 
 had also prepared the way for Solomon's going 
 to Shulamith and fetching her to Jerusalem him- 
 self, comp. p. 60. — After what has been already 
 remarked, there can be no further doubt respect- 
 ing tlie locality of the two scenes. In iii. 6-11 
 
III. 6— V. 1. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 81 
 
 it ia some street in Jerusalem, or more exactly 
 (see ver. 6) an open area at one of the gates of 
 the city, commanding a prospect of the desert 
 region stretching north-east from the city toward 
 Jericho (comp. Delitzsch's somewhat too in- 
 definite statement of the scene: "Neighborhood 
 of Jerusalem and the city itself"). In iv. 1 to v. 
 1, however, it is the wedding hall of the royal 
 palace, in which the newly married pair carry 
 on their cosy talk somewhat apart from the 
 guests sitting at the festive table; a hall which 
 we must perhaps conceive (see on iv. 6) to have 
 been immediately adjoining a garden and open 
 outwards like the locality in the first act. — -Be- 
 1 ween scene 1 and 2 we may perhaps suppose the 
 marriage ceremony to have been performed by 
 some of the priestly order; for according lo 
 Prov. ii. 17 ; Mai. ii. 14, such a religious act un- 
 doubtedly took place at the weddings of the an- 
 cieut Hebrews (see the exegetical explanation of 
 the former passage, in the commenl.iry ou Pro- 
 verbs) ; and in chap, iv Solomon no longer speaks 
 to liis beloved as if they were simply betrothed, 
 but as if they were actually married, see especially 
 ver. 12 ff. With no valid reasons for it Hitzio 
 makes the wedding ceremony take place between 
 iv. 8 and 9. For the allegation that the language 
 of Solomon does not become really "fond, affect- 
 ing and languishing " until ver. 9 is purely sub- 
 jective, and is not verified by the contents of vers. 
 9-l(j, comp. with vers. 1-7; and even if it were 
 correct, it would not prove that a pause is to be 
 assumed between vers. 8 and 9 to be filled up by 
 the solemnization of the marriage. 
 
 '2. The bkid.il procession, iii. 6-11. — First 
 Strophe, ver. 6. 
 
 Ver. 6. Who ia this coming up out of 
 the wilderness? This "exclamation of ad- 
 miration and praise"' ("yoz de admiracion y de 
 laor" according to Lnis DE Leon) certainly does 
 not refer to the sedan of Solomon approaching 
 the city (HiTZiG, Weissbach) any more than it 
 does to Solomon with his retinue, as though 
 r\V,\ 'p were here to be taken as a neuter : " what 
 is this," etc., (Ewald and others); [so Percy, 
 tlooD, Taylor, Williams, Ginsburq]. The an- 
 swer to the question here, as in the two passages 
 (vi. 10 and viii. 5) where it recurs verbatim, can 
 be no other than "Shulamith," the expected bride 
 of I lie king, the heroine of the day, the prime ob- 
 ject of interest and of curiosity to the residents 
 of Jerusalem (correctly explained by all the older 
 interpreters and among the more recent by 
 Delitzsch, Vaihinger, Hengstenbeho, Schlott- 
 MANN, etc.). It is in their name and as expres- 
 sive of their feelings that the chorus now speaks. 
 
 The verb "come up," literally "ascend" (H/j?) 
 simply denotes the ascent from the lower level 
 of the surrounding country to the city situated 
 upon a high mountain (comp. 1 Kin. xii. 28, etc.), 
 not the perpendicular ascent of the pillar of 
 smoke, with which Shulamith is compared in 
 what follows, (Hitzig, Weissbach.) — Upon 
 "'2!l"Dr|-[0 Schlottmann correctly remarks : 
 ■• ■ From the wilderness' is merely intended to sug- 
 gest a general conception as if in describing a 
 similar entry into one of our cities we were to 
 say -from the country.' The immediate vicinity 
 •f ancient Jerusalem was richly adorned with 
 
 gardens and orchards, such as are not wholly 
 wanting even now." For proof that an ex- 
 tremely desolate and barren rocky waste lies be- 
 tween Jerusalem and Jericho, and consequently 
 in the very direction from which tlie festive pro- 
 cession coming from the north of Palestine must 
 approach the city, comp. the unanimous accounts 
 of modern travellers in Palestine, e.g., one of 
 the latest, K. Furrers ( Wanderuns/en, etc., p. 
 147) : "How silent and solitary it was here, (viz., 
 immediately beyond Bethany) 1 We looked in 
 vain for a hut. Briers and fragments of rock 
 covered the declivities. Yet even in this barren 
 region small flocks of sheep and goats found 
 here and there a scanty subsistence," etc. Comp. 
 also Robinson's Physical Geography of the Holy 
 Land. — Like pillars of smoke. ]2'J? nlip'O 
 (or [t^i' nnpn, Joel iii. 3) are neither " ela- 
 tioaenjumi" as though the root, from which it is 
 derived, were ■10'=1!3X " to be high " (Ewald, 
 Weissbach), nor "clouds of smoke, whirls of 
 smoke " (from 10''^"11D agitatusfuit, — Hengsten- 
 berg), but palm-like high and slender pillars of 
 &moke, as is shown by the unmistakably close 
 affinity between mOTI and TDn "palm" [so 
 BuRROWES, Weiss]. The expression is, there- 
 fore, a poetical and descriptive synonym of the 
 prosaic ]tyi' "VB^ "pillar of smoke" Judg. xx. 
 40. Comp. Kleuker : ".\ vertically ascending 
 column of steam, which spreads out at the top 
 into small clouds, has the shape of a palm-tree, 
 whose upright trunk first rises in like manner 
 high in the air and then divides into a like bushy 
 crown." The tertium comparationis in the com- 
 parison of the approaching bride of the king with 
 pillars of smoke is moreover two-fold: it is in- 
 tended to set forth her slender, stately appear- 
 ance and the dense volume of rare perfumes 
 which stream forth from her (or her sedan) to 
 delight the sense (comp. Sciilott.mann in loc). 
 In the worst possible taste, Hitzig : The figure 
 has reference to the sedan, which is to be con- 
 ceived of as "perhaps higher than it was long," 
 and, since it rested on the shoulders of its tall 
 bearers, as "projecting perpendicularly up- 
 wards." — Perfumed writh myrrh and in- 
 cense. As I'rov. vii. 17 a bed and Ps. xlv. 9 the 
 garments of the royal bridegroom, so here the 
 bride coming to her wedding or more particularly 
 her sedan and her dress are filled with refresh- 
 ing perfumes (Prov. xxvii. 9). Comp. what Cur- 
 tius RuFrs (VIII. 9, 23) relates of aromatic 
 fumigations in the public processions of the kings 
 of ancient India, as well as the accounts of 
 modern travellers, such as Tavernier, etc., res- 
 pecting the custom formerly in vogue at the 
 Turkish court in Constantinople of burning in- 
 cense and aloes in silver chafing dishes at the 
 formal reception of foreign ambassadors * 
 ^Soii.MiDT, Bibl. Geographus, p. 78). 
 
 * [" The bride of Solomon is represpnted here as perfumed 
 in a. solemn procession made upon occasion of the king's en- 
 tering with her into Jerusalem. The virgins went out to meet 
 them, iii. 11 ; they burnt odors before them with a profusion 
 that became a royal wedding, so that the smoke ascended like 
 pillars. Or these pillars of smoke may refer to the burning 
 perfumes in Jerusalem as a preparative for the reception of 
 the royal pair."' Habmer. "The bride waa so richly pro- 
 vided with perfumes that they curled up in dense columns of 
 smoke, visible at a distance as the procession moved along." 
 Thrcpp. "It is commonly supposed that the slender and 
 
•<2 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 III. 6— V. 1. 
 
 Second Strophe, vers. 7, 8 (probably spoken 
 by a different group of tbe women of Jerusalem 
 from the first, comp. above No. 1.) 
 
 Ver. 7. lio! Solomon's ovrn palanquin.* — 
 Tbe spectators beboUiuf; the procession now al- 
 ready quite near, perceive that the magnificent 
 couch in tbe centre of it belongs to no less a per- 
 son than Solomon himself, and hence immediately 
 infer the high rank of her who sits within i(, 
 which is made still more apparent by tlie splen- 
 did surroundings of the palanquin. — Sixty he- 
 roes about it of the heroes of Israel — i. e., 
 probably from the number of those six hundred 
 heroes or "mighty men" (D")13J), with whom 
 David had surrounded himself as bis guard of 
 honor or his general staff (comp. 2 Sam. x. 7 ; 
 [xv. 18] ; xvi. 6 ; xx. 7 ; xxiii. 8 ff. ) and which 
 undoubtedly still formed under Solomon the 
 flower of the Israelitish army, or in part at 
 least, a sort of standing body-guard about the 
 king (comp. 2 Sam. xv. 1 ; 1 Kings i. 6). At any 
 rate, the sixty heroes here appear as a guard of 
 honor, which had attended him on bis bridal 
 journey for his beloved. f 
 
 Ver. "8. Against fear in the nights— 
 t. «., that fear may not be excited in tbe 
 nights ; for "in? is not objective terror, that which 
 produces terror (Delitzsch, Hengstenberg.) 
 [Ginsbhrg], but subjective terror, being fright- 
 ened out of sleep (Job iv. 14; Ruth iii. 8). The 
 meaning is evidently this : to secure her while 
 travelling from sudden alarm and consequent 
 disturbance of her slumber at night upon her way 
 to Jerusalem (not after her arrival there, as HiT- 
 zio claims), tbe sixty sword-begirt heroes were 
 
 graceful form of the bride gradmlly increasing in tallness as 
 Blie came nearer, is compared to the light and beautiful column 
 of smolie which ascends from a burning censer of incense. 
 But is it not more prolwble that the dust caused by the ap- 
 proach of the sedan and its attendants is compared to columns 
 of smoke ? Or might not the pillars of smoke actually ascend 
 from censers borne iu front of the procession?" Notes. The 
 Genevan version here has this note: "This is referred to the 
 church of Israel which was led by the wilderness forty years." 
 " The reference is evident to the marching of the children of 
 Israel through the wilderness, with the pillar of cloud before 
 them and with the pillars of smoke ascending from the altar 
 of incense in the sight of the priests, and from the altar of 
 atonement in the sight of all Israel " Moonr Stuart. So al- 
 legorical interpreters generally, who find in this one of the indi- 
 cations of the spiritual meaning of the Song. " She came 
 perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, because myrrh was 
 one of the principal ingredients in her holy ointment (Ex. 
 XXX. 22 ), and incense was offered constantly on the golden altar 
 before the veil ; and because myrrh is the symbol of the death 
 and burial to which Christ condescended as man ; and because 
 frankincense is the type of prayer offered by Him as our 
 priest and offered to Him as God. And she is perfumed with all 
 the powders or spices of the merchant because all the glories 
 of the ancient ritual are spiritualized in the gospel." Woeds- 
 
 WORTU.J 
 
 * ["A travelling litter is here intended." Thbupp. "Either 
 a howdah, to be borne on the back of a camel instead of an 
 elephant, or a palanquin to be carried on tht- shoulders of 
 men, or to be borne as a litter between two camels, horses or 
 mules." KiTTO. WotiDswoRTH follows Hengstenberg in sup- 
 posing an allusion to the marriage bed, which is manifestly at 
 variance with the context. — Tr.] 
 
 t ITbrupp after Patrick : "The number of David's heroes, 
 ' thirty and seven in all.' was exactly thirty exclusive of those 
 who stood superior to the rest in rank ; and if the number 
 three-score have any definite meaning in the present verse, it 
 is probably to be taken as the double of the number of the he- 
 roes of David's reign. A comparison, however, of this verse 
 with vi. 8 m.iy furnish ground for regarding sixty as a deter- 
 minate numlKT used for an indeterminate." Wordswortfi 
 allegorizes thus: "twice thirty, twice David's numl»er, be- 
 cause the two armies of Christ s soldiers (viz.: the tientile and 
 the Jew) are here represented as united in the army ot the 
 jwaceful Solomon, Christ."] 
 
 assigned to her as her escort. As the journey 
 from Shunem to Jerusalem amounts to about fifty 
 miles in a direct course, and consequently made 
 it necessary to pass at least one and perhaps two 
 nights on the route, and this very probably in a 
 wild solitary region (13"133, ver. 6), such a mili- 
 tary escort was by no means superfluous. At a 
 later time also, when Shulamith was urging a re- 
 turn to her home (vii. 12), she takes for granted 
 that it would be necessary to spend several nights 
 in villages upon the way. 
 
 Thikd Stbophe. Vers. 9, 10 (again spoken by 
 a fresh division of the chorus). 
 
 Ver. 9. A litter has King Solomon made 
 for himself. — jl'"]iJX, though diflicult of expla- 
 nation etymologically, denotes according to the 
 ancient versions and rabbinical tradition a porta- 
 ble couch, a litter (according to Kimchi, a bride's 
 litter* in particular; a similar view in Sot. IX. 
 14). It is therefore to be regarded as identical 
 with the riDO, ver. 7. In opposition to Hitzig, 
 who declares the two to be distinct, and places 
 the kins in the n£33, and the bride, whom he 
 thinks to be coming to meet him, in the P'"'?*? 
 see particularly Schlottmann, p. 229 ff.; also 
 Weissbach, p. 177, who correctly observes that 
 the remark before us, as well as that contained in 
 strophe 2 (vers. 7, 8), is related to the question 
 in ver. 6, and must therefore, like that first an- 
 swer, point to a female person as the occupant 
 of the Utter relerred to. In an etymological point 
 of view, HiTZio's explanation of ['""^pX as related 
 
 to the Sanskrit j^art/ana, "saddle, riding-s.iddle," 
 and consequently as not properly denoting a 
 couch for lying down, but a portable chair 
 (comp. the Str., which takes the word as a syno- 
 nyme of N33), may deserve to be preferred above 
 all others, especially if we might also adduce with 
 it tbe Indian paryang, "bed," compared by 
 BiiTrcHEB (Sufpl. Lex. Aram., p. 49). For nei- 
 ther the derivation from the Greek attempted long 
 ago by Jerome (on Isa. vii. 14), as though it were 
 identical with the <popciov of the Sept. (so among 
 the later writers, Magnus and Schlottmann), 
 nor the various recent attempts to refer it to some 
 Semitic root, e. g., to the Chald. X^^, currere 
 (hence properly equivalent to cuttus, Gesenius) 
 [chariot, E.ng. Ver.], or to Xt3=1X3, " to be 
 liandsomely adorned, to shine " (Weissbach), or 
 to mil, whether in the sense of "spreading out,' 
 or in that of "cutting neatly, executing elegant 
 workmanship" (Ewald, Meier, Delitzsch, etc., 
 all of whom compare the Chald. N-lii), bed), or 
 finally to 7113=11:3, /errz (Wiseman, Uor. Sgr., 
 and Uesen.-Bietr. in the llandw'Orterbuch, com- 
 paring the •'ftrculum" of the Vulg. and the Sgr. 
 pliTuio, "cradle") — none of these attempts at 
 explanation are really satisfactory in a linguistic 
 point of view. But even if the "Appiryou ' is 
 properly a portable seat, it may still be identical 
 with the "Mittah," ver. 7; for as a travelling 
 sedan it was doubtless arranged both for sitting 
 and for reclining, and was spacious enough to af- 
 ford room for Solomon along with Shulamith. It 
 
 * [" It seems to signify the nuptial bed, or an open chariot, 
 or some such like thing, in which the bride was carried in 
 pomp to the bridegroom's house ; and iH this sense is the word 
 used iu the Mishnah.'" — GiLL.J 
 
III. 6— V. 1. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 88 
 
 is more natural, however, and likewise corres- 
 ponds better with decorum and with the mar- 
 riage customs of the ancient Hebrews to imagine 
 the king riding along side or seated on a separate 
 litter of a less showy sort. For the Hindoo bridal 
 custom, according lo which both bride and groom 
 were carried along logsther in one large palan- 
 quin, can scarcely determine the usage under the 
 Old Testament (comp. Schlott.mann, in loc). — 
 " Has made for himself" is, according to 2 Sam. 
 XV. 1; 1 Kings i. 5, equivalent to "procured, 
 provided for himself," comparavit sibi, not ex- 
 ■Aclly ^faciendum curavil, "caused to be made" 
 (for which Esth. vii. 9 has been alleged). — Of 
 the vrood of Lebanon — literally: "tromthe 
 woods of Lebanon," i. e., from various costly spe- 
 cies of wood found on this mountain, particularly 
 cedars and cypresses, comp. 1 Kings v. 10 ; vi. 
 15; vii. 2, as well as i. 17 above.* — Its pillars 
 he made of silver. — So that only the frame of 
 the sedan was of those valuable woods, not its 
 various decorations, which belonged to its inner 
 as well as its outer fitting up. D'"H3^ are not 
 the feet of the couch, as though the KTJvai hpyv- 
 pSiTodec (Xenoph., Anah. IV., 4, 21 ; Athen. II., 
 9), or the Roman tables with silver legs (Juven. 
 II., 128), were to be compared, but the small pil- 
 lars designed mainly for ornament, not as sup- 
 ports, with which the sedan was embellished ; 
 comp. the auraix columnse of a royal sedan spoken 
 of by CcRTius, IX. 8, 26, as well as the mention 
 of Indian palanquins with silver pillars by v. 
 Orlich, Indisehe Beise, p. 123 — Its seat of 
 purple. — By this are meant not cushions, but 
 costly coverings, which were spread over the 
 hard wooden base; comp. Judg. v. 10; .\m. iii. 
 12 ; Prov. vii. 16. — Its interior Twas embroi- 
 dered from love by the daughters of Jeru- 
 salem. — The suffix in Din, like that of the three 
 preceding words, can only refer buck to the prin- 
 cipal subject p'^iJX, not to the purple of the cov- 
 erings (M.\GN., HrrztG). Since the hack and the 
 seat have been mentioned before, the "midst" 
 or " inside" of this elegant litter can mean no- 
 thing but the sides and top of the same vehi- 
 cle. The decoration of these inner portions of 
 the sedan is characterized by the participle '^ii'l 
 (from ^IXT to arrange together, combine, comp. 
 nSXT, " tesselated pavement"), as consisting in 
 figures arranged together to resemble mosaic, 
 which points to fine embroidery, for these figures 
 cannot be conceived to be upon any thing but the 
 coverings which lined the walls. f Consequently 
 
 • [Taylor is peculiar in connecting the last words of ver. 9 
 with ver. 10 tlius : "-\ nuptial palanquin hath king Solomtju 
 made for tiimaull". He hath made of Lebanon-wooil its pillars 
 (the poles of the palanquin, and perhaps the whole of its wood- 
 work); of silver (tissue) its canopy; of gold (tissue) its lower 
 carriage (lit., the ridden in part, which hangs by cords from 
 the pillars or poles); with purple its middle part (floor) is 
 spread, a present from the daughters of Jerusalem (a finely 
 wrought carpet,) or wrought with an omamentul pattern of 
 needle-work."J 
 
 t [P.vTRics supposes a reference to the " foot-cloth, which 
 lay at the bottom of the chariot, with elegant figures of shep- 
 herds and shepherdesses perhaps and aJl their innocent court- 
 whips."' Moody Stu.^kt mentions (without adopting) an opinion 
 also suggested by Fry and Mrs. FR.4NCIS that " verses expres- 
 sive of love were wrought into the fabric "' of the inner lining. 
 Sru.lRT insists upon the strict meaning of a " pavement of 
 stone," and applies the description to the "ark of the covenant 
 with the tables of the law as the chariot of the divine king of 
 Israel."— Tr.J 
 
 nothing is more obvious than to see in tb« 
 "daugliters of Jerusalem" the makers of this 
 embroidery, and in H^l!*? love, which is added to 
 limit the participle Hli'l the mention of the dis- 
 position, impelled by which the daughters of Je- 
 rusalem performed this work. The ]D in nU30 
 is therefore equivalent to "from, or on the part 
 of," and does not introduce the ageat after a 
 passive verb* (as Hitziq and other opponents of 
 this construction suppose), which would cer- 
 tainly be contrary to usage. The Sti;PT. is sub- 
 stantially correct, only HinX is taken as in recent 
 times, e. g., by VAiai.NOER, in the sense of a 
 " token or gift of love ;" so Herder, Dehtzscu 
 and others. On the conti-ary, it is incorrectly 
 rendered by Lutheu (who partially follows the 
 VuLG.\TE) : " paved within in a lovely manner for 
 the sake of the daughters at Jerusalem ;" also by 
 Umbreit : " adorned from love to the daughters 
 of Jerusalem;" Hesgstexb.: 'adorned with the 
 love of the daughters of Jerusalem" (as though 
 they were themselves seated inside of the sedan); 
 BoTTCHER; "adorned with one, who is beloved 
 beyond the daughters of Jerusalem," i. «., far 
 more than they; and finally Doederl , Ewalu, 
 Weissbach, Renan, Hitzig, Schlottmann ; 
 "adorned with a love from among the daughters 
 of Jerusalem" — as though H^riX here meant the 
 same as amata (which is in reality not the case 
 either here or any where else in the Song of So- 
 lomon ; see above on ii. 7 and comp. on vii. 7) or 
 as though instead of this expression we were re- 
 quired in spite of MSS. and versions lo read 
 n^riN (as in Hos. iii. 1 ; Deut. xxi. lo) or n^HN 
 (comp. Hos. ix. 10), as Hixzio in fact proposes. 
 The same interpreter infers from 022""^' HUBO 
 that the royal bride denoted by n3nx is not Shu- 
 liimith, but a native of Jerusalem, whilst the rest 
 of the advocates of this last named view take the 
 "daughters of Jerusalem" here iu the wider 
 sense of "daughters of Israel" (see particularly 
 Schlottmann). 
 
 FoL'RTH Strophe. Ver. 11 (spoken by the 
 whole body of the chorus). 
 
 Ver. 11. Come out, daughters of Zion. — 
 This form of address is adopted instead of "daugli- 
 ters of Jerusalem," which had just been used nf 
 the close of verse 10, merely for the sake of va- 
 rying the expression, not to distinguish the 
 ordinary wouicn of the city from the ladies 
 of the court (Ewald, Hitzig, etc.) [so Ginsb,], 
 The coming out here urged is not necessarily the 
 coming out of individuals from their houses; it 
 is sufficient to suppose the interior of the city 
 contrasted with the open sp.ace at one of the 
 gates where the action is proceeding (see above 
 No. 1, p. 72). — And gaze at king Solomon 
 with the crown jwherewith his mother 
 crooned him, etc. By this crown is neither 
 meant the royal bride herself, as though she 
 were here entitled the crown of her hushan<l as 
 in Prov. xii. 4 (Vaih., Hengstenb), nor is the 
 
 * [So Percy : " The middle thereof is wrought ^n needle- 
 work) by the daughters of Jerusalem (as a testimony of thf.'ir| 
 love." AVlLLUMS: "The preposition is not most usually /'y 
 but/rom.. In the present instance it probably includes both-^ 
 lined with love hy the daughters of Jerusalem, and prokiiiiy 
 received as a present from them."] 
 
«4 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 HI. 6— V. 1. 
 
 expression a general figurative designation of 
 Solomon's sovereignty or his glory as a conquer- 
 or (Stauke and many of the older commenta- 
 tors; also Hahs). We are rather to look upon 
 it as a proper festive crown, a wedding coronet 
 .of gold and silver (scarcely of fresh flowers), 
 such as probably not only brides but bridegrooms 
 were accustomed to wear at Israelitish weddings, 
 as was the custom at least in later times accord- 
 ing to the testimony of the Talmud; * see Sel- 
 OEN, Uxor Ebr. II. 139 f.; Hirt, de coronis apud 
 Hebrseos nuptialibus sponai sponsmque, Jen. 1748. — 
 That it was no other than Solomon's mother,| 
 who put this crown upon his head, is not to be 
 explained from the fact that mothers generally 
 take a special interest in such matters of orna- 
 ment (Hitzig), but from a peculiar marriage 
 custom, according to which the mother in token 
 of her approval of the marriage alliance con- 
 tracted by her sou, with her own hand adorned 
 him with a festive crown. It is still a question, 
 however, whether the reference is to that wed- 
 ding crown, which Solomon had previously worn 
 upon his marriage with the Egyptian princess, 
 1 Kin. iii. 1, and which in order to distinguish the 
 present new bride above others he had now 
 brought out anew (Ewald), or whether Jis " the 
 new love deserved a new crown" (Hitzig), we 
 are to assume that the crowning was first per- 
 formed by Balhsheba in honor of the present 
 nuptial celebration (so the most). The latter as- 
 sumption is favored not only by the tenor of the 
 words used (see particularly "and in the day of 
 the gladness of his heart" in d) but also by the 
 circumstance that Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, 
 probably survived David, her royal husband, a 
 number of years, and continued to be a highly 
 respected and influential person at the court of 
 Solomon; comp. 1 Kin. i. 11; ii. 13 If. 
 
 3. Solomon to Shulamith at the wepdino 
 
 KNTEET-MNMENT, iv. 1-6. 
 
 Ver. 1. Lo, thou art fair, my dear, etc. — 
 The verbal correspondence of this praise of Solo- 
 mon's beauty with i. 15 is <lesigned as in vi. 4 
 (and BO in vi. 10; viii. 5 comp. with iii. G) to 
 direct attention to Solomon as again the speaker 
 of these words. And it follows with great prob- 
 ability that the person addressed is likewise the 
 same as before, not some new object of the king's 
 love different from Shulamith, as Hitzig as-^^erts. 
 — Behind thy veil. — So correctly Hitzig, 
 Vaih., Heiligst., etc., with whom Bottch. and 
 Gksen.-Dietb. ("through thy veil," i.e., ap- 
 
 • [" It waa usual with many nations to put crowns or gar- 
 lands on the heads ot new married persons. Tlie iVIishnah in- 
 forms us that this custom prevailed among the Jews ; and it 
 should seem from the passage hefore us that the ceremony of 
 putting it on waa performed by one of the parents. 
 Among the Greeks the bride was crowned by her motlier. 
 aa appears from tiie instance of Iphigenia iu Euripides, ver. 
 iHK't. Bocn.\RT supposes the nuptial crown and other orna- 
 ments of a bride alluded to in Kzi-k. xvi. t<-l'.i; Utnijr. Sui:r 
 p. 2, 1. 1. — The nuptial crowns used among the Greeks and 
 Romans were only chaplets of leaves or flowers. Among the 
 Hebrews they were not only of these, but occasionally of 
 richer materials, as gold or silver, according to the rank or 
 wealth of the parties." Percy. To this GooDad<is: "It was 
 customary equally among the Greeks and Orientals to wear 
 crowns or garlands of dilTerent degrees of value, in proportion 
 to the rank of the person presenting them, on festivals of 
 •very description ; but those prepared for the celebration of 
 a ouptial Imnquet tm being a festivity of the first conseiiuence, 
 were of peculiar 8i)lendor and magnificence."] 
 
 t fWlTHlNOTON is alone in finding not Solomon's mother, but 
 his mother-iu-hiw, iu this passage; he renders thus; " woar- 
 
 pearing through) substantially agree.* — Thy 
 hair like a flock of goats -which repose oa 
 Mount Qilead. — As Gilead is visible from the 
 Mount of Olives in the far distance, but not from 
 Jerusalem, its mention, like that of Lebanon and 
 Hermon in ver. 8, and like so many other allusions 
 in the poem to localities in the north of Palestine, 
 is to be explained from the circumstance that 
 when Solomon was speaking to his beloved, ho 
 liked to transport himself to the region of her 
 home with its peculiar circle of impressions and 
 ideas. Gilead is, besides, a mountain land specially 
 rich in cattle (comp. Num. xxxii. 1 ; Mic. vii. 1 1 ; 
 Jer. 1. 19), and modern travellers have found it 
 still strewn, as ii were, with flocks and herds 
 Comp. Akvieux, II., 688; Paulus, Reisen, 7, 108; 
 RosENM , MoTgenl., I., 85, etc. — The point of com- 
 parison in the figure is lo be found mainly in the 
 glossy blackness and luxuriant abundance of 
 Shulamith's hair, perhaps also in its silky soft- 
 ness and delicacy, less likely in her elegant and 
 elaborately braided tresses, to which Maonds 
 thinks there was subordinate reference. Old 
 Luis de Leon correctly (in Wilkens, p. 219) : 
 " He indicated thus the abundance and the color 
 of her hair; for the goats, which pastured there, 
 were dark and glossy. He says therefore : as 
 the goats scattered on the summit of Gilead give 
 it a tine and pretty appearance, whilst before it 
 looked like a b.ald and arid rock, so does thy hair 
 adorn and ornament thy head by its rich color 
 and abundance." 
 
 Ver. '1. Thy teeth like a flock of shorn 
 sheep. — Sheep recently shorn, consequently 
 !^u]ooih, and besides just washed in the pool, and 
 hence snow-white, evidently are a peculiarly ap- 
 propriate figure for dazzling white teeth, pro- 
 vided pastoral figures or those taken from the 
 realm of country life were to be used at all. And 
 this was to a certain extent necessary here; at 
 least it was extremely natural to illustrate the 
 contrast between the blackness of her hair and 
 the whiteness of her teeth by adding a flock of 
 white lambs to the flock of black goals spoken of 
 in ver. 1. The idea of the pool for the sheep 
 spontaneously ofi'ered itself, since washing newly 
 shorn sheep was a universal custom in antiquity; 
 comp. CoLDMELLAS advice (Vll. 4) to wash 
 sheep four days after the shearing. — All of 
 virhich bear tvtrins, and one bereaved is 
 not among them. — An allusion to the com- 
 pleteness of her teeth, the two rows of which, 
 upper and lower, not only have no breaks, but in 
 every instance exhibit a pair of teeth exactly an- 
 swering to one another, twin teeth, as it were, 
 throughout f That sheep in the East are still 
 
 ing the wreath which his (new rural) mother wove for hun id 
 the day of his espousals (to her daughter)." 
 
 * [P'krcy gives the prepositiou a jirivativi- sense, and trans- 
 lates " now thy veil is removed." lie supposes that the royal 
 pair having alighted from their cai-riage, the cen-mony of un- 
 veiling the bride here follows, which gives occiwion to tbd 
 bridegroom's encomium on those features which the veil in 
 great measure concealed. But Willi MS obser^'es that th» 
 " Eastern poets celebrate the charms of the fair through their 
 veils, and improve this circumstance into an elegant compli- 
 ment." AiNswoRTH and others remark upon the circnmstance 
 that seven parliculais are here mentioned in the description 
 of the bride, viz.; her "eyes, hair, teeth, lips, temples, neck 
 and Ifreaats," uniting, as MooDT Sti'AET expresses it, " perfec- 
 tion of number with perfection of Iwau^y." — Tr.] 
 
 t [Ginsdurq adopts the translation of LowTFt, Percy and 
 Pry with advantage to the figure: "AH of which are paired. 
 That is, each upper tooth has its corresponding lower on*. ' 
 
III. 6— V. 1. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 8i 
 
 mostly thdv/iordKoi, i. e., have two lambs at a time, 
 is testified by recent travellers, e. g., the anony- 
 mous autiior of tlie publication, ^^JEijypten wie es 
 jetzt ist" p. 42 (comp. Magn. in loc). L. de 
 Lkon (in the same place as before) has again finely 
 shown the sensible and strikinj; character of the 
 oomparisoQ here selected : *■ The figure aliuost, 
 paints the whole thing before our eyes. The 
 flock of sheep, wliicli always go crowded together 
 like the scales of fir cones, represent the compact- 
 ness and smallness of her teeih: their whiteness 
 is expressed by their coming up from the wash- 
 ing; their uniformity by none being sick or bar- 
 ren." 
 
 Ver. 3 Like a crimson thread thy lips, 
 and thy mouth is lovely. — The lips immedi- 
 ately follow the teeth, not simply because they 
 cover them (Hitzig), but slso because the bright 
 red of the one forms an elegant contr,ast with the 
 dazzling whiteness of the other; comp. the com- 
 bination of the two colors in v. 10. Then the 
 mouth, comprehending both teeth and lips, stands 
 here in its quality of an organ of speech, whence 
 also it is called "137? from 137' " '" speak," and 
 is supplied with a predicate (HIXJ, lovely ; comp. 
 ii. 14; i. ].5), which serves to cliaracterize not so 
 much its pretty shape or color as the agreeable 
 and beneficent effects proceeding from it. The 
 Sept., Vhlq., Syr., Hengstenb., etc., lake l^ip 
 as equivalent to speech; A. Schultens and 
 DoPKE, to tongue; Hitzio, to pilate. But like 
 all that is described before and after, this expres- 
 sion must denote some part of the body, and one 
 too that is esternally visible, and which forms a 
 substantial feature of Shulamith's beauty. — 
 Iiike a piece of pomegranate thy cheek. — 
 npT litiTally •' the temple " (Judg. iv. 21 ; v. 26), 
 here manifestly the upper part of the cheek, 
 whose soft red borders upon tiie white of the 
 temple. For this figure of the half of a pomegra- 
 nate (]1^")'^ ^Ip) refers to the pleasing combi- 
 nation of white and red; on one side of the exte- 
 rior of this fruit '*a bright red is mingled with 
 yellow and white," whilst the other side looks 
 brown (Di)PK.E). It is only to a half, a segment* 
 
 (nSa from nSa, "to cut fruit," 2 Kings iv. 39) of 
 the pomegranate that the cheek is compared be- 
 cause its soft curve only corresponds in fact to 
 the segment of a sphere. Not, therefore, "like 
 s slice of a pomegranate" (Lcth.) [so Dcrell, 
 HoDO., Thropp], as though the flat inner surface 
 of a sliced pomegranate were intended (Heng- 
 stenb., Hahn., etc.). For the appearance of the 
 reddish seeds of this fruit, lying in a yellowish 
 pulp, would not form a suitable comparison, 
 whether for a cheek or a temple. 
 
 Ver. 4. Like the tower of David thy 
 
 thus they, a-s it were, appear in pairs, like tliia tlock of white 
 Blieep, eacli of which keeps to its mate, aa they come up from 
 the washing pool. Andno tine oftlicm is deprived of its leltow, 
 i. €., no tootti is deprived of its corresponding one, just as none 
 of the sheep is hereaved of its companion. The teeth surely, 
 which are here compared to the flock, cannot be said to bear 
 twins like the sheep."] 
 
 * [Castf.llus, followed hy Patrick. Good and others; the 
 opening flower or blossom of the pomegranate. Williams: 
 " If tile bridal veil of the Hebrew ladies was like that of the 
 Persians, made of red silk or muslin, it would throw a glow 
 over the whole countenance that will account more fully for 
 this comparison."] 
 
 neck, bnilt for an armoury. His aim was not 
 
 to describe the slender grace and erectness of 
 Shulamith's neck in and of itself, but likewis« 
 with reference to its ornaments consisting of 
 brilliant jewelry and ornamental chains (comp. 
 i. 9-11) and consequently in respect to its superb 
 and stately appearance (comp. vii. 5 [4] ). A 
 pecularly suitalile comparison was accordingly 
 offered to the king in the tower, hung around 
 with burnished pieces of armor, and probably 
 built of white free-stone, which David may have 
 erected somewhere in the vicinity, perhaps at 
 one corner of his palace on Zion as a bulwark 
 or a watch tower.* The identity of this tower 
 with the " tower of Lebanon which looks toward 
 Damascus " mentioned in vii. 5 (4j is contra- 
 dicted by the fact that the latter is a figure for 
 an entirely different thing from that now before 
 us (versus Ewald, Hitzig, etc.). Still less can 
 the ivory tower spoken of in the very same pas- 
 sage be identical with this. This manifestly ap- 
 pears from the further defining clauses "built 
 for an armory," etc., to have been a fortification, 
 a stronghold for arms, a tower for warlike pur- 
 poses, and hence, perhaps, is not distinct from 
 the " house of the mighty " (D'^IBjn Pi'2) spoken 
 of in Neh. iii. 16, which is assigned to the neigh- 
 borhood of the district of Beth-zur and the sep- 
 ulchres of David, i. e., on the eastern side of 
 Zion, on the very spot where David's old palace 
 must have stood (comp. Weissbach in loc.) — 
 The diflicult expression nViJ/ri, which the LXX 
 render as a proper name (9aA(j«jd), the Vui.g. 
 by pTopafjnacula, Aq , and the Versio Veneta by 
 cKd^^cic, is most correctly taken with Kimchi for 
 
 a compound of 7pi collis (const. /P) and nra 
 enses, edges, sword-blades (Prov. v. 4 ; Judg. iii. 
 16; comp. Ps. cxlix. 6), or which amounts to the 
 
 same thing, referred to Vhi\ "to hang" and 
 nva in the same sense as before (Hengstenb., 
 Del., Weissb., etc.). In both cases it must des- 
 ignate a lofty object of the nature of a fortifica- 
 tion, hung around with swords or bristling with 
 swords, consequently, as mention is also made 
 of shields in what follows, an armory which, as 
 it served for the preservation ofnumerous mar- 
 tial weapons of offence and defence, was like- 
 wise hung around with them on the outside, and 
 thus embellished. For the shields hung on it 
 
 (VlI?) according to the next clause of the verse, 
 
 TT ^ 
 
 and not barely in it (as Hitzig supposes, who 
 fancies a "mound of earth," which "hides in its 
 bosom such murderous weapons " as swords, 
 shields, etc. This explanation is at any rate 
 better suited to the connection and yields a more 
 appropriate figure for Sliulamith's neck decorated 
 with brilliant ornaments than the derivation of 
 
 nraSn from a substantive 'SYA which, accord- 
 ing to the Arab., would menu "host, army" 
 (F.wald: "built for troops;" BiJTTCii., Riiuic., 
 compare Heiligst.), or from an alleged adjective 
 
 *[f5oOD; "Thegnweful neck of the fair brido is compared to 
 this consummate stnicturc ; and the radiance of the jewels that 
 surrounded it to the splendor of the arms and shields Willi 
 which the tower of David was adorned. The simile is ti- 
 qnisite."] 
 
m 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 III. 6— T. I. 
 
 'aSp exitialis, degtructive, hence ril'sSn exitialia, 
 viz. arma, murderous weapons, or from HS?^ [D ' 
 to be white, hence " pieces of alabaster " (Hahn), 
 and the like.* — All the shields of heroes 
 
 □'aStS has a wider meaning than [JD, which 
 specially denotes the "shield of a light armed 
 soldier," the -'target;" see Gesen. Thes., p. 
 1418. We are scarcely to think of the shields 
 of conquered heroes, of those for instance which 
 David (2 Sam. viii. 7) had taken from the Syrians 
 (versus Weissb.), because the mighty men here 
 mentioned are simply referred to as the garrison 
 of the armory here described. Comp., moreover, 
 F.zek. xxvii. 11, a passage which is probably 
 based on that before us. 
 
 Ver. 5. Thy two breasts like t^70 fa-wns, 
 tvirins of a gazelle, that are feeding among 
 lilies. On c comp. ii. IC. The comparison is 
 plainly intended to express "delicate and ex- 
 quisite beauty" (HiTZ.); for since the gazelle 
 itself, wlieu full grown, is an admirable, attrac- 
 tive and favorite emblem of womanly grace and 
 loveliness (Prov. v. 19 ; comp. above on ii. 7, 9), 
 a twin pair of its young lying on a bed covered 
 with lilies appears lo be still better fitted to illus- 
 trate the fragrant delicacy and elegance of a 
 chaste virgin bosom veiled by the folds of a dress 
 redolent of sweet odors (comp. i. 1.3). \ more 
 detailed parcelling out of the comparison (as for 
 instance by Hitzig, who thinks that the dress 
 was red, or by Weissb., who supposes a particu- 
 lar reference in the young gazelles to the dark- 
 colored nipples of her breasts as their especial 
 
 * [" Our tirat business is tiere with the controverted word 
 
 nVi)7n7, our translation of which "with projecting para- 
 pets," is in partial accordancf witii, and d'-rives .sunpurt tr.ini 
 rhat of Symmachi;.?, et? eiraA^ets {at. e-Qfw eTraA^ewi-). The 
 
 word nV3 7n. or rather its singular n'37n [better n"£)7nj 
 
 is regTilarly derived from the root n£) 7- That root is, according 
 to BuxTORP, actually found in the Chaldee in the Targnm 
 of Jonathan on Lev. vi. 5 ; althou-h in the Targum, as printed 
 
 by Walton, we read not '37^ but ^Qr. However, whether 
 
 the root be used or no, its meaning may be assumed to be 
 
 identical with tliat of C137, which is found in ot!ier places in 
 
 the Targum of Onkclos, The meaning is " to add on," " to 
 join on." The substantive derived from it, when applied to a 
 building, would thus naturally denote the projecting i)arts of 
 the building, which seem as it were to be added on to the rest. 
 
 We have an analogous term in the Chaldee p£Jl7, derived 
 
 from the same root as nVS/P, and used in the Talmud of 
 (itrongly marked eyeltrows. The projecting parapets of a 
 tower are in fact its eyebrows. And that ancient towers were 
 liuilt with such projecting parapets, and moreover that 
 hhields were bung by way of disphty on the exterior of the 
 parapets, is cstablistied in the most satisfactory manner by a 
 representation on a bas-relief .at Kouyounjik, given l>y LATAkn, 
 and also in Smith's I>ict. of the biblc^ s. v. Gammadims. Of 
 
 the current explanations of i"ir37rt, the only one which 
 
 seems to call for notice, is that wliirli derives it from H /H " to 
 hang," jir3 "edges," and makes it mean "an armory." 
 Against tliis lie the objections, Ist that it unnecess.arily treats 
 
 nV37n as a composite word ; 2d, that an armory would l>e 
 more naturally de-scrilK-d as a " hang-weapons " than a 
 "hang-edges;" 3d, that the figure before us is not that of an 
 armory, but of a bnilding with shields hung on its exterior; 
 4tli. that any etyuiological connection between the words 
 
 nr^'T^alid 'I'^iT in the two adjoining elans-s is improba- 
 ble, a*l it would d'yitroy the charm of ttle studied iloniceopbony. 
 "'her»! ir'^ two oth<:l passages of Scripture in whicli w may tnice 
 H ini • allusion to ttiis tower, Mir, iv. 8 ; Isa. v. -J." TnRUPl'.] 
 
 charm, and in the lilies to the snowy whitenesa 
 of her bosom) is inadmissible, and leads to what 
 is in violation of good taste or to what is obscene, 
 from both which the poet has kept free here as 
 every where else. Admirably here again Luis 
 DE Leon (p. 221, f.) : •■ In addition to the deli- 
 cacy of the young kids, in addition to their simi- 
 larity as twins, in addition to their loveliness and 
 gentleness they have in their merry gambols a 
 frolicksomeness and gayety, which irresistibly 
 enchains the eyes of beholders, and attracts 
 them to come near and touch them," etc. 
 
 Ver. (i. Until the day cools and the sha- 
 do^7s flee I ■will get me to the mountain 
 of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense. 
 If Solomon were still the sp -.-iker in these words, 
 nothing else could possibly be meant by the moun- 
 tain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense, but 
 the breasts of the bride wiiich would be so desig- 
 nated here in facetious and flowery style (Ewald, 
 Heiliost., Weissb., Ren., clc.,) with allusion to 
 the fragrant substnnces, which were between 
 them or upon them* (comp. i. IS). But the 
 very circumstance, that then the foregoing figure 
 fcr the bosom would here be followed by one en- 
 tirely new and of a different description, whilst 
 every other part of the body spoken of in this 
 section is represented by but a single figure (see 
 vers. 1-4) makes it improb.able that the words 
 before us belong to Solomon. To which may be 
 added that DVn ni3't!( 1^, etc., must belong to 
 Sliulamilh here as well as in ii. 17; and that 
 BoTTfiiEu's attempt to assign only these intro- 
 ductory words to the "vinedresser" as he calls 
 
 her, and the latter part of the verse from '7 ':|7X 
 onward to the king who interrupts her, seems 
 scarcely less arbitrary than Hitzig's view that 
 the whole verse is spoken by the shepherd, who 
 suddenlj' enters and declares his purpose to effect 
 the speedy rescue of Shulamith! Umbk , Dopke, 
 V.Aiii., D;;i.iTzstn, «f<?., properly assign the words 
 to Shulamith. who seeks thus to parry the ardent 
 encomiums of Solomon, and hence expresses the 
 wish to leave the wedding hall resounding with 
 the boisterous festivities of the guests until the 
 approach of evening. The "mountain of myrrh" 
 and the " hill of frankincense," which she wishes 
 to visit for this end, were probably certain lo- 
 calities about the royal palace, near the hall and 
 visible from it, which either always bore those 
 nnmes or only on the occasion of the present 
 m.arriage, to which fumigations with various 
 spices belonged as ;.u absolutely indispensable 
 ingredient, comp. iii. 6. As presumably solitary, 
 shady spots, belonging, it may be, lo grounds 
 laid out as gardens (perhaps "beds of balsam" 
 of the sort mentioned in v. 13, riiibed in the shape 
 of pyramids or towers), these must have been to 
 the simple-minded, guileless child of nature more 
 desirable places to stay in than the noisy festive 
 hall. Comp. her similar expressions of a strong 
 desire for the fresh solitude of nature in opposi- 
 tion to the luxurious life of the court ; i. 7, 16, 
 and especi.ally vii. 12 (11) ff This understand- 
 ing of the " mountain of myrrh," etc., is evidently 
 
 *[N'0YE.s thinks that the Itride herself, in respect to h**r 
 general charms, is hero compared to a mount»n of myrrh, 
 ftc. to whom the lover says he will return as the antelope 
 flies to the mountain.J 
 
III. 6— V. 1. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 81 
 
 far less forced than explaining it of Lebanon, or 
 generally of the region of Shulamith's home, for 
 which slie here expresses her desire (Umbbeit, 
 Vaih.), or of " Sion as the seat of the court" 
 (Hitzig), or of Zion as a figure of tlie church 
 (Hengstenb, ), or of Moriah as the Teuiplo-inoun- 
 tain which is tiere designated 113n in (Ibn 
 Ezra, Jarchi). Comp. on v. 13 and vi. 2. 
 4. Continuation: vers. 7-11. 
 Ver. 7. Ttiou art all fair, my dear, and 
 there is not a blemish in thee. Correctly 
 DriLiTZSCH : " Tbis childlike disposition expressed 
 ver. 6, makes her but the more lovely in the 
 eyes of the king ; he breaks out in the words, 
 'thou art all fair, my dear,' etc., undoubtedly 
 meaning that the beauty of her soul corresponds 
 with her outward beauty — not with reference, 
 tlierefore, to the oliarms of her bodily figure 
 from her brea.st downward, which are more fully 
 described subsequently vii. 2 IF." (VVeissb.) — On 
 the form of expression, particularly in b, conip. 
 2 Sam. xiv. i;.') ; Eph. v. 27. 
 
