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Fry, John
Canticles; or Song of
Solomon
CANTICLES ;
OR,
SONG OF SOLOMON
A NEW TRANSLATION,
WITH NOTES.
CANTICLES;
OR,
SONG OF SOLOMON:
A NEW TRANSLATION, WITH NOTES, AND
AN ATTEMPT TO INTERPRET
THE SACRED ALLEGORIES
CONTAINED IN THAT BOOK.
TO WHICH IS ADDED,
AN ESSAY ON THE NAME AND CHARACTER
OF
THE REDEEMER.
BY THE REV. JOHN FRY, A. B.
LATE OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, OXFORD,
RECTOR OF DESFORD IN LEICESTERSHIRE,
Author of Expository Lectures on St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans : a new Translation and
Exposition of the Psalms ; of the Second Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ ; of the
Sick Man's Friend; Friend to the Convalescent; and a History of the
Christian Church to the Present Time, on the Plan of Milner, &c.
SECOND EDITION.
*0 l(x,os \qus lo-rocvQwrcti-
ST. IGNATIUS.
LONDON:
PaiNTED FOR JAMES DUNCAN, PATERNOSTER-ROW.
MDCCCXXV.
London:— Printed by W. Clowis, Noithumberland-court, Strand.
PREFACE.
THE authenticity and divine inspiration of the
Canticles, or Song of Solomon, have seldom been
called in question. This book is well known to
have formed part of those sacred writings which
the ancient Jews reverenced as the oracles of
Heaven, and which, in this high character, re-
ceived the sanction of the Son of God. The
Canticles are therefore to be considered as in-
cluded among those Scriptures of which the
Apostle speaks in his Epistle to Timothy : " All
Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness*." No one then
can doubt of the utility of studying this portion
of the divine records, however extraordinary its
subject may, at first sight, appear ; but the at-
tention of the reader may be solicited to the
publication now laid before him in prosecution of
»2 Epist. iii. l6,
VI PREFACE.
that general charge of our divine Master, " Search
the Scriptures."
To give an account of the present attempt with-
out any further apology — the first endeavour has
been, to provide an accurate translation of this
interesting part of Holy Writ from the original
Hebrew, illustrated with such notes and observa-
tions, as appeared necessary to the comprehen-
sion of its literal meaning.
Next I have attempted — agreeably to what will
be shown to be the nature and design of this
book — to explain its several portions as so many
spiritual allegories.
The former part of the undertaking could not
have been omitted, for it were preposterous to
attempt an improved interpretation of these alle-
gories, without previously directing our efforts to
gain a clear and distinct knowledge of the events
or similies on which they are constructed. " It is
the first duty of an expositor," as the Bishop of
Dromore observes, " to ascertain that lower and
more obvious meaning. For till this is done, it
is impossible to discover what truths are couched
under it. Without this all is vague and idle
conjecture b."
The spiritual interpretations follow, as being
b New Translation, Dodsley, 1764.
PREFACE. Vll
necessary to complete the design of the divine
author of these sacred songs : the parable, ex-
cept in view of its interpretation, being but of
small moment to the edification of the church at
large.
In accomplishing the first part of our design, it
will be seen, that we derive great assistance from
the labours of others. And much assistance in-
deed was necessary : for to settle the literal
meaning and distribution of the Song of Solomon
has been justly considered as a very difficult task.
As a composition and work of taste, it must be
confessed that we can only, in some parts, form a
guess concerning the original beauties and de-
sign of the Song of So?igs. It may be compared
to some precious relic of antiquity, whose ex-
quisite polish and minuter ornaments time and
other causes have much corroded and defaced.
Notwithstanding the successive labours of many
learned and ingenious men, in clearing away the
rubbish which obscured it, and in retracing its
almost obliterated workmanship, we must be sa-
tisfied, in some places, to have preserved only the
general contour or outline of the work, and may
be compelled perhaps to own that we do not tho
roughly comprehend the use of some of its subor-
dinate parts.
V1U PREFACE.
In a religious point of view, however, this sort
of imperfection in our knowledge respecting
some of the original beauties of these sacred
poems, is not of that consequence which might at
first be imagined. The glory of the holy temple
consists not in its gildings, or in its elegant carv-
ings. These may be lost or defaced ; yet, if a
more spiritual worship is now celebrated beneath
its consecrated roof, the glory of the house, in
its latter state, may well be said to exceed its
glory in the former. And thus, in the hands of
a truly enlightened Christian, the Canticles ap-
pear at this day invested with a brighter lustre,
than they perhaps could discern, who read them
in the days of Solomon. Because, though, in re-
gard to the exterior imagery of the allegories,
some of their beauties may be lost : yet the hid-
den and mystic sense is brought more to light, and
manifested with fuller assurance to the believer
under the Gospel dispensation. — " For I tell you
that many prophets and kings have desired to
see the things which ye see, and have not seen
themc."
The principle upon which the present transla-
tion and interpretation are conducted is that
c Luke, x. 24.
PREFACE. IX
adopted by Mr. Mason Good d, or, more strictly
speaking, that adopted by Signior Melesigenio.
What is commonly called the Song of Solomon,
is considered as a collection of distinct idyls, or
little poems, perfectly detached and separate from
each other, with no other connexion than what
they derive from a common subject, the peculi-
arities of the style of a common author, and per-
haps some unity of design in regard of the mystic
sense which they are intended to bear.
This notion of what is commonly called the
Song of Solomon is certainly a most important
discovery. The mistake of considering a number
of distinct pieces, in an ancient language, as one
continued work, and endeavouring to interpret
them upon that principle, is in itself sufficient to
account for much of the obscurity so generally
complained of in reading the Canticles.
The improbability, however, that the true na-
ture of the Song of Solomon should be left to be
a modern discovery, will perhaps strike my
readers. But it may be observed, that though
the notion be indeed a discovery, in respect of
the ages just elapsed, yet there is still surviving
evidence enough to lead to the conclusion, that
d See Song of Songs, or sacred Idyls, by John Mason Good,
London, 1803.
PREFACE.
the same notion was entertained respecting this
work by the ancients.
The plural appellation given to the song among
the Latins, « Cantica Salomonis,' whence our ■ Can-
ticles,' seems to argue that they considered it as
a collection of several songs, and not as one con-
tinued poem. The title of this book in the Chaldee
paraphrase, is a still more remarkable evidence ;
" The Songs and Hymns which Solomon the Prophet,
the King of Israel, uttered in the Spirit of Prophecy
before the Lord" Not to mention that, according
to the opinion of some Hebrew scholars, the title
of the book, as it stands in the original Hebrew
O^TOH TO, which has been usually rendered The
Song of Songs, and understood to signify the
most excellent of songs, should be translated A
Series of Songs e. J
It is in this view of the Canticles that the fol-
lowing exposition is attempted. I may borrow
the language of Mr. Good, though I shall often
see occasion to differ from him in its application ;
" I have finished the Idyl where the subject seems
e up Nonnullis Series alicujus rci( ut Arab. Synon. est series
lapidum (murus), series pergulata vitis ; uncle sec. quosdam
»Tt7T» Series Carminum.— Simonis Lex. Heb.
Salomonis sanctissimum carmen inter Idyllia Hebrea reccnsen-
dum puto.— Sir William Jones.
PREFACE. XI
naturally to close, and I have recommenced it
where a new subject is introduced."
In respect to the nature and design of these
sacred songs, they are considered in the present
publication as so many sacred allegories, intended (
by the Divine Spirit for our instruction and edifi-
cation in the mysteries of our holy religion.
An allegory is denned by Bishop Lowth to be
" a figure, which, under the literal sense of the
words, conceals a foreign or a distant meaning."
Of allegories in the Hebrew poetry, his Lordship
reckons three kinds: — " The continued Meta-
phor, the parabolic Allegory, and the mystical or
historic Allegory." He observes, " Supposing the
Song of Solomon to be an allegory, a question will
arise, to which of the three species it belongs."
And considering the song as one continued drama,
he places it in the third class ; the nature of which
sort of allegory is, under the veil of some histori-
cal fact, to conceal a meaning more sacred and
sublime. The historical fact he supposes to be
the marriage-feast of Solomon ; the more sacred
and spiritual meaning, " the Prince of Peace,
whom Solomon typified espousing his church."
But upon the plan now proposed, of consider-
ing the Canticles as a collection of many distinct
idyls and allegories, we shall perhaps see reason
-\11 PREFACE.
to conclude, that only a very few of them can be
properly said to belong to this class of allegories :
but that they are, for the most part, of the para-
bolical kind — of that species of allegories, accord^
ing to Bishop Lowth's definition, " which consist
of a continued narration of a fictitious event, ap-
plied, by way of simile, to the illustration of some
important truth."
For the better understanding of the distinction
between these two species of allegories, we may
observe, from the same admirable writer, " that,
in the parabolical allegory, the exterior or osten-
sible imagery is fiction only ; the truth lies alto-
gether in the interior and remote sense which is
veiled as it were under this thin and pellucid
covering. But in the historical allegory, the
exterior or ostensible image is not a shadowy
colouring of the interior sense, but is itself a re-
ality ; and although it sustains another character,
it does wholly lay aside its own." The one, in
short, is a fable, with its intended moral — a
parable contrived only for the sake of its inter-
pretation : of which sort were probably all the
parables of our blessed Saviour. The other is
some event or occurrence in the history of the
times, moralized or spiritualized, or considered as
destined by divine Providence to typify some
PREFACE. Xlll
similar but more important event to come to pass
in a future age. Of this species of allegory the
Scriptures of the Old Testament afford us many
instances ; and the fourth chapter of St. Paul's
Epistle to the Galatians may be referred to for a
particular example t.
The historical events, upon which it may be
supposed some few of these allegories are built,
will be noticed, when the particular idyl is con-
sidered which contains the allusion. Speaking
of them generally, and the exceptions are very
few, we may pronounce them to be allegories of
the parabolical kind.
And here my readers, who are acquainted with
some of the existing expositions of the Canticles,
will perceive that we escape a great deal of very
useless and uninteresting inquiry — respecting
who was the literal bride, whether Pharaoh's
daughter, or some other woman ; with a variety
of vague conjecture and disgusting detail, not
less offensive to true taste, than unprofitable to
every practical purpose. Since, if we suppose
them to be parabolical allegories, it is obviously
as unnecessary to ask — who was the particular
bride, and what the particular marriage; as to
f Ver. 24, &c.
XIV PREFACE.
ask — who were the particular parties in any of
the parables of our Lord ; who was the king that
made a marriage for his son ; or who the man
that came in among 4the guests, not having on a
wedding garment. All that is necessary to the
understanding of such allegories, being, to gain a
clear conception of the case supposed, and then
to search out the truths intended to be taught by
the comparison, or allusion.
In the allegories we are now to consider, the
fictitious events are always in allusion to the in-
tercourse of some faithful pair betrothed or es-
poused to each other, and about to be united to-
gether in the sacred bonds of wedded love ; or,
as the case is sometimes supposed, that event
having already taken place. — Their declarations
of affection, and partial admiration of each other ;
their occasional separations, and the happiness
experienced when these painful interruptions are
ended, with other circumstances relating to the
marriage union, according to the custom of the
times, will be found to form the subjects of the
several idyls.
Such is the nature of the exterior and osten-
sible imagery of these allegories ; the interior
and remote sense, the true meaning covered by
this veil, is the love and affection manifested by
PREFACE. XV
Christ, the bridegroom of souls, towards his faith-
ful people, and their returns of love and gratitude
to him. And this view of the Song of Solomon,
as being intended to represent the mutual love of
Christ and his church, is indeed agreeable to the
very general and almost universal opinion enter-
tained concerning this part of Scripture, both in
ancient and modern times.
The reader, however, should be informed, that
one eminent critic, Professor Michaelis, has ad-
vanced a different interpretation. He conceives,
" that the chaste and conjugal affections so care-
fully implanted by the Deity in the human heart,
and upon which so great a portion of human hap-
piness depends, are not unworthy of a muse
fraught even with inspiration. Only let us sup-
pose/' he continues, " contrary to the general
opinion concerning the Canticles, that the affec-
tion which is described in this poem is not that
of lovers previous to their nuptials, but the at-
tachment of two delicate persons, who have been
long united in the sacred bond. Can we suppose
such happiness unworthy of being recommended
as a pattern to mankind, and of being celebrated
as a subject of gratitude to the great Author of
happiness? This is indeed a branch of morals,
which may be treated in a more artificial and
Xvi PREFACE.
philosophical manner; and such a manner per-
haps will be more convincing to the understand-
ing, but will never affect the heart with such
tender sentiments as the Song of Solomon, in
which there exists all the fervour of passion, with
the utmost chastity of expression, and with that
delicacy and reserve which is ever necessary to
the life and preservation of conjugal love."
Though we feel ourselves compelled to adopt
the opinion of the general body of interpreters,
in preference to this of the learned Professor, yet
we need not totally exclude the moral instruc-
tion which he supposes to be deducible from the
Canticles, since St. Paul has referred us to the
love of Christ towards his church, which we state
to be the subject of these songs, for an example
of the same virtue — " Husbands, love your wives,
even as Christ also loved the church e."
But to suppose this moral instruction the only,
or, in any respect, the chief design of the Divine
Spirit in these sacred poems, is to suppose a
subject far too mean and homely for such a
theme. That the Holy Spirit " should not dis-
dain," according to the reasoning of Michaelis,
" in the didactic parts of Scripture, as in the
sEph. v. 25.
PREFACE. XVI L
book of Proverbs, minutely to describe the feli-
cities and infelicities of the conjugal state/' is
scarcely sufficient to reconcile us to the notion,
that songs and hymns are inspired by that same
Divine Being to extol and celebrate the same.
Supposing no allegory, the moral instruction to
be gathered from these songs must be acknow-
ledged to be very small, and the effusion of praise
to the great Author of happiness not very ob-
vious. It were strange, indeed, supposing only a
literal sense, to find beauty of person, profusion
of odours, magnificence of dress and of equipage,
held forth as the chief subjects of panegyric,
and mutually rehearsed between the lovers, as
though they formed the chief motives of endear-
ment. For this may almost be said to be the
case in every part of these idyls ; while the qua-
lities of the heart and mind, upon the goodness
and beauty of which a true affection can alone be
founded, are hardly mentioned. Far different
were the instructions of that wisdom with which
Solomon was inspired ! " Grace is deceitful, and
beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the
Lord she shall be praised11."
jnn.
XVlll PREFACE.
It will appear, however, inconceivable to some,
that there should, in reality, exist any such rela-
tion and intercourse between the souls of poor,
abject, and sinful mortals, and the eternal Majesty
of Heaven, as is here supposed : an intercourse
which can, with any degree of propriety, be com-
pared to the endearments and familiar converse
of two earthly lovers. And there is too much
reason to fear that many persons, in their most
deliberate judgments, will pronounce the notion
extravagant and enthusiastical ; and some per-
haps— forgetting that the theme is scriptural,
whatever are the errors of the comment — will not
spare, on this occasion, the shafts of profane wit
and ridicule.
But the happy experience of many humble and
pious Christians, in every age, and in every clime,
does attest the fact, that in that " mysterious
commerce" which the Great Redeemer conde-
scends to hold with their souls, there are those
manifestations of his love, and those affections
kindled in their hearts towards the person of God
their Saviour, which may well borrow their allu-
sions from the tenderest and most powerful affec-
tion which subsists among men. And, as will be
shown in the course of this publication, in these
PREFACE. XIX
attestations the followers of Christ profess to
experience nothing but what the Scriptures do
clearly warrant them to expect.
We have not in our view, it should be remem-
bered, the penitent trembling before his judge.
Though it is obvious to remark, that sinful mor-
tals, by nature the children of wrath, must first
of all be brought into these circumstances, before
any friendship with a holy God can be imagined.
Neither are the scenes described in the following
parables, supposed to refer to the first applica-
tion of the believer to the cross of his Saviour,
nor perhaps to his first apprehensions of Christ's
pity and mercy ; but rather to those subsequent
manifestations of the divine love, in the person of
the Son of God, which the established Christian
is taught to expect, from the effusion of the Holy
Ghost the Comforter.
The progress of true religious experience is
thus stated, by a safe guide, the Apostle Paul,
" Being justified by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom
also we have access by faith into this grace,
wherein we stand and rejoice, in hope of the
glory of God. And not only so, but we glory
in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation
worketh patience, and patience experience, and
b2
XX PREFACE.
experience hope ; and hope maketh not ashamed,
because the love of God is shed abroad in the- dwl
heart5by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto
us." And, after describing the nature of this
love, the Apostle concludes, " and not only so,
but we also joy in God, through our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom we have now received the atone-
ment1."
It is in these circumstances — when, to use the
expressions of Isaiah, " the work of righteous-
ness is peace, and the effect of righteousness
quietness, and assurance for everk," that the be-
lieving soul becomes the manifested subject of
those espousals with her heavenly Bridegroom,
which are celebrated in these songs of love. To
persons brought into this happy state, the lan-
guage of the Prophet may be addressed, « As
the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall
thy God rejoice over thee." To the favoured be-
liever, so circumstanced, the terms Hephzibah
and Beulah apply. And the spouse of Christ re-
ceiving " the first fruits of the Spirit " is enabled
to exclaim, in the animated language of the same
Prophet, " 1 will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my
soul shall be joyful in my God ; for he has clothed
» Ywo/Aom— Ao*^>,— EXw»;— KxraXXxyn. Rom. v. 1, &c.
kIsa. xxxii. IT. Isa. lxii. 5.
PREFACE. XXI
me with the garments of salvation, he has covered
me with the robe of righteousness, as a bride-
groom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a
bride adorneth herself with her jewels1."
With this blessed experience we come, indivi-
dually, to enjoy that happy state of the church
described by the prophet Hosea ; " And it shall
be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call
me Ishi (my husband) ; and shalt call me no more
Baalim (my master). And I will betroth thee
unto me for ever ; yea, I will betroth thee unto
me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in
loving kindness, and in mercies ; and I will even
betroth thee unto me in faithfulness ; and thou
shalt know the Lord11."
For let it here be once for all observed, that
what is spoken of the church in these Scriptures,
is not only true of it in its collective capacity,
but applies respectively to every member of
which that church is composed. No one indeed
will doubt, when a false church is termed an
adultress, a very common metaphor in Scripture,
whether the spiritual fornication is chargeable or
not upon each individual participating in her
» Isa. l.xi. 10. m Hos. ii. 15. n Hos. ii. i'J, 20.
XX11 PREFACE.
idolatries. Neither can it reasonably be ques-
tioned, whether the love declared by Christ to-
wards his spouse the Church, belongs severally,
as well as conjointly, to all his faithful people.
Why should the love of Christ be considered
as nothing more than an affection only true in the
general abstract, but applicable in point of fact
to no one ? " O, taste and see ! ! " The love of
Christ is not lost in generalities, neither is it
lessened by division. Like the great luminary of
heaven, " The head of his body the Church," in
the communications of his grace, shines with the
same fulness upon all the objects of his love ; —
each alike discerns the complete disk of the Sun
of Righteousness to be turned towards himself, as
though no creature besides participated in his
beams. And — to draw another comparison from
these material objects— as the heavenly bodies, be-
cause of their immense distance, in comparison of
the objects which surround us here upon the sur-
face of the earth, seem as if they attended each of
us in our course ; to go with us when we go, and
to take their stations where we rest ; so, in re-
ality, from that glorious height, from whence the
Omnipotent Saviour beholds the things which are
in heaven and in earth, he is always seen as pre-
PREFACE. XX111
sent to to the believer's soul. He is about his
path, and about his bed°. ** As God hath said, I
will dwell in them, and walk in them p."
An objection, indeed, has been urged against
this interpretation of the Song of Solomon, which
we are endeavouring to establish, drawn from the
consideration that we find no plain and express
allusion to this book in the New Testament,
under the notion of its veiling so great a mystery.
But it is sufficient to reply, that the same alle-
gory, as portraying the same truth, evidently
appears to have been familiar to the minds of the
writers of the New Testament, and to the minds
also of the people whom they addressed.
Not more abruptly does John the Baptist, for
instance, refer to our Lord, as " the Lamb of
God who taketh away the sins of the world/5
as being a character of the Messiah, which all
would know and understand, than he does to the
same blessed person in the character of the Bride-
groom of the Church. " He that hath the Bride
is the Bridegroom : but the friend of the Bride-
groom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth
greatly, because of the Bridegroom's voice ; this
my joy therefore is fulfilled %" So again St. Paul,
° Ps. cxxxix. 2. p 2 Cor. vi. 16. q John, iii. 29-
XXIV PREFACE.
" I have espoused you to one husband, that I may
present you as a chaste virgin to Christ1." And
how remarkable is the language of the same
Apostle, when speaking of the duties of husbands
and wives ! " Wives, submit yourselves to your
own husbands, as unto the Lord ; for the husband
is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head
of the church ; and he is the Saviour of the body.
Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so
let the wives be to their own husbands in every
thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ
also loved the church, and gave himself for it,
that he might sanctify and cleanse it by the
washing of water by the word, that he might
present it to himself a glorious church, not having
spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it
should be holy, and without blemish. So ought
men to love their wives as their own bodies.
He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no
man ever yet hated his own flesh ; but nourisheth
and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church ;
for we are members of his flesh, of his body, and
of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave
his father and his mother, and shall be joined
unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
* 2 Cor. xi. 2.
PREFACE. xxv
This is a great mystery : but I speak concerning
Christ and his church. Nevertheless, let each
one of you in particular so love his wife, even as
himself: and let the wife see that she reverence
her husband5."
We perceive, therefore, that the allegory pur-
sued in the Canticles, and understood by the
Jews to be therein contained, is not unnoticed in
the New Testament, but was an acknowledged
simile in use among the Apostles of Christ.
It may be necessary, however, to observe,
that even the human passion itself, which is al-
legorized in these sacred songs, as an emblem of
the divine love, is totally unknown to some gross
minds ; and that all susceptibility of a real affec-
tion is often destroyed in others, at a very early
age in life, by sensuality, ambition, or avarice.
For it is not the mercenary bargain which unites
so many couples at our altars, that can be " em-
ployed to signify to us the mystical union that
there is betwixt Christ and his church :" nor yet
those plighted vows, which too truly may be
said " to be enterprised and taken in hand unad-
visedly, wantonly to satisfy man's carnal lusts
and appetites, like brute beasts that have no un-
• Eph. v. 22, &<\
XXVI PREFACE.
derstanding." In these contracts, as might be
expected, it soon appears, that " the mutual
society, help, and comfort which one has of the
other " will afford but a poor comparison whereby
to illustrate the everlasting love of Christ towards
his spouse the church.
But it will be asked, Do we suppose that a
meet example of conjugal affection could be found
in the voluptuous establishment of an eastern
prince, like Solomon ? No : and I think that the
Canticles contain more than one indication of this.
For though King Solomon is mentioned, and his
marriage-processions perhaps gave occasion to
to some of these allegories, yet we shall notice as
we proceed, that the scene is every now and then
changed, and we are led, from the processions of
the royal marriage, to contemplate the intercourse
and concerns of some rural or domestic pair in
humble life. As though the heavenly wisdom
would instruct us : " You see in Solomon indeed
a type of the regal dignity and prosperity of the
celestial bridegroom ; but a prototype of the loves
intended to be celebrated, is not to be found in
courts and palaces." — " There are threescore
queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins
without number. My dove, my undefiled, is but
one ; she is the only one of her mother ; she is
PREFACE. XXVU
the choice one of her that bare her." We must
look, therefore, for the desired example, to those
scenes and situations where, comparatively speak-
ing, luxury or profligacy has not
banished from man's life his happiest life,
Simplicity and spotless innocence !
The Scripture has recorded the histories of
Abraham and Sarah ; of Isaac and Rebecca ; of
the injured Jacob, whose love for Rachel made
the servitude of seven years, of even years twice
numbered, to appear but ' a few days :' and no
doubt there were many others, even in the days of
Solomon. Nor is the prototype yet lost among
mankind. You may witness still, in many a do-
mestic circle, an union of those who once were
strangers to each other ; nearer than kindred can
create, and dearer than friendship can cement. —
Hail, wedded Love, mysterious law, true source
Of human offspring, sole propriety
In paradise, of all things common else !
By thee adult'rous lust was driven from man
Among the bestial herds to range : by thee
Founded in reason, loyal, just, and pure,
Relations dear ; and all the charities
Of father, son, and brother, first were known.
Far be it that I should write thee sin, or blame,
Or think thee unbefitting holiest place.
Perpetual fountain of domestic sweets ;
XXV111 PREFACE.
Whose bed is undefiled, and chaste pronounced,
Present or past, as saints or patriarchs used.
Here Love his golden shafts employs ; here lights
His constant lamp, and waves his purple wings;
Reigns here, and revels.
It is this attachment then, the dearest and
tenderest known to the breast of man, which
our gracious Lord has made choice of as a com-
parison of his love to his faithful people. Nay,
the first new moments of this attachment are
chosen to supply the comparison, " The love of
the espousals." For Christ is ever new, and ever
young; the same yesterday, to-day, and forever."
His love is everlasting, and in no degree kindled
by circumstances of a changeable nature. " He
is not a man that he should lie, or the son of man
that he should repent*."
The hidings of his countenance may indeed be
compared to the lamented separations of earthly
lovers ; but no time nor accident, nor unforeseen
event, can alter the disposition of Christ towards
his redeemed people, or affect their union with
him. For I am persuaded," says the Apostle,
" that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any
tHom. viii. 3J.
PREFACE. XXIX
other creature, shall be able to separate us from
the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our
Lordu."
But, in concluding, we seem called upon to
reflect, how extremely unimportant it is to search
the meaning of these allegories if our hearts are
strangers to the sacred passion which they
describe ! Is the blessed Jesus then, indeed,
the object of our choice, " fairer" in our eyes
" than the children of men ;" the object on whom
our " thoughts find all repose," and whose loved
image the busiest scenes and most alluring plea-
sures cannot long banish from our minds ? Is he
our " glory," our " perfection?" Is it the pros-
pect of being taken to his heavenly abode, and
placed for ever near his dear person, that is our
solace in toil and trouble, the recompense and
rich amends which we propose to ourselves for
every loss and sacrifice ? If such an affection has
been kindled in our hearts towards him who
" first loved us," then we may hope to read the
Canticles with pleasure and profit. But if, from
all that we know concerning the Saviour of the
world, nothing in his person and character has
particularly struck our wayward fancies, or served
to give Christ the pre-eminence in our affections
uRom. viii.38, 39.
XXX PREFACE.
above other objects ; if, with the ungrateful
world at large, we are compelled to acknowledge,
" he has no form nor comeliness, and when we shall
see him, there is no beauty that we should de-
sire in him ;" then, indeed, it were in vain to think
of reading these songs of love : they cannot be to
our taste and mind. " Frustra enim ad legendum
amoris carmen, qui non amat accedit, quia non
potest capere ignitum eloquium frigidum pec-
tus,"— " Lingua amoris ei, qui non amat barbara
erit."
" For this cause," therefore, let us bow our "knees
to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom
the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
that he would grant" us, " according to the riches
of his glory, to be strengthened with might by
his spirit in the inner man ; that Christ may dwell
in" our " hearts by faith ; that" we, " being rooted
and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend,
with all saints, what is the breadth, and length,
and depth, and height ; and to know the love of
Christ, which passeth knowledge, that we may be
filled with all the fulness of God." Amen*.
* The relation between Christ and his Church, it is evident^
must be of a nature not to be adequately typified by any thing in
the material world ; and nothing could be found in human life
which might so aptly represent it as the relation of husband and
wife in the holy state of wedlock : and in this the analogy is so
PREFACE. XXXI
perfect, that the notion of the ancient Jews has received the ex-
press sanction of St Paul, that the relation of the Saviour and the
Church was typified in the union of our first parents, and in the
particular manner of Eve's formation out of the substance of
Adam." — " The union in both cases, in the natural case of man
and wife, and the spiritual case of Messiah and the Church, is a
union of the most entire affection and the warmest mutual love,
between unequals ; contrary to the admired maxim of the heathen
moralist, that friendship was not to be formed but between equals.
The maxim may be true in all human friendship, except in the
conjugal, but fails completely in the love between Christ and his
Church, in which the affection on both sides is the most cordial,
though the rank of the parties be the most disparate."
Bishop Horsley.
CANTICLES;
OR,
SONG OF SOLOMON.
IDYL THE FIRST.
Corresponding with the first six Verses of the first
Chapter of our public Translation.
--I
X HIS Idyl may perhaps, with propriety, be considered
as introductory to the series. The fictitious event, or
simile, which forms the exterior or ostensible part of the
allegory, appears to be the conducting of a bride to her
home. She is plainly supposed, as we shall discover, to
have been a person in a low station: one at least who, by
the ill treatment of her relations, had been employed in
servile labours. The bridegroom, into whose house she
is conducted, is said to be the King ; and as Jerusalem is
mentioned, it is of course the King of Israel. But as no
real incident, that we know of, was the occasion of the
idyl, we may consider the allegory as belonging to the
parabolical species, according to the distinctions noticed
in the Preface.
This little poem consists of a dialogue between the
bride and the daughters of Jerusalem, who are sent to
B
2 CANTICLES ; OH,
accompany her to the rjalace, and whose observations and
answers form in this, and in several of the following idyls,
a kind of chorus. But, besides these virgins, we discover
in the present idyl another character, bearing part in the
dialogue, whom we may term The Messenger. The reason
for this conjecture is, that some one is addressed by the
bride in the singular number, and masculine gender. He
appears, moreover, as the conductor of the procession.
From these observations it will occur to the reader,
that the imagery of the following idyl very much re-
sembles a part of that described more at length in the
forty-fifth Psalm; " She shall be brought unto the King
in raiment of needle-work : the virgins, her companions,
that follow her, shall be brought unto thee; with gladness
and rejoicing shall they be brought ; they shall enter into
the King's palace3."
An apparent abruptness will perhaps strike us in the
language attributed to the bride, with which the dialogue
begins. But we are to suppose a previous address of the
messenger, or rather a previous contract and preparation.
The messenger comes only to execute an expected office —
that of conducting the bride, at the time appointed, to
the house of her husband.
•>
BRIDE.
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouths
» Ver. 14, 15.
b This declaration is merely expressive of the anxiety of the
bride, that she may meet with a gracious reception from her royal
bridegroom, and may receive the solemn token and pledge of the
espousals. We are informed by the Jewish writers, that kisses
were used in token of the espousals, and that then the parties
SONG OF SOLOMON. O
MESSENGER.
— Yea! more grateful will be thy love than wine —
As the fragrance of thy sweet perfumes b.
VIRGINS.
—A perfume poured forth is thy name,
Therefore do the Virgins love thee c.
BRIDE.
Conduct med —
were reckoned as man and wife*. The same ceremony was prac-
tised among the primitive Christianst. Indeed the solemn kiss is
made by the civil law a ceremony, in some respects, of importance
to the validity of the contract J.
« ' Be assured he will, for greatly will he delight in thy beauty/
We may observe, that the literal meaning of Dm, at least accord-
ing to the Septuagint and Vulgate, who render ^uaroi and ubera,
as well as the change of person, leads to the conclusion, that the
love of the bride, as the object, and not that of the bridegroom,
as is generally represented, is intended.
c The virgins repeat the assurance of the messenger respecting
the King's acceptance of his bride: and whilst they express, in
the same figurative strain of allusion to the sweet perfumes with
which the bride is scented, their own affection to her person,
they welcome her to their society.
' The pleasing report which they have heard of her has been
most grateful to them, and has already conciliated all their afFec-
tions:' yav is by some considered as occurring here in the fem.
gen. By others, min is considered as a noun.
d yoiPJD ' Draw me.' — ' Lead on, O Messenger.' The word is
used (Judges, iv. 6, 7.) for the conducting or leading out of an
army ; and also for the drawing of the enemy to the desired spot.
" Go, and draw towards Mount Tabor," " and I will draw
unto thee, to the river Kishon, Sisera the Captain of Jabin's
army, with his chariots and his multitude;" — " And he went up
* See Dr. Gill, Comment,
t Bingham's Antiquities, b. xxii. c. iii. s. vi.
J Cod. Justin, lib. 6. tit. 3. de Donation, ante Nuptias, leg. 16.
B 2
4 CANTICLES ; OR,
VIRGINS.
— After thee will we hasten.
BRIDE.
The King has caused me to be brought into his inner-
chambers f.
VIRGINS.
We will exult and rejoice over thee;
We will celebrate thy loves,
Than wine more grateful :
Justly art thou belovedg.
BRIDE.
I am black1' —
VIRGINS.
— Yet most beautiful1 1
with ten thousand men at his feet" (ver. 10). The transition to
the conducting of a procession is easy.
f These words are spoken by the bride on entering the royal
apartments. — ' With the virgins, her companions which follow
her, she is brought into the King's palace.' Tin signifies pro-
perly a veil ; — the veil or curtain especially, which separated the
farther part of the tent from the midst. Hence it is applied to the
interior of a building, by whatever means separated from the rest.
It signifies in this place the private apartments of the palace,
secluded from public view and access.
g TOnK O'ltt^o — ' They do right in loving thee.' ' Recte
agentes, rectissime.' Simonis Lex. Heb. ' Thou art every way
lovely.' Percy and Good.
b The bride speaks this as if abashed at their flattering com-
mendations, conscious of her own defect in point of beauty :
her complexion, from a cause afterwards to be mentioned, having
become brown and tawny.
1 niW — admodum pulchra. Simons. If we suppose a dialogue,
there can, I think, need no argument to show the probability
that these words are spoken by the virgins, and not, as has been
usually imagined, by the bride, in commendation of her own
beauty.
SONG OF SOLOMON. O
BRIDE.
O Daughters of Jerusalem, — as the tents of Kedar k !
VIRGINS.
—As the hangings * of the pavilion ' of Solomon ' !
BRIDE.
Look not on me, for I am very black m!
Because the sun has discoloured me :
The sons of my mother despised me n,
They set me to look ° after the vineyards P :
A vineyard of my own I have not looked after q.
k Tip— it appears, from Gen. xxv. 13, was a name of one of
the sons of Ishmael, from whom the Arabians are descended.
Dr. Shaw and Mr. Volney inform us, that the tents of the
Bedouins, the Arabians of the desert, are woven of goats' or
camels' hair, and are of a black or brown appearance. It is to
these that the bride compares the complexion of her sun-burnt
skin.
lj-nyi-p.— rendered in our public translation ' Curtains,' always, I
believe, denotes something belonging to a tent — the different hang-
ings of which it was composed. " I saw the tents of Cushan in
affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble*."
The beauty and elegance of these hangings in the royal tent of
the magnificent Solomon, we may easily conjecture, would form
a complete contrast with the sackcloth tents of the wild Arabs.
m mmrw — q. d. Nigra nigra; i. e. tota nigra, admodum nigra.
Discoloured, scorched, or tanned. f\W proprie rigore penetrante
perstrinxit vel oculus vel sol.
n Literally, snorted at me.
o To keep or watch.
p o-o — is used generally of vineyards, gardens, and plantations.
" Nobilior pars terra: qua? in horti modum colitur." Simon.
q In hot countries, like Palestine, travellers inform us, that the
greatest difference imaginable subsists between the complexions
of the women. Those of any condition seldom go abroad, and are
* Hab. iii. 7.
CANTICLES ; OR,
INTERPRETATION OF THE FIRST PARABLE.
In order to explain this parable, and inquire into
its interior sense, it will be first necessary to ascer-
tain who are intended by the allegorical persons
engaging, or referred to, in the dialogue.
Respecting the Bridegroom, designated as King
ever accustomed to be shaded from the sun with the greatest
attention: their skin is consequently fair and beautiful. But
■women in the lower ranks of life, in the country especially, being,
from the nature of their employment, more exposed to the
scorching rays of the sun, are, in their complexions, remarkably
tawny and swarthy. Under such circumstances, a high value
would, of course, be set, by the eastern ladies, upon the fairness
of their complexions, as a distinguishing mark of their superior
quality, no less than as an enhancement of their beauty. We
perceive, therefore, how natural was the bride's self-abasing re-
flection respecting her tawny complexion among the fair daughters
of Jerusalem, who, as attendants upon a royal marriage, we may
suppose to have been of the first ranks. She assigns the cause
of her mean appearance, — she had been exposed to the drudgery
of the field.
This certainly bespeaks the bride, in this idyl, as was noticed
above, to have been of low extraction, in compaiison of her royal
bridegroom : for we are not to suppose, in the reign of Solomon,
the simple equality of the patriarchal age.
She complains, besides, of the ill treatment of relations in ex-
posing her to these servile employments; by which, I think, she
is to be understood as meaning to depicture still more the misery
of her former situation. ' You see me discoloured by the sun ; it
arises from my having been employed in the labours of hus-
bandry, not that I myself have reaped any fruits from my industry.
I was cruelly reduced to be the slave of others; they alone have
received the profits of my toil and labour.'
SONG OF SOLOMON.
Solomon, in addition to what has been already ob-
served in the Preface, we may remark, in the lan-
guage of St. Paul, on a similar occasion3: First,
being by interpretation, " He who is our peace ;"
—and after that, also " King of Israel," which is
King of the people of God ; the allusion is obvious
to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. " Upon
him was the chastisement of our peace V— " He
has reconciled us unto God by the cross0:" and is
now " exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour, to
give repentance unto Israel, and remission of sins d."
By the name of Solomon, moreover, whose sup-
posed bride, as we have already seen, is to be
considered, in these parables, as a type of the
church, we seem admonished in what capacity the
heavenly Bridegroom must first be known, before
we can participate, with this redeemed people, in
the character of the spouse of Christ. He must be
our peace ; and we must submit to his sceptre as
the King of Saints. Then, in due course, shall we
be called to a communion with our Saviour, far
different from the intercourse of subjects with their
prince, or of servants with their master ; nay, more
intimate than the converse of friends : we shall as-
sume the tender relation of the espoused of Christ,
and shall answer to the emblem of the bride in
these Canticles.
Of the Messenger, who conducts the procession
a Heb. vii. 2. •> Isa. liii. 5.
<=Eph. ii. 16. d Acts, v. 31.
^
8 CANTICLES ; OR,
in the idyl before us, an easy interpretation offers,
in referring the type to some minister of Christ, or
some experienced Christian, who, through grace,
becomes the helper of his fellow-christians' joy.
St. Paul, in fact, speaks of his apostolical office, in
gathering and conducting penitent believers to Jesus
Christ, almost under the same allusion, " I have
espoused you to one husband, that I may present
you a chaste virgin to Christ6."
