Chapter VIII · 5–14. (continued 2)

5. Thy bosom, &c. The point of comparison is the lovely sight which these objects present. The gazelles, as we have seen (ii. 7), are the symbol of beauty. To add however to their native charms, they are represented here as browzing in pasture-ground abounding with lilies. To this lovely spectacle, than which nothing could be more beautiful to an Oriental, her breasts are compared. The explanation which Bochart, Patrick, Henley, Percy, Good, give of this comparison, viz. “The two paps rise upon the breast like lilies from the ground; among which, if we conceive two red kids feeding, that were twins and perfectly alike, they appeared like the nipples or teats upon the paps, to those that behold them afar off,” is extravagant.

6. When the day cools, &c. Transported with joy at the sight of her beloved shepherd, the Shulamite interrupts the praises of her personal charms, which, on seeing her again, he began to pour forth, by exclaiming: When the day cools, that is, “this very evening, as soon as it gets dark, I will quit the royal abode, and go to our beautiful and open country, to the flowery meads, where are found aromatic plants growing in abundance.” For an explanation of the first part of this verse, see ii. 17, also spoken by the Shulamite. That such mountains of myrrh and hills of frankincense actually existed, is evident from Florus, Epitome Rerum Rom., lib. iii. c. 6., where Pompey the Great is said to have passed over Lebanon, and by Damascus, “per nemora illa odorata, per thuris et balsami sylvas.”

7, 8. Thou art all beautiful, &c. Gladdened with her declaration, the shepherd, crowning and closing his description in the words, “Thou art a perfect beauty,” responds, “Thou shalt go with me, I will help thee to quit these lofty heights, the abode of lions and panthers—the royal residence; and safely conduct thee to the place whither thou wouldst go.” Lebanon is the name of a long range of mountains on the north of Palestine (Deut. ii. 24; Josh. i. 4), consisting of two parallel chains, which run from south-west to north-east. Though the Scriptures have only one name, viz. Lebanon, for both these chains, yet the present inhabitants of that country, as well as modern Travellers, have found it convenient to call the westermost chain, facing the Mediterranean,—Lebanon; and the eastern one, facing the plain of Damascus,—Anti-Libanus, from its being at Tyre, parallel with and opposite to the Syrian Lebanon. Amana, ‏אֲמָנָה‎, is the name of the southern part of Anti-Libanus, at the root of which, it is supposed, issues the river of the same name; see 2 Kings v. 12. Hermon, ‏חֶרְמֹון‎, is the name of the highest summit of a chain at the northernmost boundary of Palestine, and belongs also to Anti-Libanus (Josh. xi. 17; xiii. 5), and is now identified with Jebel-el-Sheikh. It consists of several mountains, viz. Sirion, ‏שִׁרְיוֹן‎, Shenir, ‏שְׁנִיר‎, and Sion, ‏שִׂיאֹן‎; whence its plural name ‏חֶרְבוֹנִים‎, see Fürst, Lexicon, s.v. Lebanon, Amana, Shenir and Hermon are here not intended to denote various parts of the range of mountains, but are merely different names of the royal residence. The word ‏תַּשׁוּרִי‎ is well rendered by the Sept., Syriac, &c., thou shalt go; comp. Isa. lvii. 9. The Common Version look is incompatible with the context and parallelism. Surely no one would invite his beloved to go with him to dangerous mountain-tops, to take a view of the country! Persons are generally anxious to avoid perilous places. The lions and panthers denote the king and his courtiers, Ezek. xix. 7; xxii. 25; Nahum ii. 12. ‏כָּלָה‎, rendered spouse in the Authorized Version, is taken by some to denote a newly-married woman. The word however only means betrothed = a female under an engagement to marry. This is the sense in which the Jews still use the expression. The Sept., which is followed by the Vulg. and Luther, translates ‏אִתִּי‎, δεῦρο, mistaking it for ‏אֲתִי‎, the imp. of ‏אָתָּה‎, to come. The Vulg. rendering of ‏תָּשׁוּרִי‎ by coronaberis, evidently savours of allegorism. For the Septuagint’s rendering of ‏אֲמָנָה‎, by πίστις, see Introduction, p. 21.

9. Thou hast put heart into me, &c. This extraordinary amount of strength and courage which he feels, to enable him to rescue her from the abode of the lion, and to lead her safely home, has been infused into his heart, he says, by the sight of his beloved one. So the Anonymous Oxford Manuscript, ‏שבשביל אהבתך נתגברתי ונבוא לי לב חדש שיש לי כח ללחם עם האריות והנמרים‎. As the Piel has sometimes an intensive, and sometimes a privative meaning (see Gesen. § 52, 2; Ewald, § 120), a difference of opinion exists as to the signification of ‏לִבֵּב‎ here. The Sept. has ἐκκαρδίωσας ἡμᾶς, thou hast unhearted us; the Vulg. Vulnerasti cor meum; Ibn Ezra, ‏לקחת לבי‎, thou hast taken away my heart; Gesenius, De Wette, &c. adopt this rendering. Against this however it is urged, that it is incompatible with the context. The beloved here accounts for his extraordinary strength and courage, which would enable him to rescue his beloved one from her critical position; and to say, “Thou hast deprived me of all heart,” would be a positive contradiction. To be in such an unusually courageous frame, the individual must have been full of heart, and not disheartened. Hence Herder, Ewald, Döpke, Lee, Meier, &c., translate ‏לִבַּבְתִּנִי‎, thou hast put heart into me; thou hast made me bold. This is confirmed by Sym., Syriac, Arabic, and Chald. ‏אַחוֹתִי‎, my sister, does not imply that the betrothed was related to her beloved, but is used as an expression of endearment, Prov. vii. 14; Tobit vii. 12; the Apoc. Esth. xv. 8, and soror in Latin. Good’s rendering of ‏אַחֹתִי כַלָּה‎ by my sister-spouse, and his remark that the pronoun “my” between the two substantives, being a useless interpretation of the versions, are gratuitous. ‏כָּלָּה‎ has no suffix here, not because it is to be joined with ‏אֲחֹתי‎, but because this word, like ‏אָב‎ in Chald., never takes the suffix 1 pers.; and versions therefore made in languages whose idioms allow of the suffix are right in so expressing it.

With one of thine eyes, &c. It is customary with Eastern women to unveil one of their eyes in conversation, in which case a part of their neck ornaments becomes also visible. Niebuhr, Travels in Arabia, i. 262; see Kitto, Cyclop. Bib. Lit. Art. Veil, figure 536, and infra, viii. 9. The Anonymous MS., however, explains ‏בְּאֶחַד מֵעֵינַיִךְ‎ by ‏בהבטה אחת שאת מבטת בי באחד מעיניך‎, one look of thine eyes. The rendering at once (Hodgson, Good) is incongruous. The attempt of the Masorites to substitute ‏בַּאַחַת‎, fem., for ‏בְּאֶחַד‎, mas., having evidently arisen from their anxiety to avoid the apparent incongruity of coupling a masculine numeral with a feminine noun, is unnecessary. The true solution lies in the fact, that members of the human body, although usually feminine, are most of them employed occasionally as masculine. Job xxi. 20; Zech. iv. 10; and infra, vi. 5; Gesen. § 107, 4 b; Ewald, § 174 d. ‏עֲנָקָ‎ is not look (Vulg.), nor turn (Percy, Good), nor stone (Ewald, Magnus), but chain. This is evident from Judg. viii. 26, and Prov. i. 9, the only two passages where this word occurs again (except as a proper name), and is translated by the Sept. (Judg. and Prov.) κλοιός, necklace, Aquila, περιτραχήλιος, πλόκαμος, neckband, neck-work; Sym. κλοιός, ὁρμίσκος, necklace; Vulg. (Judg. and Prov.) torques. So Ibn Ezra, ‏מני חלי קשוריﬦ על הצואר‎, a kind of ornamental band, tied round the neck, Rashi, Rashbam, Gesenius, De Wette, Döpke, Lee, Philippson, Meier, Hengstenberg, &c. The objection urged by Hitzig, that an inanimate ornament could not effect such great things, is obviated by a reference to the Book of Judith, xvi. 9, where we are informed that the fair one succeeded in captivating even the savage Holofernes with her sandals: τὸ σανδάλιον αὐτῆς ἥρπασεν ὀφθαλμὸν αὐτοῦ. Besides, the meaning here is, that the slightest view of her is sufficient to inspire him with vigour and courage. The termination ‏–וֹן‎ in ‏צַּוָּרוֹן‎, like ‏וּן‎, in Syriac, forms the diminutive; and, like diminutives in other languages, is expressive of affection; Gesen. § 86, 2, 4; Ewald, 5, 167 a. The plur. termination ‏–ָיִךְ‎ in ‏מִצֲוְּרֹנָיִךְ‎, is to be accounted for on the score that the Hebrews sometimes use plural forms for certain members of the body. Comp. ‏פָּנִיﬦ‎, face, Gesen. § 108, 2 a; Ewald, § 178 a.

10. How sweet is thy love, &c. Here the lover tells his loved one why the sight of her is so animating and emboldening. For the comparison of love with wine, see i. 2, 3. The Sept., which is followed by the Syriac, Vulg., Arabic, and Luther, has here again ‏דַדֶּיךָ‎, thy breasts; but see i. 2. The Sept. has also ὀσμὴ ἱματίων σου, ‏וְרֵיחַ שִׂמְלֹתַיִךְ‎, for ‏וְרֵיחַ שְׁמָנַיִךְ‎, evidently taken from the following verse.

11. Thy lips, O my betrothed, &c. Every word which falls from her lips is like a drop from the honeycomb. This comparison is used in other parts of Scripture, and by the Greeks and Romans. Thus Prov. v. 3:—

“The harlot’s lips distil honey,

And her palate is smoother than oil.”

Theocrit. Idyl. xx. 26:—

τὸ στόμα καὶ πακτᾶς γλυκερώτερον· ἐκ στομάτων δὲ

ἔῤῥεέ μοι φωνὰ γλυκερωτέρα ἢ μέλι κήρω.

“More sweet my lips than milk in luscious rills,

Lips, whence pure honey, as I speak, distils.”

Also Idyl. i. 146, 8, 82; Homer, Iliad, i. 249; Hor. Epist. i. 19, 44. That we are to understand by distilling honey, “lovely words,” and not saliva oris osculantis, is evident from Prov. xvi. 24, where pleasant words are compared to a honeycomb, and the passage already quoted, just as slanderous words are represented as poisons, Ps. cxl. 3.

And the odour of thy garments, &c. The Orientals were in the habit of perfuming their clothes with aromatics. Thus we are told that the garments of Jacob emitted a pleasant smell, Gen. xxviii. 27; Ps. xlv. 9; Rosenmüller, Orient. i. 122. In consequence of the odoriferous trees which abounded on it, Lebanon became proverbial for fragrance. Hence the prophet Hosea (xiv. 7), describing the prosperous state of repenting Israel, says ‏וְרֵיחַ לוֹ כַּלְבַנוֹן‎, and his odour shall be as that of Lebanon. This passage is sufficient to show the error of the Vulg. in rendering ‏כְּרֵיחַ לְבָנוֹן‎ by sicut odor thuris, as if it were ‏כְּרֵיחַ לְבוֹנָה‎. The perfumed attire which the Shulamite had on, and which the shepherd here praises, is evidently not the humble clothes which she had brought with her, but some splendid apparel recently given to her by the king.

12. A closed garden, &c. The trees of Lebanon, referred to at the end of the last verse, suggested this beautiful metaphor of a garden, under which the shepherd describes the unsullied purity and chastity of the Shulamite. Gardens in the East were generally hedged or walled in, to prevent the intrusion of strangers (Isa. v. 5; Joseph. De Bell. Jud. vii.). From this arose the epithet, “closed garden,” for a virtuous woman, shut up against every attempt to alienate her affections. The contrary figure is used in viii. 9; there accessibility is described as “a door,” i.e. open to seduction.

A sealed fountain, &c. Another metaphor to express the same idea. The scarcity of water in arid countries renders fountains very valuable. To secure them against the encroachment of strangers, the proprietors formerly fastened their fountains with some ligament, and the impression of a seal upon clay, which would quickly harden in the sun, that would soon dissolve wax. This mode of rendering pits safe is found in Dan. vi. 18; Matt. xxvii. 66. A fountain sealed in this manner indicated that it was private property. Hence its metaphorical use, to represent chastity as an inaccessible fountain. It is better, with the Sept., Syriac, Arabic, Chald., Vulg., upwards of fifty of Kennicott’s MSS., and many modern commentators, to read ‏גַּן‎, instead of ‏גַּל‎. This is confirmed by the intensive phraseology of the shepherd, used in his addresses, which is produced by a repetition of the same words. Comp. supra, vv. 8, 9.

