Chapter VIII: 5–14 (1)

The Shulamite, released from the palace, returns to her native place with her beloved (5). On their way home they visit the spot where they had been first pledged to each other; and there they renew their vows (6, 7). On their arrival at the Shulamite’s home, her brothers are reminded of the promise they had made to reward their sister’s virtue (9, 10). The Shulamite mentions the greatness of her temptations, and her victory over them (11, 12). The shepherds visit her, to whom she declares, according to request, her unabated attachment to her beloved shepherd (13, 14).

THE COMPANIONS OF THE SHEPHERD.

Who is it that comes up from the plain,
Leaning upon her beloved?

THE SHULAMITE.

Under this apple-tree I won thy heart,
Here thy mother travailed,
Here labouring she gave thee birth.
Oh, place me as a seal upon thy heart,
As a seal upon thine hand!
For love is strong as death,
Affection as inexorable as Hades.
Its flames are flames of fire,
The flames of the Eternal.
Floods cannot quench love;
Streams cannot sweep it away.
If one should offer all his wealth for love,
He would be utterly despised.

ONE OF THE BROTHERS OF THE SHULAMITE.

Our sister is still young,
And is not yet marriageable.
What shall we do for our sister,
When she shall be demanded in marriage?

ANOTHER BROTHER.

If she be like a wall,
We will build upon her a silver turret.
But if she be like a door,
We will enclose her with boards of cedar.

THE SHULAMITE.

I am like a wall,
And my bosom is as towers!
Then I was in his eyes
As one that findeth favour.
Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hammon;
He let out the vineyard to tenants;
Each of whom yielded for the fruit of it
A thousand shekels of silver.
I will keep my own vineyard:
Be the thousands thine, O Solomon,
And the two hundreds to the keepers of its fruit!

THE SHEPHERD.

O thou that dwellest in the gardens,
My companions are listening to thy voice,
Let me hear thy voice!

THE SHULAMITE.

Haste, O my beloved,
And be like the gazelle, as the young one of the hind,
Over the mountains of spices.

NOTES

2. Oh for a kiss, &c. That the speaker is a Shulamite shepherdess who had been separated by king Solomon from her beloved, and that she desires to be reunited with him, is evident from verses 4, 7, 8; vii. 1, &c. Excited by the pain of separation, the damsel wishes that her beloved were present, that he could kiss her, for his caresses would cheer her fainting heart more than the best of wines. Wine, either pure or mixed (see infra, vii. 3), is often spoken of by the sacred and profane poets as delighting the hearts of both gods and men, and reviving their drooping spirits. (Judges ix. 13; Ps. civ. 15; Prov. xxxi. 6; Eccl. x. 19.) Hence Helen gave a bowl of mixed wine to her guests oppressed with grief, to raise their spirits. (Hom. Odyss. iv. 220.) Yet the Shulamite declares that she preferred the caresses of her beloved to this highly prized cordial.

The imperfect form יִשַּׁקֵנִי is used optatively or voluntatively, “Oh that he would kiss me!” (Gesen. § 127, 3 b; Ewald, § 224 a); i.e. a kiss: the subject, either in the singular (Gen. xxviii. 11, compare v. 18; Exod. vi. 25; Ps. cxxxvii. 3), or plural (Gen. xxx. 14; Exod. xvii. 5; 2 Sam. xi. 17), is to be supplied from the plural noun מִנְּשִׁיקוֹת, as indicated by the partitive מִן. (Compare Gesen. § 154, 3 c; Ewald, § 217, b, i. b.) The singular, however, is preferable, for the Shulamite does not wish so much for a number of kisses as for the presence of her beloved; one would be sufficient if he could only come. We thus obtain a phrase נָשָׁק נְשִׁיקָה, to kiss a kiss, i.e. to give a kiss; corresponding to יָעַץ עֵצָה, to counsel a counsel, i.e. to give counsel, 2 Sam. xvi. 23; חָלָה חֳלִי, 2 Kings xiii. 14. This construction is of frequent occurrence in Hebrew, and is also found in Greek and Latin; (Compare νοσεῖν νόσον, pugnam pugnare; Gesen. § 138 i., Rem. 1; Ewald, § 281 a.) The rendering, therefore, of מִן by with (Luther, English Version, Good, Williams, &c.) is incorrect. Ewald’s and Herxheimer’s translation, Let one of the kisses kiss me, is both incongruous and ungrammatical; for in the first place, it is not the kiss that kisses, but the individual; and secondly, נְשִׁיקָה is feminine, which would require תִּשַּׁקֵנִי, the third fem. דוֹדִים, prop. love, the abstract, which, as in Greek and Latin, is in Hebrew frequently expressed by the plural, (comp. חַיִּים, life, מַמְתַּקִים, sweetness, מַחִמַדִים, beauty; vide infra, v. 16; Gesen. § 108, 2 a; Ewald, § 179 a), here metonomically for the expressions of it—love-tokens, caresses. So Lee, Magnus, Noyes, Fürst, Philippson, &c. This rendering is demanded by the context, for this clause gives the cause of the statement in the preceding one. The change from the third person יִשַּׁקֵנִי, to the second דֹדָיךָ, or from the second to the third person, is an enallage of frequent occurrence in sacred poetry. (Deut. xxxii. 15; Isa. i. 29; Jer. xxii. 24; Gesen. § 137, 3, Rem. 3.) The Sept. and Vulg. have דַּדֶּיךָ, thy breasts, instead of דֹדֶיךָ, thy caresses. That this is a gross error is evident from the fact that a man and not a woman is here addressed. To appeal to the catachresis in Isa. lx. 16, would be preposterous.

3. Sweet is the odour, &c. Ointments, like wines, were used by the ancients as cordials (Prov. xxvii. 9), and as restoratives in consequence of their supposed sanative properties. Hence the anointing of the sick. (Isa. i. 6, &c.; Jer. viii. 22.) The fainting Shulamite, therefore, mentions this second cordial. The ל in לְרֵיחַ signifies in, as regards, quoad, and is frequently used for the sake of giving prominence to an idea. Thus “Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth לְעֹשֵׁר וּלְחָכְמָה, in or as regards riches and wisdom.” (1 Kings x. 23.) Compare also Exod. xx. 5, 6; Ewald, § 217 a. Fürst, Lexicon, ל 5, f. The Sept. has ו instead of ל; or it may be, favours the view of Döpke, Heiligstedt, Meier, &c., that the ל introduces the nominative; but this requires another anomaly, viz., to refer טוֹבִים, to the nomen rectum, instead of regens, and does not at all improve the sense. The Syriac, Ibn Ezra, Authorized Version, Percy, Williams, Noyes, &c., take the ל in the sense of לְמַעַן, because, and connect it with עַל כֵּן, therefore, of the last clause; but these words are never used together for cause and effect. Besides, this explanation, like the former, interrupts the sense; for the fainting damsel evidently refers here to the second restorative. Luther strangely renders this clause, dass man deine gute Salbe rieche. Kleuker, Rosenmüller, Ewald, Delitzsch, Philippson, &c., translate לְרֵיחַ to the smell; but this is contrary to the usus loquendi, as רֵיחַ is never used for the organ which inhales, but invariably means something exhaled or emitted. Hodgson renders לְרֵיחַ, like the scent; but ל never signifies like. The instance in Deut. xi. 18, adduced in support of his assertion, is gratuitous, for the ל in לְטוֹטָפֹת has not that meaning.