 Ver. 8. 'With me from Lebanon, my 
 bride, with me from Ijebanou thou shait 
 come. Several of the advocates of the shep- 
 herii-hypothesis assuraa at these words a cijange 
 of person and with it likewise a change of scene, 
 either making the shepherd himself enter and 
 speak all that follows to ver. Iti (so Bottcher, 
 Ken.), or at least to ver. 8 (so Hitzig), or re- 
 garding all from this verse to v. 8 as a mono- 
 logue of Sbulamith, who herein relates the wordi 
 previously spoken to her by her country lover 
 (so Ew.vLD, who accordingly iniigiues that the 
 words; '* Lo, here comes my lover, and says to 
 me," or the like, have been dropped out before 
 this verse). But an unprejudiced interpretation 
 renders such artifices needless. Led by the wish 
 of his beloved, expressed in ver. 6, to exchange 
 her place amongst the jubilant guests for the 
 quiet solitude of nature, Solomon recalls her 
 descent from a simple shepherd's family in tlie 
 mountain region of Northern Palestine, and hence 
 he exullingly and in exaggerated expressions 
 announces to her how instead of living in sterile 
 mountain districts, and on barren rocky heights 
 rendered insecure by wild beasts, slie should 
 hencefoitli make her home with hitn in the royal 
 palace, and in the midst of its rich joys and 
 blissful beauties, herself its loveliest flower, the 
 most charming and spicy of its gardens (see 
 especially vers. 12-15). the enthusiastic lover 
 does not consider that in this he says nothing 
 that is really agreeable to her, but actually con- 
 travenes her longing to escape into the open 
 country from the close and sultry atmosphere of 
 court life, any more than he concerns himself 
 about the exaggerated character of his compari- 
 sons, e. g. oi the mountains aroumi Shunem with 
 Lebanon, or of the "little foxes" in Shulamith's 
 vineyards (ii. 1-5) with lions and panthers. Po- 
 etical exaggerations of this sort are besides quite 
 accordant with his taste (comp. ver. 4 and espe- 
 cially vii. 5), and appear much less strange in 
 him than the bold comparison of Zion or of 
 Solomon's palace with the heights of Lebanon 
 and Hermon (according to Hitzig, Bottch., 
 Kenan, etc.,] would sound in the mouth of a 
 (imple shepherd. — Besides ''XUn "thou shalt 
 
 come" shows that the speaker had a definite 
 term in mind, to which Shulamith was to come 
 from " Lebanon " as her previous residenCB 
 (comp. HiTZio in loc), and that consequently the 
 idea of going up and down from one peak of 
 Lebanon to another (Delitzscu) is not found in 
 the passage.* — Shalt journey from the top of 
 Amana. The "summit" or the "top" of 
 Amana is without doubt the mountain by the 
 river Amana mentioned 2 Kin. v. 12 K'ri, that is 
 to say that peak of the Lebanon or more accu- 
 rately the Antilibanus-range, in which this river 
 Amana, the Chrysorrhoas of the Greeks or the 
 Barada of the Arabs takes its rise. This peak, 
 like the following Shenir and Hermon, stands of 
 course by poetic license for the entire range 
 For the poet cannot have intended a contrast 
 between the Lebanon in a and these names of 
 mountains that follow, but " he only varies the 
 names because one meant the same to him as 
 another" (so Correctly Hitzig. versus Delitzsch, 
 Hengstenb., e^c). — Prom the top of Shenii 
 and Hermon. According to Deut. iii. it Shenir 
 was the Amorilish name for Hermon itself, which 
 thereby appears to be designated as the "snow 
 mountain" (according to .Jarchi on that pas- 
 sage and the Targum on this). Still it is shown 
 as well by the passage before us as by Ezek. 
 xxvii. 5, 1 Chron. v. 28, that a distinction was 
 commonly made between Shenir which lay 
 further to the north and Hermon (now Jebel 
 csh-Sheikh) the more southern of the principal 
 peaks in the entire Hermon or Antilibanus rang* 
 (comp. Robinson, Palest. II. p. 440 (edit. 18.38), 
 13ertu. on 1 Chron. v. 23). As now Amana, 
 where the Chrysorrhoas has its source, must be 
 the peak lying farthest to the east or north-east, 
 the enumeration of the three peaks or ridges be- 
 longing to Antilibanus evidently proceeds from 
 the north-east to the south-west, or from the 
 region of Baalbec to that of Hasbeya and Paneas 
 (comp. Hitzig m loc). — From dens of lions, 
 from mountains of panthers. These ex- 
 pressions as belonging to the description and 
 only .alluding in a general way to the wild and 
 inhospitable character of the region about 
 Shulamith's home, are not to be pressed for the 
 sake of obtaining any more special sense, par- 
 ticularly not so as with Koster, Bottcheb. 
 Hitzig, etc. to explain the linns of "the king 
 of Israel and his magnates who have dragged 
 the gr.aceful roe Shulamith into his den !" Lions 
 moreover must have had their haunts in the for- 
 
 * [This interpretation certainly assumes such extraordinary 
 exagger.itions as to cast suspicion upon its correctness. 
 Noyts says ; " Verses 8 and 9 seem to be introduced very ab- 
 ruptly, and their import in this connection is not very obvi- 
 ous. DoDERLEiN and others suppose them to be an invitation 
 to the bride to take an excursion with him, in order that 
 they might admire together all that was grand and beautiful 
 in scenery. Others suppose them to be an invitation to the 
 maiden to come from a place of danger to a place of complete 
 security in the arms of her lover." Good : " By this forcible 
 appeal the royal speaker invites his beloved to his arms as to 
 a pliice of safety ; and encourages her to look towards him 
 for security amidst any dangers, either actual or imaginary, 
 of which she might be apprehensive." Bcrrowes ; " These 
 mountains thus beautiful but dangerous are put in contrast 
 with the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense. 
 The beloved would h.ave his spouse leave the former and 
 seek his society in the retreats of the latter." The m.ajurity 
 of English commentat(»rs adopt a similar view, though witii 
 some variety in the figurative or symbolic sense which they 
 put upon the mountains in question. — Tr.J 
 
A8 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 m. 6— V. 1. 
 
 esta of Lebanon, as well as in the reeds on the 
 banks of the JorJiin (Zech. xi. 3 ; Jer. xii. 5) and 
 on Bashan (Deut. ssxiii. 22). And panthers 
 (this is the meaning of D'^DJ, not leopards, 
 ivhich as is known, are only found in Africa) are 
 still found in the region of Lebanon according to 
 modern travellers. (Bubckhardt, ReiseninSy- 
 "ien, pp. 99, 66). 
 
 Ver. 9. Thou hast ravished my heart, my 
 sister, my bride. This double designation of 
 Lis beloved as sister and as bride is neither 
 meant to indicate a peculiarly intimate nor pre- 
 eminently chaste and pure relation of love. The 
 thing here intended by it is the designation of a 
 certain relationship. As Solomon's lawful wife 
 Shulamith now, after the marriage has taken 
 place, stands next to him as a sister to her 
 brother.* She is not barely one of a number of 
 wives (vi. 8) but a sisterly sharer of his royal 
 r,-ink and name. She is queen, as he is king, 
 yes, a "pi-ince's daughter," vii. 2, as he is a 
 prince's son (correctly Hitzio and Weissb.). — 
 
 "3ri337 not "thou robbest me of courage" 
 (Umbr., M.^on.), nor "thou hast given me 
 courage " (Stmm., Syr., Ewalu, Dopke, Bott- 
 CHER, Meier, Weissb., etc.), but "thou hast un- 
 hearledine" (Delitzsch) i.e. "robbed me of 
 ray heart, so that it is no more mine but thine," 
 hast "enchanteil me and made me wholly thine 
 own."f — With one of thy glances ; literally 
 " with one from thy eyes," i. e. with a single one 
 of the glances that proceed from them (Hengs- 
 TENB., Hitzio, etc ) ; for the masc. nnS3 of the 
 K'thibh, which is certainly to be retained, can- 
 not refer to one of the two eyes (V^ is never 
 masc), but only to one thing which comes forth 
 from the eyes, an etfect proceeding from them. J — 
 With one chain of thy necklace. The 
 representation is ideal and hyperbolical as in 
 the preceding verse. It proceeds in rapturous 
 exaggerations .as well here where it paints in 
 detail, as before where it dealt in pompous and 
 grandiloquent expressions. But to be sure, in 
 /he matter of love, it always remains true: 
 •mall causes often produce great elfects ! — pj^' 
 not "ringlet, lock of the front hair hanging 
 down on the neck" (Hitzio), but neckchaiu, or 
 
 * [Patrick : " Sister is only a word of tenderness and en- 
 dearment nsed by liusbands to their wives ; as appears by the 
 book of Tobit vii. 10 ; viii. 4, 7." NoVES, with leas cogency,, 
 compares Tibul. iii. 1, 26. Thrupp is consequently not war- 
 ranted in saying : " The union of the two appellations is of 
 itself an almost decisive objection against all literal interpre- 
 tation of the Song. When it is urged by the literalists that 
 the term sister is merely used a.s an expression of endear- 
 ment, it may be at once replied that that is the very last 
 term which in chaste love a bridegroom would ever think of 
 applying to his bride."] 
 
 f [Wordsworth obtains substantially the same sense by 
 a rendering precisely the opposite : " Lit. ; Thou hast 6e- 
 h'-artfd nw. It implies the answering of heart to heart ; the 
 passing of one heart into another, so as to be united with it 
 and fill it."J 
 
 X (Williams, who remarks that " the K'ri and many MSS. 
 reait nnX fem. to agree with TJ,*," endeavors to account for 
 
 the singularity of the expression so understood in the follow- 
 ing manner: " Supposing the royal bridegroom to have bid 
 a profile or side view of his bride in the present instance, 
 only one eye or one side of her necklace would bo observable ; 
 yet this charms and overpowers him. Tsrtullian mentions 
 a custom in the East of women unveiling only one eye in 
 conversation, while they keep the other covered ; and NiEBunR 
 mentions a like custom in some parta of Arabia. Trav. in 
 irab. I. p. 262."] 
 
 ornament (comp. the plur. : Prov. i. 9 ; Judg. 
 viii. 16). D'jn^X, since it is plural, can neither 
 mean "neck" (SEPt, Vulo., Hitzio, etc.) nor 
 be a diminutive of endearment, " tiny neck " 
 (Qesenids, Ewald, Heiliost., etc.). It must 
 rather denote something suspended about the 
 neck, a necklace or jewelry for the neck,* and 
 pj;? a single piece or constituent of it. What 
 
 had enchanted the king was of course not the 
 elegance or ingenious workmanship of this orna- 
 ment itself, but that Shulamith's neck looked so 
 charmingly in it. Comp. above on i. 10. 
 
 Ver. 10. Hotw fair is thy love, my sister, 
 my bride. D'Hil here again, not " breasts " 
 (Sept., VuLO., Luther), but "caresses, mani- 
 festations of love," as i. 2. Comp. generally i. 
 2, 3. Solomon here gives back to his beloved 
 with larger measure, what she had there de- 
 clared of him when absent. 
 
 Ver. 11. Iiiqaid honey thy lips distil, my 
 bride ; honey and milk are under thy 
 tongue. As in the preceding ver.se, which like 
 the present consists of three clauses, the first 
 two members refer to one and the same subject, 
 so these two clauses aim to depict but one attri- 
 bute or one characteristic of Shulamith, viz., her 
 lovely discourse, how sweetly she talked. For 
 it is to this that the figures of lips and tongue 
 point, comp. on the one hand Prov. v. 3; vi. 24; 
 vii. 5; xvi. 24; and on the other Ps.lv. 22: 
 Ixvi. 17; X. 7; Pindar, Nem. iii. 134; Theocrit. 
 Id. viii. 82 ff ; xx. 26 ff. The fragrant spittle of 
 the kissing mouth can scarcely be intended (vs. 
 Dopke, Magn., Weissb.), in spite of Arabic and 
 classic parallels, that might be adduced (the 
 saliva oris osculantit Horat. Od. I. 13, 16; 
 Catull. 99, 2, etc.). For the parallels ii. 14, v. 
 13, 16, likewise refer to the loveliness of dis- 
 cour.se, not to the sweetness of kisses. — And 
 the fragrance of thy garments is like the 
 fragrance of Lebanon. As is shown by the 
 parallel, Hos. xiv. 7, the Lebanon of this pas- 
 sage is not to be converted into DJU? " frankin- 
 cense " as Dopke imagines, on account of the 
 " sicut odor thuris" of the VuLo. (which proba- 
 bly arose from misunderstanding the uf oafii/ 
 Aifjavoii of the Sept.). Modern travellers testify 
 (ScuuLz, Lett. d. Allerh., Th. V. p. 459 ; Zeller, 
 Bibl. Worterbuch fiir d. Clirisll. Volk II. p. 42) 
 that the cedar groves of Lebanon diffuse a strong 
 Jjalsamic odor. Isaac also commends the scent of 
 his son Esau's garments (Gen. xxvii. 27) ; and so 
 Ps. xlv. 9 praises the garments of a king cele- 
 brating his marriage, which were perfumed with 
 myrrh, aloes and cassia. 
 
 6. CoNTiNDATioN. Vers. 12-15. 
 
 Ver. 12. A garden locked is my sister, my 
 bride ; a spring locked, a fountain sealed. If 
 
 instead of 7J in 4 we were with about 50 Heb. Mss. 
 of Kennicott, the Sept., Vclq, Str., etc.,^ to read 
 
 * [Whether this conclusion be correct or not, the argument 
 here urged in it.s favor is plainly not d-cisive ; for the plural 
 of TX'a, tlie ordinary word tor " neck," is more freguently 
 
 T - 
 
 used in a singular than a plural sense. — Tr.] 
 t [Su Thrupp; The receiv.d Uebrw text here gives not 
 
 M but 7j which our E. V. renders "appring." But the 
 
 word never occurs elsewhere in this sense: nor is it indeed, 
 iu the singular, applied to aught but u heap of btonis.j 
 
III. 6— V. 1. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 60 
 
 [i again, the comparison with the garden, being 
 immediately repeated, would appear to be the 
 main and prominent thought. But it is evi- 
 dently more suitable that the figure of the 
 spring, which is not carried out any further in 
 what immediately follows, sliould be twice re- 
 peated, in order that it may not be too abrupt. 
 
 The change of the unusual li (which means 
 spring, fountain, as appears from .)osh. xv. 10: 
 Judg. i. 15; comp. English well, of whicli the 
 German " Wellen " {leaves) is the plural) into JJ- 
 which had been used just before, would also be 
 eiisier to explain, than a conversion of the latter 
 into the former expression. The garden and the 
 spring being locked up and sealed, naturally in- 
 dicates that the access is open only to the owner 
 and possessor himself. Comp. ver. 16, where 
 Shulamith designates her hidden charms first as 
 her own garden, then as Solomon's; also Prov. 
 V. 1.5-18, wh?re ilie figure of a spring is likewise 
 applied to the natural relation between a wife 
 and her wedded lord, so that she is represented 
 by a fountain absolutely inaccessible to all men 
 except her husband, and the right of the latter 
 freely to enjoy and to refresh himself with the 
 waters of this spring is clearly presupposed.* 
 \ previous coyness of Shulamith toward her 
 lover (HiTZiG, Vaih., etc.) is not at all the thing 
 intended. 
 
 Vers. 13, 14. A more minute description of the 
 garden, i. e., of the charms of Shulamith, in so 
 far as they may be represented by tlie choice 
 plants and delicious fruits of a pleasure garden, 
 accessible only to tlie king; an expansion there- 
 fore of 12 II (as 12 b is more fully unfolded in 
 Ter. 15). Thy plants are an orchard of 
 
 pomegranates. HTO means here as in Ex. 
 ,\xxi. 5, not a plantation (Hesgstesb.), but a 
 single plant, literally a shoot, sprout (comp. XVW 
 Ps Ixxx. \'l; Jer. xvii. 8; Ezek. xvii. 6, 7). By 
 this figurative expression are denoted the charms, 
 the ravishing beauties of the beloved in general, 
 not specially her limbs (Hitziq), or the fragrance 
 of her unguents (Weissb.). A particular ex- 
 planation of llie individual products of the gar- 
 den is, on the whole, impossible, and it leads to 
 
 what is at variance with good taste. D'JSI 
 pomegr mates, i. e., the trees, not their fruit 
 (UoPKE, EwALn, Weissb ) ; for the fruit is men- 
 tioned afterward.^. — Ou the different opinions 
 
 * [Fry imagines* tliat this and the following verses do not 
 " contain comparisons of tiie bride, but are descriptive of 
 the residence i)repared for lier reception." He translates : 
 " A garden is enclosed, ray sister espoused," e'c. MiUNDRELL, 
 in his Journal/ says : " About the distance of one hundred and 
 forty paces from these pools [i. e. of Solomon] is the fountain 
 from which they principally derive their waters. This tlie 
 friars told us was the sealed fountain, to which the holy 
 spouse is compared. Cant. iv. 12. And they pretend a tnuii- 
 tion that King Solomon shut up these springs, and kept the 
 door of them sealed with his signet, to preserve the waters 
 for his own drinking in their natural freshness and purity. 
 Nor w,is it dith 'tilt tliiis to secure them, they rising under 
 ground, and having no avenue to them but a little hole like 
 the mouth of a narrow well. These waters wind along 
 through two rooms cut out of the solid rock, which are 
 arched over witii stone arches, very ancient, perhaps the 
 work of Solomon himself. Below the pool runs down a nar- 
 row, rocky valley, inclosed on bolh sides with high moun- 
 tains ; this, they told us, was the enclosed garden alluded to 
 in the same Song."] 
 
 respecting the etymology of ^T'^S. jomp. th« 
 Introduction, g 3 Rem. 2. — With most excel- 
 lent frtiit ; lit., "with fruit of excellencies " 
 (D'lJD as vii. 14). The fruit of the pomegranate 
 trees before mentioned may very well be in- 
 tended ; Djt? with does not necessarily, as is shown 
 by i. 11, introduce something entirely new and 
 of a difterent sort (vs. Weissb.) — Cyprus 
 flowers ^ith nards. As already remarked 
 on i. 12, 14, the Cyprus flower or alhenna was 
 the only one of these plants, which was also 
 cultivated in Palestine. The nard grass, grown 
 only in India, is therefore simply added here for 
 the sake of the delightfully fragrant unguent 
 obtained from it, as in the following verse in- 
 cense, calamus, cinnamon, and probably also 
 saS'ron are exotic plants known to the Hebrews 
 only from their aromatic products. The descrip- 
 tion accordingly loses itself here again in rap- 
 turous exaggerations and improbabilities in 
 natural history, which however at the same time 
 bear witness to an extensive knowledge of na- 
 ture (comp. Introduc. J 3, Rem. 1). — Naid and 
 
 crocus, calamus and cinnamon. 03*^3, 
 (?HAi.D. D3"''3. Sept. KpoKo^ (comp. Sanskrit, 
 kunkuma) is the saffron flower, (Crocus sativus) 
 indigenous in India, but introduced also into 
 Egypt and Asia Minor, and consequently pei- 
 haps also into Palestine. A water was prepared 
 from it for smelling bottles, witli a pungent 
 but agreeable odor, which was a great favorite 
 in antiquity; comp. Winer R. W. B. Art. 
 "Safran." — njp, Sept. KMauo^, in, according t(i 
 Jer. vi. 20; Isa. xliii. 24; Ezek. xxvii. 19. »f 
 article of trade brought from Arabia Felix, 
 sweet cane, calamus. The calamus (juneiis 
 odoratus, Plin. XII. 22; XXI. 18) which accord- 
 ing to TuEOPHRASTUs, Pliny and Strabo, grew 
 in Coelesyria and by the lake of Gennesaret, 
 was of an inferior and less valuable sort. — t^OJp 
 a Semitic name, as it would appear (lit. "the 
 Teed," or the "rolled together," from OJp— HJp), 
 
 in case it is not of Indian origin, and connected 
 witli the Malay kaiiwmatus (so Rodiger, Addita- 
 menta ad Tkesaur., p. Ill) signifies cinnamon, 
 which, according to Hlrodot. III. Ill came 
 through Arabia from the remotest south, that is, 
 probably from Ceylon. — 'With every variety 
 of incense \woods, i. e., with every species of 
 woo I, which yields a fragrant gum of the nature 
 of frankincense, or when pulverized is used as 
 " aromatic dust," or as a powder to be sprinkled 
 for fumigation. In opposition to the reading 
 
 Viyj ■'XJ? (Sept., Velth., Dopke), see Hitzig 
 in Inc. — Myrrh and aloes, ■with all the chief 
 spices. For niyi-rh comp. on i. 13 ; and for 
 
 aloes (nnns or D''7nX. as Prov. vii. 17. ; Num. 
 xxiv. G; Gr. n-)a?2nxnv, Sanskr. aguru, aghil) 
 see Winer, R. W. B.— Under " all the chief (lit., 
 all heads of) aromatic plants," balsams or spices 
 (COty^ a general expression, as in Ex. xxx. 2.''.; 
 Esth. ii. 12), in addition to the substances al- 
 ready named, cassia is especially to be regarded 
 as included. For according to Ex. xxx. 23 ff , 
 this particular aromatic product was mingled 
 
90 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 III. 6— V. 1. 
 
 with myrrh, calamus and cinnamoD, in the holy 
 anointing oil, and ia Ps. xlv. 9 (8) it appears 
 with myrrh and aloes among the precious spices, 
 with which the garments of the royal bridegroom 
 were perfumed. 
 
 Ver. 15. Further expansion of ver. 12 l>. — A 
 garden spring (art thou), a ■well of living 
 ^vater. Comp. Gen. xxvi. 19; Jer. ii. 13. by 
 the "garden spring" (lit. spring of gardens) 
 HiTziG understands the fountain of Siloah in 
 particular — an assumption which is the more 
 
 gratuitous, as the allusion to n7ty which he finds 
 in D'n 7ty ver. 13, exists merely in the fancy of 
 tile overacute modern critic, in spite of Neh. iii. 
 1 "> : Isa. Tiii. 0; Eccles. ii. 6, etc. — And streams 
 from Lebanon, i. e.. water as fresh and de- 
 lightfully refreshing as the gushing streams fed 
 by the snows of Lebanon, Jer. xviii. 14. On 
 the figure comp. besides Prov. v. 1-5, the Pheni- 
 cian inscription of Kition (No. 2) adduced by 
 ll!T7.!G, in which a husband calls his deceased 
 wife '"nSOi i. e., "0 4?.^?' "thespringof my life." 
 6. The complete onion of the lovers, ver. 16, 
 T. 1. — Ibn Eze.\, followed by Ewald and l)E- 
 I.ITZSCH, correctly pats the whole of ver. 16 into 
 the mouth of Shulaiuiih. The contrast of "jJ mi/ 
 
 (/■irdcn in a with 13J7 his garden in h does not 
 make in favor of two speakers, but simply brings 
 out the thought that h'.'r garden is his, and there- 
 fore that she, with all she h.as and is, belongs to 
 him; a delicately refined suggestion which is 
 lost by dividing the verse between the lover and 
 /li.^ beloved, as approved in recent times (Dopice, 
 M\r,N., BoTTi'ii., HiTZ., Ren., etc.). 
 
 Ver. 16. Avrake, north wind, and come, 
 O south. Shulaniith in her poetically exeiie.l 
 frame summons just these two winds to blow 
 upon her garden, because neither the east wind 
 with its parching effects and its frequent storms 
 (Gen. xli. 6 ; Isa. xxvii. 8), nor the raiuy west 
 wind (1 Kin. xviii. 44 f ; Luke xii. 54) would be 
 suitable in tlje connection ; and yet two opposite 
 winds must be named, as it is not a blowing off 
 or blowing awiiy tliat is intended, but causing 
 the odors to flow forth and wafting them in all 
 directions.* That its spices may flow, i. e., 
 that every thing in me. which pleases my lover, 
 all ray charms may show themselves to him in 
 tlicir full power and loveliness — Let my be- 
 loved come to his garden, and eat his ex- 
 cellent fruits. The language here becomes 
 pl.iiner. and passes over into a solicitation to her 
 lover to enjoy to the full, her charms which he 
 had been praising (for '7JX "to eat" in this 
 comp. Prov. xxx. 20.) Yet she expresses this 
 wish not by a direct address to him, but by speak- 
 
 * [BuRROWES : " The east wind is, in Palestine, generally 
 withering and tempestuous; the- west wind brings from the 
 M'-.i cloud.s of rain, or darlc, damp air ; tiio nortti wind is cool- 
 ins and refrcslinig, its po;ver being broken by the mountain 
 rliuin of Lebanon; ttie south wind, though hot, has its heat 
 mitigated in the upland regions, and is never stormy. The 
 north wind is called on to "arise," because it is moi'e power- 
 ful and strong ; the south wind to ■' come," .as tliougJi it were 
 the soft breathing zephyr. The north wind brought clear 
 weather; the south wind waJi warm and moist. The bride 
 here calls for the north wind, that thereby all clouds may he 
 ■wopt away and the sky cleared; and for the south wind that 
 ita genial influence might ripen 1h" fruits ol" th- garden and 
 Jraw t.>rth the fragrance ot the floweii.'j 
 
 iiig of him in the third person — a token of her 
 chaste, modest and bashful mind. — Chap. v. 1. I 
 come to my garden, my sister, my bride. 
 
 That Solomon is here the speaker, whilst full of 
 rapture he sets himself to comply with his be- 
 loved's invitation and to devote himself entirely 
 to her loving embrace incontestably appears from 
 the correspondence of "(1X3 with K3' in i of the 
 preceding verse, and of 'flyJ^ here with '3S'l 
 there. These verbs, as well as "J[1'"1X (="nDp7 
 "I pluck," Ex. xvi. 16) and 'n'riC are not to be 
 taken as preterites: "I have come," c/c, (Del.. 
 as the Sept., Vulg., Lothek, etc.,) because the 
 acme of love's enjoyment, to which both are 
 tending, was by no means reached and exhausted 
 by a single conjugal embrace, but strictly as 
 present, as serving to state that which is in the 
 very act of being performed.* Comp. •1''ri''Sl; i. 
 9, and numerous examples in Ewald, Lehrh., \ 
 135 c, [(JREEN's Hcb. Gram., I 202, 2.]— I pluck 
 
 my myrrh I eat my honey 
 
 I drink my wine. A threefold declaration in 
 different forms of his immediate readiness to en- 
 joy the charms of his beloved, with a partial re- 
 turn tothefiguresin iv. 10, 11, 13. f — Eatfriends, 
 drink and drink to repletion, O beloved. 
 Every other understanding of these closing verses 
 seems inappropriate and forced but that already 
 suggested, according to which they are an en- 
 cour.aging address of the bridegroom to the wed- 
 ding guests, who remain behind at the table. 
 Tlius, e. g., that of Ewald, that Shulamith des- 
 cribes in these words the way in which her dis- 
 tant lover, if she were with him and were cele- 
 brating her marriage with him, would remember 
 his friends ; the strange and burlesque idea of 
 ISoTTCiiER referred to above, p. 72 ; that, too, of 
 EicuiiouN, Magnds, Hitziq: that the words are 
 an exhortation of the poet to the two lovers to 
 enjoy their love and intoxicate themselves there- 
 with ; and the like views of others, according to 
 which Solomon either encourages his beloved 
 (Umbu., IIengstenb., HAHN)orshe him (Weissb.) 
 to the enjoyment of love. These latter views are 
 based upon aa untenable translation of D'TH by 
 "love" as though it were the object of 113tyi ("in- 
 toxicate yourselves with love") for D'HT with 
 the scriptio plena is plur. of in "beloved" 
 (comp. on i. 2), and consequently Prov. vii. 18 
 
 (where it is D'"IT "caresses" with the scriptio 
 defectiva) cannot decide for the present case. The 
 Sept., Vulo., Luther, Dopke, Vaih., Del., are 
 substantially correct, the last of whom adds the 
 just remark in explanation: "For each (of the 
 guestc) was to have his share in tasting the joy 
 of this day." 
 
 * [There is no reference in the language here employed to 
 anything low and sensual, but to pure and elevated enjoy- 
 ment in the society and converse of bis charming bride. The 
 passage is thus appropriately paraphrased by Tatlor : " I al- 
 ready enjoy the pleasure of your company and conversation ; 
 the.se are as grateful to my mind as delicious food could be to 
 mypal.ate: I could not drink wine and milk with greater 
 satisfaction." He also gives a like figurative turn to the last 
 clause ; "And you, my friends, partake the relish of those 
 pleasures which you hear from the lips of my beloved, and of 
 those elegancies which you heboid in her deportment and ad 
 dress." — Tr.] 
 
 t [But see 'in vii. 13.— Tr.) 
 
 I 
 
III. 8— V. 1. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 
 
 1. That the action of the Canticles reaches its 
 centre and acme in this act, and especially at the 
 close of it, cannot be doubted upon an unpreju- 
 diced view of the whole. "The newly wedded 
 bride is now in the arms of her husband and 
 king. Their ardent mutual love is the joyous 
 spectacle pi-esented to a festive assembly, which 
 is attached to the king by friendship and love. 
 Every where the feeling suited to a wedding, en- 
 joyment, and this enjoyment shared by loving 
 sympathy. Arrived at the summit of love's mys- 
 tery and moving there with holy purity tlie sonj 
 here dies away amid the revelry of the guests." 
 (D?;l.. p. 115.) 
 
 2. The recognition of the central and superior 
 significance of this section is of necessity precluded 
 upon the allegorical interpretation, bucause it 
 fails to perceive the organic progress of the ac- 
 tion in general, and supposes the union of the 
 two lovers to have become complete long before 
 this, (eorap. above, p. .56) so as neither to require 
 nor admit of increase. This unio mi/stica, this 
 perfect union of Christ with His church or with 
 the individual soul it consequently tinds not at 
 the conclusion merely, but already indicated at 
 the very beginning of tiie present act in the **bod 
 of Solomon," iii. 7, by which it is true many alle- 
 Rorists understand every different .sort of thing, 
 {■!. (jr., Ibm Ezu.v, the land of Israel; the Taeo. 
 and in recent times again Jo. L.\nge, the temple; 
 Sanctius, prayer; Tueodoret, the Holy Sciip- 
 tnres ; ApoNius, the cross of Christ ; and 0si.\n- 
 UKE, the free exercise of religion even!) But 
 the majority find represented in it the communion 
 of believers with Christ at the acme of its per- 
 fection, whether their particular explanation 
 points to Christ Himself (Ambrose), or they find 
 symbolized in it the heart of the Christian be- 
 liever in conformity with Eph. iii. 17 (CoccEi., 
 eJc.) or the free access of believers to the throne 
 of grace in this world and the next (.Ton. M.vRcii.), 
 or •' the church militant on earth, in which many 
 children are born to the Lord " (Starke after 
 many of the older writers, as Gregory the Great, 
 Cassiodor , Beda, Calov., Heusisch, etc.), or 
 " the intimate relation between the heavenly 
 Solomon and the church" (He.vost.), or the 
 *' kingdom administered by Solomon, so far as its 
 power is directed ad cxtra'^ (Haun). Iti the 
 case of the sedan or magnificent couch ( [V13X iii. 
 9) this divergence of interpretations is repeated 
 with a prevailing disposition to refer it to the 
 «H«) mystica. For besides the holy of holies in 
 the temple (Targ.). or the word of God (Mercer.), 
 or the church (Zelts.), or the human nature of 
 (!!irist (Ambbos., Athasas., Greo., Beda, An- 
 3ELM, Jo. Laxge), it is particularly the work of 
 redemption with the gracious results proceeding 
 from it (Sanctius: similarly CoccEtn.s, Groene- 
 WEonN, >ta:;ke, elc .) or as expressed by Heng- 
 stexbekg : "the glory of those measures by 
 which tlie heavenly Solomon brings the Gentile 
 nations into His kingdom, ' that is supposed to 
 be intended by this figure of the sedan.* It is 
 
 *fWslss expounds it of the holy of holies in Solomon's 
 t.imp!e; the (.U:nv.vv version of " i'lif teiiipte whieh Solomon 
 m:itle;' TflRUPP anil WoRD.swrjRTH. of the cross of Christ: 
 
 the same with iii. 11, where the "day of Solo- 
 mon's marriage " according to Starke signifies 
 three things: 1. The day of salvation, when a 
 sinner yields to converting grace, and is united 
 to Christ by faith ; 2. The day of the resurrec- 
 tion of the just, when Christ will make them par- 
 takers of tlie blessedness of the world to come. 
 3. The time when the Jewish people, who have 
 long rejected Him shall crown Him in faith and 
 publicly acknowledge Him as their bridegroom — 
 an explanation with which most of the older and 
 the later writers (even Henqstenb., Hahn, etc.,) 
 substantially agree, especially in so far that 
 nearly all of them understand by the mother of 
 Solomon the church of the Old Testament or the 
 people of Israel, and by the crown with wliich 
 she adorns her son the entire body of converted 
 souls, which are an ornament and an honor to 
 the Messiah,* comp. Phil. iv. 1 ; 1 Thes. ii. 19, 
 etc. 
 
 This method of putting; every possible inter- 
 pretation upon every particular thing, and thus 
 attaining an extravagant exuberance of multi- 
 farious significations, is also followed, of course, 
 by the allegorists in the enthusiastic description 
 of the beauty of the bride in iv. 1 if. Tlie hair 
 of Shulamith compared with the flock of goats is 
 made to signify either the entire body of believers 
 or the weak and despised members of the church, 
 or on the contrary, those who strive after a higher 
 measure of perfection, the prelates of the church 
 who have a keen eye like the goats, seek their 
 food on the summits, eat what is green and chew 
 the cud, and have parted hoofs and horns, where- 
 with to fight the heretics! The teeth of the be- 
 loved are prelates who feed upon the Scriptures, 
 or teachers who attack the heretics; the lips 
 either the preachers of God's word or confessions 
 of faith of the church; the neck the Holy Scrip- 
 tures or the steadfastness and assured hope of 
 believers; the breasts compared with twin roes 
 either the law and the gospel, or the Old and New 
 Testament, or the Jews and Gentiles, or the 
 e.islern and western church, or baptism and the 
 Lord's Supper as the two sacraments of the 
 
 The Westminster Ansot.\tions, Moody Stu.\rt and B. M. 
 Smith, of the person of Christ; .\delaide Xewton, of the 
 church; Aissworth, of Christ and His church: Scott, the 
 everlasting covenant which Christ h:ia meditated in our be- 
 half; Patrick, the preaching of the gospel by whicli the 
 church is carried triumphantly through the world ; Williams, 
 the gospel in its onward progress; t'RV and BcRROW.vs, that 
 conveyance, or those methods of divine grace by whieli thM 
 behever is carried onward toward heaven; Gill and 1Il.nry, 
 hesitate between the human nature of Christ, the ctiurch, th« 
 gospel, and the plan of salvation. Bdrrowes says : "It seeiiw 
 no part of the mind of the Spirit that we should take tin*) 
 description to pieces and try to allegorize the several parts. 
 Thrupp also conveniently declines to carry the allegory 
 through in all its details ; " It is not necessary to suppose tliuc 
 any signilicaDCe is intended in the assigauieuL ot separate 
 materials to particular parts of the vehicle." Scott, however, 
 is ready with distinct meanings for the "pillars of silver," the 
 "bottom of gold," and the "covering of purple." And Thrupp 
 himself insists that every separate feature of the bride in iv. 
 t-7 " must have its own distinct allegorical import. Thy 
 comparisons would be as extiuvagant on the allegorical as on 
 the literal interpretation, if the former were not to be carried 
 out into details; and in fact that intentretation is virtually 
 literal which rt-tuses to se^- any allegory except in the general 
 words ' Thou art fair.' "] 
 
 * Besides this prevalent form of the spiritu.al interpretiition 
 of iii. 11 there are various others of a more tritiing character, e.s- 
 pecially among the older exegetes of whom, e. q,, Beda and 
 Anselm expound the wedding day of Christ's conception and 
 birth: Hovorius v. ActU-V and Bernard of the de;ith and 
 ri-'3ur:'?ctit>ii of tl^e Lord 'and tlien the "crown" naturally 
 
92 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 in. 6— V. 1. 
 
 church!* The locking up of the garden it. 12 
 ff. deootes the strong protection with which God 
 surrounds His church as with a wall of fire ; the 
 sealing is the gracious operations of the Holy 
 Spirit on the church to enligtilen and preserve it, 
 Eph. iv. 30. The blowing of the nortb and south 
 wind. It. 16 also signifies the Holy Spirit in tlie 
 varied operations of His grace, purifying, quick- 
 ening, comforting, rendering fruitful, etc. ; and 
 the " coming of the bridegroom into his garden " 
 (v. 1) according to the chronological expositors 
 denotes the dawn of some new epoch in church 
 history, e. g., according to CoccEius the times 
 immediately succeeding Oonst.\ntine the Great; 
 according to Heunisch the ante-reformation 
 period from the time of the great Schi.sm (1.378); 
 according to CoiiN. a L.iPiDEthe incipient old age 
 of the cliurch, elc, but according to the greater 
 lumber the particular times when Christ enters 
 ■with the heavenly blessings of His grace into the 
 hearts of believers (Rev. iii. 20; John xiv. 23), 
 or the threefold advent of the Redeemer: 1. In 
 ihe form of a servant to found His church. 2. 
 His invisible coming by His Holy Spirit to every 
 individual of His people. 3. His eschatological 
 coming at the judgment and the consummation. 
 Compare generally the multitude of old interpre- 
 tations of this sort collected by Shrke on this 
 section; also Wilkens, Fray Lnis de Leon, p. 
 207, 215, and Dl'Usch, Si/mbolik cler Clirisllichen 
 Religion, Vol. II. (Tiihing., 1859).) /Jmsi'm. 
 
 3. Against such excesses and capricious trifling 
 there is no proiection but in that historical exe- 
 gesis, which on the basis of the meaning of the 
 words impartially ascertained endeavors, it is 
 true, to point out the relations in which this ac- 
 tion 8 amis to the mysteries of revelation and re- 
 demption, and so to make application of its con- 
 tents to tlie matters of the Christian life, but 
 conscientiously refiains from all seeking or 
 chasing after any direct spiritual and practical 
 
 becomes either tlie crown of thorns, or the crown of glory be- 
 longing to His r>.-.suiTec:tion uinl exultation), whilst chronologi- 
 cal expositors as RKl\HARl>,Hi;tjNlscH, rfc, connect the wedding 
 day with the epoch of C'oNSTAXTlNE the Great, or the coiiver- 
 aion of the heathen in a tiody by the chnrch, and Catholics 
 like CoRNi-LlDS .V Lapide and Calmet explain the *' mother '" of 
 Solomon of the Virgin Mary.'' 
 
 * IThe two breasts are further explained in the notes of the 
 DowAY version to mean the love of God and the love of our 
 neighbor; in the GEiravA, knowledge and zeal ; by MooDT 
 Stuart and M. B. Smith, faith and love ; Patrick, the preach- 
 ers respectively amon^ Jewish Christians and among the 
 Gentiles; Ainsworth, the loving alTection, wholesome doc- 
 trines, sweet consolations and gracious beneficence of the 
 church; Scott, the believers simplicity of affection for Christ 
 and the delight which Christ reciprocally takes in him ; 
 Tbrdpp, Weiss and W oRnswoRTn, the fountains of nourish- 
 ment whence is drawn the milk of pure and sound doctrine ; 
 while Gill allows a choice between ministers of the gospel, 
 the two Testaments, the two Sacraments and the two great 
 commandments of the law. Bcrrowes, whom none can sus- 
 pect of an indisiMisition to allegorize, h.as the good t^iste to re- 
 volt at such mangling of inspired emblems. He says, p. 3.o9, 
 " In the comparison of the foregoing verses the thing to he il- 
 lustrated is the general beauty of the pious soul in the eyes of 
 Jesus. Ijosing sight of tliis most commentators have marred 
 the passage by separating these emblems from one another, 
 and appropriating them toother uses than the one intended 
 by the Holy Spirit. \Vhat would be thought of a person who 
 under the plea of heightening the etfect of a picture by a great 
 artist, should cut out the sevenil figures, the trees, tin- waters. 
 the tinte<l clouds, and exhibit them apart in every iiii:iginable 
 variety of light and position? This would show something 
 more than want c»f judgment. No argument would be neces- 
 liary Ui n-ake us feel that such was never the mind of the 
 artist. The common inelbodof expounding this and the other 
 llindre<l passiigi'S in the Song, seems no less unreasonable,"] 
 
 interpretation of individual passages, much less 
 of individual words. To such an exegesis then- 
 appear to be chiefly three particulars of especial 
 consequence in that stage of the action which is 
 represented in this act : the elevation of the bride 
 from a low condition to royal dignity and glorv ; 
 her wondrous beauty as the ground of this eleva- 
 tion ; and her chaste and bumble mind which 
 impels her to belong only to her lover and to live 
 for him alone. 
 
 a. The simple country maiden from the tribe 
 of Issachar is raised to be queen of all Israel, 
 conducted in Solomons stately couch with a 
 brilliant military escort, welcomed by the women 
 of Jerusalem with pride and admiration, brought 
 for her marriage to his splendid palace in Zion 
 by Solomon, the most famous prince of his time. 
 Here full of rapture he declares lo her that he 
 loves and admires her more than all beside, that 
 she has completely won and captivated him so 
 that his heart belongs to her alone, and that she is 
 henceforth to exchange her humble surroundings 
 and her country home for his royal palace and 
 its rich enjoyments and brilliant pleasures (see 
 especially iv. 8, 9). In like manner Christ, who 
 is a greater than Solomon, who is King of all 
 kings, and Lord of all lords, has exalted His 
 church from misery and a low estate to a pariici- 
 pation in His divine glory; He has made ihe 
 despised and forsaken " His sister and bride," a 
 joint-heir of His eternal glory in heaven, has re- 
 ceived her into His kingdom, into His heavenly 
 Father's house and there prepared a plnce for her, 
 which she shall never be willing to exchange for 
 her former abode in a remote and foreign land, 
 in the wilderness of a sinful, earthly life. For 
 the infinite superiority of that ex.aliatinn which 
 the church of the Lord has experienced above 
 that of Shulamith, and which every penitent and 
 believing soul in it still experiences day by day, 
 is shown in this that the shepherd girl from 
 northern Palestine might with good reason look 
 wistfully back to her poverty from Solomon's 
 palace, that her desire to return from the sultry 
 life of the court to Ihe fresh cool mountain air of 
 her home was but too well justified, whilst the 
 soul which has been translated out of the wi etch- 
 edness of a sinful worldly life into the blessed 
 communion of God's grace, has no occasion nor 
 right to be diss.itisfied with iis new home, bul on 
 the contrary has gained unmingled joy, deligiil 
 and imperishable glory instead of its former con- 
 dition of unhappy bondage and darkness. 
 
 b. The cause of Shulamith's elevation to 1 e 
 queen of her people lay in her wonderful beamy. 
 which throws the king into suo'h an ecstasy that 
 he analyzes it with the utmost detail in order 
 that he may adduce Ihe finest objects of natuie, 
 which his realm aff"ords, to set forth tier charms; 
 yes, that he represents one single glance of lier 
 eyes, one chain trom the ornamenisof her neck 
 as possessed of the power to chain liim to her 
 completely. So also it is the beauty and god-like 
 dignity, originally belonging to human nature, ob- 
 scured indeed by sin, but not completely and lor 
 ever destroyed, which brought the Lord down to 
 our earth and made Him our Redeemer, the royal 
 bridegroom and loving husband of His churcii. 
 But there is this difi'erence between the earthly 
 Solomon and his celestial antitype, that the lalur 
 
III. 6~V. 1. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 \>i 
 
 must restore the partially destroyed and hideously 
 distorted beauty of His beloved before He can 
 raise her to sit with Him on His throne ; He must 
 ill order to effect this restoration endure the direst 
 sufferings ; He must redeem the poor captive 
 from the prince of this world by the ransom of 
 His own precious blood ; and afterwards, too. He 
 must with much trouble and pains seek to retain 
 her whom He has dearly purchased in the way of 
 righteousness and trutli and preserve her from 
 falling back again into the defilement of sin. The 
 heavenly Solomon can never, during the course 
 of this present world, attain to a really pure and 
 undisturbed joy in His bride. He has quite too 
 much to do in cleansing her ever anew with the 
 washing of water by the word in order to pre- 
 sent her to Himself holy and without blemish, not 
 having spot or wrinkle or any such thing (Epli. 
 V 26, 27). The heavenly bridegroom of souls 
 can neither sing to His church as a whole, nor to 
 its individual members such a praise of her 
 beauty as was sung by Shulamith's husband, 
 culminating in the encomium, "Thou art all 
 fair, my dear, and tliere is not a blemish in 
 thee,'' iv. 7. He has, on the contrary, but 
 too abundant occasion to speak to her in the 
 tone adopted in the 16th chapter of tbe prophet 
 Eaekiel. He must too often hold up before 
 her not only the wretcliedness of her birth and 
 tlie misery of the first days of her cliildliood, but 
 also the gross unfaithfulness and scandalous de- 
 filement of Ibe flesb and spirit, of which, tliough 
 His elect and His beloved, she has since made her- 
 self guilty. And He must all the more postpone 
 hsr entrance upon the full enjoyment of His 
 blessed society and His heavenly benefits until the 
 future state, for the reason that she is previously 
 lacking in many respects in another virtue which 
 lA most of all commended in Shulamith, her his- 
 torical type. This is: 
 
 c. The chaste and humble mind, which the be- 
 loved of the earthly Solomon still preserved even 
 after her elevation to regal dignity and glory, 
 tiiat child-like, pure and obedient heart whicli 
 she brings to her husband, and in virtue of which 
 she will belong only to him and offer the sweet- 
 scented flowers and deliglitful fruit of her garden 
 to him for hi» exclusive enjoyment. On the 
 
 ground of this most sterling of all the qualities of 
 his beloved, this crown of her virtues, Solomon 
 celebrates on the very day of his marriage, his 
 perfect union with her ; the locked garden, the 
 bolted and sealed fountain is opened to him for 
 his comfort and refreshment. — The Church, as the 
 bride of the Lord, remains a mere bride so long 
 as she has to suffer and to fight here below, be- 
 cause she does not remain a locked garden and a 
 sealed fountain, to the extent that this could be 
 affirmed of her Old Testament type; because, on 
 the contrary, she too often admits tbe seductive 
 and defiling powers of sin and of the world to the 
 sanctuary of her virginity, and allows them to 
 desecrate the temple of her heart. Not until the 
 end of days will her perfect union with the heav- 
 enly bridegroom be consummated, when she has 
 suffered and contended to the full, and the great 
 mystery, of which Paul writes, Eph. v. 32, has 
 been fulfilled by the final and visible coming of 
 her beloved. Until then it is only individual 
 souls in the midst of her, that band of His faithful 
 and elect, who are truly known to the Lord alone 
 (2 Tim. ii. 19; Rom. viii. 28 ff. ), whom He raises 
 to the blessed height of a most intimate commu- 
 nion with Himself, and by the outpouring of His 
 love in their hearts makes them partakers of the 
 full blessings of His heavenly grace. This is that 
 invisible communion of saints, which, as the true 
 salt of the earth and light of the world, forms the 
 real eoul of Christendom, the genuine realization 
 of the idea of the Church; which, as the true 
 Bride of the Lamb, day by day with longinghearts 
 unites in the supplication of the Spirit : " Come, 
 Lord Jesus," Rev. xxii. 17 ; which, as the entire 
 body of the wise virgins (Matth. xxv. 10) with 
 loins girded and lamps burning (Luke xii. 35) 
 waits and watches until He comes "that is holy 
 and that is true, that openeth and no man shut- 
 tetli; and sbuttelh and no man openeth" (Rev. 
 iii. 7) : which shall therefore one day in glorious 
 reality and with never-ending joy experience tho 
 fulfilment of that desire which b;da them sigh and 
 cry here below: 
 
 Oh I come, do come, Ttiou Sun, 
 And bring us every one 
 To eodle^B joy and Hi;fat, 
 Thy hallA of pure d»light. 
 