13. Thy shoots, &c. Having compared his loved one to a garden, the shepherd is anxious to show that the one she resembled is not of an ordinary character. It is an orchard full of the most costly trees, and producing the most delicious fruit. ‏שְׁלָחַיִךְ‎, well rendered by the Sept. ἀποστολαί σου: and Kimchi, ‏התפשטות‎, thy shoots, branches (Gen. xlix. 21; Ps. lxxx. 12) is figuratively used for the members of the body, and not for “the children who shall spring from her,” as Hodgson supposes. ‏פַּרְדֵּס‎, found elsewhere only Eccl. ii. 5; Neh. ii. 8, has been derived by some from the Persian, and by others from the Sanscrit. There is no necessity, however, for seeking its etymology in other languages. The Hebrews, who had gardens at so early a period, would surely not borrow names for them from other nations. ‏פַּרְדֵּס‎, according to the analogy of the quadriliteral ‏פַּרְשֵׁז‎, is a compound of ‏פָּרַד‎, to divide, and ‏פָּרַס‎, to separate, to enclose; hence a protected, an enclosed place, a garden. This is corroborated by the fact that ‏גַּן‎, a garden, is also derived from a root (‏גָּנַן‎), which means to separate, to enclose. Compare also the German and English, Gärten, garden, and Saalschütz, Archäologie der Hebräer, vol. i. p. 117. And like many other Hebrew expressions, this word was adopted in other languages. ‏רִמּוֹנִים‎, pomegranate-trees: the Hebrews frequently use the same expression to denote the tree and its fruit, see supra, ii. 3. ‏פְּרִי מְגָדִים‎, i.q. ‏פִּרְיֵיְ מֶגָד‎, precious fruits: when a compound idea is to be expressed in the plural, the governed noun only is often put in the plural form; e.g. ‏בֵּית אָבוֹת‎, ancestral houses, Numb. i. 2; Gesen. § 108, 3. The precious fruits are those of the pomegranate-tree. The words ‏כְּפָרִים עִם נְרָדִים‎, are still genitives to ‏פַּרְדֵּס‎. For ‏כֹּפֶר‎, and ‏נֵרְדְּ‎, see supra, i. 12, 13.

14. Nard and crocus, &c. Both the ancient versions and modern commentators generally agree that by the word ‏כַּרְכֹּﬦ‎, which occurs only here, the well-known saffron plant is meant. Calamus (‏קָנֶה‎, reed, also written ‏קְנֵה בשֵֹׁם‎ and ‏קָנֶה הַטּוֹב‎, sweet calamus, Exod. xxx. 23; Jer. vi. 20, κάλαμος ἀρωματικός, Calamus odoratus), was well known and highly prized among the ancients, and was imported to Palestine from India (Jer. vi. 20; xxvii. 19); it was, however, also found in the valley of Mount Lebanon, (Polyb. v. 46; Strabo, xvi. 4). It has a reed-like stem, of a tawny colour, much jointed, breaking into splinters, and its hollow reed filled with pitch, like the web of a spider. The best, which, according to Pliny (Hist. Nat. xii. 12 or 48), grows in Arabia, diffuses around a very agreeable odour, and is soft to the touch (see Rosenmüller, Bib. Bot.; Winer, Bib. Dict.; Kitto, Cyclop. Bib. Lit. s.v.) Cinnamon (‏קִנָּמוֹן‎, κίναμον, Laurus cinnamomum), indigenous to Ceylon in the East Indies, and is called by the natives Karonda-gouhah; it is now, however, also cultivated on the Malabar coast, in the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, in China and Cochin-China. The cinnamon-tree, which grows on the coast, is generally about twenty or thirty feet high, and reaches a still greater height in groves: it is adorned with numerous boughs, bearing oval and laurel-like leaves, of a scarlet colour when young, but changing to bright green, and growing to the length of from four to six inches when matured, and putting forth whitish blossoms, which ripen into fruit, resembling those of the juniper-tree in June: the fruit, though possessing neither the smell nor the taste of the cinnamon, when boiled secretes an oil, which, after cooling, becomes hard, white, and fragrant. The wood itself, which is white, inodorous, and soft as fir, is used for a variety of purposes. It is the rind which, when peeled off and dried in the sun, yields the much-valued cinnamon. (See Rosenmüller, Bibl. Bot.; Winer, Bib. Dict.; Kitto, Cyclop. Bib. Lit. s.v.) Aloe (‏אָהָל‎, Ἀλοή. John xix. 39. ἀγάλλοχον, ξυλαλοή, arbor alois), a tree which grows in India and the Moluccas, the wood of which is highly aromatic. The stem of this tree is as thick as a man’s thigh; the top is adorned with a bunch of thick and indented leaves, broad below, and narrowing gradually towards the point, and are about four feet long: its blossoms—which are red, intermixed with yellow, and double like a pink—yield the pod, producing a red and white fruit, about the size of a pea. This tree, in consequence of its singularly beautiful appearance and odoriferous wood, which is used as a perfume, is very gratifying both to the sight and smell, and is held by the Indians in sacred veneration. (See Rosenmüller, Bib. Bot.; Winer, Bib. Dict. s.v.) ‏רֹאשׁ‎, head metaph., chief, most excellent. Exod. xxx. 23; Ps. cxxxvii. 6; Ezek. xxvii. 22.

15. With a garden-fountain, &c. To finish the picture of this charming garden, the shepherd introduces into it fountains, streams, rills, and cooling breezes, to rouse and waft the balmy fragrance through its delightful retreats. The fact that the Shulamite has been called a sealed fountain proves that this verse is not descriptive of her. For it would be contradictory to call her in one verse a sealed fountain, and in the other a stream flowing from Lebanon, i.e. an open stream. ‏מַעְיַן גַּנִּים‎ a fountain of gardens, i.e. a fountain belonging to gardens, usually found in gardens to irrigate them. ‏נֹזְליִם‎, a part. noun plur., denoting flowing streams. The ‏מִן‎ indicates the place whence these streams issue. ‏מַיִם חַיִּים‎ living water, i.e. perennial; waters, gushing forth from fountains, or moving along, appear as if they were living; whilst those in a stagnant condition seem dead. Gen. xxvi. 19; Jer. ii. 13; Zech. xiv. 8; see also ὕδωρ ζῶν, Rev. vii. 17, and flumen vivum, Virg. Æn. ii. 719.

16. Arise, O north wind! These are still the words of the shepherd, who, to complete the picture, invokes the gentle breezes to perflate this paradise. Rashbam, Ibn Ezra, Williams, Good, Ewald, Delitzsch, Philippson, &c., take this clause to begin her reply; but this is incompatible with the figure. She herself, and not anything separate, has been described as this charming garden. She could, therefore, not say “blow through MY garden” (‏גַנִּי‎), which would imply that this garden of hers was something apart from her person. Moreover, the expression ‏גַנּוֹ‎, his garden, which she uses, shows that ‏גַנִּי‎, my garden, is spoken by him. So Rashi, Döpke, Magnus, Hitzig, &c. That the south and north winds are merely poetical designations for a gale generally, without any particular reference to the peculiarities of the wind when blowing from these respective regions is evident from a comparison of Numb. xi. 31 with Ps. lxxviii. 26. This does away with the conflicting conjectures which have been hazarded, to account for the invocation of the wind from these opposite quarters of the earth. ‏צָפוֹן‎ and ‏תֵּימָן‎, prop. the north and southern quarters, are poetically used, ‏רוּחַ צָפוֹן‎, and ‏רוּחַ תֵּימָן‎, the north and south wind. Ps. lxviii. 26. ‏בְּשָׂמִים‎, spices, here their odours.

Let my beloved come, &c. The Shulamite, continuing this beautiful apostrophe, responds: “If my person really resembles such a paradise, this garden is yours; yours are all its productions.” ‏פְּרִי מְגָדָיו‎, literally the fruit of his deliciousness, i.e. his delicious fruit. When a compound idea is expressed by one noun followed by another in the genitive, a suffix which refers to this whole idea is sometimes appended to the second of the two nouns. Comp. ‏אֱלִילֵי כַּסְפּוֹ‎, his silver idols, Isa. ii. 20; Gesen. § 129, b; Ewald, § 291, b; ‏גַן‎ being of a common gender, the suffix in ‏מְגָדָיו‎ may either refer to garden, or to beloved; it is more in keeping with the construction to refer it to the beloved, just as the suffix in ‏גַּנְּוֹ‎ refers to him. The fruit is the beloved’s because the garden is his, and therefore he may enjoy it.

1. I am coming into my garden, &c. The shepherd, as he embraces his beloved, expresses his unbounded delight in her charms. The perfect forms, ‏בָּאתִי שָׁתִיתִי‎, ‏אָכַלְתִּי‎, ‏אָרִתִי‎, are used for the present, Gesen. § 126.

Eat, O friends, &c. Some sympathizing court ladies, at a distance, seeing the mutual happiness of the lovers, urge them to take their fill of delight. The explanation of Rashbam and others, that this address is to the companions of the beloved to partake of a friendly meal; or, as others will have it, that it is an invitation to the marriage feast, is against the context. The expression ‏אִכְלוּ‎, eat ye, must be taken in the same sense as ‏אָכַלְתִי‎, I eat; and it would be most incongruous to suppose that the beloved, who enjoys the charms of his loved one, would call on his friends to do the same. Dr. Geddes, who is followed by Dr. Good, alters the text into ‏אכל רעי שת ושכיר דודי‎, Eat, O my friend! drink, yea, drink abundantly, O my beloved! and puts it into the mouth of the Shulamite; thus making it an answer to what the beloved said in the preceding clause. But such conjectural emendations ought to be repudiated. It is most in accordance with the context to take these words as an epiphonema of some sympathizing court ladies. The parallelism and the accents require us to take ‏דוֹדִים‎ as a concrete, synonymous with ‏רֵעִים‎, friends; so the Sept., Vulg., Syr., Rashbam, Ibn Ezra, Rashi, Mendelssohn, &c.

2. I was sleeping, &c. The sympathies manifested by some of the court ladies for the Shulamite, at the close of the last section, encourage her to relate to them a dream which she recently had. The purpose of this narration is the description of the shepherd to which it leads, and which is necessary to the completion of the whole drama. ‏יְשֵׁנָה‎, like the participle form generally, may be used to express all the relations of time. Comp. ‏כִּי כֻלָּם יְשֵׁנִים‎, for all were sleeping, 1 Sam. xxvi. 12; 1 Kings iii. 20. Gesen. § 134, 1; Ewald, § 306 d. ‏לֵב‎, heart, here the seat of thought. The Hebrews regarded the heart, not only as the seat of the passions, but also of the intellectual faculties of the mind. The whole clause is merely another way of saying ‏בַּחֲלֹמִי‎, Gen. xli. 17. The circumlocution is chosen in preference to ‏בַּחֲלמִי‎, to indicate that the powers under which the exhausted frame succumbed, could not keep her mind from dwelling upon the object of her affections. ‏קֹל‎, hark; vide supra, ii. 8. ‏דֹפֵק‎ is best taken with the Sept., Syriac, Vulg., and many modern commentators, as a separate clause, he is knocking. The Sept. adds ἐπὶ τὴν θύραν, at the door, after ‏דֹפֵק‎, he is knocking.

Open to me, &c. She introduces him speaking. To make his request the more urgent, he pleads that he had been drenched with dew. The dew falls so copiously in the East, during certain months, that it saturates the clothes like rain. See Judges vi. 38; Rosenmüller, Orient. i. 122; Winer, Bib. Dict. s.v. A similar passage occurs in Anacreon, iii. 10, where love is represented as standing at night behind the door, begging for admittance, and pleading the same excuses.

Ἄνοιγε, φησί

Βρέφος εἰμί, μὴ φόβησαι

Βρέχομαι δέ, κἀσέληνον

Κατὰ νύκτα πεπλάνημαι.

“ ‘Fear not,’ said he, with piteous din,

‘Pray ope the door and let me in:

A poor unshelter’d boy am I,

For help who knows not where to fly:

Lost in the dark, and with the dews,

All cold and wet, that midnight brews.’”

Comp. also Propert. i. 16, 23; Ovid Amor. ii. 19, 21. ‏תַמָּתִי‎, my perfect one, is well explained by Rosenmüller by ‏מוּם אֵין בָּךְ‎, there is no fault in thee, iv. 7; 2 Sam. xiv. 25.

3. I have put off my tunic; was the answer she gave in her dream. ‏כֻּתֹּנֶת‎, χιτών, tunic, is an inner garment, commonly of linen, descending to the ankles, which is taken off when one retires. On the costume of the Hebrews, see Rosenmüller, Orient. ii. 19; Winer, Bib. Dict.; Kitto, Cyclop. Bib. Lit. s.v.; Saalschütz, Archäologie der Hebräer, vol. i. c. 2.

