Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that plunder the vineyards; for our vineyards are in blossom.
Parallel Translations
-
Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that plunder the vineyards; for our vineyards are in blossom.
-
Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
-
'Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vineyards; for our vineyards are in blossom.'
Cross-references (7)
Passages linked to Song of Solomon 2:15 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Luke 13:32 He said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I complete my mission.
- 2 Peter 2:1-3 But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction. Many will follow their immoral ways, and as a result, the way of the truth will be maligned. In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not slumber.
- Song of Solomon 7:12 Let’s go early up to the vineyards. Let’s see whether the vine has budded, its blossom is open, and the pomegranates are in flower. There I will give you my love.
- Psalms 80:13 The boar out of the wood ravages it. The wild animals of the field feed on it.
- Ezekiel 13:4-16 Israel, your prophets have been like foxes in the waste places. You have not gone up into the gaps or built up the wall for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in Yahweh’s day. They have seen falsehood and lying divination, who say, ‘Yahweh says;’ but Yahweh has not sent them. They have made men to hope that the word would be confirmed. Haven’t you seen a false vision, and haven’t you spoken a lying divination, in that you say, ‘Yahweh says;’ but I have not spoken?” “ ‘Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Because you have spoken falsehood and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you,” says the Lord Yahweh. “My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who utter lying divinations. They will not be in the council of my people, neither will they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither will they enter into the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.” “ ‘Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, “Peace;” and there is no peace. When one builds up a wall, behold, they plaster it with whitewash. Tell those who plaster it with whitewash that it will fall. There will be an overflowing shower; and you, great hailstones, will fall. A stormy wind will tear it. Behold, when the wall has fallen, won’t it be said to you, “Where is the plaster with which you have plastered it?” “ ‘Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “I will even tear it with a stormy wind in my wrath. There will be an overflowing shower in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to consume it. So I will break down the wall that you have plastered with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be uncovered. It will fall, and you will be consumed in the middle of it. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. Thus I will accomplish my wrath on the wall, and on those who have plastered it with whitewash. I will tell you, ‘The wall is no more, neither those who plastered it; to wit, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace,’ ” says the Lord Yahweh.’ ”
- Song of Solomon 2:13 The fig tree ripens her green figs. The vines are in blossom. They give out their fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.”
- Revelation 2:2 “I know your works, and your toil and perseverance, and that you can’t tolerate evil men, and have tested those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and found them false.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Suppress the heretics while they are young, that is,…
Suppress the heretics while they are young, that is, when they begin to show their malice, and destroy the vine of the Lord.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Son 2:15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes,…
Son 2:15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines [have] tender grapes.
Ver. 15. Take us the foxes, the little foxes,] i.e., The heretics and schismatics. For as fox cubs will be foxes one day, and of little will become great; so schismatics, if not timely taken, will turn heretics. Whence it is that the apostle, in 1Co 11:18-19, having said, "I hear that there be divisions, or schisms, among you," he presently subjoins, "For there must be also heresies among you," God having so foreappointed and foretold it, "that they which are approved may be made manifest among you." Now these heretics and schismatics are fitly called foxes, both here and Eze 13:4. Herod is also called a fox, {Luk 13:32} as being a sect master, {Mat 22:16} and as it is thought, to still the noise of his conscience, a Sadducee - first, For their craft; secondly, For their cruelty. Foxes are famous for their craftiness, even to a proverb - ‘As subtle as a fox’ -
Read full note →
“ Astutam vapido servans sub pectore vulpem. ” - Persius
