1 The Song of Songs, which is Solomons. 2 O that you would kiss me with the kisses of your mouth! For your love is better than wine, 3 your anointing oils are fragrant, your name is oil poured out; therefore the maidens love you. 4 Draw me after you, let us make haste. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will exult and rejoice in you; we will extol your love more than wine; rightly do they love you. 5 I am very dark, but comely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon. 6 Do not gaze at me because I am swarthy, because the sun has scorched me. My mother's sons were angry with me, they made me keeper of the vineyards; but, my own vineyard I have not kept! 7 Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon; for why should I be like one who wanders beside the flocks of your companions? 8 If you do not know, O fairest among women, follow in the tracks of the flock, and pasture your kids beside the shepherds' tents. 9 I compare you, my love, to a mare of Pharaoh's chariots. 10 Your cheeks are comely with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels. 11 We will make you ornaments of gold, studded with silver. 12 While the king was on his couch, my nard gave forth its fragrance. 13 My beloved is to me a bag of myrrh, that lies between my breasts. 14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of Engedi. 15 Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves. 16 Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly lovely. Our couch is green; 17 the beams of our house are cedar, our rafters are pine.
Commentary on Song of Songs 1
| 1:1 Song of Songs: The Song is a parable which speaks about the love between a bridegroom and his bride. But the text does not clearly indicate who this groom and bride might be. Various people have explained the text differently. Some like Theodore of Mopsuestia have said that the groom is literally Solomon, and the bride is the daughter of Pharaoh whom he desired for his wife. Hebrew interpreters say that this book is a parable which depicts the love between God and the Jews, a love which was promised to them at the giving of the Law, in Exodus 20, when God claimed them as the bride whom he desired. Catholic expositors commonly say that this book depicts the love between Christ and the Church, understanding the Church as an entity separate from the synagogue. Perhaps the groom should be understood as God. The bride, then, is the Church, embracing the circumstances of both Testaments. For just as there is one faith held by modern and ancient people, though there are differences in how clearly things are explained, so there is one Church though there are differences depending on greater or lesser closeness to God, with greater closeness occurring in the time of the New Testament. Perhaps the Jews inappropriately apply some things which pertain to the New Testament to the Old, while conversely some Catholic interpreters inappropriately apply some things from the Old Testament to the New. Some things in this book cannot be easily explained with reference to the situation of the Old Testament. On the other hand, some things cannot be easily explained with reference to the New. (Nicholas of Lyra) For just as one says King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and solemnity of solemnities, so one says Song of Songs, an account of its excellence and dignity. The book is in this way most obscure, since no person is commemorated there, and it is composed in a rather comic style. (Haimo of Auxerre) |
1:2 love: The Hebrew word used here means both "loves" and "breasts." (Nicholas of Lyra) The author does not say who
spoke these words, so we are free to assign them to the person whom we think they best suit. For my part, I can see reasons for attributing them either to the bride, or to the Bridegroom or to the latter's companions. (St. Bernard)
1:3 fragrant: In Scripture a sweet odor stands for a good reputation, as the Apostle says in 2 Corinthians 2:15 (Nicholas of Lyra) maidens: that is, the churches that constitute the one Catholic Church. (St. Bede) or the heavenly angels (St. Bernard) or the believing Gentiles (Nicholas of Lyra) or refers to the most blessed apostles who left the world and loved him. (St. Hippolytus)
1:4 Who is the king but Christ. What is the bedchamber but the Church. (St. Hippolytus)
1:5 very dark: Black through frality of its human condition, comely through the sacrament of faith. (St. Ambrose) daughters of Jerusalem: those weak in faith who are called "daughters" to emphasize their weak, feminine-like nature. (Nicholas of Lyra)
1:6 the sun: the pressure of tribulations, or Christ. (Haimo of Auxerre) For when the Lord comes he darkens the person whom he has touched closely by grace; for the closer we draw to Him the more we know ourselves to be sinners. (St. Gregory the Great) I have not kept: In this text, the Bride makes a distinction and says that she deserted her own vineyard, not the one of the Lord. (Apponius)
1:8 follow in the tracks: that is, follow in the steps of simple. believers, such as Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, and the like. (Nicholas of Lyra) |
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