I have washed my feet, &c. In the East, where people wear sandals, which protect the soles only, or go barefoot, as in the passage before us, the feet soon get dirty and parched; it is therefore essential and refreshing to wash the feet after much walking (Gen. xviii. 4; xix. 2), or before retiring to rest: remembering this, we can appreciate the hospitality shown to travellers in providing for the washing of their feet, Judges xix. 21. On the masculine suffix in ‏אֲטַנְּפַם‎, referring to the feminine ‏רַגְלַי‎, see iv. 9.

4. My beloved withdrew his hand, &c. Hearing her excuses for not getting up, he at last grew weary and ceased knocking, which immediately caused her uneasiness. The words ‏שָׁלַח יָדוֹ מִן הַחוֹר‎ are better translated, he sent away his hand from the hole = withdrew; so the Sept. and Rashbam, ‏ההזירה לעצמו מן החור בדלת‎, he took his hand back from the hole in the door. The expression ‏מֵעִים‎, like ‏רַחֲמִים‎, has not the modern sense of bowels, which is restricted to the lower viscera, but denotes, like τὰ σπλάγχνα in Greek, the upper viscera, comprising the heart, lungs, liver, &c. Hence it is used for the heart alone as the seat of passion, Isa. lxiii. 15; Jer. xxxi. 20; and for ‏נֶפֶשׁ‎, soul, Job xxx. 27; Ps. xl. 9. ‏הָמָה‎, to hum, to make a noise, which is frequently used for the roaring produced by the waves of the troubled sea (Isa. li. 15; Ps. xlvi. 4; Jer. v. 22), is employed to denote the motion of an agitated heart. With upwards of fifty MSS. and several editions we read ‏עָלַי‎, in me, instead of ‏עָלָיו‎, to him; the phrase thus exactly corresponds to ‏תֶּהֱמִי נַפְשִׁי עָלָי‎, Ps. xlii. 6, 12.

5. My hands dropped with myrrh, &c. Alarmed at his ceasing to knock, she flew at once to open the door, and in trying to unfasten it, her hands came in contact with the liquid myrrh which her beloved had poured upon the bolts, and which dropped from her fingers. So Immanuel, ‏כי שרצתי לפתח לדודי ונגעתי בידי במקום אשר נגע בו דודי כששלח ידו מן החור נתבשמו ידי וקבלו מן הריח שהיה בידי דודי עד שעבור‎ Lovers, in ancient times, whilst suing for admission, used to ornament the door with wreaths, and perfume it with aromatics. Thus Lucretius, iv. 1171,

At lacrimans exclusus amator limina sæpe

Floribus, et sertis operit, posteisque superbos

Unguit amaracino, et foribus miser oscula figit.

“Then, too, the wretched lover oft abroad

Bars she, who at her gate loud weeping stands,

Kissing the walls that clasp her; with perfumes

Bathing the splendid portals, and around

Scattering rich wreaths and odoriferous flowers.”

Comp. also Tibul. i. 2, 14. So Herder, Kleuker, Ewald, Döpke, Rosenmüller, Philippson, &c.; Rashbam however is of opinion that the liquid myrrh which distilled from the Shulamite’s hand, was the perfume with which she had anointed herself after washing. Whilst Percy supposes that “she got up in such haste, that she spilt upon her hand the vessel of liquid myrrh, which she had brought to anoint and refresh his head, after having been exposed to the inclemencies of the night.” ‏מוֹר עֹבֵר‎, liquid myrrh, see i. 2; and not, as Le Clerc erroneously supposes, current myrrh, that kind of myrrh which is most passable in traffic. The Vulg. has, Et digiti mei pleni myrrha probatissima, evidently mistaking the prep. ‏עַל‎ for ‏מָלְאוּ‎, and takes the words ‏כַּפּוֹת הַמַּנְעוּל‎ over to the following verse, Pessulum ostii mei aperui dilecto meo.

6. My beloved had withdrawn, &c. To her great grief she found, when opening, that her beloved had gone. The asyndeton ‏חָמַק עָבַר‎ is very expressive, and the use of the two synonymous terms strengthens the sense. This figure, which is effected by the omission of the conjunctive particle, is used in animated descriptions, both by sacred and profane writers. Comp. Σιώπα, πεφίμωσο, Mark iv, 39. Winer, New Testament Gram. § 66, 4. The phrase ‏יָצָא נֶפֶשׁ‎, properly denoting the departure of the soul from the body, (Gesen. xxxv. 18; Ps. cxlvi. 4,) like ‏יָצָא לֵב‎, is used to express the momentary loss of the senses, i.e. to faint. ‏בְּדַבְּרוֹ‎, in his speaking, i.e. when he had spoken of it, (Judg. viii. 3; 1 Sam. xvii. 28), i.e. of his going away: so Rashi, ‏שאמר לא אבא אל ביתך כי מתחילה לא אבית לפתוח‎, “Because he said I will not now enter thy house, for thou didst at first refuse to open me,” and Immanuel, ‏נפשי יצאה בדברו אלי הנני הולך לדרכי אחרי שלא תפתחתי הדלת‎. “My soul departed when he told me, Now I am going away, because thou wouldst not open me the door.” We must employ a finite verb with a conjunction to express in English the Hebrew construction of the infinitive with a preposition, and the relation of time must be gathered from the connection, Gesen. § 132, 2, 3.

7. The watchmen who patrol the city, &c. That the seeking and calling mentioned in the last verse were not confined to the door, is evident from this verse. ‏פְצָעוּנִי‎, ‏הִכּוּנִי‎ are again an asyndeton. ‏רָדִיד‎, which occurs only once more, Is. iii. 23, is a kind of veil-garment, which Oriental ladies still wear, and denotes more properly an out-door cloak. See Schroeder, Vestit. Mul. p. 368; Gesen. on Isa. iii. 23; Winer, Bib. Dict. s.v.; Saalschütz, Archäologie der Hebräer, vol. i. p. 28.

8. I adjure you, &c. Having mentioned the indifference with which she had treated her beloved, the Shulamite is anxious to impress upon the court-ladies that this was in a dream, and that in reality, so far from her affections being abated, she was as dotingly attached to him as ever; and begs of them, if they should see him, to tell him so. For the masculine termination in ‏תִּמְצְאוּ אֶתְכֶם‎ and ‏תַּגִּידוּ‎, see ii. 7. We must supply ‏הַגִּידוּ לוֹ‎, tell him, after ‏מַה תַּגִּיודוּ לוֹ‎, what will you tell him? The omission is designedly made, to give animation to the request. The emendation proposed by Houbigant, to read ‏הגידנו‎, instead of ‏חגידו‎, is gratuitous, like all his emendations. The Sept. adds ἐν ταῖς δυνάμεσιν καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἰσχύσεσιν τοῦ ἀγροῦ, “by the powers, and by the virtues of the field,” the false rendering of ‏בִּצְבָאוֹת אוֹ בְּאַיְלוֹת הַשָּׂדֶה‎, from the preceding formula of adjuration.

9. What is thy beloved, &c. The great solicitude manifested by the Shulamite for her beloved, induces the court ladies to ask what peculiar attractions there were in him more than in an ordinary lover, to cause such an unusual manifestation of feeling, and thus an opportunity is afforded her to give a description of him. It is evident from this question of the court ladies that Solomon is not the beloved of whom the Shulamite has been speaking in the preceding verses. For surely these court ladies knew the aspect and character of Solomon better than the Shulamite. This is, moreover, established beyond doubt from ch. vi. 2, 3, where the damsel, at the end of the description, designedly states that the object of her delineation and attachment, is the shepherd. The particle ‏מִן‎, prefixed to ‏דוֹד‎, with which the comparison is made, expresses the comparative, Gesen. § 191, 1. For ‏הַיָּפָה בַּנָּשִׁים‎, see i. 8, and for the form ‏הִשְׁבַּעְתָּנוּ‎, Ewald, § 249, d.

10. My beloved is white, &c. The Shulamite answers this question by giving a very graphic description of her beloved. The colour of his countenance and body is such a beautiful mingling of white and red as is seldom seen, and by which he is distinguished above thousands. A similar description is found in Virg. Æn. xii. 65, seq.

Flagrantes perfusa genas: cui plurimus ignem

Subjecit rubor, et calefacta per ora cucurrit.

Indum sanguineo veluti violaverit ostro,

Si quis ebur, aut mixta rubent ubi lilia multâ

Alba rosâ; tales virgo dabat ore colores.

“At this a flood of tears Lavinia shed;

A crimson blush her beauteous face o’erspread.

Varying her cheeks by turns with white and red.

The driving colours, never at a stay,

Run here and there, and flush and fade away.

Delightful change! thus Indian ivory shows,

Which, with the bordering paint of purple glows;

Or lilies damask by the neighbouring rose.”

Comp. also Ovid. Am. ii.; Eleg. v. 39; Hor. Od. i. 13, v. 2; iv. 10; v. 4; Tibul. Eleg. III, 4; vv. 29, 30. ‏צַח‎, bright, white; compare Lam. iv. 7, where it stands in parallelism with ‏זַךְ‎, clear; from the same passage we also see that the predicates ‏צַח‎, white, and ‏אָדַם‎, red, are not restricted to the countenance, but refer to all the parts of the body which the Oriental costume left exposed, to the carnation as it were of the picture. ‏דָּגוּל‎ denom. from ‏דָּגֶל‎, banner; prop. to be furnished with a banner, i.e. his singular beauty renders him as distinguished above multitudes, just as a standard-bearer is marked above all other soldiers. ‏מִן‎, more, above, vide supra, ver. 9, ‏רְבָבָה‎ indefinitely for a large number, see Gesen. xxiv. 60.

11. His head is as pure gold. That is of consummate excellency. Having characterized his whole person as charming, the Shulamite describes the beauty of the individual parts of his body, and begins with his head. Gold is frequently used, both in Scripture and in profane writers, to denote consummate excellency and beauty. Thus the illustrious personages are called gold and fine gold in Lam. iv. 1; and Theocritus (Idyl. iii. 28.) calls the beautiful Helen golden. The words ‏כֶּתֶם פָּז‎ are variously rendered. The Sept. has χρυσίου καιφάζ, gold of Cephaz, Aquila and Sym. λίθεα τοῦ χρυσίου, so the Syriac ܒܐܦܷܐ ܕܕܰܗܒܳܐ‎, a precious stone of gold. The Chald. has ‏דְהַב טָב‎; so the Vulg. aurum optimum. The Rabbins too vary in their explanations of these words. Ibn Ezra takes ‏כֶּתֶם‎ to be a diadem, and ‏פָּז‎, precious stones. Rashi indefinitely ‏סגולת מלכים‎, choice things, which kings treasure up. Rashbam explains ‏כָּתֶם‎ by a heap of gold, and ‏פָּז‎ by ‏זהב מופז‎, and says it is called ‏פָּז‎, “because its colour is like pearl.” The majority of modern commentators, after the Sept., Vulg., Chald., take ‏כֶּתֶם‎ as a poetical expression for gold, and derive it from ‏כָּתַם‎, to hide, to conceal; like ‏סְגוֹר‎, gold (Job. xxviii. 15), from ‏סָגַר‎, to shut up, to conceal, because precious metals are generally kept shut up or concealed. This meaning and derivation of the word are supported by the fact that treasures and precious things are generally expressed in Hebrew by words whose roots signify to conceal; comp. ‏אוֹצָר‎, a treasure (1 Kings vii. 51; xiv. 26), from ‏אָצַר‎, to shut up; ‏מַטְמוֹן‎, a treasure, gold (Isa. liv. 2; Prov. ii. 4), from ‏טָמַן‎, to hide; ‏צָפוּן‎, riches (Job xx. 26), from ‏צָפַן‎, to conceal. As for ‏פָּז‎, it is translated by some purified, pure, from ‏פָּזַז‎, to separate, to purify (Gesenius, &c.); and by others solid, massy, from ‏פָּזַז‎, to be strong, solid (Rosenmüller, &c.). But ‏פָּז‎ never occurs as an adjective to ‏כֶּתֶם‎, or to ‏זָהָב‎ (‏זָהָב מוּפָז‎, 1 Kings x. 18, is a contraction of ‏זָהָב מְאוּפָז‎, comp. Jer. x. 9); the word itself invariably means gold (see Job xxvii. 17; Ps. xix. 11; xxi. 4; cxix. 27; Prov. viii. 19; Cant. v. 15; Isa. xiii. 12; Lam. iv. 2.); and accordingly ought to be rendered so here: “thy head is as gold, gold.” As this, however, would produce tautology, it is therefore best to take ‏פָּז‎ as a contraction of ‏אוּפָז‎ (a variation of ‏אוֹפּיר‎; see Gesenius, s.v.; Henderson on Jer. x. 9, and Stuart on Dan. x. 5), with which this word goes together, 1 Kings x. 18; Jer. x. 9; Dan. x. 5. As ‏אוּפָן‎ = ‏כֶּתֶם אוֹפִיר‎, is regarded as the best gold; hence the rendering of the Vulg. aurum optimum, and Chald. ‏דְהַב טָב‎.