They are passing cunning to deceive those that hunt them, feigning themselves simple when there is nothing more subtle, and looking pitifully when taken in a snare, but it is only that they may get out; there is no trusting to their looks, for Vulpes pellem murat; non naturam, saith the proverb, The fox may alter his countenance, but not his condition. And for cruelty, besides the harm foxes do among lambs and fowls - for, lacking meat, they feign themselves dead, and so the birds, hasting down as to a carcase, volucres rapiunt et devorant, saith Isidore, {a} they seize upon the birds and devour them - they are noted here to mar the vineyards, Vulpes vitibus maxime nocivae, saith one. And for grapes, the fox loves them exceedingly - yea, though they be but tender and unripe. Hence the Latins call him Legulus, a gatherer - namely, of grapes; and we ironcally say of a man, the fox loves no grapes, he will not eat them, but it is because he cannot get them; howbeit, by his leering one may know he loves them. Heretics and schismatics are therefore to be taken by the vinedressers - that is, detected, refuted, and if need be, "delivered up to Satan," {1Ti 1:20} by the ministers, chased out of the vineyard, and pursued to death, if incorrigible, by the magistrate, as Jehu dealt by the Baalites, and after him Josiah. The sword is put into their hands for such a purpose, {Rom 13:4} and our Saviour with a civil whip expelled those Church foxes, the money merchants, giving therein a taste of that civil authority which he naturally derived from David, as one observeth. The apostles, being convented before civil authority about matters of religion, never pleaded, You have no power to meddle with us in these things that belong to Jesus Christ. No; their plea was only the justness of their cause, their obedience to God, &c. This heretics can never make good. Well they may pretend that they suffer for righteousness sake, and style themselves, as the Swenckfeldians did, the confessors of the glory of Christ! Well they may cry out, as that heretic Dioscorus did in the Council of Chalcedon, ‘I am cast out with the fathers, I defend the doctrine of the fathers, I transgress them not in any point! Well they may seem to be ambitious of wearing a Tyburn tippet, as Campian, and cry out with Gentilis, the Anti-trinitarian, that he suffered death for the glory of the most high God! {b} "He that hateth dissembleth with his lips," saith Solomon of such subtle foxes, "and layeth up deceit within him. When he speaketh fair believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart." {Pro 26:24-25} Heretics are notably cunning and no less cruel, as the Arians and Donatists were of old, the Papists, Socinians, and others of the same brand to this day. These "foxes have holes"; {Mat 8:20} they cunningly creep, or shoot themselves into houses by their pithanology and counterfeit humility, they "lead captive silly women," {2Ti 3:6} and by them their husbands; they take them prisoners, as the word signifies, and then make prize of them; {2Pe 2:3} they bring them into bondage and devour them, as St Paul saith of those deceitful workers, the foxes of his time; {2Co 11:13; 2Co 11:20} they fraudulently foist in false doctrines, {2Pe 2:1} heresies of perdition, and so corrupt the vineyard as the master of the vineyard complains, {Jer 12:10} "shipwreck the faith," {1Ti 1:19} "subvert whole houses," {Tit 1:11} and are therefore to be taken, or clubbed down as pests and common mischiefs to mankind - to the younger sort especially, those tender grapes which they chiefly covet and catch at. And here, in hunting of these cruel crafties, that counsel would be taken that Saul gave the Ziphites concerning an innocent man that deserved it not: "Go, I pray you, prepare ye and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who hath seen him there, for it is told me that he dealeth very subtlely. See, therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself." {1Sa 23:22-23}
{a} Isidor. Etym., lib, xii. 1.
{b} Se pro gloria Altissimi Dei pati.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The Bridegroom gives this charge to his bridemen or…
The Bridegroom gives this charge to his bridemen or friends, whose office it is to attend upon him, and to observe his commands; by whom he understands those magistrates and ministers to whom, under Christ, the custody of the vineyards, to wit, the churches, principally belong. These he commands to take the
foxes, i.e. to restrain them from doing this mischief.
Read full note →
Us, Heb. for us, i.e. at our instance, and for our common good, as this spoiling of the vines was injurious and grievous to them both.
The foxes; the disturbers of the vineyard, or the church; seducers or false teachers, who are fitly compared to foxes here, and Eze 13:4, partly to distinguish them from great tyrants and persecutors, who are compared to wild boars, or other wild beasts, Psa 80:13, as to lions, 2Ti 4:17; and partly for their fox-like qualities and actions, because they are very crafty and deceitful, 2Co 11:13,14; Eph 4:14, and very mischievous also, Eze 34:2,3; 2Ti 4:17; Tit 1:10,11; 2Pe 2:2. He mentions foxes, because these abounded in that country, as is manifest from Jdg 15:4; Psa 63:10; Lam 5:18, &c., but under them he comprehends all noxious creatures, upon the same reason.
The little foxes: this he adds, not as if the great foxes were excused or exempted, but for more abundant caution, to teach the church to prevent errors and heresies in the beginnings of them, before they spread and grow strong and incurable.