By the Virgins, daughters of Jerusalem, the re-
maining party in the dialogue, are designated, I
conceive, either ministering angels, or Christian
companions ; or perhaps both may be sometimes
intended. This conclusion may be formed from
noticing the purposes for which these virgins are
constantly introduced, and the employment always
assigned them in these allegories. They are the
companions and attendants of the bride ; they are
generally described as rejoicing in her happiness,
and celebrating her espousals with songs of praise.
This corresponds with the notions we are autho-
rized to form of the holy angels : " Are they not all
ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them
who shall be heirs of salvation f?"-— " There is joy
in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner
that repenteth6."
Spiritual believers, also, engage in the same kind
offices towards each other. When it pleases God to
convert a sinner from the evil of his way, and to
e 2 Cor. xi. 2. f Heb. i. 14. « Luke, xv. 10.
SONG OF SOLOMON. 9
introduce him into the communion of saints, they
participate in his joy, and would gladly become
subservient to his happiness ; they rejoice over him
with songs of praise.
With these observations on the characters intro-
duced in this idyl, we may now proceed to the-
parable itself.
The bride, previously admonished, we may sup-
pose " to forget her own people and her father's
house," and invited to go and receive the solemn
pledge of her espousals, resigns herself to the con-
ductors of the bridal procession. So when the
Gospel message comes " in power, in the Holy
Ghost, and in much assurance11" to the believer,
he will freely make a surrender of himself to
Christ, thankfully availing himself of whatever
means his Lord shall have appointed to conduct
him to his presence, and to a more intimate know-
ledge of his goodness.
In a comparative view, he will hate father and
mother, and brothers and sisters, and wife and chil-
dren, yea, and his own life also, for the sake of his
Saviour and Redeemer. The language of his
grateful heart will be, " What things were gain
to me, those I counted loss for Christ ; yea, doubt-
less, and I count all things but loss for the excel-
lency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord,
for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and
do count them but dung, that I may win Christ1."
h 1 Thess. i. 5. '* Phil. iii. 7-. 8.
CN
10 CANTICLES ; OR,
M Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth."
The sudden exclamation of the spouse implies, per-
haps, some degree of anxious doubt respecting the
great honour designed her — " But will the King of
Israel, indeed, accept and love me, an object so
mean and vile?" To disperse these doubts, we per-
ceive, the answer of the messenger is devised :
" Yea," surely, " more grateful will be thy love
than wine ; as the fragrance of thy sweet per-
fumes." This figurative language affords a lively
representation of that solicitude with which the
faithful ministers of Christ and all his people will
endeavour to encourage the convert, by assurances
of the greatness of the Redeemer's love. This is
their perpetual theme ; and this the messengers
of God have in charge, " Comfort ye, comfort ye
my people, saith your God ; speak ye comfortably
to Jerusalem." Literally, speak to her heart, words
that may animate and encourage her.
The virgins, moreover, attest their own love to
the object of their master's choice. " A perfume
poured forth is thy name, therefore do the virgins
love thee." When " the things which accompany
salvation " are discerned in any of their fellow-
creatures ; when the repenting sinner gives evi-
dence of the soundness of his faith, of his increased
knowledge, of the holiness and purity of his affec-
tions ; when li his light so shines before men that
they see his good works, and glorify his Father
which is in heaven," his name spreads abroad in
SONG OF SOLOMON. 11
the church, nay, as we are taught to conceive,
among the heavenly hosts. It is "a good name
which is better than precious ointment k." It con-
ciliates the good will of the elect angels, and of all
that love Jesus Christ in sincerity. The report is
as grateful as was the odour of that costly spikenard
which filled the house, when the affectionate Mary
brake the alabaster box, and poured the precious
perfume upon the feet of her Saviour1.
Surrendering herself into the hands of the mes-
senger, the bride addresses him, " Conduct me"
— Lead on. The virgins, her companions, gladly
join the procession: " We will hasten after thee."
And, agreeably with this representation, the peni-
tent believer is usually brought to the full know-
ledge of salvation, and attains to the enjoyment of
the holy comforts of religion. The instructions of a
spiritual guide are blessed to this end ; the kind
interest which his fellow-christians take in the
happiness of his soul, encourages him to persevere,
and, " the Lord being merciful to him," he perse-
veres with success.
The procession has now arrived at the destined
place ; the bride exclaims, on entering the royal
palace, with admiration, we may suppose, at the
beautiful mansion prepared for her reception:
" The King has caused me to be brought into his
inner- chamb ers !" The believer "enters into the
holiest by the blood of Jesus ," — " passes through
k Eccles. vii. 1. l Luke, vii. 37, 38. m Heb. x. 19.
X
12 canticles; or,
the veil*" — " and is given to know the things
which are freely given to us of God0." — " The secret
of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will
show them his covenants" — " For since the begin-
ning of the world men have not heard, nor per-
ceived by the ear, neither has the eye seen, O
God ! besides thee, what he has prepared for him
that waiteth for him V
The virgins congratulate her on her being brought
into the King's palace ; for they, it seems, are in-
habitants of this place. " "We will exult and re-
joice over thee : we will celebrate thy love, than
wine more grateful: justly art thou beloved."
When the redeemed of Christ is brought to the
enjoyment of his special love, angels rejoice over
him : the righteous hear, therefore, and are glad.
" Glory to God in the highest," no doubt, re-
sounds in heaven. With the praises of the Chris-
tian church we are well acquainted. The love of
Christ to his people, and their returns of grateful
affection to him— the narrative of the great deeds
of his redemption— how sinners are righteously
beloved— how mercy and truth meet together, and
righteousness and peace kiss each other, are the
continual subjects, the " copious matter" of those
psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, which
delight the faithful in the house of God.
We have next described to us the effect pro-
n Ver. 30. ° 1 Cor. ii. 12. P Ps. xxv. 14.
q Isa. l.\iv. 4.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 13
duced on the mind, by the manifestation of the di-
vine love. It is humility and self-abasement amidst
all the favourable opinions and felicitations of
others. " I am black !"— " Yet most beautiful."—
" Oh daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of
Kedar"— " as the curtains of the pavilion of Solo-
mon." Humility will ever be found to be the cha-
racteristic mark of those whom God delighteth to
honour, and every fresh manifestation of the divine
presence will have a tendency to increase their
conviction of their own deficiencies. It is not an
unusual sight, indeed, to see a truly enlightened
Christian so deeply affected with a sense of his
own un worthiness, as to think himself not only un-
meet for Christ, but not good enough for the society
of his people. On his first introduction among
them, he will perhaps feel some apprehension lest
they should be ashamed of their new companion.
" Look not on me," the bride continues, in the
same strain of self-disparagement, " for I am very
black : because the sun has discoloured me." And,
in accounting for her appearance, she mentions the
misery of her former situation, a complete contrast,
indeed, with the honours to which she is now
advanced.
f The sons of my mother despised me ; they set
me to look after the vineyards, a vineyard of my
own I have not looked after." Thus, under the
emblem of an injured and oppressed girl, who is
taken from the toils of the field, and introduced, as
14 CANTICLES ; OR,
the chosen partner of the prince, among the inhabi-
tants of a palace, we are led to consider the circum-
stances, in which the love of Christ is accustomed,
in its first manifestation, to find its objects.
It finds them the wretched slaves of sin r, serving
divers lusts and pleasures 8, wearying themselves to
no profit in the service of vanity ; and having con-
tracted a stain more black and indelible than the
Ethiopian's skin, or the leopard's spots * . It may be
too — for God doth choose the poor of this world,. —
labouring under the full weight of the original curse,
" In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, in
sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy
life w. " And, to arrive at the summit of human
wretchedness, groaning perhaps, besides, under
the yoke of some merciless tyrant.
In some sense or other, indeed, " weary and
heavy laden x," will be descriptive of all the chosen
of God. Each will acknowledge, in application to
himself, the demand of the Apostle, " What fruit
had ye then in those things, whereof ye are now
ashamed y ?" Hence we find them sometimes desig-
nated as " poor in spirit," — " mourners," — " per-
secuted," sorrowing, while the world rejoices7.
But how great the change of circumstance, when
the love of Jesus is manifested to their souls ! when
" being justified by faith, they have peace with
rRom. vi. 17. sTit. iii. 3. t Jer. xiii. 23.
■ James, ii. 5. * Gen. iii. 19. 17- * Mat. xi. 28.
yRom.vi. 21. 8Mat. v.
SONG OP SOLOMON.
15
God, and have access by faith into this grace,
wherein they stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory
of God." Then the prophetic song is fulfilled:
" The Lord raises the poor out of the dust, and
lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them
among princes, and to make them inherit the throne
of glory."
The most honourable employment, indeed, among
men, even the administration of a kingdom, is
mean, base, and abject, when compared to the
occupation of the spiritual Christian — the espoused
of Christ, admitted into his gracious presence.
The contrast, however, appears the greater, when
the hardships of a mean station in life, its servile
employments, or the ill-treatment of earthly supe-
riors, are opposed to the tender endearments of the
heavenly bridegroom ; when the tired labourer, or
the abused slave, finds a secret retreat, or enters
into the house of prayer, and holds communion in
spirit with his gracious Redeemer. Poor and de-
spised as he is among men, and mean as may be
his appearance, what honours are conferred upon
him in the presence of God ! The messengers of
grace, and all the ordinances of Christ's church, are
made subservient to his happiness and exaltation !
The espousals of his soul are celebrated! —
" Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye
be as the wings of a dove, covered with silver, and
her feathers with yellow gold V
• Ps. lxviii. 13.
16 canticles; or
IDYL THE SECOND.
Containing the seventh and eighth verses of the first
Chapter.
The reason why I suppose a new poem to commence In
this place, is the entire change of imagery which we here
perceive.
Instead of a royal bride, conducted by a number of
attendants into the palace, the spouse is now a shep-
herdess, tending her kids ; and her husband, in the room
of the King of Israel, a shepherd leading his flock to
pasture. A short conversation between this affectionate
pair, on a topic most suitable to their pastoral situation,
forms the dialogue of this idyl.
That Solomon and his royal partner should address
each other in this language, is hard to imagine. It is true,
" the employment of a shepherd was not dishonourable
among the Hebrews, and had been the occupation of their
revered ancestors." We must remember, however, that,
at this period, the state of manners, in the metropolis and
court of Solomon, had made rapid strides, from patriar-
chal simplicity, towards that refined voluptuousness which
ever distinguished the Asiatic monarchies.
BRIDE OR SHEPHERDESS.
Tell me, ' O thou,"' that art the love of my soul,
Where shalt thou feed ' the flock,'
SONG OF SOLOMON. 17
a Where shalt thou rest ' them' at noon ?
b For why should I be as a stranger
By the flocks of thy companions ?
BRIDEGROOM OR SHEPHERD.
If thou shalt not thyself perceive,
O thou fairest among women,
Go forth along the footsteps of the flock,
c And feed thy kids
Beside the tents of the shepherds.
a Desirous to be separated as little as possible from her husband
during the labours of the day, and anxious, especially, to enjoy
his company at noon, when, according to the practice of these
hot countries, his flock would lie down in the shade, his affec-
tionate wife requests directions where she shall find him.
b rvtttf wrapt up, veiled, muffled up. Parkhurst. Like a
mourner, or like a woman among strangers. ** Operta, deliquium
animi patiens." Simon. " As a wanderer." Percy and Good.
The language is exceedingly beautiful, and full of tenderness. If
she lose sight of him, and find herself at a distance from him, when
the sultry hour shall compel her to desist from her employments,
and to retire somewhere for shelter, how uncomfortable will it be
to her, to spend that season of leisure and retirement among other
shepherds ! Amidst their flocks she shall be as one sorrowful
and forlorn, under the inconvenient restraints, at least, of a
stranger.
c " Feed or assemble." She too, it appears, has a charge to
attend, the flock of kids, while her husband is employed with the
flock in general. In such circumstances, it might easily happen
in an open desert, that, in following their respective cares, they
would be separated from each other. Should this be the case,
and she should lose him, she is to follow the track made by his
flock; the tents, also, of his under shepherds, objects discernible \
at a distance, will serve her for a guide and a signal.
\
18 canticles; or,
INTERPRETATION OF THE SECOND IDYL,
OR PARABLE.
The imagination of mankind seems, in a particular
manner, to have singled out the scene described in
this idyl, as the summit of ideal felicity. The
shepherdess and her faithful shepherd, happy in
each other's affection, following together, at a dis-
tance from the noisy contest and contaminating
crowd, their not laborious employment amidst the
beauties of nature, is the perpetual theme of almost
every poet. In comparison of the supposed hap-
piness of such a pair, the enjoyments of more culti-
vated life, the rewards of industry and ambition,
and the splendid amusements of courts, are affected
to be despised.
The picture, it is feared, as it has been wont to
be painted, exists not but in imagination. How-
ever, we have the opinion of the poets, whose
peculiar study is human nature, that amidst the
more refined pleasures of polished society, true
and satisfactory happiness in love has not usually
been obtained.
The reason of this disappointment is not, in-
deed, in the artificial structure of society alone, nor
in the multiplied wants of man in a state highly
civilized. The cause is more deeply rooted in
human nature : it must be sought for in the moral
depravity of mankind. It is a cause which would
SONG OP SOLOMON. 19
affect the shepherds in Arcadia, as well as the cor-
rupted inhabitants of the luxurious metropolis. Yet
it must be admitted, that where there has been a
considerable departure in the manners of society
from primitive simplicity, such a state of society
will be still less likely to afford examples of con-
jugal affection and domestic happiness.
This I conceive to be the reason that, in order
to exhibit a better prototype for the loves of Christ
and his church, the Spirit of inspiration has, by the
introduction of this parable, led us from the palace
of Solomon'to the cot of the shepherd.
But, in actual life, whether among princes or
peasants, the reflection forces itself upon us, how
are the pleasures of love mixed with alloy ! — how
liable to be turned into sorrows the most painful to
the feeling mind ! The best beloved is not always
faithful ; the adored idol not always worthy of the pas-
sion, or found, on further acquaintance, by no means
resembling the picture presented to the fond imagi-
nation ! How many are betrayed, forsaken, or quit
the indulgent guidance of gentle parents, for what
turns out nothing better than the service of an un-
feeling stranger!
And, supposing all circumstances of the union to
be favourable, how uncertain still the tenure of this
happiness !— how liable, all along this troublesome
pilgrimage, to be made an additional source of care
and anxiety ! And whence the widow and the
fatherless? the parent bereaved of his children,
C 2
20 CANTICLES ; OR,
" refusing to be comforted because they are not?"
Ah, dream not of lasting happiness on earth, made
up of-earthly things. Look not to a mortal to fill
the place of God. Have you felt of what your
heart is capable, even towards a fellow-creature,
when your partial regards overlooked his imper-
fections, and you forgot his perishable nature ? O
remember, there is an object revealed to the children
of men worthy of your affections, one whose beauty
and whose goodness ought to call them forth in their
tenderest form. Here no suspicion of treachery, no
anticipated change, need check your confidence ;
nor will you hazard the shame of disappointment in
the indulgence of the fondest expectations.
O that those, who are already become the victims
of some unfortunate attachment, or who are about,
through the deception of a lying imagination, to
part, perhaps for ever, with quiet and peace of
mind, could be brought to transfer their passion to
this heavenly Lover ! Ah, check your roving fan-
cies, feigning what is not, what cannot be ! — sure
to cover you with shame and remorse ! And come,
meditate on his excellencies, whom having not seen
the faithful Christian loves, in whom, though now
he sees him not, yet, believing, he rejoices with
joy unspeakable, and full of glory a.
The beloved spouse, in the parable before us, is
supposed to express her anxiety on going forth to
a l Pet. i. s.
SONG OF SOLOMON. 21
the labours of the day, lest she should be separated
from the object of her affections : •« Tell me, O
thou that art the love of my soul, where shalt thou
feed the flock, where shalt thou rest them at noon."
To hold communion with Christ, and enjoy his
presence, is the great delight of the spiritual mind.
This to some will necessarily appear as fancy and
enthusiasm. There are those, however, whose ex-
perience can attest, that it is an experience war-
ranted by the word of God, that a sense of joy,
such as no tongue can describe, or earthly com-
parison reach, is, at certain seasons, vouchsafed to
the followers of Christ — " times " they are, indeed,
" of refreshing from the presence of the Lord."
To those who have tasted that the Lord is gra-
cious, how painful the apprehension of the loss of
his presence ! — of being employed at a distance as
it were, from him who is " the love of the soul!"
But duties call for attention. Much time in this
lower world must, in usual circumstances, be occu-
pied in the want of all sensible experience of the
divine presence : — in employments, frequently,
which cannot but abstract the mind from religious
meditation. It is this consideration which makes
it the earnest desire and prayer of the renewed and
spiritual Christian, that the wisdom of God would
inspire him, so to conduct himself in the manage-
ment of temporal affairs ; and his providence so
overrule events, and order the circumstances of his
y
22 canticles; or,
situation, society, and employment, that he may
have his Lord and Saviour constantly before his
eyes, or frequent opportunities, at least, of access
into his presence.
And as this is the prayer, so will it be the en-
deavour of the faithful : in choosing his residence,
in forming his connexions, his inquiry will be, not
only, What means of earthly gain, or opportunities
of earthly pleasure, shall I acquire, but what reli-
gious privileges, what advantages in regard to the
communion of saints ?
'« Where shalt thou rest them at noon?" By the
hour of noon may be signified those intervals from
active duties, which, in almost every mans situa-
/ tion, allow of relaxation, and afford leisure, if he be
so disposed', for purposes of devotion. Or the hour
of noon may denote those seasons of affliction and
trial, which so frequently incapacitate from duty,
and render the comforts of religion, to those who
are acquainted with them, more than ever desirable.
These intervals of labour, or these seasons of
trouble, the Christian is particularly anxious to
spend, or endure, in the presence of his Lord : as
the Psalmist seems to frame his only earthly wish,
" One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that
will I seek after ; that I may dwell in the house of
the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the
beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.
For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his
SONG OF SOLOMON. Z6
pavilion ; in the secret of his tabernacle shall he
hide me ; he shall set me upon a rockV
" For why should I be as a stranger " — or as
one dejected — " by the flocks of thy companions V
These imaginary associates, I conceive, are other
shepherds following the same employ, in the same
wilderness. The spouse, pleased only with the
society of her beloved, dreads the thought that,
when the sultry hour shall oppress, she may be
forced to seek for shelter among these other shep-
herds.
So fares it with the truly enlightened Christian,
who is compelled to spend his sabbaths, or to seek,
the consolations of religion, in times Of difficulty
and distress among pastors and teachers who know
not the good Shepherd, nor make mention of his
name ; but who appear, in a manner, as rivals and
competitors of the only Saviour. Among these, the
spouse of Christ cannot be satisfied : though to
others it seems a matter of indifference — they are
pleased, and at home ; she stands by as a dejected
stranger, disconsolate, because of the absence of
her beloved.
" If thou shalt not thyself perceive, O thou fairest
among women, go forth along the footsteps of the
flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents."
Such is the answer of the allegorical husband. If
she have lost sight of him, and cannot discover
b Psal. xxvii. 4, 5.
T
24 CANTICLES *, OR,
herself where he is gone, the track of the flock, and
the tents of his shepherds, will be sufficient guides
to her where she may find him.
The moral of this is plain. He who loves and
seeks communion with Christ shall not be at a
loss to find the way into his presence. Infinite
indeed are the mazes of error, and various the
deceptions which perplex and bewilder the mind
in its search after truth ; but, if our object is to go
to Christ, we have here a plain direction to observe.
The sheep know the shepherd's voice, and follow
him ; their footsteps, therefore, will have left a
track along the pathless desert, sufficiently plain to
conduct the attentive inquirer to the retreat of the
shepherd.
There is, it is true, a great outcry in the world,
respecting the disagreement and differences of
opinion among professed Christians ; and an artful
adversary is ever busy to raise and increase these
disputes, in order to bewilder unstable souls. And
we must perhaps admit, that there may be a " dark
and cloudy day," when the flock of Christ are par-
tially " scattered." But, generally speaking, these
differences among true Christians — among those
who have fairly made out a title to that name — are
more apparent than real, as to all essential points.
Those doctrines, which have been known to be
blessed to the conversion of sinners, and to the
establishment of believers in peace and love —
those doctrines, through the hearing of which the
SONG OP SOLOMON. 25
Holy Ghost has been received, have ever been of
the same tendency, and will be found grounded on
the same foundation — Christ crucified — admitted to
be " of God made unto us wisdom, and righteous-
ness, and sanctification, and redemption0." The
account moreover given by all enlightened Chris-
tians, persons of habits the most unlike, of ages
and countries the most remote from each other,
when consulted respecting the operation of divine
grace upon their souls, and concerning " the plague
of their own heart," if fairly examined and com-
pared, proves to be but a different narrative of the
same events ; — at least of a similar contest, between
the same hostile powers, the victory depending on
the assistance of the same heavenly agent.
It is true, you may point out some particular
statements of doctrine, and particular rehearsals of
experience, as the peculiar marks of certain sepa-
rate divisions of the flock ; but a little inquiry, and
careful investigation, will enable us, without diffi-
culty, to distinguish the track in which the grand
body of the flock have followed their shepherd.
Our direction is, " Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye
in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths,
where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye
shall find rest for your souls d."
It follows, indeed, as an useful precept, that all
novelties of doctrine, all peculiarities of favourite
cl Cor. i. 30. dJer. vi. 16*.
26 CANTICLES ; OR,
teachers, and particular sects, are to be avoided and
discountenanced, and their exclusive claims treated
with more than suspicion. It is a good argument
against innovators in religion : "we have no such
custom, neither the churches of Gode." — " From
the beginning it was not sof."
There is also another part of the direction of
the mystic shepherd to his spouse, which we are to
remark —
". And feed thy kids beside the tents of the
shepherds." Since the flock of Christ's pasture are
men, the shepherds whose tents are here mentioned,
can be no other than the appointed ministers of his
church, under-pastors in the employ of the great
Shepherd and Bishop of souls. We are, of course,
to distinguish these shepherds from " the com-
panions" of the former verse. Those were rivals,
false Christs, false prophets, or false teachers ; but
these are the servants of the good Shepherd, whom
he sends to feed his flock.
" Beware of false prophets," is, to all Christians,
a needful caution ; and therefore we are to take in
conjunction " the track of the flock." The track of
the flock is first to be marked, because we are to
be followers of Christian pastors, as they are of
Christ ; and not when they scatter the flock, or
when " there arise among them men speaking per-
verse things to draw away disciples after them5."
e 1 Cor. xi. 16". fMat. xix. 8. s Acts, xx. 30.
SONG OF SOLOMON. 21
Yet, notwithstanding, the ministerial office is an
appointment of Jesus Christ, to be respected and
submitted to by all his people. When he calls
himself " chief shepherd," it is in reference to his
plan of employing inferior shepherds, in the gather-
ing, and in the feeding of his flock.
Himself has described their characters and their
duties : " Householders, bringing out of their trea-
sures things new and oldh" — " Stewards, whom their
Lord shall make rulers over his household, to give
them their portion of meat in due season1." And,
accordingly, we find that his first-commissioned
Apostles " ordained Elders in every city k." These
Elders, or Presbyters, the Scripture tells us, " were
made overseers over the flock by the Holy Ghost l."
Such an order of men, we know, has always existed
in the visible church of Christ, and the edifying of
the saints has generally been through their instru-
mentality ; the treasure, destined by the great
Master for the enriching of his family, has been
usually put in these earthly vessels.
Those, then, who would seek communion with
Christ, must not despise the ministrations of his
servants, either by " separating themselves"1," as
though they could obtain their object by private
exercises of devotion, according to the proud conceit
of some in these latter days ; or by indiscriminately
countenancing every forward person who chooses to
h Mat. xiii. 52. 'Luke, xii. 42. com. 1 Cor. iv. 1.
"Tit. i. 5. "Acts, xx. 28. mJude, 1$.
28 CANTICLES ; OR,
take upon himself the character of a minister of
Christ, and thus rendering the holy office contemp-
tible in the eyes of all.
Let us remember, that one direction to the spouse
of Christ, how she may find the love of her soul, is
the tents of the shepherds ; and this way, most
unquestionably, the track of the flock does lead :
for that neglect and light esteem of the ministerial
office, that unconcern with which the people wit-
ness the omission of its most sacred duties, and
the violation of its best established orders, has
scarcely a precedent in the former practice of the
church, at any one period of her existence. And
whether this boasted liberty of modern times, though
it supplies, indeed, a speedy remedy to some incon-
veniences and abuses, and has seemed to some, in
the simplicity of their hearts, to promise much good,
has, on the whole, tended to the advantage of
Christianity, will much be questioned. But there
is a more important inquiry than that of expe-
diency— Has not the divine precept been infringed :
" Obey them that have the rule over you, and sub-
mit yourselves, for they watch for your souls, as
they that must give an account"?"
By the tents of the shepherds, therefore, where
they assemble the people, and feed their master's
flock, the faithful are to seek the manifestations of a
Saviour's love. His promise to his servants was,
" Lo ! I am with you alway, even to the end of the
nHeb. xiii. 17 '.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 29
world0." He has said again, but not, I humbly
conceive — for he is ever consistent with himself —
respecting little parties of professed Christians as-
sembled in arrogant opposition to the minister, or
in slight and neglect of his office, but respecting the
blessed assemblies of his church under their ap-
pointed pastors, " Where two or three are met
together in my name, there am I in the midst of
themp" — " I will make them joyful in my house of
prayer0-. " And will not the experience of the gra-
cious presence of Christ make it the cordial decla-
ration of all his faithful followers ? " How amiable
are thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts, my King and
my God!" — " One day in thy courts is better than
a thousand"."
0 Mat. xxviii. 2. p Mat xviii. 20. 1 1sai. lvi. 7.
1 Ps. lxxxiv.
30 canticles; or,
IDYL THE THIRD.
Corresponding with that Portion of the public Translation
contained in the last nine Verses of the first Chapter,
and in the seven first of the second.
Mutual congratulations and expressions of affection
between a Bride and Bridegroom, of royal dignity, as
we discover, who have just retired from the public pro-
cession of their marriage, and await, in the private recess
of their beautiful garden, the preparation of the nuptial
feast, appear to form the greater part of this Idyl: the
feast itself being, as I conjecture, the closing scene.
BRIDEGROOM.
I compared thee, my partner,
To the horse in the chariots of Pharaoh*.
a According to our notions, we must acknowledge, there is
something extremely inappropriate in the comparison of a beau-
tiful female to a horse. If, however, such a comparison must
be admitted in this place, the same allusion, we may observe,
has been pointed out by several commentators in one of the
admired poets of antiquity. The similitude, therefore, may have
appeared in a different light to people of other times and habits
of life.
But we are to notice, that the allusion before us is not to one
particular horse, but to a number of horses: for such is the
import of viDD, " H terns," — " Collective Equitium." Parkhurst
and Simon. Again, the point of comparison between the bride and
SONG OF SOLOMON. 31
Most beautiful were thy cheeks with jewels,
And thy neck with strings ' of beads.'
Borderings of gold will we make for thee,
With pointings of silver.
BRIDE.
h While the King was in his circuit,
My nard emitted its fragrance.
these horse in the chariot of Pharaoh, is neither form, nor
action, nor docility; but merely, as far as appears, splendid de-
coration: " Most beautiful were thy cheeks with jewels, and thy
neck Avith strings of beads." This leads to the conjecture, that
these celebrated horses of the royal Egyptian breed, richly capa-
risoned, as we may suppose, and loaded with all the display of
golden ornament and precious stones which the treasury of the
magnificent Solomon could supply, were accustomed to be led
forth on days of state, and had appeared a conspicuous object
perhaps in some late procession of a royal marriage.
On retiring, therefore, in private with his bride, the bridegroom,
meaning to compliment her on her appearance, is supposed to
declare, that, in the late procession, the most splendid objects
which the royal state of his kingdom could produce in honour of
the event, appeared not in his eyes more beautiful. At the same
time, he promises to add to her ornaments. For, though she had
appeared so engaging, and every thing about her had seemed so
elegant and becoming in the partial view of her lover, yet, pro-
bably, her decorations in themselves could by no means be com-
pared, in value or in beauty, to " the peculiar treasure of kings."
— But henceforth all that her royal bridegroom possessed should
be devoted to her service: " Borderings of gold will we make for
thee, with pointings of silver."
b This reply of the bride is confessedly obscure to us. The
allusion, however, we are supposing in this idyl to a marriage-
procession, from whence the royal pair have just retired, will
perhaps afford a more probable solution than has been usually
given. The King in his circuit, may either refer to his going
round in some part of the procession, or to his taking his stand
in the midst of his retinue, while the procession passed before
32 canticles; or,
A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me,
It shall lie all night in my bosom c.
A cluster of hennah is my beloved to me
From the gardens of En-gedid.
him, or, as is the common interpretation, to his sitting at table:
or we may translate the line, " Until the King had taken his
seat." Whichever interpretation is preferred, it should be recol-
lected that, among the eastern nations, the throwing of flowers
and perfumes upon a person was, on many occasions, and is to
this day, practised as a token of high respect and complimentary
congratulation. Let us suppose this to be the circumstance
alluded to, and the reply of the bride, in answer to the satisfaction
which her husband had just expressed at her appearance, will be
beautiful and appropriate. It is as much as to say, " My hand
was among the first to congratulate the King as he passed, with a
profusion of sweets."
It is not improbable that there is a similar allusion to this same
mode of salutation in the xlvth Psalm: " All thy garments smell
of myrrh, aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby
they have made thee glad."
The ivory palaces may either denote the receptacles of the
perfumes (see the following note), or may describe some part of
the royal residence where those persons were stationed, who, in
the manner above supposed, congratulated the King.
c "Tl»n "\)"V( is, according to Castalio, a wreath or nosegay of
flowery myrrh. Mr. Parkhurst has a better conjecture. " It
seems to be," says he, " what Dioscorides, lib. i. 74, calls ct<x.*.tvi,
stacte, and which he informs us makes a perfume of itself. It is
very fragrant and dear, and is said to be at present unknown.
The eastern ladies were accustomed to enclose this, as well as
many other perfumes, in a casket of gold or ivory of the figure of
a turret, or small tower — as the Hebrew term expressly signifies
W "hotfi — and to place such ornaments in their bosoms, suspended
by an elegant chain from their neck. The Persians employ a
little casket for the same purpose, which they denominate Nqfeh."
Mr. Good.
d A bunch or nosegay of henna, or cyprus. Dr. Shaw de-
scribes it as a beautiful and odoriferous plant — " putting out its
SONG OP SOLOMON. 33
BRIDEGROOM.
Lo, thou art beautiful, my partner,
Lo, thou art beautiful, thine eyes are doves.
BRIDE.
Lo, thou art beautiful, my beloved.
How delightful ' the spot' e !
How luxuriant our carpet f!
Cedars ' are' the beams of our house,
Cypresses ' are' our roof g !
little flowers in clusters." — (Travels, p. 113, 114.) — See Park-
hurst.
• The bride appears in this passage to be admiring some beau-
tiful arbour or bower, into which she is led by her husband :
" How delightful the spot !" Compare Ps. xvi. 7- 0'»'1H3. in
pleasant ' places.'
f pm " To flourish very much." uny, the carpet or mattress
which is usually spread over the divans of the Orientals. —
Parkhurst.
8 Our roof, Impluvia nostra. Simon.
No conjecture which we can form, respecting this arbour in the
royal gardens, can so well illustrate the passage before us, as
Milton's description of Adam's bower in his Paradise Lost:
" It was a place
Chos'n by the sovereign Planter, when he fram'd
All things to man's delightful use; the roof
Of thickest covert was inwoven shade,
Laurel and myrtle, and what higher grow
Of firm and fragrant leaf; on either side
Acanthus, and each odorous bushy shrub
Fenc'd by the verdant wall; each beauteous flower,
Iris all hues, roses, and jessamine
Rear'd high their flourish'd heads between, and wrought
Mosaic; underfoot the violet,
Crocus, and hyacinth, with rich inlay
Broider'd the ground, more colour'd than with stone
Of costliest emblem — "
D
34 canticles; or,
I am a ' wild' rose of the field1',
A lily of the valleys.
BRIDEGROOM.
As the lily among the thorns,
So is my partner among the daughters'.
BRIDE.
As the citron among the trees of the forest k,
So is my beloved among the sons :
For its shade I longed, ' in its shade' will 1 sit,
And its fruit will be sweet to my taste !.
— O bear me to the house of the banquet,
They have set up their banner for me, O lovem!
h A rose of the field or plain. ~Eyu avGoj tou wihov. " I am a
flower of the plain." — Septuagint. See also Pool's Synopsis.
" But lama' mere' rose of the fields of Sharon." — Good.
" But I am a ' mere' rose of the field." — Bp. of Dromore.
The bride speaks of herself as an object mean and contemptible
amidst the beauties of the surrounding scene. — She must appear
like some diminutive, wild flower among the selected plants of a
garden or parterre.
» The lily, or whatever flower is meant by the term, though in
itself small and insignificant, might, nevertheless, from the situa-
tions in which it was usually found, be an appropriate emblem of
comparative beauty.
k The Holy Land is of all others most celebrated for the excel-
lence of its citrons.
1 Here I conceive the endearing conversation, in the private
retreat above described, terminates. For unless we consider the
following lines very much involved in figure indeed, the scene is
now described as changed to the banqueting-house, whither the
bride asks to be conducted : " O bear me," &c. The Septuagint
reads in the imperative mood. Hitherto we have discovered no
marks of any other persons being present except the bride and
bridegroom; but in the following lines it will be seen that at-
tendants, both male and female, are addressed.
1,1 iVn I consider as the 3d per. plu. pret. We find the same
SONG OF SOLOMON. 35
Refresh me with cordials, support me with citrons,
For I am fainting with loven!
— His left * arm' is under my head,
His right doth infold me ° !
— I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
■ As' with the gazels, or ' as' with the deer of the plain p,
That ye stir not, nor raise up < my' beloved, till he please-
word as a verb in Ps. xx. 6*. " In the name of our God will we
set up our banners" (brtf). One of Dr. Kennicott's MSS. reads
it as a verb in the singular number in this passage. " A banner
or luminous standard, consisting of a number of lights, was accus-
tomed to be carried before the new-married couple on the night
of their wedding." — Parkhurst. A reference to a custom of this
sort appears, 2 Esdras, x. 1,2.
n On entering the place where the supper or banquet had been
prepared, we suppose the bride to repeat these lines. The suffixes
to the verbs are in the masculine plural — a number of male at-
tendants are of course addressed.
° The bridegroom himself supports her in his arms, and conveys
her to her seat, or perhaps, if the custom was indeed so ancient,
to the couch on which they reclined at table; or, what is more
congenial still with eastern manners, to the carpeted divan where
the supper was served.
p The construction of these words, it must be acknowledged, is
in the usual style of adjuration, and might be literally rendered,
" I adjure you by the gazels," &c. But the impiety, according
to the scriptural precept, of such an oath, besides its total want of
solemnity, forbids us to imagine that these words ought to be
interpreted as having the force of an adjuration. To understand
them, with some, as though the bride should say, " I implore
you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by or for the sake of these
objects which ye hold s© dear," &c, seems also to render the
meaning too insignificant.
The most eligible interpretation is, that these gazels and deer
are mentioned in allusion to their extreme wildness, and timorous
nature. Animals of these kinds, as is well known, at the slightest
stir, at the least noise, will suddenly start and bound off, with
inconceivable rapidity, to their distant retreats, The sense of the
D 2
36 CANTICLES ! OR,
INTERPRETATION OP THE THIRD IDYL.
The exterior imagery of this parable we conceive
to be the mutual congratulations of a bride and
bridegroom, retiring from the public procession of
their marriage to the wedding-feast; where they
are regaled in the midst of their friends and
attendants.
With regard to faithful Christians, respecting
whom we are preparing to interpret this parable —
in anticipation, it is true, of greater things to come
— it will not be esteemed an undue stretch of ima-
gination to say, that all the public ordinances and
ceremonies of religion, as often as they are ad-
ministered with a divine blessing, are, in a sort,
the ceremonies attending their spiritual nuptials —
passage then will be, that the bride bids her attendants to be as
cautious not to disturb or call off the attention of her husband,
whose society she so coveted, as though they were approaching
the gazels, or the deer of the plain.
The last-mentioned terra, nib'K, is a general name for the stag,
hart, or deer kind. — Parkhurst. The former, rviX3J7, denotes the
gazel, a kind of antelope, the emblem of beauty among the eastern
poets. It is thus described by Mr. Jackson, in his Account of
Marocco : " The gazel is that pretty, light, and elegant animal,
swift as the wind, timid as a virgin, with soft, beautiful, large, and
prominent black eyes, which seems to interest you in its favour.
In its general appearance the gazel resembles our deer ; it is,
however, much smaller, and has straight black horns, curved a
little backwards." — " Wild as the hare, more swift than the Bar-
bary courser, I have seen them bounding over the plains in large
numbers."
SONG OF SOLOMON. 37
the procession for conducting the spouse of Christ
into the presence of her Lord.
The solemnities of the Christian worship may, in
the eye of an unbelieving world, and in the estima-
tion of lukewarm professors of our holy religion,
appear of small account ; or they may exist as
empty forms when the spirit and the power are
gone ; but " the friends of the Bridegroom," who
delight to hear his voice, will, in their attendance
upon these means of grace, often have " this their
joy fulfilled3." All, indeed, who have the spiritual
good of mankind at heart, must think highly of
public ordinances ; and as the honouring of Christ
in the eyes of the world is one object of public
worship, for this reason every thing which is con-
sidered among men as expressive of respect and
veneration, ought to attend its celebration. All
negligence and appearance of indifference is there-
fore highly blameable,and all affectation of abstracted
spirituality, that would treat mankind as if they
had no eyes, or as if their eyes affected not their
hearts, is much to be reprehended in the conducting
of public worship.
Amidst the solemnities of the most splendid
ceremonial, however, with which either the Jewish
or Christian congregation has at any time attempted
to exhibit an acknowledgment of the government of
the Almighty, or to set forth the praises of Redeem-
ing Love, we know where the eyes of the heavenly
a John iii. 29.
38 CANTICLES ; OR,
King would be fixed, with greatest delight and
complacency — on that little knot of faithful wor-
shippers, Israelites indeed, who appeared as the
worshippers of God in spirit and in truth, in the
midst of the formal multitude. But for the bride
indeed, the marriage-ceremony were an empty
pageantry. The daughter of Tyre may be there
with a gift ; even the rich among the people may
entreat his favour. These are honourable circum-
stances.— But — " upon his right hand doth stand
the queen in gold of Ophirb;" all besides is lost
sight of in her presence : she only is noticed, she
only is addressed.