94 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. V. 2— VIII. 4. 
 
 FOURTH SONG. 
 
 Shulamith'e longing for her home again awakened. 
 
 Chap. V. 2— VIII. 4. 
 
 FIRST SCENE: 
 
 Shulamith akd the Daughters of Jerusalem. 
 
 (Chap. V. 2— VI. 3.) 
 
 Shulamith (relating a dream). 
 
 2 r was sleeping, but my heart was waking' — 
 
 Hark !' my beloved is knocking : 
 ' Open* to me, my sister, 
 my dear, my dove, my perfect f 
 for* my head is filled with dew, 
 my locks with drops of the night !' 
 
 3 "I' have taken off my dress, 
 
 how shall I put it on ? 
 I have washed my feet, 
 how* shall I soil them?" — 
 
 4 My' beloved extended his hand through the window," 
 
 and I was inwardly excited" for him. 
 
 5 Up I rose to open to my beloved, 
 
 and my hands dropped with myrrh, 
 and my fingers with liquid myrrh, 
 upon the handle of the bolt. 
 
 6 I opened to my beloved, 
 
 and my beloved had turned" away, was gone ; 
 
 a?EXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 1 rWicL., Mat. : Tne voice of the Church."! 
 
 2 The unmistakably close connection of thfise words with what follows " Hark ! my beloved knocking!" gives to both the 
 participles njti'^ an'i "IJ? the sense of imperfects. Hitzig correctly says: "The connection makes the two partic. as well as 
 pSil express the relative past (comp. Jer. xxxviii. 26 ; Ex. v. 8) ; and this first part of the verse is therefore=^D*l7n3 Gen. 
 
 xli. 17." 
 
 3 Lit. "The sound of my beloved knocking," (U. Comp. ii. 8. p3n is nor in apposition to 'Hn, but the predic^tte, 
 
 and for this reason is without the article ; comp. Gen. iii. 8 [see Green's CItrestom., p. 9.>, on this passage]. Hitzio correctly : 
 " Sip is just the knocking, and is known to be mil 7lp by the accompanying words." 
 
 < [Mat. : Christ to the Church.) 
 
 6 [Cov., Mat., Cran., Bish.: darling. Genev., Eno. Ver.: undefiled.] 
 
 c -ly before ^t^X^ assigns the reason as ■^tJ'N Eccles. vi. 12, or as *3 Cant. ii. 11. 
 
 1 [Mat.: The voice of the spousess.] 
 
 8 The prolonged form n33^X instead of 1!''X or H^^i^ serves to make the question more emphatic, like our " How could 
 
 TT '• ' " T ■• 
 
 I .... ? How can you ask me to ?" 
 
 8 [Mat. : The voice of the Church Hpcakiiifj of Christ.] 
 10 Wicl.,Mat.: hole. Genev.. Km;. \'[-;i:.: hole of the door.] 
 
 " Grnev. : Mine heart was affectinrird toward him. Marg. as Eno. Ver.: my liowels were moved.] 
 '" ion cognate with pJP " to embriu:e " is suhstitntially synonymous with 32D " to turn ;" comp. the Ilith. in the sen.^e 
 
 of " turning and forsaking," Jer. xxxi. 22, as well as the sub.stantive D^p-'^H " th;»t which is turned or rounded," vii. 2 lie- 
 low. " He ha/1 turned away " is now strengthened by adding the synonyine 13 J^ t" *'.\preBS his total dLsappeanince. Stmma- 
 CHus correctly : airoceiio-as airrjKdi, and still better the Vulg.: " at ilk decUnaoerat atqut tramierat ;" for the pluperfect sense 
 of the verbs is demanded by the context. 
 
V. 2— VIII. 4. THE SONG OF SOLOMON. ^ 
 
 my soul failed,' when he spoke f 
 I sought him but I did not find him, 
 I called him but he answered me not. 
 
 7 Found'' me then the watchmen, who go around in the city ; 
 
 they struck me, wounded me, 
 took my veil* ofi' from me, 
 the watchmen of the walls. 
 
 8 I' adjure you, ye daughters of Jerusalem, 
 
 if ye find ray beloved — 
 
 what shall ye tell him ? 
 
 " that I am sick of love." 
 
 Daughters of Jerusalem. 
 
 9 What* is thy beloved more than (any other) beloved,' 
 
 thou fairest among women ? 
 What is thy beloved more than (any other) beloved, 
 that thou dost adjure us thus? 
 
 Shulamith. 
 
 10 My" beloved is white and ruddy, 
 
 distinguished above ten thousand. 
 
 11 His head is pure gold, 
 
 his locks are hill upon hill,' 
 black as a raven.'" 
 
 12 His eyes like doves by brooks of water, 
 
 bathmg in milk, sitting on fulness." 
 
 13 His cheeks like a bed of balm, 
 
 towers of spice plants •" 
 his lips lilies, 
 dropping liquid myrrh. 
 
 14 His hands golden rods, 
 
 encased in turquoises ;" 
 his body a figure of ivory, 
 veiled with sapphires. 
 
 1 Oomp. Gen. xlii. 8 : 37 X^^. [Cov., Mat.: Now like as aforetime, when he spake, my heart could not refrain. 
 
 TT 
 
 WicL.. Dow.: melted. BoRROWES : sunk in consequence of what he had said. Notes, better : T was not in my senses while 
 he spake.] 
 
 2 Others read instead of 11313, 1*1313 and either explain this from the Arabic as equivalent to 113^3 "at his going 
 
 : - : ; t: : t : 
 
 away, at his departure" (Ew., etc.) or (comparing the Arab. dai>ra-=*lnN "behind him," (HiTZ.) with which Umbreit*8 
 
 reference of 11313 to a verb 13T "to follow" ("I went out to follow him") substantially agrees. But all these exi)laita- 
 
 tions, as well us that of Weissbach, according to which we should read 11313 "on his account, for his sake," lack the requi- 
 
 T : ■ 
 eite confirmation in point of language. 
 
 3 [Mat.: The Church complaineth of her persecutors.] 
 
 * [WiCL.: mantle. Cov., MiT.: garment. Cr\n., Bish.: kerchief. Dow.: cloak.] 
 
 5 I Mat.: The spousess speaketh to her companions.] 
 
 « [WiCL.: The voice of friends saith to the Church. Which is thy lemman (loverj of the loved? Mat.: The voice of the 
 Synagogue. Who is thy love above other lovers — or what can thy love do more than other loves?] 
 
 ' mo beyond any one who is a beloved, i. e., more excellent than any other. HI here simply states the idea in a ge- 
 neral form, and ?0 is comparative, expressing the superiority of one thing above another, as in 10 b. 
 
 8 fWicL.: The voice of the Church of Christ saith to the friends. M\t.: The Church answering of Christ.] 
 
 9 fWlCL.: as bunches of palms. Dow.: aa the branches of palm trees. Genev.: curled. Enq. Ver.: bushy. Thedpp in 
 imitation of the reduplicated form in Hebrew: flow flowingly.] 
 
 w [Cov., Mat.: brown as the evening.] 
 
 " [Cov., Mat.: remaining in a plenteous place. Cr\n., Bisit.: set like pearls in gold. Genev.: remain by the full vessels. 
 Dow.: sit beside the most full streams. Eno. Ver.: fitly set ; Marg.: sitting in fullness, that is, fitly placed and set as a pre- 
 cious stone in the foil of a ring.] 
 
 12 [Cov., Mat., CR-AN., Bish.: His cheeks are like a garden bed wherein the apothecaries plant all manner of sweet 
 things.] 
 
 l» [Cov., M VT.: His hands are full of gold rings and precious stones ; his body is like the pure ivory, decked over with 
 sapphires. Cran., Bish.: his hands are like gold rings having enclosed the pleasant stone of Tharsis. Dow.: his hands 
 wrought round of gold, full of hyacinths. Ge.nev.: his hands as rings of gold set with the chrysolite.] 
 
9« THE SONG OF SOLOMON. V. i— V^lII, 4 
 
 15 His legs columns of white marble 
 
 set on bases of pure gold ; 
 his aspect like Lebanon, 
 choice' as the cedars. 
 
 16 His palate" is sweets,' 
 
 and he is altogether precious/ 
 
 This is my beloved, and this* my friend, 
 
 ye daughters of Jerusalem. 
 
 Daughters of Jerusalem. 
 
 VI. 1 Whithef* has thy beloved gone, 
 thou fairest among women ? 
 whither has thy beloved turned, 
 that we may seek him with thee ? 
 
 Shulamith 
 
 2 My' beloved has gone down to his garden, 
 
 to the beds of balm*, 
 to feed' in the gardens 
 and to gather lilies." 
 
 3 I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine, 
 
 who feeds among the lilies. 
 
 second scene: 
 Solomon to the same as before. 
 
 (Chap. VI. 4.— VII. 6.) 
 
 Solomon. 
 
 4 Fair" art thou, my dear, as Tirzah, 
 
 comely as Jerusalem, terrible'^ as bannered" hosts, 
 
 * l^nS " chosen, excellent " (not " young man," as Targ., Magn., Ew., Bottch. have it) is evidently intended to indicate 
 the pre-emSience of the cedars ahove all other trees, their surpassing height and stately form. Comp. 7?JT ver. 10 above, 
 which is substantially synonymous, as well as the expressions D'PX "inOD Jer. xxii. 7, and D'tyiS "'iri3D (together 
 with D'PX nOlp) 2 Kings six. 23. This word moreover belongs to ^n8<"lD as its predicate ; for it is too remote to refer 
 it to the sufflx attached to this word, or to a new subject derived from it (Hitz.). 
 
 2 [Gov., Max., Dow.: his throat. Cban., Bish.: the words of his mouth. Genet., Eng. Ver.: his mouth ; Marg.; 
 palate.] 
 
 > On the plur. D^pHOD " sweetnesses " see Bw. i«Arii. §179, a [Green's Hib. Oi-am. §201, 1, aandc]. 
 
 * D'lOnO lit. " preciousneases, desirable things ;" comp. Joel iv. 5 ; Hos. ix. 16 ; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 19. 
 
 s On the repeated HT comp. Gen. ill. 15. 
 
 « fWicl..: The voice of holy souls, of the church. Mat. : The voice of the synagogue speaking to the church.] 
 
 ^ [WicL.. Mat. : The voice of the church. J 
 
 » In regard to Dtya HUIIJ? comp. on v. 13 above. 
 
 * [Gov., Mat., Cran., Bisb. : that he may refresh himself.] 
 
 10 [Thbupp : Note in the Hebrew of this verse not only the rhyme between B'3J3 and WOVO, but also the resemblance 
 
 ill sound between niJllyS and m;rl'7. Gov., Mat. : flowers. Cr.in.: roses.] 
 
 » rwici.. Mat.: The voice of Christ to the church. Win,.: Fair thou art, my love, sweet and fair as Jerusalem. Gov., 
 Mat. : Thou art pleasant, O my love, even as loveliness itself; thou art fair aa Jerusalem, glorious as an army of men with 
 their banners.! 
 
 '2 [Good, Percy, Taylor, Thropp; dazzling.] 
 
 1^ nlS^JJ lit., provided with a jy\ banner, gathered about a standard (comp. Num. i. 52; ii. 2; Ps. ix. 6); not, 
 "iliatinguisheil, select," as Weissb. misled by the affinity between this expression and 71 J1 v. 10 supposes. The fem. 
 mSlJO 18 not to be explained by a n'ljnn understood (Ibn Ezra), but it "expresses the idea of a collective, as in nTT^jt 
 
 and nSu" (Hitz.). 
 
V 2— VTII. 4. THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 5 Turn away thine eyes from' me, 
 
 for they have taken me by storm.' 
 Thy hair is as a flock of goats, 
 reposing on Gilead. 
 
 6 Thy teeth as a flock of sheep. ^ 
 
 that go up from the washing, 
 
 all of which have twins, 
 
 and there is not a bereaved one among them. 
 
 7 Like a piece of pomegranate thy cheek 
 
 from behind thy veil. — 
 
 8 There are sixty queens 
 
 and eighty concubines 
 
 and virffins without number. 
 
 9 My dove, my perfect is one,* 
 
 the only one"* of her mother, 
 the choice** one of her that bare her. 
 Daughters saw her and called her blessed, 
 queens and concubines and they praised her : 
 10 " Who^ is this, that looks forth like the dawn, 
 fair as the moon, pure as the sun, 
 terrible as bannered hosts ?"® 
 
 Shdlamith. 
 
 11 To' the nut'° garden I went down, 
 
 to look at the shrubs of the valley, 
 to see whether the vine sprouted, 
 the pomegranates blossomed. 
 
 1 "Weissb. preposterously: ^'IJST' TVJ^ ^3071 ia equivalent to "turn thine eyes away from thee to me," and then th« 
 
 only suitable sense in the second claL*^ must be "thine eyes encourage rae." [So Thrupp : ^JilO "opposite, over-against." 
 
 The full meaning is " Thou ■\vlio art standing over against ni'', bend thou thine eyes so as directly to meet mine."] Against this 
 excessively artiticial and over-retiuod interpretation of 1JJ0 one single parallel is decisive, lsa.i. Iti; ^yv TJilO — ^T^OH 
 
 '■ put away — from before mine eyes." 
 
 2 The Hiph. 3'nTn from JDHT '* to rago. be violent," most probably expresses a sense corresponding to the predicate 
 nrS^X. consequently not "to encourage, inspire courage," as In Ps. cxxxviii. 3, but "to assault, violently excite, take by 
 
 storm." fCov., Mat.: make me too proud. Cran., Rish.: have set me on fire. Dow.: make me flee away. Eng. Ver.: over- 
 euni'i nie; Miirg.: puff-d me up. Thrupp: swell my heart with pride.] 
 
 3 Vi^rbaily corresponding with iv. 2, except in the more special riU^Ypn "shorn " instead of the more general ex- 
 
 preasiou C /fT^n " lambs " used here, [This is the meaning of the word in Arabic, but in Heb. it means " ewes, sheep."] 
 ■ ■■ : T 
 
 * Th-^ num-'ral HHi^ one, forming a marked contrast with the sixty, eighty, etc., receives its proper limitation from tha 
 
 add«'J KTI: one she, i. e., she only. [It is better to regard S<T1 as the copula like 'H'^'H in ver. 8. Green's Heb. Gram. 
 
 T ■• 
 
 g 2ri8, 2], That ^nnX "my sister" which stands with ^n^DH TIJV "my dove, my perfect" in the parallel passage v. 2, 
 
 **: ■ T " " T 
 
 can have influenced the selection of nHK "one" in this place, is very improbable (vs. Weissb.). 
 
 * N'n nnX cannot be t^ikenhere otherwisa than it was before; the predicate ia. therefore, wanting after this expres- 
 sion, as well as after the parallel MTI JT^jJi "-nd hence the predicate of the preceding clause, vU : " my dove, my perfect " 
 
 T T 
 
 must be supplied here again. Th'^ inpiinin<; therefore is "only one, she aloup is my dovp, my darling: she alone of her 
 mother (i. -■. h^r only daught.uM. slie;t3 sspiraLed or chosen of her that bare her. ' S41 correctly Weis^ii. in oppoaition to 
 UrTz. who takes nnX the second time as tJiB predicate and XT! J*^ subject: "she is the only one of her mother." 
 
 ■ On rr^S electa (Tulg.) from *^'^2 ''to separate, '* comp. Ezek. xx. 38; Jer. xxiii. 28. [Thrcpp: For the same reason 
 
 TT 
 
 that 'HDH lit., "my perfect one'* may be rendered "my own one"' may TT^D- 'it. "pure one" be rendered "sole darling." 
 Siie in her parent's " pure one " ; and this would in fact be the best rendering, had not the word " pure " in its original sense 
 b^norae somewhat antiquated.] 
 
 T [Mat. : The voice of the Synagogue. WiCL. : Who ia she, this that goeth forth aa the morrow tide, rising fair as the moon, 
 . ti.jsenaa the sun? Cov., Mat,: Who is she. this that peepeth out as the morning? fair as the moon, excellent as the sun.] 
 
 9 [tJoOD, Moody Stuart and others: dazzling as the stars.] 
 
 * (WicL.: The voice of the church, of the synagogue. Mat. : Christ to the synagogue. Cov., Mat., Cras. : I went down 
 into the nut-garden to see wliat grew by the brooks, and to look if the vineyard flourished and if the pomegranates were shot 
 forth.] 
 
 I** [Caatell., Parkhurst: pruned garden as if TUX were from ITJ- Thrupp without authority proposes to aubatitutis 
 
 36 
 
THE SONG OF SOLOMON. V. 2— Vin. 4. 
 
 12 I' knew it not, my desire brought me 
 
 to the chariots of my people, the noble. 
 
 Daughters of Jerusalem. 
 
 VII. 1 Come' back, come back, Shulamith, 
 
 Come back, come back, that we may look upon thee. 
 
 Shulamith. 
 What' do you see in Shulamith ? 
 
 Daughters of Jerusalem. 
 As the dance of Mahanaim. 
 
 SOLOMOS. 
 
 2 How* beautiful are thy steps in the shoes, O prince's daughter, 
 
 thy rounded* thighs are like jewels, 
 
 the work of an artist's hands. 
 8 Thy navel is a round bowl,^ 
 
 let not mixed wine be lacking!' 
 
 thy body is a heap of wheat, 
 
 set* around with lilies. 
 
 4 Thy two breasts are like two fawns, 
 
 twins of a gazelle. 
 
 5 Thy neck like a tower of ivory, 
 
 thy eyes like pools in Heshbon 
 at the gate of the daughter of multitudea ; 
 thy nose like the tower of Lebanon 
 which looks toward Damascus. 
 
 6 Thy head upon thee like Carmel,' 
 
 and thy flowing locks like purple — 
 a king fettered by curls !'° 
 
 ' [Mat.: The voice of the Bynagogme. Gov., M\T. : Then the chariots of the prince of my people made me ewddenly 
 afraid. Cran., Bish. : I knew not that my eoul liad made me the chariot of the people that be under tribute. Dow.: My 
 Boul troubled me for the chariots of Amin-adab. Genev. : I knew nothing, my soul set me as the chariots of my noble p»-viple. 
 Eng.Ver. : M.v soul made me like the chariots of Ammi-nadib ; Marg.: Set me on the chariots of my willing people. Thrupp : 
 "All translations which introduce a preposition before 'the chariots' — 'on,' 'to,* 'among,' 'on accoUTit of,' etc., are 
 grammatically untenable." He renders: my soul had made me the chariots of my people the Freewilling.] 'JJl'DC' ^2^3 J 
 
 limits the meaning of the preceding 'j^J?T X*?, though there is no necessity of supplying O- The relation is rather such 
 
 • : ~ T 
 that the preceding principal claus'^ is logic:illy subordinated to the limiting and explanatory clause annexed to it, and thus 
 yields some such sense as " without my knowing it, unawares my desire, etc ;" comp. Job ix. 5, Isa. slvii. 11 as well as Hirz. 
 and Hengstend. in loc. "'lyD 1 — wliich can neither be the object, nor in apposition with the subject of 'n_J,*T — might it is 
 
 true, h.ive the sense of "I myself " (comp. Ho3. ix. 4; Job ix. 21 ; Ps. iii. 3, «/c.), but as the subject of the verb 'JJTDE!' ob- 
 
 • : - T 
 tains the sense of "desire, longing," which is attested by Gen. xxiii. 8: Job xxiii. 13; 2 Kin. ix. l.'i, e/c. 
 
 2[WlCL. : The voice of the church to the faith of the neophyte. Mat.: The voice of the church calling again the syna- 
 gogue.] 
 
 3 fWicL. : The voice of Christ to the chnrch, of the synagogue. Mat.: Christ to the synagogue. What pleasure have 
 ye more in the Shulamite than when she dancetb among the men of war?] 
 
 * |WlCL., Mat.: The voice of Christ to the church. M\T.: O how pleasant are thy treadings with thy shoes. 
 5 For O'Dl^n and its root pOP] turn, revolve, see on v. G, and for Q''^'^^ thighs, on v. 1,'i. 
 
 * [Thrupp: Note the homceopbony in the Hebrew.] inDH ?J1X "bowl of roundness" is of coutge equivalent to 
 " round bowl," see EWAin, g 287 f. [Green's Beb. Gram, g 254, 6, a] Tlie root *inD» as appears from the Samaritan, is synony- 
 mous with "inD " *o go round, surround ; " comp. on the one hand H'^HD " shield," Ps. xci. 14, and on the other hand "^rlD 
 
 T ■■ — 
 
 castle, fortress, tower; also flint!' "little moon," and the Talmudic "IHD wall, fence. 
 
 7 [Wick.: Never needing drink. Con., Mat.: which is never without drink. Dow.: Never wanting cups. E. V.; which 
 wanteth not liquor.J 
 
 * njlD Aramieism for nj^ty; literally "hedged in lilies." 
 
 T T 
 
 5 [Gevrv. : scarlet. Eng. Ver. Marg.: crimson.] 
 
 10 D'pni elsewhere " channels, w:iter-trouglis " are here manifestly the flowing ringlets or locks of her hair, comp. the 
 
 Lat. crma fluens. fCov.. Mat.: like the kings pun>le folden up in plates. Cran.: like purple .and like a king goin' fortn 
 with his guanls about him. Dow.: a<i a king's purple tied to water-pipes, Genev.: the king is tied in the r.uVers: »-"ith tbu 
 marginal note " he delighteth to come near thee anrl to be in thy company." Evg. Ver. : the king is held in the g:tll cries. 
 Wordsworth : the king is bound or tied at the water-troughs, i. e. dispenses grace through the ippointad channels. / 
 
V. 2— VIII. 4. THE SONG OF SOLOMON. M 
 
 THIRD SCENE: 
 
 Solomon and Shulamith (alone). 
 (Chap. VII. 7.— VIII. 4.) 
 
 Solomon. 
 
 7 How fair art thou and how comely, 
 
 O love,' among delights !^ 
 
 8 This thy stature resembles a palm tree, 
 
 and thy breasts clusters.' 
 
 9 I' resolve : I will climb the palm, 
 
 will grasp its branches,' 
 
 and* be thy breasts, please, like clusters of the vine, 
 
 and the breath of thy nose' like apples, 
 
 10 And thy palate* like the best wine 
 
 Shulamith (interrupting him). 
 
 —going' down for my beloved smoothly,'" 
 gliding over the lips of sleepers. 
 
 11 I am my beloved's, 
 
 and for" me is his desire. 
 
 12 Come,'' my beloved, let us go out to the country,'* 
 
 lodge in the villages, 
 
 13 Start early'* for the vineyards ; 
 
 we shall see whether the vine has sprouted, 
 
 its blossoms opened,'* 
 
 the pomegranates flowered .... 
 
 there will I give thee my love." 
 
 ' rWiCL. ; Thou most dearworth. Gov.. M\t, : my darling. Gesev. : O my love.] 
 
 2 [Thrdpp, who is (luite too fond of ingenious emendations : " O daughter of allurements. We may follow the Stkiac and 
 Aqoila in dividing the D^JJ-'riD '*f our Hebrew text into the two words D'JJL* n3.'"] 
 8 [Gov., Mat. : like the grapes.] 
 
 * WicL. : Christ of the holy cross saith. Mat. : The spouse speaking of the cross.] 
 !■ WlCL., Dow. : fruits.] 
 
 * WlCL. : The voice of Christ to the church. Mat. : The spouse to the spousess.] 
 
 ' [WlCL. : The smell of thy mouth. Dow. : odor of thy mouth. Gov., M.AT. : the smell of thy nostrils. Genev. : the 
 Bjivor of thy nose.] 
 
 8 [WicL., Gov., Mat., Dow.: throat. Gran. : jaws. BlSH., Genev.. Eng. Ver.: the roof of thy mouth.] 
 
 9 [WiCL. ; The church saith of Christ, — worthy to my love to drink, to the lips and to, the teeth of him to chew. Gov., 
 Mat. : this shall be pure and clear for my love ; his lips and teeth shall have their pleasure. Gran. : which goeth straight 
 unto my beloved and bursteth forth by the lips of the ancient elders. Bish. : which is meet for my best beloved, pleasant 
 tiirhis lips and for his teeth to chew. Genev. : which goeth stniight to my well-beloved and causeth the lips of the ancient to 
 speak. Dow.: worthy for ray beloved to drink and for his lips and his teeth to ruminate. Eng. Ver. : that goeth down 
 sweetly (Marg. straightly) causing the lips of those that are asleep (Marg. the ancient) to speak. Thrupp : " In so difficult a 
 pa-ssage some variations of text must be expected; and for D'Jiy" TISB' 'the lips of the sleepers,' the LXX, Striac and 
 AljDiLA apparently concur in l-eading □''JB'! T^ilty 'my lips and teeth;' to which reading the versions of Symmachcs and 
 .Ierome also lend partial and indirect support. It has, however, the dissulvantage of being nngrammatical, the true Hebrew 
 for ' my lips and teeth ' being *Jtyi ^T^SW- Moreover, the received text is decidedly upheld by the Taroum, and yields a 
 more appropriate meaning."] 
 
 '» On D'lty'O 7 TjSin Iit."goingaccordingtoevenness"(inan even, smooth way)comp. the similar D"1ty'n3 llSnnn 
 Prov. xxii). 31 ; also Isa. viii. G. 
 
 " On 'jU— 'jX comp. Prov. xxix. 5 ; Ps. xxxvi. 3. [WicL. : I to my love and to me the turning of him. Dow. : I to 
 
 my beloved and his turning is towards me Gov . M \t.. Cran. : There will I tnrn me unto my love, and he shall turn him 
 unto me. Bish. : I am my beloved's and he shall turn him unto me tiENEV.: I am ray well-bcluved's tEsG. Ver. ; beloved's) 
 
 and his desire is toward me. Ginsburg : " It is for me to desire him. 'S^ lit. on nw, i. e. it is upon me as a duty, thus 2 Sam. 
 
 xviii. 11 ; Prov. vii. 14 "] 
 
 »2 [ WicL.: The voice of the church to Christ. Mat. : The church speaking to Christ.] 
 
 13 On mtyn XV of going out of the city into the open country comp. also 1 Sam. xx. 6. 
 
 ■■■ T - T T . 
 
 1* "To Btiirt early (□''3U'n) for the vineyards" i.e. to rise early and go to them, a constr. prajgnans, comp. Ew. § 282, c. 
 
 [Green's Hrh. Gram. ? 272, 3. Wici. : early rise we to the vine. Gov.. Mat.: in the morning will we rise betimes and go Be« 
 the vineyard.] 
 
 16 The Piel nn3 is to be tiiken reflexively, " opened themselves " (Del., Henostenb., Meier), perhaps also inchoatively, 
 
 " whether they are opening, are on the point of bursting" (Ew., Heiligst., Vaih. eic). For ^TDD comp. on ii. 13. 
 
 ~ T ; 
 
 1" On ""in'riX TnX comp. Prov. xxix. lY. [WicL. omits. Gov., Mat., Chan. Bisn., ray breasts.] 
 
iJO THE SONG OF SOLOMON. V. 2— VliL 4. 
 
 14 The mandrakes' give forth their odor, 
 
 and over our doors are all sorts of excellent fruit,' 
 new as well as old, 
 
 (which), my beloved, I have laid up for thee.' — 
 Viil. 1 O' that thou wert as a brother of mine, 
 
 who sucked the breasts of my mother ! 
 should I find^ thee without I would kiss thee, 
 yet* none would despise' me. 
 
 2 I would lead thee, bring thee to my mother's house, 
 
 thou" wouldst instruct me ; 
 
 I would give thee to drink of the spiced wine, 
 
 of my pomegranate juice. 
 
 3 His left hand is under my head, 
 
 and his right embraces me.° — 
 
 4 P" adjure you, ye daughters of Jerusalem, 
 
 thd.t ye wake not, and that ye waken not 
 love, till it please. 
 
 * [WiCL. : the mandrakea give their smell in our gates. All apples new and old, my love, T kept to thee. Cov., Mat. : 
 there shiiU the mandragoriw give their .smell beside our doors ; there, O in.v love, have I kept unto thee All manner of fruits 
 h<)th new and old.] 
 
 '-t [Genkv.: All sweet things.] 
 
 3 This l.i3t clause eannot be taken as an independent sentence (DiiPKE, Rosenm., Hengstbsb.) for then the verb would 
 have "new fruit" likewise for its object. "Ityx must be supplied and the resulting relative clause must only be connected 
 
 with the last predicate D'JtV' (correctly Hitz.). 
 
 * [Wici., Mat.: The voice of the patriarchs speaking of Christ. Wici, : Who to me giveth [Dow. shall give to me] thee 
 my brother sucking the teats [Dow. breasts] of my niotlier, that I fin<l thee alone without forth [Dow. 1 may find thee witli- 
 <iiit] and kiss thee. Cov., Mat.: that I miglit find thee without and kiss thee, whom I love as my brother, whicli 
 
 ducked my mnther's breasts; and tliat tbouw.iuldst not be oftended it 1 took thee and brought thee, c(c. Gran.: and that 
 
 tiiou sUouhlst not be despised i will lead tiiee and bring thee, e/c] 
 
 5 On the conditional clause without □«, and with nothing to mark the apodosis, comp. Hos. viii.l2; Prov. xxiv. 10; 
 
 Jtidg. Hi. 36. 
 
 6 DJ yet, nevertheless, see Ew. § 3-il, a, [Gesen. Lex. in verb.] 
 
 ' On n3 see ver. 7 below, Prov. vi. 30. Instead of 'S me some inferior MSS. read IjT tliee, which however seems far 
 less appropriate, and has doubtless been repeated here from the close of the preceding verse. All the ancient versions read 
 ■•S . [Genet. : they should not despise thee ; Marg. me]. 
 
 9 [WiCL., Dow., Oenev. : Thou shalt teach me. Cov., Mat., Cean., Bish. : that thou mightest teach me. Eso. Ver.: 
 who would instruct me.j _ , 
 
 ■' This exclamation differs from that in ii. 6, with which in other respects it agrees verbatim, merely in the omission of 
 ^7 after nrijl, just as nnn stands alone also in ver. 5 6, so likewise in Ex. xxiv. 4; xMii. 19. We have already seen vi. 3; 
 
 iif. 1 ; vii. i, ftc. that the poet does not like exact verbal repetitions of formulas before used. 
 
 to [WiCL., Mat.: The voice of Christ.] Repeated with some freedom from ii. 7 ; iii. 5. In place of DX there, a 
 
 prohibitory 71^ is introduced here (see Ewald, g 325, h, comp. also on v. 8 above) [Ainswoeth, with more scrupulous ad- 
 herence to tlie form of the Hebrew expression ; why should ye stir, and why should ye stir up the love.] And by omitting 
 the gazelles and hinds of the field as well as contracting '.••jrinii' !>.' i»to one word by means of Makkeph, a rhythmical 
 
 reduction of the whole exclamation to a verse of but two mombere has been attained. 
 
 EXEOETIOAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 1. The place of the action in this new section 
 is without doubt the same as in the foregoing act. 
 The dialogue with the daughters of Jerusalem (v. 
 8, 9, 16; vi. 1-3; vii. 1); the mention of the 
 "city" and the "keepers of its walls" in this 
 fre-sh recital of a dream (v. 2-7) which reminds 
 one of its predece.'<sor (iii. 1-5); the "garden" 
 of Solomon, to which he has gone down, vi. 2; 
 tinally and above all her appeal to her lover to 
 go out with her "to tlie country" (vii. 12) and 
 to the house of his cho.sen one's mother (viii. 2), 
 and there in the enjoyment of simple country 
 pleasures to become to her "as a brother who 
 had .sucljed the breasts of her mother" (viii. 1); 
 nil this points to the king's palace at .Icriisnloni 
 
 "the royal gardens," as is thought by Delitzsch. 
 The room in the palace on Zion, which, according 
 to scene 2 of the foregoing 'act. was used for the 
 marriage feast, may very well be the one in which 
 tlie whole of tlie present act was performed ; for 
 there is no indication any where of a change of 
 scene, not even between vii. 1 and 2, or between 
 vers. 6 and 7 of the same chapter (vs. Del.). — 
 The time of the action is determined by its char- 
 acteristic contents to have been some days or 
 weeks later than the wedding festivities described 
 in act third. For the relation of love so pure and 
 happy at the beginning has since suffered certain 
 checks and interruptions, which reveal them- 
 selves on the part of Shulamith at least by various 
 symptoms of uneasiness, nay, of sadness and de- 
 jection, without her betraying, however, that 
 she has boon at all wounded or actually injured 
 
 as the scene, and nioie probably to some room in j by her husband. The dream, which she tells her 
 this palace, lliaii lo "contiguous grounds" or | eonipnnions at the beginning of the section that 
 
V. 2— vm. 4. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMOX. 
 
 101 
 
 ehe has very recently had iu the night, begins 
 exactly like the preceding, and runs on partly iu 
 the same way. li does not, however, end as that 
 does in a bright and joyous manner, but with 
 pain and fright. Seukiug her beloved by night, 
 she not only fails to find him — she is beaten and 
 robbed by the watchmen! Her gloomy misgiving 
 in respect to the unfaithfulness of her lover, ex- 
 pressed in her apprehension that she might soil 
 her feet again, which had just been washed (v. 
 3, see in loc), proves to be only (oo correct, and 
 drives her therefore with an nnxious and trou- 
 bled heart to have it said to her lover, who has 
 actually forsaken her for a lime, " that she is sick 
 of love" — jf loving solicitude about his heart 
 partially averted and alienated from her (v. 8) ! 
 She expresses this solicitude, it is true, not by 
 open complaint; on the contrary, in what follows 
 she sedulously avoids dropping any thing to the 
 liisadvantage of her husband in the hearing of the 
 ladies of the court (v. 10-16), she apologizes for 
 his leaving her by the harmless assumption that 
 he may have gone "to feed in the gardens and to 
 gather lilies," vi. 2, and only in-*erts in her ex- 
 clamation at the close an allusion indicative of 
 painiul longing in respect to the way that she 
 wishes to be and to remain her beloved's, viz.^ 
 that he should now as formerly ** feed among the 
 lilies," that he should be and remain a guileless, 
 pure and simple-hearted country lover (vi. 3)! — 
 When, therefore, Solomon himself returns to her 
 after a considerable absence, the manifestations 
 of her partial dissatisfaction with him assume a 
 somewhat altered forni. She regards him gravely 
 and sternly, and thus leads him in the picture of 
 her beauty and loveliness, which, full of ecstacy, 
 he again begins to sketch (vi. 4 fF.; comp. iv. 1 ff.) 
 to introduce some allusions to her ** terribleness " 
 (vi. 4, 10), as well as to the eflfect of the glance 
 of her eyes (vi. 5 a), wiiich "overcome" or 
 **dismay" him. The spirited statement of the 
 prior rank accorded to her above all his wives 
 and virgins, into which this description finally 
 passes (vi. 8-10), she leaves wholly unnoticed; 
 nay, she answers it with a description of what 
 she once did and was engaged in, when a simple 
 country maid in happier circumstances, and with 
 more agreeable surroundings (vi. 11), and there- 
 upon she gives him plainly enough to understand 
 that the elevation bestowed upon her in conse- 
 quence of her love "to the state-carriages of her 
 people, the noble," i. e. to the highest rank 
 among the nobles of her people, had also led to 
 her being painfully undeceived (vi. 12). She 
 even wishes to escape from the society of the vo- 
 luptuous ladies of the court, which has become 
 irksome to her, and she is induced to return and 
 remain, not so much by their urgent entreaties 
 and representations (vii. 1) as simply and alone 
 by her unconquerable love to Solomon, whom she 
 hopes finally to free from his corrupt surround- 
 ings and to gain wholly for herself and for the 
 purer pleasures of her life at home. — To the new 
 and exagger^jed laudation of her charms, in 
 which her lover hereupon indulges (vii. 2 ff.) she 
 listens in silence ; as in one place at least they 
 offend against the rules of modesty (vii. 3), she 
 deigns not to answer. Not until the other ladies 
 had left her alone with Solomon, does she venture 
 to open her heart to him and to give free expres- 
 
 sion to her longing desire, which has been most 
 strongly aroused, to return to her home and to 
 have her lover changed from a voluptuous servant 
 of sin to an innocent child of nature like hersell'. 
 She does this by interrupting (vii. 10) the fond 
 language of her husband just where it had be- 
 come most urgent and tender, and chiming in 
 with what had been begun by him. With exti-a- 
 ordinary address and delicacy she first, as it 
 were, disarms and fetters him (vii. 10, 11) and 
 then brings her desire before him with such over- 
 powering force and urgency that refusal is im- 
 possible, and he is borne along as on the wings 
 of the wind by her pure love, which triumphs 
 thus over the enticements and temptations of his 
 court (vii. 12 ff.). He need not utter a word of 
 express consent to her request; she has him com- 
 pletely in her power, and as he has just called 
 himself "a king fettered by her locks" (vii. G), 
 she but briefly refers to the fact, that his whole 
 desire is toward her (vii. 116), that "his left 
 arm is under her head, and his right embraces 
 her" (viii. 3), and then leaves the scene on the 
 arm of her beloved with that exclamation twice 
 before uttered to the daughters of Jerusalem 
 (viii. 4), and which this time has the force of 
 farewell advice.* 
 
 * [That Solomon had givea ShulHOiith any occasioii for 
 disquietuife, or that her pain at his absence arose from a ene- 
 piciun ol tlie constancy, wurnith or purity of hie affection, in 
 the nu-rest figment without the bhudow of a fimndatiun in 
 the ]iingua;;e of the Song. Solomon i^ Slmlamith's ideal as 
 site id Ills. Sue does u.»t utter one word of complaint to oth- 
 ers or of reproach to him. There is nothing to imply that m 
 her iuobC secret thouglits she cen-ures him for an absfnce 
 which i-i intolerable to her. Aw far as there is any blame in 
 tlie case, slie casts it upon hiT own drowsy sluggishneee, 
 which f^^rbore to open to him promptly and grant him the 
 admission that he sought. Even this, howex-er, occurring an 
 it did in a dream, set-ais to be told not so mucli in a spirit of 
 f elt-FL'proach as to demonstrate that she was "sick of love." 
 Slie longs for her beloved every moment, and, Bleeping or 
 waking, he is ever in h-rr thoughts, and she is uneasy and 
 restlesd when he is not by her side. But hor confidence is 
 unabated tiiat ^he Is her beloved's and her beloved is hers, 
 vi. 3. Her language respecting him is that of affectionate 
 admiration, v. 10, etc , and his to her is that of the most ten- 
 der fondness, vi.4, etc. Tliere has been a brief separation, but 
 there is nothing to indicate so much as a momentary estrange- 
 ment on her p.iit or on his. 
 
 The current allegorical interpret-itions seem here to be at 
 fault in one direction as much as that of Zuckler errs in the 
 other. The image of ideal love presented in the Soug should 
 nut be nitrred by the untimely intr iduction of any thing 
 out-ide of itself, whether the sins and iuconsistencie-ii of the 
 church o ■ of believing souls on the one hand, or the actual 
 historic il character ot Solomon as learned from King> and 
 Chronicles on the other. We are not at liberty to put con- 
 straint upon the l.inguiige here employed for the sake of 
 making the bride mirror forth the deficiencies of the Church 
 or of preiiprvinsi the consistency of Solomons character as 
 lepres U'ed here with all that is recorded ot him elsewhere. 
 
 'Ihe bride mpplies an emblem of devote'! attachment and 
 faithful love, which is to be set helorethe Church as the ideal 
 towards which she should t*-nii, and after which she should 
 aspire and struggle, ratiier than as a picture which has been 
 or is realized in her a<tuil life. It is a bride luvin;::, longing 
 for, delighting in her lord, hut conscious of no unfaithfuloess 
 on her part and suspecting none on his. 
 
 .And the tirid-gioom is equally removed from any charge 
 of inconstancy. The military metaphor of vi. 4, 5, to which 
 ZdcKLER appeals, i-* not suggestive of frowns or of displeasure 
 any more than iv.4 or the strong language of iv. 9. It is h'-r 
 incomparable charms, the batteries of beauty and of 1o»h 
 which assault him with such resistless energy that he pleads 
 for quarter. Nor is there any foundation lor the desire at- 
 tribute i to Shulamith to escape from S'domon's court or to 
 have him fvirstike it on account of its presumed excesses. It 
 certainly cannot be deduced from languajie which simply 
 expresses an exquisite delight in natural objects, and a wish 
 to enjoy ilieni in the company of her beloved, ami to posse-'H 
 the opportunity which would thus be afforded for uniiiter- 
 rnpted and unrestricted converse. The language of the bride 
 
■M2 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 V. 2— VIII. 4. 
 
 2. The sketch here given of the inner progress 
 of the action in the course of this act departs in 
 several important particulars from the view of 
 the later interpreters: but it appears to us to be 
 the only one which corresponds with the lan- 
 guage and the design of the poet. It is princi- 
 pally distinguished from the view of Uelitzsch, 
 which approaches it most nearly, by its taking 
 the "little disturbances" and troubles in the 
 life of the newly married pair, which this scholar 
 also affirms, to be more serious and real, and not 
 restricting them for instance barely to the tragic 
 contents of that story of her dream (v. 2-7) but 
 letting the dissatisfaction of the chaste bride 
 with the voluptuous conduct of the king and his 
 court come properly forward as the actual cause 
 of the clouded horizon of their married state. 
 Our view too repels the assumption sliared by 
 Delitzsch with several recent commentators, but 
 destitute of proof, that the description of Shula- 
 mith's charms contained in vii. 2 if. was occa- 
 sioned by a "country-dance" which she was 
 executing before him and the ladies of the court, 
 — a hypothesis dubious in every point of view, 
 and upon which Shulamith's character could 
 scarcely be freed from moral taint (for the dance 
 in question, the "dance of .Mahanaim" can 
 scarcely be conceived of as other t ban an unchaste 
 pantomime); and from this it would be but a 
 single step to the notion of Renan that Solomon 
 in this passage describes the charms of a danseuse 
 of the hnrem, or to the similar one of Hitzig, 
 that the king is here "cooing round a concubine." 
 Finally our view differs in one point at least from 
 that of Delitzsch in respect to the division into 
 scenes, inasmuch as it rejects the opening of a 
 new scene or even act after vi. 9 (coinp. in loc , 
 as well as the Introduction, J 2, Hem. 2), and 
 consequently takes tlie whole to be one act with 
 three scenes, of wliich the first extends to vi. 3; 
 the second to vii. tj; and the third from that to 
 viii. 4. Against the assumption of a point of di- 
 vision after vii. 6 it has often indeed been urged 
 (see e. ff. Ew., HiTZ., Weissb., and Hengste.nb. 
 too) that the passage vii. 2-10 forms a con- 
 tinuous description of the beauties of the beloved, 
 beginning witli her feet and ending with her nose 
 and palate. But with the more general exclama- 
 tion vii. 7, "How fair and how delightful art 
 thou, Love, among the joys!" this description 
 evidently assumes an entirely different character 
 from that it had before in vers. 2-B, where the in- 
 dividual members are enumerated very much 
 as had been ilone previously (iv. 1-3 and vi. .5-7) 
 only in inverted order, and certain comparisons 
 are instituted with them. And what Shulamith 
 says to her lover (vii. 10 ff.) in the closest con- 
 nection with the second description (or rather 
 interrupting it and proceeding of her own mo- 
 tion), is of such a nature thut it can scarcely be 
 conceived of as spoken in the presence of the 
 "daughters of Jerusalem," who had been present 
 
 Tii. 11, 12 iB entirely parallel to ii. 10-13 in the month of her 
 liver. And the indelicacy alleged in vii. 2 is not in the pure lan- 
 (raa^e of the son;^. nor in the chaste and beautiful emt'lems em- 
 tilDVed. Imt miiat l)e wholly charged to the account oltiial-inter- 
 |.re'atlo:i. Commentators of what our autlior.iustly terms the 
 profane erotic class have put their own citfcUHivc filoanes upon 
 tiiisSong; and some devout and evangelical interpreters have 
 u'lfortunately made concessions which the tacts of the case do 
 not warrant. I'liero is not the slightest taintof impurity or im- 
 M-)'i58ty to be found in any portion of this elegant lyric— Tr.] 
 
 before. On which account Delitzscu's assump- 
 tion that a new scene begins with vii. 7, does not 
 in fact deserve so unceremonious an epithet as 
 that of "purely gratuitous," which HiTZio be- 
 stows upon it. The assumption of Hitz., Bott- 
 CHEB, Ren. and Hengstenberg that a new scene 
 does not begin until vii. 12, might with equal 
 propriety be denominated gratuitous; and so 
 might many other modes of division which differ 
 from ours, e. g., that followed by Ew.\lu, Dopke, 
 BOTTCHER, Hitz., Hengstenb., etc., and in gen- 
 eral by most of the recent writers according 
 to which a new scene opens with vii. 2; that of 
 Vaih. and others (particularly the older writers) 
 which begins this new scene with vii. 1 ; the 
 assertion of Ewald that vi. 10 — vii. 1 is a dia- 
 logue between the ladies of the court and Shula- 
 mith which is repeated by Solomon, elc. The 
 question as to the beginning and end of the 
 scenes in this act moreover appears to be of 
 little consequence, inasmuch as the locality of 
 the action, as has been before shown, does not 
 change.* The only matters involved are 1) an 
 entrance at vi. 4 of Solomon, who had not been 
 present before and 2) an exit or retirement of the 
 chorus in the neighborhood of vii. 6, or vii. 11. 
 And this retirement of the chorus is furthermore, 
 as is shown by the epiphonema viii. 4, probably 
 not to be conceived of as a total disappearance 
 but simply as a withdrawal to the background, as 
 toward the end of Act first (see above, p. 62). 
 
