of Lebanon and there appears to us somewhat peculiarly beautiful in the abrupt manner in which the bride, here newly introduced, speaks of the bridegroom, before he enters the apartments, without any reference, either to his name or rank. "Let kim kiss me!" It intimates that he was the chief subject of her thoughts; and, applying this to the church, it implies a spiritual state of mind, similar to that of Mary Magdalen, in addressing the supposed gardener," Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me," (John xx. 15.) as not thinking it necessary to name the object of her inquiry. But before we proceed, let us here write, as the heathen upon their temples, "Far hence be the profane!" God forbid that any of us should make a jest of that love that astonishes angels, and absorbs the affections of saints in glory!

"Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!" This is not a mere pleonasm. Subjects and servants might, on some occasions, kiss the feet, or even the hands of their sovereign, but to receive the "kisses of his mouth," was the prerogative of the bride, and implied a complete reconciliation, whatever previous offence might be supposed. Growing bolder in her affection, she now apostrophizes her beloved Lord as if present: "Thy love is better than wine!" that is, more delightful and exhilarating. So the apostle prays for those to whom he wrote, that they might know" the love of Christ that passeth knowledge!" (Ephes. iii. 19.)

In the next verse, the odour of this love, the report of its labours and effects, is described as most attractive. Yes! He who died for sinners, promised, that when he arose again, and ascended up on high, he would draw all men unto him." (John xii. 32.) Thousands have been drawn in every successive age, and thousands shall still be drawn in every future age, until the number of his elect shall be accomplished, and gathered around his throne in glory.

It is universally agreed that this poem is

in dialogue, but we have not, in all cases, a certain criterion to guide us in marking the speakers, and therefore have not presumed to attempt it in our text in the Exposition, however, we shall endeavour to mark the changes of person, so far as circumstances may direct us. The second and third verses are undoubtedly the language of the bride; but the fourth appears to be only partly hers. The words "Draw me," are an apostrophe of the bride to the bridegroom, still absent, implying that her affections were fixed on him by the report of his excellence, figuratively called the savour (or odour) of his perfumes: but the following words (being plural) must be attributed to the virgins, her companions, who express their readiness to follow her into the presence of her beloved, and the great pleasure they should take in waiting on her. “The king (saith she) hath brought me into his apartments:" "We will celebrate thy love (reply they) more than wine: the upright love thee," and they love thee justly, for thy virtues and thy charms.

In verses 5 to 7, the bride apologizes for the defects of her complexion, as not only a native of Egypt, (as we are disposed to understand it) and therefore naturally dark in her complexion; but the more dark as having been unnecessarily exposed to the beams of the sun, through the envy of her sisters, (probably her elder sisters) to whose care she had been entrusted. When we read, however, of her having been made keeper of the vineyards, we need not interpret it of any servile occupation. Under the name vineyard, the Hebrews included every kind of plantation; and the probability seems to be, that her envious sisters, noticing the remarkable beauty of her features, had wantonly exposed her complexion to the sunbeams, whereby she became the more dark. This she considered as a setoff against her natural beauty, on which she was complimented by the virgins, her companions. Thus she says, that though in her features and dress she might re

CHAP. II. Ver. 1. I am the rose.... the lilyThe Rabbins applied this to the bride, as also Ainsworth, Brightuan, Cocceius, and most of the moderna.Aquila renders it, the rose bud, (Heb. the shaded rose") and so l'arkhurst. "A rose of the field," LXX, so also Percy, Good, Taylor, Boothroyd, &c. Sharon was famous for its pastur age. See Isa. Lxv. 10. The lily of the callies

[Christ and his church.

hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

8 The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.

9 My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.

10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

semble the curtains of Solomon's pavilion, in her complexion she approached the dark brown tents of the Kedar Arabs. To keep the vineyard of others, and neglect her own, may probably mean, that she carefully performed the duties assigned to her, while she neglected her own person : an image which, in its application to the Christian Church, may suggest a useful hint to those engaged in superintending the spiritual concerns of others, not to neglect their own.