" I compared thee, my partner, to the horse in
the chariots of Pharaoh ; most beautiful were thy
cheeks with jewels, and thy neck with strings of
beads." The bridegroom, as we have conjectured,
means to declare, that the appearance of his bride
in the late procession was, in his view, worthy to be
compared with the most magnificent objects which
the state of kings could furnish. . And can we sup-
pose that the Almighty Jesus looks with so great
complacency upon any object in his earthly courts,
or on the angels which excel in might attending his
"twenty thousand chariots c," as on his destined
spouse, the purchase of his blood, clad before him
in the garments of salvation, and prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband d ?
b Psal. xlv. c Ps. lxviii. \J. <* ftev> xxj o_
SONG OP SOLOMON.
39
I abstain from the description of these garments,
and these ornaments, since in a subsequent parable
we shall be expressly invited to consider them.
Suffice it to say, that their whiteness, which " fears
not the snow," results from this — that they have
been washed in the blood of the Lamb ; that these
ornaments upon the spouse of Christ, which seem
so beautiful in his sight, consist not in " the wear-
ing of gold or pearls, but in the hidden man of the
heart, in that which is incorruptible6."
But how beautiful soever the espoused soul appears,
even when covered with a Saviour's righteousness,
and adorned with the fruits of the Spirit, the King
thinks them not yet enough. " Borderings of gold
will we make for thee, with pointings of silver.'*
Those whom Christ chooses and justifies, and whom
he enables to adorn his doctrine with good works,
he will also glorify. And though a merciful and
affectionate Saviour sets a high value upon the
fruits of his grace, as discerned at present in the
hearts and lives of his people : though he is more
gratified at the sight of the one lost sheep, which he
has recovered with so great cost and labour, than of
the ninety and nine that went not astray ; yet, for
the bride of the Lamb, in order to her appearing
with him among the heavenly train, — " far above
all principality" " and every name that is named," —
her present ornaments must be acknowledged as
still unmeet and imperfect.
e 1 Pet. iii. 4.
40 canticles; or,
He that has begun the good work, however, will
finish it f. Christ will present his redeemed " fault-
less before the presence of his glory, with exceed-
ing joy g." As one anticipates, — and one who, in
the figurative language of the book before us, was
indeed " beautiful with jewels, and his neck with
strings of beads." — " Henceforth there is laid up for
me in heaven a crown of righteousness, which the
Lord the righteous Judge shall give me at that
day, and not to me only, but unto all that love his
appearing h."
" While the King was in his circuit, my nard
emitted its fragrance." Having before us the as-
sembly of the visible church of Christ engaged in
his holy worship — to do him honour, and to cele-
brate his love, in this circle the King is present ;
" there am I in the midst of you." The sweet odours
that greet his presence are the prayers and praises
of his church \ And who so forward on these oc-
casions to pour out their souls before the Lord, and
to offer to him the sacrifice of praise and thanks-
givingk, as those who have received the special
manifestation of his love? " My lips," says one,
" shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee ; and
my soul which thou hast redeemed."—" There-
fore will I praise thee and thy faithfulness, O God,
playing upon an instrument of music ; unto thee will
I sing upon the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel1."
fPhil. i. 6. g .Tude, 24. h 2 Tim. iv. 8.
'Compare Lev. xxvi. 3 J. and Rev. v. 8. k See Heb. xiii. 15.
1 Ps. Ixxi.
SONG OF SOLOMON. 41
" A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me, it
shall lie all night in my bosom. A cluster of
hennah is my beloved to me, from the gardens of
En-gedi." The comparison of the constant recol-
lection of a beloved object to a casket of perfume,
or nosegay of sweetest flowers, placed in the bosom,
and worn there continually, is exceedingly beau-
tiful. The lover will perceive the propriety of the
allusion : —
" While the fond soul,
Wrapt in gay visions of unreal bliss,
Still paints th' illusive form
— All nature fades extinct ; and she alone
Heard, felt, and seen, possesses every thought,
Fills every sense, and pants in every vein."
And if it be thus in respect of " the constant
image of the creature that is beloved,5' shall not the
spouse of Christ carry some such sweet and
lasting savour from the sanctuary where she has
seen the Lord ? " Have I not remembered thee
upon my bed, and thought upon thee when I was
waking m ?" — " Mine eyes prevent the night-
watches, that I might meditate in thy word"." — " I
have esteemed the words of his mouth more than
my necessary food0."
Such are the views which the believer has of
Christ, and to such communion, though the flesh is
weak, the renewed spirit ever aspires ; and when
the energies which some late manifestation of
m Ps. lxiii. « Ps. cxix. 14S. ° Job, xxiii. 12.
42 CANTICLES ; OR,
Christ's love has given to the mind are still fresh
and operative, this happy communion is sometimes
realized, —
" What is the world to them,
Its pomp, its pleasure, and its nonsense, all !"
" Lo, thou art fair, my partner ! lo, thou art
fair: thine eyes are doves." The enamoured lan-
guage of the fond lover, we observe, is borrowed to
express the delight with which the Lord Jesus
looks down upon the fruits of his labour, and hears
the effusions of the grateful heart which has been
won by his love. Nor will this surprise us, when
we recollect, that the love of Christ is so great
towards his people, that, while they were yet sin-
ners, he died for them: thus exhibiting, as the
Apostle teaches us to reflect, towards the ungodly,
that highest proof of love which mortals can attest
towards the most worthy and amiable ! — " much
more then being now justified by his blood p !"
And when the redeemed soul feels satisfied of
the love of Christ, and while she meditates upon
all the instances of his great goodness, a sweet per-
suasion grows that the heavenly Bridegroom is
present, and speaks to her in all the promises of his
holy word — " when the Spirit of God testifies to
the believer's spirit that he is a child of God q" —
when he fixes his seal upon him, and puts the
earnest of heavenly joy into his heart r." What
p Rom. v. 6—11. i Rom. viii. lo\ r Eph. i. 13, 14.
SONG OF SOLOMON. 4.3
more suitable than the reply of the bride in the
parable, " Lo, thou art beautiful, my beloved ! —
yea, fairer than the children of men8." How great
is his goodness ! how great is his beauty l ! !
In these happy moments, moreover, an unusual
splendour seems to be cast on all surrounding
objects. Whether the believer to whom the mani-
festation is vouchsafed, is standing in the courts of
the Lord, or is in retirement ; whether he is fol-
lowing his daily labours, or, if such be the will of
God, is confined to the bed of sickness, or even in
the lonesome' dungeon, a sense of the divine pre-
sence will convert the scene into a paradise. The
imagination of the lover attaches not more the idea
of beauty to the scene of his enchanting pleasures.
How delightful the spot ! How luxuriant our carpet !
Cedars are the beams of our house, cypresses are
our roof!
And here we again notice the genuine effect of a
real manifestation of God to the soul. Every one,
so favoured, is humbled and abashed, under a sense
of his own meanness and unworthiness. " I am
a wild rose of the field, a lily of the valleys." I
must appear, in the midst of his saints and angels,
like some contemptible wild flower among the
selected plants of a garden.
This state of mind, however, is, we know, beyond
all others, pleasing in the sight of God. When we
are little in our own eyes, it is then that the Lord
Ps. xlv. 2. 'Zech.ix. if.
44 CANTICLES ; OR,
delighteth to honour us. " He will beautify the
meek with salvation"." — " A meek and quiet spirit
is in the sight of God of great price V It is this,
perhaps, that the mystic language of the songs de-
signates by " eyes like doves." The bridegroom,
accordingly, again expresses his approbation.
" As the lily among the thorns, so is my partner
among the daughters." With the same strong
attachment, with which the lover contemplates the
object of his choice, and singles her out amidst all
her companions — with such regard, we are taught,
does the blessed Jesus look down upon his faithful
followers — with such affection does he distinguish
among their fellow-creatures his ransomed people,
who, " clothed with humility," pray and meditate
upon his word. " Then they that feared the Lord
spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened
and heard it, and a book of remembrance was
written before him, for them that feared the Lord,
and that thought upon his name. And they shall
be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when
I make up my jewels ; and I will spare them as a
man spareth his own son that serveth himV
In the reply of the bride, we are admonished by
a similar comparison, with what estimation and
partiality the beloved of Christ should look up to
him, above every other object that can possibly
engross the affections of men. " As the citron
among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved
* Ps. cxli.x. 4. w 1 Pet. iii. 4. x Mai. iii. 16, 17.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 45
among the sons. For its shade I longed, in its
shade will I sit, and its fruit will be sweet to my
taste." The picture is beautiful, and needs no
illustration. It truly represents that " pre-emi-
nence" above all other objects, which Christ must
necessarily have in the eyes of those who know his
love, and are daily " receiving out of his fulness
grace for grace." — " Whom have I," says the
Psalmist, " in heaven but thee ? and in earth
there is none that I desire in comparison of theey."
" Yea, doubtless," agrees St. Paul, " and I count
all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things, and do count them but dung
that I may win Christ2."
In the parable, as we conceive, the wedding-
feast has been all this time preparing. — All things
are now ready, the attendants are in waiting, the
virgins have trimmed their lamps : an opportunity
of public worship is returned, some high ordinance
is to be celebrated.
Will the soul that, in private, has been in a
spiritual frame, and been indulged with the divine
presence, beg to have herself excused ? No, no !
It is to her the celebration of her nuptials ! " The
king is again in his circuit." — " O bear me to the
house of the banquet ; they have erected their ban-
ner for me, O love." — "I was glad when they
y Psal. lxxiii. 2 5. * Phil. Hi. 8.
46 CANTICLES ; OR,
said unto me, Let us go into the house of the
Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O
Jerusalem*."
The Christian believer, as was before observed,
may consider all the attendants of God's house as
his own j he may regard the ordinances of worship
as celebrated on his account. " For all are yours,
whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, — all are yours,
for ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's b." And
how comes the favoured soul to this banquet of
love? — as rich and having need of nothing0? — In
a far different spirit, she calls to the attendants,
" Refresh me with cordials, support me with citrons ;
for I am fainting with love." — " My soul longeth,
yea, even fainteth, for the courts of the Lord's
house. O when shall I come to appear in the
presence of God d !"— " As the hart panteth for the
water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O
Gode!"
Such an interest and delight in religious ordi-
nances will ever be created in that heart which has
experienced much of the love of Christ. And how-
ever extravagant the above expressions may appear
in the eyes of the world ; however unsuitable to the
ideas which many modern professors of Christianity
entertain of public worship, let the followers of
Christ remember the divine promise, " Blessed are
they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness,
*Ps. cxxii. l, 2. b l Cor. iii. 21,22, 23. « Rev. iii. J 7.
d Ps. lxxxiv. 2. e Ps. xlii. 1.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 47
for they shall be filledf." — " They shall be abun-
dantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house, and
thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy
pleasures5."
" His left arm is under my head, his right doth
infold me." The King himself approaches — she is
pressed to his bosom as the object of his fondest
affection ; and supported by his arm, she enjoys his
society, and partakes of the banquet. And we may
notice, that, in the interpretation of the parable, the
royal bridegroom and the marriage-supper are the
same. " Christ is the bread of life." — ?' His body
is meat indeed, and his blood is drink indeed."
The question was once put to our Lord by one
of his disciples, " Lord, how is it that thou wilt
manifest thyself to us, and not unto the world h?"
The conversation of Christ had raised the expecta-
tion, that such manifestations would be vouchsafed.
His answer, in the passage referred to, confirms the
hope. He leads the inquirer moreover to the con-
sideration of the office of the Holv Ghost the Com-
■I
forter. It is, therefore, through the agency of this
Divine Being, that the communion and presence of
Christ are enjoyed in the soul. Hence we read of
" Joy in the Holy Ghost1."—" Of the love of God
shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost which
is given unto usk."
The constant experience also of his faithful
f Mat. v. 6. 8 Ps. xxxvi. 8. u John, xiv.
» Rom. xiv. 17. k Rom. v. 5.
48 . CANTICLES ; OR,
people does attest, and in every age has attested,
that these spiritual manifestations of Christ, un-
known and unsuspected by the world, are, occa-
sionally, vouchsafed to them; and the strongest
assurances conveyed to their minds of his favour
and unchanging affection. These discoveries of the
divine love, moreover, as the parable before us
seems to intimate, may sometimes be expected as
a blessing upon the public ordinances of religious
worship.
To perpetuate these happy seasons would be,
indeed, to convert earth into heaven ; but the be-
liever needs not to be admonished, that these holy
transports are, in this present life, only occasionally
granted, and but for a short time. — They are tran-
sient, unfixed, and evanescent, like the bow in the
clouds, which pledges the covenant in the day of
rain. Yet the bride of Christ cannot but wish to
retain, as long as possible, the heavenly vision ;
and would, especially, be cautious, that no unneces-
sary interruption may occur, to banish from her
mind the pleasing image of her beloved. " I charge
ye, O daughters of Jerusalem, as with the gazels,
and as with the deer of the plain, that ye stir not,
nor raise up my beloved, till he please."
Like Peter on the mount of transfiguration, the
Christian thinks " it good to be here," and would
fain build a tabernacle to prolong the stay of the
heavenly visitor. But though the thought of losing
sight of the blissful scene is painful to him, and he
SONG OF SOLOMON. 49
descends again into this lower world with some re-
luctance, yet the kind intent of the gracious Saviour
towards him is answered : a pledge, and earnest,
and happy foretaste of joys to come has been con-
veyed to his soul. This inspires him with a lively
hope, and animates him to press forward towards
the mark for the prize of his high calling.
Besides, in these manifestations of the divine
benevolence, such a heavenly light is wont to be
left upon the believer's mind, beaming forth in
" good will towards men," that he can look round
upon his friends and upon his earthly charge, and,
in submissive patience, say with the Apostle, " To
depart and be with Christ is far better ; but to
abide in the flesh is more needful for you1."
1 Phil. i. 24.
50 CANTICLES ; OR,
IDYL THE FOURTH.
Corresponding with that Part of the public Translation
contained in the latter Part of the second Chapter,
beginning with the eighth Verse.
The Idyl now before us is altogether pastoral ; no con-
nexion whatever in its exterior imagery, except that both
are poems upon the common subject of Love, can be
pointed out between this and the preceding parable.
The lovers are here supposed to reside at a great dis-
tance from each other : — the imaginary fair relates a visit
she had received from her beloved : — she records his
affectionate address to her — how she enjoyed his society — :
and concludes with expressing an earnest desire for the
frequent repetitions of his visits.
It was the voice of my beloved !
Lo, it is he !
He comes, leaping on the mountains,
Bounding o'er the hillsa!
My beloved is like the gazel,
Or the fawn of the deerb.
a She suddenly hears, while in the retirement of her garden, the
well-known sound of her beloved's voice : he had arrived unex-
pectedly, it should seem, from a distance over intervening hills
and mountains.
i> In admiration at the ease and swiftness with which her beloved
traverses the interposed mountains, she compares him to the
SONG OP SOLOMON. 51
Lo, it is he !
Standing behind our fence c!
Looking through the openings !
Showing himself at the lattice !
My beloved addressed me and said, —
" Arise thee, my partner,
" My fair one, and come:
" For lo, the winter is over,
" The rain ' is' passed away, ' and' is goned:
" The flowers appear on the ground :
" The time of the singing ' of birds' is arrived e:
" The voice of the turtle is heard in our land :
" The fig-tree is embalming its fruit f;
animals here mentioned : a comparison not unusual in Scripture ;
" Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe." 2 Sam. ii. ] 8.
• V He shall make my feet like hart's feet, and he will make me to
walk upon mine high places." — Flab. iii. 19.
c ubro, " paries noster." — Simon. " Mr. Harmer supposes
the word rendered * fence ' to mean the green wall, as it were, of
a chiosk or eastern arbour ;" which is thus described by Lady
M. W. Montague: ** In the midst of the garden is the chiosk, that
is, a large room commonly beautified with a fine fountain in the
midst of it. It is raised nine or ten steps, and enclosed with gilded
lattices, round which vines, jessamines, and honeysuckles, make a
sort of green wall," &c. — (Harmer's Outlines.) — Parlchurst.
In this well-known retreat, coming from the scene of his distant
abode and occupation, he finds the object of his choice, and in-
vites her abroad.
d The winter or rainy season continues in these countries from
November to February, when the spring, the most beautiful season
of the year, succeeds.
e The season of the song is come. The song here referred to
Mr. Harmer conjectures to be peculiarly that of the nightingale.
f " Filling them with that clammy delicious juice which is so
well known." — Parkhnrst.
E 2
52 CANTICLES ; OR,
" The vines in blossom are yielding their fragrances :
" Arise, thee, my partner,
»' My fair ' one,' and come.
— " My dove, < that art' in the clefts of the rocks,
' ' In the hiding-place of the precipice h,
" Show me thy countenance,
" Let me hear thy voice;
" For sweet is thy voice,
" And thy countenance is beautiful."
i — " Go catch for us the foxes,
" The little foxes, that destroy the vineyards^,
" For our vineyards are in bloom l."
g Vitium pubescentium sive florentium odori nullam suavitatem
praeferri testis est Plinius. — Simon.
The above assemblage of beautiful figures is evidently intended
to describe the pleasant season of the year after the rainy months
are gone, and previous to the setting in of the excessive heats of
summer. The duration of this season, and the order of the succes-
sive productions of the spring here mentioned, would much de-
pend on peculiarities of situation ; for few countries, we are told,
of equal dimensions, contain within them such a variety of climate
as Syria, owing to the uneven surface of this district, and the very
great elevation of some of its mountains.
h In allusion to the security of her place of retirement, which she
may now, however, leave in safety, since the winter is over, the
rain is passed away, and is gone.
> Some servants of the bridegroom seem here to have been dis-
missed on their assigned employ ; the suffix to the verb is in the
masculine plural.
k " Hasselquist informs us in his Travels, p. 184, that the foxes
(canis vulpes) are common in Palestine." — " There is also plenty
of them near the convent of St. John in the desert, about
vintage-time ; for they destroy all the vines unless they are strictly
watched." — Parkhurst.
Sec also Theocritus, Idyl E. 112.
1 Perhaps, are setting their fruit.
SONG OF SOLOMON. 53
" My beloved is mine, and I am his,
" Let him eat among the flowers m."
Till the day shall breathe, and the shades be fled n,
Be on every side, my beloved, like the gazel,
Or the fawn of the deer
On the mountains of Bether °.
m" My beloved is for me, and I am for him; let him feed
among the lilies." Let him drive his flock to pasture in the
flowery meads, and I will accompany him. Or, perhaps, I consent
to go with my beloved, but will he not first regale himself amidst
the beauties of our garden ? — Comp. ch. vi. 2.
nThe breathing of the day denotes, evidently, the breaking of
the morning. Some suppose the phrase contains an allusion to
the easterly gale, which frequently accompanies the approach of
the sun to the horizon. — See Parkhurst. Others consider the
" breathing of the day" to be a figurative expression for the reviv-
ing of the day. — See Good.
° I must acknowledge some difficulty in these last lines. The
generality of interpreters seem content to consider 3D as synony-
mous with yy, and render it in the sense of " Return to." But
33D, or 3D, though a word which very frequently occurs in Scrip-
ture, is never, as far as I am able to discover, used in this sense.
It is indeed sometimes used in direct opposition to 3*j, as Gen.
xlii. 24. ; and its general signification is, " to turn away, to de-
part," or, more correctly perhaps, " to turn round," in order to
depart. We might, therefore, translate in this place, " He de-
parted." But there is a second meaning, " to surround, to encom-
pass, to environ;" which meaning I have been induced to prefer;
and have, in imitation of our public translators, in Ps. lxxi. 21.
(where the two verbs ^Emn 3Dm, are rendered, " And comfort
me on every side"), translated the verbs nsi 3D — " On every side
be like."
Mountains of Bether. nri3 signifies to divide asunder; we may
understand, mountains of division, or craggy mountains.
*"">
54 canticles; or,
INTERPRETATION OF THE FOURTH IDYL.
The circumstance and scenery of this parable will
point out to us the occasion to which it is to be ap-
plied, in the spiritual concerns of the faithful.
Joy and peace are indeed the imperishable in-
heritance of the beloved of Christ, yet there are
times when they are, notwithstanding, " in heavi-
ness through manifold temptations." The beloved
of their souls is withdrawn. While the children of
the world rejoice, having their good things, the
children of the bridechamber are seen " to mourn
and lament, because the Bridegroom is taken from
them." — It is the gloom of the wintry season. But
these intermissions of joy, though painful and dis-
tressing, cannot exceed their limited time. He who
has said, " While the earth remaineth, seed-time
and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and
winter, and day and night, shall not cease3," has
said also to his afflicted, " That though he cause
grief, yet will he have compassion according to the
multitude of his mercies b." " For a small moment
have I forsaken thee ; but with great mercies will I
gather thee. In a little wrath I hid myself from
thee for a moment ; but with everlasting kindness
will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy
Redeemer V
The pleasant season of the spring returns, more
aGen. viii. 22. b Lam. iii- 32. c Isa. liv. 7, 8.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 55
pleasant still from the contrast of the gloomy season,
to which it succeeds. So after a time of spiritual
distress or inactivity, the light of the divine coun-
tenance shines again upon the soul : — the espoused
of Christ, after a time of separation, is gladdened
with the presence of her Lord.
" It was the voice of my beloved ! — Lo, it is he !
he comes ! — leaping on the mountains. — Bounding
o'er the hills ! — My beloved is like the gazel— or
the fawn of the deer!" The language is expres-
sive of agreeable surprise. On a sudden, the well-
known voice is recognised : her beloved appears in
sight. She speaks with astonishment and rapture at
the ease with which he traverses the rugged path
which leads to her abode.
It is thus, perhaps, that, after a season of grief or
deadness, it may be after long waiting in vain, the
communion of Christ is restored to the soul, and
restored so easily, that the believer is struck with
wonder and admiration. Fear, and an " evil heart
of unbelief," had raised mountains of divisions be-
tween him and the only comforter of his soul. The
desponding language of the Psalmist too nearly
expressed the sad surmises of his despairing mind.
" Will the Lord cast off for ever ? and will he be
favourable no more ? Is his mercy gone for ever-
more ? Hath God forgotten to be gracious ? Hath
he in anger shut up his tender mercies d ? But the
language of reviving hope will be, according to the
dlxxvii. 7, 8, 9.
56 canticles ; OR,
beautiful turn given to the following verse of this
Psalm, in our old poetical version : —
" And last I said, This surely is mine own infirmity !
" But his right hand can help all this, and change it speedily."
And, when the happy season of spiritual joy
arrives, how every difficulty seems to vanish before
the merciful and all-powerful Saviour ! How easily
does he surmount every obstacle, which the afflicted
and tempted Saint had contemplated with dread, as
the eternal barrier of his hope ! " Leaping on the
mountains, bounding o'er the hills ! My beloved
is like the gazel, or the fawn of the deer!" Or, in
the still more elevated language of the Prophet, the
believer will address the object of his former appre-
hensions, " And what art thou, O great mountain?
Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain V
In the parable the nearer approach of the wel-
come visitor is next described. " Lo, it is he — stand-
ing behind our fence, looking through the openings,
and showing himself at the lattice !" And here let
us remark where the object of this visit is found.
Alone, and in retirement. Not endeavouring to
supply his absence by some other object, or to
dissipate her sorrows in the vain amusements of the
world. When a concern for an absent lover can
indeed be so easily beguiled, a suspicion cannot but
arise that there is no true affection.
" Tis nought but gloom around ; the darken'd sun
Loses his light ; the rosy-bosom'd Spring
f Zech. iv. 7.
SONG OF SOLOMON. 57
To weeping Fancy pines ; and yon bright arch,
Contracted, bends into a dusky vault.
All nature fades extinct."
And it will also be admitted to be a good sign,
in regard to the reality and strength of the believer's
love to Christ, that when the joys of salvation are
withdrawn, and he seems banished from the divine
presence, no worldly interest can absorb his cares,
nor earthly pleasures console and satisfy his mind ;
but in fixed resolution, he determines " to wait for
him who hideth his face f." — " Blessed is that ser-
vant whom, when his Lord shall come, he shall find
so doing." — " If any man hear my voice, and open
the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him,
and he with me s."
" My beloved addressed me, and said, " Arise
thee, my partner — My fair one, and come. For,
lo, the winter is over— the rain is passed away, and
is gone — the flowers appear on the ground — the
time of the singing of ' birds' is arrived — The
voice of the turtle is heard in our land — the fig-tree
is embalming its fruit — the vines in blossom yield
their fragrance. Arise thee, my partner — my fair
one, and come.' " This affectionate address of the
imaginary lover, the beautiful description of the
spring, with his invitation to his espoused to come
abroad, and enjoy the delightful scene, are clearly
emblematical, as we have noticed, of a revival, in
the hopes and religious affections of the Christian,
f Isa. viii, 17. e Rev, iii. 20.
58 canticles; or,
when, after a season of doubt or temptation, of
distress or heaviness, the God of all consolation is
pleased to restore to him the joys of the Spirit, and
a persuasion of the divine presence and approba-
tion. Then indeed it may be said, " The winter is
over, the rain is passed away, and is gone." Or,
to use the beautiful language of the Psalmist, " And
he shall be as the light of the morning, when the
sun ariseth, even a morning without clouds ; as the
tender grass springing out of the earth, by clear
shining after rain11." — The rainy season appeared,
perhaps, unpleasant and gloomy, but it has left a
blessing behind. So, we may observe, in pursuing
the comparison, " no chastening for the present
seemeth to be joyous, but grievous : nevertheless,
afterwards, it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righ-
teousness unto them that are exercised thereby1."
The transition from winter to spring, in countries
under the same parallel of latitude with the Holy
Land, is, we are told, remarkably sudden and dis-
tinct. The change would therefore be the more
observable. In the space only of a very few days,
the cold deluging rains, accompanied with the most
tremendous thunders, are succeeded by the gayest
scenes of verdure and foliage : where the storm so
lately roared, and the wintry torrent dashed from
the mountains, are heard, the welcome notes of the
birds of spring, the turtle, and the eastern nightin-
h 2 Sam. xxiii. 4. i Heb. xii. 11.
SONG OF SOLOMON. 59
gale. The vine and fig-tree, at the same time, ex-
hibit to the pleased beholder the quickened progress
of vegetation, and while they regale his sense with
the sweetest odours, contain the promise of a rich
and plentiful harvest.
So fares it with the mind, when, after a time of
trial and sorrow, it is again comforted with the
Saviour's presence, and feels again the invigorating
influence of the Holy Spirit: every thing in the state
of its experience undergoes a sudden change. The
storm ceases: the clouds of spiritual darkness
quickly disperse and roll away. Faith, which, like
the leafless tree, scarcely retained the semblance of
life, and stood with difficulty against the blast of
winter, again nourishes, and becomes pregnant
with good. Hope, which languished and faded,
feels the influence of the genial season: fair and
sweet are its blossoms, while songs of praise and
thanksgiving, more melodious than " the concert of
the groves," are heard around. Love too, that had
spent its energies in mourning for an absent and
long-lost object, now, " satisfied with favour," goes
forth cheerfully to its labours.
In a similar strain, we find the Prophet Isaiah
describing a revival in the church at some future
period ; " The wilderness and solitary place shall
be glad for them ; and the desert shall rejoice and
blossom as a rose. It shall blossom abundantly,
and rejoice even with joy and singing : the glory of
Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of
60 canticles; or,
Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the
Lord, and the excellency of our Godk."
" My dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the
hiding-place of the precipice." It were impossible
perhaps to conceive a more striking emblem of a
helpless being, secure through powerful protection,
than that of a defenceless dove, who, as is here de-
pictured, has fled to some great rock for shelter, and
has concealed herself in the deep crevices of its
rugged sides, where no foe can penetrate, and where
no arrow can be aimed. There is another fine
allusion to this circumstance in the Prophet Jere-
miah: " O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities
and dwell in the rock; be like the dove that putteth
her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth1."
In the exterior of the parable, the allusion we are
considering was in reference perhaps to the shel-
tered situation of the bride's retreat, from whence,
now the winter was past, her beloved would invite
her to come. In the interior of the parable, it ap-
pears as a striking admonition to the believer of
his perfect security in the gloomy period of his
spiritual distress, though no sensible comforts give
assurance to his mind. In the season of his greatest
fear, " kept by the power of God though faith unto
salvation"1," he is safe; while he trembles at the
raging storm, his defence is the " munition of rocks."
The dove, moreover, hasting to escape from the
k Isai. xxxv. 1, 2. ' Jer. xlviii. 28. m 1 Pet. j. 5.
SONG OF SOLOMON. 61
stormy wind and tempest, from the barbed arrow,
or the bird of prey, and flying to the clefted sides
of some mighty rock for protection, affords a true
illustration of the act of saving faith : — the applica-
tion of the helpless and alarmed sinner to an all-
sufficient Saviour, whose pierced side may indeed
be said to afford a refuge and a shelter from every
evil, a hiding-place in every trouble.
" Show me thy countenance, let me hear thy
voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance
is beautiful." This, as we have seen, is part of the
invitation of the beloved to his espoused, now that
the season admits, to come abroad, and gratify him
with her society. " Add to your faith virtue11," is
the evangelical precept: that is, fortitude and reso-
lution— resolution to come forth and appear on the
part of God, exhibiting, in the midst of a wicked
and adulterous generation, the beauty and consis-
tency of the Christian character — a sight most
pleasing in the eyes of our great Master ! And he
delighteth also to hear the voice of his redeemed
people, in prayer, in praise, in the confession of his
holy religion. As he has said, " Whoso offereth
praise glorineth me ; and to him that ordereth his
conversation aright, will I show the salvation of
God0."
" Go catch us the foxes, the little foxes which de-
stroy the vineyard ; for our vineyard is in bloom."
n 2 Pet. i. 5. ° Ps. 1. 23.
62 CANTICLES ; OR,
The season of spring is the season of enjoyment
and activity indeed, but it brings with it its peculiar
dangers, and corresponding cares. The same genial
warmth which restores the verdant and blooming
scenes of spring, and which matures the fruits of
summer, nourishes also, and brings forth from their
retreats, the noxious vermin of the earth. These de-
mand, at this season, the redoubled efforts of in-
dustry in order to their riddance, or the harvest and
the vintage will be expected in vain.
And thus, in the concerns of the soul, it should
seem, that the point of danger, the time when she
is most susceptible of injury, is not in the stormy
season of her troubles when she feels most alarm ;
for that alarm has conduced to her security — she
has fled to the rock for safety ; but in those seasons
of peace and joy, when she is encouraged to ven-
ture abroad, and to engage actively in the duties of
her heavenly vocation. " Watch and pray, lest ye
enter into temptation p." " Be sober, be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion,
walketh about seeking whom he may devour*1."
" My beloved is mine and I am his, let him eat
among the flowers ;" or "let him feed among the
lilies." She obeys his call, and, accompanying
him abroad, or entertaining him in her garden, is
blessed with his society. — A picture of the Christian,
who receives the proffered communion of Christ,
p Mat. xxvi. 41. q 1 Pet. v. 8.
SONG OF SOLOMON. 63
and in grateful return makes a surrender of himself
to his service ; he is refreshed with the comforts of
the Holy Ghost, and is led forth in the ways of
God, in fellowship with his Lord and Saviour.
But, as we are perpetually admonished, these
seasons of extraordinary joy are granted only, for a
short time, during this our earthly pilgrimage. —
The night approaches, her beloved ends his visit ;
but, as it should seem, has named a day when he
shall no longer continue to abide at a distance from
the object of his affections, but will come and take
her to himself. Until this day shall breathe, and
the shades which obscure its dawn be fled, a repeti-
tion of these visits from her beloved is the object of
her constant and most earnest wish. — " Till the
day shall breathe, and the shades be fled, be on
every side, my beloved, like the gazel, or the fawn of
the deer, upon the mountains of Bether."
The same mountains of division, which had been
before the barriers of her hope, are again, we find,
contemplated as intervening between her and the
beloved. And the soul, we may observe, after a
season of spiritual communion, relapses into herself
again, and feels the same inability to recover her
departed comforts — the same insufficiency in her-
self, " so much as to think a good thought." There
is, however, this difference — her reliance on the
power and faithfulness of her Lord increases. Hav-
ing experienced the futility of her former apprehen-
sions, and the exact fulfilment of his promise; having
64 canticles; or,
seen, more than once, with what ease all her fears
and difficulties were surmounted by Almighty Love,
the offers the fervent prayer, full of faith, and full
of hope : — " Be on every side, my beloved, like
the gazel, or the fawn of the deer, upon the moun-
tains of Bether." Thus tribulation worketh pa-
tience, and patience experience, and experience
hope.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 65
IDYL THE FIFTH.
Corresponding with the first Jive Verses of the third
Chapter.
A circumstance in domestic life, among the lower or
middling classes of society, forms the subject of this Idyl.
The scene is not, as is usual in these allegorical poems,
when the nuptials of the King of Israel do not serve for
the prototype, laid in the country, but in the city : we
find ourselves in the streets and broad places, instead of
the flowery meads ; among watchmen or guards going
their rounds, instead of shepherds feeding their flocks.
The faithful wife, it is supposed, had in vain been ex-
pecting the return of her husband at the hour of rest.
Filled with anxiety, she leaves the house in quest of him ;
and after long search, by the direction of the nightly
watch, which she meets, she at length finds him. — The
idyl closes with a description of her great earnestness to
retain his society, on which her late disappointment had
taught her to set a higher value.
The wife, for she is here evidently the married wife, is
the sole speaker in this idyl, as the espoused, to adopt that
term, was in the last.
* On my bed at night,
* Those commentators, who, in explaining the exterior of the
allegory, confine their notions to the nuptials of King Solomon,
66 CANTICLES ; OR,
I sought the beloved of ray soul ;
I sought him, but I could not find him.
I will arise now, and go round the city ;
In the streets and in broad places,
I will seek the beloved of my soul !
I sought him, but I could not find him :
The keepers, who go round the city, found me.
— " Have you seen the beloved of my soul?"
'Twas ' but' a little that I had passed them,
When I found the beloved of my soul.
I held him, nor would I release him,
Till I brought him to the house of my mother,
b To the chamber of her that conceived me.
are driven to the necessity of supposing a dream, in order to
account for the extraordinary circumstances of this idyl ; for ex-
traordinary they must be considered, as occurring to a royal bride.
Not only, however, have we no intimation of a dream in the sacred
text; but such a dream, in the circumstance supposed, must still
be acknowledged to be improbable : " not as wont — of works of
day past, or morrow's next design ;" but of incidents altogether
uncongenial to the situation of the parties.
b *nn — " an enclosed place or room, a chamber" (see Note f,
Idyl 1st). It is particularly applied to what is called a bed-
chamber. What Dr. Shaw says (Travels, p. 238-9- 2d edit-)
concerning the structure of houses in Barbary (and the Levant),
may give some light. " Their chambers are large and spacious,
one of them frequently serving a whole family. At one end of
each chamber there is a little gallery raised four or five feet, with
a balustrade (and doubtless a veil to draw in the front of it). Here
they place their beds." This shows the meaning of mm Tin,
" a chamber in a chamber. 1 Kings, xx. 30, &c." — Parkhurst.
And hence, we are at no loss to account for the supposition of the
bride's conducting her husband into the house, and even into the
chamber of her mother. For the chamber of the young couple
was, in fact, a part of that chamber.
SONG OF SOLOMON. 67
** I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
" ' As' with the gazels, and 'as' with the deer of the
plain,
"That ye stir not, nor raise up 'my' beloved till he
please."
INTERPRETATION OF THE FIFTH IDYL.
As the affectionate wife, separated from her hus-
band during the day, while his employments call
him abroad, expects with delight his return in the
evening, and seems to claim that season as her own ;
so the Christian believer, compelled by the duties
of his station to divest himself of heavenly medita-
tions, and to spend the greater share of his time
and attention on secular cares and occupations,
looks with earnest expectation for his appointed
seasons of prayer and retirement. And, generally
speaking, the gracious Saviour is found of them
that seek him : the peace and consolation which his
presence can alone create, are enjoyed by his people,
when they have " entered into their closet, and
have shut their door, and pray to Him which seeth
in secret a" — " Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and
worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in
thy ways\"
But it may be, for purposes of trial or of disci-
pline, that these comforts are withdrawn : the soul
a Mat. vi. 6. h Isa. lxiv. 5.
F2
-1
68 CANTICLES ; OR,
misses her beloved: the peace and satisfaction
usually experienced by the devout mind, is sought
in the accustomed means, and at the accustomed
hour, and sought in vain. To such a circumstance
we would apply the opening of the parable before
us, " On my bed at night I sought the beloved of
my soul ; I sought him, but I could not find him."
His absence, however, is intolerable. Nor can
that which is very precious in the enjoyment, be
lost without proportionate regret. " I will arise
now, and go round the city. In the streets and
broad places— I will seek the beloved of my soul."
The believer, who is distressed in his feelings, and
finds no relief in the private exercises of religion,
seems admonished, that he should seek the society
of the faithful, wherever they dwell. If spiritual
distress is felt in the mind, or an unusual deadness
oppresses its affections and hopes, a melancholy
retirement is by no means to be resorted to ; for we
know that it is the Lord's pleasure to bless the in-
tercourse of Christians one with another, to their
mutual benefit and comfort. Hence the direction,
" Comfort yourselves together, and edify one an-
other."— " Comfort the feeble-minded, support the
weakc."
The great Apostle himself seems to have looked
to this resource ; we read, in the first chapter of
his Epistle to the Romans, that one advantage
« 1 Thes. v. 2—14.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 69
which he proposed to himself in visiting the eminent
Christians at Rome, was, " that I may be comforted,
together with you, by the mutual faith both of you
and me"." And doubtless the design of our hea-
venly Father, in thus constituting a kind of recipro-
cal dependence between the members of his family,
is, to teach them to love one another, and to hold
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
And oh, how are the poor and afflicted members
of Christ robbed of their happiness by those divi-
sions and separations which exist among us !
Never surely ought the affectionate address of the
Apostle to the Philippians to be more enforced than
in the present day. " If there be therefore any
consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any
fellowship of the spirit, if any bowels of mercies,
fulfil ye my joy that ye be like minded, having the
same love, being of one accord, and of one mindV*
But in the parable before us, this second source
of religious comfort is supposed to fail ; even in the
society of christian friends, consolation is not ob-
tained: " I sought him, but I could not find him.'*
Accordingly, a still further means is pointed out.
" The keepers," or " watchmen, who go round the
city, found me/' By this incident the ministerial
office is clearly intended to be represented, since
one of the duties of those who bear this office is
" to watch for souls," and to be ready at their ap-
d Vcr. 12. e Phil. ii. 1,2.
70 canticles; or,
pointed stations to advise the wanderer, or to com-
fort the afflicted. " I have set watchmen upon thy
walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their
peace, day nor night: ye that make mention of the
Lord, keep not silence f."