 3. Scene first a. Shtlamith's story or heb 
 DREAM, V. 2-8. — This like the similar passage iii. 
 1-.5 must be a dream, which Shulamith had had 
 shortly before, and which she now relates as 
 indicative of the state of her mind. In opposi- 
 tion to the opinion that Shulamith is relating a 
 real outward occurrence (Dopke, Hahn, Weissb., 
 elc.) maybe urged both the analogy of that prior 
 passage and that sucli an affair is inconceivable 
 in the history of Solomon's love to Shulamith. 
 It would have conflicted with decorum for that, 
 which is narrated in vs. 2-5, to have actually 
 taken place; and for the favorite of the king to 
 have been beaten and robbed by the city night watch 
 as is related ver. 7, would form tlie non plus ultra 
 of historical improbability. Besides the vision- 
 ary character of the experience described u 
 indicated not only by the introductory words, 
 when correctly explained, " I was sleeping but 
 my heart was waking," but also by several 
 characteristic particulars, as ver. 3 and tj. 
 
 Ver. 2. I was sleeping but my heart was 
 making. — Hitzig adduces a striking parallel to 
 the ttiouglit. that in a dream the heart or spirit 
 is awake, while the rest of the person sleeps, 
 from Cic. dc iliviri. I. 30: '■^jacet corpus dormienti* 
 ut mortui, viget antem el vivil animus.'' Weiss- 
 bach's objections (p. 211) to this parallel as in- 
 admissible amount to nothing. Cornp, F. SPLITT- 
 GERBER. Schliif und Tod, nebst dt^n dnmit zusam- 
 menbnngendcn Ersckeinungen des Seelenlcbens ( Halle. 
 1804), p. 37 ff., espec. p. 43: "The soul is still 
 in the body during sleep, though freer from 
 it tlian in the state of wakefulness. It is in a 
 conilirion of inner self-collection and conceu- 
 I rat ion in order that it may afterwards operate 
 
 * I The difficulty of finding a suitable beginning and close 
 I for these divisions suggests a doubt of their certainty, or at. 
 I least of their impor1:anue. — Tr.] 
 
V. U— VIII. 4. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 103 
 
 with the greater force upon the course of things 
 around it in its particular sphere of life." And 
 p. 71, "The soul sinks down in sleep to its in- 
 nermost lite-lieartli, and loses itself there in that 
 potential self-consciousness, which forms the 
 
 proper essential quality of our spirits; 
 
 whils' in dreams it lifts itself to a comparatively 
 higher region, that of the dawning conscious- 
 ness, as it were, a region which stands consid- 
 erably nearer the surface of the outward life aud 
 the daily consciousness, which moves upon it, and 
 whose images therefore leave behind more impres- 
 sive traces in our memory, which extend into 
 our waking moments." Hence Goschel not 
 incorrectly remarks; "If sleep is to be con- 
 ceived of as depression, (/caracftopa), dreaming is 
 elevation (ava<poiid)." From this statement also 
 it further appears why the view maintained by 
 
 Grot, and Dopke, that Ij; '2h^ r\iV' "JN denotes 
 a condition midway between sleep and wakeful- 
 ness, a semi-sleep, is superfluous ; an opinion by 
 the way, which has the meaning of the words 
 ag.iinsi it, for "I slept" is not the same thing 
 as •' I was half asleep." The heart stands here 
 in its customary 0. Test, sense of the centre and 
 organ of the entire life of the soul, not barely 
 for the intellectual faculties of the soul, the 
 regiou of thought, as Hitziq maintains. Comp. 
 further on Prov. ii. 10 (in this commentary.) — 
 Hark, my beloved is knocking: Open to 
 me, my sister, my dear, my dove, my per- 
 fect. Compared with the similar passage ii. 8 
 tliis fond quadruple address shows a considerable 
 advance iu the relation between the loving pair. 
 The predicate " my fair one," which there stands 
 with "my dear" is here wholly wanting, and is 
 supplied by the more intimate "my sister," 
 which since Shulamith's marriage had become 
 the common pet name, by which Solomon called 
 her (see iv. 9, 10, 12, v. 1). He had it is true al- 
 ready said "my dove" to her before their nup- 
 tials (ii. 14, comp. again vi. 9); but "my 
 perfect" is an entirely new appellation (comp. 
 likewise again vi. 9), which it is likely was iirsl 
 adopted after their marriage, and by which Solo- 
 mon probably designed to express her innocence 
 aud purity (^371 perfect, tntegra) in contrast 
 with tlie character of his other wives, who were 
 not so perfect and pure. For he can scarcely have 
 employed this appellation unmeaningly, as "my 
 angel" among us [vs. Dopke and Hitz.), [nor 
 ouu it mean as Thrupp alleges "mine perfectly 
 01- entirely."] — For my head is filled with 
 dew, my locks with drops of the night. 
 Tiie copiousness of the nightly fall of dew in 
 Palestine is attested also by the well-known his- 
 tory of Gideon's fleece, Judg. vi. 38; comp. also 
 Ps. ex. 3; 2 Sam. xvii. 12; Mic. v. 6; Bar. ii. 25. 
 That Shulamith sees her lover come to her win- 
 dow dripping with the dew of the night, and 
 chilly too in consequence, migl t seem to imply 
 that she thought of him as a slieplierd, who as 
 h))>avh'ji> "abiding in the field" (Lukeii. 8) had 
 had to endure wet and cold, and hence had sought 
 shelter in her dwelling. But to explain that 
 representation it is sufficient to assume that the 
 tirst half of her dream (vers. 2-4) transports her 
 back to her home, or in other words that now in 
 her dream, as she bad done before when awake 
 
 (see i. 7; ii. 16; iv. 6) she transfers her lover 
 without more ado from the sphere of royalty to 
 that of a shepherd's life. That in the latter half 
 of her dream (vers. 6, 7) she thinks of him again 
 as living in the city, and herself too as wandering 
 about in the city looking for him, is a feature of 
 the most delicate psychological truth, which has 
 its analogue iu the story of her previous dream, 
 iii 1-4. 
 
 Ver. d. I have taken off my dress, 'ilins 
 lit., "my tunic, my under garment." She here 
 too thinks lierself back again in her former hum- 
 ble circumstances, where she commonly wore 
 nothing but a tunic, ,^(tcji' (comp. Ex. xxii. 25 f. ; 
 i Sam. xiii. 18, also Mark vi. 9,) and consequent- 
 ly in the night was entirely unclothed with the 
 exception of the warm covering or upper gar- 
 ment (nSoty, Ex. ibid.. Gen. ix. 23; Dent. xxii. 
 
 17) under which she slept. — I have washed 
 my feet: hov7 shall I soil them? This is 
 again another particular referring back to her 
 former scanty mode of life in the country. She 
 did not then wear the shoes, which since her 
 elevation to be a prince's daughter (vii. 2) she 
 was now obliged to wear: on the contrary she 
 ordinarily went barefoot in the house and in its 
 immediate vicinity, except in long walks in the 
 country when she wore sandals, (comp. Am. ii. G, 
 viii. 6; Deut. xxix. 4; Josh. ix. 5). Hence the 
 feet washed before going to bed might easily get 
 dirty again on the floor of the house. The soil- 
 ing of the feet is in the religious and ethical 
 region a symbol of moral contamination from the 
 petty transgressions of every-day life (John xiii. 
 10); and in the figurative language of dreams it 
 is a well-known symbol of moral defilement re- 
 proved by the conscience and accompanied with 
 shame, comp. (Schubert, Symbolik des Traums, 
 3d edit. p. 13, Splittberher, ibid. p. 128 ff.*). 
 It is therefore from going out to her lover, this 
 symbol of more intimate and enduring intercourse 
 with him, that she apprehends the soiling of 
 her feet. Hence the objections which she makes 
 to complying with his request, and the cold, al- 
 most indifi'erent, if not exactly "rude" (Del.) 
 tone of her answer. f 
 
 Ver. 4. My beloved extended his band 
 through the virindow. 1inri-[0 lit., from 
 the hole, J ;. e., through the lalticod window (for 
 that is certainly what is intended here, as ap- 
 pears from ii. 9, not a mere opening in the wall 
 as Hitz. supposes) and from it toward me.^ 
 
 * A marked instance of this is to be found in the well- 
 Icnown dream of tlie youthful Ansgarat Corbie, of tlie broad 
 morass, whicli prevented him fx"om coming to his motlier and 
 other pious women, whom he saw in tlie company of the 
 blessed virgin on a delightful road, comp. .4 . Tappehorn, Leben 
 dus lieil. A.VSG.\R, Apnstels Van Duiiemark, etc. Munsi. 1863, p. 
 tj'j f. RiMBERT. VUa S An.<garii, c. 2, in Pertz, Monum. 
 tjlermania; Tom. II. p. 690. 
 
 t [BURROWES states the true sense much more simply aud 
 correctly: "These words mean, that as the bride had retired 
 to rest, she could not put herself to the trouble of arising 
 even to let in the beloved."] 
 
 X [Not " withdrew his hand from the hole," a rendering 
 mentioned by Ain'sworth, disapproved by Williams, and 
 adopted by BuRROWES and iilNSBCRG J 
 
 ^ [ Perct : " It was the ancient custom to secure the door 
 of a house by a cross bnr or bolt ; which at night wa.s fastened 
 with a little button or pin. In the upper part ol the door 
 was left a round hole, through which any person from with- 
 out might thrust his arm, and remove the bar, unless this 
 additional security were superadded." Thrupp: "The hole 
 
104 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON 
 
 V. 2— VUI. 4. 
 
 This gesture of extending {XyilO) the hand in 
 does not signify his intention to climb in through 
 the window ( Hitz. ), nor his desire to gain access 
 by forcibly breaking a hole through the wall 
 (Hengstenbekq after Ezek. viii. 7, 8) [so 
 Wordsworth], but is rather the expression of 
 an urgent request to be admitted. The cus- 
 tomary gesture of a petitioner is, it is true that 
 of spreading forth his hands ViJJJ ly^i) (Ex. ix. 
 29-31, elc.) But this could not be done in the 
 present instance on account of the smallness of 
 the window and the darkness of the night, and 
 would besides have been unsuitable in relation 
 to his beloved, for everywhere else it appears 
 only as a usage in prayer. He must here, there- 
 fore, in craving admission adopt a gesture, which 
 would at the same time express his longing to be 
 united with his beloved (comp. Del. and Weissb. 
 in loc.) — And I was in'wardly excited over 
 him; lit., "my bowels* were agitated, sounded 
 over him" — which according to Jer. xxxi. 20; 
 Isa. xvi. 11; Ixiii. 15 is equivalent to "I felt a 
 painful sympathy for him." This was of course 
 because she had let him stand out in the wet and 
 
 cold. According to the reading ^ij} (so the so- 
 called Erfurt Ms., see de Rossi ih loc ) the 
 feeling expressed would be regret instead of 
 pity: " my bowels were agitated on me" (i. e. in 
 me, or over me, on my account — comp. Hitz. and 
 Ew. in loc.) But this slenderly attested reading 
 appears to have crept into the text from Ps. xlii. 
 6, 12, and for this reason to deserve no attention. 
 Ver. 6. Up I rose to open to my beloved. 
 'JN stands after "PpP without special emphasis, 
 according to the more diffuse style of speaking 
 among the people. So Hitz. no doubt correctly, 
 whilst Weissi!., is certainly far astr.iy in assert- 
 ing that Shulamith means by this '3^{ to empha- 
 size "her entire person in contrast with any 
 particular parts. "f And my hands dropped 
 ■with myrrh and my fingers with liquid 
 myrrh upon the handle of the bolt. That 
 is to say, as my iiands touched the handle of the 
 bolt (or lock on the door of the house) in order 
 tosliove it back and open it, they dropped, etc. 
 7lJ7J"3ri ni33 1^, whose genuineness Meier 
 suspects without any reason, plainly shows that 
 the dropping of myrrh did not proceed from 
 Shulamith's anointing herself, as she rose and 
 dressed, (as M.\g-\'. and Weissb. imagine) [so too 
 BuKROWEs], but from the fact that her lover had 
 taken holdof tlie door on the outside with pro- 
 fusely anointed hands, and so had communicated 
 
 JB that thrmigli whicli according to the fashion of eastern 
 dooM, a person from witliont tlirusts in his hand in order to 
 insert the Icoy and so to open it, see Thomson Tlie Land and 
 the Book, chap, .xxii.''] 
 
 * [Alexander (Comra. on Isa. xvi. 11): "The viscera are 
 evidently mentioned aa the seat of the affections Modern 
 usage would reijuire lieart and bosom. Barnes correctly 
 applies to this verse the distinction which philologists have 
 made between the ancient usage of bow.-ls to denote the upper 
 viscera and its modern restriction to tlie tower viscera, a 
 change which sufficiently accounts for the different associa- 
 tions excited by tlie same or equivalent expressions then and 
 now."] 
 
 tfTHRDPP: *^ up I arose.'' Literally " I arose." So too at 
 fhr' beginning of the next verse the literal rendering is simply 
 " I opened." But in both places the use, contrary to the 
 Hebrew custom of the pronoun 'J^? "I" is emphatic; and 
 Beeni'; to indicate an alertness and forwardness, which must 
 Id an linglish rendering be expressed in some other manner.] 
 
 the fluid unguent of myrrh to the bolt inside like- 
 wise.* This might have resulted from the unguent 
 flowing in from ihe outer lock through the key- 
 hole (Hitz), or some drops of myrrh from tb« 
 hand of her lover inserted through the hole 
 above the door, might have trickled down upon 
 the inner lock, which was directly beneath (Del). 
 Too accurate an explanation of the aS'air seems 
 inadmissible from the indefinite dreamlike char- 
 acter of the whole narrative. But at any rate 
 an anointing of the outer lock of the door 
 by the lover on purpose is not to be thought 
 of (with Less., DiiPKE, Ew., Vaih,, etc.) 
 because though classic parallelsf may be 
 adduced for this "silent homage of love," 
 none can be brought from oriental antiquity. 
 — "13ijJ "liO is not "overflowing myrrh, "J i.e., 
 dealt out in copious abundance (Ew, ), but myrrh 
 exuding or flowing out of itself in contrast with 
 that which is solidified and gum-like, afihpva 
 CTan-r!] in contrast with o//. Tr'AanTi/ (Theophr. 
 Hist. Plant. 9,4); comp. "IITI io Ex. xxx. 2-3, 
 as well as above on i. 13. 
 
 Ver. 6. I opened to my beloved, comp. on 
 5 a. — And my beloved had turned away, 
 was gone. My soul failed when he spoke. 
 That is, before, when he was speaking to ine 
 through the window (vers. 2, 4), my breath for- 
 sook me, my soul almost went out of me § It is 
 consequently a supplementary remark, whose 
 principal verb, however, is not necessarily to be 
 taken as a pluperfect (vs. Dopke), — I sought 
 him but I did not find him ; I called him 
 but he did not ansiwer me. With the first 
 
 * [TuRUPP thinks the myrrh c^me from the hands of the 
 bridegroom, Wordsworth from those of the bride. WiLLlAMg : 
 " Commentatora in general suppose that the perfume here 
 called liquid myrrh, proceeded from the moisture of his hands, 
 wet with dew; and the compliment in this view is very ele- 
 gant and beautiful, implying that the fragrance of his'body 
 perfumed everything which came in contact with it. If the 
 perfume, however, be referred to the spouse, I think it will 
 imply that she had auointed herself with such luxuriancy 
 thiit her fingers were still wet with myrrh; and this would 
 partly account for her reluctancy to rise, since indulgence 
 naturally induces sloth," Good and Patrick strangely ima- 
 gine that in her haste to reach the door she overturned a vaae 
 of fragrance which agreeably to oriental practice she had 
 prepared for her lover.] 
 
 t Particularly Lucretius, IV. 1171 : 
 
 "J' tncritnans exdusus amator Umina stspe 
 Ftoribus ft sertis operit, pnstpsqn^ superbos 
 tTnguii amaracino fi fnribus miser osculajigit." 
 Comp. also Tibull. I. ii. 14 : .\lhenfv. ed. Casaubon, I. 669. 
 
 X (ttooD : " Pure or perhaps liquid myrrh, that which weejm 
 or drops from the tree, the most esteemed hut most expensive 
 of this class of perfumes."] 
 
 § 1 NoVES gives the most satisfactory explanation of this ex- 
 pression : " I was nnf. in my senses; literally, 'my soul wa5 
 gone from me.' The meaning most suited to the connection 
 is, that she acted insanely in not admitting her beloved at his 
 request. It seems to denote that bewilderment of the facul- 
 ties caused by fear, as in Gen. xlii. 28, or by any other p;is- 
 sion ; here by the passion of love." Or rather the bewilder- 
 ment intended would seem to be that strange want of sell- 
 possession so common in dreams, in consequence of wdiicb a 
 person does precisely the wrong thing, and as the result, hinh 
 himself in most embarrassing and trying situations. West- 
 minster Annotations: "My neglect of his speech troubled 
 me when he was gone." .Scott : " Either she now recollected 
 his former most tender and afiectionate call which she had 
 resisted ; or he spake a reproving word as he withdrew, which 
 filled her with extreme distress." Tnnrpp: " My soul failed 
 me for what he had spoken. Here the reference must be to 
 the words uttered by the bridegroom when he fir^t presented 
 himself at the door: for there is no record of his spejikiii;; 
 subsequently." Ginsburo : " When he spoke of it, t. e , of hi^ 
 goingaway." Moody STrART: " My soul failed for his speak- 
 ing: with mingled desire and fear she listens till her sou] 
 faints within her "J 
 
V. 2— VIII. 4. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 10"i 
 
 of these lines comp. iii. 2 b; with both together 
 Prov. i. 28 ; viii. 17. 
 
 Ver. 7. Found me then the watchmen, 
 etc. Comp. iii. 3, HiTZ. correctly : " la her pre- 
 Tioas dream the watchmen make no reply to her 
 question; here without being questioned they 
 feply by deeds." — Took my veil off from me. 
 VT1(rrom Til spread out, disperse, malce thin) 
 is according to Isa. iii. 23 a fine light material 
 thrown over the person like a veil, such as was 
 worn by noble ladies in Jerusalem ; comp. Targ. 
 onGen. xxiv. 6.5; xxxviii. 14 where KTIT repre- 
 sents the Heb. TJV-* "Suo ^X'fi certainly means 
 
 I • T -^ •■ : It *^ 
 
 not a bare "lifting" (Meier), but a forcible 
 tearing off and taking away of this article of 
 dress ; else this expression would not form with 
 the preceding "they struck me, wounded me," the 
 climax, which the poet evidently intends. — The 
 'watchmen of the v^alls ; not the subject of 
 the immediately preceding clause (VVeissb.), but 
 a repetition of the principal subject which stands 
 at the beginning of the verse. In her complaint 
 Bhe naturally comes back to the ruffians who had 
 done all this to ber, the villainous watchmen. — 
 " Watchmen of llie walls," whose functions re- 
 late as in this instance to the interior of the city, 
 and who, therefore, were not appointed princi- 
 pally with a view to the exterior circuit walls, 
 occur also Isa. Ixii. 6. 
 
 Ver. 8. I adjure you, etc. For this expres- 
 sion, as well as the niasc. form of address, comp. 
 on ii. 7. — What shall ye tell him? So cor- 
 rectly Ew.. Heiliostedt, Del., Henqstenb. etc. ; 
 for although 713 sometimes expresses an earnest 
 negative or prohibition, and might therefore be 
 synonymous with DX in ii. 7 ; iii. 5, yet the 
 translation " do not tell him that I am sick of 
 love" (Weissb. and others) yields a less natural 
 sense tluin the one given above, according to 
 which Shulamith seeks to induce her lover to a 
 speedy return by the intelligence of her being 
 sick of love. And in fact she connects a charge 
 of this purport to the daughters of Jerusalem im- 
 mediately with the narrative of her dream, be- 
 cause this had already evidenced in various ways 
 that she had an almost morbid longing for her 
 lover (see especially ver. 4, b ; vers. 6, 7.) 
 
 4. Continuation, b. Shulamith's description 
 
 OF HER LOVER, V. 9-16. 
 
 Ver. 9. What is thy beloved more than 
 (any other) beloved, thou fairest among wo- 
 men? This question of i lie daughters of Jerusa- 
 lem which serves in an admirable way to connect 
 what precedes with the following description of the 
 beauty of her lover, springs from the assumption 
 readily suggested by vers. 2-4, that Shulamith's 
 lover was some other than Solomon ; an as- 
 sumption admitted without scruple by the vo- 
 luptuous ladies of the court, in spite of their 
 knowledge of the fact that Shulamith had shortly 
 before given her hand to the king as her lawful 
 husb.ind. It is therefore a question of real ignor- 
 
 * [Thrupp : " It seema to be generally agreetl that the word 
 T''n occurring here, and at Isaiah iii. Si, denot'-^s a wide and 
 thin garment, such as Eastern ladies to the present day throw 
 over all the rest of their dress. Tlie Germans well tnmslate 
 it Schleierkleid, veil-garment." Good : " To tear away the 
 veil from an K;istern lady is one of the greatest indignities 
 that can be offered to her."] 
 
 ance and curiosity,* which they here address to 
 Shulamith, not the mere show of a question with 
 the view of leading her to the enthusiastic praise 
 of the king who was well known to the ladies of 
 the court and beloved by them likewise (Del.); 
 and quite as little was it a scornful question 
 (DiiPKE, Meier) or reproachful (Magn.) or one 
 involving but a gentle reproof (Hitz. ) — against 
 these last opinions the words "fairest among 
 women" are decisive. 
 
 Ver. 10. My beloved is white and ruddy, 
 distinguished above ten thousand. Tins 
 general statement precedes the more detailed 
 description of the beauties of her lover, which 
 then follows vers. 11-15 in ten particulars, at the 
 close of which (ver. 10) stands another general 
 eulogium. — The aim of the entire description is 
 evidently to depict Solomon, as one who is with- 
 out blemish from head to foot, as is done 2 Sam. 
 xiv. '2o, 2(i in the case of his brother Absalom. 
 X commendation of his fair color, or his good 
 looks in general fitly stands at the head of the 
 description. — PIS lit., "dazzling white;" stronger 
 
 tha 
 
 37; an expression which may be applied 
 to a king's son, but scarcely to a simple young 
 shepherd from the country. His face might very 
 well be called ruddy or brownish (as 1 Sam xvi. 
 12) but scarcely dazzling white; and it is to the 
 face that the predicate mainly refers, as a com- 
 parison with vers. 14 and 15 shows. — ^To white as 
 the fundamental color is added the blooming red 
 (DnX) of the cheeks and other parts of the face 
 both here in the case of Solomon and Lam. iv. 7 
 in the description of the fair Nazarites of Jeru- 
 salem, which reminds one of the passage before 
 us. — "Distinguished above ten thousand," lit. 
 '■from ten thousand, or a myriad" (n^^T), i.e., 
 surpassing an immense number in beauty. Comp. 
 Ps. xci. 7, as well as the plur. ill^JT Ps. iii. 7 ; 
 
 Dent, xxxiii. 17. — 7UT from /JT "standard, 
 
 T 
 
 banner," as in Lat. in»ignis from sijniim, denotes 
 one that is conspicuous as a standard amidst a 
 host of other men, signalized, distinguished above 
 others, and [3 is again comparative as in ver. *J. 
 The expression is evidently a military one like 
 niSlJJ vi. 4, 10. 
 
 T : • 
 
 Ver. 11. His head is pure gold The com- 
 parison is not direclet-l to liie color of the face, iis 
 though this was to be represented as a reddish 
 brown (Hitz.). but. to the appearance of the head 
 as a whole. From the combined radiance of his 
 fresh and blooming countenance, and of his glossy 
 black hair adorned with a golden crown, it pre- 
 sented to the beholder at a distance tlie appear- 
 ance of a figure made of solid gold with a reddish 
 lustre. Dj^3 according to Gesen., Henoste.nb., 
 and others, equivalent to that which is hidden, 
 coneealed^gold that is treasured up ; according 
 to Dietrich and others from DHD "to be solid, 
 dense," hence massive gold; according to 
 Hitz., Weissb., etc., equivalent to that which is 
 
 *|"Mtich better Thrcpp: "That the dramatic form may Im 
 preserved a question is liere put by the chorus of the Daugh- 
 ters of Jerusalem in order to furnish occasion for the descrip- 
 tion which follows." It is also to be observed that the iufjuiry 
 is not who he is, rts thoui;h it implitjd their ignorance of his 
 person, but what is he. They simply wish to draw from h'T 
 her estimate of him. — Tr.I 
 
106 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 V. 2— VIII. 4. 
 
 reddish, of red lustre, which latter explanation 
 is favored by Arabic parallels and by the expres- 
 sion OnOJ Jer. ii. 22. The adjective 13 con- 
 nected with it designates this gold as carefully 
 refined and purified (comp. the Hoph. part. iiJIO 
 with the like sense 1 Kin. x. 18). — His locks 
 are hill upon hill. O'lPnjy may be thus ex- 
 plained with Del., Weissb., etc., by deriving it 
 from hhr\ to raise, heap up (whence ir\ a hill 
 and S?Sn high, Ezek. xvii. 22). Commonly 
 "palm branches," ("flexible or curling palm 
 
 branches" from hbr\ in the sense of "wavering 
 or swaying to and fro"); or "pendent, 
 
 hanging locks" (from TVtn suspendit — so Hengs- 
 TENB.); or " pendulous clusters of grapes " (as 
 
 though D''7nbn=D"'7l'7I Isa. xviii. 5— so HiTZ.). 
 The comparison reminds us somewhat of that 
 witli the flock of goats on Mount Gilead (iv. 2; 
 vi. 5) ; which was also designed to set forth his 
 long curling locks piled one on another.— 
 Black as a raven. Parallels to this simile 
 from Arab, poets, see in Hartmann, Ideal weibl. 
 Schonkeit, I. 45 f., comp. Magnus on Cant. iv. 1 
 (p. 85) and Dopke m loc. The latter adduces 
 particularly two verses of Motasebbi (from J. 
 V. Hammek, p. 11) : 
 
 " Black as a raven and tliick as midnight gloom, 
 Which of itself, with no hairdresser, curls." 
 
 Ver. 12. His eyes like doves by brooks 
 of Twater. On the comparison of the eyes wiih 
 doves comp. i. 15. In this case it is not doves 
 in general, but particularly doves sitting " by 
 brooks of water " (lit. water-channels or beds) to 
 which the eyes are likened doubtless in order to re- 
 present the lustrous brightness .-md the moisture of 
 the white of the eye by a figure like tliat employed 
 vii. 5, and to place it in fitting contrast with the 
 iris whose varied hues resemble the plumage of 
 the dove.— Bathing in milk, sitting on ful- 
 ness. A further description of the relation of 
 the " doves" to the " brooks of water," i. e. of 
 the iris (with the pupil) to the white that sur- 
 rounds it. These water-brooks here appear to 
 be filled up with milk instead of water, and the 
 doves answering to the irides of both eyes are 
 represented as bathing in this milk and accord- 
 ingly as "sitting on" or "by fulness" — in 
 which there is an allusion likewise to the convex 
 form of the eye (correctly the Septuao., Vulo., 
 BvB., and after them Henostenb., Weissbach, 
 etc.). nxSo, lit. "fulness," an idea undefined 
 in itself, is here limited by the preceding 'p'3N 
 D'O and therefore means "the fulness of the 
 water-courses, that which fills them up " 
 
 (Weissb.); and the Sj? which stands before it, 
 indicates the same sense substantially of sitting 
 by this fulness, as is expressed by the same 
 preposition before D'O 'p'^** (comp. Ps. i. 3). 
 Others take r\xH:3 in the sense of "setting" as 
 of a gem (comparing |:X nx'^O Ex. xxviii. 17) 
 and hence translate "enthroned in a setting" 
 (Magn.) or "jewels finely set" (Bottch., Del., 
 
 preceded by Ibn Ezba, Jabch., Rosenm., 
 Winer). But in opposition to this may be urged 
 
 both the absence of [3X after the indefinite HX 7D. 
 and the prep, l}? instead of which 2 might rather 
 have been expected More correctly CocCEius 
 and DiiPKE, who explain it "over the setting" 
 i. e. "over the edge of the brook," though still 
 they do violence to the natural meaning of 
 
 r\iiha. 
 
 Ver. 13. His cheeks like a bed of balm. 
 
 The tert. compar. is not barely their delightful 
 fragrance, but likewise the superb growth of 
 beard upon his cheeks. Shulamith would 
 scarcely have compared beardless cheeks with a 
 bed of balm, i. e. a garden plot covered with 
 plants. That she likens the two cheeks to but 
 one bed may be explained from the fact that the 
 beard, which likewise surrounds the chin and 
 lips, unites them into one whole, which like the 
 borders in many gardens has its two parallel 
 
 sides (comp. Hitzig). The punctuation run.g. 
 which the ancient versions seem to have followed 
 (e. ff. VuLG. '' sicut areolx aromatum") and which 
 Weissb. still prefers, accordingly appears to be 
 less suitable than the sing. i^J'"li^ here retained 
 by the Masorites; whilst the plur. nU?"'!' is un- 
 questionably the true reading in vi. 2. — Toners 
 of spice plants. The expression HwlJD 
 D"npl3 is doubtless so to be understood, as ex- 
 planatory apposition to D'i'3n ru^l^ and the bed 
 of balm is accordingly to be conceived of as a 
 plot embracing several "towers" or pyramidal 
 elevations of aromatic herbs, by which the rich 
 luxuriance of his beard and perhaps also its fine 
 curly appearance is most fitly set forth (Ew., De- 
 LiTzscH, Hengstenb., etc.). We can see no 
 ground for the scruples, which are alleged to 
 stand in the way of this explanation, or why we 
 must with J. Cappellus suppose a reference to 
 "boxes of unguents" (pyxides unguentorum) or 
 with Hitzig, Frieur., Weissb., follow the 
 Septuao. (ipvovaai fivpsijuKa) in reading the part. 
 
 ;ii'71J0. The fem. plur. fl'lSlJO from SlJD is 
 
 ;- : ^ : : ■ t : ■ 
 
 also attested by viii. 10. The custom of raising 
 fragrant plants on mounds of earth of a pyram- 
 idal or high tower-like shape, receives sufficient 
 confirmation from iv. 6 (the "mountain of 
 myrrh" and the "hill of frankincense"). And 
 the whole comparison appears to be entirely ap- 
 propriate, if we but think of the beard on the 
 chin and cheeks of her lover as not merely a soft 
 down (HiTZ.) but as a vigorous, finely cultivated 
 and carefully arranged growth of hair. And in 
 this we are justified in precise proportion as we 
 rid ourselves of the notion of a youtliful lover of 
 the rank of a shepherd, and keep in view king 
 Solomon in the maturity of middle life as the 
 object of the description before us. Besides the 
 circumstance that they were in the habit of per- 
 fuming the beard, as is still done to a considera- 
 ble extent in the east (see Arvieux, R., p. 52; 
 uella Valle, II. 98: Harmer, Beohac/it., II. 77, 
 83; Rkiskeou yura/a, p. 46) may have contributed 
 its share to the particular form of the compari- 
 son.— His lips lilies, dropping liquid myrrh. 
 
V. 2— via. 4. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 101 
 
 Of course it is not white but red lilies, lilies of 
 the color, denoted iv. 3 by the "crimson thread," 
 to which the lips of her lover are here likened. 
 The "dropping of liquid myrrh" (comp. on ver. 
 3) refers not to the lilies (Syb., Rosenm.) but 
 directly to the lips. It serves to represent the 
 lovely fragrance of the breath, which issues 
 from her lips (comp vii. 9); for the "loveliness 
 of his speech" (Heng.stenb., comp. Tarq.) is 
 not mentioned till ver. 16. 
 
 Ver. 14. His bands golden rods. Others, 
 as CoccEi., Gesen., (Thesaur. p. 287), Rosenm., 
 
 DoPKE, Vaih., [so Eno. Ver.], take 3nJ 'j'?-' 
 to be gold rings, which they refer to the bent or 
 closed hand, with allusion also to the finger- 
 nails colored with alhenua as compared with the 
 jewels of the rings. Very arbitrarily, because 
 ij the curved or hollow hand must necessarily 
 have been denoted by ^ID; 2) the proper expres- 
 sion for ring would not have been T/J but 
 Onin or r>^|a ; 3) D'n'^P:D could no more ex- 
 press the idea of being "set with anything," 
 than turquoises standing with it could yield a 
 figure even remotely appropriate for yellow- 
 stained finger nails. /'/J is rather roller, cylin- 
 der, rod, and the expression "golden rods" is 
 applied primarily to the individual fingers with 
 reference to their reddish lustre and finely 
 rounded shape (comp. ver. 11 a) and then by 
 synecdoche to the hands consisting of the fin- 
 gers.* — Encased in turquoises. Wliatever 
 precious stone may be intended by D'Ey^J]), 
 whether the chrysolite of the ancients (see 
 Septuao., Ex. xxviii. 17; xxxix. 13) wliich 
 seems to answer to our topaz ; or what is now 
 called the turquoise (a light-blue semi-precious 
 stone); or the onyx, wiiich Hitzig proposes (though 
 this was called QTVV Gen. ii. 12, elc), it is at all 
 events in bad taste to understand by this enca- 
 sing of tlie fingers in costly jewels anything 
 but actual jewel ornaments with which his hands 
 glittered, agreeably to the well-known custom 
 in the ancient East of wearing many rings. 
 (Comp. Winer, Uenlu-orterb., Art., "R.inr/e" 
 and '• Siegelring"). The nails in and of them- 
 selves differed too little in color and lustre from 
 the fingers and hands as a whole, to admit of 
 their being compared with precious stones; and 
 staining them with alhenna (comp. on i. 14) if 
 practised at all in the time of Solomon, was most 
 likely a custom restricted to women and which 
 could scarcely have been likewise in use amongst 
 
 men. On X^O in the sense of "encasing" 
 (lit., to fill in the encasement or enclosure) comp. 
 Ex. xxviii. 17; xxxi. 5; xxxv. 33. "Golden 
 rods encased in turquoise " or " with turquoise" 
 
 * [Thrdpp : " His hands are folding panels of gold. The 
 
 word 7'7j is applied, as we learn from 1 Rings vi. 34, to the 
 separate portions of a folding door ; the doors to the holy of 
 holies consisted of two leaves, each of which in its turn 
 consisted of two halves or folds. There is no passage in 
 which the word denotes a 'ring;' nor wonid this meaning 
 be here so appropriate. The image is that of a door, not 
 necess.arily a large door, constructed in four or five separate 
 folds, corresponding to the appearance presented by the hand 
 when the fingers, while kept in contact with each other, are 
 stretched at full length."] 
 
 are properly such rods filled into the body of 
 jewels here named /. e. surrounded and glitter- 
 ing with them (comp. Weissb. m loc). — His 
 body a figure of ivory, veiled ivith sap- 
 phires. I'i'D here, where the exterior parts of 
 the body only are enumerated, is certainly not 
 "his bowels, his inwards" (Hengstenberg), 
 but " his body," comp. vii. 3, as well as Dan. ii. 32, 
 where Ci^S also stands as a synonym of ]£33. It 
 is only the pure white and the smooth appearance 
 of the body, i. e. of the trunk generally, including 
 the breast, thighs, etc., which can be intended 
 by the comparison with an W TW'^ a " figure of 
 
 ivory " [riUJ! sing, of nij"ltyj>| [but see Gesen. 
 Lex. a. V. — Tr ] forms, thoughts. Job xii. 5), a 
 comparison in which that ivory work of art re- 
 stored by Solomon according to 1 Kin. x. 18 may 
 have been before the mind of the speaker. The 
 sapphires veiling the statue are naturally a figure 
 of the dress of sapphire-blue or better still of the 
 dress confined by a splendid girdle studded with 
 sapphires. On the latter assumption the appa- 
 rent " unsuitableness of the comparison " van- 
 ishes, which certainly would have to be admitted 
 (HiTZ.) if the sapphire referred to the azure 
 color of the dress. For it would evidently be 
 too far-fetched, with Vaih. to refer the sapphire 
 to the " blue veins appearing through the splen- 
 did white skin of the body," and this would 
 neither comport with the deep blue color of the 
 sapphire or lapis lazuli, nor with the expression 
 
 "veiled, covered (HSb^'?) with sapphires." — ■ 
 There is accordingly an indirect proof of the 
 royal rank and condition of Shulamith's lover in 
 the representations of this verse likewise, espe- 
 cially in its allusions to the ornaments of precious 
 stones on the hands and about the waist of the 
 person described. 
 
 Ver. 15. His legs columns of white mar- 
 ble. The figure of an elegant statue is here 
 continued with little alteration. To understand 
 the D'pji^ simply of the lower part of the legs 
 and to assume that Shulamith omits to mention 
 the D'.??.'. '■ ^' 'l"^ upper part of the legs from a 
 fine sense of decorum (Hirz.) is inadmissible, 
 because D'pjiy according to passages like Prov. 
 xxvi. 7 ; Isa. xlvii. 2 appears to include the 
 upper part of the leg, whilst WD"}' according to 
 Gen, xxiv. 2; Ex. xxviii. 42: Dan. ii. 32, etc., 
 denotes rather the loins or tliat ])art of the bodj 
 where the legs begin to separate. Further, 
 the mention of the legs and just before of 
 the body could only be regarded as unbecom- 
 ing or improper by an overstrained prudish- 
 ness, because the description which is here 
 given avoids all libidinous details and is so 
 strictly general as not even to imply that she 
 had ever seen the parts of the body in question 
 in a nude condition. It merely serves to com- 
 plete the delineation of her lover, which Shula- 
 mith sketches by a gradual descent from head 
 to foot, and moreover is to belaid to the account 
 of the poet rather than to that of Shulamith, 
 who is in every thing else so chaste and delicate 
 in her feelings. — The legs are compared with 
 "white marble" (E'^) principally on account of 
 
108 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 V. 2— VIU. 4. 
 
 the lustrous color of their skin, not with refer- 
 ence to their solidity ; for an Arabic poet 
 (Amhd b Kklth., Moal. Ter. 18) pictures even the 
 legs of a girl as "pillars of marble and ivory;" 
 and the figure of the marble column is also em- 
 ployed in a like sense by Greek poets and my tho- 
 graphers (comp. Vaih. in loc). Set on bases 
 of fine gold, viz., on the feet which are here 
 named as the bases or pedestals of the columns 
 (their niD") without however .going into any 
 further description of them.* Hisaspect like 
 Iiebanon. ilSIO "ot synonymous with H^lp 
 " stature " (vii. 8). but denoting his entire appear- 
 ance, his whole figure and bearing comp. ii. 14. J 
 By this comparison with Lebanon his figure is 
 characterized as majesiically tall and impressive, 
 comp. Jer. xlvi. 18. There is probably no allu- 
 sion to the "lordly look" which Lebanon bestows 
 upon his beholders {vs. Rosenm., M.\gn.), and 
 still less likelihood of a reference to the roots of 
 the mountain penetrating deeply and extending 
 widely in the earth as analogous to the " roots of 
 her lover's feel." Job xiii. 27 ; Hos. xiv. 6 {vs. 
 HiTz.). — Choice as the cedars; that is, stately 
 and m.ajestic as tliese giant trees which crown 
 the summit of Lebanon. 
 
 Ver. 16. His palate (is) STweets. '^n is not 
 the mouth for kissing (M.vgn., Bottcu.) but the 
 palate as an organ of speech, as in Job vi. 30 ; 
 xxxi. 30; Prov. v. 3; viii. 7. HiTZ. correctly: 
 "It is speech which first betrays that the beauti- 
 ful body described vers. 10-15 has a soul;" 
 whilst Weissb. in asserting that the palate is 
 here regarded as an organ of breathing like the 
 lips ver. 13, fails to perceive this advance from 
 the corporeal to the spiritual and creates an un- 
 handsome repetition. On 1 tie figure comp. Prov. 
 xvi. 21; xxvii. 9. — And he is altogether pre- { 
 
 cions. w3 "all of him" combines in one the; 
 sum total of the ten corporeal excellencies enu- 
 merated in vi-rs. 11-1.5 together with the last 
 named endowment of a spiritual nature, and thus 
 completes the portrait of her lover, whereupon 
 there follows the general reference to the pre- 
 ceding description : "This is my beloved, and this 
 my friend, ye daughters of Jerusalem." 
 
 5. Conclusion, c. The question where her 
 
 LOVER IS ANn ShULAMITH's ANSWER, VI. 1-3. 
 
 Ver. 1. Whither has thy beloved gone, f/c 
 
 As in nhat precedes Shulatnith had made no dis- 
 tinct declaration respecting the person of her 
 lover, but only given an ideal description of his 
 beauty, the women might still remain uncertain 
 who and where he was. Hence this additional 
 question, which like that in v. 9 is a question of 
 curiosity and expresses some such sense as this : If ^ 
 then thy lover is a person of such extraordinary 
 elegance and beauty, how could he have suffered 
 you to be away from him? how could he have 
 permitted you to become the wife of another so 
 that you now must pine after him and seek 
 
 * (BtTRROwES : *' Tlieee doubtless refer to the l)eauty of his 
 nandals ;" so Good, Taylor. Williams and others. This .seems 
 to he the Ijetter explanation notwithstanding Ginshurg's 
 objection: "That it refers to his feet and not to his san- 
 dals is evident from vers. 11 and 14, where the head and the 
 hands, the visible parts of tlie body, are described as golden ; 
 and it ie but natunil that the feet, the on!y remaining ex- 
 l<^k.d part£, should also be described as golden.") 
 
 longingly for him? At all events that particular 
 in Shulamith's story of her dream, according to 
 which her lover "had turned away, was gone," 
 V. 6, determined the form of their question. The 
 women may have thought that they perceived in 
 this the echo of an actual occurrence, a sudden 
 desertion of Shulamilh by her former lover. 
 Manifestly no one of them thought of Solomon as 
 the object of her languishing and painful desire. 
 V,r. 2. My beloved has gone down 
 to his garden, to the beds of balm. This 
 answer of Shulamilh is certainly evasive, but 
 scarcely jesting and roguish (Hitz.) ; it is ra- 
 ther sadly ironical. She does not seriously 
 mean to represent Solomon as actually occupied 
 with working in the garden or with rural plea- 
 sures (as Del. supposes). She merely intends to 
 intimate that other matters seem more pressing 
 and important to him than intercourse with her, 
 his chosen love, and with this view she makes 
 use of those pastoral and agricultural (horticul- 
 tural) tropes, with which she is most conversant 
 and most entirely at home (comp. i. 7, 14: ii. 
 3, \&, etc ) It is further probable that "going 
 down lothe beds of b.alm " and "gathering lilies" 
 may contain an allusion to amorous intercourse 
 meanwhile indulged with others of his wives; 
 and with this the primarily apologetic drift of 
 her whole statement, which is purposely figura- 
 tive and ambiguous, might very well consist. 
 What Shulamilh here says can in no event 
 refer to a lover ef the rank of a shepherd; 
 for it would be trifling and in bad taste to 
 attribute to him in that case besides his 
 main business of feeding his flock, that of being 
 engaged with beds of balm and other objects be- 
 longing to the higher branches of gardening 
 (comp. Weissb. in loc.) and to explain the "gar- 
 den" in the sense of iv. 12-15 (that is, of Shula- 
 mith herself, as the locked garden, which her 
 country lover had now come to Jerusalem to 
 visit ) must be regarded a*: the extreme of exegeti- 
 cal subtilty, and can neither be brought into har- 
 mony with the verb "^y "has gone down" (for 
 
 which we would then rather expect Vny "has 
 come up"), nor with the plur. D'^J3 "in the gar- 
 dens" {vs. Hitz., Bottcu., Ren.). 
 