Which perfume thou art, by thy name, &c. This clause is explanatory of the preceding one, “Sweet is the odour of thy perfumes, because thou art that perfume.” The comparison of an agreeable person to perfumes arose from the great requisition of aromatics in the East. In warm climates perspiration is profuse, and much care is needful to prevent its offensiveness. Hence the use of perfumes particularly at weddings, feasts, on visits to persons of rank (2 Sam. xii. 20; Ps. xlv. 8; Prov. vii. 17; Amos vi. 6), and most of the occasions which bring people together with the intention of being agreeable to one another. Hence the pleasant odours diffused by perfumes soon became a metaphor to express the attractions which an agreeable person throws around him (Eccl. vii. 1), just as an offensive smell is used to express the contrary idea. (Gen. xxxiv. 30; Exod. v. 21.) The word תּוּרַק, being taken as the third person fem., has greatly perplexed interpreters. For neither שֶׁמֶן, to which the Sept., Ibn Ezra, Rashbam, Immanuel, &c., refer it, nor שֵׁם, to which it is referred by Ewald, Gesenius, &c., ever occurs as feminine. Others, to overcome this difficulty, have either taken תּוּרַק as a proper name (Syria. R. Tobiah) or as an appellative (Bochart, Hieron. ii. 4, 26.) The true solution seems to be that the word in question is not the third person feminine but the second person masculine. So Rashi, Michaelis, Hengstenberg, &c. The words literally translated would be, like oil art thou poured forth, with regard to thy name. שִׁמְךָ, is the second accusative, comp. Ps. lxxxiii. 19; Ewald, § 281, 3 c. The words שֶׁמֶן and שֵׁם form a paranomasia. This figure, which consists of words ranged together of similar sound, but differing in sense, is frequently used in the Old Testament; and also occurs in the New. (Compare λιμοὶ καὶ λοιμοὶ, Luke xxi. 11, and Acts xvii. 25.)

Therefore do the damsels love thee. How natural for a woman, greatly admiring, and dotingly attached to her beloved, to think that every damsel must be enamoured of him! The most probable derivation of the much-disputed עַלְמָה, is from עָלָה = עוּל, to come up, to grow up; hence the Poel עוֹלֵל, a growth, a child, עֶלֶם, one growing up; with the termination –ֶם, (Compare Alma, in Latin, from alo, ἄλδω, and Fürst, Lexicon, מ 2 c,) and the feminine עַלְמָה, a growing damsel, without any reference to the idea of virginity, for which בְּתוּלָה is invariably used; Joel i. 8, not excepted. בַּעַל is here used, not to indicate that the marriage was consummated, but because the Jews regarded parties consecrated to each other from the very moment they were betrothed. Hence Mary is called the wife of Joseph, and he her husband. (Compare Matt. i. 19, 20, &c.) Other derivations assigned to עַלְמָה, such as עָלַם = חָלַם, to be fat, full, ripe, marriageable (Gesenius, &c.), or being excited, hence youth as being peculiarly subject to it (Lee); or עָלַם, to hide, be concealed, unrevealed, unknown; hence עֶלֶם and עַלְמָה, persons of a youthful age who were destitute of the knowledge which springs from sexual intercourse (Henderson) are exceedingly forced. Jerome’s assertion, as also Wordsworth’s, on Matt. i. 23, that עַלְמָה, is the designation of a virgin, because it signifies kept secret, as a virgin is under the care of her parents, is gratuitous, for עַלְמָה, is formed from עֶלֶם, a young man, of whom this cannot be said.

4. Oh draw me, &c. The Shulamite wishes that her beloved should not only come and cheer her fainting heart with the tokens of his love, but take her away altogether. אַחֲרֶיךָ belongs to מָשְׁכֵנִי. (Compare Job xxi. 33.) So the Chaldee, Immanuel, Luther, Mendelssohn, Kleuker, Percy, Hodgson, Ewald, Meier, Hitzig, Philippson, &c. The Septuagint renders מָשְׁכֵנִי, by εἵλκυσάν σε, mistaking it for מְשָׁכוּךָ, and adds לְרֵיחַ שְׁמָנֶידָ after אַחֲרֶיךָ, evidently an interpolation from the first clause of the third verse, which the Vulgate, Percy, &c., follow.

The king has brought me, &c. It was the king, she tells us, who brought her into his apartments, and thus separated her from her beloved, in whom, however, she still delights. That this is the import of this clause is obvious from the words and connexion. The Shulamite began with invoking her absent beloved in the third person; but no sooner had she expressed her desire to be with him, than he is, as it were, present to her mind, and she forthwith, dropping the third person, addresses him in the second, and so continues to speak to him throughout the third verse. She begins the fourth verse in the same way, imploring her beloved, in the second person, to take her away, telling him that “the king, ‘HE,’ has brought her into his apartments” (mark the change from the second to the third person); and then continues and finishes her address to her beloved in the second person. Now we ask, do not the words הֱבִיאַנִי הַמֶּלֶךְ חֲדָרָיו, the king, “HE,” has brought me into his apartments, placed between מָשְׁכֵנִי אַחֲרֶיךָ, do “THOU” draw me after thee, and נָגִילָה וְנִשְׂמְחָה בָּךְ וגו׳, we exult and rejoice in “THEE,” &c., clearly show that the king here referred to is a separate person from the beloved to whom the maiden is addressing herself? We venture to affirm that few readers of the original Hebrew, whose minds are not biassed by a preconceived theory, can carefully peruse these three verses without observing that TWO persons are here introduced—viz. the beloved to whom, and the king of whom, the damsel speaks. Ibn Ezra, Immanuel, the Anonymous MS. Commentary, &c., could not help seeing this, and explained the passage, “Were even the king to bring me into his apartments, I should rejoice and be glad in thee” (the shepherd). The Septuagint, which is followed by the Vulgate, has again דַּדֶּיךָ, thy breast, instead of דֹדֶיךָ, thy love; but see supra, ver. 2.