Black as the raven, i.e. of the purest and most jet black, so highly esteemed by the Orientals as well as by the classical writers. Thus Hafiz, as quoted by Dr. Good:—

“Thy face is brighter than the cheek of day.

Blacker thy locks than midnight’s deepest sway.”

And Ossian, Fingal, 2: “Her hair was the wing of the raven.” Comp. also Anac. xxix.; Ovid. Am. El. xiv. 9. ‏תַּלְהַּלִּים‎, is rendered by the Sept. ἐλαταί, the young leaves of the palm; so the Vulg. sicut elatæ palmarum; similarly Gesenius, De Wette, &c., pendulous branches of the palm; but this signification does not lie in the root ‏תָּלַל‎, which simply means waving, hanging, or flowing down; hence ‏תַּלְתַּלִּים‎ (according to the analogy of ‏זַלְזַלִּים‎ and ‏סַלְסַלִּים‎, comp. Ewald, § 158, b) flowing curls, locks.

12. His eyes, like doves, &c. The vivid and black pupils of his eyes, sparkling forth from the encircling lactean white, in which they are, as it were, bathing and sitting on the fountain of tears, resemble doves bathing gaily in pellucid streams. The doves themselves, and not their eyes, are the point of comparison (vide supra, i. 15, and iv. 1.) Doves are very fond of bathing, and hence choose for their abode regions abounding with streams (Boch. Hieroz. ii. 1, c. 2.) The deep blue or grey dove, reflecting the lustrous dark hue about its neck when bathing in the limpid brook, suggested this beautiful simile. A similar figure occurs in the Gitagovinda: “The glances of her eyes played like a pair of water-birds of azure plumage, that sport near a full-blown lotos in a pool in the season of dew.” The words ‏רֹחֲצוֹת בֶּחָלָב‎, bathing in milk, referring to the eyes, are descriptive of the milky white in which the black pupils of the eyes are, as it were, bathing. ‏עַל מִלֵּאת‎, on the fulness, also referring to the eyes, correspond to the ‏עַל אֲפִיקֵי מַיִם‎, by the brooks of water, which are predicated of the doves. Hodgson’s rendering of ‏יֹשְׁבוֹת עַל מִלֵּאת‎, by “and dwell among the ripe corn,” is absurd.

13. His cheeks are like beds of balsam, &c. His round cheeks with the pullulating beard, resemble beds growing aromatic plants. The Sept., Arabic, Æth., Chald., read ‏מְגַדִּלוֹת‎, the part. Piel, instead of ‏מִגְדְּלוֹת‎, which many modern commentators follow, but without MS. authority. The lily here referred to is most probably the crown imperial, of a deep red colour, whose leaves contain an aqueous humidity, which gathers itself in the form of pearls, especially at noon, and distils clear and pellucid drops; see Rosenmüller, Alther, iv. 138; Winer, Bib. Dict. s.v. There is, however, no necessity for referring the words “distilling liquid myrrh,” to the lilies. Indeed, it seems to be more consonant with the context, to take them as predicated of the lips, expressing the sweetness of his conversation. Comp. iv. 11.

14. His hands are like, &c. His rounded arms and fingers tipped with well-shaped nails, as if inlaid with precious stones, resemble golden cylinders: and his white and smooth body, covered with a delicate blue vest, resembles polished ivory. ‏גָּלִיל‎ (from ‏גָּלַל‎, to roll), a roller, a cylinder. Kleuker, Gesenius, Döpke, &c., translate ‏יָדָיו גְּלִילֵי זָהָב וגו״‎, his hands are like golden rings, adorned with gems of Tarshish, comparing the hand when closed or bent to a golden ring, and the dyed nails to the gems in the rings. But ‏גָּלִיל‎ never occurs in the sense of a ring worn on the finger; the word so used is ‏טַבַּעַת‎, which would have been used here had the figure meant what Kleuker, &c. understood by it. ‏תַּרְשִׁישׁ‎, according to the Sept., Aquila, Josephus, and modern writers, is the chrysolite, and owes its Hebrew name to the circumstance that it was first found in Tartessus, that ancient city in Spain, between the two mouths of the river Baetis (Guadalquiver). The chrysolite, as its name imports (χρυσός, gold, and λίθος, a stone), is of a yellow or gold colour, and pellucid. Being of a glass lustre, the chrysolite is beautifully chosen to represent the nails. The words ‏מְמֻלָּאִים בַּתַּרְשִׁישׁ‎ refer to ‏יָדָיו‎. The expression ‏מֵעִים‎, prop. the internal parts of the human frame (v. 4), is here used for the external = the body; so Dan. ii. 32. ‏עֶשֶׁת‎ is taken by most modern commentators to denote something fabricated, or wrought; an artificial work; thus deducing this sense from the secondary meaning of ‏עָשַׁת‎, which the Syriac (ܥܰܒܕܳܐ‎, work,) seems to favour; but this is incompatible with the description here given of the beloved. The Shulamite, throughout the whole of this delineation, depicts the splendour and colour of the body as they dazzle the eye, but makes no reference to the wondrous construction of the frame, which could have been discerned only by the exercise of the intellect. It is therefore better, with Ibn Ezra, Kimchi, Rashi, Rashbam, Luther, Auth. Version, Mendelssohn, Kleuker, Williams, Good, Hengstenberg, &c. to take ‏עֶשֶׁת‎, from ‏עָשַׁת‎, in its primary meaning, to shine, to be bright, in the sense of brightness, polish; comp. Jer. v. 28.

Covered with sapphires. These words refer to his body, and describe the purple tunic covering the snowy white skin. Good, Meier, &c. take it to describe the blue veins which were seen through his clear snowy skin, like a sapphire stone through a thin transparent plate of ivory. But this is against the meaning of ‏מְעֻלֶּפֶת‎, which signifies covered, and not inlaid; the external covering, and not the internal seen through the outer cover. Commentators are not agreed whether that which we call the genuine sapphire, a transparent stone of a beautiful sky-blue colour, in hardness and value next to the diamond, is meant by ‏סַפִּיר‎; or the sapphire of the ancients, which, according to Pliny, (Hist. Nat. xxxvii. 39; Theophrast. De Lapid. 231,) is a stone of a pure blue colour, and has frequently pebble spots of a golden yellow hue, which were formerly thought to be really gold, and is evidently our lapis lazuli, lazure-stone. As the latter does neither suit Job xxviii. 6, for the lazure-stone is not very precious; nor Exod. xxviii. 18, since it is too soft to bear engraving, it is more probable that the real sapphire is meant by ‏סַפִּיר‎ in the Scriptures. This stone is often found in collections of ancient gems; see Rosenmüller, Bib. Bot. and Miner.; Kitto, Cyclop. Bib. Lit. s.v. The Syriac, which translates ‏מְעֻלֶּפֶת סַפִּירִים‎ by ܥܰܠ ܡܰܦܚܳܐ ܣܦܻܝܐܳܐ‎, upon the sapphire breathing, must have had another reading.

15. His legs are like pillars of marble, &c. His white legs, standing upon beautiful feet, resemble the purest marble columns based upon golden pedestals. ‏שׁוֹק‎, as Kimchi well explains it, ‏מה שהוא על הרגל חליל ויגיע עד הברכים‎, is that part of the limb from the knee to the foot. That ‏אַדְנֵי פָז‎ refers to his feet (Ibn Ezra, Rashbam, Kleuker, Meier, Hitzig, &c.), and not to his sandals (Good, Williams, &c.), is evident from ver. 11 and 14, where the head and the hands, the visible parts of the body, are described as golden; and it is but natural that the feet, the only remaining exposed parts, should also be described as golden.

His aspect is like that of Lebanon. Having depicted the single parts of his body, the Shulamite now joins them together, and presents them in one whole, the appearance of which impresses the mind with a sense of beauty and majesty, like that of Lebanon. “That goodly mountain, even Lebanon” (Deut. iii. 25), being so luxuriant in its vegetation and rich in scenery, appeared very beautiful and majestic at a distance. “Lebanon is a noble range of mountains, well worthy of the fame it has so long maintained. It is cultivated in a wonderful manner, by the help of terraces, and is still very fertile. We saw on some of its eminences, more than 2,000 feet high, villages and luxuriant vegetation; and on some of its peaks, 6,000 feet high, we could discern tall pines against the clear sky beyond. At first the clouds were on the lofty summit of the range, but they cleared away, and we saw Tannin, which is generally regarded as the highest peak of Lebanon. There is a deep ravine that seems to run up the whole way, and Tannin rises to the height of 10,000 feet. The rays of the setting sun gave a splendid tint to the lofty brow of the mountain.”—Mission of Inquiry to the Jews, p. 240, &c.; comp. also Isa. xxxv. 2; Rosenmüller, Alterth. i. 2. p. 239; Volney, Travels, i. 293.

He is distinguished as the cedars, i.e., in his stature. The lofty cedar, towering above all other trees, is easily distinguished from the rest (Ezek. xxxi. 3–16; Amos ii. 9). A similar comparison occurs in Theocritus, xviii. 30, as quoted above, i. 9. The Chald., Ewald, Magnus, Philippson, &c., take ‏בַּחוּר‎ for young man, youth; comp. Ruth iii. 10; Isa. lxii. 5, “A young man like the cedars;” but the point of comparison is lost in this case. Besides, we should then expect the sing. ‏אֶרֶז‎, and not the plur. ‏אֲרָזִים‎. Moreover, 2 Kings xix. 23, and Jer. xxii. 7, where the same phrase ‏מִבְחַר אֲרָזִים‎ is used, is against it.

16. His voice is exquisitely sweet, &c. The members, after being analysed separately, have been viewed as a whole; but the beautiful person thus described is inanimate, like the splendid marble columns or the lofty cedars, to which she had compared him. In this verse the Shulamite represents the charms of his speech; and thus affirms his whole person, bodily and mentally, as most lovely. “Such,” she triumphantly exclaims, “is my friend; and now, ye daughters of Jerusalem, judge for yourselves wherein my beloved is more than another beloved.” ‏חֵךְ‎, prop. palate, is used for the organ of speech, and speech itself, Job vi. 30; xxxi. 10; Prov. v. 3. That ‏חֵךְ‎ here does not mean any part of the body, is evident from the context; for it would be preposterous to recur to the palate or mouth after the whole person had been described. ‏מַמְתַּקִּים‎ and ‏מַחֲמַדִּים‎ are abstracts (see i. 2), adjectively used (Gesen. § 106, 1, Rem. 1), to give intensity to the idea; comp. Gen. i. 2. ‏כֻּלּוֹ‎, his whole person, bodily and mentally.

1. Whither is thy beloved gone, &c.? The court ladies, moved by this charming description, inquire of the Shulamite what direction he took, and offer to seek him. The word ‏הַגִּדִי‎ is omitted after ‏דֹודֵךְ‎, for the sake of brevity and pathos. For the superlative force of ‏הַיָפָה בַּנָּשִׁים‎, vide supra, i. 8.

2, 3. My beloved is gone down into his garden, &c. The Shulamite, knowing that the court ladies are anxious to induce her to transfer her affections to the king, replies in a vague manner, that he is gone to his garden, he is not lost, nor has her affection to him abated, though they are now separated, nor does she fear that his love for her is diminished. This incontestably proves that the object of the damsel’s affection, of whom she gave a description in the preceding, is not the king, but, as she herself tells us here most unequivocally, a shepherd. For ver. 3, comp. chap. ii. 16.