 Ver. 3. I am my beloved's, etc. — The par- 
 tial transposition of the words as compared with 
 ii. 16 is not due to chance, but is an intentional 
 alteration: comp. iv. 2 with vi. 6; ii. 17 with 
 viii. 14. — The connexion of the exclamation be- 
 fore us with ver. 2 is given by Hitzig with sub- 
 stantial correctness: "The ivords of ver. 2 are a 
 rebuff to strangers concerning themselves aliout. 
 her lover ; tlie averment in ver. 3 that they be- 
 long to one another, indirectly excludes a third, 
 and is thus inwardly connected with ver. 2." 
 With which it must nevertheless be kept in view 
 that this present assertion is not made without, 
 at the same time, feeling a certain pain at the in- 
 fidelity of one so purely and tenderly beloved.* — 
 
 * [This is certainly a most extraordinary comment uj»on 
 language which manifestly expresses nothing but the mi.sL 
 entire contidenee in Solomon's unabated attachment to her- 
 self while it reaffirms tier own undivided attachment to him. 
 The inconstancy of the bridegroom, which Zockler's precon- 
 ceived scheme obliges him to assume, is contradicted in ex- 
 press terms by this verse, converts ver. 2 into an unmeaning 
 evasion instead oj" the frank statement, whether literal or 
 

 V. 2— VIII. i. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 109 
 
 The remark made by Del. on this verse cannot 
 be substantiated: "With these words, impelled 
 by love and followed by the daughters of Jerusa- 
 lem (?), she continues on her way^ hasteniug to the 
 arms of her lover " (similarly too Weissb). The 
 text does not contain the slightest intimation of 
 such a departure of Shulamith to look for him, 
 and a consequent change of scene. Comp 
 above. No. 2. 
 
 6. Second Scene, a. Solomon's beitebated 
 
 PKAISE OF THE BEAUTT OF ShULAMITH, verS. 4-10. 
 
 The simplest view of this scene is that all to ver. 
 10 incl. is an encomium pronounced by the king, 
 who has meanwhile entered, upon his beloved, but 
 hitherto somewhat neglected and consequently 
 saddened wife Shulamith, whilst vers. 11, VI is 
 spoken by her, and vii. 1 by her aliernately with 
 tlie chorus. And the following explanation of 
 (lie details will show that this is on all accounts 
 tlie most satisfactory. We must reject, therefore, 
 I tie views of Ewald, who puts the whole, even the 
 ooiloquy, vi. 11 to vii. 1, into the mouth of Solo- 
 mon, and consequently assumes but one speaker; 
 of HiTziG, who inake^ the ladies of the court re- 
 tire and the " shepherd " enter and speak, ver. 9 ; 
 of BoTTCHEB, who besides introduces the queen 
 mother likewise as a speaker in the words "she is 
 the only one of her mother, the choice of her that 
 b ire her " (ver. 9 n) ; of Umbbeit, who takes ver. 
 10 to be the question of the poet, vers. 11 ff. the 
 1 iiiguage of Sliulamitli walking sadly about in the 
 king's nut garJ>-n; of Magnus, wlio breaks up the 
 whole section into no less than five fragments, etc. 
 Ver. 4. Fair art thou, my dear, as Tirzah, 
 comely as Jerusalem. — H.iTnn Tiizah ("de- 
 lightful;" also the name of a woman. Numb. 
 xxvi. 33, in the passage before us rendered 
 .■I'-S'w'a by the Sept.) is certainly the subsequent 
 residence of the kings in the northern kingdom, 
 yet not here named as such along with Jerusalem, 
 l)ut as a remarkably beautiful and charming town 
 in northern Palestine. Its mere name cannot 
 possibly have afforded the reason of its being 
 mentioned. It is much more liktily that its loca- 
 tion not far from Shunem (according to Hitz., in 
 the territory of Issichar, the tribe of Baasha?) 
 may have had some influence, since Solomon is 
 elsewhere particularly fond of comparing his be- 
 loved with localities in the region of her home 
 (iv. I, 8, 11, 1.5; vii. 5, 0). Comp. moreover In- 
 troduction, J 3, Rem. 1. — The site of ancient Tir- 
 
 figurative, which it plainly ia, and imputes a meaning tu ver. 
 1 which the words certainly do not contain, and wliich no one 
 wiio was not pressed by the exigencies of a theory would ever 
 imagine that he found tllere. If the unsuccessful search for her 
 lover, which Shulamith reports, v. U, 7, was only a troubled 
 dream, it can create no surprise that in her waking moments 
 stie Icnows and is able to state in the general whither her 
 Itetoved had gone, even if she were not certain in what partic- 
 ular spot in Ills extensive gardens he was then to bo found. 
 'I'lie allegorical sense commonly put upon these verses will 
 appear sutliciently from the following citations : "Jerusalem 
 bung on an hill, they went down to thegjvrdens; so Christ 
 <Mme.s down from heaven spiritually into the congregation." 
 W,-:3TM[MSTER AxNOl \TI0NS. " The garden which had been de- 
 se.ribed in iv. Vl — v. 1. The 'garden' refers to the Christian 
 body in its unity, the "gardens' denote its manifoldness ; in 
 the New Testament we read, as Theodoret remarks, alike of 
 tile Church and of the churches. Under the dispensation of 
 the gospel, no less than under that of the older covenant, 
 niirist nurtures His people in the purity of holiness. But He 
 now not only feeds His flock among lilies, but also gathers li- 
 lies; gathers with joy and acceptance from His people those 
 fruits of holine-ss which through the grace of His Spirit they 
 are continually bringing forth." Thrupp.— Tr.J 
 
 zah is no longer accurately known. K. Fubbeb, 
 Wanderungen, etc., p. 241, thinks that he saw it 
 not far from Sichem (to the north of it and due 
 west of Samaria), "on a charming green hill, 
 part of which has a very steep descent;" but he 
 has probably taken a locality considerably to the 
 south for the ruins of the old royal city, probably 
 Thulluza (three hours east of Shomron, one hour 
 north of Mount Ebal), so explained also by 
 Robinson. Comp. Ueeot, Paldstina, p. 410; L. 
 Voelteb, Art. "Thirza," in Zellek's .SiA/. Wor- 
 terbuch, and Winee, in Realiviirlerbuch. — Jeremiah 
 also speaks of Jerusalem's comeliness, Lam. ii. 
 15. — Hengstenb. makes the poet rise from Tirzah 
 to Jerusalem as a still grander city; but this is 
 contradicted by the fact that the predicate iTSJ 
 "comely," as appears from i. 5 compared with i. 
 8, is inferior to n3' "fair." — Terrible as ban- 
 
 TT 
 
 nered hosts. — D'X from the same stem with 
 
 T 
 
 nO'X "terror," is used Ilab. i. 7 to designate the 
 Chaldeans as a dreadful foe, and here, therefore, 
 can only designate the person addressed as fear- 
 ful, terrible, as is especially evident from the 
 comparison with "armies " or " bannered hosts." 
 — But why is Shulamith here said to be "terrible 
 as bannered hosts" (which is only further un- 
 folded in what follows, "turn away thine eyes 
 from me, for they assault mo")'? Not because 
 she was to be represented in a general way as 
 triumphant over men, whose hearis she wounds 
 and captivates by her glances, (Gi:sen); much 
 more likely, because she has exerted upcm Solo- 
 mon in particular, her ardent lover, a fearful 
 power by those eyes of hers, which pierce the 
 heart and vanquish all resistance (Ew., Dopke, 
 Deufz^ch, and the great body of interpreters) ; 
 but most likely of all because it was from those 
 marvellously beautiful eyes a grave reproachful 
 look had fiiUen upon him, because he had felt 
 himself, as it were, called to account and chastised 
 by the awe-inspiring innocence and puriiy of her 
 look. Hitz. is substantially correct, only he 
 makes the "chastising look" proceed from Shu- 
 lamith stiU unmarried, who from love to her 
 young shepherd acts coldly towards the king in 
 his addresses. This explanation cannot be inval- 
 idated by the fact that the predicate "terrible 
 as bannered hosts " recurs ver. 10 below, as the 
 language of the ladies of the court, quoted by So- 
 lomon ;* for in this quotation Solomon uses great 
 freedom, as is shown by the extravagant compar- 
 isons with the sun, moon, and dawn of the 
 morning (see in loc ). 
 
 Ver. 5. Turn away thine eyes from me, 
 for they have taken me by storm. — by this 
 must be substantially meant, as appears from 
 the context, an influence proceeding from Shula- 
 mith's serious looks to the heart of her con- 
 science-smitten husband, by which he was awed 
 and abashed (comp. the parallels adduced by 
 Hitz. from the Syr. and Arab, for the sense of 
 terrifying), not the exciting of love to a passion- 
 
 * [This can scarcely be characterized in any other way than 
 as carrying a theory through regardless of difficulties which 
 the plain words of the te.\t may interpose. The expression 
 " terrible as armies with banners " cannot mean one thing 
 here and a different thing in ver. 10. .\3 Good correctly re- 
 marks : " The artillery of the eyes is an idea common to poets 
 of every nation." Comp. Anacreon, Od. li., xvi.; MU3.EU8, 
 Uero H LeunUcr. — ^Tk,] 
 
110 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 V. 2— VIII. 4 
 
 ate ardor (Dopke), nor bewitching (Vaihin- 
 oer), nor manifesting her resistless and vic- 
 torious power over her lover (Delitzsch), etc. — 
 Thy hair is like a flock of goats, etc. 
 Comp. iv. 1 b. On ver. t> comp. iv. li. On ver. 
 7 comp. iv. 3 b. The omission in this passage* 
 of the description of the lips and tongue con- 
 tained in iv. 3 a, is simply to be explained from 
 the abridged character of the present delinea- 
 tion, which is, as it were, but an abstract of the 
 preceding, and since it was enough simply to 
 remind his beloved of the encomiums passed 
 upon her on her wedding day, might fitly be re- 
 stricted to bare hints or a summary recapitula- 
 tion. The opinion of Hengstenberg and Weiss 
 BACH, that the number four is maintained as 
 characteristic of the form of this abridged de- 
 scription, as the number ten in the larger one, 
 imputes too whimsical a design to the poet. Far 
 too artificial also Hitzig: The omission of iv. 
 3 a is to intimate " a brief pause " in the vain 
 endeavors of the king to gain over the coy 
 Shulamilh, whereupon the voluptuous sensuali-st 
 and inconstant "butterfly" suddenly breaks off 
 after ver. 7, bethinking himself that there are 
 other damsels yet {Uiud ix. 395 f. ), and accord- 
 ingly leaving the scene with the words, " Well, I 
 have sixty queens and eighty concubines," e(c , 
 to make love, soon after (vii. 2 ff.) to another(!). 
 Ver. 8. There are sixty queens and 
 eighty concubines, etc. That tliis exclama- 
 tion is not "uttered aside," and indicative of 
 the sudden breaking of the thread of the king's 
 patience, who has thus far been vainly laboring 
 with Shulamith (according to Hitzig's view, just 
 stated), incontrovertibly appears, from its close 
 connection with ver. 9, which nothing but the 
 extreme of arbitrary criticism can sunder from 
 it, and put into the mouth of the " shepherd." 
 Accordingly, even Renan has not ventured to 
 approve Hitzig's separation of ver. 9 from ver. 
 8, but has assigned both verses to the shepherd, 
 who interrupts the king by singing them '-froni 
 without!" But how could the praise of the 
 " one dove," the "one perfect," e^c, contained 
 in ver. 9, come from any other mouth than that 
 which uttered the encomium upon the beauty of 
 the king's beloved, beginning ver. 4 1 And 
 again, how else could the way be prepared for 
 the emphatic declaration: " My dove is one," 
 etc., but by this glance at the great number of 
 the queens, concubines and virgins, who were 
 all at the rich king's command, but .all of whotu 
 he was ready to subordinate to that one! It is 
 plain that one verse here sustains the other, and 
 they are all to ver. 10 inclusive most intimntely 
 connected together like links in a chain, which 
 cannot be broken. This has been seen by the 
 majority even of the advocates of the shepherd- 
 hypothesis, without their finding anything better 
 here after all than a "last violent assault" upon 
 Shuliimith's innocence (Ew.), or a "new and 
 heightened piece of flattery" (Vaih.), or a 
 "thouglit adapted to win the heart and ensnare 
 
 * At least according to the Masoretic text ; tlioiigh the 
 fePTUAG. insert the words iv. :l a ('£29 aTrapriov kokklvov 
 XeiAT) o-ou, «ol >) AaAia trov upaid) here too in their iiroper 
 place (betwecm vers. 6 and 7). [But gratuitous insertions 
 from parallel passages are too frequent in the Septuaoixt to 
 warrant tho suspicion of an omission from the currcntlji re- 
 ceived tcxtj. 
 
 the refined feelings of Shulamith" (Bottch.), 
 etc. On the relation of the numbers here given, 
 "sixty queens" and "eighty concubines" of 
 Solomon to the seven hundred queens and three 
 hundred concubines, as stated (1 Kin. xi. 3, see 
 Introduc, § 3, p. 12). The passage before us 
 evidently contains a statement referable to an 
 earlier period in Solomon's life, which must as 
 surely have been correct for some fixed point of 
 time (which it is true cannot now be accurately 
 ascertained), as the much larger numbers of the 
 book of Kings are to be reckoned historically ac- 
 curate for Solomon's latest and most degenerate 
 years.* For there is just as little necessity 
 really for discrediting them as " very large 
 statements in round numbers" (Hitzig), as there 
 is for the attempt to bring out an approximate 
 adjustment with the lower statements of this 
 passage, by the change of 700 to 70, and of 300 
 to 80 (comp. Thenius on 1 Kin. in loc). The 
 accounts of ancient writers, as Plutarch 
 (Artax. c. 27), CoRTius (III. 3, 24), Athen^os 
 (Deipnos. III. 1), respecting the size of the 
 h.arem of the later Persian monarchs (c. g., 
 Artaxerxes Mnemon had 360 TraX^aKiSer ; Darius 
 Codomannus was accompanied by 300 pellices 
 on his march against Alexander, etc.) are analo- 
 gies, which, rightly weighed, make rather in 
 favor of than against the credibility of the book 
 of Kings in this matter. And although the 
 harems of modern oriental rulers are often stated 
 to be considerably smaller, so that e. g.. Shah 
 Sefi of Persia, according to Olearius, had but 
 three wives and three hundred concubines. Sul- 
 tan Abdul Medjid, of Constantinople, something 
 over three hundred and fifty wives, etc., these 
 accounts of a very recent period prove nothing 
 respecting the customs and relations of a hoary 
 antiquity. The seven hundred and three hun- 
 dred of the book of Kings, as well as the sixty 
 and eighty of this passage, may indeed be round 
 numbers. This is favored to some extent in the 
 former case by the circumstance that the total 
 amounts to precisely one thousand, and in the 
 latter by the popular and proverbial use of the 
 numbers six, sixty (comp. Cic. Verrin. I. c. 
 125), six hundred (Ex. xiv. 7; Judg. xviii. 13; 
 1 Sam. xxvii. 2, and the well-known use of the 
 lat. sexcentij. But both these numerical state- 
 ments must at all events pass for approximately 
 exact; and neither the hypothesis that 1 Kings, 
 loc. cit. states the entire nutnber of all the wives, 
 both principal and subordinate, that Solomon 
 had in succession (so e. g. Keil in loc), nor the 
 
 * [Westminster Annotations: "It seems that Solomon 
 writ this book of Canticles before he had his full number of 
 wives; for he hiul many more after." Patrick (followed by 
 Williams, Scott and Henry) supposes allusion not to Solo- 
 mon's own wives, but to those of other princes, for the reason 
 that " it is not at .all likely that he had so many as are there 
 mentioned, while his mind was tilled witli such divine ra[i- 
 tures as these." Frt fancies th.at he finds here an argument 
 for the idyllic hypothesis: "The passage before us contains a 
 tacit intim<ation that though King Solomon's name and King 
 Solomon's pen were made use of by the divine Inspirer of 
 these Canticles to construct an allegory representative of the 
 loves of Christ and His Church, very different loves from 
 those of Solomon must be imagined as the archetype, even 
 when in the exterior of the allegory, circumstances of royalty 
 and cireumst-inces connected with the Israelitish monarcti 
 are supposed. And it is for the same reason that though 
 King Solomon is the undoubted author of these songs, he so 
 frequently disrobes himself of his royal character, and speaks 
 in the person of a shepherd, or leads us to contemplate soma 
 faitliful p.air in the humbler ranks of life"]. 
 
V. 2— VIII. 4. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 ill 
 
 opinion that the "virgins without number" may 
 afford the meaus of adjusting the difference be- 
 tween them, seems to be admissible. Against 
 the latter resource even Uitzig remarks : " The 
 above difference cannot be reconciled by means 
 
 of the r^nhy virgins; for these plainly consti- 
 tute a thii-d class, and one outside of the harem" I 
 — that is to say, merely maids of the court, at- , 
 tendants upon the harem, whom the king, if he j 
 had chosen, might likewise have exalted to be 
 concubines. On Hengstknberg's allegorical ex- j 
 planation, according to which the "household i 
 of the heavenly Solomon" is here depicted, and 
 consequently sixty and eighty = one hundred 
 and forty, is to be taken as a mystical number,* 
 see Introduction, p. ol. 
 Ver. 9. My dove, my perfect is one, 
 
 comp. on V. 2. The opinion that 'HnX "ray sis- 
 ter," which stands with TCSn "njT' •• my dove, 
 my perfect" in the parallel passage v. 2, can have 
 influenced the selection of nnx "one" in this 
 place, is very improbable (vs Weissb.). — The 
 only one of her mother, the choice one of 
 her that bare her. It follows, from the sub- 
 sequent mention of Shulamith's little sister, viii. 
 8, that the predicate "only" here (as in Prov. 
 iv. 3) is not to be taken literally, but in the 
 tropical sense of " incomparable." On the com- 
 bination of "mother" and "she that bare her," 
 iii. 4, viii. •'>. On tlie clause generally, Prov. iv. 
 3. — Daughters sawr her and called her 
 blessed, queens and concubines and they 
 praised her. On the sentence comp. Prov. 
 ixxi. 28, probably a free imitation of this pas- 
 sage. The "daughters" evidently correspond 
 
 to the Pini^ "virgins," ver. 8, as also the 
 " queetjs and concubines" of that verse recur 
 here, that they may expressly subordinate them- 
 selves to Sliulamith, who is preferred above 
 them. On account of this exact correspondence 
 between this clause and ver. 8, it is incompre- 
 hensible how IIiTZ. can regard ver. 9 as spoken 
 by the shepherd. Whence could he know that 
 Solomon's queens and concubines had such an 
 opinion of Shulamith'; And how unnatural 
 and far-fetched would such a remark about the 
 uniqueness and all -surpassing loveliness of his 
 beloved appear as the first exclamation of the 
 shepherd immediately upiin his coming to her! 
 In the course of his familiar conversation with 
 her he might appropriately say something of the 
 sort, but not as the first word of his salutation. 
 
 * [Thrupp gives a different view from the aflegorical stand- 
 point: "As regards the sixty and the eighty, we have 
 of course in each case a definite number for an indefinite. 
 The choice of the particular numbers seems to tiave been 
 mainiy dictated by a studied avoidance of the numljer seventy, 
 to wliich a certain sacredness and completeness would have 
 attached. It is no harmonious coven.ant-relationship, in 
 which the queens and concubines stand to (,'hrist; all is with 
 them imperfect and wide of the mark. A directly opposite 
 view is erroneously taken by Hi^nostenbero." Wordsworth 
 exhibits the Archdeacon of Westminster in his comment : 
 '* The concubin'^s are more numerous than the queens. May 
 not this perhaps signify that the number of the members of 
 sectarian congregations would be greater than that of the 
 Church?" He had before remarked upon the fourscore con- 
 cubines : " A state of things is here represented when schisms 
 prevail in Christendom. The concubines represent Christiiin 
 congregations which have some spiritual gifts and graces, but 
 are not perfectly joined to Christ in the unity of the {)n? f lith 
 and apostolic fellowship "j. 
 
 Ver. 10. 'Who is this that looks forth 
 like the da'wn? If these words, like the ex- 
 clamations iii. b and viii. 5, which likewise be- 
 gin with nXI""D " who is this, " had really been 
 the opening of a new scene (as Rosenm., Dopke, 
 Heiligst., Del., Vaih., Weissb., etc., maintain, 
 either supposing Solomon, or his courtiers and 
 attendants, or the ladies of the court to be the 
 speakers) they would have been preceded by a con- 
 cluding formula like iii. 5 and vfii. 4. Instead of 
 this ver. 9 rather required to be further explained 
 and supplemented in regard to Shulamith's being 
 praised and pronounced blessed by Solomons 
 wives ; a statement was still needed of what the 
 
 "ItyX 'blessing' and ^'^H -praising' of those 
 women amounted to. And the thing of all others 
 best adapted to tliis purpose, was a mention of 
 that admiring praise, which according to iii. G ff. 
 the ladies of the court bestowed upon Shulamith 
 on her entry into Zion upon her wedding day. 
 To this panegyric, of which he must have had 
 mediate or immediate cognizance, Solomon here 
 reters, though only in the way of inexact sug- 
 gestion not of faithful reproduction (substan- 
 tially correct Ew., B. HfBZEL, BOTTCH., HiTZ. ).^ 
 nSptyjn lit. "looking down, gazing down" 
 from a high position : comp. '^pV in Judg. v. 
 28: Ps. xiv. 2; liii. 3; cii. 20; Lam. iii. 50. 
 Reference is thus made to the proniineul or ex- 
 alted place occupied by Shulamith in the world 
 of women. She outshines all others like the 
 early dawn, which looks from heaven over the 
 mountains down to the earth. Yes, like the sun 
 and moon 1 Dawn, moon and sun are here, there- 
 fore, personified as it were, like the sun in i. 6 
 above. Fair as the moon, pure as the sun. 
 iTIS here equivalent to spotless, bright-shining, 
 comp. Ps. six. 9; and on the silvery moon as an 
 image of superior purity and beauty Job xxv. !j; 
 xxxi. 20. Arabic poets also sometimes compare 
 female beauty with the brightness of the moon 
 e. ff. Hamas I (ed. ScnrLTENs, p. 483.) "Then 
 Lamisa appeared like the moon of heaven when 
 it shines;" Motanebbi (Translation by Von 
 1IAM.MER, p. 29, 42, etc. ) and others, comp. 
 DopiCE and M.\gn. in loc.)* The poetic expres 
 
 sions n337 " white" and TTSn "hot" for moon 
 
 tt: t _ 
 
 and sun, which are again combined in Isa. xxiv. 
 23, are particularly suited for the comparison, 
 because they .ire both feminine and alike indica- 
 tive of white and blazing radiance. — Terrible 
 as bannered hosts. This concluding simile 
 points to the identity of the person intended with 
 the one described in ver. 4, and at the same time 
 testifies to the identity of the speaker and against 
 the sundering of this verse from the preceding.! 
 7. Continuation, b. Shulamith and thr 
 
 LADIES OF THE COURT, VI. 11 — VII. 1. 
 
 * Here too belong the verses rromTH':0CRlTUs, Td. xviii. 2fi ff. 
 *• 'Ai)? ai'TtAAoiffa icttAiji' Sieifiaire rrpoiTtuiTOV, 
 noTi'ia yi'$ are, Aev<oi' eap ^'^ztlivoi at-efTOs, 
 '06e Kai a j^pvaia 'EAfl-a 6te(fiatVeT' iv a/itl-." 
 ■f [Dow AT note: "Here is a beautiful metaphor describing 
 the church from the beginning. 'As the morning rising,' 
 signifying the church before the written Law; 'fair as the 
 moon? showing her under the written law of Moses ; ' brigfit 
 as the sun,' under the light of the gospel: and 'terrible as an 
 army," the power of Christ's church against its enemies."] 
 
Hi 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 V. 2— VIII. 4 
 
 Some recent commentators take this particu- 
 l.irly difficult little section to be a narration by 
 tSliulamith of something which she had previously 
 experienced, in which she also repeats the hin- 
 gujige of others to her, together with her answer 
 (HiTZ., Meikr, f/c); Naegelsb. (in Ruuter's /iJc- 
 pfrt. 1852, No. 10) on the contrary regards it as a 
 reverie of Shulaiuitli, in which she foreshadows 
 to herself her reception hy her country friends 
 on her expected return to them; Ew. (and IIah.n) 
 a continuation of the discourse of Solomon, in 
 which a colloquy between Sliulamith and tlie 
 ladies of the royal court is repeated; the majori- 
 ty of both the older and the later expositors, 
 however, make of it an independent dialogue be- 
 tween Shulamith and the "daughters of Jerusa- 
 lem," in which the verses vi. 11, 12 together 
 with the words " what do you see in Shulamith " 
 in vii. 1 are assigned to the former, and the re- 
 uniinder of vii. 1, to the latter. This last under- 
 .standing of it is the only one which avoids the 
 ni;inifold difficulties and forced explanations wirh 
 which each of those previously mentioneil is 
 chargeable. 
 
 Ver. 11. To the nut-garden I ^rent do^n. 
 According to tbe various interpretations put 
 upon the entire section, these words are thought 
 lij contain either 1) Shulamith's answer to wliat 
 is supposed to be the wondering question of the 
 ladies of the court in ver. 10 (so Del. and Weissb.: 
 she slates to her noble auditors in these words 
 not so much who she is, as why she had come 
 down to the king's garden) ; or 2) the beginning 
 ot an account of what happened to her on the oc- 
 casion of her being first brought to the king's 
 court (Ew., Umbr., Hitz., V.^ih., BiixTCH., Ren. 
 etc. — all agreeing in this that Shulamith here be- 
 gins to tell the story of her former "abduction" 
 to the king's harem); or 3) the beginning of a 
 dreamy description of what Shulamith would do 
 after her return home (Naegelsb. loc. cil.) or 4) 
 tiie beginni!ig of a st.atemeQt of the way in which 
 tlio daughter of Zion attained the high dignity 
 wliicli the words of the heavenly Solomon had 
 ascribed to her, especially in vers. 9 and 10, 
 ( IIengste.nb.) ; or.')) the beginning of a recital 
 by Solomon, in which he prophetically depicts 
 the process of the conversion of the gentiles to 
 tlie God of Israel (Hahn) etc. We hold that of 
 these views the second comes nearest to the true 
 sense of the poet, but prefer to find in the words 
 instead of a statement of what Shulamith was 
 lioing at the precise moment of her "abduction," 
 a description of what she was- ia the habit of 
 doing before she came to the royal court. We 
 iiccordingly take 'HIT'' neither as pluperf. ("I 
 liad gone down"), nor as a proper perfect, nor 
 as an aorist, but as a statement of an action fre- 
 quently repeated in the past, a customary action, 
 in which sense though it elsewhere belongs 
 rather to the future, the perfect is sometimes 
 used in the 0. T (e. g. 2 Sam. i. 22,) comp. Ew. 
 Lehrh. § 136, c. — If, therefore, Shulamith com- 
 mences in this way to describe her rural occupa- 
 tions prior to her exaltation as queen, stie tliere- 
 by gives her husband plainly enough to under- 
 stand that he has in no wise satisfied her by his 
 entliuaiastic laudations and admiringdeclarations 
 of love, but that she now longed more than ever 
 to get away from his voluptuous court and irom 
 
 the vicinity of his sixty queens and eighty concu- 
 bines to the green little nut garden, the fresh 
 valleys and the lovely vineyards in the region of 
 her home. — liJX njj denotes according to all 
 the versions as well as to ancient Talmudic tra- 
 dition a "nut garden," a meaning for which 
 there is the less need to substitute "kitchen- 
 herb or vegetable garden" (with Hitz.) since 
 tUS is doubtless the same word with the Pers. 
 ghuz and Josephos Bell. Jud. III. 10, 8, ex- 
 pressly testifies to the occurrence of nut-trees in 
 the region of the lake of Tiberias, not far conse- 
 quently from Shulamith's home. The nut-garden 
 here mentioned is to be sought in thii her native 
 region .and not in the neighborhood of .Jerusalem 
 or within the range of the king's gardens. It 
 can scarcely be different from the vineyards and 
 orchards described vii. 13 ff. in the immediate 
 vicinity of the house of Shulamith's mother. — 
 To look at the shrubs of the valley, elc. 
 The garden itself probably lay likewise in this 
 valley-bottom, or at all events considerably lower 
 tlian Shulamith's residence (hence T^' "went 
 down"). "Shrubs" or "green" of the valley 
 
 ( 7ri3ri '3X) probably denotes whatever verdure 
 sprouted up in the place where the water of the 
 Wady had run off, less likely the green of proper 
 water-plants (Job viii. 12). On the combination 
 of verdure or shrubs, vines and pomegranates 
 comp. ii. 12, f. the like juxtaposition of flowers, 
 fig trees and Tines. 3 nxi "to look at anything" 
 denotes, as it invariably does, tbe pleased, 
 gratified contemplation of an object (comp. Ps. 
 xxvii. 4, Ixiii. 3; Mic. iv. 11, etc.) not the busy 
 looking for something, for which latter sense 
 not even Gen. xxxiv. 1 can be adduced (vs. 
 Hitz). 
 
 Ver. 12. I kne'witnot, my desire brought 
 me, etc. Tlie thing intended is scarcely her " de- 
 sire to walk out in tlie open air" (Ew.), or her 
 " curiosity " (Vaih.); or her "wish to sec the vine 
 sprout" (HiTziG), but much more probably her 
 desire to belong to her royal lover, her longing 
 to be wholly and for ever her beloved's. When 
 and how this desire was first awakened in her, 
 she does not here state; she had given utterance 
 to this in another plnce, see ii. 8-17. In the 
 passage before us she simply assumes the ex- 
 istence of her desire and longing for her lover, 
 and only tells how little .she knew or imagined in 
 the midst of those rural occupations of hers (ver. 
 11) that she was exalted by it "to the chariots 
 of lier people, the noble," in other words, how 
 little she suspected beforehand that her lover 
 was the king, the ruler of all Israel. — To the 
 chariots of my people, the noble. ri'i33"tD 
 strictly denotes merely "wagons," but here, like 
 the combination "horses and chariots" in other 
 passages (Di'ut. xx. 1 ; Isa. xxxi. 1 ; Ps. xx. 8) 
 seems to express the idea of the full display of 
 the power and pomp of the kingdom, but without 
 ! suggesting anything of a military nature, so that 
 I as in 1 Sam. viii. 11 ; 2 Sam. xv. 1 we are to 
 think chiefly of state carriages in the festive pro- 
 cessions of the king and his court. Being trans- 
 ferred nr promoted to these chariots of slate 
 would accordingly be lunlamouni to el:;valion lu 
 
V. 2— VIII. 4. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 113 
 
 royal dignity and glory, of which the analogy of | noble people " remains obscure and ambiguous 
 Joseph in Egypt is an instructive instance, Gen. i enough, and we can either assume that the " no- 
 xli. 43 ff. So far as the language is concerned, | ble people "or " noble folk " " Eddvolk" (Ew. ) 
 
 there is no special objection to this interpretation 
 The connection of the accusative nUJTO wiih 
 (he verb D'ly without a preposition most probably 
 expresses the idea of "removing or bringing in the 
 direction (cornp, Isa. xl. '1*\\ Dan. xi. 2: or intothe 
 vicinity of sonipihing." (couip. Judg.xi. 29}; this 
 is the case not merely with verbs denoting motion, 
 but with all possible verbal ideas (see numerous 
 examples in Ew., ^ 281. d). UW is often elsewhere 
 synonymous with K'3n "to bring or conduct to 
 any place " {comp. Gen. ii. 8) and so HUSTO QW 
 ni;iy very readily mean: " to bring to the chariots, 
 
 was intended to denote the noble extraction of 
 
 Israel, or the courtiers of Solomon, or tlie wholu 
 
 people as represented in the person of its prince 
 
 (so substantially Del., comp. Vaiu.). In all 
 
 : which, however, it still remains a question why 
 
 1 the poet did not make Shulamith speak in so 
 
 j many terms of her elevation lo the chariot or to 
 
 i the throne of her prince. — To complete as far as 
 
 possible our enumeration of all that interpreters 
 
 ' have made out of the crux before us, Weiss- 
 
 B.\cus view of this verse may here be stated iu 
 
 I conclusion. According to it "the words of ver. 
 
 12 in the mouth of the person, who had proposed 
 to transfer, exalt into the sphere or region of the the question ver. \0 (viz., a courtier, who had 
 cli.ariots " — a meaning which is at all events more gazed with astonishment upon Sbulamilh in the 
 obvious than the rendering "to set me on the garden) mean; I asked the question because I 
 
 chariots'' (Syb., Del., etc.) ; or than the expla- 
 nation of Velth., Gese.n., Ew., Bottcu., Hitz., 
 Hen., etc.: " made me happen among the chariots " 
 ii>/s., of the royal retinue); or than the strange 
 rendering of the VuLo, which probably presup- 
 poses the reading 'Jill'? instead of 'iT\'^'C! "con- 
 turbavit me propter quadriijas," etc. ; or finally than 
 construing Hl^JTO as a second object, either in 
 the sense of "making me or converting mc into 
 
 did uoi know that this brilliant and majestic 
 spectacle was you; I had rather supposed that I 
 saw the prince's army chariots before me !" — 
 H.^u.N, too, thinks that the speaker of these words 
 is not Shulamith but Solomon, who thus relates 
 how, when filled with longing desire for a re- 
 union with Japhetic gentihsm. his soul suddenly 
 and insensibly set him "on the chariots of his 
 people as a prince."* 
 Chap. 7, Ver. I. Come back, come back, 
 
 chariots," i.e., " a princess " (UMBR.)or " a de- ' Shulamith, etc. As according to our under- 
 fence " (He.vgstenb.) ; or "making like chariots, : standing of vers. 11 and 12 Shulamith expresses 
 i.e., as swift as chariots" (Rose.nm., Magn., | in them her longing for the simpler circum- 
 Dopke). Since no one of these constructions ap- j stances of her native region and speaks of her 
 pears to be better established in point of Ian- elevation to the king's throne as a distinction, 
 guage than ours, while this latter undoubtedly I which came to her without her ktiowledge, ami 
 yields a less forced and more attractive thought, ' contrary to her expectation, nothing is more 
 we might with all confidence declare it to be the I natural than to conceive that she spoke this 
 only one that was admissible, if it were not that i in a saddened and painfully excited mood, and 
 the difficult limiting genitive i'^J '3.^ "of my i 
 
 people, the noble," involves the real meaning of * [Tlie simplest and most natural explanation of these worda 
 
 ° I tinds in them, as it is expressed by M oRiiswoRTH: "the cheerful 
 
 ni33TD and consequently of the entire passage i alacrity and fervent affection of the bride flying on the wings 
 
 ■ ■", .. .1. . 1 L , 1 ioflove" to the bridetn-oom. Moody Stuart: "Inamoment 
 
 in an obscurity that can scarcely be cleared up. | her soul is carried a«ay directly, irresistibly, rapidly toward 
 
 The translation " chariots of my people, the no- 
 ble," or " chariots of my r.oble people," is on 
 the whole the most satisfactory (the absence of 
 the article before the adjective is of no conse- 
 iiuence, comp. Gen. xliii. 14; Ps. cxliii. 10 
 [Green's Heb. Gram., J 249, 1, b]). The re- 
 
 her bridegroom and her king." "WiTHrNGTON thus par.i- 
 phrases : "I went into the garden ; I walked among its shades; 
 I sur\"eyed its beauties; I remembered the owner, and my soul 
 melted with rapture and love." Patrick makes a somewhnt 
 different application ; " The meaning of this verse seems to be 
 that the spouse hearing such high commendations of herself, 
 both from the bridegroom and from the pei-sons mentioned, 
 ver. 10, with great humility saith, that she wrs not conscious 
 
 suiting sense cannot thrn be materially different | to herself of such perfections (I did not know it, or I did 
 from that of QV 'nj "nobles of the people" I ""' ;'^'°'' !")• *>"' '" excited thereby to inake the greatest 
 
 - ■• ■ : ^ * I speed to endeavor to preserve this character he had given her. 
 
 Ps. cxiii. 8 or D^n '■'J Num. xxi. 18 (comp. D'3J^ '^^ i Percy and Good understand it of the bride's hesitation aud ir- 
 T» _!_:; ^ f\\ ^ ^, ' •,, ,. 1 .. .".,"! resolution after she had promised to meet her beloved in th ' 
 
 garden. The latter states its meaning thus : "I was not aware 
 of the timidity of my mind, which hurried me away from my 
 engagement, when in the very act of adhering to it, with the 
 rapidity of the chariot of Amminadib." Thrupp on tlie basis of 
 2 Kings ii. 12 ; xiii. 1-1: "The church had unconsciously and 
 unexpectedly become the source and channel of victorious 
 might to all the willing people of (tod. ' My soul.' she says, 
 * had made me.' It is the unshrinking and devoted zeal with 
 which the church prosecutes the task set before her that 
 makes her the rallying point for all who would join in tho 
 service of her Lord." Others attribute this language to the 
 bridegroom. ThusTwLORand Williams : " The affections of 
 the prince carried him to meet his love with the rapidity of 
 a chariot." Burrowes. as ScoTT and Uexry, finds in vers. Il- 
 ia a statement of the feelings of the bridegroom during his 
 temporary withdrawal. When he left his spouse, v. 6, it was 
 " only to withdraw to his favorite place of resort in the gar- 
 den;" where "almost unconsciously, ere he was aware, his 
 soul was filled with the desire of meeting her again, a desirw 
 so strong that it would have carried him to her arms with 
 the swiftness of the chariot of Amminadib." It is character- 
 istic of Gill's exposition that in commenting on ver. 11 h* 
 proposes the question. Why are believers like nuts ? and an- 
 swers it under ten heads.] 
 
 Ps. xlvii. 10) and will accordingly refer to the 
 noble countrymen of Shulamith, to the proceres 
 s'u optimntes (jentis suie ; for the explanation " war- 
 chariots of the people of the prince" (Weissb.) 
 certainly has as much against it as the opinion 
 that y)i 'cl,J,' is one noun, either equivalent 1 1 
 "prince of the realm" (Vaih.) or = the well- 
 known proper name .-Vmniinadab (Ex. vi. 23; 
 Num. i, 7; Ruth iv. 19; 1 Chron. ii. 10; vi. 7, 
 etc.). This last expedient, manifestly the most 
 confusing of all, was .already tried by the Sept., 
 SvMMACH . VuLO., LtiTHER (who has .\mminadib 
 instead of Amniinadab), and after them by most 
 of the older interpreters, especially the alle- 
 gorizers, with whom it was, so to speak, a fixed 
 dogma that Amminadab means the devil ! l$ut 
 even if we shun such devious ways, the sense of 
 the expression " transferred to the chariots of my 
 
114 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 V. 2— VIII. 4. 
 
 to conjecture that her strong and painful feeling 
 of home-sickness would be accompanied by a 
 corresponding gesture. This gesture we must 
 unquestionably suppose from the earnest and 
 repeated call addressed to her by the ladies of 
 the court "come back, turn back" ('3'i? '^Ijy 
 comp. Judg. V. 12) was that of intending to go 
 away, to escape from the vicinity of the vicious 
 court of the king, which had become offensive 
 to her. She does not purpose to withdraw from 
 the " king's garden" (Dopke, Delitzsch, etc.), 
 in which besides she could scarcely have been 
 at the time, but from the vicinity of the king 
 altogether, who had greatly grieved her, and 
 that of the ladies of his court, whose society she 
 feels that she must henceforth avoid. Hence it 
 is that the latter (for it is to them that Shula- 
 mith's answer " what do you see in Shulamith ?" 
 is directed) call to her, entreating her to turn 
 again and permit them still to look upon her 
 charming person. For this is the only sense in 
 which ^3 ninji " that we may look upon thee " 
 
 (3 nin not materially different from 3 HXl 
 : T T '' : T T 
 
 vi. 11) can be taken. d(Z.; that of beholding with 
 delight, feasting the eyes upon her to whom they 
 had long before accorded the praise of beauty 
 (comp. their frequtnt form of address, " fairest 
 among women," i. 8; v. 9; vi. 1). That it is 
 the ladies of the court, who address to her this 
 summons to return and remain, and not Solo- 
 mon (whom many of the older commentators 
 regard as the speaker in these words, see 
 Starke), is either to be explained by Solomon's 
 uniting in the call of the women (comp. Dopke, 
 EwALU, etc.), or better still by the assumption 
 that he who was more affected than all others by 
 her attempt to go away, does more than barely call 
 her back, he seeks by loving force to detain her; 
 and hence, speechless with passionate emotion, 
 he first embraces and holds her, that he may 
 afterwards fetter her by the fondest adulation* 
 (ver. 2if. ). — What do you see in Shula- 
 mith? This question asked by the party ad- 
 dressed is doubtless to be understood as modestly 
 declining the praise indirectly bestowed upon 
 her beauty in thus calling her. Shulamiih 
 wishes to be no longer looked at and admired by 
 such people as Solomon's concubines and the 
 ladies of his court ; this has become oppressive 
 to her. The humility of her entire question 
 certainly characterizes also her designation of 
 
 * [Thf alirnptness witti which this verse is introduceil and 
 the amlii^liiity "f some of its expressions make its meaning 
 extrem'-ly il'iul'tfiil and have led to a variety of uncerUain 
 conjectnre!!, Itut do not justify tlie acceptance of the incredi- 
 ble sense here put upon it. According to the view which is 
 entertained of tlie context it has been supposed to be ad- 
 dressed to the bride, wlio was rising to leave the speakers 
 (Tavlob). or had been borne away from them by her inward 
 rapture figuratively described in the preceding verse fMooDY 
 Stuart), or who had parted from them in company with her 
 husband (Patrick), or who was tmiidly shrinking from meet- 
 ing him (Williams. Good, the latter of whom renders thus : 
 "Virgins. — 'Return, return, bride of Solomon! Return, 
 return, that we may yet respect thee." Royal Bride.—' What 
 do yon expect from the bride of Solomon V Virgins. — ' For- 
 titude, like the conflict of two armies ' "). Or it is thought to 
 be a call upon the bride to return from her alienation to her 
 busband (.\i\swnKTri, BuRROWES, as well as Wordsworth, 
 who thinks tliul lli- iteration of the appeal denotes a sum- 
 mons " to both .lew and Gentile to return to God and to one 
 another in Christ and ills Church"), or to return in peace from 
 victorious conflict (TuRUPP, who compares Josh. x. lil ; Judg. 
 TJii. 9 ; xl. 31 1 1 Kin. xxu. 28).— Tk.] 
 
 herself n''?D'?1ty3 (lit., "in the Shulamitcss," i. e. 
 not "in this Shulamitess" but "in one who is 
 a Shulamitess; " comp. 1 Kin. xx. 36: Isa. vii. 
 14; Joel iv. 3, etc.). Its meaning is certainly no 
 other than " why do you look at me, a plain 
 country girl (Hitzig)? what you see in the 
 simple daughter of a Galilean village ?" n''S^»E^n 
 is, as the article shows both here and where it 
 was used in the vocative, certainly not the pro- 
 per name of a person (so most of the ancient 
 versions and interpreters) ; no more is it an adjec- 
 tive meaning "favored, treated with kindness" 
 ( Weissb.), but a gentile noun, synonymous with 
 n'SJISn 1 Kin. i. 3; 2 Kin. iv. 12, 25, of which 
 it is only a dialectic variation ; it is accordingly 
 a designation of the person in question from 
 
 dV-J or DJlty, the place of her abode.* This 
 place, the XoiOJ/u of Ecsebics and Jero.me in 
 liis Onoma.ll. and the modern Sulam appears to 
 have received its name, which originally may 
 
 have been = D7D "ladder," on account of its 
 
 T -. 
 
 location on a steep mountain declivity (comp. 
 Robinson, Pal. II. 234), just as many other 
 mountains, e.^. that mentioned 1 Mac. xi. 59 bear 
 the name KA/^af (comp. Hitzig in loc. and " Ut- 
 geschichte der Philisler," p. 126). According to 
 Josh. xix. 18 this Sbunem was situated in the 
 tribe of Issachar, according to 1 Sam. xxviii. 4; 
 xxix. 1,11: xxxi. 1 not far from Mount Gilboa and 
 the plain of Jezreel, according to 2 Kin. iv. 22-25 
 not very remote from Mount Carmel (comp. on 
 ver. 6 of this chapter, and above on ii. 8; iii. 6 ; 
 iv. 1, 8 ; also the Introduction, p. 6). As the 
 dance of Mahanaim. Some interpreters after 
 the example of the Vulg. (" quid videbis in Sula- 
 mite, nisi choros castrorum?'') connect the difficult 
 
 words Q'^n'Sn rnr\^2 with the question " why 
 will ye look upon Shulamith, as one looks upon 
 the dance of Mahanaim?" (Hahn, Weissb., 
 Ren AN, etc.,) or " as at the dance of M." (Hitzig). 
 But it seems more natural and bstter suited to 
 the context with the majority of both the older 
 and more recent commentators, to regard these 
 words as the answer to the question of Shula- 
 mith, given of course by those who had asked her 
 to return, and who take this mode of stating why 
 they were in fact so much concerned to see Shu- 
 lamith yet longer. They see in her "something 
 that resembles the dance of Mahanaim," some- 
 thing as magnificent and transporting as the 
 dance of the angel-host, east of the Jordan on 
 
 *[The article as well as the form of the noun certainly 
 favor its derivation from the place of her birth or resi- 
 dence. The chief objections to it are, first that Shunem it 
 never called Shulem in the Bible but always Shunem and 
 its inhabitants Slmnammites ; and secondly, the bride is c.illed 
 a prince's daughter, vii. '2. The derivation from Solomon (to 
 which Clarke compares Charlotte from Charles, Henrietta 
 from Henry, efc). is favored by most English commentatons. 
 and still divides the suffrages of the learned, though it does 
 not siitisfactorily account for the form of the name nor ex- 
 plain the presence of the article. Its derivation from Salem 
 in the sense of Jerusalem, as though it were equivalent to 
 Jerusalemite, as Gill and others suggest after KiMCHi and 
 Aden Ezra is utterly inadmissible. Others follow the ex- 
 ample of Aquila (eipTjj-euovera) and attribute to it an appel- 
 lative sense as derived from the root D7iy: so Patrick: 
 " perfect," and TnRUPP : "The peace-laden, lit., the bepeaced. 
 The name is derived from the same root as Solomon and 
 stands in partial correspondence with it." — TR.j 
 
V. 2— VIII. 4. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 lis 
 
 Jacob's return home to the promised land. See 
 Gen. xxxii. 1-3, to which passage there is an un- 
 mistakable allusion here as DiiPKE, Delitzsch, 
 Henostenb., Meier, elc, correctly assume. This 
 occurrence in the early patriarchal history as 
 celebrated as Jacob's wrestling at Peniel (Gen. 
 xxxii. 28, comp. Hos. xii. 4 if. ), this miraculous 
 experience of the patriarch Jacob, to which the 
 town of Mahanaim between Jabbok and the Jor- 
 dan, the royal residence of the anti-Davidic 
 northern kingdom under Ishbosheth (2 Sam. ii. 8 
 S.) owed its name, forms here the point of com- 
 parison and is evidently intended to represent tlie 
 sight of Shulamith as of angelic beauly and 
 heavenly sublimity, just as she had before been 
 compared with the morning dawn, the sun and 
 moon {vi. 10), and in agreement with the fact that 
 in other p.assnges dances in praise of God arc 
 attributed both to the stars and to the angels of 
 God (comp. Job xxxviii. 7 : Judg. v. 20 ; Ps. ciii. 
 21; cxlviii. 2; 1 Kings xxii. 19 ; Luke ii. 13, f(c ). 
 The "dance of Mahanaim" is accordingly the 
 well-known dance of the angels on the site where 
 Mahanaim subseqni'nlly stood. It is not iieces- 
 Bary to take D'in'Sri in its appellative sense 
 "dance of the angel choirs" (Dopke) or "the 
 angelic hosts " (Gksen.) or " the angel-camps" 
 (Del.) or " the double army " (Umbb., Weissb. ; 
 comp. the Tabg. in loc). We must, however, de- 
 cidedly rejectevery interpretation of these words, 
 which sees in them an " invitation to dance," 
 whether it is Solomon (so Bottcheb), or the ladies 
 of thecourt(Ew., Dehtzsch, elc), or Solomon and 
 his companions (Dopke), who are supposed to 
 make request of Shulamith to execute the famous 
 dance of Mahanaim in their presence. Such a 
 dance, whether it be regarded as a solemn festive 
 dance, in which several took part (Ew.\ld, Bott- 
 cheb, e/c), or as a contra-dance of two ranks, 
 one consisting of young men, and the other of 
 young women (HiTZio), or as a solo dance by a 
 "danseuseof the Harem " (Hen.), or as a " coun- 
 try festival dance in the simple attire of a shep- 
 herdess or a vine-dresser " ( Del. ) is as devoid of 
 evidence for its historical existence, as it is impos- 
 sible to demonstrate from the present context that 
 it was in this instance actually performed. And if 
 actually exhibited on the stage, and described in 
 the terms that follow (ver. 2 ff.), it certainly 
 would not have afforded that " most chaste spec- 
 tacle," tliat " indication of Shulamith's humility 
 and childlike disposition " which Delitzsch pro- 
 fesses to see in it; comp. above No. 2, p. 94. 
 