The upright love thee. The word מֵישָׁרִים, is explained by Rashi, Rashbam, Döpke, De Wette, Rosenmüller, Gesenius, &c., by sincerely, uprightly; Ibn Ezra, who is followed by Houbigant, takes it as an adjective for wine, i.e. יַיִן הֹלֵך לְמַישָׁרִים, wine that glides down smoothly; and Ewald, Boothroyd, Magnus, Hitzig, &c., render it deservedly, justly. As for אֲהֵבוּךָ, it is either referred to עֲלָמוֹת, the damsels love thee more than wine (Ibn Ezra); or is taken impersonally, i.e. thou art sincerely or deservedly beloved. (Ewald, Magnus, &c.) But this is against the structure of these verses. For the second and third verses, consisting of five members, form one stanza, finishing with the words עֲלָמוֹת אֲהֵבוּךָ; and it is evident that the fourth verse, also consisting of five members, is of the same structure, and that the concluding words מֵישָׁרִים אֲהֵבוּךָ, are intended to correspond to those at the end of the first stanza. מֵישָׁרִים, therefore, must be taken as a parallelism with עֲלָמוֹת, and means the upright. So the Septuagint (εὐθύτης ἠγάπησέ σε, the abstract for concrete), Symmachus, (οἱ εὐθεῖς οἱ αγαπῶντές σε,) the Vulgate (recti diligant te), the Chaldee (צַדִּיקָיָא רְחִימוּ), English Version (margin), Mendelssohn, Philippson, &c. מֵישָׁרִים, the upright, is designedly chosen in preference to עֲלָמוֹת, damsels, in order to give an indirect and gentle blow to him who had separated her from her beloved. “Thee, the upright, and not the seduced love.”

5. I am swarthy, &c. The court ladies, indignant at this statement, looked with affected disdain upon the discoloured rustic girl. The Shulamite repels these disdainful looks, for she knows that, though swarthy, she is comely, else the king would not have noticed her. A similar idea occurs in Theocritus (Idyl. x. 26–29), where Bambyce, though sun-burnt, is called beautiful.

Βομβύκα χαρίεσσα, Σύραν καλέοντι τὸ πάντες,
Ἰσχνὰν, ἁλιόκαυστον· ἐγὼ δὲ μόνος μελίχλωρον.
Καὶ τὸ ἴον μέλαν ἐντὶ, καὶ ἁ γραπτὰ ὑάκινθος.
Ἀλλ’ ἔμπας ἐν τοῖς στεφάνοις τὰ πρᾶτα λέγονται.

“Charming Bambyce, though some call you thin,
And blame the tawny colour of your skin;
Yet I the lustre of your beauty own,
And deem you like Hyblaean honey-brown.
The letter’d hyacinth’s of darksome hue,
And the sweet violet a sable blue;
Yet these in crowns ambrosial odours shed,
And grace fair garlands that adorn the head.”

Compare also Virgil, Eclog. x. 38. The comparison between the dark complexion and the tents of the Kedareens, and between the comeliness and the pavilions of Solomon, arose from the custom of nomades and travellers in the East of carrying with them moveable tents, which were temporarily pitched for the purpose of the pernoctation or protection against meridian sun. The tents of the Kedareens, a nomadic tribe of North Arabia (Gen. xxv. 13; Isa. xxi. 17), were and still are to this day made of coarse cloth, obtained from the shaggy hair of their black goats (Rosenmüller, Orient. iv. 939; Saalschütz, Archäologie der Hebräer, Erster Theil, p. 63). Whereas, the curtains of which Solomon’s pavilion was constructed were, most probably, very fine and beautiful. From this passage, confirmed by chap. iii. 6, and vi. 12, we see that this scene took place in the royal tent of Solomon, pitched in the open air of some favourite spot to which the king resorted in the summer. It is still the custom of Oriental potentates to go once a-year to some attractive neighbourhood, where they erect their magnificent tents, which serve as their temporary abodes. (Morier, Zweite Reise in Persien, p. 223; Jaubert, Voyage, p. 334). שְׁחוֹרָה, swarthy, refers to ﬡָהֳלֵי קֵדָר, the tents of Kedar, and נָאוָה, comely, to יְרִעוֹת שְׁלֹמֹה the pavilion of Solomon. נָﬡוָה, a contraction of נָﬡֲוָה, from the root נָﬡָה, is formed from the Pilel. The third radical, which this conjugation requires to be doubled, appears in this and in two other words, under the form וה. Compare שָׁחַה, to bow, Pilel, שָׁחֲוָה, hence the reflexive הִשְׁתַּחֲוָה, to bow, or prostrate oneself; מְטַחֲוִים, archers, Gen. xxi. 16; Gesen. § 75, Rem. 18; Ewald, § 121 c. יְרִעָה, prop. a vail, a curtain of a tent, Exod. xxvi. 12, and metonomically for the tent itself, 2 Sam. vii. 2; 1 Chron. xvii. 1, and like here, in parallelism with אֹהֶל, Jer. iv. 20; x. 20; xi. 29. The Septuagint, followed by the Vulgate, erroneously renders כִּירִיעוֹת שְׁלֹמֹה, ὥς δέῤῥεις Σολομὼν, as the skins of Solomon, and Bishop Foliot refers it to the beautiful skin of Solomon’s body, with which the Church compares herself to set forth her comeliness. Hodgson, misunderstanding the figure, absurdly renders כְּאָהֳלֵי קֵדָר, like the spices of Kedar, and makes the Shulamite compare herself to the odoriferous trees and beautiful figures in the (יְרִיעוֹת), fine tapestry.

6. Disdain me not. In repelling these disdainful looks the Shulamite states first that her dark complexion is adventitious, being merely sun-burnt, and as Rashi remarks, נוח להתלבן כשיעמוד בצל, will be white again under the protection of the shade: and secondly, how she came to be so much exposed to the sun, and this she ascribes to the anger of her brothers. This anger, however, as it appears from ii. 8–17, was merely a fraternal solicitude for her reputation, which induced them to give her employment in the vineyards, in order to prevent her meeting her beloved in the field. אַל תִּרְאוּנִי (i.q. אַל תִּרְאֲֽינָה אֹתִי, Ewald, § 248), is well explained by the Chald., Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Rashbam, Immanuel, &c., אלֹ תבזוני, do not disdain me. רָאָה, to see, is also used for looking down upon any one, Job. xli. 26. Instead of תִּרְאֻנִי, four of Kennicott’s MSS., two of De Rossi’s, and two more, originally read תיראוני, fear me not, which is adopted by Döderlein; but the reading of the received text is both more supported, and suits the connexion better; for it can hardly be possible that the damsel was actually so black as to inspire terror; or that the court ladies were so highly nervous as to be so easily frightened. Hodgson’s rendering, mind me not, is incorrect. The ש in שֶׁאֲנִי, stands for אֲשֶׁר, the א being rejected by aphaeresis, and the ר assimilated; Gesen. § 36. שְׁחַרְחֹר, blackish; adjectives denoting colour have frequently the last two stem letters repeated to render them diminutives; as אֲדַמְדָּם, reddish, Lev. xiii. 19; יְרַקְרַק, greenish, Lev. xiii. 49. So Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Rashbam, Immanuel, Gesen. § 84. 23; Ewald, § 157 c. שָׁזָף, i.q. שָׁדַף, to scorch, to burn, Gen. xxiii. 17; xli. 6. So the Syriac, Aquila, Theodotion, Ewald, Gesenius, Meier, Hitzig, &c. The ז and ד frequently interchange, compare גָזַע and גָדַע, to cut down; and are even found to do so by the same inspired writer; compare נִדְעֲכוּ, Job. vi. 17, with נִזְעֲכוּ, xvii. 1. בְּנֵי אִמִּי, not step-brothers, (Houbigant, Ewald, Good,) who would not have such power over their sister, but poetically used for אַחַי, my brothers. Comp. Gen. xxvii. 20; Ps. l. 20; lxix. 9. נִחָרוּ is the Niphal of חָרַר, to burn, (comp. Ps. cii. 4; Gesen. § 6, 7, 8, Rem. 5; Ewald, § 140 a. § 193 c.), and not from חָרָה (Kimchi, Ibn Ezra, Immanuel, &c.) which would be נֶחֱרוּ, Is. xli. 11.