4. Graceful art thou, O my love, &c. Just as before (i. 9), Solomon made his appearance as soon as the Shulamite inquired after her beloved, so here he comes forward again when she speaks of her absent lover; thus endeavouring to show his own attachment to her. He addresses her, as before, in the most flattering terms: “Thou art as graceful as the delectable Tirzah, as charming as the delightful Jerusalem, as striking and conquering as an imposing army in full battle array.” Tirzah was the royal residence of the kings of Israel after the revolt of Rehoboam, and retained that distinction till the time of Omri, who built Samaria (1 Kings x. 15–21; xvi. 14; 2 Kings xv. 4). It was a city of fascinating appearance, as its name, ‏תִּרְצָה‎, delightful, indicates; and hence yielded a very flattering comparison. The Sept. takes ‏תִּרְצָה‎ as an appellative, ὡς εὐδοκία; so Aquila, κατ’ εὐδοκίαν, Sym. εὐδοκήτη, Syriac, ܐܝܰܟ ܨܶܒܝܳܢܳܐ‎ The Chald. paraphrases it ‏בִּזְמַן דצְבוּתֵךְ‎, in the time of thy willingness, and Rashi inclines to it; the Vulg. has suavis et decora. But there can be no doubt, as Ibn Ezra, Rashbam, and all modern commentators take it, that it is a proper name, Tirzah, the capital of Jeroboam’s kingdom. It may be that the ancient versions resorted to the expediency of taking ‏תִּרְצָה‎ as an appellative, because they wished to avoid the contrast of the two capitals, since this would speak against Solomon being the author of this book. Jerusalem, “the perfection of beauty” (Lam. ii. 15), afforded another excellent figure.

Awe-inspiring as bannered hosts! The fascinating power of a woman is frequently compared to the prowess of an armed host. Comp. Prov. vii. 26. ‏אָיוֹם‎, which occurs once more in connexion with ‏נוֹרָא‎, Hab. i. 7, means awful, awe-inspiring, imposing. ‏נִדְגָּלוֹת‎, Niph. part. prop. bannered, people furnished, or arrayed with banners, hence armies, hosts. The feminine is here used to express a collective idea; comp. ‏אֹרְחוֹת‎, caravans, Isa. xxi. 13; Gesen. § 107, 3 d; Ewald, § 179 c.

5. Turn away thine eyes from me, &c. These awe-inspiring hosts are described as concentrated in her eyes, which Solomon implores the Shulamite to remove from him. “The artillery of the eyes,” says Dr. Good, in loco, “is an idea common to poets of every nation.” Thus Anacreon, xvi.

Σὺ μὲν λέγεις τὰ Θήβης,

Ὁ δ’ αὖ Φρυγῶν ἀϋτάς·

Ἐγὼ δ’ ἐμὰς ἁλώσεις.

Οὐχ ἵππος ὤλεσέν με,

Οὐ πεζὸς, οὐχὶ νῆες·

Στρατὸς δὲ καινὸς ἄλλος,

Ἀπ’ ὀμμάτων με βάλων.

“Sing thou of Thebes—let others tell

How Troy’s foundations rose and fell;

My numbers shall alone repeat

My own rencounters and defeat.

Me fleets and armies ne’er appal—

’Tis to a different host I fall:

A host within thine eyes, my fair,

That lurk and ply their arrows there.”

Comp. also Ode ii. ‏רָהַב‎, in Kal, to tremble (Isa. lx. 5), and Hiphil, to cause to tremble or fear, to frighten, to awe. Similarly the Sept. ἀνεπτέρωσάν με. Vulg. me avolare fecerunt, “they make me flee for fear;” and the Syriac ܐܰܪܗܶܒ‎, they make me fear. The explanation of Ibn Ezra, ‏חזקו ממני‎, which is followed by the Authorized Version, cannot be deduced from the root; nor does it suit the context. Equally untenable is the explanation ‏הגיסו לבי‎, Rashi and Rashbam. For ‏הֵם‎, mas, with ‏עֵינַיִךְ‎, fem. see supra, iv. 9.

6, 7. Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep, &c. For the interpretation of the second half of ver. 5 and vers. 6, 7, see iv. 1–3, where the same description is given, with the exception that there ‏קְצוּבוֹת‎ is used for sheep, and here ‏רְחֵלִים‎, and that the first half of ver. 3 is here omitted in the Hebrew, which is here given by the Sept. We cannot refrain from quoting the beautiful explanation of these figures from the manuscript commentary of Immanuel: ‏תלתלי שערך ושורותיו נופלים זה על זה לדמיון עדר העזים שהם נתלים זה על זה בהרים ושניך הﬦ לבניﬦ ושויﬦ לדמיון עדר הרחליﬦ, שצמדם לבן והם עולים מן הרחצה שכלם מתאימות שב אל שניה שהם שוות, ושכולה אין בהם שאין שן משניה נגרע ונחסר או הם תואר הרחלים שהם שוות ואין בהם שכילה וכן שניה דומות אליהם.‏‎ The Septuagint adds after ‏וְשַׁכֻּלָּה אֵין בָּהֶם‎, and not one among them is bereaved, in ver. 6; ὡς σπαρτίον τὸ κόκκινον χείλη σου, καὶ λαλιά σου ὠραία, like a braid of scarlet are thy lips, and thy mouth is lovely, from chap iv. 3.

8, 9. I have threescore queens, &c. The flattery and praise here exceed all that have been previously offered. Solomon protests that, though he is surrounded by a numerous retinue of women of all ranks, the Shulamite is the sole possessor of his heart: she who is the best beloved of her mother, and whose consummate beauty has elicited the highest praises from the queens, concubines and maidens. The discrepancy between the number of Solomon’s wives and concubines here stated, and that described in 1 Kings xi. 3, maybe reconciled by taking ‏שִׁשִׁים‎, ‏שְׁמֹנִים‎ and ‏אֵין מִסְפָּר‎ for indefinite and large numbers: many, very many, without number: so Kleuker, Rosenmüller, Magnus, &c. “We must supply ‏לִי‎, to me, after ‏הֵמָּה‎, there. For ‏הֵמָּה‎, mas, instead of ‏הֵנָּה‎, fem., see ii. 7. The pronoun ‏הִיא‎, she, is the subject in all the three clauses, and ‏אַחַת‎ in the first and second clause, and ‏בַּרָה‎ in the third are predicates. We must supply ‏לִי‎ after ‏אַחַת הִיא‎, she is my only one; just as ‏אַחַת הִיא לְאִמָּה‎. The word ‏אֶחָד‎ is used for the only one of its kind (Job xxiii. 13; Ezek. ii. 64; vii. 5), favourite; comp. ‏גּוֹי אֶחָד בָּאָרֶץ‎, 2 Sam. vii. 23.

10. Who is she that looks forth, &c. That Solomon quotes here the eulogy mentioned in the preceding verse, which the court ladies pronounced upon the superlative beauty of the Shulamite when they first beheld her, has long been recognised by the Rabbins, and is now admitted by most interpreters. This is, moreover, confirmed by Prov. xxxi. 28, where the same words, ‏אִשֵּׁר‎ and ‏הַלֵּל‎, are used, and the following verse contains the eulogy which the husband utters. The rising morning, with its red light looking down from heaven over the mountains (Joel ii. 2); the beautiful and placid complexion of the moon, and the refulgent and resplendent appearance of the sun, have often afforded, both to the Oriental and to the Greek and Latin writers, exquisite similes for beauty and grandeur. Thus Sirach (l. 5, 6), describing the High Priest, says:—

“How splendid he was in his interview with the people.

In his coming out from the house of the veil!

As the morning star amid the clouds,

As the moon when full in her days,

As the sun when beaming upon the temple of the Most High.”

Comp. also Rev. i. 16; Theocritus’ description of Helen, xviii. 26–28; Lane’s Arabian Nights, i. 29. ‏חַמָּה‎ and ‏לְבָנָח‎ are poetical epithets for the sun and moon, Isa. xxiv. 23.

11, 12. I went down into the nut-garden, &c. As Solomon had referred, in uttering his encomium, to her first coming within sight of the court ladies, the Shulamite here instantly interrupts the king, in order to explain how that came to pass. “I did not go to meet the king, to exhibit myself and be admired by him or his royal retinue; I merely went into the garden with the intention of seeing whether there were any herbs to take home for use, and whether the fruit promised well; and this (‏נַפְשִׁי‎) intention of mine brought me unawares near the monarch and his cortége.” Though ‏אֱגוֹז‎, nut-tree, (so Sept., Vulg., Chald.,) nut occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament, yet its meaning is established from the cognate languages, and its frequent usage in the Talmud and latter Hebrew writers, ‏רָאָה ב‎, to look among (Gen. xxxiv.), with the intention of choosing that which pleases, Gen. vi. 2. ‏אִבֵּי הַנָּחַל‎, the green or vegetables growing by the river side; so the Sept. γενήματι τοῦ χειμάῤῥου, and Rashbam, ‏על שפת הנחל‎. The Sept. has here ‏שָׁם אֶתֵּן אֶת דּוֹדַי לָךְ‎, from chap. vii. 14, which the Arabic, Æthiopic, and several modern commentators wrongly follow, as it has no MS. authority, and has evidently arisen from a misunderstanding of this passage.

12. Unwittingly, &c. This verse has caused much perplexity to interpreters. The ancient versions, finding the sense obscure, have altered almost every word, and hence increased the difficulty. Thus the Sept. has οὐκ ἔγνω ἡ ψυχή μου· ἔθετό με ἅρματα Ἀμιναδάβ, which Luther follows: “Meine Seele wusste es nicht, dass er mich zum Wagen Aminadib gezetzt hatte:” They take ‏נֶפֶשׁ‎ as the subject, alter ‏לֹא יָדַעְתִּי‎, the first person com., into ‏לֹא יָדְעָה‎, the third fem., to agree with ‏נֶפֶשׁ‎, a fem. noun, ‏שָׂמַתְנִי‎, the third fem., into ‏שַׂמְנִי‎, the third masc. referring it to Solomon, and regard ‏עַמִּי נָדִיב‎ as a proper name. The Vulg. has Nescivi, anima mea conturbavit me propter quadrigas Aminadab; altering ‏שָׂמַתְנִי‎, the Kal of ‏שׂוּם‎, to put, to place, into the Hiphil of ‏שָׂמֵם‎, to be astonished, ‏מַרְכְּבוֹת‎ into ‏מֵרִכְבוֹת‎, the plural of ‏רֶכֶב‎, with the preposition ‏מ‎, and taking ‏עַמִּי נָדִיב‎ as a proper name. Passing over these textual alterations, and the emendations proposed by modern commentators, as unauthorized, we shall first examine the words as they are in the text, and then the most plausible interpretations deducible therefrom. ‏לֹא יָדַעְתִּי‎ are rightly taken by most, though differing in their opinion as to the rendering of the remainder of the verse, as adverbial, in the sense of suddenly, unwittingly, and as subordinate to ‏נַפְשִׁי שָׂמַתְנִי‎, my soul has unwittingly put me, or placed me; comp. Job v. 9; Isa. xlvii. 11; Jer. l. 24. The verb ‏שׂוּם‎, to put, to place, may be construed with two accusatives, one of the person, and the other of the thing; and ‏מַרְכְּבוֹת‎ may be taken as the second accusative (comp. Ps. xxxix. 9; 1 Sam. viii. 1; Mich. i. 7), or ‏מַרְכְּבוֹת‎ may be taken as a designation of place after ‏שׂוּם‎, a verb of motion; comp. Isa. xl. 26. ‏מֶרְכָּבָה‎, a chariot, used for warlike purposes, or for state or pleasure, Gen. xlvi. 29; Exod. xv. 4; 2 Sam. xv. 1. The expression ‏עַמִּי‎ may either mean populares mei—(the Hebrews having no separate word for “countryman,” use this expression to denote one of their own people (Gesen. xxiii. 11; Lam. ii. 11), and ‏נָדִיב‎ may be an adjective for ‏הַנַּדִיב‎, as the article is sometimes omitted through following a noun with suffix)—or ‏עַמִּי‎ may here be used, like ‏עִישׁ‎, for companions, attendants, followers, (Eccl. iv. 16,) the ‏י‎ in ‏עַמִּי‎ not being a suffix, but paragogic, and a mark of the const. state (Deut. xxxiii. 16; Lam. i. 1), and ‏נָדִיב‎, a noun in the genitive of the king or prince. As to how much stress there is to be laid on the Sept., which takes ‏עַמִּי נָדִיב‎ as a proper name, and is followed by the Arabic, Æthiop., Vulg., and which also produced some variations in the orthography of these words, we need only refer to vii. 2, where the same version renders ‏בַּת נָדִיב‎ by θυγάτηρ Ἀμιναδὰβ. The verse, therefore, may either be translated: “My soul has unwittingly made me the chariots of my noble countrymen,” or, “My soul has unwittingly placed at, or brought me to the chariots of my noble people, or to the chariots of the companions of the prince.” Now against the first rendering we urge, in the first place, that if the chariots be taken in the accusative, and hence in a figurative sense, we are unavoidably led into a bewildering maze of conjectural and fanciful opinions. The following may serve as a specimen. Rashi takes the chariots to be a sign of ignominy. ‏נפשי שמתני להיות מרכבות להרכיב עלי נדיבות שאר אומות‎, “My soul has made me to be chariots for foreign princes to ride upon”; i.e. I have willingly brought upon me a foreign yoke. Ibn Ezra takes the chariots as a figure for swiftness, ‏לא ידעתי שהייתי הולכת במרוצה אליך כמו מרכבות עמי נדיב הגדול שיש בעמי‎, “I did not know that I was hurrying on to thee with the rapidity of the chariots of the great prince who is among my people;” which the Syriac, ܐܳܐ ܝܶܕܥܰܬ ܢܰܦܫܝ ܣܳܡܬܰܥܝ ܒܡܳܪܒܳܒܬܐ‎, though sharing somewhat in the errors of the Sept. and Vulg., seems to favour. Herder takes the chariots as a symbol of martial power, guard, and protection (Ps. xx. 8; 2 Kings ii. 11, 12). Hengstenberg affirms that the chariots signify champion, guard, defence. And secondly, this translation interrupts the connexion of this verse with the preceding one. Now the second rendering avoids all this. Solomon has repeated in verse 10 the praise which the court ladies had pronounced on the Shulamite when they first saw her; the Shulamite (in ver. 11, 12), in reply, explains how she came to the carriages of the court ladies.