To these watchmen the inquirer applies, — " Have
ye seen the beloved of my soul?" And the dis-
tressed and tempted Christian should certainly avail
himself of the benefit of the divine institution of the
ministry. The answer given by these watchmen
appears to have been satisfactory: very soon after
her application to them, the wanderer finds the ob-
ject of her search. This doubtless teaches us that
God will honour his appointed means, and so bless
the ministrations of his servants, that they shall not
labour in vain, nor shall his people be finally disap-
pointed, who " seek the law at their mouth, for they
are the messengers of the Lord of Hosts8." — * 'Twas
but a little that I had passed them, when I found
the beloved of my soul."
The temptation, of whatever kind it was, is dis-
persed ; or that, which had caused the Lord to hide
his face, is discovered and removed. Peace and
joy in the Holy Ghost are again vouchsafed; and
on such an occasion, witli what eagerness of mind
will the mourner embrace the happy moment of
returning consolation ! " I held him, nor would
I release him, till I brought him to the house of
' isa. lxii. 6. s Mai. ii. 7.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 71
my mother, to the chamber of her that conceived
me."
Has the distressed or tempted Christian reco-
vered a sense of the divine approbation? Was it
through the advice and comfortable exhortations of
friends or Christian pastors, or was it " too hard
for him till he went into the sanctuary of God?"
Wherever he has recovered his Saviour's presence,
how anxious will he be to carry home his happy
frame of mind, and to meditate in private on the
manifestation of the heavenly love !
And being taught also, by the loss he had lately
sustained, to value more the possession of spiritual
peace and joy, how careful will he be — how trem-
blingly alive to the apprehension, lest he should
lose them again, or be interrupted in their enjoy-
ment ! " I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem
— as with the gazels, and as with the deer of the
plain — that ye stir not, nor raise up my beloved
till he please!!"
72 CANTICLES ; OR,
IDYL THE SIXTH.
Containing the last six Verses of the third Chapter.
The exterior imagei'y in this Idyl bears some resemblance
to that of the first allegory. It is a marriage-procession,
for the purpose of conveying the bride of the King of
Israel to his royal residence.
The circumstances of the processions, however, are very
different. The dialogue in the first idyl was maintained
between the bride herself, a messenger, and the virgins ;
but the dialogue in this poem is carried on between the
virgins alone, as the spectators of the ceremony.
They describe a scene which passes before their eyes. —
On the one part appears the bride, borne from a distance,
in the royal palanquin of Solomon, surrounded with his
guards : on the other part, our attention is suddenly called
to the King himself, " Solomon in all his glory," who
comes forth to meet his bride on her arrival. This, sup-
posing, which is not improbable, an allusion to a real event,
was, no doubt, a high day in Jerusalem ; and, like some
other circumstances of the times, is allegorized, to veil and
typify the mysteries of the everlasting reign of the true
Solomon — the " Prince of Peace."
FIRST VIRGIN.
a Who is this coming up from the wilderness ?
Like columns of smoke,
* " Or what is this," &c— Percy, Green, and Good. But the
most faithful translation is, " Who is this ?" What woman, or
SONG OP SOLOMON. 73
From incense of myrrh and frankincense,
From all the powders of the merchant 1
SECOND VIRGIN.
b Lo! it is the palanquin of Solomon:
Sixty valiant men surround it,
Of the valiant of Israel:
All are swords-men c,
Disciplined for war:
Each has his sword on his thigh
Because of fear in the night d.
bride, as she is known to be, from her appearance ? <o very rarely
refers to things: rw is the 3d per. sing. fem. rbv too is fern, as in
1 Kings, xviii. 44.
" Tt? atvrri i) ctvxfic&ivovcra am t»j tpijAov ;" Septuagint.
b They are supposed to see a bridal couch or palanquin at a
distance, with a multitude of attendants. They compare it to
columns of smoke, to the fuming incense of the altar. The at-
tendants perhaps were burning perfumes; or their smoking
torches, their cottars or luminous standards, might give the pro-
cession the appearance here attributed to it. Or, it is possible,
the allusion may be to the columns of dust raised by the feet of
the attendants, the signal usually observed of the approach of
travellers in the desert of Arabia.
c 3-in nnK " comprehensi, i. e. accincti gladio, vel qui adhrese-
runt, adjuncti gladio, per Hypallagen, pro, quibus gladius ad-
hsesit sive adjunctus est." Si?nunis, Heb. Lex.
" Possessed or seised of a sword." — Parkhurst.
a A party of the royal guards we may suppose to have been
sent with the royal vehicle. They conduct the bride, as it ap-
pears, from a distance. This vehicle, a description of which fol-
lows, must undoubtedly, according to Mr. Harmer and other
commentators, have been a kind of palanquin. For first, it is
called non, a bed or couch, something which would admit a per-
son to lay himself at length. Secondly, it is, evidently, portable,
and surrounded with attendants for a journey. Of the other
74 CANTICLES ; OR,
King Solomon has made him a palanquin,
He formed it of the woods of Lebanon ;
Its supporters he made of silver;
Its mattress of ' cloth of gold ;
Its hangings ' are' of purple e ;
Its inside ' is' spread over with love f
By the daughters of Jerusalem.
THIRD VIRGIN.
« Go forth, and see, O daughters of Zion, King Solomon
term, by which it is called pnSK, Simon observes, " Compositum
ex 2 synonymis -|3K Arab, cucurrit, latus est; et ex Chald. ma
cucurrit, latus est." — " It is used in the Misnah for the nuptial
bed, or open chariot, in which the bride was carried from her
father's house to her husband's." — Dr. Gill.
e The chariot or body part, stragula.
f Its inner lining was spread over, literally paved, worked so as
to resemble a pavement, with appropriate devices and mottos, by
the women of Jerusalem. — Harmer's Outlines.
" And to illustrate, if not confirm, this supposition, I observe,
from Lady M. W. Montague, Lett. xxv. vol. i. p. 158, that the
inside of the Turkish coaches is (in our times) painted with
baskets and nosegays of flowers, intermixed commonly with little
poetical mottos." — Parhhurst.
s While the company of virgins are contemplating the equipage
of the bride, and are admiring its beautiful construction, their
attention is suddenly called to another quarter : they have notice
that the bridegroom is coining, " decked" with his splendid
" ornaments." The marriage-ceremonies of the Jews, and other
eastern nations, were always grand and imposing : we may easily
imagine, therefore, the magnificence which would accompany a
bridal procession of King Solomon.
We cannot, indeed, require a more convincing proof of the rich
decoration of the person of the bridegroom on these occasions,
than the circumstance of the royal Psalmist's having alluded to it,
for a comparison of the most grand and beautiful object in nature
— the rising sun : " He cometh forth as a bridegroom out of his
chamber."
SONG OF SOLOMON. 75
With the crown with which his mother has crowned him,
On the day of his espousals,
On the day of the gladness of his heart !
INTERPRETATION OF THE SIXTH IDYL.
The conducting home of a bride espoused to King
Solomon is, as we have seen, the exterior and os-
tensible imagery of this allegory. The conducting
of the purchased people of Christ to his presence
and blessed abode, is, I think, the interior and
remote sense which is veiled under this thin and
pellucid covering.
The first Idyl, the subject of which is, in like man-
ner, the conducting home of a royal bride, has been
explained of the first introduction of the favoured
Christian into that state of joy and sense of the
divine favour, which is wont to accompany that first
fruits of the Spirit, by which the believer is sealed
until the day of redemption.
The very different circumstances, however, of
the procession we are now to contemplate, lead to
the notion, that a different event is intended by the
emblem. We explain the present allegory, there-
fore, with reference to the anticipated conveyance
of the espoused of Christ from this world to the
mansions above ; and in its full amount, to the
manifestation of the sons of God in the last day,
when the New Jerusalem will be seen as a bride
76 canticles; or,
adorned for her husband, and the assembled uni-
verse will be called to celebrate the " marriage
supper of the Lamb V
In view of these two events, the entrance of the
soul of the faithful into paradise, and the glory to
be brought to the church at large at the revelation
of Jesus Christ, we may consider this present world
as the wilderness, through which the perilous jour-
ney, supposed in the opening of the parable, has
just been effected.
" Who is this," or " what bride is this that
cometh up from the wilderness?" The beautiful
land of Canaan, it is well known, was bordered
on the south and south-east by the dreary and
arid desert of Arabia. Through this desert, Israel
had journeyed from Egypt to the land of promise.
From this circumstance, and from the inevitable
inconveniences of the journey by which their country
was approached on this side, and the pleasing
change which opened to the traveller's view when
he had once passed the boundary, " coming up
from the wilderness," appears to have been a con-
stituted emblem among the Jews of the faithful ser-
vants of God, who, finishing their earthly pilgrimage,
enter into their heavenly rest.
The question in the allegory before us amounts,
therefore, in fact, to that put to St. John in the
Apocalypse, while he stood contemplating a large
a Rev. xix. 19.
SONG OF SOLOMON. 77
assembly of the redeemed from among men, " What
are these which are arrayed in white robes ? and
whence came they ?" — " These are they which came
out of great tribulation," &c. &c.b
The columns of smoke which are noticed, as if
ascending from the burning of myrrh and frank-
incense, and all the aromatic powders of the mer-
chant, and which first attract the attention of the
virgins, is emblematical, I conceive, of the prayers
and piaises of the saints, as offered in the name of
Christ, with the memorial of his death — and in
reference to his atoning sacrifice — ascending, to use
the Scripture metaphor, as a sweet- smelling savour
before the mercy-seat of the heavenly tabernacle.
" And another" angel " came and stood by the
altar, having a golden censer ; and there was given
unto him much incense, that he should offer it, with
the prayers of all saints, upon the golden altar
which was before the throne. And the smoke of
the incense, which came with the prayers of the
saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's
handV
To relieve the tiresome way, through which his
bride must pass, to shelter from the parching sun
by day, and to defend from midnight robbers, King
Solomon, it seems, had sent a magnificent palan-
quin, attended by threescore valiant soldiers. The
virgins recognise the equipage, and perceive, of
b Rev. vii. c Rev. viii. 34.
78 CANTICLES ; OR,
course, whose bride it conveys. " Lo, it is the pa-
lanquin of Solomon ! Sixty valiant men surround it,
of the valiant of Israel."
So he, who is the peace of his people, the King
of the heavenly Zion, has carefully provided for the
safe and pleasant conveyance of his redeemed,
through the wilderness of this world, to the man-
sion prepared for them in his Father's house.
" They are kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
timed." This world in itself is a comfortless desert ;
yet they, through his care, enjoy many comforts in
passing through it. " In the world ye shall have
tribulation, but in me ye shall have peace6."
" In the time of trouble," says one, " he will hide
me in his pavilion, in the secret of his tabernacle
shall he hide me f." Compare too the remarkable
declaration in the prophecy of Isaiah : " Hearken to
me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the
house of Israel, which are borne by me from the
belly, which are carried from the womb : and even
to your old age I am he ; and even to hoar hairs
will I carry you : I have made and I will bear ;
even I will carry and will deliver you*."
If we inquire particularly respecting the armed
attendance which guards the royal couch, the Scrip-
ture affords an easy solution : " He shall give his
d 1 Pet. i. 5. e j0hn, x vi. 33. t Ps. xxvii. 5.
g Isa. hi. 3, 4.
SONG OF SOLOMON. <»
angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways,
they shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou
dash thy foot against a stone h ;" — " The angel of
the Lord encampeth round about them that fear
him, and delivereth them1." Of the angels again
we read, " Are they not all ministering spirits,
sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of
salvation"."
We come next to consider the description of the
bridal palanquin itself. " King Solomon has made
him a palanquin : he formed it of the woods of Leba-
non. Its supporters he made of silver ; its mattress
of cloth of gold ; its hangings are of purple ; its
inside is spread over with love by the daughters of
Jerusalem." The vehicle, we observe, was con-
trived for rest, and easy conveyance ; but its beauty
and magnificence bespake, at the same time, the
quality and riches of its possessor.
The emblem well applies to the provisions which
have been made in the scheme of redemption for
the present peace, safety, and happiness of the ob-
jects of the divine compassion and love. Their
comfort, and the relief of their many infirmities
during the toilsome and perilous journey of life,
have been graciously considered and provided for
by their all- wise and powerful Saviour; so that,
notwithstanding the dreary scene around them, and
the inconveniences necessarily incident to travellers
h Ps. xci. 11,12. j Ps. xxxiv. 7. k Heb. i. 14.
80 canticles; or,
in a desert, the followers of Christ shall not fail to
find the words of the heavenly wisdom true, that
" her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her
paths are peace1."
" Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose
mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in
theem." The God of mercy has bid them " cast
their burden upon him, promising to sustain them11."
• — " To be careful for nothing, but by prayer and
supplication, with thanksgiving, to let their requests
be known unto him°." Remarkable are the words
of our Lord, even when comparing his service to a
yoke: " Come unto me, all ye that labour and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my
yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and
lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest for your
souls p." The believer, therefore, relying upon a
Saviour's promise, and so far placed above the cares
and troubles of life, and secure from harm, while
passing through this world to a better world above,
fully answers to the emblem before us.
This palanquin, or travelling couch, which Solo-
mon had sent to convey his bride across the desert,
could not indeed, from its very nature and purpose,
display all the rich magnificence of that Prince's
court ; yet still, we see it displayed, in its minor
ornaments, the royal munificence of its owner. The
cedar, the silver and gold, the purple and rich em-
>Prov. iii. 17. mIsai. xxxvi. 3. ■ Ps, Iv. 22.
0 Phil. iv. 6. v Mat. xi. 29, 30.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 81
broidery, were, so to speak, the decorations of a
palace on a smaller scale. On the occasion which
supplied the exterior of the allegory, this beautiful
means of conveyance, we may easily conceive,
would exhibit to Solomon's chosen an encouraging
pledge and specimen of her splendid entertainment,
when she should once arrive at the residence of her
royal Bridegroom.
In like manner, the state of grace, as entered
and enjoyed by the people of God here below,
though it cannot be thought to bear comparison
with that glory which is to be revealed — with that
" inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that
fadeth not away, which is reserved in heaven for
them ;" yet does it exhibit, in its rich provisions,
and in the present joys which it affords, an ani-
mating specimen of the munificence of the King of
Glory. It contains that which is to the believer an
earnest and a foretaste of those pleasures that are
at God's right hand for ever. " Eye hath not seen,
nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart
of man the things which God has prepared for them
that love him, but God has revealed them to us by
his Spirit V
The silver, and the gold, and the purple, there-
fore, we consider as emblematical of the true and
more durable riches of faith, of the heavenly joy
that hope can realize on earth, and of those mani-
1 1 Cor. ii. 9.
82 canticles; or,
festations of the " bleeding love" of Christ, which,
in the midst of an otherwise miserable world, satisfy
and comfort the Christian's heart. And — adopting
the ingenious idea given above, respecting the em-
blems and mottoes worked by the daughters of Jeru-
salem for the inside of the royal couch— the com-
munion of saints, with all the records and memorials
they have left, testifying their own happy expe-
rience of the love of Christ and his faithfulness in
the trying hour— their dying sayings especially, will
be readily admitted to correspond with this storied
lining of the bridal palanquin.
But, to proceed with the counter-part of the alle-
gory. While the eyes of these daughters of Zion
are fixed upon the company which is conducting
the Bride from the wilderness, and while they are
employed in listening to the description of her con-
veyance, a cry is heard — " Behold the bridegroom
cometh ! Go ye out to meet him." — " Go forth and
see, O daughters of Zion, King Solomon, with the
crown with which his mother crowned him, on the
day of his espousals, on the day of the gladness of
his heart."
In " Solomon," decked " in all his glory," in the
character of " a bridegroom, corning out of his
chamber" to meet his bride on her entrance into his
capital, we have a type of our Lord and Saviour,
when he shall welcome his redeemed to glory: —
when he shall welcome the departing saint to that
mansion in his Father's house, which he has pre-
SONG OP SOLOMON. 83
pared for him; and, especially, in that great day
when he shall meet his whole church in the charac-
ter of her Bridegroom.
In the days of his flesh, our gracious Master
prayed, and his prayer was heard; " Father, I will
that those, whom thou hast given me, be with me
where I am, that they may behold my glory r." The
effect of this prayer the soul of the dying saint shall
find when angels shall carry her to the Paradise of
God. She departs to meet her heavenly Bride-
groom. For to depart from the body is to be with
Christ. And He who bought her with his precious
blood, and has espoused her to himself, in righ-
teousness, in loving kindness, and in mercy, will
welcome her arrival. The effect of this prayer will
be further seen, and the type we are considering
receive its full accomplishment, when the whole as-
sembled church of Christ shall receive their perfect
consummation of bliss both in body and soul: —
" when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from hea-
ven with his mighty angels" — " when he shall come
to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in
all them that believe5."
We have a description of this great event
under the same allusion in the nineteenth chapter
of the Revelation: "And I heard as it were
the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of
many waters, and as the voice of mighty thun-
» John, xvii. 24. »2 Thes. i. 8-- 10.
G2
84 canticles; or,
derings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omni-
potent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and
give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb
is come, and his wife has made herself ready.
And to her was granted that she should be arrayed
in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is
the righteousness of saints. — And I saw heaven
opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat
upon him was called Faithful and True, and in
righteousness he doth judge and make war. His
eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were
many crowns ; and he had a name written that no
man knew but he himself. And he was clothed
with a vesture dipped in blood : and his name is
called the word of God. And the armies which
were in heaven followed him on white horses,
clothed in fine linen, white and clean— and he hath
on his vesture and on his thigh a name written,
King of Kings, and Lord of Lords1."
On the head of the King of Zion, you are told,
there are many crowns. — There is the regal crown.
For a kingdom and dominion, which shall be for
ever, is given to him. — There is the crown of vic-
tory. For he went forth conquering, and to con-
quer; and all his enemies are subdued under his
feet. — There is the crown of merit. For he is ex-
alted above his fellows, "because he has loved
righteousness, and hated iniquity11."
<■ Rev. -\ix. 6, &c. « Ps. xlv.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 85
But there is another crown which, in a particular
manner, marks him out to the attention of his faith-
ful people — the bridal crown. " Go forth and see,
O daughters of Zion, King Solomon, with the
crown with which his mother has crowned him," on
the day of his espousals, on the day of the gladness
of his heart. His faithful people will meet him on
that day in the character of the Bridegroom of souls.
— " Blessed and happy is he that shall be called to
the marriage-supper of the Lamb."
It is the day of the gladness of his heart. It is
the day that brings the recompense of all the Re-
deemer's toil and trouble. To wear this crown,
so great was his love to his church, he emptied him-
self of his glorious majesty, and became a man of
sorrows, and suffered the bitterest agonies of death.
To wear this crown was the joy set before him, for
the sake of which he endured the cross, despising
the shame.
Contemplating him in the midst of his strange
sufferings, the prophetic Spirit declared, " He shall
see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied V
And, as the good shepherd gathers, one by one, his
scattered flock, we are told, " that he layeth it on
his shoulders rejoicing"." When the hour of their
departure comes, again we read, " Right dear in
the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints y."
w Isai. liii. 11. x Luke, xv. 5. y Ps. cxvi. 15.
86 canticles; or,
When, finally, all the members of the church, which
he has bought with his own blood, shall be brought
to glory, then shall the Redeemer s joy be full. —
Then, in the most emphatic sense, will be " the
day of the gladness of his heart."
SONG OF SOLOMON. 87
IDYL THE SEVENTH.
Including the fourth Chapter and the first Verse of the
fifth.
The various and discordant opinions of the most re-
spectable expositors respecting the literal meaning of that
portion of the Canticles on which we are now entering,
forewarn us of difficulties ; and demand from the reader an
extraordinary degree of candour and indulgence towards
the present attempt.
This Idyl, according to the division which I have
adopted, begins with a description of the personal charms
of the fair one, as they appeared in the eyes of her ad-
mirer.— He next declares his intention of departing — and
taking his leave, with expressions of his entire satisfaction
with his espoused, promises one day to take her with him
to his home, and acknowledge her as his bride. — He then
describes the residence he has provided for her, where she
may wait in pleasure and security the arrival of this ap-
pointed day. — Lastly, the spouse entertains her beloved
and his companions.
Such, if I am right in my conjectures, is the exterior
imagery of this beautiful allegory. The scene of the poem
is distinctly marked as lying on the northern borders of the
Land of Promise.
BRIDEGROOM.
Lo, thou art most beautiful, my partner,
Lo, thou art most beautiful: —
88 CANTICLES ; OR,
a Thine eyes are doves behind thy tresses b:
Thy hair is like a flock of the goats,
That go in the morning to water0 from Mount Gilead:
Thy teeth like a flock of even-sized ' ewes' d,
Which ascend from the wash-'pool,'
Which go all of them in pairs6,
a Or, " Thine eyes are the eyes of doves." There is some
uncertainty whether the dove itself, or the eye of the dove, be
the intended comparison. It may be necessary also to observe,
that several of the following comparisons, as illustrations of
female beauty, though they may appear to us obscure or inapt,
might, nevertheless, in the times and circumstances when these
poems were composed, have been most appropriate and elegant. —
The figurative language before us is probably of that sort, which
any enamoured lover of the age of Solomon would have employed
to panegyrize the admired object of his passion.
b Parkhurst, after Micha'elis, renders riEtf a vail, and so does
Dr. Percy. But the more probable meaning appears to be, the
projecting hairs ornamenting the forehead, and flowing down the
sides of the face. " Cirrus." — Simon. " Beneath thy shadowy
hair." — Good.
c So Shultens, and after him Simon, give the force of the single
word wbj. mane aquatum ivcrunt. Parkhurst renders it glisten
(nitent), and observes, that the bride's hair is compared not
merely to the long curled hair of the eastern goats, but to a flock
of goats glistening from Mount Gilead ; in allusion not only to its
glossiness, but also to the numerous ringlets or tresses into which
it was broken, and which adorned the head of the bride, as the
glistening goats did the sides and precipices of the mountain. — To
perceive the aptness and beauty of this image, we should, of
course, have been acquainted with the local scenery of Mount
Gilead in the time and circumstances supposed.
d niSlifp prsecisae : determinate, ordinate, i. e. invicem similes,
q. d. ejusdem caesionis, h. e. proportions. Coll. 1 Reg. vii. 3f. ut
Bochartus et Clericus interpretantur. — Simonis, Heb. Lex.
« CDKn. geminus duplex fuit. — Simonis. " The Arabic verb
CDNn denotes not only to bring forth twins, but also to have a
companion." See Henley's note in Gregory's trans, of Lowth's
Lectures.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 89
And no one among them ' is' bereaved ' of her fellow.'
Like a thread of scarlet i are' thy lips,
And thy mouth < is' most beautiful :
fLike the splitting-bloom of the pomegranate
1 On' thy face behind thy tresses.
Thy neck is like the tower of David,
Erected for the suspending of trophies g :
Whereon a thousand shields are hung,
f nVa is properly a fragment, a piece split off, some understand
it of the bloom. So Simon, ' Eruptio floris.' Others of the fruit
when the shell bursts of itself. So Dr. Gill, " The rind being
broken, it appears full of grains and kernels, of a white colour, in-
terspersed with a reddish-purple juice, like blood, as Pausanias
remarks, and looks very beautiful." So that one might almost
conclude, that the comparison is intended for the mouth, and not
for the temple or cheek. T\p~\ from pp"l, is generally indeed
translated The Temple; but the order of the above comparisons
forbids us to suppose that ihis part of the face is intended in this
place. The Septuagint and many other interpreters render it
cheek. The meaning of the verb pp-|, however, tenuis fuit vel
factus est, attenuatus est, as well as the nature of the comparison,
may be supposed to favour the notion, that the lower or narrow
part of the face, where the mouth is situated, is intended. Mr.
Good, though he understands the comparison of the cheek, " As
the blossom of the pomegranate, so are thy cheeks beneath thy
locks ;" yet, in another part of his work, p. 129, in a long quota-
tion, which he has given us from the Gita-govinda, has accident-
ally afforded a very similar use of the same comparison. — " O
thou whose lips, which outshine the grains of the pomegranate,
are embellished, when thou speakest, by the brightness of thy
teeth !"
s Some tower built by David, which we may conjecture to have
been, from its situation, and the symmetry of its proportions, an
object of general admiration, and which, from the additional cir-
cumstance of its being used for the suspending of armour, might
have afforded an appropriate comparison for the neck and its
ornaments. Compare Ezek. xxvii. 2. '"iVsV/V " armamentaria." —
Simon.
90 CANTICLES ; OR,
All armour of the mighty :
Thy two breasts ' are ' like two fawns,
Twins of the gazel, feeding among lilies.
Until the day shall breathe, and the shades be fled,
I will get me to the mountain of myrrh,
— To the hill of frankincense h.
— Thou art fair, my partner,
There is no spot in thee !
— With me from Lebanon espoused,
With me from Lebanon shalt thou come ;
Thou shalt look from the top of Amana,
From the top of Senir and Hermon ;
From the Lions' dens, from the Leopard-mountains k.
h The mountain of myrrh and hill of frankincense, most com-
mentators agree in supposing to be Mount Moriah, where the
temple was built — the hill appropriated to the burning of incense
and sacrifice.
The connexion and meaning I conceive to be, " I am about to
depart and return to my distant abode, but let her be assured from
no dissatisfaction with the object of my affections. — The day too
will come when I will take her with me, and acknowledge her as
my bride, in my father's house." — rf?3 is an appellation of the
bride here, for the first time introduced. It corresponds indeed
with our bride, inasmuch as it belongs to a new-married woman,
(Isa. lxi. 10. Jer. ii. 32) ; but it appears, she did not afterwards
lose the title in her adoptive family, at least so long as her hus-
band's parents were living (Gen. xxxviii. 11. lfj. 24. Ruth, i. 0,
7, 8)- For it should be remarked, that the term is not used in
direct reference to the husband, but to his parents : she is their
rbl, not his rto (Lev. xviii. 15). It corresponds therefore more
nearly with our term daughter-in-law ; and the French term for
daughter-in-law, une belle fille, i. e. a fine daughter, is almost
equivalent, as Mr. Parkhurst observes, to the Hebrew nbo " A
perfecto ornatu vel a corona qua ornari solebat ; vel quod tecta
sive velata ad sponsum adduceretur, et post hac tecta incederat." —
Simon.
k As the mention of the mountain of myrrh, designated Mount
SONG OF SOLOMON. 91
Moriah, or Jerusalem, as the abode of the departing lover, so it
now appears from these lines, that the supposed residence of the
espoused was situated somewhere beyond the north or north-east
borders of the land of Canaan. Mount Lebanon is well known.
Amana, if the conjecture be right, which places it at the rise of
the celebrated river of Damascus, Abana, or, as the margin
reads, Amaua, was an eminence at no great distance. Senir,
Sheuir, or Sirion, is also a mountain in the same parts, as appears
from Deut. iii. 8, 9» and 1 Chron. v. 23. In the poetical language
of the royal Psalmist, it is mentioned as a compeer of the lofty
Lebanon (Ps. xxix. 6). Herinon, an appellation given to several
mountains, belongs particularly to that mountainous track where
the Jordan originates, which still fixes our attention to the same
northern border. The Mountain of Leopards is also mentioned
as being the name of a round and high mountain very near to
Lebanon (see Andrichomius in Gill, and Pool's Syn.) And the
spot called the Lions'-dens, though we discover no vestige of the
name, was, in all probability, not very remotely situated.
In order to go to the residence of her beloved, the spouse must
pass this border; and on the eminences here mentioned, spots, I
conceive, celebrated for the extent of view which they com-
manded, she would be first gratified with a prospect of the land of
promise, and of the distant abode of her husband.
That this conjectural interpretation is countenanced by the
general appearance of the country, the following very interesting
extracts from Volney's Travels will show* : —
" Whether we approach Syria from the side of the sea, or by
the immense plains of the desart, we first discover, at a distance,
a clouded ridge, which runs north and south as far as the sight
extends ; and, as we advance, distinguish the summits of moun-
tains, which, sometimes detached, and sometimes united in chains,
uniformly terminate in one principal line which overtops them
all; we may follow this line, without interruption, from its entry
by the north, quite into Arabia. It first runs close to the sea,
between Alexandretta and the Orontes, and. after opening a pas-
sage to that river, continues its course to the southward, quitting,
for a short distance, the shore, and, in a chain of continued sum-
mits, stretches as far as the sources of the Jordan, where it sepa-
* Volney"s Travels in Egypt and Syria, Third Edition.
92 CANTICLES ; OR,
rates into two branches, to enclose, as it were, in a basin, this
river, and its three lakes. In its course it detaches from this line,
as from a main trunk, an infinity of ramifications, &c."
" A view of the country will convince us that the most ele-
vated point of all Syria is Lebanon, on the south-east of Tripoli.
Scarcely do we depart from Larneca, in Cyprus, which is thirty
leagues distance, before we discover its summit, capped with
clouds. This is also distinctly perceivable on the map, from the
course of the rivers. The Orontes, which flows from the moun-
tains of Damascus, and loses itself below Antioch ; the Kasmia,
which, from the north of Balbeck, takes its course towards Tyre ;
the Jordan, forced by the declivities towards the south, prove that
this is the highest point." — P. 272.
" Lebanon, which gives its name to the whole extensive chain
of the Kesraowan, and the country of the Druzes, presents us
every where with majestic mountains. — The loftiness and steep
ascent of this mountainous ridge, which seems to enclose the
country; those gigantic masses which shoot into the clouds; in-
spire astonishment and awe. Should the curious traveller then
climb these summits, which bounded his view, the wide-extended
space which he discovers becomes a fresh subject of admiration ;
but completely to enjoy this majestic scene, he must ascend the
very point of Lebanon, or the Sannin. There, on every side, he
will view an horizon without bounds ; while in clear weather the
sight is lost over the desert, which extends to the Persian Gulf, and
over the sea which bathes the coast of Europe. He seems to com-
mand the whole world, while the wandering eye, now surveying
the successive chains of mountains, transports the imagination in
an instant from Antioch to Jerusalem ; and now approaching the
surrounding objects, observes the distant profundity of the coast,
till the attention, at length, fixed by distincter objects, more mi-
nutely examines the rocks, woods, torrents, hill-sides, villages, and
towns; and the mind secretly exults at the diminution of things,
which before appeared so great." — P. 274.
" To the west is the vast liquid plain of the Mediterranean; to
the east the plain of the desert, no less vast, but absolutely dry; in
the midst of these two level surfaces rise the mountains, whose
summits are so many observatories, from whence the sight may
discern full thirty leagues." — P. 305.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 93
1 Thou hast affected my heart, my sister espoused,
Thou hast affected my heart !
m With one ' look' of thine eyes,
n With one turn of thy neck.
How pleasant is thy love, my sister espoused,
How much better is thy love than wine,
And the odour of thy perfumes than of all perfumes ° ;
Thy lips, espoused, distil the virgin honey p :
Honey and milk ' are' under thy tongue :
And the odour of thy garments < is' like the fragrance of
Lebanon9.
1 aaS To take away, to ravish the heart.— Parhhurst. Eku^'wo-us
v)[/.xs, Septuagint.
m Supply, itfn- — See Dr. Percy and Mr. Good.
n So Percy and Good. The meaning is, I conceive, that he had
resolved, and had declared his intention to depart; but the anxiety
expressed in the parting look — the turn of the head — the " long-
lingering look," which was meant to bid farewell, had much
affected him, and called forth the tenderest emotions of his heart.
He declares his entire satisfaction, and tells her, that the day will
come, when she shall be welcomed to his home as his acknow-
ledged bride. The terms rb3 'finx, my sister — daughter-in-law to
my parents, if we may be allowed to imitate the force of the
original word (see note h), are a sort of anticipated welcome to
his family.
oThe same comparisons have occurred in a former idyl.
P nuj, honey which parts and distils from the comb of its own
accord, without pressing, virgin honey. — Parkhurst.
The comparison of persuasive eloquence to a comb dropping
honey, will be familiar to most readers. " So Pindar compares his
ode to honey mixed with milk." — And in Plautus, " Your words
are honey and milk." — Gill.
Prov. v. 3. " The lips of a strange woman drop as an honey-
comb, and her mouth is smoother than oil."
q Either like the cedar-wood from Lebanon, or like the smell
of its fragrant fields and woods. " See," says Isaac, " the smell
94 CANTICLES ; OR,
r A garden ' is' enclosed, my sister espoused,
s A spring ( is' shut up, a fountain ' is' sealed.
1 ' Pomegranates ' are the1 productions < of thy garden,
With fruits of delicious < sorts'.
Hennahs with nards, nard and saffron,
Calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense ;
Myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices.
" ' The' fountain of ' thy' gardens * is' a well of living waters,
And streams ' flowing' from Lebanon.
of my son is as the smell of a field, which the Lord has blessed."
(Gen. xxvii. 2.)
Mr. Good quotes the following passage from Musaeus:—
— Altai's? QvovjToq ei/i Trrepvyiaai.
" The heights of odorous Lebanon."
rThe following lines are thought, by Dr. Percy and Mr. Good,
with other commentators, to contain certain established metaphors
which were applied by the Hebrews, upon nuptial occasions, to
signify the unsullied purity of the bride, and the chastity and
reserve she was to evince in the marriage state. But, for a reason
afterwards to be stated, I consider these lines not as containing
comparisons of the bride, but as descriptive of the residence
prepared for her reception, until the day alluded to above should
breathe.
3 " A spring is locked up." As Sir John Chardin says, he had
known them to be in divers parts of Asia, on account of the
scarcity of water. — Harmer.
1 " Thy productions," or, " Thy plants are a paradise of pome-
granates," &c.
"The fountain by which this beautiful garden was watered never
failed: it was a perpetual spring: which is the simple meaning of
the Hebraism, " well of living waters." Lebanon, on account of
its immense height and extent, is the source of many of these
streams and rivulets, besides the larger rivers which collect at its
base. In particular, we read in Maundrel, that " there is a very
deep rupture in the side of Libanus, running at least seven hours'
travel directly up into the mountain. It is on both sides exceed-
SONG OF SOLOMON. 95
BRIDE.
Awake, O north-wind, and come,
Breathe, O south, ' upon' my garden,
That its odours may exhale.
— Let my beloved come into his garden,
And eat of its precious fruits w.
BRIDEGROOM.
I am come into my garden, my sister espoused,
I have gathered my myrrh with my spices ;
I have eaten my honey with my conserve ;
I have drunk my wine with my milk*.
Eat, my companions — drink —
Yea, drink plentifully, my friends y.
ingly steep and high, clothed with fragrant greens from top to
bottom, and every where refreshed with fountains, falling down
from the rocks in pleasant cascades. — The streams, all uniting at
the bottom, make a full and rapid torrent, whose agreeable mur-
muring is heard all over the place"— a satisfactory illustration of
pjnb-Jtt D^lA " Trickling streams from Lebanon."
"Such is the grateful language of the bride. « My beloved has
placed me in this beautiful retreat. Let him come himself and
enjoy its sweets, and its fruits ; and O, may the hour be propitious!
Awake, O north-wind," &c.
x The bridegroom as readily complies with her request, and
declares his great satisfaction in the repast which she had pre-
pared for him.
y These two last lines, unless we take most unwarranted liberties
with the sacred text, evidently contain an invitation and welcome,
either from the bride or bridegroom, to others, his companions and
beloved friends, to partake with him of the productions of this
garden : which circumstance, I conceive, will be esteemed a suf-
ficient reason to dissuade from the notion that this garden is meant,
in the exterior of the allegory, as a figure of the bride herself.
And if not the enclosed garden, neither is she the spring locked
9G CANTICLES ; OR,
INTERPRETATION OF IDYL THE SEVENTH.
All that appears to the present view in what forms
the exterior imagery, in the commencement of this
allegory is, as we have noticed, a lover's descrip-
tion of the beauty of the choice of his heart, in the
taste and language of the times when these divine
songs were composed.
If the individual comparisons which we have
been considering, besides being illustrations of fe-
male beauty, were designed, originally, to have
each of them a mystic import and meaning in ap-
plication to the graces of the church, or of the faith-
ful Christian, we must acknowledge that these sig-
nifications are entirely lost : — " Thy eyes are doves
behind thy tresses, thy hair like a flock of goats,"
&c. &c. And certainly great discredit has been
done to the Canticles by the vague and fanciful
guesses of some former commentators, in their at-
tempts to spiritualize these similitudes.
But I am content to think, that all these com-
parisons were, even in their original state, merely
descriptive of feminine beauty — that the moral of
the allegory is simply this: — how great is that
partiality with which a human lover looks upon
up, nor the fountain sealed. But, according to the interpretation
given above, these are the beauties and conveniences which belong
to the residence which her husband had prepared for her recep-
tion—till the day should breathe, and the shades be fled.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 97
the object of his passion, and which would lead
him, in such strong language, to express his ad-
miration of her personal attractions ! With a simi-
lar fondness, and with the same partial delight,
does the heavenly Bridegroom contemplate his
church, and each faithful Christian of which it is
composed.
For though black as the tents of Kedar, in her
native state, hateful and deformed through sin, yet,
since the redeemed soul has been precious in the
sight of her Saviour, she has been honourable, and
he has honoured her : nay, she is '* perfect in
beauty through the comeliness which he has put
upon her." For Christ has loved his church, and
given himself for it, that he might sanctify and
cleanse it, with the washing of water by the word,
that he might present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing ; but
that it should be holy, and without blemish a."
In what the beauties of the renewed soul consist,
we may read without a figure in several passages of
Scripture. " But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who
of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctiflcation, and redemption b." — " The fruit of
the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentle-
ness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance0." —
" Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and
beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness
aEphcs. v. 25, &c. b 1 Cor. i. 3C. cGal. v. 22. &c.
II
98 CANTICLES ; OR,
of mind, meekness, long-suffering. — And above all
these things, put on charity, which is the bond of
perfectness ; and let the peace of God rule in your
heart V
These are the beauties which the heavenly lover
admires in his espoused — these the ornaments which
he has made for her — this the salvation, with which
he " beautifies the meek." And if we are permitted
to reason, that the value of a thing, in the estima-
tion of the purchaser, is that which he will give for
it, the care and pains which he will bestow upon it,
how dear in the sight of the Lord must his re-
deemed and sanctified people be ! — the people
whom he has bought with his most precious blood,
and whose preparation for glory is now the great
object of his solicitude, the great end and object of
his mediatorial office !
The seeming extravagance of the following de-
claration will not therefore startle or offend us:
That the church, as she appears in the eyes of the
heavenly bridegroom, is esteemed by him, when
contrasted with all other parts of his creation,
though he has made all beautiful in their place and
season,
— — " so lovely fair,
That what seem'd fair in all the world, seem'd now
Mean, or in her summ'd up, in her contain 'd,
And in her looks."