 8. CoNCLcsiOiS. c. Solomo.n's final lauda- 
 tion OF THE beauty OF HIS BELOVED, Vli. 2-U. 
 
 Delitzsch alone has put this description into the 
 mouth of the daughters of Jerusalem instead of 
 that of Solomon [so Taylor, Good, Williams, 
 Fry, Patrick, Ainsworth and others on the 
 ground cbietiy that the king is spoken of in the 
 third person, ver. 6], against which, however, 
 may be urged not only the sameness of the tone, 
 which prevails in this as in the following brief 
 section (vers. 7-10), but also the circumstance 
 that ihe caressing speeches here go further in one 
 point at any rate, and to say the least, are more 
 undisguised than could have been expected from 
 the mouth of women (see ver. 3). This description 
 of the beauty of Shulamith also has the greatest 
 eimilarily to those which Solomon had previously 
 
 given (Iv. 1 ff. ; vi. 4 ff. ), only it enumerates her 
 various charms in the reverse order, by as- 
 cending from the feet (o the head, and thus pro- 
 ceeds in conformity with the customary Hebrew 
 phrase "from the foot to the head" (2 Sam. 
 xiv. 2-5 ; Isa. i. 6). That this inverted order of 
 the description was not occasioned by the person 
 described executing a dance, but simply arose 
 from the poet's desire for variety, is correctly 
 recognized even by Hitziq; comp. also Ewalu 
 in loc. (vs. Delitzsch, Vaih., Renan and others). 
 One point of contact with a preceding passage of 
 like character in the poem is found in the ten 
 beautiful parts of the body, which are here ad- 
 duced as in Shulamith's description of the charms 
 of lier lover (v. 10-16). — How^ beautiful axe 
 thy steps in the shoes. O prince's daugh- 
 ter! That the beginning is made with the steps 
 (D'OPD comp. Ps. Iviii, 11 ; 2 Kings xix. 24), i. «., 
 with tiie feet as stepping, as in motion, proves 
 nothing in favor of the dancing hypothesis al- 
 ready rejected. For " to step " is not = " to 
 dance," and Shulnmith must have taken some 
 steps at the beginning of this description, inas- 
 much as Solomon must have led her back to his 
 or to her former position, or have conducted her 
 to some seat after her purpose to go away. In 
 doing so he points out to her her graceful and 
 charming " steps in her shoes," or in other words 
 how very becoming the shoes, which she wears 
 as a "prince's daughter," are to her as she 
 walks ! The shoes are manifestly mentioned aa 
 someiliing which she did not wear originally and 
 in common (comp. v. 3), as a constituent, there- 
 fore, of her new and elegant court dress, which 
 had doubtless been prepared in a most luxurious 
 manner, both in material and style, and probably 
 were ornamented with bows of purple, yellow or 
 variegated ribbons, like the showy sandals of no- 
 ble Hebrew women in later times (couip. Ezek. 
 xvi. 10; Judith x. 9; Winer R.-W.-B., Art. 
 " Schiihe"). She is at the same time designated 
 a "prince's daughter" or "noble daughter" 
 in order to indicate her present high rank (not 
 her noble descent, which according to i. 0; ii. 8 
 ff., vi. 11 is improbable). n3 is here used in a 
 wide sense for female in general, to mark the 
 fem. gender, as ii. 2 ; vi. 9 ; Gen. xxx. 13 ; Judg. 
 xii. 9, etc.: and the term 3'IJ "noble" mny 
 have been suggested by the 3")J "B^ which she 
 had used just before. That this form of address 
 is substantially synonymous with "my sister 
 bride " has already been observed on iv. 9 above. 
 Thy rounded thighs aie like jewels. Lit., 
 "the roundings of thy thighs," i. e., the rounded 
 parts which constitute thy thighs (^"5T genit. of 
 Ihe material [Green's Ileb. Gram., ' 2.J4, 4] as 
 Ps. xl. 16: Ixviii. 31, e(c.— The word D'vhr\ is 
 very variously explained "necklace" or "jewels" 
 (Sept., Vulg., Sye., Rosenm., M-^qn., Vaih., 
 BiiTTCHF.R), "clasps" (Ew. ), "pearls" (Hitzig), 
 "ornaments" (Hengstenb.), or "ornamenial 
 chains." As is shown by the singular 'yn. n'''7n, 
 which occurs Prov. xxv. 12 ; Hos. ii. 1-5. some 
 elegantly made ornament must be intended, and 
 according to the passage before us it must be 
 composed of round, smoothly turned globules or 
 pearls, as it is used to set forth the perfectly 
 
lie 
 
 TUE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 V. 2— VIII. 4 
 
 rounded shape of the thighs. — The Mirork of an 
 artist's hands. The sing. Hll'JJO, which the 
 Sept. acd Syk. correctly retain, is here employed 
 because the numerous glotiules or pearls strung 
 together, form but one whole, one necklace. The 
 form px. of the same signification with ]13S 
 P-->. viii. 30, and with the Chald. and Syr. JO'S 
 ^ace HiTziQ in loc, and Ewald, Lehrbuch, § 15J 
 6) serves to denote the artificer or artist (Texvirj/r, 
 oWi/ej:) in contrast with the ty'^n [-inTuv, faber) 
 workman who only performs the coarser kind of 
 work. That a skilful turner is here particularly 
 intended appears from D'N/n. The rotundity of 
 the thighs is one of the noted beauties of the fe- 
 male figure, not merely according to Oriental, but 
 also according to Grecian taste, as is shown by 
 the well-known attribute of Aphrodite Ka^iOinij'of. 
 Ver. 3. Thy navel is a round bowl, "^yt) 
 according to the unanimous testimony of the old 
 translators = li' Ezek. xvi. 4, and = Arab. 
 surr, i. e, "navel" (comp. on Prov. iii. 8). 
 But, as we learn from the comparison with a 
 round bowl or mixing vessel (on [JX see just be- 
 low), as well as from the following wish that this 
 vessel may not lack mingled wine, the navel itself 
 as such cannot be intended, but rather the whole 
 belly (abdomen) with the navel as its centre. 
 Correctly therefore Hahn, Vaiu., Weissbach, «*c., 
 "rfem Schoo.''s," (thy lap) by which expression the 
 reference demanded by what fallows is sufficient- 
 ly intimated, whilst the translation "pudenda" 
 (.VIagnus, Dopke, Hitzig) cannot be justified on 
 linguistic grounds; for both I'^K? Job xl. 10, 
 and the Arab, sirr [alSolov, arcanum) are only 
 related, not identical ideas. — JJX plur. ni'JJN (Isa. 
 xxii 24 ; Ex. xxiv. G) does not denote a cup, but 
 rather a bowl, a large round drinking vessel, 
 here doubtless a bowl for mixing (Kpdvi/ii, Sept., 
 VuLG.) as the following JiQ "mixed wine" 
 shows. For that they prepared this drink (a mix- 
 ture of wine with warm or cold water — ■Be.racliolh 
 7, 5; 8, 2: Pesach 7, 13; M.iasser 4, 4) exclu- 
 sively in smaller vessels as cups, goblets, rtf.,can 
 
 scarcely be proved by the formula Dli)ri"jlJ{ JID 
 (vs. HiTziGl. — Let notmixed wrine be lack- 
 ing. This wish, which is nut tobe converted u itli 
 the older intcrpreiers into an objective state- 
 ment, as " nunqnam indiijtns pocuiis" VcLG.) or 
 " to which drink is never wanting " (Luther), 
 contains without doubt an allusion of like na- 
 ture, but not so delicate as that contained in 
 V. 12 ff.* (comp. Prov. v. 15 if.). Some modern 
 
 *'T)inre is no reason for suspecting an indelicacy in 
 tliis Jjerfectly liarmless expression. Neither tlie words em- 
 ployed, tile mode of tlieir erai»!oyment, nor tile connection 
 in which they stand warrant such an imputation. Notes 
 correctly says the "spiced wine" is "mentioned merely 
 to set off the beauty aud richness of the cup." Moody 
 Stu \RT ; "The dress "of the bride is described throuphout. 
 except where ctothin,? is not worn, as on the neck and 
 the face. The proof of this is ample and irresiatihte in the 
 very first line of the picture — the feet ' beautiful with shoes.' 
 The person might have tieen clothed, while the feet were un- 
 siiod ; but it was impossible that the feet should he beauti- 
 tied with the finest sandals, without the whole person being 
 arranged as a bride adorned for her husband. Both the 
 t/irms, therefore, in this verse are of necessity parts of dri'ss 
 covering the corresponding parts of th ^ person. a(:cordinK 
 to the tendency In all languages to transfer the names that 
 
 commentators vainly seek by various methods to 
 escape this admission, e. g., Bottchek by the 
 assumption that this wish was only designed to 
 set forth in a vivid manner the circular form of 
 the navel; Hengstenb. by the allegorizing re- 
 mark : " the capacity of the church to revive the 
 thirsty with a noble refreshing draught is repre- 
 sented under the emblem of a bowl always full 
 of mixed wine;" Del. by the assertion: "The 
 navel in so far as it became visible through her 
 dress as she breathed harder in dancing (?) 
 was like a circular cup whicA was not lacking 
 
 in spiced wine" (but 7N with the following volun- 
 tative or jussive future !), "!.«., as full of bloom- 
 ing health (I'rov. iii. 8) as that of spiced wine." 
 — Thy botjy is a heap of ■wheat, set around 
 with lilies. — D"I3n noi^ is certainly not a 
 "sheaf of wheat" (Ewai.u, who here has in mind 
 Ruth iii. 7, where, however, HOI^ rather means 
 a heap of sheaves), but an accumulated heap of 
 grain (comp. 2 Chron. xxxi. 6 ff.; Neh. iii. 34), so 
 that the point of comparison lies on the one hand 
 in its being arched over, and on the other in its 
 yellowish-white color, and perhaps also subordi- 
 nately in the fruitfulness of such a heap of grain. 
 "Set around with lilies " appears to allude to the 
 custom of "garnishing with flowers such a heap 
 of wheat on the floor, when they threshed the 
 grain in the open field immediately after the har- 
 vest" (Dopke), — a custom which, to be sure, 
 has to be inferred solely from this passage. That 
 the whole is a mere " fancy picture" (Weissb., 
 Hitzig) is improbable. Yet the comparison was 
 probably suggested by the lily-red — we would 
 have to say the rose-red — color of her dress 
 which chastely and modestly covered, as it 
 should, the body of the 3'oung lady, just as in v. 
 14 the sapphires enveloping the " ivory fiijure " 
 indicated the color of the garment. At all events 
 
 designate the living body to tlie dress that both conceals and 
 adorns it. There is a great agreement of critics, as well as 
 obvious suitableness in interpreting tiie goblet of wine as an 
 image of the clasp that secures the girdle, composed proba- 
 bly of rubies to which wine is often compared." So sub- 
 stantially also P.vTRicK, IIarmer, P.\rkhukst, T.4YL0R, Wil- 
 liams, and others. Good, on the contrary, objects to the 
 opinion " that the royal poet, instead of delineating the per- 
 sonal charms, ' the unbought graces 'of his accomplished 
 fair, ia merel.v describing her ditferent habiliments with the 
 splendid figures which were wrought on them. Against su('h 
 an interpretation I cannot but strongly protest, as equally 
 unpoetical, and unjust to tlie text. In the literal sense of 
 the origiual, I see no indelicacy whatever, and there ought 
 to be no indelicacy in its translation, "rhe royal bard is 
 merely assuming a liberty, and that in the chastest manner 
 possible, which we are daily conceding in our age to every 
 painter andscalptorof eminence." Good coincides in opinion 
 with ZbcKLi'.R, that "navel" is here used in a wide sense for 
 " the whole of the surrounding region," and proposes the 
 rendering "waist." Adopting this suggestion, UURRO^us 
 presents the following picture as his conception ofthe figure 
 iiere described: "Lirst, the feet more beautiful in the elegant 
 sandals; then the contour, the folds of the bridal dress falling 
 around the hips, graceful as the curvature of a rich necklace 
 wrought by a finished hand; next, the body like a heap of 
 wheat encompassed with lilies; then, the waist exjlanding 
 into the bosom, elegant as a goblet rounded gracefully up- 
 wards, and filled with the richest spiced wine." Scott: 
 "Comeliness of person, not richness of attire or ornament, is 
 intended; otherwise the commendations would be equally 
 appropriate to the most deformed, if splendidly attired, as to 
 the most beautiful ; nor is there any need to remove the gar- 
 ments in order to distinguish a very well proportioned and 
 comely person from others in tlie most ordinary intercourse 
 of life. Either men or women may disguise theraselvas by 
 deconition; but becoming raiment seta olf the form of thoiM 
 who wear it."j 
 
V. 2— VIII. 4. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 117 
 
 (lie characteristic feature, and the chief Bignifi- 
 canee, perhaps, of the entire figure lies not in this 
 Bubsidiary matter of selling it around with lilies, 
 but in the heap of grain. Approximate parallels 
 are adduced by DiiPKE, Magn., etc., e.g., a pas- 
 Bage from Mot.\nebbi (v. Hammer, p. 74). where 
 the loins of a girl are likened to a sand-hill ; O.m- 
 MONRHEIF (Hamasa, in Reiske Taraf., p. 53), 
 ^•Nales habet ill tumulos areme rare compaciie ;'" 
 NuwEiRius (loe. cit., p. 131): "Poelss comparant 
 nates amatae cum coUihus arcnaccis." 
 
 Ver. 4. Thy two breasts are like t'wo 
 young roes, etc. — Comp. iv. 6. " Feeding 
 among Ihe lilies" is omitted here, because tlie 
 tigure of lilies had just been employed with a 
 somewhat different application ; not from regard 
 to ver. 9, which has nothing to do with "feed- 
 ing " either in figure or in fact (vs. Weiss- 
 bach). 
 
 Ver. 5. Thy neck is like a tower of ivory. 
 — The lert. comp. lies on the one hand in its be- 
 ing slender and straight, and on the other in the 
 pure white skin of the neck ; it is therefore simi- 
 lar, though not exactly like that in iv. 4. The 
 ivory lower here mentioned is certainly different 
 from the tower of David named there, inasmuch 
 as it is not lo be conceived of as a tower for de- 
 fence or an arsenal, but without doubt a structure 
 designed for purposes of luxury, like Ahab's ivory 
 house (1 Kings xxii. .39; comp. Am. iii. 15; Ps. 
 xlv. 9), or like Ihe ivory throne, on which Solo 
 nion sat, according to 1 Kings x. 18 ft'. — Thine 
 eyes pools in Heshbon. — .Vsv. 12 the eyes of 
 Ihe lover are compared with "doves by brooks 
 of water, bathing ia milk, sitting on fullness," 
 80 here the eyes of tiis beloved are likened to 
 light blue pools or basins of water, whicli charm- 
 ingly mirror back the rays of the sun. Coinp. 
 Ovid, de arte amat., II., 722: — "ocutos tremulo 
 fulgore micantes, ut sol a liquida siepe Tefulget aqua.^^ 
 Tile pools near Heshbon, perhaps just two pools 
 lying near together before one of the principal 
 gales of this city, may have been especially suited 
 for such a comparison by the clearness of their 
 sheets of water and the loveliness of their banks. 
 Modern travellers, as Seetzen, Burckhardt, 
 etc., still mention at least one large reservoir of 
 water near Hesban (the ancient Heslibon, the ciiy 
 of Ihe Moabitish kings, Deut. ii. 24 ff.; Isa. xv. 
 4), lying in a wady south of the city, whicli is 
 enthroned on a high hill, and consisting of excel 
 lent masonry; comp. Ckome, PaHisthi'i, I., 2->4 
 ff — At the gate of the daughter of multi- 
 tudes. — This " daughter of multitudes " (ri3 
 D'S"} lit. " daughter of many," Xeu^npni;) or pop- 
 ulous city is assuredly Heshbon itself (comp. 
 the frequent designation of cities by Ihe personi- 
 fying expression r\3 "daugliter," e.g., Isa. i. 8; 
 X. 32 ; xxiii. 12 ; Ps. exxwii. 6). a city which in 
 the age of David and .Solomon was certainly next 
 to Rabbaih .\mmon, the most populous place in 
 the neighboring kingdoms, or ratlier provinces of 
 Israel east of ttie .Jordan. HENr.sTENBERO's opin- 
 ion is inadmissible that D'3T n2 is only another 
 expression for n3"l '■ Rabbah," or '^^^^ 'Jjl 031 
 "Rabbath of the children of Ammon," so that 
 here the pools of two trans-jordanic cities would 
 be named. And .so is Hitzig's notion that "the 
 
 populous" is the name of a particular gate* of the 
 city of Heshbon (D'3T r\3 therefore not genitive 
 but apposilive), viz., that at which Ihe market* 
 and the tribunals were commonly held; for there 
 is no example anywhere else of llie personification 
 of llie g.'ites of a city as daughters. — Thy nose 
 like the tower of Lebanon, which looks 
 toward Damascus. — Literally: as "a tower 
 of Lebanon '■}■ — but it does not follow from this 
 absence of Ihe definite article that one tower out 
 of several of the same kind and situation is in- 
 tended (Hitzig). For it is plainly designated as 
 a watch-tower, or a look-out by "UT n31i' ; and 
 though there may have been in all several struc- 
 tures of this description on Mount Lebanon (for 
 according to 2 Sam. viii. 6 David had set military 
 garrisons in Damascene Syria), yet there could 
 scarcely have been more than one that "looked 
 toward Damascus," i. e., which served for the mil- 
 itary observation of this city, which since Re- 
 jon's defection had become dangerous lo Israel's 
 northern frontier (comp. 1 Kings xi. 23, 24). 
 Naturally enough it cannot now be accurately de- 
 termined where this tower of Lebanon is lo be 
 looked for, whether at Fukra, in the neighborhood 
 of which Robinson indicates a "remarkable 
 tower " prob.ably designed for military purposes 
 (Zeitschr.d. Deutsch.-Morgenl. Gesellsc/i. \'ll. 1,77), 
 or at Magdol, a place in the same region, with a 
 very ancient temple looking to the nortli (ibid., p. 
 72). At all events, however, this lower of Leba- 
 non is totally distinct from the tower of David 
 mentioned iv. 4, and this the more certainly as 
 the latter served to represent a majestic and 
 beautifully ornamented neck, and the former a 
 straight nose, forming a handsome profile. 
 
 Ver. 6. Thy head upon thee like CarmeL 
 — On the somewhat inaccurate expressiou "thy 
 head upon thee," in which the head appears in 
 some sort as an appendage lo the entire man, 
 comp. 2 Kings vi. 31 ; Judg. xiv. 18. — The main 
 thing lo be regarded in the comparison with Car- 
 mel is, that next lo Lebanon it is the loftiest 
 mountain in Northern Palestine, and for this rea- 
 son perhaps it is often designated '0"'3n DNT 
 " head of Carmel " (1 Kings xviii. 42; Am. ix. 
 3 ; comp. Jer. xlvi. 18) ; probably also there may 
 be a subordinate reference to its being covered 
 with dense woods, an emblem of a luxuriant 
 growth of hair (Mic. vii. 14 ; comp. v. 13 a above) 
 — wliilst its loveliness, which Hengstenberg 
 would have to be most of all regarded, is proba- 
 bly left out of the account. — And thy floiwing 
 
 locks like purple. — Ty>l here coma pendula — 
 litei-ally "the pendant, lliat which hangs down 
 Irom thy head" (comp. Isa. xxxviii. 12, where it 
 denotes the thrum, i. c, the threads of the old 
 web hanging down on llie loom, lo which the new 
 
 are attached) from 11'^ pendere. Job xxxviii. 4. — 
 In the comparison of the hair with purple 
 
 * {So Thrdpp : "That gate of Heshbon which opened north- 
 eastward in the direction of R.ibbah of Ammou," or " the gate 
 of approach to the poola, the porUil through which the mul- 
 titude of the Gentile world presses to drink to the full of the 
 clejir and unruffled waters of Christian doctrine."] 
 
 t [The correct translation is " the tower of Lebanon," the 
 entire expression being rendered definite b,vthe article before 
 the ladt noun. See tiRi:i;N's H b. 'r'rum. ^246, 3. — Tr.J 
 
118 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 V. 2— VIII. 4. 
 
 ([DJ'IS particularly denoting the red purple in 
 distinction from the dark violet-blue purple or 
 nSSil) the color is not so much taken into consi- 
 deration — for red hair, or such as at all inclines 
 to a reddish cast, is not at all supposable in an 
 Oriental beauty — as its dark lustre (comp. v. II). 
 As also with the Greeks nopipvpEor, often has al- 
 most the same signification with /jf/laf, and hence, 
 f.g., Anacreon (xxviii. 6, 7) uses T:opij>vpai x"i'at 
 as the synonym of KOftat fiiAaivm ; Propertius, 
 III., 17, 22, speaks of the purpurea coma of 
 Nisus, and Suidas explains the Homeric 
 hvavoxaiTTj^ by " /lelavuSpi^, TTopii>vp6&pii" (other 
 pertinent citations from Tibull., Vibg., Cic, 
 ri,iN., etc.. see in Rosenm. and Dopke in loc). 
 It is, moreoYer, also possible that some purple 
 ornament, that Shulamith may have worn braided 
 in lier hair (comp. Jlitid, xvii. 52), gave occasion 
 to the comparison; whilst there is no need what- 
 ever of supposing an allusion to the later custom 
 among the Hebrew women of dying their hair 
 with henna and the like to give it a yellowish 
 red appearance. Comp. Dopke in loc. and Winer 
 R.-W.-B., Art. "Haar."— A king fettered 
 by curls. The noble lustre of his beloved's 
 head of hair just described makes the transition 
 easy to the powerful eifect which it, or more 
 particularly her wonderfully beautiful locks, has 
 wrought on him, her royal lover (comp. iv. 9). 
 On the comparison of pretty locks with nets or 
 snares, in which the lover is caught, Ecclus. ix. 3, 
 4, as well as numerous parallels from Oriental 
 poets (in Ewald, Heiligst., and Dopke); al.so 
 Prov. vi. 25, where this ensnaring effect is attri- 
 buted to the eye-lashes, as Eccles. vii. 26, to the 
 arms of the beloved object. The Vclg., Syr., 
 Lbth., and more recently Weissbacu and 
 
 Friedrich connect* "^T)^ with J0J"1X: "as the 
 king's purple," or as " purple of a king," but in 
 so doing involve themselves in inextricable diffi- 
 culties in the expl.uiation of the concluding 
 words: D'0m3 11DX (c. g., Friedrich: "as 
 the purple of a king that is unbound like the 
 folds in the troughs;" Weissbach : "as a king's 
 purple fastened in running water" — where an 
 allusion is supposed to the purple dye-houses on 
 the Phoenician side of Carmel) ! 
 
 9. Third Scene, a. Solomon: vers. 7-11. 
 
 Ver. 7. How fair art thou, and how 
 comely, O love, among delights. — It is no 
 more necessary here than in iii. 10, to take H^nx 
 in the sense of nans. as is done by the Vulg. 
 {■•charissima") and Syr., or to point it accord- 
 ingly as Hitzig proposes. We evidently have to 
 do with an apostrophe to love as such, like tliat 
 contained in iv. 10, only for the more concrete 
 idea "thy love," the more universal one of love 
 in general is here substituted. n^HX has sub- 
 stantially the same sense as in ii. 7, v. 8, viii. 
 6, 7, or as in 2 Sam. i. 26, e:c. In a strangely 
 
 •^So too nouBTG\NT and TnRUPP; tho latter of whom ren- 
 d«M : " Uko royal purple enlixt'd among the wainseotingfl. 
 Tfn pi'-tnre in tliat of a rieli ehamt>er, <m the wall.-! of which 
 ar? earvod wooden panels alternate with purple han^rinij;;*. 
 'l'h.i tormor servo to relieve an<l to show otf tlie lieauty "I' the 
 latt4sr. to which latter the well-ordered an<l well-fa.slened 
 IrtJMas of t'.irj hrvli.i hair are eomi)ared."J 
 
 arbitrary manner Weissbach takes n3riS in its 
 proper infinitive sense as in apposition with the 
 predicate not as a vocative : " how fair art thou, 
 and how comely, a loving in delight'' — which is 
 made to mean " one, to love whom awakens de- 
 light."— D'J1J.I7r\ (or niJU.J?r! Eccles. ii.8) arenot 
 "caresses" (Hengstenb.), but the sensations 
 of pleasure connected with them, "joys, de- 
 lights " (comp. Prov. xix. 10, Mic. i. 16, ii. 9). 
 Solomon does not mean by it vulgar, carnal 
 pleasure, but the sweet joys of connubial inter- 
 course, as he now experiences them anew in 
 embracing Shulamith. — On the necessity of as- 
 suming either an exit of the chorus, or their 
 withdrawal to the back-ground during the en- 
 thusiastic manifestations of conjugal tenderness 
 which begin here, comp. above. No. 2, p. 100, 
 where all tliat was necessary is noted respecting 
 the propriety of having a new scene begin with 
 this verse. 
 
 Ver. 8. This thy stature resembles a 
 palm tree. The nxi "this" before '^noip 
 
 "thy stature" is commonly regarded as re- 
 ferring back to the description of the beauty of 
 the beloved, contained in vers. 2-6, which how- 
 ever is the more inadmissible, as separate parts 
 only of the body were there spoken of, for 
 whose combination into one idea HNin (v. 15), 
 and not ITDIp, would have been the proper ex- 
 pression. Delitzsch correctly remarks: "As 
 he lets Iier go from his arms, he surveys her 
 figure with his eyes, and finds it like the palm- 
 tree," etc. To get a lively impression of her 
 towering stature (comp. n?31p in Isa. x. 33 ; 
 Ezek. xxxi. 3; Ps. xxxvii. 24), he must have let 
 go of her for a moment at least, and have con- 
 templated her more from a distance. The female 
 name Tamar, which is not an unusual one in the 
 Old Test., is based upon the comparison, which 
 is quite a favorite with oriental poets, of a tall 
 and slender stature with the palm (comp. 
 Fraehn on Ihn Fos.'il., p. 72 ; also Homer, Od. 
 vii. lUO). And thy breasts clusters, i. e. 
 those of the palni-tiee, by which must be in- 
 tended the date-palm, loaded with its clusters 
 of fruit (correctly Rosenmueller, Bottcher, 
 Hitzig), especially as it is not until the follow- 
 ing verse that the transition is made to clusters 
 of grapes, which are expressly designated as 
 I such by the addition of I^jH "the vine." That 
 the date clusters are rntlier hard, and to that 
 extent appear not to correspond to the swelling 
 softness of the breasts, does not impair the 
 suitableness of the comparison, as the only thing 
 regarded is the form (vs. Weissb.) Moreover, 
 the mention of breasts again in this passage 
 (comp. ver. 4) proves that the preceding <iescrip- 
 tion (vers. 2-G) is not closely connected with that 
 before us, and consequently that Weissbach's 
 opinion that twelve beauties are designedly 
 enumerated in vers. 2-11 (viz., the stature and 
 the breasts, in addition to the preceding ten), 
 lacks confirmation. 
 
 Ver. 9. I resolve I ■will climb the palm- 
 tree, ^P'lON is not to be taken as a preterite "I 
 saiil," or "I resolved," at some former time, c/c, 
 as lliough these words referred back to v. 1 (so 
 
V. 2— VIII. i. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 119 
 
 Vi'LQ., Luther, etc.), but as a present, since 
 several other wishes are uttered in what follows, 
 but no mention is made of any previous fultil- 
 uient of these wishes. Comp. also IHWOT ver. 
 II, which plainly points to a fond desire of her 
 lijvur, just manifested afresh, not to one enter- 
 iiined at a former period. I will grasp its 
 boughs. D"i?.J? lit. "that which is on top" 
 
 (kindred with '7Sd. 77n to lift up), i. e., the 
 branches and leaves forming the crown of the 
 palm-tree. A more particular interpretation of 
 the figure, e. g., so that the nose and mouth, 
 which her lover wished to kiss, are here intended 
 by the "branches" (Wkissb.), is inadmissible, 
 and leads to otfences against good taste. — And 
 be thy breasts, please, like clusters of 
 the vine (cump. on ver. 8), and the breath 
 of thy nose like apples. Nothing more is 
 here expressed than the design to kiss, or to 
 revel in tlie beauty and the sweetness of the 
 face and the bosom of his beloved. Chap. iv. 
 16, V. 1, is, therefore, not to be directly com- 
 pared. — "The breath of the nose" (comp. Isa. 
 ii. 22, 2 Sam. xxii. 16) is here expressly men- 
 tioned, because this is what is perceived in 
 ki.ssing the mouth. The figure of ajiples is the 
 more appropriate, because the apple niijri de- 
 rives its name in Hebrew from its delightful 
 frigrance. 
 
 Ver. 10 And thy palate like the best 
 vrine. The palate is not named here as the 
 organ of speech (Henostenb. and others), but 
 as a substitute for tbe mouth or the lips in 
 respect to the sweet breath or lovely kisses 
 (comp. V. 13). 31iDn ]" lit. "wine of the good" 
 (comp. 31D"n3"13 Prov. xxiv. 25), is equivalent 
 to "delightful, excellent wine." See on this 
 periphrasis fur the adjective, Ew.\ld, Lehrb. 
 I 287, b [GaEEN's Heh. Gram., I 2.J4, fi, b].— 
 Going do'wn for my beloved smoothly. 
 
 As the supposition that ""in? " for my beloved " 
 has slippeil in here by mistake from the 11th 
 verse following (Amm., Heiligst., Hitz. : also 
 EwALD formerly), is as arbitrary as its change 
 
 to "ll"'^ "my love" (Velth., Meier), or to 
 mn? " beloved ones, friends" (so Ewald now), 
 there is no doubt that Shulamith here takes up 
 the king's words, in order as in iv. IG to con- 
 tinue his description, and to give him to under- 
 stand, in tlie most flattering way, that she fully 
 responds to his love, and is ready to grant him 
 every enjoyment of it. — Gliding over the 
 lips of sleepers. Others: causing the lips of 
 tho.^e that are asleep to speak (Mercerus, 
 Hengste.vb., Del, etc., connecting 33n with 
 n3"1 speaking (in a bad sense), slander) ; or 
 "causing the lips of sleepers to long for it" 
 
 (Wbissb.), etc. But for 33n — whence 31 as the 
 ii:ime of the bear with his slow and awkward 
 gnl — the signification " to flow gently, ' or "to 
 glide," is suitable enough, and the meaning un- 
 doubtedly is, that pleasant tasting wine easily puts 
 one to sleep, so that he who drinks it is insensi- 
 bly overtaken by slumber (correctly Ew.). There 
 is oeftainly no allusion to the saliva oris of two 
 
 lovers united in a kiss, (according to the expreS' 
 sion in Lccretids, '^juiiguntqus salivas oris," 
 etc.) for such an image of refined sensuality ia 
 inconceivable in the mouth of the chaste Shula- 
 mith. 
 
 Ver. 11. I am my beloved's (comp. vi. 3), 
 and for me is his desire. — Lit: "and on me 
 (rests) his desire." np?iy/1 as in Gen. iii. 16, 
 the passage which lies at the basis of this, of the 
 longing desire of the man lor the society of his 
 wife, not of gross sensual desires for sexual in- 
 tercourse. The whole is a triumphant exclamation 
 in which Shulamith joyfully affirms that her lover 
 cannot exist without her, and it thus prepares 
 the way for her making the request of him, which 
 follows. With indescribable vulgarity HiTZio 
 asserts that " the concubine here recognizes with 
 faltering voice and bursting eyes the mutual ne- 
 cessity of love." 
 
 10. Continuation and Conclusion, b. Shu- 
 bimith's victorious assault on Solomon's heart, vii. 
 12 — viii. 4, 
 
 Ver. 12. Come, my beloved, let us go out 
 to the country. — The beloved (IIT) who is ad- 
 dressed, can be no other than the one addressed 
 just before in vers. 10, 11, that is to say, Solo- 
 mon, not the "shepherd,'' to whom she certainly 
 would not hiive been obliged in the first instance 
 lo have expressed her wish to escape from the 
 contracted city walls into the country in the form 
 of an earnest entreaty, and a fluent and impas- 
 sioned persuasion, even if he were with her in 
 Jerusalem (vs. Bottch., Hitz,, Ken.) ; and if 
 he was not with her, it was utterly useless to ad- 
 dress these words to him when far remote (vs. 
 Ew., Vaih.). Her persuasion is plainly directed 
 to a lover, who was really present, and besides 
 was seriously meant, not a mere fantastical make- 
 believe request, a desire which the petitioner was 
 convinced beforehand could not possibly be 
 granted (vs. Weissb.). — Let us lodge in the 
 villages. — To the country (ITIt^) are here added 
 villages (□'■]33 from 132 1 Sain. vi. 18 ; construct 
 133) as in 1 Chron. xxvii. 2.5. They .are alone 
 adapted to the idea of "lodging, passing the 
 night" (]'''), not " cypress-flowers" or " alhcn- 
 nas." which Dodfrl., Ew., Meier unsuitably 
 mingle in here, and which could scarcely have 
 been so common then in the holy land, that peo- 
 ple could sleep on them or under tliem (comp. on 
 i. 14) — On the necessity of spending at least two 
 nights on the way from Jerusalem to Shunem, see 
 on iii. 8 above (p. 82). 
 
 Ver. 13. Let us start early for the vine- 
 yards. — It is not vineyards lying on the route to 
 Shunem, which they might visit on their w.ay, 
 that are here intended, but doubtless the vine- 
 yards at Shulamith's home, and probably her 
 own. For it was in these alone that she could 
 take so lively an interest as is expressed in what 
 follows. — We shall see ■whether the vine 
 has sprouted, its blossoms opened. — The 
 vines and pomegranates here named .are the same 
 as those in vi, II, Shulamith wishes to return 
 with her lover to just those innocent rural occu- 
 pations and pleasures, which are there described 
 as belonging to her former mode of life. The 
 season implied, as in vi. 11 and in ii. 11 if., is ths 
 
iJ 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 V. 2— VIII. 4 
 
 spi-ing — that p?rioJ in the year whicli most in- 
 cites and allures lo the enjoyment of external na- 
 ture. It is innUtnissible to suppose that precisely 
 one year had elapsed between the spring depicted 
 in those passages and that which is here implied 
 (HiTZ.). It is more probable — inasmuch as the 
 whole action appears to run its course in two or 
 three weeks (comp. on ii. 8 ff. above, p. 69) — that 
 the same spring is meant here as there, supposing 
 the poet to liave formed a clear conception of the 
 intervalx between llie main particulars of ihe ac- 
 tion. — There vrill I give thee my love. — 
 'nil means not "thy caresses bestowed on me," 
 but "mine bestowed on thee." This to be 
 sure, she has already granted him (see iv. 16; 
 vii. 7 if.), but not as yet continuously, nor without 
 temporary disturbances and interruptions (comp. 
 vi. 4 f.; vi. 11 ), nor as yet with the full and unre- 
 served opening of her heart. But tliere yUU with 
 strong emphasis, as Am. vii. 12) there amid the 
 loveliness and joyous freedom of fair nature she 
 will become entirely his. — Observe how little this 
 passage again suits the so-called shepherd hypo- 
 thesis; or even WEissB.icn's supposition that 
 Shulamith is not serious in uttering the wish be- 
 fore us, and that jHX Di? is therefore to be taken 
 conditionally: "There would I give — if it 
 were only supposable that you could go with 
 me" (?!). 
 
 Ver. 14. The mandrakes give forth their 
 odor. — D"N1-nn are not "lilies" (Luther), but 
 the fruit of the mandrake [mandragora vernalis^ or 
 atropa vwjidragora), a wild plant common in Pa- 
 lestine, particularly in Galilee (Schubert, Reise, 
 III., 1 17), of the same genus with the belladonna, 
 with small whitish-green blossoms, which in May 
 or June become small yellow apples, about the 
 size of a nutmeg, of a strong and agreeable odor 
 t/i^/a Evoafia, Test. Issachar^ c. 1 ; comp. TJioscorid. 
 IV. 76: thilif^Tj fiera [i>ijiov^ Tivoi;). As now these 
 apples have a pleasant smell, but not the blos- 
 soms nor the plant itself, Shulamith of course re- 
 fers to the former, and here therefore looks for- 
 ward to a more advanced season than in ver. 13 — 
 that is to s;iy, the time of wheat harvest (see 
 Gen XXX. 14), as in what follows in her mention 
 of "this year's fruit" her imagination goes still 
 further forward. — Theseapples, according toGen. 
 XXX. 14-16, were regarded as an artificial provo- 
 cative of sexual love (whence also the name 
 D'XniT from nil, D'nil) even in the earliest Ori- 
 
 • T • ' 
 
 ental antiquity; so also by the Greeks and 
 Romans, by whom they were therefore called 
 Kipnaia, Circela (comp. also the name ' Appodirri 
 fiavdpayopf/Tic in Hesycuius and Piiavori.nus), by 
 the Arabs, who to this day call them ttiffiih es- 
 Shaitun, " Satan's apples," bj- all Christendom in 
 the middle ages (see Graesse, Beilrdge zur Lite- 
 tur itnd Sfjge des MittclatterSy 1850), and by many 
 still in modern times; comp., e.g.. Father Myl- 
 ler in his /owrnf// to the Promised Land : "This 
 root (!), which I found in the wilderness of St. 
 John the Baptist, and brought considerable of it 
 away with ine, has many medicinal virtues, re- 
 moves barrenness, and makes efficacious love-po- 
 tions." (See Del., Genesis, p. 467.) Shulamith 
 certainly does not name the dudnim here on ac- 
 count of these supposed aphrodisiac qualities, 
 
 much less does she mean to intimate an intention 
 lo prepare a magic potion from them to excite her 
 lover to a higher degree of affection. This fruit 
 is rather to her in her innocence and simplicity 
 merely the symbol of love, and her naming them 
 here like the " excellent fruits of all sorts over 
 our doors" is merely designed to add to the at- 
 tractions and enjoyments of her home, which she 
 had before mentioned, such as were new and 
 less familiar to her lover (see Weissb. in loe ). 
 Meier goes loo far in seeking a symbolic sense 
 for the words, when he understands " the love 
 apples are fragrant" to mean simply "I am 
 deeply in love," and " the old fruit and the new " 
 there mentioned to signify the sweet fruits of 
 love, of which she would give him to partake, the 
 old love which had been in existence hitherto, and 
 the new, which would meanwhile grow up and 
 reach a heightened intensity. See in opposition 
 to this allegorizing, which fritters away the sim- 
 ple freshness of a description so true to nature for 
 the sake of insipid trivialities, Hitz. and Weissb. 
 in loc. — And over our doors are all sorts of 
 excellent fruit, new as well as old.- — By 
 " our doors " Shulamith means the doors of her 
 parental home in Shunem, where, besides her 
 brothers and sister (i. 6 ; viii. 8), her mother 
 still lived (comp. iii 4; viii. 2). This house had 
 probably several doors, at all events a front and 
 a back door, and likely also side doors, whence 
 the plural. On shelves in the inside over these 
 doors they may have kept choice ripe fruit, as is 
 
 often done in our farmers' houses ; hence the />' 
 "over" before 'J"inn3 "our doors," which can nei- 
 ther mean " in front of" (Luther, v. Amm. ), nor 
 " within" (Magn.) nor "by" or "at" (Cocc.,Haiih, 
 GoLTZ, etc.). Prov. xvii. 19 also seems to alliid* 
 to a use of the beams or boards over the doors of 
 rustic dwellings for keeping various objects 
 (even if not exactly for the construction of regu- 
 lar store-rooms). — On D""1JD lit., "excellencies, 
 
 precious things" comp. iv. 1,3. ~73 refers to the 
 various kinds of this fine fruit, not as Weissb. af- 
 firms, to the distinction between this year's and 
 last year's fruit. As regards these two expres- 
 sions (D"J!?; DJ D'Din), they are both to be 
 taken in the same sense as Mat. xiii. 52 xana nn: 
 TmAaid (comp. also Lev. xxv. 22; xxvi. 10), and 
 
 as epithets limiting D'TJ0"73; they must not in 
 violation of the accents be connected with the 
 final clause " I have, my beloved, laid up for 
 thee" (vs. Magn., Bel., .Meier). This as well 
 as the reference of the verb "ij'JSX to the whole 
 
 sentence from O'nni)"?^ onward, as if the last 
 three clauses of tlie verse formed one long period 
 (Ew., Umbr., Weissd ) is inadmissible, for 
 though she might speak of having stored old or 
 last year's fruit for her lover, the same could not 
 be said of this year's, which had still to ripen 
 and grow. 
 
 VIII. 1. O that thou wert as a brother of 
 mine, nN3 cannot possibly be taken as a simple 
 vocative (Septuaq., Luth.). It rather refers lo 
 a relation like that of a brother ("as a brother 
 of mine," comp. Ps. xxxv. 14) and consequently 
 expresses ihe wish and that a wish seriously 
 
V. 2— VIII. i. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 121 
 
 meant and speedily to be realized (vs. Weissb.), 
 that Solomon would come so near to her in every 
 respect, both inwardly and outwardly, thai she 
 could regard and treat him just as her own 
 brother, as a member of her family, belonging to 
 her own domestic household. The wish here 
 expressed would have no meaning in respect to a 
 lover of the rank of a shepherd. It most mani- 
 festly implies as its object a lover, whose whole 
 station in life was above that of bis beloved, in 
 whose case there must be a coming down from his 
 elevation, if an actual living communion is to 
 subsist between him and her. For the fact of 
 his having made his beloved a ** queen " and a 
 "prince's daughter" is evidently without effect 
 on the child-like and humble mind of this simple 
 child of nature. She has not been able to pre- 
 vail upon herself in addressing this proud lord 
 of a harem, surrounded by his sixty queens and 
 his eighty concubines, as well as by his female 
 slaves, to call him lier own with the same cor- 
 dial confidence that a sister cherishes towards 
 her brother. She has learned to call him in 
 "beloved" but not nX "brother," often as he 
 
 T 
 
 may since their marriage have addressed her as 
 7173 'ninx "my sister, bride." If this relation 
 which she sustained to him be correctly estimated, 
 Henostenbero's paraphrase of the exclamation 
 before us "0 that thou who art my brother, 
 wouldst enter into a really brotherly relation to 
 me" will appear to be by no means so absurd, 
 as Weissb. would represent it * Were I to 
 find thee -without, I would kiss thee. 
 "Without," i. r.. on the street or in the open 
 country and in general wherever I must now 
 observe a stiff courtly etiquette toward thee as 
 king. A new protest therefore against the man- 
 ners of the harem, which h:id become intolerable 
 to her. — Yet none ^yould despise me. 
 
 '7 in'~K7 they, viz. the people, would not des- 
 pise and reproach me as though I were a vulgar 
 wench wlio kissed strange men in the public 
 street; comp Prov. vii. IJ, 13. 
 