Though my own vineyard, &c. The word כַּרְמִי, is either taken to denote the Shulamite’s personal appearance, or to mean her beloved: and the phrase is explained, “Through the constant watch which my brothers made me keep over their vineyard, I could not take care of (כַּרְמִי) my complexion; or could not attend to (כַּרְמִי) my beloved.” But it is a hazardous mode of interpretation to take an expression in the same verse in an ordinary and in an extraordinary sense, which ought never to be done unless required by absolute necessity, which is not the case here. Dr. Good indeed escapes this inconsistency by assigning a spiritual meaning to כֶּרֶם, (viz. personal estate, one’s own person) in both clauses; and he submits that “the bride asserts that she had been compelled to neglect her own person, through the perpetual attention which was demanded of her by her brothers or sisters in decorating themselves, or in assisting in their concerns.” But apart from the unnecessary and unjustifiable deviation from the literal meaning, this interpretation is entirely at variance with the context. For in the words, “They have made me keeper of their vineyards,” the Shulamite evidently means to explain how she came to be exposed to the tanning sun. Whereas, the supposition of her perpetual attention to the adornment of her brothers, fails to account for the brown complexion. If however, with Ibn Ezra, we take these words to explain the severity of her brothers, everything will be plain and unforced. The damsel says, “My brothers were so angry—so severe with me that, resolved to carry out their purpose, they made me keep their vineyards, ובתחילה קורם זה אפילו כרמי שלי לא נטרתי, a thing which I had never done before, even to my own vineyard. It is utterly inconceivable how those who maintain that this Song celebrates the marriage of Solomon with the daughter of Pharaoh can reconcile it with the facts that the damsel’s dark complexion is here described as adventitious; whereas the Egyptians, even of the highest and most secluded classes, are naturally dark, and that she has been made keeper of the vineyards, which would ill agree with any prince’s daughter. כֶּרֶם is most probably derived from כָּרָה = כּוּר, to dig, hence a garden cultivated by means of axes and spades in contradistinction to fields worked with ploughs and harrows. (Compare Saalschütz, Archäologie der Hebräer, vol. i. p. 119.) For the term. –ֶם vide supra, p. 131. שֶׁלִי, i.q. אֲשֶׁר לִי is used emphatically after כַּרִמִי, to mark the contrast, and not, as Houbigant erroneously supposes, in the sense of בשלי, tranquillè, mine own vineyard I kept not quietly.

7. Tell me, O thou, &c. Having repelled the disdainful looks of the court ladies, the Shulamite now resumes her address to her beloved; so that this verse is intimately connected with the fourth; and verses five and six are, as it were, parenthetical. Is it not surprising that some can read this verse, and yet believe that the king was the object of the damsel’s attachment, when this shows so clearly that it was a shepherd? The violent heat of noonday compels people in the East to desist from labour, and recline in some cool part of the house (2 Sam. iv. 5). Shepherds especially, being more exposed to the burning rays of the sun, lead their flocks under some shady tree near wells and streams. (Gen. xxix. 7; Ps. xxiii.; Isa. xix. 10.) We have beautiful descriptions of the same custom by Greeks and Romans. Thus Virgil, Georg. iii. 331—

Aestibus at mediis umbrosam exquirere vallem,
Sicubi magna Jovis antiquo robore quercus
Ingentis tendat ramos, aut sicubi nigrum
Ilicibus crebris sacra nemus adcubet umbra.

“When noon-tide flames, down cool sequester’d glades,
Lead where some giant oak the dell o’ershades,
Or where the gloom of many an ilex throws
The sacred darkness that invites repose.”

Compare also Theocritus, i. 14, 15: vi. 1, 16, 38, 39. אֵיכָה prop. how, but also of place, where, 2 Kings xvi. 13. Twenty-eight MSS. of Kenn. and De Rossi, read וְאֵיכָה, but this weakens the sentence. We must supply צֹאנְךָ after תִּרְעֶה, and –ם after תַּרְבִּיץ, see Ezek. xxxiv. 15. Immanuel accounts for the dual, צָהֳרַיִם, because שזה השם נופל לא על חצות היום בלבד אלא גם על חלק מהיום קרוב לחצות וחלק מהיום מעט אחר חצות, it speaks of that part of the day immediately preceding noon as well as of that part which immediately follows noon. שֶׁלָמָה, i.q. אֲשֶׁר לָמָה, Dan. i. 10, ut ne, well rendered by the Sept. μήποτε, Vulg. ne. אֲשֶׁר is used as a conjunction, the ל to express design, or purpose, and מָה for negation, Ewald, § 337, 6. כְּעֹטְיָה has caused much perplexity to interpreters. It is explained to mean like one veiled (ὡς περιβαλλομένη, Sept.), as a sign of mourning (Rashi, compare 2 Sam. xv. 30; xix. 5); of harlotry (Rosenmüller, comp. xxviii. 5); of shame (Umbreit, Hengstenberg, comp. Jer. xiv. 3; Mal. iii. 7); and of wandering or roaming (Philippson, comp. Jer. xliii. 12). But wherever covering is used to signify mourning or shame, the part of the body usually covered, in order to indicate the existence of the emotion, is invariably stated. Equally untenable is the rendering of harlot; for Tamar covered her face, not as a sign that she was a prostitute, but to disguise herself, so that she might not be recognised, and Judah took her to be a harlot because she sat by the way side, Comp. Jer. iii. 2. Ewald renders it like one unknown; but this, to say the least, is remote from the context; Gesenius, like one fainting; but this incurs the same objection. The explanation of Philippson would have been the most plausible, if Rashbam and the anonymous MS. had not shown that עָטַה itself means to roam, to wander, by referring to Isa. xxii. 17, where, according to its parallel, טוּל, to cast down, it must signify to roll about. This meaning bests suits the context here, and is confirmed by Symach., Vulg., Syriac, Chald.