The beloved, as usual in these allegories, is re-
presented as preparing to take his leave. " Until
dCol.iii. 12, &c.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 99
the day breathe and the shades be fled, I will get
me to the mountain of myrrh, to the hill of frank-
incense." The day, whose expected dawn is an-
ticipated in these songs, is doubtless that emphatic
day to which the Scriptures so often refer us :
•* the day of the Lord :" — " the day of Jesus Christ:''
— " of his appearing and glory :" — the appointed
day when he is to come again, and take his people
to himself.
The place whither our Lord is gone, we also
know. " Him the heavens must receive, until the
times of restitution of all things6." The mountain
of myrrh, and hill of frankincense, is literally, I
imagine, Mount Zion or Moriah, where the holy
incense and perfume, the composition of which is
so particularly described in the law of Moses f, were,
by a perpetual ordinance of the God of Israel, burnt
before the ark of the testimony. Hence we read,
" The Lord has chosen Zion ; he has desired it for
his habitation. This is my rest for ever : here will
I dwell, for I have desired it8."— " The hill of God
is as the hill of Bashan ; an high hill, as the hill of
Bashan. Why leap ye, ye high hills ? This is the
hill which God desireth to dwell in ; yea, the Lord
will dwell in it for ever h."
But this choice of Zion, and all the sacrificial
rites directed to be observed thereon, to distinguish
e Acts, iii. 21. fEx. xxx. 34. &c. sPs. cxxxii. 13, 14.
hPs. lxviii. 15, 16.
H 3
100 CANTICLES ; OR,
that hill as the place of the divine residence, what-
ever may be the future fulfilment of the prophetic
symbol — may be considered as typical of heaven —
of heaven as opened to penitent believers. The ta-
bernacle and sanctuary, with all their furniture, and
instruments of worship, were a little model of the
preparations made in the celestial world, for re-
ceiving there the sinful sons of Adam, " through the
redemption which is in Jesus Christ." — There Je-
hovah sitteth, as was represented in the Jewish
sanctuary, in his " fearful holiness" indeed, but
upon a seat of mercy, consecrated by that one offer-
ing which perfects for ever them that are sanctified,
and which affords a perpetual incense to be offered
up with the prayers of all saints. — Into this ta-
bernacle Jesus, our High Priest, is for us entered.
— At the door of this tabernacle the Israel of God
now worship.
The bridegroom's indication of his departure,
reminds us of our Lord's address to his disciples :
" Little children, yet a little while I am with you.
And as I said to the Jews, Whither I go ye cannot
come ; so now I say to you." He had said to the
Jews, " I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and
shall die in your sins : whither I go ye cannot come.
Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself? because
he saith, Whither I go ye cannot come ? And he
said unto them, Ye are from beneath, I am from
above : ye are of this world, I am not of this world ;
I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your
SONG OP SOLOMON. 101
sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die
in your sins'."
They could not follow him to his holy habitation,
for nothing unholy and unclean can enter there.
The Jews, because they believe not in Christ, who
alone could save them from their sins, would die in
this state, and would go to their own place beneath.
For this is the decisive sentence — " He that be-
lie veth not shall be damned."
But does our Lord repeat the same awful decla-
ration to his disciples, " Whither I go ye cannot
come ?" — He graciously explains his meaning,
" Whither I go thou canst not follow me now, but
thou shalt follow me hereafter." Naturally, indeed,
there is the same impediment : " All have sinned,
and come short of the glory of God." All are in
themselves unholy and unclean. But believers in
Christ shall not die in their sins. They are
" washed, and sanctified, and justified, in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our
Godk." But still, " flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God. Neither doth corruption in-
herit incorruption." When, however, the work of
grace is completed, and the regenerated and sanc-
tified soul is considered by the heavenly Husband-
man as ripe for the harvest, and proper to be se-
vered from its earthly stock, then shall the espoused
of Christ follow her Lord. And " He that ap-
1 John, viii. 21, &c. k 1. Cor. vi. 2.
102 canticles; or,
peared once to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself, will, to those who wait for him, appear a
second time without sin to salvation1."
We should notice too, that it is not in anger, nor
in any dissatisfaction with his espoused, that the
bridegroom departs: quite the reverse.— " Thou
art all fair, my partner, there is no spot in thee."
Let this encourage the believer, when, after a
season of extraordinary joy, without any of those
culpable causes on his part, noticed in some other
parables, the presence of the Saviour seems again
to be withdrawn.
" Thou art all fair, my partner, there is no spot
in thee." As seen in Christ, viewed as apprehend-
ing that, for which he is apprehended in Christ
Jesus, the believer is perfect in holiness— he is
put in the way to attain perfection, the leaven is
hid in his heart which is to assimilate the mass ;
and Christ is his surety and his strength. And,
moreover, " he is not under the law, but under
grace."
As called to self-examination and repentance, the
people of God do find, indeed, that in many things
they offend all; and they judge themselves, that
they may not be judged according to that disci-
pline which is to take away their sins : that they
may not smart under that chastising rod which the
heavenly Father, though unwilling to afflict, some-
1 Heb. ix. 28.
SONG OF SOLOMON, 103
times sees it necessary to use, in order to make his
adopted children " partakers of his holiness m." But
spared through mercy, till the sovereign remedy —
Christ set forth to be a propitiation for sins — our
sanctification, as well as our righteousness, shall be
applied to the cure of every corruption, as well as
the pardon of every sin, they are now in the eyes
of God what the blessed Jesus is: " He is well,
pleased for his righteousness saken." And taking
it for granted, what none can call in question, that
Christ will fulfil his engagement, accomplish his
undertaking, and redeem his pledge, we may, in con-
fident anticipation, say with the Apostle, " Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in
heavenly places in Christ, according as he has
chosen us in him before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame
before him in love°."
In addition to the declaration of his entire ac-
ceptance, the beloved in the text honours his chosen
partner with the title of Espoused, or Bride, and
promises one day to take her with him to his dis-
tant abode in the mountain of myrrh, and the hill
of frankincense. " With me from Lebanon, es-
poused, with me from Lebanon shalt thou come.
Thou shalt look from the top of Amana, from the
m Heb. xii. 10. n Isa. xlii. 21. ° Eph. i. 3, 4.
104 canticles; or,
top of Senir and Hermon, from the Lions'-dens,
from the Leopard mountains."
Lebanon, and the mountains here mentioned,
formed, as we have observed above, one of the
boundaries of the Holy Land : — the border, in fact,
which, from its situation, would be most frequently-
passed by the Israelites in going and returning from
foreign countries. They were eminences also,
which commanded extensive prospects, perhaps,
over all the land of promise. The recollection of
these circumstances will, I conceive, guide us to
the true interpretation of this beautiful imagery.
When we consider the metaphorical language of
Scripture in general, and remark how every thing
relating to this extraordinary people, and their
habitation in the land of Canaan, is constantly alle-
gorized by the sacred writers, to typify the concerns
of Christ's church and kingdom, it seems very
natural, that the passing of this celebrated boun-
dary, and looking from the tops of these moun-
tains in their progress homeward, should be con-
sidered as emblematical of the true Israelites en-
tering into that rest which remaineth for the people
of God.
Imagine to yourself the Jew, with his known
love and superstitious reverence for his native
country, returning from his sojourning, or captivity,
among the hated Heathen ; suppose him to reach at
length these celebrated spots, where, after a long
SONG OP SOLOMON. 105
absence from the scenes of his youth, " the glory
of all lands "is first disclosed to his view : or recall
to your recollection those disconsolate captives,
whose sorrows are so pathetically described in the
hundred and thirty-seventh Psalm : "By the waters
of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept,
when we remembered Zion. We hanged our
harps upon the willows in the midst thereof." Sup-
pose them to have been addressed, by some one
compassionating their distress, in the language be-
fore us, " Ye shall pass again the borders of your
beloved country, ye shall look from the top of
Amana, from the summits of Senir and Hermon,
from the Lions'-dens, and from the Leopard moun-
tains." In this point of view, how beautiful and
striking is the allusion, considered as emblematical
of the Redeemer's purpose and promise of one day
taking his " pilgrims and strangers," as they ap-
pear on earth, " his banished ones," home to his
blessed abode in paradise and glory !
" Let not your hearts be troubled," was one of
the actual farewell declarations of our gracious
Lord ; " ye believe in God, believe also in me.
In my Father's house there are many mansions :
if it were not so, I would have told you. I go
to prepare a place for you. And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again, and
receive you to myself; that where I am, there ye
may be alsoV
P John, xiv. 1, 2, 3.
106 canticles; or,
And perhaps it will be permitted us to include
in our interpretation of this allusion to these spots,
so celebrated as we conceive for the prospects they
afforded of the Holy Land, an intimation of those
anticipations of hope, which disclose to the be-
liever's view the distant landscape of the brighter
world above. — The time of the bride's departure to
the beloved of her soul, was not yet arrived, but
she might go occasionally to these well-known
spots, and gladden her heart with a prospect of that
pleasant land, which contained in its remote hori-
zon all that was most dear to her.
So the Christian, who is waiting for his Lord
from heaven, and sets his affections on things
above, has, through Christ, " access by faith into
that grace wherein he stands, and rejoices in hope
of the glory of God q: he receives those joys of the
Spirit, which are " the earnest of his inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession."
— We may compare his situation to that of the
Jewish legislator, who, though he might not go
over Jordan " to the good land, and that goodly
mountain and Lebanon'," yet, before he dies, he
is permitted, from the top of Pisgah, to behold it
with his eyes.
" Thou hast affected my heart, my sister, es-
poused, thou hast affected my heart, with one look
of thine eyes, with one turn of thy neck." These
i Rom. v. 2. JDeut. iii. 25.
SONG OF SOLOMON. 107
lines need no interpretation to the feeling mind.
They are particularly designed, if we have con-
jectured right, to represent how much the anxiety
discovered in the parting looks of the beloved ob-
ject, had affected the heart of her husband. It is
this, it should seem, which leads him, in the following
lines, to give her fresh assurances of his love, and
of his delight in her society: and which induces him
to point out the conveniences and beauties of the
residence, where she was to be left " till the day
should breathe, and the shades be fled."
And in reading the history of our divine Master,
when he visited this earth in great humility, we
cannot but have noticed what precious promises,
what kind assurances of his love, the sorrow dis-
covered by the disciples, when he had intimated the
approach of his departure, seemed to extort from
his gracious lips !
" Because I have said these things unto you,
sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless, I tell
you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go
away," &c. — " Peace I leave with you, my peace I
give unto you : not as the world giveth, give I unto
you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it
be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I
go away and come again unto you. If ye loved me
ye would rejoice, because I said, I go to the
Father." But let the whole of those parting say-
ings of our compassionate Redeemer, contained
in the fourteenth and two following chapters of
108 canticles; or,
St. John's gospel, be read as an exposition of this
part of the Canticles. And then, I think, it must be
acknowledged, that the expressions of the enrap-
tured lover, in the symbolical representation before
us, are not too strong, to paint the affection of the
dying Jesus to the souls of his people.
" How pleasant is thy love, my sister, espoused,
how much better is thy love than wine ; and the
odour of thy perfumes than of all perfumes. Thy
lips, espoused, distil the virgin honey : honey and
milk are under thy tongue, and the odour of thy
garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon." Some
of these figures we have already considered. — We
may observe in general, that things esteemed the
most grateful to the human senses are referred to
in order to give us some notion and satisfactory
assurance of the delight with which the gracious
Saviour looks upon his people, especially wrhen
they testify by their actions their unfeigned love
towards him; and whose lips express, in prayer
and praise, the effusions of a grateful heart. The
grand inference which we are to draw is this, " As
the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so will the
Lord thy God rejoice over thees." — And thus are
the nuptials of two faithful lovers consecrated to so
excellent a mystery, that therein is signified and
represented, the spiritual marriage and unity be-
twixt Christ and his church1."
« Isa. Ixii. 5. t Com. Pray.
SONG OF SOLOMON. 109
We come next to the description of the pleasant
residence, where, as we have conjectured, the
spouse is lett till the time appointed for her removal
to the abode of her beloved. " Pomegranates are
the productions of thy garden," or " Thy plants are
a paradise of pomegranates, with all precious fruits ;
hennahs with nards, nard and saffron; calamus and
cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh
and aloes, with all the chief spices. The fountain
of thy gardens is a well of living waters, and streams
flowing from Lebanon."
The garden, or cultivated estate, is, as we have
seen, described as being enclosed, and well secured
from every depredator ; and also as being well
supplied with water, that most essential of all arti-
cles in these hot countries — springs of water are
appropriated to its use. A garden it is described
to be, like the paradise in which our first parents
were placed, " Out of the ground made the Lord
God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight,
and good for food u. " — Its waters too are not like the
wintry torrents, to which Job compares the de-
ceitful friend : " which are blackish by reason of the
ice, and wherein the snow is hid: what time they
wax warm they vanish ; when it is hot they con-
sume out of their place ; the paths of their way
are turned aside, they go to nothing, and perish*."
But the fountain which supplies these gardens is a
u Gen. ii. 9. w Job, vi. 16", &c.
110 canticles; or,
well of living or spring waters, and streams flowing
from Lebanon.
This delicious paradise is, no doubt, meant to
portray the state and condition of those happy be-
lievers, who, having received the reconciliation,
and being sealed by the spirit of adoption, are
kept by the power of God unto the salvation ready
to be revealed in the last day — " whose heart the
Lord has directed into the love of God and patient
waiting for Jesus Christ *." " Theirs is the world,
and life, and death, and things present, and things
to come ; all are theirs, for they are Christ's, and
Christ is God's r."
The metaphor here employed to represent a state
of spiritual prosperity, is very usual in Scripture.
" Their soul shall be as a watered garden, and
they shall sorrow no more at allz." — " The Lord
shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in
drought, and make thy bones fat : and thou shalt
be like a watered garden, and like a spring of
waters, whose waters fail notV — " How goodly
are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O
Israel ! As the valleys are they spread forth, as gar-
dens by the river's side, as the trees of lign-aloes
which the Lord has planted, arid as cedar-trees be-
side the waters V — " In that day sing ye unto her,
A vineyard of red wine : I the Lord do keep it ; I
will water it every moment : lest any hurt it, I will
x 2 Thes. iii. 5. * 1 Cor. iii. 22, 23. z Jer. xxxi. 12.
■Jsai. lviii. 2. b Num. xxiv. 5, 6.
SONG OP SOLOMON. Ill
keep it night and day c." — " Salvation will the Lord
appoint for walls and bulwarks." — " Lest they
which go by the way should pluck her, lest the boar
out of the wood should waste it, and the wild beast
of the field devour itd."
The expressions indeed of our blessed Master
himself, as well as the constant use of the metaphor
in the Old Testament, guide to the particular inter-
pretation of this spring locked up, this fountain
sealed — well of living waters, as it was, and
streams from Lebanon ; nor can we hesitate, after
considering the following passages, to understand it
of that supply of the Holy Spirit, which God doth
shed abundantly on them that believe.
" But whosoever drinketh of the water that I
shall give him, shall never thirst ; but the water
that I shall give him shall be in him a well of living
water, springing up into everlasting life6."
" If any man thirst, let him come unto me and
drink. He that belie veth in me, as the Scripture
has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they
that believe on him should receive : for the Holy
Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was
not yet glorified f."
These streams of divine grace are, moreover, re-
presented as wholly appropriated to the use of the
c Isai. xxvii. 2, 3. d Ps. lxxx. 12, 13. « John, iv. 14.
fJohn, vii. 38,39-
112 canticles; or,
church. " A spring locked up, a fountain sealed/'
— « God is loving unto every man, and his mercy is
over all his works." But we have now before us a
representation of those special influences of the Holy
Ghost, which prepare and seal the heirs of heaven.
" He sanctifieth all the elect people of God." —
After that they believe in Christ, they are " sealed
with that holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest
of our inheritance until the redemption of the pur-
chased possession unto the praise of his glory s" —
" Him the world cannot receive, because it seeth
him not, neither knoweth him ; but ye know him,
for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in youh."
Under the figure, therefore, of this blissful para-
dise, and its perpetual fountain, we have an exhi-
bition of the present happy state of the spiritual
believer — of his privileges in the kingdom of
heaven, as that kingdom is now established " in
righteousness and peace, and joy, in the Holy
Ghost*."
The remaining part of the allegory seems to re-
present the anxious struggles of the grateful soul,
to show some sense of the mercies received, and to
make some return to her beneficent Lord, which
though poor and disproportioned, may nevertheless
be such as his love will deign to accept.
" Awake, O north wind, and come ! Breathe, O
south, upon my garden, that its odours may exale."
gEphes. i. 13, 14. h John, xiv. If. 'Rom, xiv. If.
SONG OF SOLOMON. 113
— " Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat
of its delicious fruits." The blowing of the wind
is another established emblem of the Holy Ghost,
that irwisible agent, whose effects are yet so dis-
cernible on every side. " We hear the sound
thereof, but cannot tell whence it cometh, or whither
it goethV
The invocation of the Spirit on this occasion
forcibly reminds us of that most true doctrine re-
cognised in our tenth Article : " The condition of
man after the fall of Adam is such, that he cannot
turn and prepare himself, by his own natural
strength and good works, to faith and calling upon
God: wherefore we have no power to do good
works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the
grace of God by Christ, preventing us, that we may
have a good will, and working with us ivheii we have
that good will."
We have represented to us also in this parable
ow graciously the Lord accepts at the hands of
his people their sacrifice of praise and obedience.
" I am come into my garden, my sister, espoused ;
I have gathered my myrrh with my spices ; I have
eaten my honey with my conserve ; I have drunk
my wine with my milk. "There is an entertainment
to be prepared by his faithful people for the Saviour
himself — prayer and thanksgiving — even songs of
praise, with every exercise of faith, of hope, and of
k John, iii.
114 CANTICLES ; OR,
love; of meekness and of long-suffering. By these
things we are to hallow his holy name. This is the
part of the sacrifice to be burnt upon the altar ; —
" an offering made by fire unto the Lord for a sweet-
smelling savour."
But besides, you notice that the bridegroom in-
vites his friends and companions to partake of the
repasts which his grateful spouse has prepared.
" Eat, my companions ; drink, yea, drink plenti-
fully, my friends." And we are all aware that one
of the most distinguishing virtues of the followers
of Christ has ever been charity to the poor. " To
do good and to distribute forget not, for with such
sacrifices God is well pleased1." This is that labour
of love m, which a gracious God has said " he will
not forget." It is indeed considered as a personal
favour shown to the Saviour. " Then shall the King
say to them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed
children of my Father, inherit the kingdom pre-
pared for you, from the foundation of the world.
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat : I was
thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger,
and ye took me in : naked, and ye clothed me : I
was sick, and ye visited me : I was in prison, and
ye came unto me." — " Verily I say unto you, inas-
much as ye did it unto one of the least of these my
brethren, ye have done it unto me V
1 Heb. xiii. 16\ ™ Heb. vi. 10. nMat. xxy.
IDYL THE EIGHTH.
From the second Verse of the fifth Chapter, to the second
Verse of the sixth inclusive.
The following Idyl is certainly very distinct in its exterior
imagery from the foregoing, nor is it difficult to be under-
stood in its leading circumstances, whatever obscurity our
ignorance of ancient habits may have cast upon some
minor particulars. The allegory possesses a considerable
affinity to the fifth, and is one of those, which I con-
ceive the most fertile imagination would find it no easy
task to interpret, in its external form, of King Solomon
and a royal bride.
A domestic occurrence in much humbler life very clearly
supplies the present parable. The husband is one that has p
travelled far in the night, and returns late to his desired
home and beloved companion. — He finds the door barred
against his admission, and, though his wife is awakened by
his call and knocking, yet her delay and trifling leading
him to suppose that he was not heard, he departs to seek a
lodging elsewhere. — Her distress at finding him gone — her
unsuccessful search, with the unfortunate circumstances
which attend it, are then described.
Such is the exterior imagery of the first part of thi3 al-
legory: the second part, if it ought not rather to be sepa-
rated from it, and made a distinct idyl of itself, we shall
notice afterwards. The spouse, or wife, we are to re-
member, is the relater in this part of the poem.
2 I
116 CANTICLES ; OR,
I was asleep ; but my heart awoke a :
It was the voice of my beloved, who was knocking.
" Open to me, my sister, my partner,
" My dove, my perfect ' one,'
" For my head is filled with dew,
" My hair with the drops of the night b."
" I have put off my clothes,
" How shall I put them on again 1
" I have washed my feet,
" How shall I dirty theme ?"
My beloved thrust his hand through the opening d ;
e My affections were stirred towards him,
I arose to open to my beloved,
My hands dropped myrrh,
My fingers pure myrrh f,
a "tip. " Surrexit, excitavit se, excitatus est." — Simon.
" But my heart awoke." A very natural description of the
manner in which the mind of one asleep, or partly asleep, is ex-
cited by some expected call.
b The copious and, in some situations, pernicious dews which
fall during the night in these countries, are mentioned by many
travellers.
c A clear description, I conceive, of the hesitation of a person
half awakened, whose drowsy and impotent resolution seems in
vain to encounter a thousand unreal difficulties.
d " It was the ancient custom to secure the door of a house by
a cross-bar, or bolt, which by night was fastened by a little button
or pin ; in the upper part of the door was left a round hole,
through which any person from without might thrust his arm, and
remove the bar, unless this additional security were superadded."
— See Dr. Percy, p. 76.
e Bowels or pity.
f13J? yiJ2' Current or passing myrrh, being, according to
SONG OP SOLOMON. 117
Upon the handles of the bolt.
I opened to my beloved,
But my beloved had turned away and was gone :
My soul went out for his word :
I sought him, but I could not find him ;
I called him, but he did not answer.
The keepers found me,
Who were going their rounds in the city :
They struck me and wounded me,
The guards of the wall
Took from me my veilg.
Bochart, that myrrh which wept, or dropt from the tree itself. —
These were probably the unguents, or perfumes, which, accord-
ing to the customs of the times, she had prepared for the refresh-
ment and gratification of her husband on his return. — Compare
Prov. vii. 17.
s In the estimation of an eastern lady, one of the greatest indig-
nities that could be offered her.
118 canticles; or,
PART THE SECOND.
The bride has been hitherto, as we have noticed, the sole
relater ; it appears, from what follows, that she had been
telling her distress to the daughters of Jerusalem. Having
accounted for the state in which she appeared among them,
she pours her complaint into the bosom of her friends. —
She charges them with a message to her beloved : — their
answer draws from her a description of his person : — they
on their part declare their readiness to assist her in the
search.
BRIDE.
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
If you find my beloved, —
' Whatever ' you tell him —
Tell him that I am fainting with love * !
VIRGINS.
What is thy beloved more than another beloved,
O fairest among women,
What is thy beloved more than another beloved,
That thou adjurest us thus b ?
» " What can ye say, but that I faint for love >" — Good.
b Such is the imaginary inquiry put into the mouths of the
daughters of Jerusalem, designed, as I conceive, to draw forth
from her own lips a description of the person and peculiar excel-
lencies of the beloved object. Repecting
SONG OF SOLOMON. UP
BRIDE.
My beloved is fair and blooming0:
' He is' conspicuous among ten thousand d.
His head ' is ' like pure native gold e ;
His hair ' is ' clustering,
And black as a raven f;
His eyes ' are ' like doves
Beside the streams of water,
Washing in milk,
Cowering in the fulness ' of the stream' g:
Respecting this description, we may make the same reflections
as on a former occasion, when the personal charms of the bride
were panegyrized : That whatever seeming inaptness there may
be in the allusions, or obscurity in the language, according to our
modes of thinking, there can be no difficulty in admitting, that, in
the age of Solomon, each individual figure would be thought
beautiful and appropriate to the occasion.
c DHK, red.
d ^U"J, pro vexillo, vel instar ve.xilli supra alios erectus. Latine
dicas, insignis. ExXEAo^a^svof onto pv^xSav. — Septuagint.
e Probably in allusion to its ornaments.
f ttbrbn, the Septuagint rende Er^arce? ; and the Vulgate more
plainly, Elatas palmarum, i. e., the clusters or strings of embryo
fruits after they have burst from the sheaths of the female palm-
tree, &c. — See Parkhurst.
— Copiosi penduli, i. e., crispi. — Simon.
s Or " sitting in the full channel." Simon renders it differently,
" Pala sive fundula, quae gemma insititia impletur." The com-
parison intended, I conjecture, is, that of the pupil of the eye to a
dove washing itself, as these little creatures are accustomed to do,
by running into the midst of the water, and making a quick
vibratory motion with their wings. In this situation the soft
colours of their beautiful plumage, as seen in contrast with the
white reflected light from the water, called in the comparison milk,
would appear, perhaps, to us no inapt similitude of a handsome
eye. — " His eyes are sparkling, and yet mild, like those of milk-
120 canticles; or,
His cheeks ' are' like the frames of balm u—
* The' raised beds of aromatics ' :
His lips ' are' lilies k,
Distilling pure myrrh ;
His hands ' are like1 ornaments of gold,
Set with topazes1;
His body < is like' a work of ivory,
Covered with sapphires m ;
His limbs ' are like' pillars of marble,
Founded on pedestals of gold :
His appeararce ' is' like Lebanon,
' He is' tall n as the cedars,
His speech c is' most sweet,
white doves, when they are delighted as they sit by the water-
side.— Sec Patrick, Bochart, &c." — Percy.
h rWVJJ, Scala, in qua fulcimenta quaerit vitis et opibalsimi arbor,
Vulgo areola horti, sed sine idoneis argumentis.
I rnVuo, Loca terras elatiora: h. e. areola, vel sec. Cocceium,
loca in quibus crescunt aromala et herbaa pigmentariorum. —
Simon.
k Bishop Patrick supposes the lily here mentioned to be the
same which, on account of its deep red colour, is particularly
called by Pliny, " Rubens lilium," and which he tells us was
much esteemed in Syria.
1b'h, in genere, in rotundum flexum et convolutum quid, opus
tornatum. — See Simon.
II Bracelets arc on his wrists, set with jewels." — Harmer.
tt"l£nn, the chrysolite of the ancients, the topaz of the modern
jewellers.
m T3D. ii A kind of precious stone, so called, perhaps, from the
number of gold-coloured spots with which it is beautified. Pliny
informs us, that the sapphire glitters with golden spots, that they
are of an azure or sky-blue colour, but rarely intermixed with
purple." — Parkhurst.
"liro, choice or majestic.
SONG OF SOLOMON. 121
He is altogether lovely ° ;
This is my beloved, and this my partner,
O daughters of Jerusalem.
VIRGINS.
Whither went thy beloved,
O fairest among women,
Whither turned thy beloved ?
For we will seek him with thee p.
INTERPRETATION OF THE EIGHTH IDYL.
A part of Christian experience, too frequent, alas !
with believers in their intercourse with the heavenly
Bridegroom, is illustrated in the first part of this
parable. Under the notion of the returning travel-
ler, who finds the partner of his cares asleep, and
knocking in vain for admission, retires elsewhere
for shelter, is represented the loss of a season of
spiritual communion and holy joy, through culpable
inadvertency, the prevalence of a slothful spirit, or
a too great degree of self-indulgence.
We have, at the same time, in the painful anxiety
of the wife, and in her unhappy wanderings, when
she finds her husband is departed, an exhibition of
° It is not easy here to give the force of the original. Literally
" His mouth is sweetnesses, his whole is delights."
P They own him worthy to be beloved, deserving of the anxiety
expressed on his behalf: they inquire which way she thinks it pro-
ba le he is gone, and offer to accompany her in the search.
r\
122 CANTICLES ; OR,
the distress with which the pious Christian will be
affected when, perceiving the loss he has sustained
through his negligence, he seeks, and for a time,
perhaps, seeks in vain, to retrieve it.
" I was asleep, but my heart awoke ; it was the
voice of my beloved, who was knocking !" " Behold,"
says our Lord to the church of the Laodiceans, " I
stand at the door and knock : if any man hear my
voice, and open the door, I will come in to him,
and will sup with him, and he with me1." The lan-
guage of this passage is very similar to that of the
text ; and, that an opportunity of spiritual commu-
nion with the beloved Saviour is indicated thereby,
will not be doubted ; the passage will therefore
much assist us in our comment.
Stress seems evidently laid on this — " If a man
hear my voice, and open the door," — " If he obey
my call, and be ready to receive me, I will come in
to him," — otherwise, the opportunity would be lost.
Such is the case supposed in the parable before us :
the voice of the beloved is not heard, or not heard
so readily as expected : his spouse does not open to
him " immediately :" the opportunity is therefore
suffered to pass unimproved. For though she is at
length roused from her slumber, it is too late ; — too
late for her present comfort, though not too late to
bewail her loss, and in her sorrow and humiliation
to lay the foundation of future joys.
a Rev. iii. 20.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 123
The sleep depictured seems indeed to be that of
a drowsy slothful person ; and it appears to have
been in circumstances, when, the expectation of her
husband's call, should have kept her watching, and
prepared to receive him. It is not, however, let us
remark, that deep sleep, which, during all the day
of mercy, seals the eternal ruin of unbelievers : who,
deaf to the invitations of the Gospel, will slumber
till a louder call awake them — till the voice of the
Archangel and the trump of God summon them to
judgment ! But we should remember, nevertheless,
the admonition of our departed Lord, " Watch,
therefore, for ye know not in what hour your Lord
doth comeb." Let your loins be girded about, and
your lamps burning, and ye yourselves like men
that wait for their lord — when he shall return from
the wedding ; that when he cometh and knocketh,
they may open to him immediately*."
The attention of the spouse in the parable is,
indeed, after some time at least, excited, so that
she hears the calling and the knocking: but still
she is not roused to action. Like a drowsy person,
between sleep and wake, all lost and impotent,
difficulties upon difficulties are started, the most
trifling objections stifle the rising energies of the
mind. She just recognises his voice, and hears his
endearing language, " Open to me, my sister, my
b Matt. xxiv. 42. * Luke, xii. 35, 36.
124 canticles; or,
partner, my dove, my perfect one,'' — but she is not
ready to open to him immediately.
Remark also, in the parable, the representation
of the trivial and foolish excuses, which the mind
of the slothful makes for itself while the precious
opportunity is lost. " I have put off my clothes,
how can I put them on again? I have washed
my feet, how can I dirty them ?" The incident, no
doubt, was natural, according to the habits and
manners of the times. And oh ! how true and
striking a picture does it afford of the state in
which we are too often found, when opportunities
are offered us of communicating with our heavenly
Master — we had not attended to the injunction
" Watch and pray." We were asleep. A temp-
tation of sloth, or improper self-indulgence had pre-
vailed. We might have entertained our Lord, have
been gladdened with his presence, or employed in
some office of love towards his dear person ; but we
were worn out with the cares of other things ; or
we were in a foolish and trifling humour ; or, for
some trivial reason or other, not quite at leisure for
the holy meditation ; were not prepared to meet the
occurring trial of our faith ; or not ready to seize
the opportunity which presented itself of performing
some act of Christian charity.
For let it never be forgotten, that it is not in the
abstracted thought alone that the believer holds
intercourse with his God, but in the energies of his
mind also in active duties : when, while he is
SONG OP SOLOMON. 125
watering others, he is watered himself ; or when,
through the comforts of religion, he rises superior
to worldly trouble ; or, striving against evil, feels
the helping hand of God, and " endures as seeing
Him that is invisible." — " My little children, let us
not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and
in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the
truth, and shall assure our hearts before himd."
The manner in which, according to the figurative
language of the parable before us, the beloved of
our souls is made to present himself, forcibly re-
minds us indeed of a call to acts of benevolence to-
wards our Christian brethren, " For my head is
filled with dew, my hair with the drops of the
night." — " Lord, when saw we thee an hungred,
or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in
prison, and did not minister unto thee ? Verily I
say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not unto one
of the least of these my brethren, ye did it not unto
mee."
Alas ! what cause have we then for watchful-
ness, lest any backwardness to the calls of duty,
lest any tardiness in the mode of performing them,
or any contracted habits of sloth or self-indulgence,
causing the opportunity of doing good to pass un-
improved, should create a suspicion of the sincerity
of our attachment to a crucified Saviour ; or should
* 1 John, iii. 18, 19. e Matt. xxv.
126 canticles; or,
cause him, at any time, to withhold his endearing
presence and approbation. How needful that
prayer of our Church ! — " Give us grace to use
such abstinence, that, our flesh being subdued to
the spirit, we may be ever ready to obey thy godly
motions in righteousness and true holiness f."
" My beloved thrust his hand through the open-
ing, my affections were stirred towards him. I
arose to open to my beloved ; my hands dropped
myrrh, my fingers pure myrrh, upon the handles of
the bolt." The attempt to open the door fully
awakens her, and she awakens with her wonted
affections. And we may observe, that the spiritual
life of the soul is not extinct in the hour of pre-
vailing temptation ; however its powers may ap-
pear benumbed and enfeebled, or suppressed by
the opposite powers of the flesh. " O fools, and
slow of heart to believe," is a reproof often, indeed,
merited by the children of God from their patient
Teacher; yet still they know the voice of their
Shepherd, and will follow him.
" The hands dropping myrrh," &c. Whatever
difficulties may attend its literal meaning, from the
frequent usage of the same metaphor, is plain as to
its spiritual signification. The believer is roused
to the exercise of prayer : and when holy affections
are stirred up within us, the voice of confession
f Collect for the Jirst Sunday in Lent.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 1*27
will be heard. " For out of the abundance of the
heart the mouth speaketh." — " It is like the oint-
ment of the right hand that bewrayeth itself6."
But, as to her present comfort, we have observed,
the soul is represented as too late recovering from
her slumbers. She had quenched the spirit : and
now a different exercise awaits her : instead of en-
joying the communion of the Holy Ghost, she must
mourn the departure of her beloved, and seek him
sorrowing. " I opened to my beloved, but my be-
loved had turned away and was gone." Hence we
learn to trace the cause of much of the spiritual
distress of the Christian. " Watch and pray, lest
ye enter into temptation."
" My soul went out for his word." — She listens
in expectation of the well-known voice — listens till
her agitated mind starts at the apprehension of the
unlooked-for disappointment. " I sought him, but
I could not find him : I called him, but he gave me
no answer."
But who can describe the feelings of the believer,
when, on being awakened from a state of spiritual
sloth, he finds himself shut out from the presence of
God! " He has hid his face from him."—" He
has turned away his ear, that he will not hear his
prayer." This is indeed an awful moment ! How
earnestly does the Psalmist deprecate its occur-
rence ! " Be not silent to me, lest, if thou be silent
* Prov. xxvii. 16.
128 canticles; or,
to me, I become like them that go down into the
pith." You may taste the wormwood and the gall ;
but it is, however, no case for despair. " Thy
Maker is thy husband \" — " He will not cast off for
for ever. But though he cause grief, yet will he
have compassion according to the multitude of his
mercies k." Let not then the spouse of Christ sink
into despondency : but let her seek, in sure reliance
upon the unchanging love of Christ, to recover her
lost happiness.
" The keepers going their rounds in the city
found me; they struck and wounded me. The
guards of the wall took away my veil." The
watchmen, on their nightly rounds, are again intro-
duced to our notice, as in a former idyl : to them
the distressed wanderer has recourse, but receives
this time no satisfactory answer ; she meets, on the
contrary, with severe rebuke and chastisement ; she
finds herself treated as a suspicious character.
Whether these watchmen are supposed to have
done their duty harshly, or whether it was impos-
sible, in such circumstances, for them to distin-
guish, is not said.
The representation, however, is strikingly just.
The Christian, through inattention, through sloth
or self-indulgence, has lost his comfortable ex-
perience, and that heavenly zeal wrhich rendered
him so lively and so fruitful. He has quenched the
h Ps. xxviii. 1. Isai. liv. 5. k Lam. iii. 31, 32.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 129
spirit ; but roused by that voice, which will not
suffer him to sleep the sleep of death, he perceives
and laments his loss.
In this state of desertion, the regular returns of
the appointed seasons and ordinances of religious
worship find him. These opportunities had been
generally found productive of joy to his mind ; had,
in various instances, proved sufficient for the re-
covery of his interrupted peace. But now he seems
to perceive the word of God to be altogether against
him : he hears, in application to his own case, no-
thing but reproof and censure, and declarations,
which painfully wound his tender conscience.
It is possible, as we intimated, that the harshness
of the minister may be objectionable. In his zeal
to detect the hypocrite, and to alarm the careless,
he may not sufficiently discriminate ; and the de-
serted soul is driven almost to distraction. Or,
most probably, no blame attaches to the minister
of Christ ; he is dividing rightly the word of God.
He is going his rounds, if the allusion may be ap-
plied so minutely, through the system of doctrines,
through the code of precepts, or through the range
of character ; but it is the will of God that the neg-
ligent should meet with a sharp rebuke, and even
feel himself treated as an impostor in the assembly
of the saints.
O
130 canticles; or,
PART THE SECOND.
The afflicted spouse is still represented as mourn-
ing the folly and negligence which had lost her the
blissful society of her beloved : she now seems to be
pouring her complaint in the bosom of her friends and
companions ; stating her case to them, and entreat-
ing their interpositions in her behalf. " I adjure
you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my be-
loved, whatever you tell him, tell him that I am
fainting with love." Christians are commanded
to pray one for another. They are encouraged to
think that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous
man availeth much. " If any one among you be
overtaken with a fault, ye, that are spiritual, restore
such an one with the spirit of meekness1."
We are next called to remark, that the dialogue
of the parable is so contrived, as to make the
deserted spouse discover, that the image of her be-
loved was at no time more lovely in her eyes, than
^ now she is deploring his loss. And never appears
the Saviour more precious in the view of his people,
than when they mourn his absence, and, contrasting
the recollection of their former joys, perceive how
inadequate is all created good, to supply the want
of his presence.
" What is thy beloved more than another be-
1 Gal. vi. 1,
SONG OP SOLOMON. 131
loved, O thou fairest among women ? what is thy
beloved more than another beloved, that thou charg-
est us thus ?"
I do not consider the circumstance of such ques-
tions being put by the daughters of Jerusalem, as
sufficient to induce the inference, that by these
allegorical persons, mere professors of religion, or
mere inquirers after the way of salvation, are in-
tended to be represented. The questions do not
necessarily imply an ignorance of the person of the
beloved ; they may be meant merely to draw forth,
from her own lips, a description of what they so
much delight to hear.
As it happened to the two disciples going to
Emmaus, one, who well knew the subject of their
thoughts, addressed them by the way, " What
manner of communications are these that ye have
one to another, as ye walk and are sadm?" And
one of them answered, " Art thou only a stranger
in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which
are come to pass in these days ? And he said unto
them," not surely because he did not know, but
because he would hear their account, " What
things ?" Such I conceive to be the nature of the
inquiries before us. — And their design is answered:
they draw from the spouse the description of the
beloved of her soul.