 Ver. 2. I would lead thee, bring thee to 
 my mother's house. What she had only 
 dreamed before iii. 4, she can now utter to her 
 lover as the burning wish of her heart, certain 
 of its speedy .accouiplishment. -pnjX "I would 
 
 lead thee," that is to say by the hanil : whither 
 is told by the following verb, which limits the 
 one before it in the same way as •TpU'X does 
 ■IXXOX in ver. 1, A.— Thou wouldst instruct 
 
 ■-; r ; v 
 
 me. Again an indication that the lover is not a 
 young shepherd but the wise and learned king 
 Solomon, in comparison with whom Shulamith 
 had long learned to feel her ignorance and at 
 the same time her need of instruction from the 
 rich stores of his mind. Feeling the incongruity 
 of instruction by a lover, who was a mere shep- 
 herd, HiTZ. has taken up again the conjecture 
 of Ibs Ezra, that 'St* is to be supplied before 
 'J!^? -'? •""' 'he verb thus converted into a rela- 
 
 * [Williams : She suggests a wish that her relation to him 
 were rather that of an infant brother than a husband; that 
 she might be at liberty to express lier atTection in the strong- 
 est and most imhlic manner, without incurring the charge of 
 forwardness or indecorum.] 
 
 live clause is to be referred as a 3d pers. fern, 
 to the preceding "SX: "my mother who would 
 teach me," viz. how to do every thing toi- ynu in 
 the best manner. But this is quite arbitrary ; lor 
 all the verbs before and after are in the -d pers. 
 ['.']; a verb thus extraordinarily iuterrnpiing 
 this series must necessarily have been indicaied 
 not merely by 'D or Ttyx but by an emphatic 
 X*n "she"; and to this XTl would then have 
 to be opposed an ^P.if'X 'JN He. comp. (Bottchku 
 Ncue Aehrenl. III. 172). Most of the ancient 
 versions confirm ours, which is the common 
 view ; and that the Sept. and Str. in place of 
 
 'J"IH7n have mechanically repeated the last line 
 of iii. 4, can prove nothing against its correctness. 
 I w^ould give thee to drink of the spiced 
 ■wine. That '^PO'S "I would cause line lo 
 drink" contains an intentional allusion to ^ptVX 
 "I would kiss thee," ver. 1, which is ideniical 
 in its consonants, is an idle remark of Hitzio 
 and Weissbach, which has little in its favor. 
 Meier has needlessly taken this clause to be a 
 statement of what her lover was to teach (he 
 speaker, "thou wouldst teach me how lo make 
 thee drink," f^(^. ; so too Ewald and Heiligst., 
 according to whom the meaning is: "from tliv 
 moutli I would learn, what is pleasant and 
 agreeable to ihee. viz., to cause thee to drink." 
 etc. But all is simpler and in better taste if we 
 
 assume no close relation between 'Jl^Sri "thou 
 wouldst instruct me" and this clause, and find 
 nothing intimated here beyond the rocipiocily 
 subsisting between the spiritual gifts whicli the 
 teacher confers, and the bodily refresiiment 
 which his pupil affords him in turn {comp. Luke 
 X. 38 tf., 1 Cor. ix. 11: Gal. vi. ti).— By the 
 spiced wine, of which she means to give hini lo 
 drink, Shulamith probably means grape wine 
 mixed with fragrant and pungent essences (ac- 
 cording to a well-known oriental custom, comp.. 
 DiJPKE and Vaih., in loc). The definite article 
 designates this wine as the well known drink of 
 superior excellence, as the spiced wine pnr ey- 
 cellence; comp. ^IBH [" vii. 10. Of my pom- 
 egranate juice. ^Notwithstanding the absence 
 of the copula something different from the pre- 
 ceding is here iniended and not the spiced wine 
 itself, as though this were merely made from the 
 juice of fruit (Hitzig). For such a difference is 
 indicated by the use of O'pi' "must, unferment- 
 ed juice," instead of the preceding J" "wine," 
 as well as by the mention above of the vine along 
 with Ihe pomegranate (vii, 13, comp. vi. llj. 
 The suffix in 'J'l'S'l (for which the VuLG, and 
 Str. read ''JW^ " my pomegranates") is gen. of 
 possession lo D'Di? (comp. 'K''1p IH) hence 
 equiv.alent to " pomegranate wine prepared 
 by me." It makes against the view of Weiss- 
 bach and others; "of the wine of my pomegran- 
 ate tree," thai according to vi. 11; vii. 13, Shu- 
 lamith had more than one such tree — The 
 ancients called the fermented juice of pome- 
 granates "wine," as appears from Plin. //. A'. 
 14, 16: " Vinum fit — e punicis, quod rhoidcn {fxitd, 
 
122 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLO.MOS. 
 
 V. 2— VIII. 4. 
 
 pomegranate) vacant"; comp. Winek R.-W.-B. 
 Art. "Wein." 
 
 Ver. 3. His left hand (isl under my head 
 and his right embraces me. This verse is not 
 a mere phrase to luark the termination of a sec- 
 lion, and unconnected with what precedes (HiT- 
 xig). It rather stands in the same sort of con- 
 nection with the detailed description given vii. 18 
 ff. of what the two lovers would d.i and enjoy to- 
 gether in Shulamith's home, that ii. 6 does with 
 the preceding representation of their mutual en- 
 joyment of nature and of love, i. Itjff.; ii. 3 if . 
 Only there Shulamith was depicting the present, 
 whilst here .slie vividly portraysjoys belonging to 
 the future; though not in an optative form, as 
 EwALD, Vaih., etc., assume without sufficient 
 reason. 
 
 Ver. 4. I adjure you, ye daughters of Jeru- 
 salem, elc- — On the significance of this exclama- 
 tion here as Shulamith's farewell to the daughters 
 of Jerusalem (which HiTZiG too has seen with 
 substantial correctness), see on ii. 7 above. Only 
 it is not necessary with Vaih. to impute the brev- 
 ity of its form to the excited and reproachful 
 tone in which Shulamith, who had been affronted 
 by the ladies of the court, here speaks. 
 
 DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 
 
 1. The churchly allegorical exegesis is neces- 
 sarily precluded from gaining an insight into the 
 progress of the action in the act before us. It 
 finds every where figurative representations of 
 soteriological mysteries with no inner organic 
 connection ; shitting figures, the aim of which 
 lies in the repeated exhibition of the central point 
 of Christian truth, the conversion, justification, 
 sanctification and perfection of the sinner by the 
 grace of the Redeemer, or the call and election 
 of the whole church to the saving communion of 
 God in Christ. Thus the narrative of the dream, 
 T. 2-7, together with the following dialogue, as 
 far as vi. 3, that is to say, the first scene accord- 
 ing to our division seems to it to be a dramatic 
 representation, which is already complete, of the 
 apostasy and restoration of the Church, or of the 
 fall and redemption of mankind. This one sec- 
 tion constitutes, .as it were, the Canticles in brief, 
 a poetic picture of the entire history of redemp- 
 tion from first to last. This representation opens, 
 according to Hengstenb. (p. 135), ivith a "dark 
 scene," or night piece. The apostasy of unbe- 
 lieving mankind from their God, and especially 
 the rejection of the Saviour by the daughter of 
 Zion. together with the punishment of induration 
 and blindness which overtook her in consecfuence, 
 are so distinctly set forth by the dream-like fig- 
 ures of Shulamith's sleep, her lover's vain desire 
 to be admitted, his subsequent disappearance, and 
 the fruitless search for him. and finally by the 
 blows which the watchmen (the "heavenly min- 
 isters of vengeance") administered to her during 
 her search, that the whole forms, so to speak, a 
 fit accompaniment to Isa. liii. and likewise 
 an illustration of Rom. xi. 7, "the election hath 
 obtained it and the rest were blinded." or of 
 Rom. xi. 25, 26. And then again the representa- 
 tion is directed to the goal of the ultimate con- 
 version of Israel and the consequent consumma- 
 tion of the entire redemptive process. For for- 
 
 saken and repelled by her lover, she nevertheless 
 continues always sick with love and longing for 
 him (v. 8); in answer to the question proposed 
 to test her, what she thinks of her lover (v. 9), 
 she exhibits a heart full of love and submission 
 to the heavenly Solomon, as the ideal of all ex- 
 cellence (v. 10-16) ; finally she answers the sec- 
 ond question also, which is addressed to her to 
 pave the way for her reunion with her heavenly 
 bridegroom, in a concrete manner (vi. 1-3), since 
 in her answer to, Where has thy beloved gone? 
 she ungrudgingly recognizes that he has his be- 
 ing in the Church, and in consequence of this rec- 
 ognition the former relation may be regarded as 
 restored. — So Hengstenbero, whose view may 
 be regarded as the idealizing recapitulation of all 
 former churchly-allegorical interpretations of 
 this section. — The following portions also depict 
 according to him the one main object of the song 
 again and again — the restoration of the loving 
 relation between the Lord and His Church, which 
 originally existed, was then disturbed and broken 
 oflf, and has finally been cemented again. Ch.vi. 
 4-10 does this in tlie form of praises of the beauty 
 of the bride, and a comparison of her with all 
 other women, who constitute the household of the 
 heavenly Solomon. Ch. vi. 11 — vii. 1 in the form 
 of a narrative by the daughter of Zion of the way 
 in which she attained to the high dignity of a 
 bride of heaven's king, together witli a blessing 
 bestowed upon her by the daughters of Jerusa- 
 lem, who express their heartfelt joy at her return 
 from her wanderings, and at the distinguished 
 graces which have in consequence been imparted 
 to her ; ch. vii. 2-11, in the form of a new pane- 
 gyric pronounced by the king upon the daughter 
 of Zion, who has returned to him from her stray- 
 ing, and consequently to her former beauty, — to 
 which is further added the expression of his de- 
 termination to enjoy her charms, and her cordial 
 ] assent to this determination (vii. 8-11); and 
 ; finally, vii. 12 to viii. 4, in the form of a prayer 
 j from the daughter of Zion to her heavenly lover, 
 ] to restore to her his ancient love, and, far from 
 the tumult of this sinful world, in rural retire- 
 ment and seclu-sion, to live with her as her bro- 
 ther. — The explanations of the older allegorists 
 are still richer in repetitions and in correspond- 
 t ing measure poorer in true inward progress. 
 One of their number, e. g., Staree (who closely 
 follows Marck, Ain-sworth, Michael., ttc.) para- 
 phrases vi. 2, 3, so as to make the bride set forth 
 "the delightful feelings resulting from the spe- 
 cial presence of the bridegroom of her soul, 
 which she has just experienced in her heart," 
 describing thus Christ's control in the spice gar- 
 den of His Church, i. e., in the hearts of the true 
 children of God, wherein the whole work of sal- 
 vation by the Lord in the word and sacraments, 
 .and His operations on individual souls, planting, 
 fostering, preserving .and perfecting, is briefly 
 exhibited. Ch. viL I ho then paraphrases thus: 
 "Return, return to- rae and to thyself from the 
 confusion, in which thou wert,, before I revealed 
 myself again to thee (v. 6; Ps. cxvi. 7), Shu- 
 lanrith', who hast obtained peace with God, right- 
 eousness and strength in communion with me; re- 
 turn again, banish all gloomy and timorous 
 thoughts. I shall ever remain thy Jesus, thy 
 Saviour and Benefactor. Fix only a conSiia^' 
 
-VIII. 4. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 12S 
 
 heart again on me, thy soul's friend, that we, viz. I, 
 thy Redeemer, with my Father who loves thee in 
 me, and the Holy Spirit may look upon thee, i. e., 
 may have our delight and joy in thee as a perfect 
 mirror of spiritual beauty." And in viii. 1 the 
 same interpreter remarks upon the words, 
 '•Should Ifind thee without, I would kiss thee," 
 etc.: If I find thee without, ;. e., meet thee outside of 
 my mother's house, while 1 live in the foreign land 
 and the pilgrimage of this world (2 Cor. v. 0-"J), I 
 will kiss thee with the kiss of faith, love and 
 obedience, yea, give thee all conceiv.ible tokens 
 of my sincere and ardent love (Ps. ii. 12 ; Hos. 
 xiii. 2 ; Job xsxi. 27). And no one should put 
 me to shame, least of all they, to whom I appear 
 80 despicable, and who scoff at me when I boa^-t 
 of my communion with thee and declare tliy 
 praise (v. 7 ; Gen. xxxviii. 23, etc., etc.)." In 
 short, every possible tiling is here found in every 
 thing, and the simple meaning of the words is 
 almost every where sacrificed to the superabun- 
 dant fancy of a dogmatical and mystical interpre- 
 tation. 
 
 2. The proper antithesis to such excesses can 
 surely not lie in banishing with the profane-ero- 
 tic exegesis every thing sacred from the course 
 of the action here presented, and converting it, 
 .■va is done particularly by Hitziq and Renan, 
 into a succession of voluptuous scenes in the ha- 
 rem, without order or progress. This view be- 
 comes really repulsive, especially where it main- 
 tains tliat tlie poet brings Solomon's love for other 
 favorites than Shulamith before his readers or 
 spectators by a detailed description of his amor- 
 ous intercourse with them ; that he describes with 
 particularity by word and act how the king turns 
 wearied away from the coy Shulamith, to ''in- 
 demnify" himself with the other beauties of his 
 harem. HiTziG's e.tegesis on the passage vii. 
 2-11 based on (his understanding of it, even 
 lIoTTCHER indignantly pronounces one that 
 " culminates in the disgustingly vulgar," — a 
 judgment that might with equal reason be passed 
 upon Re.van's treatment of the same section. But 
 even in its more moderate form, as advanced by 
 Hekdeb, Umbr., Ew., Vaih., etc., the shepherd hy- 
 pothesis invariably involves much that is of doubt- 
 ful morality, by which the religious and ethical 
 character of the section before us is sensibly 
 damaged iu several points. Solomon's character 
 especially suffers more than is just, inasmuch as 
 there is heaped upon him besides the reproach 
 of polygamy with its excesses, that of an assidu- 
 ous attempt ,at seduction and a corrupting as- 
 sault upon female innocence, an actually adulter- 
 ous procedure therefore, — which especially in the 
 so-called "final assault," vii. 2-10, comes into 
 unseemly contrast with the alleged fidelity of the 
 maiden to a distant lover. Shulamith's charac- 
 ter, too, appears on this view less fair and great 
 than in ours; the extravagance, not to say the 
 braggart character of the description given of 
 her lover, v. 10-lfi, if this refers to a plain young 
 shepherd, is particularly offensive ; so is the ex- 
 cited pathos of the appeal which, according to 
 this view, is directed to a far distant lover to go 
 with her into the country, vii. 12 ff. Some of the 
 finest and loveliest traits in the picture of this 
 noble woman are wholly lost, especially the sym- 
 bolic significance of her dream, v. 2-7; the lovely 
 
 gentleness with which she seeks by her evasive 
 answer in vi. 2, 3, to excuse her absent hus- 
 band; the adroitness with which she interrupts 
 him (vii. 10) in order wholly to disarm and cap- 
 tivate him ; the genuine womanly naivete with 
 which, in her picture of the innocent joys of their 
 life together in the country, she inserts, viii. 2, a 
 hint of the instruction which she hopes to receive 
 from her lover, etc. 
 
 3. Tlie typical Messianic view avoids these 
 faults in a manner which really satisfies both the 
 aesthetic and the religious feeling. It through- 
 out gives due prominence alike to light and shade, 
 and while it sets forth in all its rigor the con- 
 flict of the lovely, chaste and pure child of na- 
 ture with the corrupt manners of the court and 
 her royal lover who shared them, it nevertheless 
 paves the way likewise for a truly blessed recon- 
 ciliation and removal of this conflict by showing 
 how Shulamith's urgency to return to her coun- 
 try home, lays the foundation for a change of 
 mind in her husband, and for satisfying her 
 boldest and highest wishes. The true power of 
 love in the humble maiden thus shines in its most 
 glorious light, and the lover who at first resisted is 
 drawn along by it; his resistance to the sanctity of 
 the marriage connection is overcome by the purity 
 of her feelings. — When put in a parallel with the 
 relation of Christ to His Church, this episode from 
 the story of the love of Solomon and Shulamith 
 certainly exhibits more disparity than resem- 
 blance. But it forms also just that section of the 
 story, in which the dissimilarity of the two rela- 
 tions must naturally come most strongly out, in 
 some parts of it almost to the obliteration of 
 every trace of similitude. And yet there remain 
 even here significant analogies enough to es- 
 tablish the essentially Messianic character of the 
 whole. Above all the glowing description of the 
 beauty of the lover, v. 10-16, which is only ap- 
 plicable to Solomon, not to any of his subjects, 
 points to the King of all kings as the heavenly 
 prototype of that king, as the possessor of an 
 eternal glory which far outshines the splendor of 
 the earthly Solomon. Mankind seeking after 
 God, and craving His salvation, the antitype in 
 the history of redemption of the earthly Shula- 
 mith, by its earnest and continued longing, wait- 
 ing, entreating and imploring, succeeds in mov- 
 ing this heavenly Solomon to give up his glory 
 and enter into its low estate, as she moves her 
 lord and king to the resolve to live with her in 
 her mother's house, and to partake with her of 
 all the simple country enjoyments and pleasures 
 which this house, with its surroundings, could 
 offer him and her. In this parallel there cer- 
 tainly lies a prophecy of the fulfilling of that 
 which is written, John xiv. 23. '• If a man love 
 me, he will keep my words ; and my Father will 
 love him, and we will come unto him and make 
 our abode with him;" likewise of 2 Cor. vi. 16 
 (Lev. xxvl. 11 ; Hebr. viii. 10). " I will dwell in 
 them, and walk in them ; and I will be their God, 
 and they shall be my people ;" as well as of Rev. 
 xxi. 3, "BpIioM. the tabernacle of God is with 
 men, and lli' will dwell with them, and they shall 
 be His people, and He himself, God with them, 
 shall be their Go<l." That significant phrase too, 
 " thou wouldst instruct me," viii. 2, points to th» 
 higher stage of divine revelation to which maa- 
 
124 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 V. 2— VIII. 4. 
 
 kind has been exalted under the New Teetament, 
 in the same manner as Isa. liv. 13 (John vi. 45): 
 "And all thy children shall be taught of the 
 Lord;" or as Jer. xxxi. 33 (Heb. viii. 10 ff.): 
 " I will put my law in their inward parts, and 
 write it in their hearts; — and they shall teach 
 no more every man his neighbor, saying. Know 
 the Lord; for they shall all know me from the 
 least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the 
 Lord," (comp. Joel iii. 1 f. ; Acts ii. Ifi f. ; 1 
 John ii. 27, etc.). — But certainly, — and herein 
 lies the exaltation of the New Testament Solo- 
 mon above the Old, and the superiority of the 
 New Testament covenant of grace, as compared 
 with the marriiige covenant between Solomon and 
 Shulamith — no express entreaty with flattering 
 words and persistent supplication was needed to 
 bring down the Lord of the New Covenant to His 
 own. Even if here and there in His parables He 
 assumes the air of the reluctant friend or the 
 unmercifuljudge. nnd thus seems to impose upon 
 His own people the duty of importunate begging 
 and crying (Luke xi. 5-8; xviii. 1-7), this is 
 purposely done that the contrast between human 
 hard-heartedness and His own infinitely merci- 
 ful and prevenientlove, may induce to a heartier 
 confidence in the latter. His becoming poor in 
 order to make us rich. His emptying and hum- 
 bling Himself to the form of a servant was pre- 
 venient throughout, with no merit or worthiness 
 on the part of man ; yea, so that He " wns found 
 of them that sought Him not, and was made mani- 
 fest unto them that asked not after Him " (Rom. 
 X. 20; Isa. Ixv. 1). Of His coming to His own 
 it may in truth be said: 
 
 " You do not need to labor. 
 
 Nor stnie^le day and night, 
 To IjrinK Him down from heaven, 
 
 By efforts of your might. 
 He comes of His own motion, 
 
 Is fnll of love and grace. 
 Your every grief and sorrow 
 
 He'll utterly efface." 
 
 And besides it is a real and substantial glory, 
 which He gives up and forsakes from love to the 
 poor children of men, not a mere seeming glory, 
 full of «in and vanity, like that of the earthly 
 
 Solomon. His love to the poor damsel of earth 
 is so utterly unselfish that He gives everything 
 and receives nothing, whilst she can givenothinf 
 but only receive (comp. St. Francis of Assisi 's 
 fable of the rich king Christ, and the fair damsel 
 "Poverty"). Nay, she does not even possess sis 
 her own those "excellent fruits, new and old," 
 with which she was to regale her gracious and 
 heavenly guest upon his entrance into her mother's 
 house. But it is her lover, and He alone, who 
 makes the seed of His divine word bring forth in 
 her good and worthy fruit, which endureth unto 
 everlasting life. It is He alone who makes her 
 rich in all the fruits of (he Spirit and of righteous- 
 ness (Phil. i. 11 ; Gal. v. 22, etc ). He alone dis- 
 tributes the precious wine of joy at the table of 
 His grace, by which He solemnly seals and con- 
 firms with His earthly bride, the covenant of His 
 love, established by His bloody sacrificial dealli 
 (comp. .John ii. 1-11). And while Shul.imith's en- 
 treaty of her royal lord and husband "0 that thou 
 wert likemy brother, who sucked the breasts of my 
 mother" (viii. 1 ) can only be made in the most re- 
 stricted sense, — while she, upon a calm and sober 
 view of the case at least, can expect no more than 
 a transient coming down of her lover into her pov- 
 erty and retirement, the heavenly bridegroom of 
 theChurch, on the contrary, comes not only once 
 and in the fullest truth, but for ever as our bro- 
 ther on the earth. He "is not ashamed to (-mH 
 all them, whom He redeems, His brethren" (Heli. 
 ii. 11 ; comp. John xx. 17). He is made partaker 
 of their earthly flesh and blood in order to raise 
 them from being slaves of sin and death to be 
 children of God and heirs of His eternal, heuveuly 
 blessedness (Heb. ii. 14, 15; John viii. 32-36). 
 — Thus set in the light of His deeds of redeeming 
 love, this section of the Canticles becomes a song 
 of praise to the grace of the Lord, which workelh 
 all in all, a hymn of glory to that inscrutable 
 mystery of the Divine mercy, of which Paul ex- 
 claims, Rom. xi. 34 f.: "For who hath known 
 the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His 
 counsellor? Or who hath first given to Him and 
 it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of 
 Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all 
 things; to whom be glory for ever. Amen." 
 
\ III. 5-14. THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 125 
 
 FIFTH SONG. 
 
 The return home and the triumph of the chaste love of the wife over the unchaste feelings of her royck 
 
 husband. 
 
 Chap. VIII. 5—14. 
 
 rm S T S C E N E: 
 
 The arrival home. 
 
 (Vers. 5-7.) 
 
 Country people (in the fields at Shunem). 
 
 5 Who' is this coniiug up out of the wilderness, 
 
 leaning upon her beloved ? 
 
 Solomon (entering arm in arm with Shulamith). 
 
 Under" this' apple tree I waked thee ;* 
 there^ thy* mother travailed' with thee, 
 there travailed she that bare thee. 
 
 Shulamith (familiarly pressing up close to her lover). 
 
 6 Place' me as a signet ring upon thy heart, 
 
 as a signet-ring upon thine arm. 
 For strong as death is love, 
 hard as SheoP is jealousy 
 Its flames'" are flames of fire, 
 a blaze of Jehovah." 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 * [WiCL.: The voice of the synagogue, of the church. Mat.: The synagogue speaking of the church.] 
 
 - [WicL. : The voice of Christ to the synagogue, of the holy cross. Under an apple tree I reared thee. Mat.: The voice 
 of tlie spouse before the spousess. Gov., M.at.: I am the same that waked thee up among the apple trees. Bi3H. : I waked 
 tliee up among, etc. Oenev.: I raised thee up under an [Enq. Ver.: thej apple tree.] 
 
 ■^ n-i^nn deictic: " this apple tree." 
 
 * We read •^j'lTTIlj;. 
 
 * 7\3^ we take to be synonymous with Qtl' as in Jer. xviii. 2 ; 2 King^ xxiii. 8, etc. 
 
 TT T 
 
 Here too we read the fem. suf. Ij^X ITH/Sn and at the end of the verse ^Hl /^ (or with the Sept., VtjLO., Sra. 
 
 " iZVi here as well as in Ps. vii. 15 is taken by Ibn Ezra and HlTzm in the sense of '* conceiving " [so Gknev.; coc- 
 
 eeived] ; but the meaning of writhing with pain, travailing {itBivttv) is more obvious and better confirmed by 73n, 0**7311. 
 
 .Vt all events, we must reject Meier's explanation: "there thy mother betrothed thee" (in like manner Scrdltens, .J. D. 
 MicHASLid, Magnus) [so too Percy, Good, Williams, Burrowes and others] ; for even if the sense of pledging or betrothing 
 
 were certainly established for the Piel of 73n. it would still require ''? to mr, for its more exact limitation. The VuLC. 
 
 (comipta est^vinlntt e^O with still less propriety has tsiken 7311 in the sense of "corrupting" (in like manner Aqdila: 
 iieifrflapTj). Ctn the contrary, the Sept. correctly : exet ui^iirritriv ae ij ixrjTrjp gov. [Wicl.: there shamed is thy mother, there 
 dp; filed is she that gat thee. Bow.: "there thy mother was corrupted, there she was deflowered that bare thee;" to which is 
 appended the note: "under the apple tree I raised thee up; tliat is. that Christ redeemed the Gentiles at the foot of the 
 cross, where the synagogue of the Jews (the mother church) was corrupted by their denying HiM and crucifying Uim."l 
 
 8 [Mat.: The church speaking to Christ.] 
 
 » [ WiCL., Cov., Max., Cran.. Bish., Dow.: hell. Genev., Enq. Ver.: the grave.] 
 
 1" [Wicl., Dow.: lamps. Other English versions : coals.] 
 
 " In (Tn^niiy the Masorah has connected the genitive n' vrith the construct, as in ri'SaSO Jer. ii.31, andasinpro- 
 T :'■■'.': ~ T T : ■■ : - 
 
 per names compounded with H" or in" (the abbreviation of niH"). The recension of Ben Asher retains this mode of writing 
 
 the expression as a compound, while that of Ben Naputau separates the words. Thei^Adyes auj^i of theSEPTUAOiNT isbased 
 
 iipptn this contraction into one word. Ewald and Hitzio needlessly conjecture that the original reading was HTl^nSty 
 
 n" niin /ty "its flames are flames of God." The analogy of the preceding sentences rather requires, as Weissbach cor- 
 
 T ~: : ~ 
 
 rertly observes, the giving of two predicates to the single subject n'SE'l. It is, therefore, properly to be translated " its 
 
 dames are flames of fire, they are a blaze of God." On the etymology of jl^hbt!' as a compound of ^K and n^n'? compare 
 
 Weissbach in loc. [The ty is servile, such as marks the Shaphel species in Coalb. and SvR. See Oesen. and FuEEST's Leii- 
 OII3. Cov., Mat.: a vei-j* flame of the Lord. Genev.: a vehement flame. Enq. Ver.: a most vehement flame.] 
 
126 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. VIU. 6-14. 
 
 7 Many waters cannot 
 
 quench love, 
 
 and rivers shall not wash' it away. 
 
 If a man were to give 
 
 all the wealth of his house for love, 
 
 he would be utterly contemned. 
 
 SECOND SCENE: 
 
 Shulamith with her lover (in the circle of her friends.) 
 
 (Vers. 8-14.) 
 Shulamith. 
 
 8 A^ sister we have, little 
 
 and she has no breasts ; 
 
 what shall we do for' our sister 
 
 in the day that she shall be spoken for?* 
 
 Shulamith's Brothers. 
 
 9 If ^ she be a wall, 
 
 we will build upon her a silver castle ; 
 
 but if she be a door, 
 
 we will stop her up with a cedar board. 
 
 Shulamith. 
 
 10 I* was a wall 
 
 and my breasts like towers. 
 Then was I in his eyes 
 as one that finds peace. — 
 
 11 Solomon' has* a vineyard in Baal-hamon. 
 
 He committed the vineyard to the keepers, 
 each was to bring for its fruit 
 a thousand of silver. 
 
 12 My' vineyard, my own," is before me ; 
 
 the thousand is thine, Solomon, 
 
 and two hundred for the keepers of its fruit. 
 
 Solomon. 
 
 13 Thou that dwellest in the gardens, 
 
 companions are listening for thy voice ; 
 let me hear it. 
 
 1 *1EDE' is neither " to deluge " (Ewald), nor " overflow " (Delitzsch, Hengstenberq), nor *' choke up " with sediait^nt 
 
 (RosENM.), but " wash away, sweep away," as is shown by Jol) xiv. 19 ; comp. Isa. xxviii. 17 f.; Ezek. xvi. 9. 
 
 2 fWlCL.: The voice of Christ to the lineage of holy church. Mat.: Christ speaking of the churcli to the synagociu. 
 Note in Geneva Bible: The Jewish church speuketh this of the church of the Gentiles. Gov., Mat.: When our love is i.il<l 
 our young sister, whose breaats are not yet grown, what shall we do unto her 't] 
 
 3 On 7 nC'^5~nD "what shall we do in respect to." etc., comp. 1 Sam. x. 2; also Gen. xxvii. 37. 
 
 ^ 3 "13T i^ neither "to speak to any one," nor "to speak about any one," whether in a good or a bad sense (Do:.- 
 DERL., Weissb.), but simply and only " to speak for any cue " ( 3 prep, of the end or aim, as in 7 b), i. c, to sue for any 
 
 one, to woo a maid (1 Sam. xxv. 39). 
 
 6 [Mat.: The answer of Christ for the church.] 
 
 6 [WicL.: The voice of the church answering. Mat.: The church answereth to the synagogue. Gov., Mat.; If 1 be 
 a wall and my bre<ists like towers, then am 1 as one that hath found favor in his sight.] 
 
 ' [WicL.; The synagogue of the church saith. Vine she was to peaceable in her that hath peoples; she took it to liio 
 keepers; a man taketh away for the fruit of it, a thou.sand silver plates. Dow.: The peaceable had a vineyard in tb:it 
 which hath people. Mat. : The synagogue speaking to the church.] 
 
 8 rlD7^7 7y*T\ 0*^3 literally "a vineyard became Solomon's," i.e., he has it now (comp. Ps. ciix. 56, 83; aI?o 
 
 : ' T T 
 Ezek. xvi. 8), not, he had it once, as though Solomon were here spoken of as a ruler long since dead (Ewalb, Hitzio, lic. ,. 
 
 9 [WicL.: Christ to the church .saith. Mat,: 'J'hc voice of Christ. Gov., Mat.: But my vineyard, O Solomon. givMti 
 thee a tliousand, and two hundred to the keepers of the fruit. Thou that dwellest in the gardens, let me hear thy 
 voice, that my companions may he:irken to the s;ime.] 
 
 to On the diftcrent explanations of *7E? ^0*^3 see on i. 6, p. 56. 
 
Vm. 5-14. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 127 
 
 Shulamith (singing). 
 
 14 Flee," my beloved, 
 
 and be like a gazelle, 
 
 or a young hart 
 
 upon mountains of spices.' 
 
 1 [WiCL., Mat.; The voice of the church to Christ. WicL.: Flee thou, my love ; be thou likened to a capret and to 
 an hart, calf of harts, upon the mountains of sweet spices. Gov., Mat.: O get thee away, my love, as a roe or a young 
 hart unto the sweet smelling mountains. The end of the Ballet of Ballets of Solomon, called in Latin Canticum Qin- 
 Hcorwn.'l 
 
 » Od die general usage of D'DC'3 comp. iv. 14; v. 13; vi. 2. 
 
 EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 1. Some of the more recent interpreters dis- 
 member this last act, by attaching part of it to the 
 preceding section, and regarding the remainder 
 as an appendix or epilogue to the whole. Thus 
 Uhbreit extends the last act of the piece to viii. 
 7, which is then followed by viii. 8-12 as a first 
 appendix, " The shrewd old brothers and the 
 naively jesting sister ;" and viii. 13, 14 as a second 
 appendix, "The unlucky trip to the country." 
 In like manner Renan, who regards the fifth act 
 as ending with viii. 7, and the remaining seven 
 verses as forming an epilogue. On the contrary 
 V. Hi)F.w\NN connects vers. 5-12 with his last 
 main division of the whole (vi. 1 — viii. 12), and 
 considers the last two verses only, vers. 13, 14, 
 as an appendix. — -DiiPKE and Magnus push the 
 process of dismemberment to the greatest length, 
 the former of whom divides this section into three 
 separate songs (5-7; 8-12; 13, 14). The latter 
 makes it consist of four small pieces, a lyric 
 poem: "The parting" (5-7), two dramatic epi- 
 grams (8-10 and 11, 12), and a fragment with sev- 
 eral glosses (13, 14). — A correct apprehension 
 of the unity of this section as one whole, sepa- 
 rated from the preceding by the solemn introduc- 
 tory formula Ul HSt '0 "Who is this," etc., is 
 found in Ewald, Hitz., Del., Hengstenb., Vaih., 
 BoTTCHER, Weissb. Only some of these, espe- 
 cially the last named, go too far in their asser- 
 tion of the compactness and continuity of the 
 passage, since they fail to recognize the differ- 
 ence between the two scenes, which it unmistaka- 
 bly contains. For in vers. 5-7 there is evidently 
 represented a return home, and iu vers. 8 ff. a 
 transaction after arriving home. The former of 
 these paragraphs exhibit the principiil couple of 
 the piece as still travelling, although quite near 
 the end of their journey. The latter depicts 
 their acts and doings at home in the circle of 
 Shulamith's family, where merry jesis and peace- 
 ful enjoyment, reign. The two scenes of such 
 different character are therefore related exactly 
 as in the third act; only there tlie excited tumult 
 of the capital and the noisy bustle of the royal 
 palace on Zion resounding with luxurious festi- 
 vities, formed tlie background of the action, 
 wliilst here an innocent rural seclusion and sim- 
 plicity, a cheerful, quiet life under apple trees, 
 in gardens, and on mountains fragrant willi 
 spices, is depicted as a bright and peaceful ter- 
 mination of the whole matter. 
 
 2. Witlt respect to the time and place of the 
 action, no well grounded doubt can exist, on tlie 
 
 supposition that the contents and meaning of the 
 preceding act have been correctly understood. 
 Solomon must have yielded to the urgent entrea- 
 ties of his beloved, and immediately arranged a 
 journey to her home and started with her, so 
 that at the utmost there can only be an interval 
 of three or four days between this and the fore- 
 going act. Various indications suggest Shunem, 
 the home of Shulamith, as the goal toward which 
 the loving pair are journeying, and consequently 
 as the locality of this act; especially the intro- 
 ductory passage, ver. 5, rightly understood and 
 interpreted, and also the mention of Shulamith's 
 little sister, ver. 8 f., her "abiding in the gar- 
 dens," ver. 13, as well as the " mountains of 
 spices" or "mountains of balm," ver. 14, which 
 remind us of ii. 17. — Partly on account of the in- 
 troductory words, which are identical with iii. 6, 
 " Who is this coming up out of the wilderness?" 
 partly on account of the masc. suffixes in 
 
 ymiU', px -jn^an, etc (according to the Ma- 
 soretic punctuation), which appear to show that 
 the passage refers not to Shulamith's but to Solo- 
 mon's birth-place, Weissbach (as also Dopke, 
 etc., before him) explains and assumes the royal 
 j palace on Zion to be the place of this action; 
 vers. 5 ff. describe the arrival of the lovers there 
 from the royal gardens (or more exactly from the 
 "path or pasture ground of the roy.al flocks, 
 which is to be sought between Zion and the 
 king's gardens") ; the rest of the action is then 
 performed on Zion itself But the correctness 
 of the Masoretic reading in that passage is 
 more than doubtful (see just below, No. 3) ; 
 and it is only by the greatest forcing that all 
 that follows, especially vers. 8 f., 11 ff. and ver. 
 13, can be brought into harmony with this trans- 
 fer of the scene to Jerusalem, as is sufiicienlly 
 shown by the strange combinations of Wkissback 
 with respect to the circumstances, under which 
 Bathsheba had borne Solomon 'under an apple 
 tree " and the way that Shulamith had " waked " 
 the king on this his native spot, comp. on ver. 
 5 b. — The majority of recent interpreters are 
 agreed with us in assuming Shunem to be 
 the place of the action, only the advocates 
 of the shepherd hypothesis, as might be expected, 
 make not Solomon, but the shepherd and Shula- 
 mith arrive there and transact what follows; — 
 a view, which is already sufiiciently reftited by 
 ver. 12 where Solomon is evidently addressed as 
 present (see in he. as well as on ver. 13), and 
 which has as little foundation as Vaihingek's 
 assertion that vers. 5-7 is performed at the house 
 of Shul.amith's mothei", and vers. 8 ff. "on the 
 eastern slope of little Mt. Hermon," where her 
 
128 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 VIII. 5-14. 
 
 brothers may have had their pasture ground. — 
 When Dllitzsch, whose view of the position and 
 import of this act is in every other respect cor- 
 rect and appropriate, finds represented merely 
 "a visit of SUulamith with her husband to her 
 home," we must remark on the contrary that the 
 entreaties and desires of Shulamith at the close 
 of the preceding act certainly looked to more 
 than a mere transient stay at her home, and that 
 this was demanded by the whole state of the 
 case.* It was only in an actual settlement both 
 of herself and of her husband in her home that : 
 alie could find the needed guarantee of an undis- 
 turbed continuance of her relation to him of cor- 
 dial and conjugal love. 
 
 u. FiusT Scene. The ARKtv.\L, veks. 5-7. 
 Ver. 5. Who is this coining up out of the 
 vtrilderness ? So asked iii. 6 the •• daughters of 
 .Jerusalem," the chorus of ladies of the court, who 
 look part in the action until towards the end of 
 the preceding act. This chorus could only have 
 come to Shuliimiih's home in company with the 
 royal pair; and then the question before us would 
 be insupposable in their mouthf (vs. Ren.w, 
 etc.). EwALD, BoTTCHEii, HiTzio, Delitzsch, etc. 
 therefore correctly assume the speakers to be 
 "shepherds," or country people, or "inhabitants 
 of the district," whilst Umbkeit and Meier arbi- 
 trarily suppose the question to be put by the poet 
 himself; Weissb. by courtiers on Zion, RosENM.by 
 citizens of Jerusalem. — 137? '''■• "place to which 
 cattle are driven, pasture ground" (in opposition 
 to cultivated land, comp. Is.i. xxxii. 15; Joel i. 
 19; Ps. Ixv. 13) is here used in a different sense 
 from iii. (i where it referred to the barren tracts 
 north and east of Jerusalem. It is here a desig- 
 nation of the plain of E.'^draelon or Merj ibn 
 'Amir, lying southward from Shunem to Jczreel, 
 which is still for the most part untitled and 
 traversed by Bedouins (Robinson, Pal. II. 3J4, 
 'Ad'Z). For through this plain the travellers 
 coming from the capital must ultimately pass.— 
 Leaning upon her beloved. The long jour- 
 ney, though she may have gut over part of it in 
 her sedan, has wearied the delicate lady who 
 therefore supports herself upon the arm of her 
 husband. Failing to recognize this situation 
 io clear in itself and so easily conceivable, the 
 old translators have variously altered the sense 
 of the passage. In this way we may explain 
 the glosses to be found in the text of the 
 Sept. and Vclg., XtT^evimpdia/iei'!/ (^r\113nO) 
 and dcUciis affluens (^npj3n"D), which are 
 in both cases followed again by the correct 
 translation of rnn-'?^^ np3TjT:.— Under this 
 apple tree I waked thee. The pointing 
 
 * [The transparent absurdity of this hypothesis of Soloninn 
 going to Shunem not merely for a visit but to reside, involv- 
 ing the abandonment of his capital and the neglect of the 
 alfairs of government, renders any scheme of the bool£ un- 
 tenable of which it is a necessary part. — Tr.] 
 
 t i ZiicKLER lias repeatedly argued before that the recur- 
 rence of the same language implies the same speaker and the 
 sam'3 subject : see his comment on iv. 1 ; iv. 6; vi. 9; vi. 10 
 and several times elsewhere. \V*h.atever force there is in this 
 foiisideration makes against the locality and the speakers 
 that ho liere assumes. The wilderness here spoken of should 
 not without some obvious necessity be regarded as different 
 from that in iii. li. And that the queen appears on foot lean- 
 ing on her royal husband's arm is surely not suggestive of 
 the termioatioD of a long and wearisome journey. — Te.] 
 
 ■ynillj.', like that of the following verb implies 
 that Solomon is the person addressed and that 
 Shulamith is the speaker, but the consonants 
 admit also of the reverse, and the old Syriao 
 version seems actually to have read fern, suffixes. 
 Most of the older as well os of the more recent 
 interpreters, following the Masorotic text con- 
 ceive Shulamith to be the speaker, whilst Hitzig, 
 BoTTCHER (w^ho 10 be sure assigns a part of the 
 verse to Shulamith's mother), Delitzsch, Reb- 
 enst., Sanuers, e(c. make her lover speak. In 
 favor of the latter assumption it may be urged 
 1) that if Solomon were the person addressed, 
 the absurd sense would result of his birth under 
 an apple tree — a sense which is certainly not 
 made any more tolerable by Weissbach's sup- 
 position of a " temporary sojourn of Bathsheba 
 in the royal gardens witli a view to her confine- 
 ment; " li) that in case the young shepherd were 
 addressed the entire absence of any mention of 
 his mother in what precedes, would be somewhat 
 surprising and is not relieved by the parallels 
 adduced by Ewald Gen. xxxv. 48, Donati, vil. 
 I'irg. c. 1, etc. ; 3) that vers. 6, 7 confessedly spo- 
 ken by Shulamith would require to be more 
 closely connected with ver. 6 b than they actual- 
 ly are, in case ver. 5 A was also spoken by her : 
 4) that the expression " travail " or " conceive " 
 
 (73n) seems fitter in themoulh of a man than 
 of a woman, in like manner as I'mili' when 
 correctly explained only appears appropriate in 
 the mouth of the lover. For this expression, 
 which we therefore read ^'H'^-U'i as is shown 
 I by its likeness to n"|i'i7 vei-. 4, is not to be un- 
 j derstood of a literal awakening out of sleep 
 (Ewald, Heiligst., Hitziq, Vaih. <■(<;.) but of 
 : waking a previously slumbering affection, the 
 j stirring up of love. "I waked thee" is here 
 ! equivalent to "I excited thy love, I won ihy 
 I heart. " (DoPKE, Del., Hexgstenb. etc.). The 
 circumstance, to which Solomon here alludes, is 
 manifestly identical with that described by 
 i Shulamith ii. 8 tf. We must, therefore, imagine 
 ; the apple tree lobe immediately adjoining the 
 ' house of Shulamith's mother, and probably 
 j shading one of its windows ; the following stale- 
 ment is thus too more easily explained. — There 
 thy mother travailed -with thee, there 
 travailed she that bare thee. " There," i. e. 
 not precisely under the apjde tree as though the 
 birth had taken place in the open air (Dopke), 
 I but more indefinitely, there, where that apple 
 tree stands, in the dwelling shaded by it. 
 I Ver. (j. Place me as a signet-ring apon 
 thy heart. This is manifestly said by Shula- 
 Diiih in ardently loving response to what her 
 lover h.ad said to her, by which she had been re- 
 minded of the commencement of her relation to 
 him. She thereupon presses familiarly and 
 closely to him, illusli-ating the meaning of her 
 words by a corresponding action. DHin the seal 
 or signet-ring (Gen. xxxviii. 18) is liere as in 
 Jer. xxii. 21, and Hag ii 2.'5 (which latter pas- 
 sage is probably an imitation of that before us) a 
 symbol of close inseparable conned ion and most 
 fiithful preservation. Reference is had to the 
 custom attested by Gen. he. cit. of wearing sig- 
 net-rim's on a string upon the breast as well ai 
 
VIII. 5-14. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 12« 
 
 to the like custom of binding them to the arm or 
 right hand (see Jer. ioc. cit., Eoclua. xlix. 11); 
 not to the use of the signet-ring for sealing, as 
 though the sense were "press me closely to thy 
 breast and in thy arms " (HiTZio), and quite 
 as little to the impression taken from the seal 
 (Hekuer, Dopke), or to an elegantly engraved 
 bracelet (Weissb), or even to the high priest's 
 breastplate (GoLZ, Hahn, etc.) For strong as 
 death is love, hard as Sheol is jealousy. 
 The request that he v^ould keep her firmly 
 and faithfully as his inalienable possession is 
 here based by Shulamith on a reference to the 
 death-vanquishing power and might of her love, 
 or rather of love (n3nx absolutely), of true 
 love in general. "The adjectives 7\]V and JlE'p 
 stand together also in Gen. xlix. 7 to designate 
 the passionate anger and fiery zeal of Simeon 
 and Levi as one which was too strong and invin- 
 cible to be repressed. As our poet probably (?) 
 had this passage in mind, he doubtless designed 
 nij? to be understood here too of the all-con- 
 quering power and DB'p (literally hard, resist- 
 ing all impressions) of the constancy of love 
 which baffles every attempt to suppress or to ex- 
 tirpate it. The comparisons also tend to the 
 same conclusion; for death overcomes all things 
 and the nether world (hell, sheol) cannot be sub- 
 dued, comp. Job vii. 9 ; Wiad. ii. 1 ; Matt. xvi. 18 ; 
 1 Cor. XV. 55." Thus Weissbach, who is sub- 
 stantially correct, only he goes too far perhaps, 
 in regarding Gen. xlix. 7 as the model, which 
 the poet designedly follows in this passage. On 
 riKJp zeal, zealous love, comp. Prov. vi. 34 ; 
 xxvii. 4, where however the expression is used 
 in a bad sense of love that has cooled, jealousy. 
 In this passage it intensifies the idea of love, just 
 as "death" and " hell " stand to each other in 
 the relation of climax, and as "strong" (i. e. 
 invincible) indicates a lower degree of the pas- 
 sion of love than "hard, unyielding " [i. e. inex- 
 orable, not to be appeased, like the realm of death, 
 which never gives up anything that it possesses). 
 Comp. HiTziQ in loc. — Its flames are flames 
 of fire, a blaze of Jehovah. On D'St?"! 
 ''sparks, rays, flames," comp. Job t. 7 0?^^ 'ji 
 "sons of the flame," i. e. sparks of fire); Ps. 
 Ixxvi. 4 ("flashes" or "sparks of the bow," 
 i. e. arrows); Deut. xxxii. 24; Hab. iii. 5, etc. 
 Love or rather its intenser synonym HXJp (comp. 
 Zeph. i. 18), appears here as a brightly blazing 
 fire, which sends forth a multitude of sparks or 
 flames into the hearts of men and thus verifies 
 its invincible power and its inextinguishable in- 
 tensity. And this quality belongs to it because 
 it is not natural fire, but a "blaze of Jehovah," 
 a flame kindled and sustained by God Himself 
 Observe that the name of God is mentioned only 
 in this one passage of the Song, which must, 
 however, prove to be just the radiant apex in 
 the development of its doctrinal and ethical 
 contents (comp. Doot. and Eth. No. 2). As par- 
 allels to this verse may be adduced : Motanebbi 
 (edit. V. Hammer) p. 3: 
 
 Iq the heart of the lover flames the blaze of deaire 
 Fiercer than the flames of hell, which are but ice in compa- 
 riaou. 
 