1. Return, return, &c. Here we see how little all the persuasions, promises, and eulogies of the king and courtiers affected the sincere and deeply rooted affections of the Shulamite for her beloved shepherd. No sooner had she explained (as she incidentally informs us) how she came to be noticed and taken up by the king, than she actually started off. But the king entreated her to return, that he might look at her once more. The Shulamite, pausing a little, turns round and modestly asks:

What will you behold in the Shulamite? That is, what can ye see in a humble rustic girl? ‏הַשּׁוּלַמּית‎, as is evident from the article, is a gentile noun, according to the analogy of ‏הַשּׁוּנַמִּית‎, (1 Kings i. 3; 2 Kings iv. 12, 25.) Ewald, § 156 c: and a female inhabitant of Shulem, i.q. Shunem. Shulem still exists as a village, now called Sôlam, about three miles and a half north of Zerîn, (Jezreel), and lies on the declivity, at the western end of the mountain of Duhy, the so-called Little Hermon. “There is little room for doubt that it is the ancient Shunem of the tribe of Issachar, where the Philistines encamped before Saul’s last battle, (Josh. xix. 18; 1 Sam. xxviii. 4.) From the same place, apparently, Abishag the Shunammite was brought to the aged David; and here it was probably that Elisha often lodged in the house of the Shunammite woman, and afterwards raised her son from the dead (1 Kings i. 3; 2 Kings iv. 8–37; viii. 1–6). Eusebius and Jerome describe it in their day as a village lying five Roman miles from Mount Tabor, towards the southern quarter, and they write the name already Sulem.” Robinson, Palestine, iii. 169, &c. The transition of ‏ל‎ into ‏נ‎ is of frequent occurrence; comp. ‏לָחַץ‎ and ‏נָחַץ‎, to burn. (Gesen. Lexicon, ‏ל‎ a; Ewald, § 156, c.) ‏שׁוּלַמִּית‎ is not the feminine of the name ‏שְׁלֹמֹה‎, which would be ‏שְׁלֹמִית‎; comp. Lev. xxiv. 11; 1 Chron. iii. 19; Ewald, § 274, f.

Like a dance to double choirs, replies the king, i.e. “to see thee is like gazing at the charming view of a festive choir expressing their merriment in a sacred dance. The Hebrews, in common with other nations (Strabo, 10), used sacred dancing, accompanied by vocal and instrumental music, as expressive of joy and rejoicing (Exod. xv. 20; 2 Sam. vi. 15; Ps. cxlix. 3). A sight of such an assemblage of various beauties, all swelling their voices into one song of joy, and blending their several forms in one choral dance of joy, must have afforded a delightful picture. No wonder that such a scene is described by Homer (Iliad, xviii. 590,) as portrayed on the famous shield of Achilles, and that

“On either side spectators numerous stood,

Delighted.”

To this charming scene, therefore, does the captivated monarch compare the view of the Shulamite. ‏מְחוֹלָה‎, from ‏חוּל‎, to turn round, a dance, the joyous dancing on a festive occasion. ‏ַחְנֶה‎, prop. a camp, also a multitude, a band of people, Gen. l. 9. ‏מַחֲנַיִם‎ is the regular dual, and not the plural (Sept., Vulg., Gesenius, Döpke, &c.), and is here used because this dance consisted of a band arranged in a double line, something like our country dance. On the different kinds of Oriental dances, see Rosenmüller, Orient. ii. 19–22; Wilkinson, Manners, &c., ii. 328–340. Saalschütz, Archäologie der Hebräer, vol. i. 302. The words ‏כִּמְחֹלַת הַמַּחֲנַיִם‎ have elicited a variety of interpretations. Some take ‏מַחֲנַיִם‎ as a proper name, and say that reference is here made to some particular mode of worship practised in that place in consequence of Jacob’s sojourn there; but this is purely imaginary. Others again suppose that an allusion is made to Gen. xxxii. 2, 3, and hence render ‏מַחֲנַיִם‎ by ‏מַחֲנֵי אֱלֹהִים‎ or ‏צְבָאוֹת‎; but this is unfounded, since we have not the slightest intimation in that passage that the angels were engaged in dancing.

2. How beautiful are thy feet in sandals! The Shulamite, in obedience to the king’s request, returns, and as she advances, Solomon is arrested by her beautiful feet, with which he begins his last highly flattering delineation of her beauty, and his last attempt to win her affections. ‏נְעָלִים‎, Chald. ‏סַנְדְלִין‎, sandals, formed an important part of an Oriental costume (Ezek. xvi. 10; Judith xvi. 9). The ladies bestowed great pains upon, and evinced much taste in ornamenting this article of dress, which attracted the notice of the opposite sex. ‏בַּת נָדִיב‎ does not mean a descendant of a titled family, but, according to a common Hebrew idiom, which applies ‏בַּת בֵּן‎, and other terms of human kindred to relations of every kind, expresses that she herself was of a noble character. Comp. 1 Sam. i. 16; Gesen. § 106, 2 a; Ewald, § 287 f.

The circuits of thy thighs like ornaments, &c. To describe the beautiful appearance of an object, the Orientals frequently compared it to some precious metal or gem; see supra, v. 11; Prov. xxv. 12. The simple metal or gem, however, seems not to suffice here to express the exquisite symmetry of these parts of the body; they are, therefore, compared with some beautifully-wrought and highly-finished ornaments, formed of such materials. The rendering of ‏פְּעָמִים‎ by steps (Sept., Vulg., Ewald, Döpke, Hengstenberg, &c.), and ‏חַמוּקֵי‎ by Schwingungen, movements (Hengstenberg), is contrary to the scope of the description, which obviously depicts the several members of the body (beginning with the feet and gradually ascending to the head), and not their actions. ‏חֲלָאִים‎ is not the dual (Luther), but the plural; according to the analogy of ‏צְבִי‎, ‏צְבָאִים‎; ‏פְּתִי‎, ‏פְּתָאִים‎. The ‏א‎ in the plural is preferred to the ‏י‎ in consequence of the preceding A sound. Gesen. § 93, 66; Ewald, § 186 e.

3. Thy navel is like a round goblet, &c. The reference and the import of the figure are obvious. ‏מֶזֶג‎, i.q. ‏מֶסֶךְ‎, mixture, mixed wine. The ancients were in the habit of mixing wine with spices, to make it more stimulating and exciting. Wine thus mixed was called ‏יַיִן הַרֶקַח‎, viii. 2, the vinum aromatites of the Greeks and Romans. (Comp. Ps. lxxv. 9; Prov. ix. 5; Isa. v. 22; Mishna, Maaser sheni, ii. 1; Baba Mez. v. 2; Pliny, Hist. Nat. xiv. 15; Gesen. Thesaurus, p. 808; Winer, Bib. Dict. s.v.) ‏שָׁרְרֵךְ‎ is one of the few instances in which ‏עע״‎ are resolved before suffixes, owing to the broadness of the vowels when preceding ‏ל‎, or ‏ר‎. Comp. ‏גַּל‎ with suffix ‏גַּלְלוֹ‎: ‏צִלְלוֹ צַל‎: ‏הַרֲרָם הַר‎, Ewald, § 265; Fürst, Lexicon, s.v. ‏–גַל‎. The particle ‏אַל‎ expresses a subjective wish, Gesen. Lexicon, ‏אַל‎, ii. 6, Ewald, § 320.

Thy body is like a heap of wheat, &c. The point of analogy seems to subsist between the appearance of the body and that of a quantity of corn heaped up, ‏עֲרַמָה‎, which Ibn Ezra well explains ‏עבה מלמטה ודקה מלמעלה‎; so also Rashbam. Remembering that corpulency was deemed essential to an Eastern beauty, this comparison will appear obvious. Selden, who is followed by others, takes this passage as a prediction of the bride’s fertility: as:—“Wheat and barley were among the ancient Hebrews emblems of fertility; and it was usual for standers-by to scatter these grains upon the married couple, with a wish that they might increase and multiply.” Uxor Hebraica, lib. ii. cap. 15. “A custom,” adds Williams, “which might probably originate from this passage, or vice versâ.”

But though it is true that it was a common practice among the Jews at marriages to distribute among the company dried seeds (Talm. Chethuboth, ii. 1), probably to indicate a wish that the newly-married couple might be fruitful, it does not follow that it was the practice at so early an age, or that it is the meaning here. Were this the sense here, we should expect that the Jewish commentators, who well knew and practised the manners and customs of their own people, would have recognised it. Whereas, Rashi, Rashbam, Ibn Ezra, &c., explain this figure as referring to the appearance.

Hedged round with, &c. The threshing-floors in ancient times were in the open air; and when the wheat had been threshed out, fanned and heaped up, each heap was stuck round with thorns, in order to keep off the cattle. (Hos. ii. 5, 6.) To render the figure more beautiful, and the compliment more flattering, the enamoured king changes the hedge of thorns into a fence of lilies. Others, however, refer these words to a robe embroidered with lilies, covering her body; and others, again, to some ancient custom of surrounding or covering the newly-threshed heap of wheat with a sort of garland of flowers, indicating the joy of the husbandman at the return of the harvest.

4, 5. Thy bosom is like, &c. These verses, with a little variation arising from the fact that a different person is the speaker here, contain the same figures as iv. 4, 5. The comparison between the beautiful symmetry, erect bearing, and ivory colour of the neck, and between the elegant structure, lofty altitude, and white colour of a tower, appears more striking and apposite from the description given by Josephus of the towers of Jerusalem: “They were so very tall, they appeared much taller by the place on which they stood; for that very old wall, wherein they were, was built on a high hill, and was itself a kind of elevation that was still thirty cubits taller, over which were the towers situated, and thereby were made much higher to appearance. The largeness also of the stones was wonderful; for they were not made of common small stones, nor of such large ones only as men could carry, but they were of white marble, cut out of the rocks: each stone was twenty cubits in length, and ten cubits in breadth, and five in depth. They were so exactly united to one another, that each tower looked like one entire block of stone, so growing naturally, and afterwards cut by the hand of the artificer into the present shape and corners; so little, or not at all, did their joints or connexion appear.” (Jewish War, book v. chap. iv. 4.—Whiston’s translation.) The comparison of the neck with ivory is also used by Anacreon (Ode xxix. 28, 29), in his description of Bathyllus:—

Τὸν Ἀδώνιδος παρελθὼν

ἐλεφάντινος τράχηλος.

“But never can thy pencil trace

His ivory neck of Paphian grace.”

Thine eyes, &c. That is, are as bright and serene as the celebrated translucent pools of this city. Heshbon, a town in the southern parts of the Hebrew territory, about twenty miles east of the point where the Jordan enters the Dead Sea, originally belonged to the Moabites (Numb. xxi. 25), and afterwards came into possession of the Amorite king Sihon (ibid.; Deut. ii. 24; Josh. iii. 10). It was conquered by Moses shortly before his death (Numb. xxi. 25), and was first assigned to the tribe of Reuben (Numb. xxxii. 37; Josh. xiii. 17), and afterwards to the tribe of Gad, and became a Levitical city (Josh. xxi. 39; 1 Chron. vi. 81). It was retaken by the Moabites when the ten tribes were carried into exile (Isa. xv. 4; xvi. 9; Jer. xlviii. 2), but the Jews conquered it again afterwards (Joseph. Antiq. lib. xiii.) The ruins of Heshbon, the name by which the place is still known, have been visited and described by modern travellers. (Burckhardt, Travels, p. 365; Biblical Repos. for 1833, p. 650; Robinson, Palestine, ii. 278.) Heshbon was the pride of Moab, was famous for its fertility, verdure of plantation, and beautiful reservoirs. Hence the simile here. A similar comparison is used by Ovid, De Arte Ama. ii. 722:—

“Adspicies oculos tremulo fulgare meiantes,

Ut sol a liquida saepe refulget aqua.”