" My beloved is fair and blooming ; he is con-
spicuous among ten thousand. His head is like
«» Luke, xxiv. 17.
K2
•
\
132 canticles; or,
pure native gold ; his hair is clustering, and black
as a raven; his eyes are like doves beside the
streams of water, washing in milk, cowering in the
fulness of the stream; his cheeks are like the
frames of balm— the raised beds of aromatics ; his
lips are lilies, distilling pure myrrh ; his hands are
like ornaments of gold, set with topazes ; his body
is like a work of ivory covered with sapphires ; his
limbs are like pillars of marble, founded on pe-
destals of gold ; his appearance is like Lebanon,
tall as the cedars ; his speech is most sweet, he is
altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this my
partner, O daughters of Jerusalem."
Respecting this description of the beauties of the
person of the beloved, we may make the same ob-
servations, as on a former occasion, respecting the
figurative expressions that set forth the personal
charms of the bride— that they would form, in the
language of the times, a complete portraiture of what
would then be considered a perfect model of beauty
of person, and grace of manners— that the aptness,
and even the meaning of some of these allusions,
does not perhaps appear to us ; and that, if there
ever was a mystic signification intended to be con-
veyed by each particular comparison, they are to
us, of course, lost.
This, however, does not strike me as ever having
been the design of these individual similitudes ;
but, that the intention of the divine Author is
simply this, — The pasion of love between two ten-
SONG OF SOLOMON. 133
der and amiable persons being allegorized to re-
present that affection which subsists between Christ
and his faithful people ; among other things relat-
ing to these true lovers, we are called to remark
how lovely and excellent they appear in each other's
view. — In each other's view they are all perfection;
every excellency is believed to unite in their per-
sons ; whatever is fair or beautiful in nature, or C\
esteemed most choice among the works of art, seems
to their partial judgment no more than a fit and ap-
propriate emblem, whereby to illustrate the par-
ticular beauties of each other.
It is thus between the faithful soul and her hea-
venly Bridegroom, or the allegory would not be just
and true. But then it is something far different
from the charms of a human person, which is the
foundation of this holy affection, and which calls for
the language of admiration reciprocally between
Christ and his church.
The graces of the redeemed and sanctified soul,
which render her so amiable in the eyes of her
heavenly Bridegroom, we have attempted, in the
part of the work just referred to, to enumerate.
This was indeed the part of the subject with which
we were best acquainted. The character of Christ's
spouse is continually exemplified before our eyes :
" an epistle read and known of all men."
But how shall we describe the person of the
heavenly Bridegroom himself, or enumerate his
perfections? This to mortal man is impossible.
134 CANTICLES ; OR,
We have not yet seen him as he is. Even as ma-
nifested in spirit to his favoured people, he is seen,
but < through a glass darkly.' It is enough in-
deed to win all the affections of the soul : but who
can satisfy the inquirer? Could Peter, who had had
a much nearer view, when he descended from the
mount of transfiguration ?
So far, however, if we have tasted that the Lord
is gracious, shall we be able to answer to the ques-
tion, What is thy beloved more than another be-
loved? "He is fairer than the children of men,
grace is poured from his lips*." But, with respect
to a full delineation of the majesty and the beauty
of his person, the Christian's profession is, " Whom
^ having not seen we love ; in whom, though now we
see him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy un-
speakable, and full of glory °." Yet, whatever ideas
of greatness, or of beauty, we can gather from
created things, the grandeur and the beauty must
be His, whose hand has made them all.
Thine the universal frame,
Thus wondrous fair; thyself how wondrous then!
Or, open the volume of Revelation, and learn
the character of Emmanuel. How great is his
beauty, how great is his goodness ! Think of the
o-race that undertook to redeem lost mankind!
Think of the wisdom and the mighty power that
n Ps. xlv. o 1 Pet. i. 8.
SONG OF SOLOMON. 135
carried that plan into effect ! What an idea does it
give us of the excellent majesty of the Son of God,
— " whom He has appointed the heir of all things" —
" being the brightness of his glory, and the express
image of his person, upholding all things by the
word of his power V
And you will remember that the Word was once
made flesh, and dwelt among men. And though
now we are to know him after the flesh no more,
yet we shall study attentively the character of Jesus
Christ during that season when he came to visit us
in great humility.
It is true, the men of that generation were disap-
pointed in his personal appearance. " His visage
was so marred, more than any man, and his form
more than the sons of menq." But there was a
cause for this — a cause which will not make him
less lovely in the eyes of his faithful people, though
dishonoured in their presence, and in the sight of
all men. " Surely he has borne our griefs, and
carried our sorrows ; — he was wounded for our
transgressions ; he was bruised for our iniquities :
the chastisement of our peace was laid upon him ;
and with his stripes we are healed1." And if,
during this sad period, he had no form nor comeli-
ness, no beauty that we should desire him, that
scene is past. He is returned back to his glory —
the glory which he had with the Father before the
p Heb. i. 2, 3. i 1sa. lii. 14. r Isa. liii. 4, &c.
136 canticles; ob,
world began. " For a little time was he made
lower than the angels for the suffering of death— but
having purged our sins, he is set down at the right
hand of the Majesty on high8."
Both Ezekiel and John saw him in his glory : the
one before, the other after, his incarnation. As
well as human language can convey the idea, they
describe to us the impression which the divine
image made upon their minds.
Ezekiel's description is, " And above the firma-
ment that was over their heads (the heads of the
cherubims as above described) was the likeness of
a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone ;
and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness
as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I
saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of
fire, round about within it, from the appearance of
his loins even upward, and from the appearance of
his loins even downward, I saw as it were the ap-
pearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.
As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud
in the day of rain, so was the appearance in the
brightness round about. This was the appearance
of the likeness of the glory of the Lord." Ezek. i. 26.
The beloved disciple describes it, " And I saw
in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks one
like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment
down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a
s Heb. ii. 9,— i. 3.
SONG OP SOLOMON.
137
golden girdle. His head and his hair were white
like wool, as white as snow ; and his eyes were as
a flame of fire ; and his feet like unto fine brass, as
if they burned in a furnace ; and his voice as the
sound of many waters ; and his countenance was as
the sun shineth in his strength." Rev. i. 13.
" And the day is fast approaching when he shall
come in the clouds of heaven, and every eye shall
see him." — " He shall come to be glorified in his
saints, and to be admired in all them that believe1."
O that each of us in that day may be able to say,
" This is my beloved, and this is my partner !" Be
this then now, in prosperity, or in adversity ; in
honour, or in dishonour ; in good report, or in ill
report, the constant language of our lips and of our
hearts : " Whom have I in heaven but thee ?
and in earth there is none that I desire besides
thee."
* 2 Thess. i. 10.
138 CANTICLES ; OR,
IDYL THE NINTH.
From the second to the tenth Verse of the sixth Chapter.
A difficulty certainly occurs in fixing the boundaries
of this Idyl, and in giving an account of the exterior of
the allegory.
I have ventured to fix its commencement with the second
verse of the sixth chapter : for though, at first sight, that
verse appears to be an answer to the inquiries made in the
preceding verse, yet, if we consider the circumstances in
which the spouse is supposed to hold that conversation
with the daughters of Jerusalem, it does not seem probable
that she was able at that time to give so distinct an account
respecting the way which her beloved was gone, as that
contained in the following lines.
We may consider the fair bride, therefore, as describing,
in the present idyl, an opportunity which she had lately
had of enjoying the society of her beloved ; and as re-
hearsing the affectionate language in which he expressed
his satisfaction at her appearance.
My beloved went down to his garden,
Among the frames of balsams :
To eat in his gardens,
And to gather ' his' flowers.
SONG OF SOLOMON. 139
" I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine,
'* Let him eat among the flowers3.
' ' Thou art fair, my partner, as Tirza,
(*■ Beautiful as Jerusalem b,
" Dazzling as the bannered-hosts c.
" Turn thine eyes from me, for they have greatly affected
med:
e " Thy hair ' is ' like a flock of goats,
" Which go in the morning to water from Mount Gilead :
" Thy teeth ' are' like a flock of ewes,
" Which ascend from the wash-pool ;
" Which are all ' of them' in pairs,
" And no one among them is bereaved ' of her fellow.
' < Like the splitting bloom of the pomegranates
" Is thy face behind thy tresses.
" Threescore ' are' they ' the' queens,
* In this language she addressed and welcomed him ; and in the
following terms he declared his affection.
b These two cities are, no doubt, mentioned on account of the
beauty of their situation. Tirza signifies " delightful."
c Much may be seen of ingenious conjecture concerning the
meaning of nV?viJ> both in Parkhurst after Harmer, and in Good
after Percy : the former interprets it of the dazzling appearance of
the bride's robes ; the latter, " dazzling as an army with banners ;"
and in the tenth verse, where the same term occurs, " dazzling as
the starry hosts."
" n^K is, properly, amazing, exciting awe and consternation,
terrible, and here, by a synecdoche of the effect for the cause,
dazzling." —Dr. Percy, p. 80.
d WiTinj " Animosum me reddiderunt; al. fortiter me move-
runt."— Simon.
e The following lines are iterated from the seventh idy], with
the omission of one image only.
f The six following lines I have endeavoured to give as literally,
and as much in the air of the original, as possible, in order that
140 CANTICLES ; OR,
" And fourscore * are the' concubines ;
u And « there are' virgins without number.
s " One < is' she, my dove, my perfect one,
my readers may be able to form their own judgment upon their
meaning. For, from the different expositions which have been
offered on this passage, its meaning must necessarily appear
involved in some obscurity.
Taking the lines as they stand above, it is as evident, on their
simple inspection, that a contrast is designed to be drawn between
the fair object, whose beauties have just been celebrated, and a
multitude of women, forming, according to the customs of the
times, the matrimonial establishment of the monarch. In oppo-
sition to this retinue of queens, and concubines, and unnumbered
virgins, the speaker attests, that the object of his affections is but
one : she has no partner, nor rival. But whose words are these ?
Can they be words of Solomon in his proper person ? The sup-
position is rendered almost impossible by the history of his times.
In endeavouring, therefore, to account for the exterior imagery of
the allegory, the passage before us, I would remark, contains a
tacit intimation, 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 circumstances con-
nected with the Israelitish monarch, are supposed. And it is for
the same reason, as we have been before called to remark, 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 some
faithful pair in the humbler ranks of life.
gIn addition to what has been said in the former note, we may
notice, that the fair object of this attachment is pointed out, and
distinguished as being an only one to her mother, the choice one,
or one separated to her that bare her, no less than as being the
only one of her husband. Polygamy, and the voluptuousness of
the great, had debased, it should seem, as far as their influence
extended, the general character of women, and had extinguished
SONG OP SOLOMON. 141
" One * is' she to her mother,
" Separated ' is' she to her that bare her11.
every truly feminine grace, and amiable quality, which could
make them the worthy objects of a real affection. How could it
indeed be otherwise in women brought up and educated for a
Harem or Seraglio!
" so blithe, so smooth, so gay,
Yet empty of all good wherein consists
Woman's domestic honour and chief praise ;
Bred only and completed to the taste
Of lustful appetence, to sing, to dance,
To dress, and troll the tongue, and roll the eye!"
No wonder then, that, reaping the full evil of the violation of
the primitive law of matrimony, Solomon, with all his wisdom,
should " find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is
snares and nets, and her hands as bands ;" and should be com-
pelled to declare it, as the result of his experience, " One man
among a thousand have I found ; but a woman among those have
I not found." Eccles. vii. 28.
I conclude, therefore, that the text contains an admonition,
that the royal slave, whether concubine or queen, was as unmeet
as her haughty lord, to supply the prototype required: and that
for this reason the Spirit of wisdom would guide the imagination
to form to itself the picture of a tender, amiable female, the sole
charge of her good mother, separated to her, and pure from all
the world besides ; innocent and simple ; trained to domestic
virtues ; content and satisfied in retirement ; and evincing, by her
very assiduous attention to her honoured parent, that her heart
was susceptible of gratitude, and capable of a faithful and tried
attachment to a friend. " She is the only one of her mother, the
choice one of her that bare her." And for every age and country,
we need not scruple to assert, that we have here a general outline
of that formation of the female character, which will ever prove
most conducive to domestic happiness, and to the support of a
real and lasting affection.
hrVD, " purificata, pur.i, nitida-um, Cant. vi. 9, 10. Fs. xix.
9." — Simon. t\2, however, according to the same writer, has two
Pv
142 CANTICLES ; OR,
" The daughters beheld her,
" And pronounced her happy;
" The queens and concubines,
" And extolled her praises.
" Who is this looking forth as the dawn;
" Fair as the moon; clear as the sun ;
" Dazzling as the bannered hosts?"
INTERPRETATION OF THE NINTH IDYL.
A pleasing scene opens to our view in this para-
ble: it is laid in a beautiful garden, abounding
with fruits and flowers ; here the fair spouse enter-
tains her beloved, and receives from him a renewed
declaration of his affection.
The state of the believer, which this imagery is
intended to designate, it is not difficult to perceive :
the constant usage of the same emblem in Scripture
guides us to the interpretation. Thus we read, in
significations: 1. Purus fuit, moraliter et physice. 2. Separavit,
quoniam purificatio fit pura ab impurisseparando. (Ezek. xx. 38.)
And hence it is, by some, supposed to take the meaning of choos-
ing, the interpretation preferred in our public translation. Park-
hurst considers rra as the fem. of -q, a son, a child, an innocent ;
a term of affection.
The same Hebrew word is used in the last line but one of this
idyl, " Clear as the sun. On which Bishop Percy observes, ma
is, properly, clear, unsullied, of unobscured splendour, and there-
fore is well applied to the glowing surface of the great orb of day
The same author considers nibatJ as synonymous with rviK32f > an(l
translates the line, " Dazzling as all the starry hosts.."
SONG OF SOLOMON. 143
the prophet Isaiah, " For as the earth bringeth
forth her bud, and as the garden causes the things
which are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord
thy God will cause righteousness and praise to
spring forth before all nationsa." — " The seed is
fallen upon the good ground." — » The earth has
drank the rain which cometh oft upon it, and
bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is
dressed, and receiveth blessings from GodV The
Christian " is spiritual0;" and " has his fruit unto
holiness d," abounding in the work of faith, in the
patience of hope, or in the labour of love e.
And it is to diligent and obedient children that
the full assurance of hope, and the peculiar comforts
of the Holy Ghost, are promised. " If ye love me,
keep my commandments, and I will pray the Father,
and he shall give you another Comforter, that he
may abide with you for ever." — " I will not leave
you comfortless; I will come unto youf." — " My
beloved went down to his garden, among the frames
of balsams ; to eat in his garden, and to gather his
flowers." — " I am my beloved's, and my beloved is
mine. Let him eat among his flowers." — " Herein
is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit." —
" If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide
in my love." — " These things have I spoken to you,
that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy
might be fulls."
Msai.lxi. 2. »>Heb. vi. 7. c Gal. vi. 1.
d Rom.vi.22. « 1 Thess. i. 3. f John, xiv. 15, 16— 18.
gJohn, xv. 8, &c.
r^
144 canticles; or,
The same figurative language, which we have
already considered in the interpretation of the
seventh idyl, expresses again in this place the af-
fection of the heavenly Bridegroom towards his
faithful spouse. This is realized in the experience
of the believer, when the Spirit of God bears wit-
ness to his spirit, that he is his adopted child* —
when " the love of God is shed abroad in his heart
by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto himk."
We have indeed, in this idyl, some additional
comparisons. " Thou art fair, my partner, as Tirza,
beautiful as Jerusalem, dazzling as the bannered
hosts." These comparisons, however, are subject
to the same reflections which have been offered on
the description of the personal charms of the bride,
in the idyl above-mentioned ; to this description
I refer ; and proceed with the remainder of the
allegory.
" Threescore are they the queens, and fourscore
are the concubines ; and there are virgins without
number. One is she, my dove, my perfect one ;
one is she to her mother, separated to her that
bare her." I have mentioned, in the preceding
notes, what I suppose to be the meaning and inten-
tion of this contrast between the loves and character
of some faithful pair, and the unblessed loves of the
literal Solomon.
You are to suppose, in the first place, as a pro-
totype for the heavenly Bridegroom, not the eastern
h Rom. viii. \6. ' Rom. v. 5.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 145
despot, with his crowded harem, but the faithful
lover, who has fixed his whole affections on one
only object. For of this description is the love of
Christ to his Church : she has no rival, nor partner,
to divide his affections. Though, indeed, believers
are many, yet they are " called in one body ;" and
as members of that one body, they partake of this
love of Christ. And, though there are doubtless
other beings who are the objects of the love of the
Son of God, as well as the redeemed from among
men, yet we have no grounds to suppose that they
are regarded with that peculiar affection, to cele-
brate which is the design of this book. The church
solely exists in the character of " the Bride, the
Lamb's wife." The angelic beings, like John the
Baptist in his ministerial capacity, may be consi-
dered as the friends of the Bridegroom ; they rejoice
when they hear his voice : but she that hath the
bridgroom is the bride. And to which of the angels
said he at any time, " Thy Maker is thy Hus-
bandi?"— '< This is bone of my bone, and flesh of
my flesh-?" This relationship, we have every
reason to conclude, belongs alone, and exclusively,
to " the church of God, which he has purchased
with his own blood n"— " to that peculiar people
whom he hath purified to himself0," and " whom
only he hath known of all the families of the
earth p."
k Isai. liv. 5. lGen. ii. 23. comp. Eph. v. 30.
m Acts, xx. 28. n Tit. ii. 14. ° Amos, iii. 2.
146 CANTICLES ; OR,
Again, you observe, that as Solomon himself, in
his matrimonial relations, could not supply a correct
type of Christ espousing his Church; so neither
could any of his threescore queens, and fourscore
concubines, and virgins without number, afford a
type of that true and conjugal affection, which the
Church bears to her spiritual husband. You are
therefore to suppose, for the required emblem, a
woman whose character has been differently formed,
and who is united to her husband by a different
bond. And it must be acknowledged, that no affec-
tion subsisting among the human race can be pointed
out, more strong, more constant, and more enduring,
than the affection of a virtuous and tenderly-edu-
cated woman toward her husband, or the man to
whom she has pledged her vows. Oh ! let us se-
riously reflect what love have we in our hearts to
Christ that will, in any sort, bear the comparison 3
" The daughters saw her, and pronounced her
happy : the queens and concubines, and they ex-
tolled her praises. Who is this that looketh forth
as the dawn ? fair as the moon ; clear as the sun ;
dazzling as the bannered hosts?" — " All intelligent
beings shall acknowledge the superior excellency of
the church, when He who bought her with his own
blood shall present her faultless before the presence
of his glory with exceeding joy p." — " And the glory
which thou gavest me, I have given them; that
p Jude, 24.
SONG OF SOLOMON. 147
they may be one, even as we are one. I in them
and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in
one ; and that the world may know that thou hast
sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved
meq." Such, I conceive, is what is here intimated
by the praises bestowed upon the imaginary fair by
the daughters, the queens, and the concubines.
And if the person and earthly grandeur of Solo-
mon, mean and base as they must necessarily
have been in comparison, are nevertheless chosen
as typical allusions to the coming of Christ in his
kingdom, it need not surprise us, that the multitude
of females which, according to the circumstances of
regal state in those days, formed the establishment
of this monarch's palace, should be made emblema-
tical of those superior beings which surround the
Redeemer's glory in heaven, and shall be seen as-
cending and descending upon the Son of man when
he shall sit upon the throne of his kingdom. — It is
the royal magnificence of Solomon, not his moral
worth, which we are to*place before us when we
consider him as a type of the King of Glory.
It is observed by St. Paul, respecting these an-
gelic beings, whom we suppose to be represented
in this part of the parable, when the plan of their
Creator, concerning his blood-bought church, was
beginning to be more clearly unfolded by the preach-
ing of the Gospel — " to the intent that now, unto
1 John, xvii.
L2
148 canticles; or,
the principalities and powers in heavenly places,
might be known" or " made known by the church
the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eter-
nal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our
Lord'."
No wonder then, that, at the consummation of
the redeemed, when they shall all have been made
like unto the Son of God, they should be presented
in heaven in the midst of admiring angels. Nay,
the same Apostle assures us, that the earnest ex-
pectation of the whole creation waiteth for the mani-
festation of the sons of God — when the heirs of God,
the joint heirs with Christ, shall be glorified to-
gether with him \
The visions of the Revelation often disclose
something of this glorious scene : St. John in one
place describes it in language very similar to
that employed in the allegory before us : " And
there appeared a great wonder in heaven : a woman
clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet ;
and upon her head a crawn of twelve stars." —
" And a voice came out of the throne, saying,
Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that
fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it
were the voice of a great multitude, and as the
voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty
thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God
Omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice,
r Eph. iii. 10, 11. s Rom. viii. 18—22.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 149
and give honour to him : for the marriage of the
Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself
ready. And to her was granted, that she should be
arrayed in fine linen, clean and white : for the fine
linen is the righteousness of saints \"
4 Rev. xix. 5, 6, 7, 8.
150 canticles; or,
IDYL THE TENTH.
From the eleventh Verse of the sixth Chapter to the ninth
of the seventh.
The bride retiring into her garden, and tending there her
pleasant cares, finds herself on a sudden unexpectedly
surrounded by a company of singers, or a chorus of
women, " with tabrets and dances," who immediately
make her the object of their panegyric : — they celebrate
her beauties, and anticipate in their song the felicity of
her nuptials. Such appears to be the outline of this
idyl ; though difficulties not easily to be explained occur
in the interpretation.
I went down to the retired garden %
To see the fruits of the valley b,
To see whether the vines were grown,
Whether the pomegranates had blossomed.
* mtrnu, on the authority of the Septuagint and Vulgate, has
been rendered Garden of nuts. Castell, Tremellius, and Parkhurst
interpret it by Pruned garden. Schultens, from the Arabic
" hortus reclinationis ," &c.
bVmn OK, " Virores rivi, h. frutices et arbores ad rivura
plantataa et virentes." — Simon.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 151
-I was not aware !
My heart made me like the chariots of Aminadibc ! !
THE CHORUS.
" Return, return, Salome,
" Return, return, that we may behold theed."
BRIDE.
Why would ye behold Salome,
As ' the object of a procession of bands6?
c These two lines must be acknowledged to be very obscure;
only so far I think seems apparent, that her retirement is suddenly
interrupted by a number of persons, whose appearance at first
alarms her. " My heart made me like the chariots of Aminadib,"
whatever be the allusion, probably describes the flutterings of her
heart through fear, taken as she was by surprise, 'and driven to
flight.
d This is the address, it should seem, of the people who had
broken in upon her retirement : who these were, we shall see in a
following note. She had, we may suppose, turned away to con-
ceal herself. Bishop Lowth observes, that " rebuff is the same
name as r\Kb\V, with the feminine termination (which may be
expressed in Greek HoM^v SoAo^tk), though the latter Jews have
strangely disguised and obscured it by a vicious pronunciation ;
for Solomon and Solomitis have evidently the same relation to
each other, as the Latin names Caius and Caia." — Lect. xxxi.
Both in Josephus and in the New Testament we have preserved
the pronunciation of a woman's name among the Hebrews, evi-
dently derived from the same root as Solomon — Salome : this
therefore I have ventured to adopt. — " nTH sequente 3 objecti,
cum studio et voluptate videre — delectare re." — Simons.
e The meaning of this passage has perhaps been generally over-
looked. D^nJOn rv?nM, I have translated " as the object of a pro-
cession of bands." rurTO, from nJn> to pitch, as travellers their
tents, signifies a camp, or any band or company of persons, mar-
shalled in some degree of order. It is used for the bands into
which Jacob divided his people and flocks ; and also for the hosts
of angels which he saw. (Gen. xxxii.) It appears also to have
152
canticles; or,
THE EPITHALAMIUM.
Sung by the Chorus, or Procession of Bands.
" How beautiful are thy feet in thy sandals, O noble
lady,
been used for the bands of Levites, attending on the service of
the Temple, in their respective charges: vid. 1 Chron. ix. 18
and ]0.
nVin», the same as ^mn, signifies a chorus, or dance ; or a pro-
cession of persons marching or parading with music in a kind of
dance, or measured step.
Now it appears, from many parts of Scripture, that these pro.
cessions of bands were constantly employed on occasions of public
rejoicings. They were, indeed, as has been generally supposed,
even used in the divine worship of the Jews; hence we read,
" Praise him in the dances." In a dance or procession of this
kind, Miriam, the prophetess, led forth the women of Israel, while
they sung the song of Moses, " Sing ye to the Lord, for he has
triumphed gloriously." (Exod. xv. 20.) And these processions
seem to have been, moreover, the customary mode of saluting the
victorious Commander on his return, and of celebrating° his
achievements in battle. In this manner the unhappy Jepththah
Avas met by his daughter, when he returned victor from the
Ammonites. We read also that, when David returned from the
slaughter of the Philistine, " the women came out of 'all the cities
of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tablets,
with joy, and with instruments of music." And the women
answered one another as they played, and said, " Saul has slain
his thousands, and David his ten thousands." That these proces-
sions of bands — of women, who, in the manner above described,
had formed themselves into bands for the purpose, should consti-
tute a part of the matrimonial ceremonies, is a very probable con-
^ jecture. And such a party, to all appearance, come prepared, on
the occasion before us, to perform an epithalamium, taking that
word in its more extensive sense, to the honour and praise of the
bride, and to congratulate her on her nuptials. — Their sudden
appearance, as we have seen, at first alarms her. They beseech
her to stop, that they may behold and celebrate her beauties— she
SONG OF SOLOMON. 153
f " The mouldings of thy limbs * are ' like ornaments,
" The workmanship of a true hand !
6 " Thy waist < is' like a goblet
" Filled with mixed wine ;
h " Thy body ' is' like a heap of wheat,
" Bounded with lilies ;
" Thy two breasts ' are' like two fawns,
" Twins of the gazel :
" Thy neck ' is' like a tower of ivory ;
" Thine eyes ' are' like the pools of Heshbon,
" Beside the gate of Beth-Rabbim:
" Thy nose ' is' like the tower of Lebanon,
" Which looketh towards Damascus.
" Thy head upon thee * is' like Carmel ;
<* The hair of thy head ' is' like the royal purple
" Bound on the rafters'."
modestly replies, perceiving at length the design of the intruders,
" Why should you behold Salome, as ' in' a procession of bands,
i. e. so as to make her the object of your song f"
f See Good. Ambitus femorum, Simon. Draivers, Parkhurst.
8 That waist is the real import of tw, in this place Mr. Good
has ably and sufficiently proved.
nDrp"^K iron fax, some elegantly-shaped vessel, we may sup-
pose, appropriated to the serving of mixed wine. Parkhurst,
however, interprets n\ff of the clasp of the girdle, made to look
like a goblet filled with mixed wines, by the disposition of its
jewels.
h The meaning is uncertain : the most probable conjecture is
that noticed by Parkhurst, which explains it of some close-fitting
garment, with its ornamental edging.
1 The rendering of the Vulgate is, '* Comae capitis tui, sicut
purpura regis vineta canalibus." Alluding, as Mons. Goguet
supposes, to the practice of the dyers of purple, of plunging their
skeins, when dyed, into running water. — See Parkhurst. Different
interpretations are given of this similitude by other authors ; a
statement of them may be seen in Mr. Good's note on the place.
/-1
\
154 CANTICLfes ; OR,
" How beautiful and how comely
« « Art thou,' O love, in thy elegant attire k !
" Thy person resembles the palm ' tree/
" Thy breasts the clusters ' of its fruit.'
" I said, I will climb the palm • tree,'
" I will lay hold on its branching top1 :
" And now will thy breasts be like the bunches of the
grape,
" And the smell of thy breath ' will be' like the citrons;
" And thy speech ' will be' like the excellent winem."
That given from the Syriac and Arabic versions seems best de-
serving of notice. " Thine erect head is like Carmel : and the
braided tresses of thy head as the royal purple suspended over
theatres of entertainment." This probably explains the true
meaning. D'tsm we have had before in this book, in the sense of
rafters forming a roof. 13 IDK signifies tied, or fastened to. Hence
it seems most natural to conceive the allusion to be to some rich
canopy of state suspended from the roof of the palace, and which
formed, in the estimation of the people of those days, a perfect
model of beauty. " Cirri capitis tui velut purpura regia nodo
pendens ex laquearibus." — P. Houbigant.
k tWUPfl delicise. From the comparison of Micah, i. l6, the
dress and its ornaments are probably intended, 'w'rj? W
1 D\JDJD, cacumina palmse in plures ramos divisa, vel potius
spathse, spathulse, &c. — Simon.
m The whole of this I conceive to be the song of the Chorus of
Virgins : having celebrated the personal charms of the bride, they
personate the bridegroom. " How beautiful, how comely, O love,
in thy elegant attire, &c." And next, under the allusion of one
gathering the fruit of palm, of the vine, or of the citron-tree, they
anticipate his delight in receiving his bride. And in the last two
lines, they perhaps in like manner indicate how desirous the bride
will be, that her conversation may be agreeable to her husband-
Having supposed him to compare her speech to the excellent
wine, they personate her in saying, " Let it flow or move to my
beloved as it ought, sparkling against the lips and the teeth.
SONG OF SOLOMON. 155
" Let it move to my beloved as it ought,
" Sparkling against the lips and the teeth"."
INTERPRETATION OF THE TENTH IDYL.
The scene of the present idyl, the retirement of a
cultivated garden, where the spouse is described as
going to watch the progress of vegetation in the
prolific season of the spring, is a sufficient indica-
tion of what is intended to be delineated in the
parable. In retirement, and in private meditation,
the Christian character is formed and perfected.
Not, however, in the retirement of the idle, of the
self-indulgent, or of the trifler ; but in a retirement
n If we adopt the reading of the Septuagint, the Syriac, and
Vulgate, the translation here offered of this difficult passage puts
as little force upon the original as most others which have been
suggested: -jVin, in Numbers! xvii. 11, has been considered by
some as in the imperative mood. The word is used for the flowing
of water, Josh. iv. 18. And the expression in Prov. xxiii. 32,
DnttPM "f?nn» so nearly resembles that of the text, OHP'E'1? ^in,
that, as both phrases are used respecting wine, the probability is
great that their signification is nearly the same. " May it move
itself right— may it prove ripe and good, effervescing against the
lips and the teeth." nan signifies strictly muttering repeatedly ; to p
understand it therefore of wine in a state of effervescence, is full
as natural as in the sense of making to speak. The meaning
however, " adrepens leniter" will be perhaps preferred by some ;
we may then translate with Bishop Percy, " And thy speech as
the choicest wine, sweetly entering my palate; flowing down
smoothly, through my lips and teeth."
156 canticles; or,
consecrated to religion, to the cultivation of holy af-
fections, and to the devising of plans of usefulness.
" I went down to the retired garden, to see the
fruits of the valley ; to see whether the vines were
grown, whether the pomegranates had blossomed."
The Christian has renounced the world, with its
pomps and vanities, and all covetous desires of the
same a. When, therefore, he is released from the
stated discharge of his duties in life, the world has
no attractions for him : a secret attachment calls him
from the busy haunts of men. He seeks not their
praise or to be seen of them ; but a far more im-
portant concern, the interest of Christ's kingdom,
occupies his attention. His prayer is, that all
things belonging to the Spirit may live and grow
within him, and in his prayers he watches with all
perseverance : nor is he an unconcerned spectator
whether the interests of the Gospel flourish or decay
round about him.
Such are the interesting cares and employments
of him whom the world misses in the thronged
paths of ambition, and of pleasure, and deems un-
happy, or lost to his proper interests. — The " Man
of God" has fied these things indeed, but he is
following after righteousness, godliness, faith, love,
patience, meekness. " He is fighting the good fight
of faith, laying hold on eternal life b."
In this career, it is true, he receives no plaudits
a Baptismal Service. b 1 Tim. vi. 11, 12.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 157
from the world. They conceive his life to be with-
out profit, and his end without honour. But he has
frequent indications, that he is compassed about
with " a great cloud of witnesses," who, cheering
him in his contest, seem to hail him victor. He
pursues the noiseless tenour of his way unknown,
unnoticed, or only noticed to be pitied; and at
length a vision of approving angels shall burst upon
his view, and with songs of divine rapture shall
welcome his soul to the mansions of endless joy.
These processions of bands, with music and
singing, which unexpectedly break into the retire-
ment of the spouse, we may indeed consider as
partly emblematical of those praises and congra-
tulations, which the humble, unassuming Christian
hears to his surprise from his fellow-christians,
when the songs of the daughters of Zion especially
record with honour his flourishing graces, and the
labours of his love. In humility and self-abasement,
he would turn away from the sight of all, but the
Lord delighteth to honour him, and his works praise
him in the gate.
Chiefly, however, we would decipher the emblem
of that band of ministering angels, which shall be
sent to convey the soul of the Christian, like that of
the once obscure Lazarus, to Abraham's bosom :
when, pouring consolations into the mind of the
dying saint, they shall deliver their message, " Well
done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into
the joy of thy Lord."
<
158 CANTICLES ; OR,
Their approach may startle, nature may recoil at
the prospect of her dissolution, and tremble to see
the awful stroke prepared that will reduce her to
her dust. "But precious in the sight of the Lord is
the death of his saints V The departing soul shall
hear the salutations of the messengers of peace ;
and, O transporting thought! shall hear herself
congratulated as the spouse of Christ ; and, while
flesh and heart faileth, shall hear " the Lord pro-
claimed as the strength of her heart, and her por-
tion for everd." — " Therefore, the redeemed of the
Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion ;
and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they
shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and
mourning shall flee away6."
" How beautiful are thy feet in thy sandals, O
noble lady," &c. &c. In this song of the chorus,
we have again described, in the taste of the times,
the person of a beautiful female, a royal bride, as it
should seem, dressed out in all her rich and elegant
attire. The comparisons made use of, so far as we
can understand them, seem to bespeak a much
more magnificent display than those comparisons
which celebrated the personal charms of the fair
spouse in the seventh and ninth idyls.
The most admired objects of art and nature are
referred to, as comparisons to illustrate her beauties.
'* The glory of Lebanon, the excellency of Carmel,"
cPs. cxvi. 15. d Ps. Ixxiii. 2(5. eIsai. liii.
SONG OF SOLOMON. 159
and the perfections of other established standards of
beauty and grandeur, are all supposed to unite in
her person, and in the appearance of her bridal
ornaments. It is " the Queen in gold of Ophir" —
" all glorious within" — " her clothing of wrought
gold ;" — " as she is brought unto the King in rai-
ment of needle -work f." When applied to the
church, and to each faithful Christian, all this de-
notes, no doubt, the perfection of that " beauty of
holiness" in which they shall one day be presented
to their heavenly Bridegroom.
Of the essentials of the Christian character, and
of those graces which form its present excellency in
the sight of God and man, we are not uninformed.
Charity we know abideth ; faith also, and hope, will
only be extinguished by being realized in posses-
sion. But our present knowledge must vanish
away, and that which is perfect must come, before
we can describe the beauties of the glorified saint,
as he appears, " clothed upon with his house, which
is from heaveng"— as he appears in " the glory that
shall be revealed in himh." — " It does not yet
appear what we shall be, but we know that when
Christ shall appear we shall be like him K"
We have an exhibition of this glorious state of
the redeemed under another set of images in the
Revelation of St. John, which it may be interesting
to compare with that before us. "I John saw the
f Ps. xlv. 9—13, 14. 2 Cor. v. 2. hRom. viii. 18.
1 1 John, iii. 2.
160 canticles; or,
holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God
out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband." — " And one of the seven angels talked
with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the
bride, the Lamb's wife; and he carried me away in
the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed
me that great city — having the glory of God, and
her light was like unto a stone most precious, even
like a jasper stone, clear as crystal : — and the build-
ing of the wall of it was of jasper, and the city was
pure gold, like unto clear glass ; and the foundations
of the wall of the city were garnished with all
manner of precious stones. The first foundation
was jasper ; the second, sapphire ; the third, a chal-
cedony ; the fourth, an emerald ; the fifth, sardonyx ;
the sixth, sardius ; the seventh, a chrysolite ; the
eighth, a beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a
chrysoprasus ; the eleventh, a jacinth ; the twelfth,
an amethyst ; and the twelve gates were twelve
pearls ; every several gate was of one pearl : and
the street of the city was pure gold, as it were
transparent glass k."
Only conceive to yourself such a city as this
which John saw in the visions of the Almighty —
how does it beggar all the riches and magnificence
of man ! Why, the value of the least part of its ma-
terials, a piece that you could hold in your hand,
could scarce be calculated according to its current
k Rev. xxi.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 161
price among mankind ! But here is an immense
city built of all such precious stones ! ! !
We perceive the intent of our heavenly Instructor.
It is to show — to give some idea at least, — how far
the riches and the glory of that inheritance which
God has prepared for them that love him, exceed
all that this world can afford.
What was the appearance of the royal city of
Solomon to this New Jerusalem ? So far must his
royal bride fall short of the saint entering into his
glory ; of which she is here an emblem, as Solomon
himself of the King of Glory.
The part of the song, or epithalamium, of the
chorus, beginning, " How beautiful and how comely,
O love, in thy elegant attire ! " — where they speak
in the person of the bridegroom, and under the
figure of one gathering the fruit of the admired
palm, of the vine, or of the citron, and praising its
delicious flavour as he gathers it, they congratulate
the bride, and anticipate her husband's pleasure in
her society and conversation, may stand in the
parable as the soul's welcome to the embraces of
her Saviour, when she shall depart hence, and be
with the Lord. This blessed anticipation frequently
forms the subject of her songs in the house of her
pilgrimage. The angels shall meet her with the
same congratulation in a dying hour — when her
fruit shall be ripe, and shall be gathered into the
heavenly garner.
M
r\
162 CANTICLES ; OR,
IDYL THE ELEVENTH.
From the tenth Verse of the seventh Chapter to the fourth
of the eighth.
Assured of the affections of her husband, the Bride in
this Idyl would contrive to have more of his society. She
would lead him from the busy scene of the populous city,
where the happiness she enjoyed in his company suffered
so frequent interruption. She invites him to go with her
to a country residence, which the faithful pair are sup-
posed to possess at some distance. She urges the pleasant-
ness of the season : — the beauties of the spot would be in
perfection : — the choicest fruits that could gratify his
taste had been carefully provided : — Oh, that circum-
stances did not so often deprive her of the opportunity of
entertaining him !
I am my beloved's, and his desire is towards mea.