Applying this allegorically, the language has been supposed to refer to the various declensions into which the church has fallen, and the persecutions and captivities to which she has been exposed. The pastoral images in verses 7 and 8, naturally lead us to contemplate the God of Israel as the Shepherd of his church under the Old Testament; and under the New, his beloved Son, "the Good Shepherd, who laid down his life for the sheep." (Psalm lxxx. 1; John x. 11.)

The comparison of a royal bride to a chariot horse, may seem to us coarse and mean, but this objection is effectually repelled by the fact, that Theocritus so compared a Grecian queen. The horse is an animal of great personal beauty, and those of royal persons were very richly dressed. The beauty of the church, and of all true

Christians, lies in their moral virtues and Christian graces; qualities which, though undervalued by the world, are highly esti mable in the sight of God, of angels, and of "the spirits of just men made perfect." The reciprocal affection between Christ and his church, is expressed on her part by comparing him to a casket of perfume, and to a nosegay of fragrant blossoms: on his part, by commending her general beauty, (for fairness does not here refer to her complexion) and particularly her eyes. Apply this to the eyes of the understanding, and the allusion is easy to be understood; and bearing in mind the close connexion between the understanding and affections, (for what we approve we love) we may refer this imagery to both. The two last verses we feel inclined, with Bp. Patrick and Dr. Boothroyd, to apply to the bride, who expresses therein her admiration of her beloved Lord, and of the preparations he had made for her accommo. dation, both in the verdant carpet of the lawn, and in the roof and galleries of the palace: or, if the idea we have already suggested be founded in fact, that the house of the forest of Lebanon was made to imitate rural scenery, both the carpet and the roof may refer to the same building. (See Note on ver. 16.)

Ver. 4. Banqueting house-Heb. "House of wine." The best modern critics render this verse in the optative (as a request) like the following. Thus Dr. Percy, "O bring me into the house of festivity; spread the banner of love over me!" But if we adhere to our authorized version, as we still feel inclined, ver. 5 must be considered as addressed to the bridegroom.

Ver. 5. Stay me with flagons. The word rendered flagons is of very doubtful interpretation: in his former work on Canticles, the Editor gave more than a dozen versions, and could now add as many more. Good, Fry, and Boothroyd use "cordials," but Gesenius explains it of " a cake, or hardened syrup, made of grapes." In this doubtful case we may as well, perhaps, retain the general term "refreshments.' -Comfort me with apples

Williams, "Strew (or spread) citrons round me." See Note on ver. 3.

Ver. 7. I charge. Heb. Adjure you."-By the roes-Williains, "Before the roes;" so Betà is rendered, Gen. xxiii. 18."

Ver. 9. A roe, or a young hart-Buffon, Dr. Shaw, Sir W. Jones, and others, understand this of the antelope, or gazelle, the most beautiful animal of the forest.

Ibid. Shewing-Marg. "Flourishing," alluding to the sportive playfulness of a young hart.Through the lattice-the latticed window of an arbour, according to Harmer; but if it be referred to the animal, the latticed boundary, probably, of the pleasure garden, separated from the park by a light fence.

The Gospel dispensation]

11 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;

12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

13 The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and

come away.

14 O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places

CHAP. II.

[compared to spring.

of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.

15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

16 My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.

17 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe, or a young hart, upon the mountains of Bether. (B)

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a

(B) Spiritual intercourse between Christ and his Church.-Commentators are now generally agreed in ascribing the first verse of this chapter to the bride, partly because the original terms for rose and lily are feminine; and partly because it introduces better the reply of the bridegroom in the following verse. It also agrees better with the modesty of a new bride. After all the compliments she had received, she still considers herself as rose-bud of the field, a lily " which grew wild among the valleys." Modesty is a Christian grace, equally becoming churches and individuals; and to be humble in our own eyes, is the way to be exalted by him who" resisteth the proud, but giveth more grace to the humble." (James iv. 6, 10.) Accordingly the bridegroom, in his reply, though he admits his fair one to be a "lily," intimates that she was as much superior to others, as a lily to the thorus that sometimes grow around it.