 38 
 
 Also Anacreon : " vtK<f 6e Koi at^Tjpdv Kal TrCi/j." 
 Likewise Theocritus, Jd. 2, 133. 
 
 . epoic 6' apa K(Xi Aiiraptou 
 
 IIoAAaKtf 'At^ato'Toto trcAas (^Aoycpwrepov al9*u 
 
 And many other expressions of Arabic, Greek 
 and Roman poets. See Magnus in loc. 
 
 Ver. 7. Many 'waters cannot quench love, 
 and rivers shall not wash it avray. It is hers 
 shown more particularly in what respect love is 
 a divine flame, a fire greater than any kindled 
 by a human hand, comp. 1 Kin. xviii. 38. To 
 the figure of a blazing fire was readily added 
 that of the inability of floods of water to extin- 
 guish this fire, and therefore in explanation of 
 this new figure we need neither refer (as HiTzia 
 doesj to Isa. xliii. 16, a passage which is differ- 
 ent in every respect, nor (with Vaihinqer and 
 others) explain the floods of water of the entice- 
 ments of Solomon in particular, by which hft 
 would have turned Shulamith away from her 
 lover. The " rivers " (niinj) do not form :> 
 climax to the "many waters," as Holemann 
 supposes (see e. g. on the contrary Jon. ii. 3) ; 
 but in the latter case the thing chiefly regarded 
 is the great mass of the element hostile to fire 
 and in the former its rapidity and violence. — 
 If a man were to give all the wealth of his 
 bouse for love, i. e. with the view of exciting 
 love and producing it artificially where it does 
 not exist. Here we might really see something 
 to favor the shepherd hypothesis, if a statement 
 of the impossibility of purchasing true love wai 
 not appropriate in the mouth of Shulamith on our 
 assumption likewise. But that this is the case, may 
 be learned from the contrast between Shulamith's 
 genuine, invincibly f trong love for Solomon and 
 the mere semblance of love which had previously 
 subsisted between this king and his other wives ; 
 comp. the sentence referring to this very con- 
 trast, ii. 7 ; iii. 5 ; viii. 4, by which Shulamith 
 represents to the ladies of the court how im- 
 possible it was for them by means of their amor- 
 ous arts really to gain the king's heart (see on 
 ii. 7, p. 63). On the expression comp. Num. 
 xxii. 18; Prov. vi. 31, which latter passage was 
 probably drawn from this. On !3'N "a man, 
 any one," comp. Ex. xvi. 29. That it is her* 
 an indefinite subject seems the more certain from 
 the fact that in the apodosis also a universal 
 statement follows with an impersonal form of the 
 
 verb (17 \%Vy). "Vaihinoer, Holem., etc., there- 
 fore translate without good reason "If soma 
 man," etc. — He would be utterly con- 
 temned; lit., "contemning they would contemn 
 him." The impersonal plural expresses, as iu 
 the similar passage Prov. vi. 30, the universal 
 sentiment not merely that of those in particular 
 who were solicited by false love and with money. 
 The repetition of the verb by means of the In- 
 fin. absol. expresses the very high degree of con- 
 tempt, which such an one as is here spoken of 
 would encounter. 
 
 4. Second Scene. — a. Shulamith's little sis- 
 ter, vers. 8-10. Weissbach is alone in attempting 
 to point out an intimate connection between thes« 
 verses and the preceding. He says: "What 
 was uttered ver. 7 c, rf as a universal proposition 
 
MO 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 VIII. 5-14. 
 
 (diz. that money and property have no value as 
 compared with love) is now vers. 8, 9 condition- 
 ally illustrated in the sister who is still young 
 and destitute of charms, whilst Shulamith rep- 
 resents herself, ver. 10, as the antithesis." As 
 this view can only be based on a very artificial 
 interpretation of vers. 8, 9, we shall have to 
 abide by the looser connection maintained, e. g., 
 by Delitzsch and H.\h.n. They suppose that 
 the sense expressed by Shulamith, vers. 6, 7, of 
 the high happiness which she possesses and en- 
 joys in her love for the king, reminded her of 
 her young sister who was still debarred from 
 such loving enjoyment, and she accordingly ex- 
 presses her solicitude for her future conduct and 
 fortunes. Upon this assumption the unmistaka- 
 ble dramatic progress receives due acknowledg- 
 ment without the sundering of all connection 
 between the new scene which begins here and 
 that which preceded it, as is the case, c. g.. in 
 Umbreit's view, according to which vers. 6, 7 
 constitute th& closing sentiment of the drama 
 (spoken by the poet himself) and vers. 8-14 a 
 twofold supplement to it. So in thesimilarviewsof 
 Ren.\.n, Dopke. M.\gnus (comp. above No. 1) and 
 no less so finally on the assumption of Doder- 
 LEiN, Ew.iLD, Heiligstedt, Meier and Rocke, 
 that Shulamith narrates in vers. 8, 9 what had 
 formerly been said by the brothers in relation to 
 her little sister. In opposition to this, latter 
 opinion, according to which vers. 8, 9 are to be 
 regarded as recitative, and Shulamith's own 
 words do not begin again until ver. 10, Delitzsch 
 correctly urges : "It would be vain to appeal to 
 iii. 2 : v. 3 to prove the possibility of this view : 
 in both those passages the introduction of the 
 language of another without any formal indica- 
 tion of the fact, occurs in the course of a narra- 
 tive, whilst viii. 8 f. is only converted into a narr.a- 
 tive by the "frittrex aliquandn dixerunf " (Heilig- 
 stedt) understood. There is nothing to justify 
 such an insertion. The only seeming necessity 
 for it might be found invi. 9, according to which 
 Shulamith herself appears to be the "little sis- 
 ter." Itis not, however, said in vi. 9 that "Shula- 
 mith was the only daughter of her mother, but 
 only that her mother did not possess or know 
 her equal." (comp. in loc). HiTZiG, too, em- 
 phatically opposes understanding the passage as 
 a narration, but assumes that both verses, ver. 9, 
 as well as ver. 8, were spoken by Shulamith's 
 brothers, which is contrary to the rel.ation of the 
 two verses as question and answer. Neverthe- 
 less this assumption, shared also by Vaihinoer., 
 especially if one brother is supposed to speak in 
 ver. 8, and tlie other in ver. 9, would be far more 
 tolerable than Bottchers view, which makes 
 Shulamith's mother put the question in ver. 8, 
 and one of her sons answer it in ver. 9; or than 
 the opinion of He.ngstenbeko that both vers. 8 
 and 9 were spoken by Solomon ; or than the view 
 of St,\rke. and of many of the older interpreters, 
 that ver. 8 belongs to Shulamith, and ver. 9 to 
 Solomon. 
 
 Ver. 8. W^e have a sLster, little, and 
 she has (as yet) no breasts. On ]£0p "lit- 
 tle" in the sense of young, belonging to the 
 period of childhood, comp. (Jen. ix. Ii4 ; xxvii. 
 15 ; 1 Kings iii. 7 : and in relation to the breasts 
 as the criterion of virgin maturity, Ezek. xvi. 7. — 
 
 'What shall we do .... in the day that 
 she shall be spoken for? The day that a 
 maiden is sued for, is when she becomes of u 
 marriageable age. The suit was addressed in 
 the first instance to the father of the damsel, or 
 to her brothers, not directly to herself (Gen. xxxiv. 
 11, lo; .xxiv. 50. etc.). 
 
 Ver. 9. If she be a Tvall, we will build up- 
 on her a silver castle ; but if she be a 
 door, w^e w^ill stop her up -with a cedar 
 board. Delitzsch correctly paraphrases these 
 words : " If she opposes a firm and successful 
 resistance to all immoral suggestions, we will 
 build on her, as on a solid wall, a castle of sil- 
 ver, i. f., we will bestow upon her the freedom 
 and honor due to her virgin purity and stead- 
 fastness, so that she m.ay shine forth in the land 
 like a stately castle on a lofty wall which is seen 
 far and wide. But if she is a door, ;'. >-., open 
 and accessible to the arts of seduction, we will 
 block her up with cedar boards, (. e., watch her 
 so that she cannot be approached by any sedu- 
 cer, nor any seducer approached by her." — A» 
 soon as we suppose the brothers to give this an- 
 swer respecting their younger sister, it loses Iho 
 strange or even ofl'ensive appearance which its 
 figures would certainly have in the mouth of 
 Siiulamith. Then, too, we shall not be compelled 
 to seek for acloser connection between this semi- 
 ment and the main action of the poem (as the r.il- 
 vocates of the shepherd hypothesis do), but can 
 abide by the simple assumption that what is hers 
 said, as in general, all from ver. 8 onward, is 
 simply designed to form a cheerful and sportive 
 lermination of the whole matter. Lenst of ali 
 need we take refuge in the over-refined view of 
 Weissbach that ver. 9 is a continuation of the 
 language of Shulamith, who supposes two ques- 
 tions to be put to her by certain men respecting 
 her sister when marriageable, and immediately 
 replies to them both — so that the sentences run 
 thus: 
 
 .... What sh.all we do then in respect to our 
 sister when they ask about her: 
 [a) " Is she a wall '?" 
 Ans. We will build a little silver wall around 
 her (?); 
 
 (h) " Is she a door?" 
 Ans. We will construct around her (?) a ce- 
 dar frame (?) — . 
 As to tlie particulars observe further: The 
 wall nrDin is not designed to set forth the ide." 
 of lofty stature (iirDIp vii. 8). or the impossibility 
 of being scaled, but simply that of the firm re- 
 sistance which checks the furtlier advance of Ibes 
 (HiTziG correctly, vs. Weissbacu). — The "castle 
 of silver " ^D3 ri^'O to be built on the wall is, 
 of course, only to be conceived of as a small but 
 strong castle, tower or bulwark (comp. nTD in 
 Num. xxxi. 10; Ezek. xxv. 4, etc.). or if any pre- 
 fer as a "pinnacle" or " battlement crowning the 
 wall" (HiTziG, Heiligstedt, Magn., Meier, 
 HoLEM. — comp. the Sept. : F-aXii<;). — not as a 
 "palace" (Goltz) [so Eng. Ver.] or "habita- 
 tion'' (IIengstenberg). or "court-yard" (Bott- 
 CHER), or "low fence" (Weissbach). The n;ean- 
 ing of the figure is admirably illustrated by Hit- 
 ziG by a reference to our provprbial form of 
 speech, "He(or she) deserves tobeset in golo." 
 
yiii. 5ii"i 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 131 
 
 He also not inappropriately suggests an allusion 
 to the way that oriental ladies to this day decorate 
 their head-dress witli strings of silver coins or 
 with horn-like ornaments of embossed silver and 
 the like (comp. on iv. 4 above). On the con- 
 trary the sense which Vaihinger would attribute 
 to the expression is undemonsti-yblc and in bad 
 taste: "we will seek to obtain a large dowry by 
 her."' And Weissbach's explanation is perfectly 
 absurd and irifliug: "we will carry up a silver 
 wall around her, who needs no such protection." 
 — The door presents a fitting contrast to the wall, 
 becnuse it is easily opened and admits everything 
 through it; an expressive emblem of unchastity 
 which is open to every amorous seduction. 
 " Stopping up "' or "blocking" (Hitzic; "bar- 
 ricading") this door with a "cedar board" natu- 
 rally means a determined warding oif of those 
 seductive influences, and rendering all dissolute- 
 ness impossible by the most sedulous care. By 
 this is not to be understood a " fore-door or ves- 
 tibule door in from- of the proper door" (Hi'g), 
 nor a "cedar post" (Weissb.), nor a tablet to 
 be put on the door as an ornament (IIolem.), but 
 quite certainly a plank or board to be put against 
 the door on the inside to prevent it from turning 
 and opening. This board was to be of cedar, 
 because this wood is a particularly strong build- 
 ing material and not liable to rot.* 
 
 Ver. 10. I was a wall and my breasts like 
 tOTVers. This is evidently said by .Shulamith, 
 whose thoughts were turned back to her own 
 maiden state by her brothers' faithful care shown 
 for the honor and purity of her l;ttle sister. 
 Looking back up>n this tiioe, which now lies in 
 the past, she can joyfully affirm that all seduction 
 recoiled from her as from a solid wall, and that 
 no one had dared to venture an assault upon her 
 
 * fTHRUPP quotes in opposition to the view above given 
 of this verse tiie language of Renan : '* TJiis interpretation 
 is pressed by serious diSicuities. I do not insist on its vapid 
 and feeble character. We may admit contrary to all proij>i.- 
 bility, that the silver battlements of which the brothers 
 speak might denote a sort of ornament as a recompense of 
 the young girl's virtue, it will still remain a tmit whose 
 signification is an enigma. If the brothers wish to punish 
 their sister in case she should commit any fault, why do 
 they menace her with panels of cedar? It is evident that 
 this implies an idea of riches and luxury. Battlements of 
 silver, panels of cedar answer to one another. Neither of 
 tliese alternatives includes an idea of punishment or recom- 
 pense." Tbedpp himself supposes it to be the language of 
 the bridegroom, and its meaning to be : " We will build her 
 up, and that in full glory. The walls and the doors come 
 into view as two of the most obvious features of every edi- 
 fice. As for her wall of enclosure, we will fence her around 
 with silver; as for her doors, of cedar atone and of no in- 
 ferior wood, shall they be constructed." BuilROWi;s: "iler 
 nature should be adorned with orntm'jnts, giving more beauty 
 and strength than turrets of silver, or a richly carved door 
 of the most elegant cedar." JVI jonr Stuart : " They liken the 
 little sister to two of the principal parts of a building or tem- 
 ple — first, the wall without which there is no stability, no 
 bouse; and second, the door without which there is no en- 
 trance to the house, and no use of it. The wall is the image 
 of stability on which, with its solid strength, is to be built a 
 silver palace for h.^bilation and for beauty. The door is the 
 image of accessibleness ; but a door-way without the woiidcn 
 frame work, requires cedar boards to distinguish it from a 
 mere open thoroughfare." Good understands by the "silver 
 turrets ;" " The prominent charm of an ample dowry shall 
 immediately be her own ;" and by the " door encased in ce- 
 dar :" "She shall be the graceful entnince to my favor and 
 friendship." IIvr«er, who supposes the little sister to be 
 Pharaoh's d.aughter espoused to Solomon, Imagines that the 
 "wall" and the door" are emblems of the political conse- 
 qusnces of the alliance as on the one hand " a guard and 
 defence, giving a new security to .Tndfea," and on the other 
 cpening " a free communication between Egypt and the 
 Jewish country,"] 
 
 pure and awe-inspiring charms (her breasts as 
 inaccessible and hard to be scaled as towers upon 
 walls, comp. vii. 9 b). — Then was I in bis eyes 
 as one that finds peace, i. e., this careful 
 preservation of my chaslity, this keeping my 
 charms pure and sacred procured me his, the 
 
 king's, favor and inmost love. Dl/E? " welfare, 
 peace," is here as in 'nnc? C'''N Pa. xli. 10, a 
 synonym of |n "favor" or lOn "kindness" 
 (comp. jn Si'O Gen. vi. 8; xix. 19; Jer. xxxi. 
 2, as well as jni npri Esth. ii. 17) and is not 
 without a delicate allusion to the name of Solomon. 
 There is also a certain refinement in the ex- 
 pression that Sliularaith does not exactly say 
 
 dhd ryi'l 'nSiO is "then I found peace in 
 
 T T ■ : • T T T * , 
 
 his eyes," but with a modest circumlocution : 
 "then was I as one (3 as in nxi) viii. 1) that 
 finds peace in his eyes," then I appeared to him 
 worthy of his cordial affection (ctSmp. Diclitzsch 
 and HoLE.MANN !>( loc). The expression contains 
 nn allusion, therefore, to the preceding com- 
 parison of herself to a wall surmounted by 
 towers, or to a fortification. If the poet intended 
 
 by a)hv nsxn3 l'r>'0 'n"n is to express the 
 meaning: "then he finally left me in peace, in- 
 stead of ass.ailing me further," he did so in a 
 most strange and uniutelHgible manner (vs. 
 Hitzig), and to regard HOin "wall" as the 
 subject of nXS'lO "found" (Ewald, Wbisseach) 
 will not answer on account of this word being 
 too remote; find such a form of speech as "a 
 wall or fortress finds peace — it surrenders or it 
 is spared," receives no confirmation from the 
 Old Testament elsewhere, or from oriental liter- 
 ature generally. 
 
 5. CoNTiNnATioN. — h. Shclamith's interces- 
 sion FOR HER BROTHERS, vers. 11. 12. ThcSB 
 
 dithcult verses can only be explained in accord- 
 ance with the context, and with the whole course 
 and tenor of the piece, by assuming with 
 Delitzscu that the "vineyard of Solomon in 
 Baal-hamon." mentioned in ver. 11, is simply 
 adduced by way of example; that the speaker a 
 "own vineyard," as in i. 6 (comp. iv. 12 ff.). is 
 a figurative designation of herself and her 
 charms, which she devotes to the king; and 
 finally that the "keepers of its fruit" (ver. 12 b) 
 is a designation of her brothers, the faithful auu 
 zealous guardians of her innocence; and conse- 
 quently the whole must betaken to bean interees 
 sion of Shulamiih on behalf of her brothers. This 
 intercession fitly connects itself with their tender 
 care for her Utile sister, just now manifested; 
 and it likewise refers back in a suitable manner 
 [ to the mention before made of her brothers, 
 i. G, and thus helps to bring about a termination 
 , of the whole, in wliich everything shall bo satis- 
 factorily adjusted and harmonized. We there- 
 fore reject the following divergent explanations 
 of tV.isbrief section: 1) Shulamith declares lliat 
 ! she has herself guarded her virgin innocence 
 I better than Solomon his vineyard in Baal-hamon, 
 j whose keepers had secretly retained, besides the 
 1 fruit, two hundred shekels for themselves; she 
 ! therefore needs no other keepers, not even the 
 1 guardianship of her bi'oihers (Herder, Umbueit, 
 
132 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 VIII. 5-14. 
 
 DoPKE, HiTziQ, Rockk). 2) Shulamith protests 
 that she disdains all the wealth and the treasures 
 of Solomon, which, like his yineyard in Baal- 
 hamon, he is obliged to entrust to the guardian- 
 ship of others ; her vineyard, i. e., her innocence 
 and virtue is under her own control, and in this 
 possession of hers she has enough (Dathe, 
 
 ROSKNMUELLER, EWALD, HeILIGSTEDT, elc). 3) 
 
 Shulamith triumphantly relates that Solomon 
 offered her the rich vineyard at Baal-hamon, 
 whither she had been carried to his pleasure- 
 palace, with all its produce, and the entire park 
 as her own property, if she would be his ; he 
 was even willing to release her from the payment 
 of the two hundred shekels due to each of its 
 keepers ; but she had renounced the whole for 
 the sake of her lover, who now, as her own 
 chosen vineyard(!) stood before her (Vaihinger). 
 
 4) Shulamith means to say, Solomon must have 
 his distant vineyard in Baal-hamon kept for him, 
 and must therefore pay away considerable of its 
 proceeds ; but she, on the contrary, kept her own 
 vineyard, that is to say Solomon ('.), herself, and j 
 hence possessed his love alone without being : 
 obliged to share it with others (Holemann), i 
 
 5) Shulamith intends by Solomon's vineyard in 
 Baal-hamon herself, and by her own vineyard 
 the shepherd, her lover; she means to say, 
 Solomon did indeed get Shulamith into his power 
 .it Shulem r=Baal-hamon), and offered her one 
 thousand shekels by each of the ladies of the 
 court as her keepers; but he may keep this 
 money, for her proper keeper, the shepherd, 
 now stands before her again (Meier). 6) Shula- 
 mith means to say that Solomon, who has let out 
 his vineyard to keepers, receives as the owner 
 one thousand silverlings in cash from each 
 keeper, whilst the keepers retain for their pay 
 live times as much in fruit = five thousand 
 shekels. But Shulamith, who keeps her own 
 vineyard, i. «., herself with all her personal 
 charms, and consequently might, as both owner 
 and keeper, retain the entire produce for herself, 
 gives the use of the fruit, consequently the five 
 parts, in this case = 1000 (!) to Solomon, and 
 only retains for herself as keeper the 200, i. e., 
 the possession ; the usufruct shall be his, she 
 will only be the keeper of her vineyard (Weiss- 
 bach). 7) Solomon's vineyard in Baal-hamon 
 denotes the kingdom of God founded in the midst 
 of the world, in the midst of the savage masses 
 of heathen population. The keepers of this vine- 
 yard are the several Christian nations, each of 
 which has to pay oue thousand shekels to the 
 heavenly Solomon as the product of his labor. 
 Kach must therefore produce as much fruit as 
 the people of Israel, the tenants of the vineyard 
 mentioned, ver. 12, which forms one part of the 
 great vineyard of the Church. Each people 
 then receives in return a reward of grace of two 
 hundred shekels, that is to say, a fifth part of 
 tiie produce of his portion ; and the people of 
 Israel receives no more, cooip. Matt. xx. 1-16 
 fUnNGSTENBERO). 8) Solomou's vineyard at 
 Baal-hamon denotes the Church of the Lord in 
 the midst of the world. Its keepers are the 
 prophets, apostles, pastors and teachers of 
 Christendom, to whom two-tenths (twice as 
 much, therefore, as under the Old Testament) 
 shall be given as a reward of grace for their 
 
 faithful raising of fruit, or for their leading 
 many thousand souls to the heavenly Solomon 
 (Calov, Michael., Marck., Bebleb. Bib., and 
 in general most of the old allegorists). 9) The 
 vineyard at Baal-hamon denotes the Gentile 
 world generally, Shulamith's vineyard, ver. 12, 
 Japhetic gentilism as one half of this Gentile 
 world, the two hundred silverlings the spiritual 
 peace granted by the king to Japhetic humanity 
 in regard for their loving submission to him, 
 etc.* (Hahn). 
 
 Ver. 11. Solomon has a vineyard in Baal- 
 hamon. Baal-hamon is, without doubt, the place 
 not far from Dothaim in the south of the tribe of 
 Issachar, which is called Bc/a/jui' or Sa}.a/iini, Ju- 
 dith viii. 3, a locality therefore not very remote 
 from Shunem. It derived its name from the Syro- 
 Egyptian god, Ammon jlOD (=[10N Jer. xlvi. 25), 
 which may have been worshipped there, just as 
 Baal-gad (Josh. si. 17; xii. 7, etc.) was named 
 from Gad, the well-known Babylonish god of for- 
 tune. Baal-hamon scarcely signifies " the popu- 
 lous" (VuLG., Weissb., etc.), and it is still more 
 improbable that it is to be identified, as many 
 of the older writers assumed, with Baalbec in 
 Coele-Syria (where vineyards could hardly ever 
 have flourished), or with Hamnion, ]'Sn, Josh, 
 xix. 28, or with Baalgad, Josh. xi. 17, etc. But 
 if that locality near Shunem is intended, it by no 
 means follows that Shulamith had been carried 
 off to just that spot by Solomon, and detained 
 there for some time as a prisoner in a pleasure- 
 p.alace of the king, as Vaih. strangely supposes. 
 But Shulamith only names this vineyard as an 
 instance very near her home of a royal property 
 let out on high rent, in order afterwards to il- 
 lustrate by it her relation to the king as well as 
 to her brothers. — He committed the vine- 
 yard to the keepers — ;. e., to several at once, 
 amongst whom the piece of ground was parcelled 
 out in greater or smaller portions. That these 
 
 * [Good find3 in these verges a request made of Solomon by 
 his roj-al bride that he would " consign the estate which, 
 prior to her marriage, she had possessed in Baal-hamon, and 
 wliich now appertained to himself a^ a part of the dowry 
 she had brought him, to her younger and unendowed sister." 
 liURROWES ; '■ While Solomon's tenants were obliged to pay 
 the stipulated rent, the spouse speaks of a vineyard which 
 was her own, but which she would nevertheless so keep un- 
 der her own control and management, as to be able while 
 paying the keepers equitable wages, to offer yearly to the 
 king a thousand pieces of silver as a testimonial of her love." 
 Moody Std.irt : " Solomon is the Messiah, and Baal-lianiun 
 is no doubt either Jerusalem or the land of Israel. Tlie vine- 
 yard was let to keepers, who wei-e to render its fruits to the 
 ititig — they were to render them, but the silence as to the ful- 
 filment implies that the covenant was not kept. Tlie New 
 Testament church now declares, that by the Lord's grant the 
 vineyard is liers, and undertakes, through grace, that she 
 will never lose sight of it. She further engages to assign to 
 those who labor in it a suitable and moderate maintenance, 
 and allots ' two hundred pieces of silver to those that keep 
 the fnnt of it.' At the same time she promises that the 
 full revenue shall only be the Lord's, and that she will 
 never attempt, like her predecessor, to claim the vine.vard 
 jis her own." The same author also calls attention to the 
 " remarkable aCTeement between this passage and the ref- 
 erence to the Lord's vineyard, in the fifth chapter of Isaiah," 
 and adds: "The Song of Solomon was evidently much in 
 the mind of Isaiah, and he refers to it more or leas directly 
 in every page of his prophecies." This last statement is 
 verified through several pages filled with passages from 
 Isaiah, which bear more or less alflnity in language or 
 ideas to expressions in the Song of Solomon. The inter- 
 esting relation thus suggested as existing between these two 
 books, has its importance in determining the estimate put 
 upon the Song of Solomon, and the inteiiiroUition given te 
 it ill Old Testament times and by inspired men.— Te.] 
 
VIII. 5-14. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 13S 
 
 keepers rented (he property ia shown by what 
 follows. — Each wras to bring for its fruit a 
 thoosand of silver — i. «., a thousand shekels 
 of silver. From the high rent may be inferred 
 the productiveness of the property ; for that its 
 aaaual yield corresponded to the agreement is 
 certainly presupposed, as well as that a part of 
 the produce of his piece annually remained for 
 each tenant — that is, on an average, about two 
 hundred shekels (see ver. 12). 
 
 Ver. 12. My vineyard, my ovra, is before 
 me — i. e., I take charge myself of my own vine- 
 yard, viz., of myself and my womanly charms, of 
 myself as an object of men's admiration and 
 courtship. Since I came to maturity, I have 
 been my own keeper, and have with entire free- 
 dom transferred to my royal husband this right 
 of mine to dispose of myself. I have no longer 
 any other keepers but him, who is one with me 
 (comp. on i. 6, p. 56). — ^The thousand is 
 thine, O Solomon, and two hundred for 
 the keepers of its fruit — i. «., the .-ntire pro- 
 ceeds are due to thee ; I remain wholly thine own 
 with all that I am and have. But they who kept 
 my fruit, i. p., my innocence and virtue, before I 
 was thine, should not go empty away. These 
 trusty brotherly guardians of my maidenhood, 
 who once watched over me as they now faithfully 
 and sedulously watch over our little sister (ver. 
 9), must be commended to thy love and favor, as 
 in my heart they hold the next place after thee. 
 — This explanation, it is true, does not completely 
 remove all difficulties; but it involves fewer 
 doubtful and forced assumptions than the other 
 attempted explanations adduced above. 
 
 6. CONCLUSIO.V.— C. The CHEERFUL PLEASANTRY 
 AND SINOINO OF THE ROTAL COUPLE, vers. 1.3, 14. 
 
 These two concluding verses contain, according 
 to Herder, the fragment of a conversation ; ac- 
 cording to Umbreit the serenade of a young man 
 from the city with the answer of his lady-love in 
 the country ; according to Dopke a " small duet " 
 belonging to the initial period of Shulamith's love, 
 and here appended by the poet; according to 
 Maqnos, a glossed and mutilated fragment of a 
 love-song; while most of the advocates of the 
 shepherd hypothesis see in it a colloquy between 
 the lover and Shulamith, consisting of an invita- 
 tion to sing on the part of the former, and a 
 song of a roguish and playful character, which 
 Shulamith thereupon sings (Ewald. Hitzig, Vai- 
 HiNQER, etc.). This last view evidently has the 
 most in its favor on account of the recurrence of 
 ^iP'Opyj "let me hear," from ii. 14, and the un- 
 mistakable resemblance of the song in ver. 14 
 to ii 17 (and partly also to ii. 15). Only there 
 is no reason to suppose the person, who invites 
 her to sing and whom Shulamith addresses in her 
 song as "111 "my beloved," to be a young shep- 
 herd. The epithet which he bestows upon her, 
 "thou that dwellest in the gardens," makes it 
 seem far more likely that he was a citizen of rank, 
 stud even resident in a palace, a man of royal 
 race exalted greatly above her station in life. 
 But little reason as there is to regard another 
 than Solomon as the " beloved " who speaks in 
 ver. 13 and is then addressed in the sprightly 
 little song, there is quite as little for assigning 
 this occurrence with HiTZia to a period conside- 
 
 rably later than the one recorded just before, or 
 for assuming with Bottcher that the bridegroom, 
 in quitting the merry engagement feast in the 
 house of Shulamith's mother, wanted to hear one 
 more song from his bride before he left her for 
 the last brief interval prior to the celebration of 
 their marriage. Delitzsch and Weissbach un- 
 derstand the passage correctly, only the latter 
 preposterously imagines the locality of the actioa 
 here as in the final section generally to be the 
 royal palace in Jerusalem (comp. p. 127). — 
 Thou that d'wellest in the gardens. — Lite- 
 rally, "thou sitting in the gardens," i. e., thou 
 resident in gardens, who art opposed to living in 
 populous cities and splendid palaces (comp. i. 16 
 f.; iv. 6; v. 7 ; vii. 12 ff. ). Solomon here evi- 
 dently means to allude with pleasant raillery to 
 the fact that his beloved, who had so often before 
 exhibited her longing for the gardens and mea- 
 dows of her home, was now exactly in her ele- 
 ment, and ought therefore to be in the best of 
 moods. — Companions are listening for thy 
 voice; let me bear it. — The D"]3n "compa- 
 nions" are, according to Magnus, "neighbors," 
 or "the family;" according to Hufnagel, "fe- 
 male friends;" according to Moldenh., Ewald, 
 Ren., etc., "bridemen" {des paranymphes. Re- 
 nan); according to Vaihinger, " shepherds, fel- 
 low-pasturers;" according to Weissbach, Solo- 
 mon himself, who here jestingly represents him- 
 self as a shepherd, or rather in the plural as 
 "shepherds!" and finally, according to Herder, 
 Huo, Delitzsch, "playmates" or "youthful as- 
 sociates" of Shulamith. This last view has most 
 in its favor ; only it is a matter of course that the 
 companions of Shulamith's youth were likewise 
 those of her brothers ; they are consequently in all 
 likelihood shepherds and country people from Shu- 
 nem and its vicinity. They were probably, there- 
 fore, the same as the speakers in ver. 5 a of this 
 chapter ; on the contrary they are not the compan- 
 ions of Solomon (comp. V. 1), of whom Shulamith 
 spoke i. 7 (vs. Ewald). 
 
 Ver. 14. Flee, my beloved. The words 
 sound like sending off, or if any prefer "scaring 
 away" or at least "urging out into the open 
 ground " (Delitzsch). They do not, however, 
 by any means express seriously intended coy- 
 ness, as is shown by the very form of the address 
 'in "my beloved." They rather invite to 
 hasten and range with the singer over the moun- 
 tains and plains as is shown by what follows, 
 rr^^ is not, however, exactly equivalent to 
 "hasten, up!" as is maintained by Vaihinger 
 and Weissbach, who refer to Num. xxiv. 11, 
 Isa. XXX. Iti, etc. For even in these passages, as 
 well as in Gen. xxvii. 43 ; Am. vii. 12, the pri- 
 mary signification of this verb " to flee " is 
 clearly apparent. Ewald arbitrarily : the mean- 
 ing is that "he should cut across, leave his com- 
 panions and not stay opposite to her but hasten 
 to her side," etc. — And be like a gazelle, etc. 
 comp. on ii. 17. In place of the "mountains of 
 separation" or "cleft mountains" there men- 
 tioned we here have balsam mountains or " heights 
 of scented herbs " (Weissbach), which to be sure 
 are meant in a different sense from iv. 6. Shula- 
 mith here calls by this name the mountains uni 
 hills of her home (comp. ii. 8) because tliey wera 
 
134 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 Via. 5-14. 
 
 just then in the season of spring or early summer 
 covered with fragrant flowers of all sorts and ac- 
 cordingly filled with balmy odors (comp. ii. 12 
 f., vi. 11). — On the import of this verse as the 
 conclusion of the entire poem, comp. Delitzsch, 
 p. 1.53: "Amid the cheerful notes of this song 
 we lose sight of the pair rambling over the i 
 flowery heights, and the graceful spell of the | 
 Song of Songs, which bounds gazelle-like from one 
 icene of beauty to another, vanishes with them." 
 
 DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 
 
 1. The allegorical exegesis is in this section 
 less able than ever to bring all into a form pos- 
 sessing unity and regular structure, and to reach 
 really certain results, as the .attempts .above ex- 
 hibited (p. 132) to give an allegorical explanation 
 of vers. 11, 12 have evinced. Not only in this 
 passage but in other parts of this section this 
 mode of interpretation shows a very great multi- 
 plicity and divergence of opinions among its 
 various advocates. The "little sister," ver. 8 f . 
 is by some made to denote the first-fruits of Jews 
 and Gentiles received into the church immedi- 
 ately after the ascension of Christ (CAssiODoRt;s, 
 Bkza, GiiEGORY, Rdpert v. Deutz, etc.); by 
 others the entire body of the .Jews and Gentiles 
 yet to be converted (Heunisch, Eeinhard, 
 Rambach, liljewise Haiin, who refers it par- 
 ticularly to "llaiuitic Gentilism"); by olliers 
 the weak in faith and young beginners in Chris- 
 tianity belonging to every period of the churoh in 
 their totality (Marck., Berleb. Bib., Starke); 
 and finally by olliers the daughter of Zion at tlie 
 lime of tlie fifst beginnings of her conversion to 
 the heavenly Solomon (Hengst. and others). 
 " The wall and the door," ver. 9, are indeed 
 mostly understood of the steadfast, .and faithful 
 keeping of the word of God and of its zealous pro- 
 clamation to the Gentiles (according to 1 Cor. xvi. 
 B, etc, ) ; but some also explain them of the valiant 
 in faith and the weak in faith, or of the learned 
 and simple, or of faithful Christians and such as 
 are recreant and easily accessible to the arts of 
 seduction. And then according to these various 
 interpretations the "silver bulwarks" are now 
 the miracles of the first witnesses of Jesus, now 
 the distinguished teachers of the church, now 
 pious Christian rulers, now the testimonies of 
 Holy Scripture by which faith is strengthened, 
 tic. And again by the " cedar board " are some- 
 times understood the ten commandments or the 
 law, sometimes Christian teachers, sometimes the 
 examples of the saints, sometimes the salutary 
 discipline of the cross and sufferings for Christ's 
 sake, etc. (comp. Starice in Inc.). By the "com- 
 panions" or "associates" who listen for the 
 voice of the bride, ver. 13, Piscator in all seri- 
 ousness understands God the Father, the Son 
 and the Holy Ghost; whilst tlie followers of 
 CoccEiDS for the most part referred it to the 
 angels; some of them, however, to true Chris- 
 tians; and the two most recent interpreters of this 
 class suppose that the Gentile world before the 
 time of Christ is intended by the expression, but 
 with this difference that one (Haiin) has in minil 
 chiefly the Gentiles as hostile to revelation, the 
 other (IlENosTENBERr.) as kindly disposed to the 
 people of God and His revelation. 
 
 2. It is apparent from the exegetical explana- 
 tions given above, that this divergence in the 
 allegorical exegesis is matched by an equal va- 
 riety of opinions and uncertain guess-work im 
 the part of the merely historical interpreters of 
 this chapter ; and in fact it is scarcely possible by 
 even the most cautious procedure to arrive at 
 perfectly certain results in respect to the mean- 
 ing and the connection of the sentences of this 
 section with their fragment-like brevity and ob- 
 scurity. This, however, only m.akes it the more 
 necessary with a view to its practical applica- 
 tion to adhere to its leading and most perspicuous 
 passage which formulates the fundamental 
 thought not only of the closing act, but of the 
 entire poem with solemn emphasis and with an 
 elevation and pathos of language purposely 
 rising to a climax. We mean the spirited enco- 
 mium contained in vers. 6 and 7 of love between 
 man and woman as a mysterious divine creation, 
 and a power superior to death, Shulamith's 
 exalted panegyric of conjugal and wedded love, 
 the culminating point of the entire poem, and 
 the only true key to its meaning according to 
 the unanimous assumptions of interpreters of 
 all schools. Delitzsch (p. 182 f. ) has given the 
 best exposition of the thought contained in this 
 leading passage, which has in it the gist of the 
 whole matter: "Shulamith herself here declares 
 how she loves Solomon and how she wishes lo 
 be loved by him. This spontaneous testimony 
 discloses to us the intermingling of human free- 
 dom and of divine necessity in true love between 
 
 man and woman. Love is a,TP nDHTt^, aflame 
 kindled by God Himself. Man cannot produce it 
 in himself, and though he employ all his wealth 
 for the purpose, he cannot kindle it in others. 
 She is speaking, of course, of true love, which is 
 directed to the person and not to any mere 
 things. Man cannot create this love by his own 
 agency. It is an operation of God — a divine 
 flume, which seizes upon a man like death with 
 irresistible power, and can neither be quenched 
 nor extinguished by any calamity or by any bos- 
 tile force. There is thus evinced in true love an 
 inevitable and invincible power of divine neces- 
 sity. But this divine necessity has for its other 
 side human freedom. It is the inmost an'.l truest 
 ego of a man, from which this divine flume of love 
 blazes forth. Whilst a man becomes a lover by a 
 resistless divine energy, the lover'spassionatc de- 
 sire for the possession of the beloved object is as 
 vehement and inflexible as the resistless and all- 
 devouring grave. The lover loves because he nuist, 
 but love is at the same time his most pleasurable 
 volition, a return of love his most ardent desire. 
 Smitten with love to Shulamith Solomon exclaims: 
 How beautiful and how comely art thou, love, 
 among delights (vii. 7); and smitten with love 
 to Solomon .Shulamith pr.ays : Place mo as a sig- 
 net upon thy heart, as a signet ring upon thine 
 arm (viii. ti)." In this declaration of Shulamith, 
 which gathers up all the main elements in the 
 idea of wedded love and experience, ami accord- 
 ingly formulates the fundamental thought of the 
 entire poem there is no allusion indeed to the 
 blessing of children as the resplendent consum- 
 mation of the wedded communion of man and 
 wife, as also no express mention is made of 
 
Vlll. 5-14. 
 
 THE SONG OP SOLOMON. 
 
 135 
 
 this matter elsewhere throughout the piece. 
 For to see an allusion to it in what Shulamith 
 says, viii. lli, of the " thousaud " due to her 
 husband from the produce of his vineyard, would 
 evidently be forced and arbitrary. But De- 
 LITZSCH properly remarks in relation to this 
 omission of an apparently essential particular ; 
 " The author of Canticles has avoided everything, 
 which would looli to an externalizing of the re- 
 lation, which he describes. Ho makes no men- 
 tion of children : for a marriage in which the 
 parties who conclude it are not an eud to each 
 other, but merely a means for obtaining posterity, 
 iloes not correspond to its idea. Children are 
 by divine blessing the sparks which result, when 
 ihe flames of two souls flash imo one. The lat- 
 ter is the main thing in marriage." It is also a 
 delicate feature of great psychological as well 
 as Eesthetic value, that Shulamith, the chaste 
 and pure-minded maiden, though silent re- 
 specting the blessing of children, mentions in- 
 stead with tender love and solicitude her little 
 sister and her brothers, the same who had pre- 
 viously been angry with her and treated her 
 harshly (i. 6). and consults with her brothers 
 respecting the future of the former and in her 
 iuterceasion with her royal husband lays to heart 
 the future of her brothers. This overplus of love, 
 which with all the ardent fervor of her devotion 
 to her husband, she still preserves for her own 
 family (see viii. 12) : this touching sisterly love, 
 which is essentially identical with her faithful 
 and pious filial devotion to her mother repeat- 
 edly shown in the previous portion of the Song; 
 this combined with her gladsome, cheery, play- 
 ful disposition, which expresses itself in her 
 concluding words, adds the finishing touch, 
 sweetly transfiguring this noble picture which 
 the poet would sketch of her ch iracter as the 
 ideal of a bride and of a young wife, and by 
 which — an unconscious organ of the Holy Spirit 
 — he has set forth the idea and mystery of mar- 
 riage itself as a sacred and divine institution. 
 
 3. From this luminous and revered female 
 figure there proceeds a transfiguring radiance, 
 in which the form of her royal husband, the 
 enthusiastic admirer and spirited singer of her 
 love and her loveliness also shines with a clear 
 and pleasing light. But yet for the sake of a 
 complete and thoroughly con-eet typical estimate 
 of tile transaction, the sad truth nuist not be left 
 out of the account, that the bond of love so 
 purely and holily regarded by her was neverthe- 
 less at last desecrated and broken by him. For 
 that this was the case, can scarcely be doubted 
 from the manner in which both the historians 
 of the Old Testament record the final fortunes 
 of Solomon and the eud of his life (1 Kin. xi. 
 1-43, 2 Chron. ix. 22-31). Of a sincere and 
 pertnanent conversion of this monarch to .a God- 
 fearing and virtuous walk in the evening of his 
 days neither the book of Kings nor Chronicles 
 has anything to relate, Ihe latter of which would 
 sc.-ircely have omitted to note a similarity in the 
 life of Solomon to that of Manasseh in this 
 respect. That no proof can be drawti from the 
 book of Ecclesiastes for this view, a favorite one 
 with many of the older theologians, the intro- 
 duction to this book may teach us (§ 4). We 
 must stanil by Ihe as.sumption confirmed by 1 Kin. 
 
 xi. and contradicted by no other testimony, that 
 the unhappy king afterwards proceeded from 
 that stage of polygamous degeneracy indicated 
 in this Song, especially in vi. 8, to still grosser 
 extravagances in this direction, and thus at last 
 filled up the measure of his sins, and brought 
 upon himself and upon his house the corresponding 
 judgment beginning with the revolt of Jeroboam. 
 He must accordingly have deeply wounded Shula. 
 mith's heart by a speedy return to the criminally 
 voluptuous and idolatrous manners of his court 
 and have repaid her love so pure and ardent 
 with base infidelity. This deplorable condition 
 of things casts a light not very creditable to him 
 upon his relation to his antitype in the history 
 of redemption, the .Messiah. Love for the purest 
 and best of the daughters of his people, whom 
 he adorned with the crown royal and raised from 
 j an humble station lo the throne of David, could 
 I not permanently purify and hallow the earllily 
 j Solomon and rescue him from the abyss of crime 
 I into which he was in danger of sinking. The 
 I heavenly Solomon, on the contrary, must labori- 
 I ously lift the Church, which He is gathering to 
 ; Himself from amongst mankind, step by step to 
 ' the luminous elevation of His own holiness ami 
 I truth ; He must have great indulgence for her 
 weakness, must pardon her many relapses into 
 her old walk of sin, must absolutely despair of 
 presenting His bride perfectly pure, without spot 
 or wrinkle, so long as she remains in this present 
 world. la the Old Testament type, therefore, 
 we find a sad contrast between the fidelity of the 
 wife and the unfailhfulness of her husband. Of 
 the Messianic archetype, on the other hand, it is 
 written with perfect truth: "Though we be un- 
 faithful, yet He abideth faithful; He cannot 
 deny Himself" (2 Tim. ii. 13). In the ty[)e no 
 really pure, complete and durable realization of 
 the idea of marriage is reached, but the natural 
 relation existing for a time is only too speedily 
 perverted to its opposite by the fault of the h;is- 
 band. In the fulfilment of the type it is ilie 
 husband, the new .\dam, the Son of Man who 
 came down from heaven and yet is essentially in 
 heaven (.John iii. lo), who not merelj' concludes 
 the marriage covenant with mankind, but like- 
 wise preserves, confirms, refines and conducts it 
 step by step to its ideal consummation, which is at 
 the same time the palingenesia and perfection of 
 humanity. To our human consciousness this 
 parallel, which strictly carried out leaves scarcely 
 more than a faiut glimmer of resemblance be- 
 tween the type and the archclype, has in it 
 something deeply humiliating. 13ut it may never- 
 theless operate to the strengtliening of faith in 
 our heart, for it points us to the one divine 
 helper and physician, who heals all our diseases; 
 it drives us into the anrs of the one mediator 
 and comforter, who is rich in mercy unto all 
 them that call upon Him ; it encourages us to 
 childlike confidence in the heavenly author and 
 finisher of our faith, whose grace worketh all in 
 all according to His word of promise (John v. 15' 
 Phil. i. 6; ii. 12, eic). 
 
 His love no *»rnl nor measure knows. 
 
 No fh^age can turn its com-se, 
 Immutiibly the same it flows, 
 
 b'rotn uoe oteinal sourou. 
 
ff 
 
 Date Due 
 
I 
 
 I