Come, my beloved, we will go to the country ;
We will abide all night in the villages;
We will go early in the morning into the vineyards b ;
a Some plead for a different reading in this place ijipwrv It
would then be, " And my desire is towards him." — Dr. Hodgson
and Mr. Good.
b The journey proposed, I conceive, is to some remote vine-
yard, or rather cultivated estate : for the word we render vineyard
SONG OP SOLOMON. 163
We will see if the vine flourishes,
— The blossom will be opened ;
The pomegranate will have budded :
There will I present thee with mandrakes c ;
The mandrakes will be emitting their fragrance :
And over our doors all sorts of fruits, new and old a,
For thee, my beloved, I have laid up in store.
is of more general signification, as was observed in a note of the
first idyl. It would be necessary for them, it seems, to pass the
night at some villages on the road ; early on the following morning,
they would reach the desired spot. Such are the most simple
deductions we can make respecting the meaning of these lines.
c She would present him with mandrakes : they would by this
time be in perfection, ann and QWin, I conjecture to be
names of the same thing, or rather the same name, as appears
from Jeremiah, xxiv. 1. In which passage we find the word,
there translated baskets, written both n^n and own. Whether
these mandrakes were flowers, or plants, or fruit, has been long a
subject of dispute, " Nullam aliam," says Simon, " vocem textus
S. Hebr. tot explicationibus divexatam videas." The Septuagint
speaks of them as fruit, ^Xa ^etva^ocyo^av. Gen. xxx. 14. And it
is highly probable, that a particular kind of melon, which has been
noticed in the eastern parts of the world, is intended by the term.
It is called chamama, or breast of a woman, because it is in that
shape : which is the very meaning of the Hebrew root. It is
described as very wholesome, and of a very 'pleasant scent: so
much so, indeed, as even to be carried in the hand by way of
nosegay. — See Fragments to Cahnet.
4 " And over our doors." Such is the literal rendering of the
Hebrew, and it is easy to conceive an allusion to some repository,
or closet, for preserving fruit, the situation of which was usually
as here described. The vineyard, it appears, to which the affec
tionate spouse is desiring her husband to retire with her, was her
peculiar charge. And in the portraiture of a virtuous woman,
which Solomon has given us in the last chapter of the Book of
Proverbs, it is noticed as part of her industrious cares: " She
considereth a field and buyeth it : with the fruit of her hands she
planteth a vineyard."
M 2
164 canticles; or,
0 that thou wert as my brother e,
Sucking the breasts of my mother !
1 would find thee in the street,
I would kiss thee, and no one would despise me :
I would lead thee about,
I would bring thee to the house of my mother :
Thou shouldst accustom me to give thee spiced wines,
With the juice of pomegranates.
His left ' arm1 was under my head,
His right did enfold me.
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
— Why should you stir —
Why should you raise up my beloved, till he please ?
' e " O that thou wert as my brother I" The spouse expresses in
this endearing Language her ardent desire to have more of her
husband's company. She feels herself, in public life, kept at too
great a distance from him ; his important avocations call him
where she cannot be with him ; or, she sees him among visitors
and strangers, where a sense of propriety imposes upon her a
painful restraint. — Her means too of performing services really
■needful, or of supplying gratifications to her lord, are most inade-
quate to her wishes. Consulting only her own affection, she could
wish to be his constant attendant: she could wish the circum-
stances were such, that it might become the perpetual object of
her care to administer to his wants and comforts. " O that he
were," is the fond language of her passion, " a little infant brother
— a child, that she could be always following and leading about,
and might have continually with her. How pleased should she
be to amuse him, and to gratify his wonted requests, with spiced
wines, and sweet juices of fruits !"
The conclusion, with some small variation, is similar to that of
the third Idyl.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 165
INTERPRETATION OF THE ELEVENTH
IDYL.
The wish for retirement, so often felt by the truly
religious, especially after being long harassed with
the cares and importunities of a public situation,
so destructive of holy meditation, is beautifully
shadowed in this parable. The bride is persuading
her beloved husband to retire from the tumultuous
city, that she may enjoy, without interruption, the
society she so much coveted in the remote scene
of rural felicity which she describes.
" Come, my beloved, we will go to the country,
we will abide all night in the villages ; we will go
early in the morning into the vineyards," &c. Were
it the will of God, and could it be rendered com-
patible with his duties and engagements in life,
the spiritual Christian could form no scheme of
happiness more adapted to his taste, than in some
calm and peaceful retreat, far from the noisy con-
tests of the world, undisturbed by its cares and
trifles, and known only to mankind as the occasional
messenger of peace or love, to spend the remainder
of his days in prayer, in meditation, in the cultiva-
tion of religious knowledge, and in those exercises
of devotion, which promote the communion of the
soul with god«.
* " Nihil magis in votis habeo, quam ut procul omni disputa-
tione, in placido otio, secretaque solitudine, piis precibus, devotis
nicditationibus, humili sacratissimarum litciarum nostraium scru-
166 canticles; or,
Such is often the pious wish of the Christian : and
it is possible, indeed, particular trials and tempta-
tions, with the vexatious contradictions of sinners,
may extort from him the perhaps somewhat too
impatient exclamation of the Psalmist, " Oh, that I
had wings like a dove ! for then would I fly away,
and be at rest. Lo, then would I wander afar off,
and remain in the wilderness. I would hasten my
escape from the windy storm and tempestV But
the Lord knoweth how to deliver them that are
tempted. His time is best. Nor will he finally
leave unsatisfied those who seek peace and righte-
ousness, who " seek meekness."
A scheme of retirement from the world is not
unusually indeed, at a certain time of life, projected
by the irreligious. They too propose to leave the
scenes of business or ambition, that they may
soothe their declining years with that peace which
the world has failed to afford them. But ah, how
unsuccessful the attempt ! How difficult to embel-
lish solitude so as to please the gay, or to find, in
retirement, a substitute for the worldly mind which
is tired of the world, or too late discovers the delu-
sion of its flattering promises !
It is commonly found, in fact, that the tone of
mind which could accommodate itself to harmless
tinio, et arcanis cum Deo colloquiis, obscurus cajteroquin, et vix
vicinis notus, nisi quantum pietas jubet, ad ultimum usque spiritum
vacare liceat." — Witsius Mi c. vol. i. p. 6*37.
b Ps. lv. 6, 7, 8.
SONG OF SOLOMON. 167
and innocent pleasures, and find content in ob-
scurity, has been irrecoverably lost. — The employ-
ments of youth, so pleasing in the recollection, may
be resumed ; but who can restore its innocence and
simplicity ?
The Christian, however, retires from the world
in circumstances more favourable to happiness : not
in disgust nor disappointment, but " knowing in
himself that he has in heaven a better and an en-
during substance." He wishes for leisure to con-
template the fair inheritance. He seeks to purify
himself, that he may see God. Like the ancient
Patriarchs, he has seen the promises afar off, and
has been persuaded of them, and embraced them,
and has confessed that he is a stranger and a pil-
grim on earth. The prospect of his being taken to
that heavenly country becomes every day more
near : he would prepare to remove ; he would re-
tire, as it were, to the utmost borders of the world,
that he may be nearer God, and ready to go to him
when he shall call —
' ' Walk thoughtful on the silent solemn shore
Of that vast ocean, he must sail so soon."
" We will see if the vine flourish ; the blossom
will be opened ; the pomegranates will have bud-
ded," &c. Doubtless the place and circumstance
of that religious retirement, of which we are inter-
preting the parable, are not essential ; since in the
artificer's garret, or even in the prisoner's dungeon,
peace of mind may be possessed, and the joys of the
168 CANTICLES ; OR,
Holy Ghost vouchsafed ; and there the Saviour
may be entertained " with fruits new and old6," all
the stores of the humble and sanctified heart, in
which he delights. Nor can the most beautiful
retreat, which nature affords, in itself give joy or
peace.
But yet, in the view of the retired Christian, the
beauties of nature have a real and a peculiar value.
If it were permitted to choose, one would not be
confined, where " the works of men shut out the
works of God."
The beauties of nature fail to satisfy indeed, as
might be expected, when the mind itself is unhappy ;
when it is conscious of guilt, or ruffled with malignant
passions ; when it is distracted with cares, or secretly
pining for earthly vanities, or earthly grandeur. But
when a sense of God's mercy through Christ has
been obtained by faith, and peace, and charity, in-
stilled from heaven, have allayed the restless fer-
ment of the human breast ; when the believer can
cast all his cares upon that gracious God whose
providence careth for him, and by the cross of his
Saviour is become crucified to the world, and the
world to him, in these circumstances the mind can
again be pleased and satisfied with the scenes and
simple pleasures of nature. Every object, and each
revolving season, are found to interest and delight,
and appear invested with peculiar beauties. They
c Heb. xi. 13.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 169
are all contemplated as the possessions of a Friend ;
as the works and operations of his own hands,
whom unseen we love, and who himself does not
disdain, in the holy fellowship of his Spirit, to
manifest his presence in the rural retreat.
Yes ! with this knowledge of Christ, " I am my
beloved's, and his desire is towards me" to con-
template the beauties of nature is happiness enough.
In the language of Milton's Eve, we can then address
our great Author and Disposer, and find indeed a
Paradise regained ! —
' ' With thee conversing I forget all time ;
All seasons and their change, all please alike.
Sweet is the breath of morn, her rising sweet,
With charm of earliest birds ; pleasant the sun,
When first on this delightful land he spreads
His orient beams, on herb, tree, fruit, and flower,
Glist'ring with dew ; fragrant the fertile earth,
After soft show'rs ; and sweet the coming on
Of grateful evening mild ; then silent night
With this her solemn bird, and this fair moon,
And these the gems of heav'n, her starry train :
But neither breath of morn, when she ascends
With charm of earliest birds ; nor rising sun
On this delightful land ; nor herb, fruit, flower,
Glist'ring with dew ; nor fragrance after showers ;
Nor grateful evening mild ; nor silent night,
With this her solemn bird ; nor walk by noon,
Or glitt'ring star-light, without Thee is sweet."
Nay more, nature may fail, her beauties be ob-
scured, and her wonted blessings withheld ; yet still
170 CANTICLES ; OR,
shall the Christian find a refuge and a solace in
nature's God ! " Although the fig-tree shall not
blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines ; the
labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall
yield no meat ; the flock shall be cut off from the
fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls : yet I
will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my
salvation V
" O that thou wert as my brother, sucking the
breasts of my mother ! I would find thee in the
street ; I would kiss thee, and no one would despise
me : I would lead thee about, I would bring thee to
the house of my mother. Thou shouldst accustom
me to give thee spiced wine, and the juices
of pomegranates." We know the affection in
the bosom of a faithful wife, which would dic-
tate such language to her beloved and honoured
husband, more of whose society she coveted, la-
menting at the same time the disproportion of the
means she possessed to perform any service really
needed by him. For this is the idea, and we may
address the Christian, " Look unto the heavens,
and see ; and behold the clouds which are higher
than thou. — If thou be righteous, what givest
thou him ? or what receiveth he at thine hand e ?"
But we have before learned the condescension of
the heavenly Bridegroom ! The only question we
are to put to ourselves is this — Is there indeed
d Hab. iii. 17, IS. • Job, xxxv. 5—7.
SONG OF SOLOMON. 171
such an affection towards his divine person as is
here implied ? Is there an ardent wish that we had
him more to ourselves, and could serve him more
and better ? Do we indeed feel the bustle and the
pomp of life to be interruptions of our happiness,
when they withdraw our thoughts from his loved
image ? Do we feel the presence of those who check
our expressions of love to Christ to be, on some
occasions at least, a painful restraint? In this
case we shall love the retirement proposed in the
song, and shall be able to appreciate fully the true
enjoyments of solitude.
But, if we propose to ourselves this " nice and
subtile happiness" in communion with Christ in
spirit, what good things have we laid up in store
to show our affection to the beloved of our souls,
and induce him to prolong his visits : what fruit
unto holiness ?
The admonitions of the Apostle Peter will be
found most appropriate to the occasion : " Grace
and peace be multiplied unto you, through the
knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord, according as
his divine power has given unto us all things that
pertain unto life and godliness, through the know-
ledge of Him who has called us to glory and virtue :
whereby are given unto us exceeding great and
precious promises : that by these ye might be
made partakers of the divine nature, having es-
caped the corruption that is in the world through
lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to
172 CANTICLES ; OR,
your faith virtue ; and to virtue knowledge ; and to
knowledge temperance ; and to temperance pa-
tience ; and to patience godliness ; and to godliness
brotherly kindness ; and to brotherly kindness
charity. For if these things be in you and abound,
they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor
unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ. — For so an entrance shall be administered
unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ f."
* 2 Pet. i. 2, &c.
SONG OF SOLOMON.
173
IDYL THE TWELFTH.
From the fifth Verse of the eighth Chapter to the End.
In this last Idyl a happy pair is contemplated, and their
conversation, as if overheard, is recorded. — First, the bride
is reminded of her origin. — She then, on her part, ex-
presses her anxiety ever to retain the affections of her
husband — she is answered with the strongest assurances of
his constant attachment. A conversation follows respecting
a younger sister ; and lastly, respecting a garden or estate,
which it appears has been assigned to the bride as her
residence.
Such is the plan of this last allegory, if, indeed, we can
with propriety call it a plan ; for it has much the appear-
ance of a conclusion to the whole preceding series, wherein
an opportunity is taken of making several observations
having reference to the general subject : at least the ex-
terior imagery forms so pellucid and transparent a cover-
ing, that it is difficult to account for it, except in imme-
diate reference to the interior and remote sense.
VIRGINS.
Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness,
Leaning upon her beloved a ?
• " Leaning herself upon her beloved ;" or, according to some,
" in company with her beloved." — Thus we are introduced, as it
were, to the parties, who hold the chief part of the following
dialogue.
^-
174 canticles; or,
BRIDEGROOM.
Beneath this citron-tree I raised thee up b,
Here thy mother brought thee forth in sorrows
Here, bringing thee forth in sorrow, she bare thee.
BRIDE.
O set me as a seal upon thine heart, '
As a seal upon thine armd !
BRIDEGROOM.
e Yea, love is strong as Death,
b Perhaps, " resuscitated thee." "prmijr.
c Petita significatione a nom. ban, dolor, a gird, or girding
pain. Tormen, particularly of a woman in travail. — Parkhurst.
" Schultens sensum concipiendi tuetur." — Simon. " Eku uhvnat ere
m pwAg aov." — Septuagint. The case supposed, if I mistake not,
is, that this royal bride was once an exposed infant, owing the pre-
servation of her existence to the charitable interposition of her
future husband ; not only, as was represented in the first idyl, was
she a poor oppressed girl, exalted to affluence and royalty by the
monarch's partiality, but, when she first became the object of his
pity and kindness, she was in a still more deplorable and wretched
situation. This same metaphor the reader will find followed at
length in the fourteenth chapter of the prophecy of Ezekiel.
d These are the words of the bride. Being reminded of the pity
and love shown to her in her helpless infancy by that same boun-
tiful hand that now supports her as a bride, she prays that she may
ever continue to be the object of her husband's affection. " To
place as a seal upon the heart, as a seal upon the arm," are scrip-
tural expressions denoting the cherishing of a true affection, with
the exhibition of those constant attentions which bespeak a real
attachment. " In that day, saith the Lord of Hosts — O Zerub-
babel, my servant — I will make thee a signet : for I have chosen
thee, saith the Lord of Hosts." — Haggai, ii. 23. " As I live, saith
the Lord, though Coniah — were the signet upon my right hand,
yet would I pluck thee thence." — Jer. xxxii. 24.
e The reply of the bridegroom I conceive to commence in this
place. The following lines will be found to contain the strongest
SONG OF SOLOMON. 175
f Jealousy is stubborn s as Hades'* ;
assurances of his unchanging love, that his bride could possibly re-
ceive from his gracious lips.
ftOp, Jealousy ; but not in a bad sense, as mixed with sus-
picion respecting the faithfulness of the beloved object ; but as ex-
pressive of the notion. — How choice the lover is wont to be of the
object of his passion ; with what solicitous care he will watch over
her : how strenuously he will vindicate her as his own, and what
dangers he would brave in her defence, top, tenerrime amavit.
q. d. Zelotypia. Flagravit ad causam, jus, et dignitatem alicujus
strenue defendendum, et praesertim ejus qui injuria affectus vel
misere oppressus est. — Simon.
s niPp, durus, difficilis. «pp-ntt9nDJ?> stiff-necked people, often
expresses the stubborn and unyielding disposition of the Israelites.
The verb is used also of the hardened Pharaoh, obstinately per-
sisting in his refusal to let Israel go, ijrrW? njTS nvprrft? \"V1.~
Exod. xiii. 15.
h btw, to which the epithet nttfp is applied, denotes, not the
grave, but the receptacle of departed spirits. This unseen world
we may distinguish by the word hades, as the English word hellis
become, in common use, appropriated to the place of torment.
Whereas blKitf, like 'AJtj? among the Greeks, and like Orcus, or
Infernus, among the Latins, applies to the state of departed souls
in general. (See Campbell's dissertation on 'A&j? Twva. Also
Bp. Horsley's Sermon on the Descent into Hell).
This notion of stubbornness and inflexibility, as applied to the
personifications of the departed state, the " Inexorabilis Orcus,"
will be familiar to many of my readers.
— " Manesque addiit regemque tremendum
Nesciaque humanis piecibus mansuesceie corda."
Virgil, Georgic iv. 4()Q«
" Non vanas redeat sanguis imagini,
Quam virgd semel horrida
Non lenis precibus fata recludere
Nigro com pule rit Mercurius gregi."
Horatii, Liber 1. Ode xxiv.
" But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? Can I bring
him back again ? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to
me." — 2 Sam, xii. 23.
176 canticles; or,
Its flames are as the flames of fire'
Even the burning fire of Jehovah k !
Many waters cannot quench this love,
Neither can the floods drown it.
If a man would give all the substance of his house for
love,
He would utterly be despised.
BRIDE.
We have a sister, she is small, and has no breasts '.
What shall we do for our sister,
In the day, when she shall be spoken for ?
' C3«hp"i, coals glowing with heat, or flashes of fire. Compare
Psalm lxxviii. 4S, with Exod. ix. 23, 24.
k The burning fire of Jah. A great number of Dr. Kennicott's
Codices read n'Tiarkttr in two words. nanSttr, flamma vehemen-
tissima, a rad. Chald. et Syr. zrhv inflammatus arsit, recte derivat
Schultens. — (Simon.) Parkhursi derives the word from Vlf, to
loose, to dissolve, and 2T\b, a flame of fire. — The dissolving
fire.
From the order of the personified characters, we cannot mis-
take, I conceive, its signification. m», bvm, and rwoVitf, cor-
respond exactly with 0«k*to?, a$ri;, and ynvvx, or~7u/*w] rov wt/go? :
death, hell or hades, and " hell- fire" — " The fire prepared for the
devil and his angels," — "That fire which never shall be quenched."
The meaning, therefore, of the allusion is, The flame of that love
with which my heart burns is unquenchable and eternal, like the
flame of that everlasting fire which the Almighty has kindled for
tlve punishment of his apostate creatures.
1 This address appears to be an intercession on behalf of ano-
ther— of an acknowledged sister. She is, perhaps, spoken of as
defective in form. Her youth could not be the only thing com-
plained of, as that would be remedied by the time she was de-
manded in marriage. But, in view of this event, there are clearly
supposed some personal imperfections. The bride, happy in the
assurance of her own acceptance with her husband, implores his
advice respecting their common sister.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 177
BRIDEGROOM.
111 Since she is a wall,
We will erect on it a turret of silver :
And since she is a door,
We will incase it with a plate of cedar.
THE YOUNGER SISTER.
n I am a wall !
And breasts shall ' I have ' as towers !
Then am I in his eyes
As one that obtaineth favour.
° Solomon has a vineyard in Baal-Hammon :
He has let out this vineyard to dressers,
m " Since she is a wall," &c. These figurative expressions I
understand as a gracious declaration on the part of the bride-
groom, that in the allegorical sister there is nothing materially de-
fective— she is a wall : — she is a door : the silver turret to this
wall, the cedar wainscot to this door, may yet be supplied. — It shall
be their united care to improve the appearance, and to ornament
the person of their sister.
n " I am a wall, and breasts shall I have as towers," &c. These
words, I conceive, are spoken by the younger sister; she is con-
soling herself on the gracious acknowledgment, which she hears
respecting her real worth. She repeats the promise, and argues
that she has therefore obtained favour in the eyes of the bride-
groom.
° The above lines respecting the vineyard, or cultivated estate,
as we might render it, are spoken by the bride. She is supposed
to be presented by Solomon with this estate as her residence : but
she will consider herself only as a steward : she will industriously
contrive that her Lord shall be no loser. She accordingly com-
pares the vineyard consigned to her with another vineyard of the
same value, in the place mentioned in the text. This vineyard
was let on hire ; she notices the price which was stipulated to be
paid for it.— She would take care that her grateful return, her
LIS CANTICLES ; OR,
That a man should bring of its fruits
1 The value ' of a thousand pieces of silver.
A vineyard, which is mine, is before me :
The thousand ' shall be reserved' for thee, O Solomon,
And two hundred ' shall be given ' to the dressers of the
fruit.
ONE OF THE COMPANIONS p.
Thou that dwellest in the gardens,
The companions are listening to thy voice,
O let me hear it !
BRIDE.
Make haste, my beloved,
Be like the gazel or the fawn of the deer
Upon the mountains of spices !
INTERPRETATION OF THE LAST IDYL.
Including the last ten Verses of the eighth Chapter.
" Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness
leaning upon her beloved?" The meaning of this
emblem in the figurative language of the Canticles
we cannot easily mistake. The soul is blessed with
the Saviour's presence, is acknowledged in the
character of his spouse. By the exercise of a lively
faith she reclines herself upon Christ, her only re-
fuge and strength ; supported by his arm, she is
service of love, should not be less to Solomon than the rent paid
by these tenants. Her own servants also she declares should be
remunerated for their trouble.
p One of the dressers just alluded to.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 179
travelling on in security towards the heavenly man-
sions, which are prepared for her reception.
The bride, as we have noticed, is first reminded
of her original state, and of the obligation which
she owed to her Lord. Between two earthly lovers
there are wont to be reciprocal causes of affection :
they meet in some respects on equal terms, if —
" For contemplation he and valour form'd,
For softness she and sweet attractive grace."
Far different are the circumstances of the union
between Christ and the church of his redeemed.
When, indeed, that union is completed, she is found
possessed of every charm and every grace that can
make her the admiration of beholders : " fair as the
moon, clear as the sun, dazzling as the bannered
hosts." But then this excellence and glory, and
whatever is denoted in the figurative language of
this book by beauty of person and ornaments of
dress — every thing fair and valuable which is found
in the spouse of Christ, has been owing entirely to
the grace, the free gift of her beloved.
This was intimated in the imagery of the first
Idyl, where we saw one that had been raised from
a state of servitude and oppression, led in a bridal
procession into the palace of the King of Israel.
This pointed out, indeed, in some measure, the ine-
quality between the parties, and informed us of
what sort the obligation was, which was conferred
by the heavenly bridegroom upon his spouse the
N2
180 canticles; or,
Church. This consideration is, however, much
more forcibly impressed upon us in the present
Idyl, by an allusion to the case of an exposed
female infant, whom the hand of a charitable bene-
factor first rescues from the stroke of death, and
then fondly nurtures and educates till she arrives
at woman's estate, when he receives her as his
bride.
" Beneath this citron-tree I raised thee up ; here
thy mother brought thee forth in sorrow, here bring-
ing thee forth in sorrow, she bare thee." If such had
been the situation of the supposed bride, and such
the commencement of her connexion with her hus-
band, she owed, indeed, her all to him. She might
be "comely," she might be "perfect in beauty," but
it was all " through his comeliness which he had
put upon her." In short, no emblem of a greater
obligation, imposed by one individual on another,
can be easily imagined ; and the reader will find
the same comparison, in very minute detail, em-
ployed by the prophet Ezekiel, to point out the
obligation and ingratitude of the external Jewish
church to the God of Israel3.
Strong, however, as is the language of the meta-
phor, the case supposed does but faintly shadow
the obligations of the espoused soul to Christ. The
soul, we may say, is now justified, and sanctified,
and adorned with many excellent graces ; so that
Ch
SONG OP SOLOMON. 181
the great Redeemer himself delights in her society,
and she is honourable in the sight of all. But what
was she once, when he first acknowledged her ; —
" By nature a child of wrath, even as others1"'—
" shapen in iniquity, and conceived in sinc."
" None eye pitied thee to have compassion upon
thee ; but thou wast cast out into the open field, to
the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast
bornV' But if we reflect upon the nature of those
spiritual mercies which exalt the helpless sons of
men from their native misery to the heirship of
eternal glory, how much more costly are the chari-
ties of Jesus Christ, which he has bestowed upon
his people, than those of this imaginary benefactor,
as shown to the exposed infant, whom he afterwards
espouses !
To preserve his people from the hand of justice,
for their wretchedness did not arise from misfor-
tune, the gracious Redeemer descends from his
heavenly throne, and becomes a man ; and in this
his assumed nature, he offers himself a victim in
their stead ; " dying the just for the unjust :" — " He
who knew no sin being made sin for us, that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him."
We consequently read, concerning the heavenly
Bridegroom, " that he so loved the church that he
gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and
cleanse it, and present it to himself a glorious
t- Eph. ii. 3. c Ts. li. 5. * Ezek. xvi. 5.
182 CANTICLES ; OR,
church." What manner of love is this ? All human
comparison must fail !
" O set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal
upon thy arm." The reply of the bride contains a
prayer, that that love and kindness, of which she
has been the object, may be yet continued to her. —
As he has condescended to bestow so much upon
her to make her what she is, O, may he still ac-
count her worth his regards ! — ^since he has been
pleased to choose her for his own, let him not now
discard her.
To set her as a seal upon the heart, and as a seal
upon the arm, implies, that he should make her the
object of his true affection, and of his constant recol-
lection and peculiar care and acknowledgment.
" Write it upon the table of thine heart6," is a fre-
quent phrase in Scripture ; let it be indelibly fixed
in your affection and memory. " The sin of Judah
is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of
a diamond : it is graven upon the table of their
hearts." So again, to place as a signet upon the
arm, to wear as an ornament in which a person
delights, on which he sets a particular value, and
which he carries constantly about his person, is a
beautiful emblem of that particular attention, and
marked attachment, which those who love require
to have constantly shown them. " But Zion said,
The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has for-
e Prov. iii. 3. — vii. 3.
SONG OF SOLOMON. 183
gotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child,
that she should not have compassion on the son of
her womb ! Yea, they may forget, yet will not I
forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the
palms of my hands ; thy walls are continually be-
fore mef."
The expressions and various allusions which are
made use of in the sacred writings to denote the
strength and unchangeable nature of the love of
Christ towards his people, are truly astonishing ! —
They are designed, as the Apostle assures us, " to
show to the heirs of promise the immutability of the
divine counsel," — " that we might have strong con-
solation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon
the hope set before us." But in no part of the
Scriptures, perhaps, is language found more strong
upon the subject, than in the reply of the bride-
groom to the grateful and affectionate petition which
we have just been considering.
" Yea, love is strong as Death ; jealousy is stub-
bom as Hades. Its flames are flames of fire, even
the burning fire of Jehovah. Many waters cannot
quench this love ; neither can the floods drown it.
If a man would give all the substance of his house
for love, he would utterly be despised."
As we have seen, in considering the literal mean-
ing of these words, love is represented as a passion,
f Isa. xlix. 14; 15. iff.
184 canticles; or,
powerful as Death, who conquers all things, whose
force nothing can resist. It is, in its jealousy over
its object, as stiff, unyielding, as obstinate, and
hard to be entreated, as the inexorable Hades. —
You might as soon hope to prevail by force, or by
entreaty, or by artful policy, to rescue a departed
spirit from its prison, or to disquiet the saints in
paradise, as to prevail upon a lover to give up, or
to neglect, or to cease to watch over the object of
his affections ; nay, it burns with a flame eternal
as the flames of hell, which shall consume the un-
godly— the " fire that never shall be quenched."
" Many waters cannot quench this love, the floods
cannot drown it." — The most costly offers to induce
it to change its purpose, or to quit the beloved
object, would be treated as most despicable.
The powers of love as a human passion are suffi-
ciently known and celebrated, and the language
here used, as far as it can be applied to the fleeting
concerns of frail mortals, would not be considered
as inappropriate. But, in respect of that love
wherewith Christ loves his church, the language is
all true and correct, without a figure. Who can
describe the length and breadth, the depth and
height, of this love of Christ ? It is a love which
passes all understanding ! What has it done for its
objects ! With what pledges is its continuance se-
cured ! The incarnation, the passion, the cross of
Jesus, will evince its strength. The immutable
SONG OF SOLOMON. 185
promise, and the oath of God, who cannot lie,
vouch its continuance, and that for ever !
Such indeed are the provisions and stipulations
of that everlasting covenant, by the ratification of
which the God of Grace is wont to dispel the fears
of the believer, and to raise his hopes to heaven. —
The " mercies " are so " sure," that a sense of his
own unworthiness and imperfection, the conscious-
ness of his weakness and frailty in the face of so
many dangers, need not hinder his rejoicing boast.
For he is allowed and instructed to reason, that if,
when he was a sinner, Christ died for him, much
more being now justified by bis blood, shall he
be saved from wrath through him. And that
if, " when he was an enemy to God, he was
reconciled to him by the death of his Son, much
more being reconciled, shall he be saved by his
life5."
The bride in the parable, assured of the un-
changeable affection of her husband, becomes an
intercessor for another ; " We have a sister, she is
small, and has no breasts ; what shall we do for
our sister in the day that she shall be spoken for ?"
Many have thought of the Gentile church as
answering to this emblem : but with what propriety
I cannot see. A Gentile church was not at this
time in existence : when it did exist, and Gentile
s Rom. v. 9, 10.
186 CANTICLES ; OR,
converts and Gentile societies could be contrasted
with converts and societies gathered from among
the Jews, this comparison of the two sisters most
certainly did not apply, as characteristic of these
two divisions of the church. I conceive, therefore,
that we are to explain the emblem, more generally,
respecting those who are weak in the faith, and
who, though they must be acknowledged to be real
Christians, are defective in knowledge and ex-
perience: are not come, to use the Apostle's ex-
pression, " to the full stature of a man in Christ
Jesus." — There is evidence sufficient, we are sup-
posing, to evince that they are regenerated by the
Spirit of God ; yet the flesh, with its principles, so
far prevails, that they cannot be denominated " spi-
ritual," but " carnal, babes in Christ."
Now such characters, and the full-grown, the en-
lightened, and established Christian, are always
seen together in every church and Christian so-
ciety ; and it is, without doubt, the duty of the
strong to pray for the weak: and, in fact, the
spiritual welfare of their weaker brethren is an
object of continual solicitude with the more spiri-
tual believers — an object often, in their happy
moments, made the particular matter of prayer be-
fore God.
Such then I conclude to be the meaning of this
part of the allegory ; and it might be expedient to
add, such a representation at the close of these
SONG OF SOLOMON. 187
divine songs, which in many parts celebrate an
experience which those that are weak in the faith
cannot reach at present.
The answer of the heavenly Bridegroom, we
notice, is most favourable. " Since she is a wall,
we will build on it a turret of silver : since she is a
door, we will incase it with a plate of cedar." This
is as much as to say, There are the essentials of the
Christian character, and God in his good time will
supply every deficiency.
" I am a wall, and breasts shall I have as towers !
Then am I in his eyes as one that has obtained
favour." Thus the weak and tempted Christian is
represented as encouraging himself from the kind
and considerate declarations of his meek and lowly
Master. He cannot enjoy the comfortable frames,
and that full assurance of hope, which some Chris-
tians possess ; yet is he enabled, by self-examina-
tion, to prove, according to the word of God, his
sincerity and the reality of his faith : nor are there
wanting in Scripture some kind assurances of the
divine acceptance which he can apply to himself. —
" Who is among you that feareth the Lord, and
obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in
darkness, and has no light? Let him trust in the
name of the Lord, and stay upon his Godh."
" King Solomon has a vineyard in Baal- Ham-
mon: he has let out this vineyard to dressers, that
,l Isa. li. lo.
188 canticles; or,
a man should bring of its fruits the value of a
thousand pieces of silver. A vineyard which is
mine is before me ; the thousand shall be reserved
for thee, O Solomon, and two hundred shall be given
to the dressers of the fruit."
The meaning, as we have conjectured, is this:
The faithful spouse, contemplating the vineyard,
the garden, or estate, which her husband had given
her, compares it to another of the same size or
value. She recollects the annualrent, which those
who hired this vineyard paid to the king. The
vineyard, generously bestowed upon her, shall
not be less productive to her husband, under the
management of his affectionate wife, than this
which was let to strangers for so large a considera-
tion.
The spiritual meaning, I conceive, has reference
to the principle of Christian obedience, as con-
trasted with the obedience and service demanded
by the original law of man. This latter was the
obedience and service of an hireling : " Do this,
and thou shalt live." The stipulated services were
to be performed on peril of disinheritance. Not so
under the Gospel dispensation. Eternal life, and
every privilege, is the gift of God, bestowed
freely without money, and without price. It is
the gift of his love: " By grace ye are saved."
But is the Christian relieved from all obligation
to obedience and service ? Far from it. Obli-
gations the most sacred, the most forcible and
SONG OF SOLOMON. 189
effective, are laid upon him, the obligations of love —
of love, not the uncertain operation of human grati-
tude, but of love as shed abroad in the heart by the
Holy Ghost.
Will a father derive less benefit, it may be asked,
from the son that loves him and serves him, than
from the labours of the hired servant ? Will the
provident care of a faithful and affectionate wife, in
the management of household affairs, be less pro-
fitable to her husband than the bought services and
inspection of a stranger ?
In short, so certain is the operation of faith and
love in producing obedience and good works, that
our divine Master has stated it, as a matter of fact,
to his disciples, " Unless your righteousness shall
exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Phari-
sees"— the strenuous advocates, as was supposed,
for the greatest strictness of morals — " ye shall in
no case enter into the kingdom of heaven/'
" Talk they of morals ? O thou bleeding love !
Thou maker of new morals to mankind !
The grand morality is love of thee."
Upon the question, of what services are to be
performed ; the requisition of " the Law of Works,"
and of " the Law of Faith," is, essentially the same
— briefly summed up in these two commandments :
" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and thy neighbour as thyself."
Such was formerly the stipulated hire for holding
the vineyard: and such is the obedience which
190 canticles; or,
every believer in Christ is called upon, faithfully,
to perform to God. The terms are not specified in
any covenant, or copy of agreement ; but this same
law is written upon the fleshly tables of the heart —
" Faith worketh by love." The grace of God, which
bringeth salvation, teaches us, that, denying ungod-
liness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly,
and righteously, and godly, in this present world,
looking for that blessed hope and the glorious ap-
pearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus
Christ1." — " Christ has purified to himself a people
zealous of good works k." — " For ye are his work-
manship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works1."
Obedience is therefore a certain criterion of cha-
racter. " He that doeth not righteousness, is not of
God, neither he that loveth not his brother m."
The remaining circumstance, which is mentioned
in the parable, that the value of two hundred pieces
of silver is to be given to the dressers of the vine-
yard, can be intended, I conceive, to indicate
nothing else, but that one of the first considerations
with the church should be, to make a decent pro-
vision for her ministers. For so has Christ or-
dained, that as they which waited at the altar were
partakers with the altar, in like manner they that
preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel n.
We come now to the conclusion of these heavenly
*Tit.ii. 11, 12. 13. kTit. ii. 14. lEph. ii. 10.
■ 1 John, iii. 10. n l Cor. ix. 13, 14.
SONG OP SOLOMON. 191
songs. " Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the
companions listen to thy voice ; O let me hear it,"
This address is, I think, most probably, not in-
tended for the bridegroom, but for one of these
companions, the labourers in the vineyard attending
upon and ministering unto the faithful — " the
labourers together with God." They would hear
the voice of the Spouse of Christ, as dwelling in
the vineyards committed to their charge. To hear
a language among their people bespeaking the pre-
sence of the bride of Christ, is, doubtless, the summit
of the earthly felicity of his faithful ministers.
And what is the characteristic language of the
espoused of Christ ? It is that which we have so
often considered in these Canticles — " Make haste,
my beloved ; be like the gazel, or the fawn of the
deer upon the mountains of spices." — So finish these
divine poems. The bride is still in the enclosed
garden, waiting the appointed return of her beloved.
" For we are saved by," or in, "hope: but hope
that is seen is not hope : for what a man seeth,
why does he yet hope for ? But if we hope for
that we see not, then do we with patience wait for
it0." The first-fruits, the earnest of the spirit of
adoption, is now the portion of believers in Christ,
and seals them to the day of redemption ; but the
full manifestation of this adoption, according to the
figurative language of this book, the consumma-
0 Rom. viii. 24,
192 canticles; or, song op solomon.
tion of the soul's nuptials with her heavenly Bride-
grooom, is still the object of wish and earnest
expectation.
As closes therefore this portion of the word of
God, so closes the sacred volume itself. — " He
which testifies these things, saith, Surely I come
quickly. Amen! Even so, come Lord Jesus!"
Amen.
END OF THE NEW TRANSLATION OF
THE CANTICLES.
AN
ESSAY
ON THE
NAME AND CHARACTER
OF THE
REDEEMER.
o
AN ESSAY,
OUR blessed Saviour was, from the earliest ages
of the world, promised to mankind in the character
of their Redeemer ; in allusion to this appellation,
we find the term Redemption used in Scripture in
reference to various parts of his interposition in
human affairs, and indeed, in some passages, as
comprehending the whole work of our salvation.
It is the object of the present attempt — to inquire
into the signification of the title of Redeemer; —
and to trace, in the sacred writings, in what manner
our gracious Lord has fulfilled the several parts of
the character which that name implies.
I. The notion of Repurchasing, as referred to in
the term Redeemer, agreeably with its Latin de-
rivation, from redimo, to ransom, to buy off: the
notion also of a recovery of one taken captive, by
the payment of a ransom, which is expressly im-
plied in the Greek word aroy^r^aia-ig, to which
o2
196 ESSAY ON THE NAME AND
our term Redemption answers in the translation of
the New Testament, will be familiar to most of
my readers.
This view of Redemption will indeed be found
to comprehend one very principal act, which a
Redeemer would, in certain cases, be called upon
to perform ; and which our great Redeemer has, in
fact, accomplished for us.
But, in order to a full view and comprehension of
the name and character in question, and to show
how the term Redemption applies to other parts of
the Saviour's work, besides the ransoming of his
people, it is necessary that we recall to our recol-
lection the circumstances and prevailing customs
of those remote ages, in which the office of a Re-
deemer originated, and where it is actually found to
have been one of the most common and important
relations of life, in which one man could stand to
another. For, in our own times, though we shall
find some remains of the functions of this ancient
character, yet we have certainly no prototype which
can afford, in the present state of civilized society, a
full illustration of those duties which the Son of God
undertook to discharge for us, when he assumed
the style and title of our Redeemer.