The bride, in return, (ver. 3.) compares her beloved to a citron tree, and prefers him to all others, as the citron tree, with its precious fruit, is preferred to all the trees of the forest. "Under his shade (saith she) I delighted and sat down." She then relates the happiness she had enjoyed whilst sitting within the wine-cave (probably) in the garden, surrounded with fruit and confectionaries, there enjoying those chaste embraces to which her marriage relation had entitled her, she strongly deprecates the idea of being deprived of them. The charge here given, is in the

form of adjuration, which it is very difficult to reconcile with the Mosaic law, which forbade swearing by the creatures: it was, however, common, in making a covenant, to call even dumb creatures to bear witness to it. So Abraham, in his covenant with Abimelech, "set apart seven ewe lambs" for that purpose. (Gen. xxi. 30.) And it appears, by Mr. Bruce's Travels, that a similar custom is preserved in the East to the present day. (See Taylor's Fragments, No. lxiii. p. 112.)

In applying the privileges and enjoyments of a married state to the spiritual communion between God and his church, or between Christ and believers, great prudence and caution should be observed; but in the application itself, we are certainly warranted by many passages, both in the Old and New Testaments. The house of God (or, indeed, any place wherein he manifests his presence) is his banqueting house, where he makes a feast of wine, and of the richest provisions; that is, of the blessings of the gospel. Of this we have many instances in the Psalms of David, and in the prophecies of Isaiah. In Hosea it is said, "I will allure her, (Israel) and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably to her. . . . And thou shalt call me Ishi, (my husband) and thou shalt no more call me Baali (my lord) : and I will betroth thee unto me for ever." (Hos. ii. 14—19.) So in Isaiah, ch. lxii.5.)

As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, (so) shall thy God rejoice over thee." In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is pointed out, by John the Baptist, under the

Ver. 12. Of the singing-Lowth, "Of the Song." Ver. 13. The figtree putteth forth— Mr. Green, "Sweeteneth 5 i. e. ripeneth.

Ver. 14. In the secret places of the stairs-Williams, "In the secret fissures of the cliffs." Good, " In the fastnesses of the precipices."

Ver. 15. The foxes.-Foxes are very fond of grapes; whether the little foxes" intend the same species,

may be doubtful. Hasselquist calls the jackall "the little eastern fox." Harris's Nat. Hist. in fox. By these foxes, &c. commentators generally understand Heretics; that is, persons who propagate dangerous and fundamental errors.

Ver. 17. Until the day break-Heb. "Breathe," or blow fresh, Drs. Gill and Percy.-Of BetherMarg. "Of division ;" i, e. craggy mountains.

The relation]

CHAP. III.

BY night on my bed I sought him, whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

2 I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth I sought him, but I found him

not.

3 The watchmen that go about the city found me to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?

4 It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, aud would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.

5 I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the

[of a dream. hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

6 Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?

7 Behold his bed, which is Solomon's; three score valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel.

8 They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night.

9 King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon.

10 He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem.

same images," He that hath the bride, is the bridegroom," &c. (John iii. 29.) and by St. Paul, both to the Corinthians aud Ephesians. To the former church he says, 2 Epis. xi. 2. "I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." And to the latter, he represents Christ as the husband of the Church, who had given his own life for her redemption. (Ephes. v. 23-27.) Thus the matrimonial state is sanctified, as an image both of Christian privileges and Christian duties.

In the next scene (ver. 8, &c.) "the voice of the beloved is heard as at a great distance, and the bride anticipates that he is hastening to her company, as “a roe or a young hart bounding over the mountaius." She then sees his near approach, and hears his invitation to accompany

him in the sweet enjoyments of rural scenery, and the opening spring. If we consider these words as addressed to the Jewish church, we must understand it with reference to the approaching gospel dispensation, which, after the Mosaic economy, may be compared to the advances of spring and summer, after a dreary winter. It is a dispensation of light and life-of joy and singing. And the approach of Messiah was hailed at a less and less distance, in every succeeding age. In the mean time, much of his beauty and glory might be discerued through the latticework (as it were) of Jewish types and cere monies, until the day should breathe, and with the refreshing breeze should arise "the Sun of righteousness," with healing beneath his wings. (Mal, iv. 2.)

