Chapter 1

 
 

2. O that He now with kisses sweet Would me from His own lips but greet— Such kisses give to me! For better are those breasts of Thine, Than richest juice from clustered vine, To fill the heart with glee;

kisses give to me: The Bride says this, entreating the Father of the Bridegroom. For she had heard the promises made to the Patriarch Abraham, and what was foretold to Jacob in blessings. She had also heard the great Moses prophesying of Him, and the Psalms describing His beauty and power. She had learnt that the same. Who was God, and the Son before all worlds, was beautiful and comely (Ps. 45: 3-8). Having been taught therefore the Bridegroom's beauty, strength, prowess, riches, kingdom, and power which He has over all, eternal, incorruptible, and endless, she desires to see Him, to rush into His embrace, and to give Him spiritual kisses. Let not, however, any of those who grovel on the ground, and cleave to the earth, be amazed at the mention of kisses. But let him consider how at the sacramental time, when we receive the members of the Bridegroom, we kiss and embrace Him, and by our eyes place them in our hearts, and represent, as it were, a nuptial embrace, and think ourselves to be with Him, and to embrace Him, and to kiss Him, "love casting out fear," according to Holy Scripture. The Bride therefore desires to be kissed by the Bridegroom Himself, almost using these words to the Father: " Send me Thine Only-begotten Son, O Lord and Father (for Thou lovest the name of Father more than that of Lord): too long have I been waiting for Him, too long have I been desiring Him. I am tired with receiving His letters by Patriarchs, Lawgivers, and Prophets. I can no longer endure the flame of love. It is a burning fire, scorching up my entrails. He promised me by all the prophets that He would come, and hitherto has not willed to perform His promises. I know not why He delays, why He disregards me, longing for Him." Comp. Hos, 2:19,20.

breasts: Which contain those fountains of doctrine, from whence flow streams adapted to every period of growth, and these breasts she professes to love above all human joy, which is figuratively called wine, "that maketh glad the heart of man." Comp. Prov. 8:11.

 

3. And of Thine ointments, tempered well Above all spicery the smell; As precious oil poured out, So sweet Thy Name! Therefore have Thee The youthful Virgin-company Dearly to love been brought.

oil poured out: For those many and various streams (she says), which fill the whole world with sweet odour, have one channel and fountain. Thine oil, " For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead" (Col. 2:9), and He, as Man, has received all the gifts of the Spirit. Wherefore Isaiah exclaims (11:1,2), "There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of His roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him," &c. 
 
Thy name: For the very mention of Christ, as it were, is sufficient to anoint and fill with sweet savor the souls of the godly.
 
virgin: νεανιδες, LXX, young and vigorous souls, attracted by Thy love.

 

4. Draw me, we after Thee will speed! Into His chamber doth me lead The King! we will delight, And joy in Thee; and love Thy breasts More than the wine of royal feasts; Love Thee do all upright!

 
speed: Souls, who are endued with a youthful and active sense, fleeing a luxurious, soft, and indolent life, and preferring labor to pleasure, run after the Bridegroom, being charmed and attracted by the sweet smell of the ointment, and held, as it were, by an indescribable bond. Comp. Hos. 11:4. John 12:32.
 
His chambers: That is, He hath revealed to me His secret counsels— He hath made known to me the mystery, that hath been hid from ages and from generations. See Isa. 45:3. Matt. 13:11. 1 Cor. 2:9.
 
 
 

5. Black, but yet beautiful, I am, 0 daughters of Jerusalem— Once as those tents, the sun Hath scorched in Kedar's deserts bare, But now as the pavilions fair Of princely Solomon.

daughters of Jerusalem: This appears to be addressed to those who gloried in the Law and exalted themselves under the Old Covenant, being haughty, and despising her, not only because she was an alien, but because of her former superstition, from whence she had contracted a black color. To them, therefore, she says, I confess that I am black, yet am I comely; once was I blind, but now I see; clothed with old rags, but now invested with golden apparel of various colors, having attained to royal dignity, and set by the King, thrusting out thee, who raged against the King, and delivered Him to death, and polluted thy bed with a multitude of adulterers. Reproach me not, therefore, for the blackness of my skin, nor bring before me former evils; for I confess that I am black, yet am I beautiful and well-pleasing to the Bridegroom. Comp. Num. 12:1, &c.
 
the sun: I was black when I served the creature more than the Creator, and worshipped that visible sun rather than the Sun of Righteousness; but I have seen the difference between the one and the other, and have left the creature and worshipped the Creator. Regard not, therefore, that I have been black, that the sun hath looked on me.

 

6. Then look not, that I black have been-That me the burning sun hath seen.  My brethren against me fought; Over the vineyards made they me A keeper; whence, unheedingly, Mine own vine I kept not.

 
fought: That is, in the contest which the Apostles waged against idolatry and all ungodliness. Comp. Acts 7:51.
 
keeper: They delivered to me as vineyards the Divine commandments, and prescribed that I should not only cultivate and labor in them, but also keep them, lest any evil beast should spoil the fruit.
 