We should remember, therefore, that, in the cir-
cumstances of the primitive ages of the world, the
arts and influence of government were very imper-
fect and unoperative. Mankind, subsisting in their
separate families or clans, widely dispersed from
CHARACTER OF THE REDEEMER. 197
each other, scarcely acknowledged any other tie, or
public obligation, but that of kindred; nor pos-
sessed commonly any other resource for the redress
of their grievances. The chief security, therefore,
which they had for their lives and properties, was
to stand by each other in the hour of danger, to
vindicate each other's rights, and to inflict with their
own hands that justice on the offending party, to
execute which belongs, in better times, to the pecu-
liar functions of the magistrate.
We find accordingly, that, in the histories of all
very ancient nations, and indeed of all rude and
uncivilized people down to this present time, the
feuds arising from these family attachments, in pro-
secution especially of the sacred right of revenge
for a murdered or injured kinsman, are among the
most important of their transactions ; and the occa-
sions often of the most bloody conflicts.
Now the person on whom this duty immediately
devolved, of vindicating the rights of an injured rela-
tive, and who was generally the person nearest re-
lated to him, of sufficient spirit and prowess to take
his part, was denominated his ^j — the term in the
Old testament which we render by Redeemer. It
belonged to this person, as the representative of
the injured party, to require the compensation of
his wrongs, to effect his deliverance out of captivity,
or, if it were necessary, to revenge his blood upon
his murderer.
It was from the last of these awful duties, which
--?
198 ESSAY ON THE NAME AND
in those ages too often called forth the exertions of
the Redeemer, that some of the most eminent scho-
lars suppose him to have taken his name of bm % as
signifying " one polluted, defiled with blood, an
avenger of blood, because he was considered as
polluted by the blood of his relation, and rendered
infamous until it was revenged."
The origin of these notions, from whence the
ancient Redeemers obtained their title, may perhaps
be discovered in Scripture ; where indeed we find
the title sometimes written at length, Din"1?^ —
the avenger of bloods, or the bloody Redeemer.
The injunction of God to Noah was, " And surely
your blood of your lives will I require ; at the hand
of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of
man ; at the hand of every man's brother will I
require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man's
blood, by man shall his blood be shed : for in the
image of God made he manb." But before the
union or increase of families into nations, and the
appointment of the magistrate, with sufficient au-
thority, as " God's minister" — " a revenger to exe-
cute wrath upon him that doeth evilc," it is evident,
a"?«a polluit, contaminavit, Jer. xxxix. 3. Esr. ii. 62. Thren.
iv. 14. uncle btti assumta significatione passiva pollutus, inguina-
tus sanguine, vindex sanguinis, quod sanguine cognati pollutus et
infamis haberetur, donee ulcisceretur. Hinc. 2. Goelis jure usus
est vindicavit, redimit, liberavit, speciatim jure cognationis (sic
notioncs in hse rad. obvise conjungi possunt ex conjectura, v. 1.
D. Michaelis suppl.)- — Simonis Lex. Heb.
b Gen. ix. 5, 6. c Rom. xiii.
CHARACTER OF THE REDEEMER. 199
that the enforcing of this primeval law must, of
necessity, have depended upon the relations and
friends of the murdered person. If indeed the ex-
pression in the former verse, " At the hand of
every man's brother will I require the life of man,"
is not to be understood as, an express direction
from the Almighty, that the brother, or kinsman,
must exact the rights of vengeance. For, however
the malignant passions of the friends and relatives
of the injured party might prompt them to carry
this vengeance to those excesses of cruelty so fre-
quently recorded in history, yet the right itself, as
touching the person of the murderer, was sacred
and indispensable.
Hence it is obvious to suppose, that those whose
duty it was to exercise the part of redeemers, in
these sad cases, would be considered as disgraced
and dishonoured till justice had been obtained.
This notion, on an occasion not materially different,
is indeed plainly recognised in the law of Moses.
" For blood it deflleth the land : and the land can-
not be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein,
but by the blood of him that shed itd."
And whatever be the origin and meaning of the
term btto, Redeemer, this representative of the de-
ceased, his nearest relation, is evidently acknow-
ledged by the laws of many nations as the proper
person who ought, of natural right, to demand satis-
faction in the circumstances above considered.
d Num. xxxv. 33.
200 ESSAY ON THE NAME AND
The institution of the Cities of Refuge among
the Jews was plainly devised to restrain, in particu-
lar cases, the exercise of this right in the ' Re-
deemer,' or * avenger of blood.' And the institu-
tion evinces, beyond all contradiction, what the pre-
vailing usage was in those days : and, at the same
time, that it protects the unfortunate manslayer from
the vengeance of the Redeemer, the law establishes
his right in respect of the murderers.
In the reign of David we find, that the Redeemer
was still accustomed to prosecute his rights. This
appears from the feigned story of the woman of
Tekoah. " Her whole family," she says, " has
risen against her, saying, Deliver him that smote
his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his
brother, whom he slew." She prays for the inter-
position of the king's authority, " not to suffer the
revengers of blood to destroy any more, lest they
destroy her sonV
" Among the ancient Greeks," Professor Goguet
observes, " they had no public officer charged by the
state to look after murderers. The relations of the
deceased alone had the right to pursue revenge,
Homer shows this clearly (Iliad i. 9. v. 628, &c).
We may add to the testimony of this great poet,
that of Pausanias, who speaks in many places of
this ancient usage (1. 5. c. 1. p. 376. 1. 8. c. 34.
p. 669.) : a usage that appears to have always sub-
e 'I Sam. xiv. 7— -1 1. comp. Gen. xxvii. 4, 5.
CHARACTER OP THE REDEEMER. 201
sisted in Greece (see Plato de Leg. i. 9. p. 930,
931, and 933.; Demosth. in Aristocrat, p. 736.;
Pullux. i. 8. c. 10. segm. 118f.)"
In our own laws, these ancient rights of the
Redeemer are also plainly recognised, and in one
remarkable instance — the prosecution by way of
appeal in criminal cases — are allowed to this day,
or have but very recently been rendered obsolete.
Of this mode of prosecution, the following interest-
ing account is extracted from Blackstone's Com-
mentaries3:— " An appeal, when spoken of as a
criminal prosecution, denotes an accusation by a
private subject against another, for some heinous
crime ; demanding punishment on account of the
particular injury suffered, rather than for the offence
against the public." — " This private process, for
the punishment of public crimes, had probably its
origin in those times when a private pecuniary
satisfaction, called a weregild, was constantly paid
to the party injured, or his relations, to expiate
enormous offences. This was a custom derived to
us, in common with other northern nations, from
our ancestors, the ancient Germans : among whom,
according to Tacitus, ' Luitur homicidium certo ar-
mentorum ac pecorum numero : recipitque satis-
factionem uni versa domus.'
" In the same manner, by the Irish Brehon law,
in case of murder, the Brehon judge was used to
f Goguet's Origin of Laws, &c. v. 2. c. 1. art. S.
8 Book iv. ch. 23.
202 ESSAY ON THE NAME AND
compound between the murderer and the friends of
the deceased who prosecuted him, by causing the
malefactor to give unto them, or to the child or
wife of him that was slain, a recompense which they
called an eriach. And thus we find in our Saxon
laws (particularly those of King Athelstan) the se-
veral weregilds for homicide established in pro-
gressive order, from the death of the ceorl, or
peasant, up to that of the king himself. And in the
laws of King Henry I. we have an account of what
other offences were then redeemable by weregild,
and what were not so. As, therefore, during the con-
tinuance of this custom, a process was certainly
given for recovering the weregild by the party to
whom it was due, it seems that, when these offences
by degrees grew no longer redeemable, the private
process was still continued, in order to ensure the
infliction of punishment upon the offender, though
the party injured was allowed no pecuniary compen-
sation of the offence.
" The only offence against one's relation, for
which an appeal can be brought, is that of killing
him, by either murder or manslaughter. But this
cannot be brought by every relation : but only by
the wife for the death of her husband, or by the
heir male for the death of his ancestor ; which
heirship was also confined by an ordinance of King
Henry I. to the four nearest degrees of blood.
" If the appellee be found guilty, he shall suffer
the same judgment as if he had been convicted by
CHARACTER OF THE REDEEMER. 203
indictment : but with this remarkable difference —
that, on an indictment which is at the suit of the
king, the king may pardon and remit the execution :
on an appeal, which is at the suit of a private sub-
ject, to make an atonement of the private wrong,
the king can no more pardon it than he can remit
the damages recovered on an action of battery. In
like manner as, while the weregild continued to be
paid as a fine for homicide, it could not be remitted
by the king's authority. And the ancient usage
was, so late as Henry the Fourth's time, that all the
relations of the slain should drag the appellee to the
place of execution ; a custom founded upon that
savage spirit of family resentment, which prevailed
universally through Europe after the irruption of
the northern nations, and is particularly attended
to in their several codes of law ; and which pre-
vails even now among the wild and untutored inha-
bitants of America: as if the finger of nature had
pointed it out to mankind in their rude and unculti-
vated state11."
h " To restrain these private wars between great families, which
disturbed the public tranquillity, and prevented the regular course
of justice, many laws were made, particularly by King Edmund,
who reigned from A. D. £)40, to A. D. 9^6\ By one of these laws
it is declared, that a murderer shall alone be obnoxious to the re-
sentment of the relations of him whom he had murdered, and not
his whole family, as formerly." — (Henry's History of Great
Britain, book ii. c. 7-)
" In Turkey, murder is never prosecuted by the officers of the
government. It is the business of the next relations, and them
only, to revenge the slaughter of their kinsmen : and if they rather
204 ESSAY ON THE NAME AND
The last observation of the learned Judge is re-
markable. And we have seen that " The finger of
nature," which pointed out this practice, was no
other than the primeval law of God respecting the
punishment of murder, which tradition has so won-
choose (as they generally do) to compound the matter for money,
nothing more is said about it." — (Lady M. W. Montague, lett. 42.)
" Among the Circassians, all the relatives of the murderers are
considered as guilty. This customary infatuation to avenge the
blood of relations, generates most of the feuds, and occasions great
bloodshed among all the tribes of Caucasus; for unless pardon be
purchased, or obtained by intermarriage between the two families,
the principle of revenge is propagated to all succeding generations.
— If the thirst of vengeance is quenched by a price paid to the
family of the deceased, this tribute is called Thlil-Uasa, or the
■price of blood : but neither princes nor usdens accept of such a
compensation, as it is an established law among them to demand
blood for blood." — (Pallas's Travels, vol. i. p. 405.)
" The interest of the common safety has, for ages, established a
law among them," the Arabians, " which decrees that the blood
of every man who is slain must be avenged by that of his mur-
derer. This vengeance is called tar, or retaliation ; and the right
of exacting it devolves on the nearest of kin to the deceased. So
nice are the Arabs on this point of honour, that if any one neglects
to seek his retaliation, he is disgraced for ever. He therefore
watches every opportunity of revenge ; if his enemy perishes from
any other cause, still he is not satisfied, and his vengeance is di-
rected against the nearest relation. These animosities are trans-
mitted, as an inheritance, from father to children, and never cease
but by the extinction of one of the families, unless they agree to
sacrifice the criminal, or -purchase the blood for a stated price, in
money or in flocks. Without this satisfaction, there is neither
peace, nor truce, nor alliance, between them ; nor, sometimes,
even between whole tribes. There is blood bctiveen us, say they,
on every occasion; and this expression is an insurmountable
barrier." — (Volney's Travels in Egypt and Syria, vol. i. j age 3 6j,
third edition.)
CHARACTER OP THE REDEEMER. 205
derfully preserved in almost all nations of the earth.
But to return.
A Redeemer, then, according to the usages of
ancient times, was a near relation, called upon, by-
some disastrous event, to stand forth as the repre-
sentative of his deceased or incapacitated kinsman.
From the hand of his Redeemer the captive ex-
pected the ransom price, which was to restore him
to liberty. To his Redeemer he looked for those
powerful exertions which were necessary to effect
his deliverance by force of arms. To the Redeemer,
lastly, it belonged to avenge his blood upon his
murderer.
For we are to remark, that all these acts, as per-
formed by this relative on behalf of his kinsman,
would, in the Hebrew language, be denominated
r\b$), Redemption. But that the same actions
performed by another person, a stranger in blood,
could not properly be distinguished by this term,
except indeed in a figurative sense, in allusion to
this bitt ; and this figurative sense is extremely
rare in the Holy Scriptures1. For when the term is
» Thus in some of the duties assigned to the Redeemers by the
laws of Moses, respecting the ransoming of persons or estates : if a
person had no relation to redeem for him, it is said he might do
it for himself, and the action bears the same name (Lev. xxv. 25,
&c. &c.) It is used also in this more general sense in the last
chapter of Leviticus, for a man's recovery of the property which he
had consecrated to GoJ. And if any other instances can be
pointed out, they are certainly so few, that they can by no means
render questionable the proper and most frequent meaning of nVxa
206 ESSAY ON THE NAME AND
used of the interposition of God in the concerns of
mortals, it will be found generally to have a refe-
rence, more or less direct, to the incarnation of the
Son of God, by which gracious act he becomes, in
fact, our kinsman, and obtains the right of redemp-
tion in behalf of his brethren.
II. Having now pursued our inquiries to a suffi-
cient length respecting the meaning of the term Re-
deemer, we proceed to trace, in the sacred writings,
in what manner, our gracious Lord has fulfilled the
several parts of the character which that name im-
plies.
From what has been said, it will appear, that
when Christ is promised, or spoken of, in the cha-
racter of the Redeemer of his people, we are to in-
clude, in the signification of that title, together with
the more common notion of a Rcmsomer, that of a
Deliverer, and an Avenger, of an injured brother.
And, as we shall be able to show, all these seve-
ral parts of this character does the blessed Jesus
sustain, in regard of his acknowledged friends and
— The redemption, the deliverance, or the vengeance, which is
accomplished by a kinsman, is his right of blood.
It should be noticed, however, that there is another term in the
Hebrew language expressing the idea of redemption, rns, with its
derivatives. It is the common word, indeed, for redeeming,
whether that redemption be effected by a bxi, — a kinsman, Re-
deemer— or not; or whether by price, or by power. We there-
fore, as might be expected, in some places meet with the terms as
synonymous. But they are not equivalent, since ms does not ex-
press the act of a relation exclusively, nor does it include the
notion of vengeance,
CHARACTER OP THE REDEEMER. 207
relatives — bearing in mind that we contemplate the
incarnate God, in his assumed nature, as " the
first-born among many brethren." For thus he is
become their Redeemer in right of blood, and is
found ready, as their need shall require, to dis-
charge the several duties of a Redeemer towards
them.
First, He is their Ransomer. Many, indeed, are
the passages of Scripture that assert this funda-
mental doctrine of the Christian faith — that, con-
sidered as the prisoners of divine justice, appre-
hended, and about to receive the just recompense
of their evil deeds, Christ has redeemed or bought
off, his people, by the payment of a ransom for
them.
I select a passage from St. Paul's Epistle to the
Romans, as sufficient to illustrate this important
point. Explaining the method of a sinner's justi-
fication in the sight of God, the Apostle asserts, that
he is "justified freely by his grace through the
redemption which is in Jesus Christ." This justifi-
cation, as received by the creature from the hand of
his God, is free and gratuitous ; yet still, in regard
to what has been transacted between the Father
and the Son, it has been obtained by a redemption.
So the Apostle explains this " redemption which
is in Jesus Christ" — " whom God has set forth to
be a propitiation through faith in his blood to de.
clare his righteousness." In the setting forth or
appointment of Christ to be an f*a(wj§iov, therefore,
208 ESSAY ON THE NAME AND
is this redemption accomplished. 'Ikaa-r^m sig-
nifies, literally, propitiatory. It is by some ex-
plained of the mercy-seat in the Jewish taber-
nacle : but by our translators, more justly, of the
propitiatory victim itself ; at least, of the propitia-
tion effected by its vicarious sacrifice. And from
this slaughtered victim, the master-type, so to call
it, I conceive the mercy-seat itself obtained its
epithet of propitiatory, mSQ, and not from the
i rcumstance merely of its forming a covering for
the ark of the covenant. Indeed, in the passage
before us, the meaning of propitiatory seems neces-
sarily restricted to the victim ; for in the following
clause we read of the blood of what is called a
propitiatory, " In his blood to declare his righte-
ousness1"."
What was spoken of, therefore, in the former
verse, under the notion of a ransom price paid for
the liberation of a captive or prisoner, the proper
meaning of a^roxurgaxr/^, is here represented as a
sacrificed victim ; which, by means of its unde-
served and vicarious sufferings — according to a
notion so carefully inculcated in the ancient rites of
religion—rendered the Deity propitious to the real
offender.
It was obvious, indeed, in the case before us,
that the ransom price could be no other than an
atonement offered to divine Justice, which, in
k See the manner of pointing this passage in Griesbach's Greek
Testament.
CHARACTER OF THE REDEEMER. 209
sparing the guilty, and much more in justifying the
ungodly, must necessarily have been violated ; and
something widely differing from silver and gold
was requisite to this end.
Now it is worthy of remark, that the same word
which supplies the term mSO-, propitiatory, is
equally used for the ransoming of a prisoner out of
captivity, as for the atonement made by the priest
upon the altar ; and, what will appear, to some of
my readers, still more extraordinary, the same
word is used for a bribe given to an unjust judge to
induce him to screen the guilty from deserved
punishment.
The meaning of this word "ISD, which applies in
common to these three cases, is that of covering ; as
in our own language we speak of covering a loss,
or damage, when something equivalent is supplied
to make good the deficiency which had been cre-
ated. In the case of the captive, the price paid for
his ransom, or as a commutation for his crimes,
might, by an easy figure, be supposed to cover the
loss, which the conqueror, or aggrieved party sus-
tained in the personal services of his prisoner: or,
it was what his adversary deemed an equivalent
for his forfeited life. So, when the term is applied
to the sacrifice offered to the Almighty, the same idea
is evident ; only in this case that which covers the
offence, instead of being the payment of a sum
of money, is the substitution of an innocent vic-
tim to suffer, in the place and stead of the guilty.
210 ESSAY ON THE NAME AND
Lastly, in regard to the unjust action of the venal
judge, we perceive the same notion in the effects
of the proffered bribe. It covers the offender and
the defects of his cause ; it is, in the eyes of the
wicked magistrate, an equivalent for the violation
of justice. " Of whose hands," says Samuel, " have
I received a bribe, to blind mine eyes therewith1."
The second application of this idea, as we have
already seen, bears the strictest affinity of the
three, to the manner in which our gracious Re-
deemer delivers us from the wrath to come. It
was in truth a practice, purposely invented, to pre-
figure and represent the mode in which the pro-
mised Messiah should ransom his people from the
punishment of their transgressions.
The notion of a vicarious sacrifice must in itself
be acknowledged to be the most extravagant and un-
likely means of procuring the pardon of sin, that could
have entered into the mind of man — to suppose that
the sufferings and slaughter of any innocent animal
could render the just God propitious to the real
offender, while he beheld him besprinkled with its
blood, or eating its mangled limbs, or when he per-
ceived the savour of its roasting fat ascending up to
heaven ! And yet this very notion has prevailed
in all ages and nations ; and for some great
purpose or other was inculcated by Revelation
itself.
1U3— 1 Sam. xii. 3-
CHARACTER OP THE REDEEMER. 211
Abel offered his acceptable offering from the
firstlings of his flock. It was the grateful smell of
a burning sacrifice, which is represented as in-
ducing the Almighty to promise Noah that he would
not again punish the wickedness of mankind by a
general deluge.
The Patriarchs worshipped with sacrifice.
When the Gentiles had lost the knowledge of the
true God, and adored in his stead their abominable
idols, still they almost universally retained the
notion, that the anger of their gods was to be ap-
peased by bloody sacrifice. Nay, playing the fool
in their imaginations m, and supposing the more ex-
cellent the victim the more acceptable the sacrifice,
they not unfrequently immolated human beings,
and sometimes even their own children, in their
horrid rites.
Among the Jews, whose religious institutions
and ceremonies were appointed and ordered, in
their minutest circumstances, by immediate Re-
velation, we still find the expiatory sacrifice to be
the leading and most essential object in their ex-
ternal and public worship. From all these facts we
argue, that the sacrificing of animals, as a religious
ceremony, was a divine appointment, destined to
prefigure to fallen man the mode of his redemption
through a crucified Saviour.
We may easily conceive, that it would soon have
been understood among mankind, that a isd, a
m'Efj.ciTcctaQnffoii/ evtsk ^ta^ynr/Aoij. Rom. i. 21.
P2
212 ESSAY ON THE NAME AND
covering, might be found to pacify the rage of a
conqueror, to induce him to spare the life of his
captive, and to restore him to his friends — his re-
deemers. It would also too often have been found
among the administrators of justice, that a n3D
might be brought by those who could afford it, to
screen the offender from punishment. But unless
God himself had taught it, it is inconceivable that
man would ever have extended the notion of a ")BD
in relation to the justification of his soul in the pre-
sence of God. What could be offered to the just
Judge of all the earth ? Where could an equiva-
lent be found to make a commutation, or afford a
ransom? It must surely have been felt by all, that,
to use the language of the Psalmist, " none of them
could redeem his brother, nor give to God a ran-
som for him — nED, his covering. — For the redemp-
tion of their souls is precious and it ceaseth for
ever n'
And yet the institution of sacrifice, as we have
seen, did certainly convey this notion, and man-
kind were taught to look forward to something of
the sort, as the means of their deliverance from the
displeasure of the Almighty. And moreover, by
this religious rite, the worshippers of God were
plainly instructed, that the 122 to be paid for them
would be the substitution of an innocent being to
suffer, in the place and stead of the guilty.
n Ps. xlix.
CHARACTER OP THE REDEEMER. 213
But where could such a victim be found ? Carnal
and gross indeed must have been the mind that
could suppose it saw, in any of the appointed offer-
ings of those days, an equivalent for the ransom of
the soul — that could suppose it " possible for the
blood of bulls and goats to take away sin." It was
a question of difficult solution indeed : " Where-
with shall I come before the Lord, or bow myself
before the high God ? Shall I come before him
with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I
give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of
my body for the sin of my soul°?"
But the mystery which kings and prophets de-
sired to see, then began to be unfolded, when the
great forerunner of the Messiah, looking upon Jesus,
exclaimed, " Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world p." In the sacrifice there-
fore of the Lord Jesus Christ — dying " the just
for the unjust q" — " He who knew no sin being
made sin for us, that we might be made the righte-
ousness of God in him1," we contemplate that
which the Almighty Sovereign considers as an
equivalent for the forfeited lives of his rebellious
creatures. There is in this oblation a price which
forms a "133 — a covering, not to blind the eyes of
Micah, vi. 6. p John. * 1 Pet. iii. IS
r2 Cor. v. 21.
214 ESSAY ON THE NAME AND
an unrighteous judge while the course of justice is
perverted, but which affords a consideration, which
the most holy God esteems to be perfectly satis-
factory in behalf of the claims of violated justice ;
so that, in strictest equity, he may now proceed to
clear the guilty — nay, to justify the wicked. — " In
the blood or sufferings of Christ, God's righteous-
ness is manifested, that he is just, and the justifier
of him that believeth on Jesus."
Thus we are informed, in what manner the great
Redeemer has ransomed his people — they are
bought with a price, not of silver and gold, but
with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb slain
in sacrifice8. " He himself has borne our sins in
his own body upon the tree*." — " His blood
cleanseth from all sin V — " By his own blood he
entered in once into the holy place, having ob-
tained eternal redemption for us w."
Secondly, Christ is the Deliverer of his people
from the hand of their enemies and oppressors.
This, as we have seen, is one part of the character
of a btto — a Redeemer. This notion of redemption
must be familiar to every reader of Scripture— a
redemption not by price or ransom, but by the op-
posing cf force to force.
It was in the character of their blto, Redeemer,
that the God of Israel is represented as delivering
s 1 Pet. i. 19. * 1 Pet. ii. 24. u 1 John, i. 7-
wHcb. ix. 12.
CHARACTER OF THE REDEEMER. 215
his people from the tyranny of Pharaoh, and from
their Egyptian bondage. " And I will redeem you
1 — wbiM— with a stretched-out arm, and with great
judgments V The deliverance of the Jews from
Babylon by the victories of Cyrus, and many of
the temporal deliverances of this nation, are also
described under the notion of r6tf3 — the redemp-
tion, which a kinsman has accomplished for his
oppressed relative. " The high God was their
Redeemer."
The allusion indeed is figurative, if you respect
the Jewish nation alone — " Israel after the flesh."
But we are taught to consider all these transactions
as appointed types and allegories, to illustrate the
various parts of that salvation, which the incar-
nate Saviour, the woman's seed, and therefore,
strictly speaking, our kinsman and bm, should ac-
complish for his church — " the true Israel of God."
In this capacity, then, he not only brings the
price of our ransom, but appears as " the Captain
of our Salvation," that he may redeem his people
out of the hand of their enemies. And, agreeably
with this notion, St. Paul in one place translates
^JO, ' 'O puofxsvog, the Deliverer, the Rescuer y.
Now we are informed by the word of God, that
a powerful enemy has led captive the fallen sons of
Adam. He that seduced our first parents is desig-
nated as " the Spirit that now worketh in the
*Exod. vi. 6. yRom. xi. 26.
216 ESSAY ON THE NAME AND
children of disobedience." — " He is the God of this
world," and the impenitent are " led captive by him
at his will." With this ' prince of darkness/ and with
his ' principalities and powers' the combat must be
maintained, in order to our escape from spiritual
bondage. " Shall the prey be taken from the
mighty, or the lawful captive [or rather, the captive
of the terrible2] delivered? But thus saith the
Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be
taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be
delivered ; for I will contend with him that con-
tendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.
And I will feed them that oppress thee with their
own flesh, and they shall be drunken with their own
blood, as with sweet wine ; and all flesh shall know
that I the Lord am thy Saviour, and thy Redeemer,
the mighty one of Jacob V
In this passage we notice, that a combination of
the wicked is described as, on the part of Satan,
ready to oppose the deliverance of the redeemed
of the Lord. And the whole history of Christ's
church militant here on earth may serve to illus-
trate this point.
And there is yet, besides, another enemy, who,
according to the scriptural representation, is ar-
rayed against us, namely, Sin — sin, considered as
a powerful principle in human nature, which unless
combated by a stronger arm than that of man would
^ Bishop Lowth. a Isai. xlix. 3 last.
CHARACTER OF THE REDEEMER. 217
still prevail to bind, as often as released, and drag
back again into captivity the ransomed prisoners of
the Lord.
But here also we experience ' the mighty hand'
and ' out- stretched arm' of our great Redeemer.
" He will subdue our iniquities15." — " Sin. shall
not have dominion over you0." — " The Lord knows
how to succour them that are tempted." — " There
shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall
turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is
my covenant unto them, when I shall take away
their sins."
The Christian, as is beautifully represented in
our baptismal service, is enlisted under the ban-
ner of the cross, to fight against sin, the world, and
the devil. And the great Captain of our Salvation,
it will be found, has opened a way for his ransomed
to pass in safety ; we follow him to victory and a
crown. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he
has visited and redeemed his people, and has
raised up a mighty salvation for us in the house of
his servant David, as he spake by the mouth of his
holy prophets, which have been since the world
began ; that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of them that hate us." — " That
we being delivered out of the hands of our ene-
mies, might serve him without fear, in holiness
and righteousness before him all the days of our
life.'"
b Micah, v vii. 19. c Rom. vi, 14.
218 ESSAY ON THE NAME AND
Does Satan then oppose? Contend he may,
prevail he cannot ! " The God of peace shall
bruise Satan under your feet shortly." Does the
world distress ? "In the world ye shall have tri-
bulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome
the world." — " Greater is He that is in you, than
he that is in the world."
Is the Christian, through the law of sin that
works in his members, bound and dragged captive ;
and, for very wretchedness, does he cry out for his
deliverer? He shall, with Paul, " thank God
through Jesus Christ his Lordd." — " Let Israel
hope in the Lord : for with the Lord there is mercy,
and with him is plenteous redemption ; and he shall
redeem Israel from all his iniquities'5."
Lastly, we are to consider the Redeemer in his
peculiar character as the Avenger of the blood of a
murdered kinsman. And in this view the sacred
Scriptures frequently lead us to consider the re-
demption, which our Almighty Saviour accomplishes
for his people.
It is true indeed that the enemies of the children
of God cannot prevail to kill their souls ; to separate
them from the love of Christ ; or to pluck them out
of his heavenly Father's hands : but, against their
bodies, and in all their temporal concerns and
interests in this present life, their enemies, the
d Rom. vii. e Ps. cxxx. 7, S.
CHARACTER OF THE REDEEMER. 219
Lord so permitting, may prevail ; and their ruin, in
the eyes of men, be complete. " They shall fall by
the sword," as we read in the word of prophecy,
" and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many
days — even to the time of the end f."
But by whatever hand these violences shall have
been offered, vengeance is sure : " for their Re-
deemer is strom /" He heard the voice of the blood
of the righteous Abel, which the earth had drunk
from the murderer's hand ; and it appears, not-
withstanding the Christian's prayers for their ene-
mies,— for they desire not the evil day, — yet in
the ears of the Lord of Hosts, their injuries cry
aloud for vengeance. For it is said, " Shall not
God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night
unto him, though he bear long with them ? I tell you,
that he will avenge them speedily g."
Nay, even the disembodied spirits of God's per-
secuted people, are represented, as making the
same demand on their Judge and Avenger. " I
saw under the altar the souls of them that were
slain for the word of God, and for the testimony
which they held : and they cried with a loud voice,
saying, How long, O Lord God, holy and true,
dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them
that dwell on the earth11 ? " And, accordingly, that
great and final catastrophe, which we expect at the
return of Christ into this world, " when he shall
f Dan. xi. 33. s Luke, xviii. 7, 8. h Rev. vi. 9, 10.
220 ESSAY ON THE NAME AND
punish the hosts of the high ones, which are on
high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth, is
called the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the
year of recompense for the controversy of ZionV'
The prophecy contained in the sixty-third chapter
of Isaiah is most remarkable, and affords a striking
representation of the Saviour, in the character of the
Redeemer, or Avenger of blood. " Who is this
that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from
Bozrah ? This, that is glorious in his apparel,
travelling in the greatness of his strength ? I that
speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Where-
fore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments
like him that treadeth in the wine-fat? I have
trodden the wine-press alone (and of the people
there was none with me) : for I will tread them in
mine anger, and trample them in my fury ; and their
blood shall be sprinkled upon my ^garments, and
I will stain all my raiments. For the day of ven-
geance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed
is comeV'
1 Isai. xxxiv. S.
k The transaction and dialogue in this passage seems to have
been a visionary representation, which the Prophet saw. From
Edom and Bozrah, the residence of the most troublesome enemies
of the Jewish people in that day, and which therefore are used as
typical of the abode of the adversaries of the church, wherever
that abode may be, when the prophecy shall receive its fulfilment
— the Prophet sees one advancing in great state and majesty, like
a conqueror returning in triumph, (nj7¥, reclinato capite incedens
ut victor triumphans.) In answer to the Prophet's inquiry, the
character in the vision announces himself, " I that speak in
CHARACTER OF THE REDEEMER. 221
We find also in some parts of Scripture that the
Lord is even represented as sanctifying himself in
the enemies of his people when he avenges their
cause, as though, after the notion entertained of the
redeemers of old, something of pollution or dis-
honour might seem to attach to his great name, till
this vengeance had been executed \ Ah ! how ex-
tensive may be the meaning of that prayer, which
our divine Master has put into our mouths, " Hal-
lowed be thy name !"
Again, not only when the people of God fall
righteousness, mighty to save " — I that am faithful to my promise,
and am able to perform what I have undertaken. The vision in
the nineteenth of Revelations exhibits the same character, and I
conceive foretels the same event. " And I saw heaven opened, and
behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called
Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make
war *."
The glaring colours of the victor's garments had at first struck
the Prophet's attention (j7l»n, acutus, acris colore, i. e., rubicundus,
puniceusf). But on his nearer approach, they assumed the ap-
penrance of the clothes of one that had been treading the wine-fat.
And so in the parallel passage in the Revelation, he is said to " be
clothed in a garment dipped in blood." The Prophet asks the
meaning of this appearance. He is answered, that he has trod the
wine-press ; treading the wine-press being an emblem of a great
slaughter executed upon the enemy. " He treadeth the wine-
press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." (Rev. xix.
15.) The stains which the Prophet sees are explained, moreover,
to be the juice — the ' life's blood' of his enemies. And the Re-
deemer states the occasion, " And I have polluted (Tbitlti) all my
garments, for the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year
of my redeemed (i^lto) was come."
1 Ezek. xxxviii. 16. 32.
* Ver. 11. t Bochart in Simon.
222 AN ESSAY ON THE NAME AND
victims to the rage of persecutors, is the honour of
their Redeemer appealed to, but even when they
meet with death in the common course of nature.
Death itself is considered as an enemy that has
violated the rights of the Redeemer's family, and
has ' intermeddled to his destruction.' " From the
hand of death will I redeem them. O Death, I
will be thy plagues ; O Hades, I will be thy de-
struction. Repentance shall be hid from mine
eyesm." — « The last enemy that shall be destroyed
is death"."
It seems to have been with this view of redemp-
tion, that the afflicted Job comforted himself, in
what he conceived dying circumstances, while he
contemplated the wretched and disgusting state of
his diseased body. " Smitten with sore boils from
the sole of his foot unto his crown:" — " his flesh
clothed with worms, and clods of dust ; his skin
broken, and become loathsome ;" yet could he say,
" I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall
stand at the latter day upon the earth ° : and though,
after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my
m Hos. xiii. 14. n l Cor. xv.
0 Or, " he shall stand upon, or arise over, the dust." — Dust
being put for the state of the dead as it respects the body. " Dust
thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." — " Now shall I sleep
in the dust." (Job, vii. 21.) " Many that sleep in the dust shall
awake." (Dan. xii. 2.) " Thy dead men shall live, together with
my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell
in the dust, for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall
cast out the dead." (Isa. xxvi. 19.)
CHARACTER OF THE REDEEMER. 223
flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself,
and mine eyes shall behold and not another, though
my reins be consumed within me." And St. Paul,
agreeably with this notion, calls the resurrection of
the body, or its deliverance from mortality, the
redemption of the body.
What a comfortable and encouraging reflection
is this to the believer in Christ, contemplating, as
each sooner or later must, the gradual victory of
death over his perishable frame : and that too, per-
haps, by some painful and loathsome disease. —
Daily he perceives its progress : all palliatives fail :
he is pronounced incurable ; or the disorder admits
of no remedy. The helpless victim must submit.
But One lives above, who will fully avenge his
cause on this last enemy, and make him more than
conqueror — " I know that my Redeemer liveth!"
Even in the conflict he shall not " see death," or
meet the eye of the victor over his mortal part.
Angels shall convey his soul to the resting-place of
the spirits of the just — " He is not found, for God
has translated him." O Death, where is thy sting?
O Hades, where is thy victory ? His soul shall
abide with Christ in mansions fitted for its resi-
dence, in great, though still unfinished happiness,
till the Almighty Redeemer shall stand over the
dust, and then shall that " which was sown in cor-
ruption be raised in incorruption ; that which was
sown in dishonour, shall be raised in glory ; that
which was sown in weakness, raised in power ;
224 ESSAY ON THE NAME AND
that which was sown a natural body, shall be
raised a spiritual body."
And, may the Giver of all grace grant that, both
in viewing our own dissolution, and in performing
the last office of earthly friendship towards our
departed friends, we may be able to join, in faith,
the prayer of our church, " beseeching God, that it
may please him, of his gracious goodness, shortly to
accomplish the number of his elect, and to hasten
his kingdom ; that we, with all those that are de-
parted in the true faith of his holy name, may have
our perfect consummation of bliss, both in body and
soul, in his eternal and everlasting glory, through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
To conclude — In view of all these, so great and
needful benefits, to be expected from the Lord
Jesus Chiist, in the character of our Redeemer,
how important the inquiry ! Who may claim kin-
dred with the Son of God 1 The answer is not dif-
ficult— " As many as received him, to them gave
he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name, which were born not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
man, but of GodV And faith in God is ever
stated to be the means by which man receives in
personal application the benefits of Christ's re-
demption. He is " set forth to be a propitiation
through faith.''' And this is declared to be " the
p John, i. 12.
CHARACTER OP THE REDEEMER. 225
victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.' ;
— " If we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our
Lord from the dead, we are assured that we shall
be saved. For he was delivered for our offences,
and raised again for our justification V'
Again, we read, " For it became Him, for whom
are all things, and by whom are all things, in
bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Cap-
tain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
For both he that sanctifieth, and they that are
Sanctified, are all of one ; for whieh rause he is not
ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will de-
clare thy name unto my brethren ; in the midst of
the church will I sing praise unto thee. And
again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Be-
hold I and the children, which God has given me.
Forasmuch, then, as the children are partakers of
flesh and blood, he also himself took part of the
sameV— " He took on him the seed of Abraham8"
— " And" saith another scripture, " if ye believe
in Christ, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs
according to the promise."
Let it be remembered then, that in one family
alone—in the family of Abraham, can kindred be
claimed with the Great Redeemer: and that the
manifest admission into this family, as we have
seen, is by faith alone.
But let not the nature of true faith be mistaken—
« Rom, iv. 24, 25. * Heb. ii, 10, &c. • Gal. iii. 29,
Q
226 ESSAY ON THE REDEEMER.
" The faith, which overcometh the world, consists
not in the involuntary assent of the mind to his-
torical evidence, nor in its assent, perhaps still
more involuntary, to the conclusions of arguments
from facts proved and admitted. All this know-
ledge and all this understanding the devils possess,
yet have not faith; and believing without faith
they tremble. Faith is not merely a speculative, but
a practical acknowledgment of Jesus as the Christ
— an effort or motion of the mind towards God,
when the sinner, convinced of ein, accepts with
thankfulness the proferred terms of pardon ; and, in
humble confidence, applying individually to self
the benefit of the general atonement, in the ele-
vated language of a venerabk father of the church,
drinks of the stream which flows from the Re-
deemer's wounded side. The effect is, that, in a
little, he is filled with that perfect love of God
which casteth out fear — he cleaves to God with the
entire affection of the soul ; and, from this active
lively faith, overcoming the world, subduing carnal
self, all these good works do necessarily spring,
which God has before ordained that we should walk
in them1."
1 Bishop Horsley's Sermons, vol. i. p. 192.
THE END.
London :— Printed by W. Clowes, Northumberland Court.
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