1 Upon my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer. 2 "I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the squares; I will seek him whom my soul loves." I sought him, but found him not. 3 The watchmen found me, as they went about in the city. " Have you seen him whom my soul loves?" 4 Scarcely had I passed them, when I found him whom my soul loves. I held 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, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the hinds of the field, that you stir not up nor awaken love until it please. 6 What is that coming up from the wilderness, like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the fragrant powders of the merchant? 7 Behold, it is the bed of Solomon! About it are sixty mighty men of the mighty men of Israel, 8 all girt with swords and expert in war, each with his sword at his thigh, against alarms by night. 9 King Solomon made himself a chariot from the wood of Lebanon. 10 He made its pillars of silver, its back of gold, its seat of purple; it was lovingly wrought within for the sake of the daughters of Jerusalem. 11 Go forth, O daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon, with the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, on the day of the gladness of his heart.
Commentary on Song of Songs 3
3:1-2 Oftentimes God, exercising the souls of the righteous, allows them to fall into divers temptations; and at one time grants their request deliverance, and at another delays the gift, contriving in all ways the profit of those who delight in Him. (Theodoret of Cyrus)
3:3-4 The city may mean the Church; the streets and ways the Holy Scriptures. watchmen: that is the holy angels or the holy Prophets and Apostles. (Theodoret of Cyrus) or the holy fathers who guard the Church's orthodoxy. (St. Gregory the Great, Rupert of Deutz, St. Bede) mother's house and chamber: this may mean the heavenly Jerusalem, 'which is the Mother of us all.' (Theodoret of Cyrus) At the end of time the Gentile church will call back the synagogue, which formerly called her through the Apostles. (glossa ordinaria)
3:5 The Bride now turns and addresses her words to the daughters of Jerusalem on high. What she utters is an exhortation, stated with an oath, always to increase and multipy love. (St. Gregory of Nyssa)
3:6 What is that coming: For from long ago we the nations have been desolate toward God, but now by the grace of God we are citizens, fellow heirs of Christ. Therefore the church of the Gentiles he calls the desert place has become a city of God. smoke: As smoke from fire comes out from a fire and is taken up into the air, so the good mystery of Christ was spread abroad giving notice, going up from earth to heaven (St. Hippolytus) |
3:7 bed of Solomon: that is eternal blessedness, in which the King rests with His saints. (St. Bede) Christ the King, is the true Solomon. (Apponius) sixty mighty men: we understand the preachers throughout the world who fulfill the decalogue of the law with the perfection of works. (Alcuin)
3:8 all girt with swords and expert in war: They hold the word of God, and they are experienced in the way in which they make use of it as much against themselves as against others in fighting off vices. (Alcuin)
3:9-10 King Solomon: Christ. (Apponius) chariot: the Apostles. wood of Lebanon: Scripture often calls by the name Lebanon Jerusalem and the people of the Jews. Since the Apostles derived their origin from them, the chariot is appropriately said to be constructed of the wood of Lebanon. pillars: We find the Apostles Peter, James, and John called pillars. Gal 2:9 seat: The seat signifies the evangelical preaching on which the Divine Word rests. (Theodoret of Cyrus) lovingly wrought: The Lord suffered for everyone, even for those weak in faith. (St. Bede)
3:11 daughters of Zion: the Church (St. Cyril of Alexandria) mother: the Hebrews are called here the mother of God in the sense that God was to be born from them according to the flesh by means of the Virgin Mary. (Nicholas of Lyra) crowned him: that is with a crown of thorns. (Rufinus) day of his wedding: that is the day of his passion, when he married the Church by his blood. (St. Cyril of Alexandria) |
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