CHAP. III. Ver. 1. By night on my bed.—This seems to imply, that the marriage had been consummated, after which, it appears, the bride and bridegroom passed the other nights of the feast separately. Percy's New Traps. p. 19; Lewis's Heb. Antiq. vol. iii. p. 308.

Ver. 2. I will rise now. - So she said to herself, in sleep.

Ver. 3. The watchmen—that is, the patrol which guarded the royal palace.

Ver. 4. Into my mother's house -Some have argued from this, that the bride could not be Pharaoh's daughter; but they forget that this is the relation of a dream.

Ver. 5. I charge you.-Comp. ch. ii. 7.

Ver. 6. Who - Most of the modern translations read What," which we think much better.

Ver. 7. His bed.-The term here used may signify alitter, or travelling bed, in which great personages were carried by bearers; a palanquin, as explained

in verse 9.

Ver. 8. Hold swords- Rather bear swords, each on his thigh.

Ver. 9. A chariot -Heb. Apireon. The word is found only in this place, and Gesenius explains it,

a sedan, a litter, a portable coach," the same as the bed above mentioned, and which is described as it approaches nearer.

Ver. 10. The bottom-Williams, "Its carpet of gold," (i. e. cloth of gold. See Esther i, 6.) its seat (or enshion) purple, &c. Paced with love Williams, "Lined;" Boothroyd," Spread."

Lady M.W. Montague informs us, that the Turkish coaches are painted on the inside with baskets of

Solomon's approach]

11 Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon with the crown, wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart. (C)

CHAP. IV.

BEHOLD, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair: thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.

2 Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one

CHAP. III.

[in a state carriage,

bear twins, and none is barren among them.

3 Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks.

4 Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.

5 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies.

6 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of

frankincense.

(C) The relation of a dream on the preceding night: Solomon's approach in a state carriage. That this is the relation of a dream is the opinion of many modern commentators, and we know no other principle on which it can be explained. This is also the more natural, as in those early ages, dreams were made the vehicle of divine revelation, as was particularly the case with Solomon. (1 Kings iii. 5.) We need not allegorize all the circumstances of this dream: the object of relating it is, to show that her divine spouse occupied her thoughts by day and night: that when she obtained his presence, she was most unwilling to part from him: (Hos. xii. 4.) that the highest enjoyments known on earth, even those of a spiritual nature, are, when past," as a dream when one awaketh." "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream." (Ps. cxxvi. 1, &c.)

The next sceue which opens, (ver. 6.) is probably an early morning scene; and by the guard attending, we may suppose the

carriage had been travelling all night. On waking, and going abroad, the bride discovers a cloud of smoke, which she attributes to the burning perfumes in silver or golden censers, and which she compares, for value, to the powders of the merchant, of which gold dust was a principal article.

The palanquin here described, is of the most costly materials and elegant construction considering it as emblematical of the gospel dispensation, we might re mark its magnificence: it displays the glory and majesty of the King of Zion:its comfort; it is lined with the expressions of divine love and mercy :-its security; it is safely guarded; and " are not all the angels ministering spirits," or guardian angels, sent forth to minister unto them that shall be heirs of salvation." Lastly, when the nuptial crown of Solomon is al luded to, it may direct our attention to Him who, when he shall come again in glory,will have "on his head many crowns." (Rev. xix. 12.) The most important consideration for us is, to prepare to meet him -"Behold, the Bridegroom cometh!"

flowers, &c. intermixed with poetical mottos. This carriage was perhaps lined with ornamental needlework, for which the Jewish ladies were famous. See Jud. v. 30; Prov. xxxi. 22, &c.

Ver. 11. The crown, &c.-This was probably the uptial crown, which Bathsheba might place upon his head.

CHAP. IV, Ver. 1. Doves' eyes. See Note on chap. v. 12.-Thy hair-as goats; i. e. as the hair. of goats, clean, and fine, and soft. That appear Marg. "That eat on," or that browse on, Hodgson, Lowth, &c.

Ver. 2. Thy teeth are like a flock—that is, white, uniform, and none wanting.

Ver. 3. Thy lips like a thread of scarlet (or crim.

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