I kept not: My former vineyard, which I cultivated before the Christian Faith, and bad been delivered to me from my fathers, have I left uncared for and unprotected, so that former customs might altogether decay, and be forgotten to be handed down.
 
 
 
 
7 Tell me. Thou, Whom my soul doth love, Where Thou dost feed—whither remove For rest, at noon's full tide; Lest I become as one that strays 'Mong Thy companions' flocks, whose ways Turn treacherously aside.
 
Well does the Bride inquire at noon where the Bridegroom dwells, since when the light of knowledge is strongest, heresies spring up, having the name of Christianity, but void of the truth. Therefore she most anxiously seeks to learn the abode of the Bridegroom, where at noontide He makes His flock to lie down, lest she should &11 among the flocks of those who call themselves His companions, but are His enemies, the false Christs, false apostles, and false brethren. Matt. 24:11. 2 Cor. 11:13, 26.
 
 
 

8. If thine own self thou dost not know, Most beautiful of women thou, Go thy way forth, where'er The footsteps of the flock shall guide, And still the shepherds' tents beside To feed thy kids repair.

Looking to thyself, and considering well what accords with thee, for thou art beautiful, yea the fairest of all women, know those that are like thee. But if thou knowest not thyself, trace the footsteps of the flock, examine the lives of the saints before thee, and in the tents of those shepherds, that is, in the Apostolical churches, feed thy kids.

 

9. Unto a steed, well yoked with Me In Pharaoh's chariot, I thee Will, O My Love, compare;

Figuratively here He intends by Pharaoh the persecutor of our nature, our wicked and common enemy; whom, like to Pharaoh, He drowned in the sacred water of Baptism. Therefore He says. My steeds which I used when I plunged into the sea the chariots of Pharaoh, and set thee at liberty. For He took on Him the form of a servant, when He emptied Himself that He might procure the salvation of the whole human race.

 

10. How do thy cheeks the jewels grace. Thy neck encircled with a lace. All strung with gems most rare!

The Church, consisting of many men and women, has some who are named cheeks, some eyes, some ears, some a mouth, some hands, and some feet. Comp. Prov. 1:8, 9. Ezek. 16:11,12,13. Eccles. 7:30, 31.

 
 

11. We ornaments will make for thee, Which into gold may likened be, In beads of silver bound,

LXX. They seem to Signify here the time before the Advent of the Lord Christ, and they comfort the Bride saying. All the time until the resurrection of the King we will be with thee, and will adorn thee with every possible ornament, nor will we leave thee until He rise again, but will offer to thee likenesses of gold and studs of silver. And suitably, they say that which is like gold, and not gold itself, since greater are the gifts of the Bridegroom than those of His ministers, which have not equal honor. Therefore we bestow greater honor on the Holy Evangelists, although we reverence the Law and the Prophets, and the writings of the Holy Apostles.

 
 

14. As cypress-branch, round which the vine Of Engedee its arms doth twine, So Him embrace will I!

For I call Him by many names, being overwhelmed with the sweet fragrance of His ointment, and cannot use one only, for the power of His sweetness defies all expression; but, being overcome with His love, I call Him spikenard, and a bundle of myrrh (myrrh signifying the death of the Bridegroom and the sweet savor thence brought to the Bride), and a cypress-branch, and a vine, for the vine, when it blossoms, is odoriferous.

 

15. How fair, My Love, how fair art thou; Thine eyes chaste as a dove's! [bride] And lo, How beauteous Thou and sweet. Beloved One! and our bed to shade, Our mansion's beams of cedar made, The roof with cypress set.

chaste as a dove's: For in the form of a dove the Holy Ghost descended and abode on the Bridegroom. Therefore He calls her eyes dove’s, that is, spiritual, full of Divine grace, free from darkness, "with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, and changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord,'' and able to say, "God hath revealed to us by His Spirit."

beauteous: Hitherto she had continued amazed at the fragrance of the Bridegroom, but now she is astounded at His beauty, her eyes being enlightened and made spiritual, so as to be called dove‘s.

bed to shade: By the bed, He appears to intend Holy Scripture, in which the Bridegroom and Bride reposing have spiritual intercommunion. Moreover He calls the bed shaded, as succoured by the grace of the Spirit, protecting it from the burning heat of sin; for what the cloud was to Israel, such is the help of the Spirit to us.

cypress: He has selected these kinds of trees, because the cedar is incorruptible and the cypress sweet-smelling, and both are found in Holy Scripture; which is to be not only a bed, but a house, and table, and food, and not only affords sweet savor, but promises that which is incorruptible, impassible, and immortal.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Subpages (1): Chapter 2
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