‏בַּת רַבִּים‎ is well explained by Rashbam, the populous, ‏שרוב בני העיר יוצאין ונכנסין בה‎, “because, through it a multitude of the inhabitants of the town walk in and out;” ‏שהרבים באים להסתכל שם‎, “because it is the chief place of concourse.” ‏בַּת‎, daughter, like ‏בֶּן‎, son, is idiomatically used in Hebrew to express quality. Compare ‏בֶּן־שֶׁמֶן‎, a son of fatness, i.e. fat; Isa. v. 1, and supra, vii. 2. The Septuagint, which is followed by the Vulgate, not understanding this idiom, renders it literally ἐν πύλαις θυγατρὸς πολλῶν, by the gates of the daughter of many.

Thy nose, &c. This tower must have contained a projection or an overhanging part, celebrated for its great symmetry and elegance. Hence the comparison between the beautifully projecting tower and the well-proportioned nose.

6. Thy head upon thee, &c. ‏כַּרְמֶל‎ stands here for ‏כַּרְמִיל‎, purpura; so Ibn Gamach, Ibn Ezra, Fürst, &c. This shell-fish is of a spiral form, and “the exquisite juice which is so greatly sought after for the purpose of dyeing cloth is situate in the middle of the throat. This secretion consists of a tiny drop contained in a white vein, from which the precious liquid used for dyeing is distilled, being of the tint of a rose, somewhat inclined to black.” Pliny, Hist. Nat. ix. 60, 61; Arist. Hist. Anim. lib. v. c. 14. The simile here subsists between the spiral form of this shell-fish and the pyramidal shape in which the hair was anciently tied up on the top of the head. The Chinese and other Eastern women still wear their hair rolled up into a knot or bunch at the top of the head; and even in this country ladies used to dress their hair in a somewhat similar manner. The rendering of the ancient versions of ‏כַּרְמָל‎, by Mount Carmel, which the majority of modern interpreters follow: they take the simile to be between the beautiful appearance of the bride’s head and the charming, luxuriant, and picturesque summit of this celebrated mountain; but this is against the parallelism and 2 Chron. ii. 16, 13; iii. 14. ‏כַּרְמֶל‎ = ‏כַּרְמִיל‎ is derived from ‏כָּרַם‎, to be shiningly red, with ‏–ִיל‎ appended, according to the analogy of ‏פְּתִיגִיל‎; vide Fürst, Lexicon in voce; or it may be that this shell-fish was so called because it was found on the shore near Carmel. At all events, there is no need to look for the etymology of this word out of the Shemitic family.

And the tresses, &c. Fine hair is frequently compared by the Greeks and Romans with purple. Thus Anacreon, xxviii. 11, 13.

γράφε δ’ ἐξ ὅλης παρειῆς

ὑπὸ πορφύραισι χαίσταις

ἐλεφάντινον μέτωπον.

Then paint, from her full cheeks,

Beneath her purple hair,

Her ivory forehead.

Compare also Virgil, Georg. i. 405; Tibul. i. 4, 63. The purple here referred to is that kind which Pliny describes as “nigrans adspectu idemque suspectu refulgens.” ‏אַרְגָּמָן‎, the costly colour extracted from the shell-fish, is from ‏רָגַם‎, kind. ‏רָקַם‎, to colour, with the prostetic ‏א‎ and termination ‏–ָן‎; vide supra, chap. iii. 9.

The king is captivated, &c. The ringlets, like the lashes of the eyelids, are frequently represented as the net of love. Prov. vi. 25; Sirach ix. 3, 4. Thus Jami, in his Joseph and Zuleikha, chap. i., as quoted by Dr. Good, says:—

“When Love in graceful ringlets plants his toils,

The fool he catches, and the wise man foils;

But, thence released, the sage his snare discerns,

And Reason’s lamp with wonted lustre burns.”

‏מֶלֶךְ‎ stands for ‏הַמֶּלֶךְ‎; the article is not unfrequently omitted in poetry; comp. Ps. ii. 2; xxi. 2; Gesen. § 109; Ewald, § 277, b. ‏רָהִיט‎, a ringlet, so called from its flowing down over the shoulders; vide supra, chap. i. 16. The construction of ‏מֶלֶךְ‎ with ‏אַרְגָּמָן‎, i.e. royal purple (one of the Greek translators in the Hexapla, Vulgate, Syriac, Luther, Houbigant, &c.), is against the punctuation and the evenness of the metre, interferes with the interpretation of the remaining words, and has evidently arisen from a misunderstanding of the passage. Besides, no people is known by such a name. It was owing to a feeling of being consistent that the editor of Calmet felt himself constrained to take ‏אַרְגָּמָן‎ as a proper name, Argamen, to correspond with the parallel ‏כַּרְמֶל‎; and to explain this clause as alluding to a particular mode of plaiting the hair, like the weaving of Arech, a city in Babylonia, supposed to be famous for its weaving manufactories.

How beautiful, &c. The captivated king, having described the beauty of the several parts of the body, now combines the separate members into one lovely form, and endows it with life and fascination, which none of the inanimate beauties to which he had compared her, however admirable, possessed. ‏אַהֲבָה‎, love, abstract for concrete, loved one, vide supra, chap. v. 1. ‏תַּעֲנוּג‎, charm, attraction, such as living beings possess. Aquila and the Syriac, separating the word ‏בְּתַּעֲנֻגִים‎, render it θυγάτηρ τρυφῶν, ‏בַּת עֲנֻגִים‎.

7. This thy growth, &c. The beautiful growth of the palm-tree, like that of the cedar and cypress, supplied a forcible image to the ancients. Thus the Son of Sirach, xxiv. 13, 14:—

“I grew up as a cedar of Lebanon,

And as a cypress upon Mount Hermon;

I grew up as a palm-tree in En-gedi,

And as a rose-tree in Jericho.”

Comp. also Homer, Odyss. vi. 162, and supra, chap. v. 15. ‏אֶשְׁכֹּל‎, bunch, cluster, of grapes, dates, or flowers; the context must decide which. Here, from its close proximity to ‏תָּמָר‎, palm-tree, dates are most probably intended. For the etymology of ‏אֶשְׁכֹּל‎, see supra, chap. i. 14; and for its form, both here and in ver. 9, Ewald, § 212 d.

8. I long to climb, &c. After this flattering description Solomon tells the Shulamite how greatly he desires, and how happy he should be to enjoy, the affections of one so lovely and charming. We earnestly request those who maintain the allegorical interpretation of the Song seriously to reflect whether this verse, and indeed the whole of this address, can be put into the mouth of Christ as speaking to the Church. Would not our minds recoil with horror were we to hear a Christian using it publicly, or even privately, to illustrate the love of Christ for his Church?—‏אָמַר‎, to speak, also to wish, to desire, Gen. xliv. 28; Exod. ii. 14; 1 Sam. xx. 4. ‏אָמַרְתִּי‎ does not express the past, but the present; comp. ‏דָמְתָה‎ in the preceding verse; Gesen. § 126, 3; Ewald, § 135 b. The second verb ‏אֶעֱלֶה‎ is subordinate to the first, vide supra, chap. ii. 3. ‏גֶּפֶן‎ is added to ‏אֶשְׁכֹּל‎, to distinguish it from the dates in ver. 7.

And the odour of thy breath, &c. That is, be as sweet and as quickening as that of apples. ‏אַף‎ is used in preference to ‏פֶּה‎, because the nostril, or the breathing (which ‏אַף‎ literally means) is regarded by the Hebrews as that which in distension betokens pleasure, anger, &c. The appropriateness of this expression will be more manifest when we remember that hitherto all that the Shulamite showed towards Solomon were resistance and independence. There is also a play of words here, ‏אַף‎ being derived from ‏אָנַף‎, to breathe, and ‏תַּפּוּחַ‎, from ‏נָפַח‎, to breathe. Hodgson strangely renders ‏וְרֵיחַ אַפֵף‎, “the fragrance of thy face,” because several MSS. read ‏אפיך‎ with a yod.

9. And thy speech, &c. That is, Let thy language to me be as the sweetness of delicious wine. Rosenmüller, Döpke, De Wette, Noyes, Delitzsch, Hengstenberg, &c., put these words into the mouth of the maiden. But it is incredible that this modest woman would approve of these expressions with regard to her own person, and that she would continue the words ‏דּוֹבֵב שִׂפְתֵי יְשֵׁינִים‎. ‏חֵךְ‎, palate, metonymically for speech; vide supra, chap. v. 16. ‏טוֹב‎ is used as a substantive, and placed in the genitive after ‏יַיִן‎; comp. Ps. xxi. 4; Prov. xxiv. 25; Ewald, § 287 b. The phrase ‏הֹלֵךְ לְמֵישָׁרִים‎ describes the smooth or mellow wine, which is of a very superior quality, and highly prized, Prov. xxiii. 31. The expression ‏לְדוֹדִי‎ is added in order to describe still more forcibly the nature of the wine, and affords a more striking illustration of the pleasantness of the damsel’s speech. Her voice is not merely compared to wine, valued because it is sweet to everybody; but to such wine as would be sweet to a friend, and on that account is more valuable and pleasant. Ammon, Ewald, Heiligstedt, Hitzig, &c. regard ‏לְדוֹדִי‎ as having erroneously crept in here from ver. 11, whilst Velthusen, Meier, &c. point it ‏לְדוֹדַי‎ in the plural; but this is unsupported by MSS. Hodgson, taking ‏לְדוֹדִי‎ for ‏לְדוֹדִים‎, translates it ad amores, delightfully, corresponding to ‏לְמֵישָׁרִיﬦ‎ in the next clause. But this rendering, to say the least, is contrary to the general meaning of this word. The rendering of Williams, “which I sent to those whom I love for their integrity,” is preposterous.

And causes slumbering lips, &c. The wine is of such an animating nature, that it even causes silent lips to speak. Thus Horace, Epist. lib. i. Ep. v. 19:—

Fecundi calices quem non fecere disertum?

“Whom have not soul-inspiring cups made eloquent?”

Others, however, with less probability, explain these words to mean wine of so excellent a flavour, as to induce those who have indulged in it to dream of it, and converse about it; or wine so delicious and tempting that it leads to excess, in consequence of which the drinkers fall asleep, and then either disclose the subject of their dream, or mutter unintelligible words. ‏דּוֹבֵב‎ is not gently flowing, suffusing (Ewald, Döpke, Gesenius, De Wette, Lee, Magnus, Noyes, Meier, Philippson, Hitzig, &c.), but causing to speak (Vulg., Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Rashbam, Mendelssohn, Kleuker, Hengstenberg, Fürst, Delitzsch, &c.) This is corroborated by the derivative ‏דִּבָּה‎, which primarily means something spoken, a report, either good or bad, as is evident from Gen. xxvii. 2; Numb. xiv. 37, where the adjective ‏רָעֳה‎, evil, is joined to it; and from Ezek. xxxvi. 3, where it stands in parallelism with ‏שְׂפַת לָשׁוֹן‎, and by the frequent usage in the Talmud and other Hebrew writers of the word ‏דָּבַב‎, for speaking. ‏דּוֹבֵב‎ is the Poel of ‏דָּבַב‎, a form frequently used in verbs ‏ע״ע‎ (comp. ‏הֹולֵל‎, Eccl. vii. 7; ‏סוֹבֵב‎, Ps. lix. 7; Gesen. § 67, 8), and, like the Piel, is often the causative of Kal, Gesen. § 55, 1. The Sept., Vulg., Sym., Syr., read ‏שְׂפָתַיִﬦ וְשִׁנַּיִﬦ‎, the lips and the teeth, instead of ‏שִׂפְתֵי יְשֵׁנִיﬦ‎; but this is neither supported by MSS., nor yields a better sense.

10. I belong to my beloved, &c. The Shulamite gently but decidedly refuses the wishes of the king, declaring that her affections are fixed on one whom she ardently loves, and on whom alone it is her sacred duty to look. Even Ibn Ezra and Rashbam, though explaining it differently, admit that the maiden here refuses the petitioner of the last verse on the plea that she belonged to her beloved. ‏עָלַי‎, lit. on me, i.e. it is upon me as a duty. ‏עַל‎ is frequently used to denote duty or obligation, which rests upon one like a burden, and must be discharged. Thus ‏עָלַי לָתֵת‎, “it was my duty to give,” 2 Sam. xviii. 11; ‏זִבְחֵי שְׁלָמִיﬦ עָלַי‎, “peace-offerings are due from me,” Prov. vii. 14; Gesen. Lexicon, ‏עַל‎ A. 1, α γ. Ewald, § 217, 4 γ. The suffix in ‏תְּשׁוּקָתוֹ‎ expresses the object, i.e. the desire for him. This is often the case; comp. ‏יִרְאָתוֹ‎, his fear, i.e. the fear for him, Exod. xx. 20; Gesen. § 121, 5; Ewald, § 286 b. We thus obtain the same sense of this clause which Hodgson gives it, without changing the words into ‏זעליו תשוקתי‎, upon the slender authority of one MS. to support the first, and three MSS. to support the second alteration.