8. If thou knowest not. The court ladies, hearing the rustic girl say that she wished to be with her shepherd, tell her ironically to go, and be employed in the low and toilsome occupation of a shepherdess, rather than enjoy the exalted and easy life of a royal favourite. Some have put this answer into the mouth of the beloved; but it is evident from v. 9, and vi. 1, the only two places where the appellation “fairest of women” occurs, that it is the reply of the court ladies, which even Döpke, Good and Noyes, the defenders of the fragmentary theory, admit. Nothing can be more plain and incontrovertible than the statement in this verse, that the damsel is a shepherdess, and the beloved a shepherd, whom, she is told, she would find among his fellow-shepherds. It is for those who maintain the theory that this Song celebrates the marriage of Solomon with the daughter of Pharaoh, or some other prince’s daughter, to get over this fact. לֹא יָדָע is unnecessarily and incorrectly rendered by Ewald, Meier, Hitzig, &c., unwise. The Sept., which is followed by Luther, mistaking the usage of לָדְ, translates this clause ἐὰν μὴ γνῷν σεαυτήν, as if the original were אִם לֹא תֵדְעִי אֶת נִפְשֶׁךָ. The prepo. בּ in בַּנָּשִׁים gives to הַיָּפָה the force of the superlative. Besides the several modes of expressing the superlative adduced by Gesenius, § 119, 2, this degree is sometimes also expressed by the positive and the prepo. ב prefixed to the noun designating the class to which the person or thing compared belongs: thus אַלְפִי הַדַּל בִּמְנַשֶׁה, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, Judg. xvi. 5; Prov. xxx. 30, comp. also εὐλογημένη συ ἐν γυναιξίν, thou art the most blessed of women, Luke i. 28, Ewald, § 313 c.

9. To my steed, &c. The court-ladies having turned from her and told her to go back to her menial employment, her severest trial begins. The king, having watched his opportunity, enters at that moment, and thus begins his flattering address. He first praises her beauty and gracefulness by comparing her to his stately and noble chariot steed. The anonymous MS. commentary rightly remarks, מוסב למעל שאמרה שחורה אנו והוא אמר לה דמיתיך לסוסתי ברכבי פרעה שהם שחורים וסוס השחור יפה הוא יותר משאר סוסים, that this simile was suggested by the reference which the damsel has made in the preceding verse to her dark complexion. The king, therefore, compares her to his noble steed, whose dark colour renders it more beautiful than the other horses. Such a comparison must have been very striking and flattering in the East, where this animal was so much celebrated for its preeminent beauty. “A young chestnut mare,” says Layard, Nineveh, i. 91, “belonging to the sheik, was one of the most beautiful creatures I ever beheld. As she struggled to free herself from the spear to which she was tied, she showed the lightness and elegance of the gazelle. Her limbs were in perfect symmetry; her ears long, slender, and transparent; her nostrils high, dilated and deep red, her neck gracefully arched; and her mane and texture of silk.... No one can look at the horses of the early Assyrian sculptures without being convinced that they were drawn from the finest models.” Compare also the exquisite and inimitable description of this noble animal in Job xxxix. 19, &c. and Rosenmüller, Orient. iv. 941. The same comparison is used by the Greek and Roman poets. Thus Theocritus, Idyl. xviii. 30, 31:—

ἢ κάπῳ κυπάρισσος ἢ ἅρματι Θεσσαλὸς ἵππος,
ὧδε καὶ ἁ ῥοδόχρως Ἑλένα Λακεδαίμονι κόσμος.

“As towers the cypress mid the garden’s bloom,
As in the chariot proud Thessalian steed,
Thus graceful rose-complexion’d Helen moves.”

Compare also Horace, Ode iii. 11. This shows the futility both of those who affirm that the strangeness of the simile is against the literal meaning of this Song, and of those who accuse the writer of uncouthness. Besides, is this comparison more strange or uncouth than that of a man with a bony ass? (Gen. xlix. 14.) Mark also the other comparison used in the same chapter, such as of an ox, serpent, &c. סוּסָה is not equitatus, (Vulg. Rashi, Rashbam, English Version,) but as Ibn Ezra and Immanuel rightly remark, נקבת סוס, mare, the regular feminine of סוּס. The –ִי in לְסוּסָתִי is the suffix of the first person, as the ancient versions have it; and refers to a well-known and celebrated mare which Solomon possessed and highly prized, and which he always put into one of Pharaoh’s chariots. בְּרִכְבֵי פַרְעֹה, one of Pharaoh’s chariots, like בְּעָרֵי גִלְעָד, one of the cities of Gilead. Judg. xii. 7.

10, 11. Beautiful is thy countenance, &c. The flattering praises are followed by enticing promises. “Thou art indeed beautiful,” says the tempting king, “even in humble ornaments, but thou shalt have more costly adornments, which will show off thy beauty to greater advantage.” The mention of the noble steed which was adorned with costly trappings, contributing so much to its stately and elegant appearance, naturally suggested the reference here made to the damsel’s ornaments. The reader will not fail to observe that it is not the shepherd, but the king who is speaking in verses 9–11. The poor shepherd had no prancing steed, no Egyptian chariots; he could not promise the shepherdess such costly ornaments as are here described. תּוֹרים (from תּוּר, to go round, hence תּוֹר, something round, a circle, Esth. ii. 12, 15,) small rings or beads strung upon threads, worn as a head-dress. It is customary in the East for women to wear strings of beads hanging down from the temples over the cheeks. Rosenmüller, Orient. iv. 942. Niebuhr, Reise nach Arab. i. 163. לְחָיַיִם, cheeks (dual of לְחִי), by a synecdoche for the whole face. חֲרוּזִים (from חָרַז, to pierce, to perforate), little perforated balls, or beads strung upon a thread and worn around the neck; i.q. a necklace. תּוֹרִים and חֲרוּזִים are plurals, because the circlet and necklace consisted of many composite parts. Whether the circlet was of gold or brass, or whether the necklace consisted of real pearls, corals, or steel, the etymology of the words does not at all intimate. The context alone must decide this. The fact that the Shulamite was a humble rustic girl, and that Solomon promises to present to her a golden circlet with silver studs, proves that they were of a common description. This is another proof that the bride was not a prince’s daughter; since her ornaments were not even of gold or silver, notwithstanding the impassionate desire of Eastern ladies for costly adornments. The Sept. and Vulg. have ὡς τρυγόνες, i.e. “thy neck is as beautiful as doves, כַּתּוֹרִים; they have also כַּחֲרוּזִים, like a necklace; but they have evidently mistaken the ב for כ, as well as the meaning of תּוֹר.

