1 O that you were like a brother to me, that nursed at my mother's breast! If I met you outside, I would kiss you, and none would despise me. 2 I would lead you and bring you into the house of my mother, and into the chamber of her that conceived me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the juice of my pomegranates. 3 O that his left hand were under my head, and that his right hand embraced me! 4 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you stir not up nor awaken love until it please. 5 Who is that coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I awakened you. There your mother was in travail with you, there she who bore you was in travail. 6 Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, jealousy is cruel as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a most vehement flame. 7 Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly scorned. 8 We have a little sister, and she has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister, on the day when she is spoken to? 9 If she is a wall, we will build upon her a battlement of silver; but if she is a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar. 10 I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers; So now in his eyes as one who brings peace. 11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard to keepers; each one was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver. 12 My vineyard is before me; you, O Solomon, may have the thousand, and the keepers of the fruit two hundred. 13 O you who dwell in the gardens, my companions are listening for your voice; let me hear it. 14 Make haste, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag upon the mountains of spices.
Commentary on Song of Songs 8
8:1 you were like a brother to me: a reference to Christ according to his human nature, nursed at my mother's breast: that is, the Virgin Mary, who is called not only the mother of Christ, but also the mother of the whole Church. This passage refers literally to Christ. (Nicholas of Lyra)
8:2 house of my mother: that is, into the Church consecrated to the Blessed Virgin, and also into other consecrated holy places, because the Church concedes everything to the honor of the Virgin when she is honored in all churches. (Nicholas of Lyra)
8:3 daughters of Jerusalem: see note 1:5
8:5 leaning upon her beloved: meaning, the Church has obtained this tranquility by relying completely on Christ. your mother was in travail with you, there she who bore you was in travail: This agrees particularly well with the truth of the Gospel. For it says in John 19:25: "Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother," pierced with a sword of sorrow because of her son, in accordance with what holy Simeon had prophesied in Luke 2:53: "And thy own soul a sword shall pierce." (Nicholas lf Lyra) Also in relation to Revelation 12:2,
Until the divine angel told Joseph about her (Mary), that the conception was from the Holy Spirit, the Virgin was naturally despondent, blushing before her betrothed, and thinking that he might somehow suspect that she was in labor from a furtive marriage. Her despondency and grief he called, according to the principles of metaphor, crying and anguish; and this is not surprising. (Oecumenius)
8:6 Set me as a seal upon your heart: by loving me perfectly, since what is loved above all else is said to be placed upon the heart, seal upon your arm: by protecting me with your powerful arm. (Nicholas of Lyra) |
8:8 little sister: that is, the Church, which is called the sister of Christ for the same reason that Christ is called her brother at the beginning of this chapter, is little, that is, humble and despised by the people of this present age, which was the case up to the time of Constantine, has no breasts: that is, the Church did not have the freedom to pour out the milk of sacred doctrine through the preaching of the Catholic faith, which the Church did not dare to preach publicly at that time, but only in secret, except for some saints who offered themselves voluntarily to be killed for preaching the faith. What shall we do: By "we" the Father and the Holy Spirit are understood to be working with the Son. For the activities of the Trinity are indivisible. (Nicholas of Lyra) spoken to: that is when the Church is called on more abundantly from all parts of the world, though early on She was being prepared for greater growth. (St. Anselm)
8:10 Here the Church speaks universally from the present time to the end of the age. (Glossa Ordinaria)
8:11 The vineyard which is the Church, was given to the spiritual Solomon, which is Christ. Baal-hamon means 'in believers.' (St. Cyril of Alexandria) keepers: that is, to St. Peter and his successors. (Nicholas of Lyra)
8:12 My vineyard is before me: The sentence style is changed here from the use of the third person to the first person. The speaker here is the Lord of this vineyard, who is actually Christ. let out the vineyard to keepers: One must not suppose that by this "letting out to keepers" Christ would give up his protection of the Church. Therefore he says, My vineyard is before me, that is, I am personally taking care of my Church. Therefore the Church owes much greater thanks to Christ for his protection than to the Church's high-ranking clergy. (Nicholas of Lyra) |
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