11. Come, my beloved, &c. Having distinctly and finally refused the king, who forthwith quitted her, the Shulamite now addresses her beloved shepherd, who approached her, urging their departure from the royal palace for their festive bowers in Nature’s hall. The want of separate names, or initial letters of names, generally used in profane composition to indicate the speaker or the person spoken to, is amply supplied here by the skill of the inspired poet in putting into the mouth of the Shulamite such rural language as shows most plainly that she was a rustic maiden, and that her beloved, whom she here addresses, is a shepherd. Comp. also chap. i. 7; ii. 8; v. 2, 4, &c. To ascribe these words to a princess addressing king Solomon is preposterous. Döderlein, Ewald, Meier, &c., take ‏כְּפָרִיﬦ‎ as the plural of ‏כֹּפֶר‎, cypress, vide supra, i. 14; iv. 13; but 1 Chron. xxvii. 25, where ‏כְּפָרִיﬦ‎, like here, coupled with ‏שָׂדֶה‎, field, forms a contrast to ‏עִיר‎, city, is against it. ‏הַשָּדֶה‎ is the accusative of place, 1 Sam. xx. 11; Gesen. § 118, 1.

12. We will go early, &c. Transported with the thought of her speedy arrival at her mother’s house, the Shulamite vividly depicts to her beloved the scenes of home, where they will again together enjoy rural life. It may be that Milton thought of this passage when he wrote the words:—

“To-morrow, ere fresh morning streak the east

With first approach of light, we must be risen,

And at our pleasant labour, to reform

Yon flowery arbours, yonder alleys green,

Our walks at noon with branches overgrown.”

Paradise Lost, iv. 623, &c.

‏נַשְׁכִּימָה לַכְּרָמִים‎ is constructio praegnans, and is well explained by Rashbam, ‏נשכימה לטייל בכרמיﬦ‎, “we will rise early to stroll in the vineyards.” Comp. Gen. xliv. 33; Numb. xiv. 24; Gesen. § 141.

There will I give, &c. The shepherd, gladdened with the fact that his loved one is restored to him, is desirous of expressing his joy and affection, but the Shulamite, anxious to get off as quickly as possible, tells him that at home, amidst the charms of nature, they may indulge in sweet effusions of love. The Sept. and Vulg. have here again ‏דַּדַּיִם‎, breasts, instead of ‏דֹודִים‎, love. But in addition to what has already been remarked, we would state that whenever breasts are mentioned in this Song, ‏שָׁדַיִם‎ is invariably used.

13. The mandrakes diffuse, &c. Another reason for hastening away from the royal prison into the rural home. There nothing will be wanting; they have there the highly prized apples, they have all sorts of precious fruit, which she left on the trees for him. A similar passage occurs in Virgil, Ecl. i. 37, where the loved one kept fruit on the tree for her lover:—

Mirabar, quid moesta deos, Amarylli, vocares;

Cui pendere suâ patereris in arbore poma:

Tityrus hinc aberat.

“We stood amazed to see your mistress mourn;

Unknowing that she pined for your return:

We wonder’d why she kept her fruit so long,

For whom so late th’ ungather’d apples hung:

But no, the wonder ceases, since I see

She kept them only, Tityrus, for thee.”

‏דּוּדָאִים‎, which occurs only once more, (Gen. xxx. 14), is, according to the testimony of the ancient versions, the mass of commentators and modern travellers, the mandrake-plant, Atropa mandragora, called yabrochack by the Arabs, the fruit of which is highly valued by the Orientals for its supposed exhilarating, aphrodisiac, and procreative properties. “It grows low, like lettuce, to which its leaves have a strong resemblance, except that they have a dark green colour. The flowers are purple, and the root is for the most part forked. The fruit, when ripe, in the beginning of May, is of the size and colour of a small apple, exceedingly ruddy, and of a most agreeable flavour.” See Kitto, Cyclop. Bib. Lit.; Winer, Bib. Dict. s.v. Here, however, this plant is mentioned merely to fill out the picture of charming and highly prized plants, without reference to any supposed internal properties, and has evidently been suggested by the preceding ‏דּוֹדִי‎, beloved. ‏דּוּדָאִים‎, lit. love-apples, is the plural of ‏דּוּדַי‎, from the root ‏דּוּד‎, to love, with the termination ‏–ַי‎, like ‏לוּלָאוֹת‎, the plural of ‏לוּלַי‎, from the root ‏לוּל‎. Gesen. § 93, 6, 6; Ewald, § 189 g. ‏וְעַל פְּתַחֵינוּ‎ is well explained by Rashbam, ‏אצל פתח פרדס שלנו‎, “in our garden, close to our door,” &c. ‏עַל‎ has not unfrequently the sense of neighbourhood and contiguity. Gesen. Lexicon, ‏עַל‎ 3. Others however render ‏עַל‎, over, i.e. “and over our doors grow,” &c.; others again translate in, i.e. “in our house are,” &c., taking ‏פֶּתַח‎ in the sense of house; comp. Prov. xiv. 19, but with less probability. Houbigant’s transposition of letters, viz. ‏על תפחינו‎, in nostris malis aureis, instead of ‏על פתחינו‎, is an idle conjecture.

1. Oh that thou wert as my brother, &c. The charming description which the Shulamite gave of their happiness when at home, recalled to her mind the obstacles which they met with, even there; and hence she is led to wish that he had sustained to her the relation of a brother, that, whether in the street or the house, none might misinterpret or interrupt the manifestation of their attachment. ‏מִי יִתֵּן‎ is used to express the optative. Comp. Deut. v. 29; xxviii. 67; Ps. xiv. 7; Job vi. 8; Gesen. § 136, 1; Ewald, § 329 c. ‏כְּאָח‎ is the accusative. The rendering of the Septuag., Τὶς δῴη σε, ἀδελφιδέ μου, θηλάζοντα μαστοὺς μητρός μου; and Luther, “O dass ich dich, mein Bruder, der du meiner Mutter Brüste saugest, draussen fände,” are wrong. ‏יֹונֵק שְׂדֵי אִמִּי‎, does not mean “an infant still sucking the breasts.” (Grotius, Gill, Good, Williams, &c.), but “one who had sucked and is now a youth;” it is the second accusative to ‏מִי יִתֶּנְךָ‎, and stands in parallelism with ‏אָח‎, brother; like the participle ‏יֹולֶדֶת‎ (which does not mean one who just gave birth), and ‏אֵﬦ‎, vide supra, chap. vi. 9. ‏אֶמְצָאֲךָ‎ is conditional, with the particle ‏אִﬦ‎ implied, Judg. xi. 36; Prov. xxiv. 10; Ewald, § 367 b. ‏גַם‎ is used poetically for ‏וְ‎, and, Judg. v. 4; Joel i. 12. ‏יָבֻזוּ‎: the third person is used to express the indeterminate third person, the passive in English. Gen. xli. 14; Gesen. § 157, 3. For ‏לִי‎, me, five MSS. and two editions read ‏לָךְ‎, thee, which Ewald adopts. But this is against the majority of MSS. and all the versions, and does not at all improve the sense.

2. I would lead thee, &c. As a brother, she could unreservedly bring him from the spot, where she met him in the street, to her mother’s house. We must supply ‏מִשָּׁם‎, thence, before ‏אֱנְהָגְךָ‎; so Rashbam. Simple as the word ‏תְּלַמְּדֵנִי‎ seems to be, it has nevertheless produced a variety of renderings. The Septuagint and Syriac, followed by Percy, entirely omit it, and interpolate here ‏וְאֶל חֶדֶר הוֹרָתִי‎, and into the apartment of her who gave me birth, from chap. iii. 4; after ‏בֵית אִמִּי‎, the house of my mother. Ibn Ezra, the Authorized Version, Kleuker, Döderlein, Hitzig, &c., supply ‏אֲשֶׁר‎, who, before ‏תְּלַמְּדֵנִי‎, and refer it to ‏אִמִּי‎, my mother. But this interrupts the construction, and, against the scope of the description, introduces the mother as an actress. Hodgson and the editor of Calmet, strangely enough, render it Talmudni, as a proper name of the maiden’s mother. The most natural way seems to be to take it with the Vulgate, Chaldee, Rashbam, Luther, Ewald, Döpke, De Wette, Delitzsch, Hengstenberg, Philippson, &c., as the second person masculine.

I would cause thee to drink, &c. On the aromatic wine, see supra, chap. vii. 3. The pomegranate-juice was and still is a favourite beverage in the East. “The Orientals,” says Dr. Kitto, “indulge largely in beverages made with fresh juice of various kinds of fruits. Among these, sherbet made with pomegranate-juice is particularly esteemed, and, from its agreeable and cooling acidity, the present writer was himself accustomed to prefer it to any other drink of this description.” ‏יַיִן‎, is either an anomalous construct (Gesenius; Fürst, Lex. s.v.), or the absolute, and ‏הַרֶקַח‎, apposition in the accusative. Compare ‏מַיִם לַחַץ‎, 1 Kings xx. 27; Gesen. § 116, 6, Rem. b; Ewald, § 287 h. ‏אֶשָׁקְךָ‎ and ‏אֲשְׁקְךָ‎ are a paranomasia, vide supra, chap. i. 3. ‏עַסִיס רִמֹּנִי‎, my pomegranate-juice, i.e. which I myself have prepared. The noun in the genitive, expressing the quality of the nominative, has the suffix; compare ‏הַר קָדְשִׁי‎, my holy mountain, Ps. ii. 6; Gesen. § 121 b; Ewald, § 291 b. From an oversight of this most probably arose the readings of ‏רמנים‎ or ‏רמונים‎ (several MSS.), ‏רִמֹּנַי‎ (Vulgate, Syriac), the supposition that ‏רִמֹּנִי‎ is an adjective (Schultens), and the opinion that it is an abbreviated plural from ‏רִמֹנִים‎, like ‏מִּנִּי‎ for ‏מִנִּים‎, (Ps. xlv. 9, Meier, Fürst, Lexicon, ‏מ‎, 3 b.)

3. Let his left hand, &c. Exhausted with the attempt to describe her unfailing attachment for her beloved shepherd, an attachment far deeper than external circumstances permit her to manifest, the Shulamite desires that no other hand should raise her drooping head, no other arm support her enfeebled frame, than those of her beloved; compare chap. ii. 6.

4. I adjure you, &c. This last affecting scene, having brought the Shulamite’s struggle to a successful termination, is closed by her adjuring the court ladies as before (ii. 7, and v. 3), to make no more attempt to draw her affections away from her beloved to any one else, since they were unalterably fixed. The Septuagint, which is followed by Good, &c., supplies here ‏בִּצְבָאוֹת אוֹ בְּאַיְלוֹת הַשָּׂדֶה‎, from ii. 7, and v. 3. It is obvious, from the change of ‏אִם‎ into the more urgent negative particle ‏מַה‎, (comp. Job xxxi.; Ewald, § 325 b), that the variation is designedly made; and indeed the haste in which the Shulamite is to depart with her beloved does not permit her to use the lengthy adjuration.

5. Who is it that comes up, &c. The last successful resistance secured for the Shulamite her liberty. Convinced that even the blandishments of a king cannot overcome the power of virtuous love in the heart of a rustic damsel; satisfied that “all the wealth of his house” could not buy it, Solomon dismisses her. Then, reunited to her beloved shepherd, the happy pair immediately depart for home. As they approach their native place the inhabitants, beholding them at a distance, exclaim, “Who is it that comes up from the plain, leaning upon her beloved?” ‏הַמִּדְבָּר‎, the plain (vide supra, iii. 6), most probably the plain of Esdraelon, at present known by the name of Merij Ibn ’Amir, lying between Jezreel and Sulem (Robinson, Palestine, iii. 169), which the lovers had to cross on their way home. ‏מִתְרַפָּקֶת‎ (from ‏רָפַק‎, to lean; hence ‏מַרְפֵּק‎, an arm, on which one leans, Talm. Sabbath, 92), supporting herself, being weary with so long a journey. So the Sept. ἐπιστηριζομένη; the Vulg. innixa, &c. As for the additional λελευκανθισμένη in the Sept., and deliciis affluens in the Vulg., the one most probably arose from the word ‏בָּרַה‎, used in chap. vi. 10, where a similar question occurs, and the other from a marginal gloss, ‏מתפנקת‎ or ‏מתנענעת‎.