12. While the king is at his table. Here we see how signally the first attempt of Solomon failed to win the affections of the Shulamite. For no sooner did he go to his repast than the damsel indulges in sweet expressions of love with her beloved shepherd. Two distinct persons are here spoken of; the king at the table, and a beloved shepherd, called “nard.” That by the expression נִרְדִי, my nard, the Shulamite means her beloved is evident from the following verse, where, led on by the figure of this odorous plant, she continues to call him by the fragrant names, “bag of myrrh,” “bunch of cypress flowers,” &c. עַד שֶׁ, as long as, while, Sept. ἕως, Vulg. dum. מֵסַב (from סָבַב to sit round a table, to recline. 1 Sam. xvi. 11, comp. Sept., Chald., Syriac, Arabic, Vulg. in loco,) seats set round, couches set in a circle, for reclining at the repast, according to the Oriental custom, (see Rosenmüller, Orient. iii. 631;) so the Sept. ἀνάκλισις. Vulg. accubitus, Rashbam, בהסיבות אכילות המשתה, in the couch at the partaking of the repast; and comp. Ps. cxxviii. 3. The reading of במסכו, in aulaeo, tentorio, instead of במסבו, proposed by Houbigant, is both needless and unauthorized. נֵרְדְּ, spikenard or nard, νάρδος, is the Valeriana Jatamansi, a plant peculiar to Hither India. It was obtained from India by way of Arabia and Southern Asia. The perfume extracted from it was highly prized. Thus we are told (Mark xiv. 31), when the Saviour sat at meat in Bethany, “there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious, and she broke the box, and poured it upon his head,” (comp. also John xii. 31,) which Judas, the betrayer, estimated at three hundred pence, about eight pounds ten shillings. The Romans considered this perfume so precious that Horace promises Virgil a whole cadus, about nine gallons, of wine for a small onyx-box full of spikenard. See Pliny, Hist. Nat. xiii. 2; Sir W. Jones, Asiatic Researches, vol. ii. p. 416; Rosenmüller, Mineralogy and Botany of the Bible, p. 166; Kitto, Cyclop. Bib. Lit.; Winer, Bib. Dict. s.v.

13. A bag of myrrh, &c. This appellation is a continuation of the figurative expression “nard,” under which the Shulamite described her beloved in the preceding verse. The Hebrew women were in the habit of wearing little bags or bottles filled with perfumes, especially with myrrh, suspended from the neck, and hanging down between their breasts, under the dress. Comp. Mishna, Sabbath vi. 3; Schroeder de Vestit. Mulier. p. 155; Hartmann, Hebr. ii. 235. The Shulamite says that her beloved is to her what this delightful perfume is to others; having him she did not require any other fragrance. צְרֹר (from צָרַר, to tie up, to close), is a leather smelling-bag or bottle, i.q. בֵּית נֶפֶשׁ, tied up, or closed at the top. מֹר, σμύρνα, μύῤῥα, Balsamodendron myrrha, (from מָרַר, to flow,) myrrh, so called from its flowing down, is a perfume obtained from a shrub growing in Arabia, and much more profusely in Abyssinia. It formed an article of earliest commerce, was highly prized by the ancients, and is still much esteemed both in the East and in Europe. This aromatic liquid either exudes spontaneously from cracks in the bark, and is called מוֹר עֹבֵר, מוֹר דְרוֹר, stilicidious or profluent myrrh (vide infra, v. 5; Exod. xxx. 23), and on that account is esteemed superior; or is elicited artificially by bruises or incisions made with stones, and is therefore regarded as inferior. It was used for incense (Exod. xxx. 23), for perfuming dresses (Ps. xlv. 9), and couches (Prov. vii. 17), for the purification of women (Esth. ii. 12), for embalming dead bodies (John xix. 39), and was worn by women in the bosom. See Pliny, lib. xii. cap. 35; Rosenmüller, Altherth. iv. 1, 159; Winer, Bib. Dict.; Kitto, Cyclop. Bib. Lit. s.v. בֵּן שָׁדַי יָלִין is a relative clause, with אֲשֶׁר implied (See Gesen. § 123, 3; Ewald, § 332), and refers to צְרֹר הַמֹּר. This is evident from בְּכַרְמֵי עֵין נֶּדִי, which refers to אֶשְׁכֹּל הַכֹּפֶר; comp. also iv. 4. The verb לוּן is not here, “lie all night,” but to abide, to rest, like Job xix. 4, אִתִּי תָלִין מְשׁוּגָתִי, where even the Authorized Version has “mine error remaineth with myself.” Ps. xlix. 13.

14. A bunch of cypress flowers, &c. כֹּפֶר is unanimously regarded by the ancient versions and the Rabbins to denote the plant called κύπρος by the Greek, and Al-henna by the Arabs. This plant, which grows in many places, both in Palestine and Egypt, (Plin. Hist. Nat. xii. 24,) is a tall shrub, growing from the height of eight to ten feet; it is exceedingly beautiful and odoriferous. “The dark colour of its bark, the light green of its foliage, the softened mixture of white and yellow, with which the flowers, collected into long clusters like the lilac, are coloured, the red tint of the ramifications which support them,—form a combination the effect of which is highly agreeable. The flowers, whose shades are so delicate, diffuse around the most grateful odours, and embalm with their strong fragrance the gardens in which they grow, and the apartments which they beautify.... The women take pleasure in adorning their persons and apartments with those delightful blossoms.” See Pliny, lib. xii. c. 14; Rosenmüller, Bib. Miner. and Bot.; Winer, Bib. Dict.; Kitto, Cyclop. Bib. Lit. s.v. The flowers grow in dense clusters, whence אֶשְׁכֹּל הַכֹּפֶר, cluster of cypress flowers. En-gedi, more anciently called Hazezon-Tamar, which modern explorers identify with the present Ain-Jidy, abounded with the best of those delightful shrubs, (Winer, Bib. Dict.; Kitto, Cyclop. Bib. Lit. s.v.; Robinson, Palest, ii. 209–216.) Hence this beautiful appellation, “a bunch of cypress flowers,” than which nothing could be more expressive of sweetness and beauty to an Oriental. The word אֶשְׁכֹּל is most probably derived from אָשַׁךְ, to bind, to twine together; hence אֶשֶׁךְ, a bundle, a string, with the addition of –ֹל like גִבְעֹל, חַרְגֹּל, Gesen. § 30, 3; Ewald, § 163 f. This is confirmed by the Talm. אַשְׁכּוֹלֶת, disciples, (Sota 47, a), i.e. a combination of youths; comp. חֶבֶר, and Fürst, Lexicon, s.v. כֶּרֶם here is a field cultivated as a garden; comp. כֶּרֶם זָיִת, an olive-yard. Judg. xv. 5; Job xxiv. 18, and supra, ver. 6.

