Commentaires bibliques

So 4:1-16.

1. Contrast with the bride's state by nature

(Isa 1:6)

her state by grace

(So 4:1-7),

"perfect through His comeliness put upon her"

(Eze 16:14; Joh 15:3).

The praise of Jesus Christ, unlike that of the world, hurts not, but edifies; as His, not ours, is the glory

(Joh 5:44; Re 4:10, 11).

Seven features of beauty are specified

(So 4:1-5)

("lips" and "speech" are but one feature,

So 4:3),

the number for perfection. To each of these is attached a comparison from nature: the resemblances consist not so much in outward likeness, as in the combined sensations of delight produced by contemplating these natural objects.

doves'--the large melting eye of the Syrian dove appears especially beautiful amid the foliage of its native groves: so the bride's "eyes within her locks"

(Lu 7:44).

MAURER for "locks," has "veil"; but locks suit the connection better: so the Hebrew is translated

(Isa 47:2).

The dove was the only bird counted "clean" for sacrifice. Once the heart was "the cage of every unclean and hateful bird." Grace makes the change.

eyes--

(Mt 6:22; Eph 1:18;

contrast

Mt 5:28; Eph 4:18; 1Jo 2:16).

Chaste and guileless ("harmless,"

Mt 10:16,

Margin;

Joh 1:47).

John the Baptist, historically, was the "turtledove"

(So 2:12),

with eye directed to the coming Bridegroom: his Nazarite unshorn hair answers to "locks"

(Joh 1:29, 36).

hair . . . goats--The hair of goats in the East is fine like silk. As long hair is her glory, and marks her subjection to man

(1Co 11:6-15),

so the Nazarite's hair marked his subjection and separation unto God. (Compare

Jud 16:17, with 2Co 6:17; Tit 2:14; 1Pe 2:9).

Jesus Christ cares for the minutest concerns of His saints

(Mt 10:30).

appear from--literally, "that lie down from"; lying along the hillside, they seem to hang from it: a picture of the bride's hanging tresses.

Gilead--beyond Jordan: there stood "the heap of witness"

(Ge 31:48).

2. even shorn--the Hebrew is translated

(1Ki 6:25),

"of one size"; so the point of comparison to teeth is their symmetry of form; as in "came up from the washing," the spotless whiteness; and in "twins," the exact correspondence of the upper and lower teeth: and in "none barren," none wanting, none without its fellow. Faith is the tooth with which we eat the living bread

(Joh 6:35, 54).

Contrast the teeth of sinners

(Ps 57:4; Pr 30:14);

also their end

(Ps 3:7; Mt 25:30).

Faith leads the flock to the washing

(Zec 13:1; 1Co 6:11; Tit 3:5).

none . . . barren--

(2Pe 1:8).

He who is begotten of God begets instrumentally other sons of God.

3. thread--like a delicate fillet. Not thick and white as the leper's lips (type of sin), which were therefore to be "covered," as "unclean"

(Le 13:45).

scarlet--The blood of Jesus Christ

(Isa 6:5-9)

cleanses the leprosy, and unseals the lips

(Isa 57:19; Ho 14:2; Heb 13:15).

Rahab's scarlet thread was a type of it

(Jos 2:18).

speech--not a separate feature from the lips

(Zep 3:9; Col 4:6).

Contrast "uncircumcised lips"

(Ex 6:12).

MAURER and BURROWES translate, "thy mouth."

temples--rather, the upper part of the cheek next the temples: the seat of shamefacedness; so, "within thy locks," no display

(1Co 11:5, 6, 15).

Mark of true penitence

(Ezr 9:6; Eze 16:63).

Contrast

Jer 3:3; Eze 3:7.

pomegranate--When cut, it displays in rows seeds pellucid, like crystal, tinged with red. Her modesty is not on the surface, but within, which Jesus Christ can see into.

4. neck--stately: in beautiful contrast to the blushing temples

(So 4:3);

not "stiff"

(Isa 48:4; Ac 7:51),

as that of unbroken nature; nor "stretched forth" wantonly

(Isa 3:16);

nor burdened with the legal yoke

(La 1:14; Ac 15:10);

but erect in gospel freedom

(Isa 52:2).

tower of David--probably on Zion. He was a man of war, preparatory to the reign of Solomon, the king of peace. So warfare in the case of Jesus Christ and His saints precedes the coming rest. Each soul won from Satan by Him is a trophy gracing the bride

(Lu 11:22);

(each hangs on Him,

Isa 22:23, 24);

also each victory of her faith. As shields adorn a temple's walls

(Eze 27:11),

so necklaces hang on the bride's neck

(Jud 5:30; 1Ki 10:16).

5. breasts--The bust is left open in Eastern dress. The breastplate of the high priest was made of "two" pieces, folded one on the other, in which were the Urim and Thummim (lights and perfection). "Faith and love" are the double breastplate

(1Th 5:8),

answering to "hearing the word" and "keeping it," in a similar connection with breasts

(Lu 12:27, 28).

roes--He reciprocates her praise

(So 2:9).

Emblem of love and satisfaction

(Pr 5:19).

feed--

(Ps 23:2).

among the lilies--shrinking from thorns of strife, worldliness, and ungodliness

(2Sa 23:6; Mt 13:7).

Roes feed among, not on the lilies: where these grow, there is moisture producing green pasturage. The lilies represent her white dress

(Ps 45:14; Re 19:8).

6. Historically, the hill of frankincense is Calvary, where, "through the eternal Spirit He offered Himself"; the mountain of myrrh is His embalmment

(Joh 19:39)

till the resurrection "daybreak." The third Canticle occupies the one cloudless day of His presence on earth, beginning from the night

(So 2:17)

and ending with the night of His departure

(So 4:6).

His promise is almost exactly in the words of her prayer

(So 2:17),

(the same Holy Ghost breathing in Jesus Christ and His praying people), with the difference that she then looked for His visible coming. He now tells her that when He shall have gone from sight, He still is to be met with spiritually in prayer

(Ps 68:16; Mt 28:20),

until the everlasting day break, when we shall see face to face

(1Co 13:10, 12).

7. Assurance that He is going from her in love, not in displeasure

(Joh 16:6, 7).

all fair--still stronger than

So 1:15; So 4:1.

no spot--our privilege

(Eph 5:27; Col 2:10);

our duty

(2Co 6:17; Jude 23; Jas 1:27).

8. Invitation to her to leave the border mountains (the highest worldly elevation) between the hostile lands north of Palestine and the Promised Land

(Ps 45:10; Php 3:13).

Amana--south of Anti-Libanus; the river Abana, or Amana, was near Damascus

(2Ki 5:12).

Shenir--The whole mountain was called Hermon; the part held by the Sidonians was called Sirion; the part held by the Amorites, Shenir

(De 3:9).

Infested by the devouring lion and the stealthy and swift leopard

(Ps 76:4; Eph 6:11; 1Pe 5:8).

Contrasted with the mountain of myrrh, &c.

(So 4:6; Isa 2:2);

the good land

(Isa 35:9).

with me--twice repeated emphatically. The presence of Jesus Christ makes up for the absence of all besides

(Lu 18:29, 30; 2Co 6:10).

Moses was permitted to see Canaan from Pisgah; Peter, James, and John had a foretaste of glory on the mount of transfiguration.