15. Behold, thou art beautiful. That is, “It is not I who possess such attraction, it is thou who art beautiful, yea superlatively beautiful!” The repetition of הִנָךְ יָפָה enhances the idea. “Thine eyes are doves,” i.e. “Thine eyes, in which ‘the rapt soul is sitting,’ beams forth the purity and constancy of the dove.” As the eye is the inlet of ideas to the mind, so it is also the outlet of inward feelings. Thus it expresses many of the passions, such as pity, mildness, humility, anger, envy, pride, &c.; hence the phrases עַין טוֹב (which we also have), to look with an eye of compassion, Prov. xxii. 9; עַיִן רַע, ὀφθαλμὸς πονηρὸς, an evil eye, Deut. xv. 9, Mark vii. 22. The dove is the emblem of purity and constancy. Ps. lvi. 1; Matt. x. 16. עֵינַיִךְ יוֹנִים are taken by the Syriac, Vulg., Ibn Ezra, Rashbam, Immanuel, Luther, Authorized Version, Kleuker, Percy, Gesenius, Döpke, Rosenmüller, Meier, &c. as an ellipsis for עֵינֶיךָ עֵינֵי יוֹנִים, thine eyes are doves’ eyes. Gesen. § 144, Rem. Ewald, § 296, b. But such an ellipsis can be tolerated only in extreme emergencies, whereas here the natural construction yields an excellent sense. Besides, v. 2 proves that the doves themselves, and not the eyes, are the point of comparison, just as the hair and the teeth are (iv. 1, 2) compared to the goats and sheep themselves, and not merely to their hair and teeth. And עֵינַיִךְ בְרֵכוֹת (vii. 4), which does not mean, thou hast fish-ponds eyes, but, thine eyes are like the fish-ponds themselves. Hence the Sept., Chald., Rashi, Mendelssohn, Hodgson, Ewald, Umbreit, Magnus, Williams, Hengstenberg, Philippson, Hitzig, rightly reject this elliptical construction.

16. Behold, thou art comely. The Shulamite, refusing to receive all the praise, responds: “It is thou who art lovely and attractive;” and referring to their meeting-spot, she adds, “Lovely is our flowery couch; the arches of our bowers are formed of the spreading and interweaving branches of the majestic and odoriferous cedars and cypresses.” נָעִים is to be mentally supplied before עַרְשֵׂנוּ רַעֲנָנָה; comp. Prov. iii. 11, i.e. Yea, lovely is our verdant couch. The adj. רַעֲנָנָה is formed from the Pilel of the verb רָעַן. This conjugation, which is formed by doubling the third radical (see supra, 5), is used to describe permanent states or conditions, or some striking property; comp. Job xii. 5; Gesen. § 55, 2; Ewald, § 120 a. קוֹרָה, beam, roof (Gen. xix. 8), here arch, vault. רָהִיט, i.q. רָחִיט in the כְּתִיך (the ה is sometimes pronounced harshly like the ח, comp. רָהִיט, Exod. ii. 16, where the Samaritan has רָחִיט, and Gesen. § 7, 4), is rendered by the Sept., Vulg., Ewald, Gesenius, &c. fretted ceilings; by Kimchi galleries; and the anonymous manuscript explains it bolt, and adds, והנה נקרא רהיט לפי שרץ הנה והנה, “it is called bolt because it runs backward and forward.” But this is not in keeping with the structure of the verse. רָהִיטֵנוּ stands evidently in parallelism with בָּתֵּינוּ, and accordingly is of a similar import. Rashbam has therefore rightly rendered it אחד מבניני הבית, one of the apartments of the house. As however the house here described is a bower, רָהִיט would be an arbour. The etymology of the word is in keeping with this sense. רָהָט, i.q. רְהַט = רוּץ, to run, to flow, hence רַהַט, 1. a gutter, from the water running down, Gen. xxx. 38; 2. a curl, from its flowing down (vide infra, vii. 6), and 3. רָהִיט, a place upon which one runs, a charming spot much frequented; just like שׁוּק, a place where people run, a street, from שׁוּק, to run. It is now pretty generally agreed that בְּרוֹת, the Aram. for בְּרוֹשׁ, is not the fir, but the cypress. It is quite natural that this lofty tree, which grows to a height of from fifty to sixty feet, of so hard and durable a nature, and so highly esteemed among the ancients, (Virg. Georg. ii. 443,) should be placed together with the majestic cedar. Comp. Sirach, xxiv. 13; Virg. Georg. ii. 44; Winer, Bib. Dict.; Rosenmüller, Bib. Miner. and Bot. p. 260; Kitto, Cyclop. Bib. Lit. s.v.

1. I am a mere flower of the plain. “As for me,” the Shulamite modestly insinuates, “my beauty is not peculiar, but is of an ordinary character, like these flowers which are found in great profusion in the plain and in the valley. The word חֲבַצֶלֶת, which occurs only once more (Isa. xxxv. 1), is variously explained. The ancient versions vary in their rendering of it. Thus the Sept. and Vulg. have here ἄνθος, flos, flower; the Chald., נַרְקוֹם, narcissus; so Saadias: whereas in Isa. the Sept., Vulg., Chald., render it lily. Modern critics are no less divided. Kimchi, Ibn Ezra, &c., explain it rose; Michaelis, Ewald, Gesenius, Döpke, Henderson, Meier, &c., take it to be autumn crocus, colchicum autumnale; De Wette, Rosenmüller, Royle, Winer, &c., narcissus; Professor Lee, lily. The etymology of the word is likewise disputed. Some derive it from בָּצַל, a bulb, with ח prefixed, as ח like א is sometimes put before triliterals, in order to form a quadriliteral, (Gesenius, Lehrg. p. 863, Rosenmüller, Henderson, Hengstenberg, &c.,) and others take it as a compound of חָבַץ and בָּצַל, acrid bulb. (Ewald, Heiligstedt, &c.) The most probable derivation, however, seems to be חָבַץ = חָמַץ, to be bright, to shine; hence חֲבַצֶל (with the termination –ֶל like כַּרְמֶל, עֲרָפֶל), a flower; as most verbs which signify shining are used also to denote verdure and bloom. Compare נִצָן, a flower, from נָצַץ, to shine; and Simonis Arcanum Formarum, p. 352. The word שָׁרוֹן (for יְשָרֹוֹן, like סוֹר for יְסוֹר, from יָשַׁר, to be straight, plain, with the termination –וֹן, comp. Gesen. § 84, 15), is here best translated a plain, or field; so the Sept., Vulg., Percy, &c. render חֲבַצֶלֶת הַשָּׁרוֹן, a flower of the field; and this admirably suits the שׁוֹשַׁנַּת הָעֲמָקִים, lily of the valley—a flower common in the valley.

2. As a lily among the thorns. Beautifully and ingeniously does the shepherd take up this humble figure of the Shulamite, and, by a happy turn, make it symbolical of her surpassing beauty. “It is true, that thou art a lily, but as a lily surrounded by a multitude of brambles; so thou appearest among all the damsels.” The expressions בֵּן and בַּת are not merely used for son and daughter, but also, idiomatically, denote lad and lass, youth and damsel. Gen. xxx. 13; Judg. xii. 9; Prov. vii. 7.

3. As an apple-tree, &c. The Shulamite returns the compliment: “As the charming apple-tree, covered with beautifully tinged and sweetly smelling fruit, appears amidst the wild and barren trees, so doest thou, my beloved, look among the youths. I delight,” continues the Shulamite, “to repose beneath the shady tree, because of its charming fruit.” The comparison between the delight which she had in the company of her beloved, and the agreeable enjoyment which a shady tree affords, will especially be appreciated by those who have travelled in the East, and had the opportunity of exchanging, in the heat of the day, their close tents for an airy and fragrant bower. Comp. Gen. xviii. 4, 8; 1 Sam. xxii. 6; Rosenm. Morgenl. i. 49; iii. 528. תַּפוּחַ is taken by the Chald. for אָתְרוּנָא, citron; by Rosenmüller and others, for quince. The expression occurs only six times in the Scriptures; four times in this book (besides the present instance, see also ii. 5; vii. 9; viii. 5); once in Prov. xxv. 11; and once in Joel i. 12. It is used in three passages out of the six for the tree itself, and in the other three for its fruit. But in all these places the common apple-tree or apple is quite in keeping with the context, and the etymology of the word, viz., נָפַח, to breathe, to breathe sweetly; hence תַּפּוּחַ, from its fragrant breath, is an appropriate description of the common apple in Syria (Ovid. Met. viii. 675), and, indeed, in all other countries. It is evident from proper names (Josh. xii. 17; xvi. 8), that this tree was much cultivated in Palestine at a very early period. In the Talmud we frequently meet תַּפוּחַ, used to denote the common apple. It is worthy of notice that the shepherd calls his beloved שׁוֹשָׁנָה, fem., whilst she calls him תַּפּוּחַ, mas. The second verb וְיָשַׁבְתִּי is subordinated to the חִמַּדְתִּי, by means of the ו and the two words are well rendered by the Chald. רְגִינַת לְמֵיתַב, I delight to sit; comp. אֵיכָכָה אוּכָל וְרָאִיתִי, how shall I endure and witness, for how shall I endure to witness, Esth. viii. 6. This subordination also occurs without the ו; comp. infra, vii. 8; viii. 2; Job x. 16; xix. 3; Gesen. § 142, 3 a, b; Ewald, § 285.

4. He led me, &c. Having represented her beloved, in the preceding verse, as a tree, forming with its widely-spread branches and rich foliage a shady bower, in which she delighted to repose and enjoy its delicious fruit, the Shulamite here narrates, in the same metaphorical language, how he took her into that bower of delight, that arbour of love. The words בֵּית הַיָּיִן mean bower of delight, wine being frequently used in this book for delight; and are but a designation of the manifestations of love denoted in the preceding verse by תַּפוּחַ, delicious apple-tree. So also the word דֶגֶל, from דָּגַל, to cover, retaining here its primary meaning, cover, shade, corresponds to צֵל, shade, in the last verse. The Sept., Sym., Syriac, Arab., which are followed by many moderns, read הֲבִיאֻנִי, and דִגְלוּ, bring me, and cover me, imper., arising most likely from a wish to produce uniformity in this and the following verses.

5. Oh, strengthen me, &c. The rehearsal of their past union and enjoyment kindled the Shulamite’s affections, and made her wish again for that delicious fruit, i.e. the tokens of his love. The cakes here mentioned were held in high estimation in the East; here, however, both the cakes and the apples are to be taken figuratively as expressions of love. This is obvious from the preceding verse, and from the words, “for I am sick with love,” for no real cake or apple could cure a heart suffering from this complaint. אֲשִׁישָׁה (from אָשָׁשׁ, to burn, to fire; hence אֵשׁ, fire, like אֵם, mother, from אָמַם, to join, to unite), something made by fire, a sort of sweet cake prepared with fire, and is most probably the same which in Hos. iii. 1 is written more fully אֲשִׁישֵׁי עֲנַבִים, grape-cakes. The meaning, cake, is retained in the Sept. in all the passages (except Isa. xvi. 7, where the Sept. reads אֲנְשֵׁי, instead of אֲשִׁישֵׁי, see the parallel place, Jer. xlviii. 31), where this word occurs. Thus λάγανον ἀπὸ τηγάνου, a cake from the frying-pan, 2 Sam. vi. 19; and in the parallel passage, 1 Chron. xvi. 3, ἀμορίτης, a sweet cake; in Hos. iii. 1, πέμμα, a baked cake; and ἀμόραις, sweet cakes, in the passage before us. This meaning is supported by the Chald. on Exod. xvi. 31, where אֲשִׁישְׁיָן is used for the Hebrew צַפִּיחִית, and Mishna Nedarim, vi. 10. Gesenius, Hitzig, Henderson, Fürst, &c., derive it from אָשַׁשׁ, to press, to compress, whence, they say, אֲשִׁישָׁה, a cake made of dried grapes pressed together, and אֲשִׁישׁ, a foundation (Isa. xvi. 7), which is pressed down by treading on it. But as the transition from cake to foundation is not so easily conceived, and especially as the meaning to press, attached to אָשׁשׁ, is nowhere to be found in Hebrew (the word in Isa. xvi. 7 is to be translated cake, see Hengstenberg, Christ. i. p. 315), it is far better to derive this word as above from אָשַׁשׁ, to burn. The Rabbinical explanation, נִרְבָא דְחַמְרָא, flagons of wine, which the Authorized Version follows, is not borne out by the etymology, nor does it suit the passages in which this word occurs, and is therefore rightly abandoned by modern lexicographers. The rendering of Hodgson, “Support me with cups, around me strew apples;” and that of Michaelis, “Support me with verdant herbs, spread fragrant fruits under me,” are contrary to the meaning of the words.

6. Let his right hand, &c. The pressure of the attempts to alienate her affections from him whom her soul loveth, and the burning desire to be re-united with him, though well sustained by her noble mind, yet overcame her body; and whilst momentarily sinking beneath the weight, the Shulamite desires that no other hand should raise her drooping head, no other arm support her exhausted frame than that of her beloved. This verse is to be taken in the optative mood. Comp. Ps. vii. 9; xlv. 2; Ewald, § 329 a.