That spoil the vines, which foxes do many ways, as those who write of them have observed, by gnawing and breaking the little branches and leaves, and the bark, by digging holes in the vineyards, and so spoiling the roots, by eating the grapes, and other ways.
Have tender grapes; which gives us hopes of a good vintage, and which are easily spoiled, if great care be not used to prevent it.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Take us - The bridegroom gives this charge to…
Take us - The bridegroom gives this charge to his bridemen or friends. By whom he understands those magistrates and ministers to whom, under Christ, the custody of the vineyards, the churches, principally belong. These he commands to take the foxes, to restrain them from doing this mischief. Foxes - The disturbers of the vineyard, or the church, seducers or false teachers. Little foxes - This he adds for more abundant caution, to teach the church to prevent errors and heresies in the beginnings. Spoil vines - Which foxes do many ways, by gnawing and breaking the little branches and leaves, by digging holes in the vineyards, and so spoiling the roots. Tender grapes - Which are easily spoiled, if great care be not used to prevent it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 15. Take us the foxes] That these were…
Verse 15. Take us the foxes] That these were ruinous to vines all authors allow. They love the vine, and they are eaten in autumn in some countries, according to Galen, when they are very fat with eating the grapes. They abounded in Judea; and did most damage when the clusters were young and tender. It is likely that these are the words of the bridegroom to his companions, just as he was entering the apartment of his spouse. "Take care of the vineyard: set the traps for the foxes, which are spoiling the vines; and destroy their young as far as possible."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Son 2:15. Take us — The bridegroom gives this…
Son 2:15. Take us — The bridegroom gives this charge to his bridemen or friends. By whom he understands those magistrates and ministers to whom, under Christ, the custody of the vineyards, of the churches, principally belongs. These he commands to take the foxes, to restrain them from doing this mischief; the foxes — The disturbers of the vineyard, or the church, namely, seducers or false teachers; the little foxes — This he adds for more abundant caution, to teach the church to prevent errors and heresies in the beginnings; that spoil the vines — Which foxes do many ways, by gnawing and breaking the little branches and leaves, by digging holes in the vineyards, and so spoiling the roots; for our vines have tender grapes — Which are easily spoiled, if great care be not used to prevent it.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Foxes. They hurt vines, (Theoc. 5.) and denote false…
Foxes. They hurt vines, (Theoc. 5.) and denote false prophets, Ezechiel xiii. 4. (St. Augustine) (Psalm lxxx.) --- For. Hebrew, "and our vines of Semadar," ver. 13. (Calmet) --- Foxes breed in spring, and greatly infested the country, Judges xv. 4.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 15. It is hard to find in all poetry…
15. It is hard to find in all poetry a more beautiful rhetorical foil than this verse. The knocking at the gate in “Macbeth” is like it. When a passion has run so intensely that its crisis must be near, then to interrupt it, and divert the attention by throwing in fresh and unlooked-for elements, is the highest art. This interruption exactly suits the stern and careful brothers already mentioned. Partly to prevent the intimacy, imprudent and excessive as they seem to regard it, of the lovers, and partly to protect their property in this season of its exposure when they themselves are so busy, they order their sister to spend the day in watching the vineyards.
Take us the foxes — Foxes were abundant in Palestine, (the jackal is not here meant,) and they did the vines damage at this season, chiefly by burrowing around their roots, like the gopher and field rat. Unless now caught, they would make havoc in harvest. To this order she meekly yields, consoling herself with the sentiment of the following verse.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 15. In answer to her lover’s request that she…
15. In answer to her lover’s request that she should let him hear her voice the bride sings a fragment of a vineyard-watcher’s song. Probably, as Oettli suggests, he had heard her sing it before, and would recognise her by it, for she had not as yet revealed herself to him. He had been watching for her at the windows, and peering in at the lattices, and now she assures him of her presence. The word shû‘âl denotes an animal which digs into and dwells in the earth, for it means ‘the burrower,’ and is derived from the root which gives us also shô‘al, the hollow of the hand. It is the common fox here probably, though jackals are also called by this name, e.g. Psa_63:10, where those slain by the sword are said to be a portion for shû‘âlîm.
that spoil the vines] Rather, the vineyards. This includes the vines, for though foxes are carnivorous animals in the main, they also devour plants, so that besides digging their holes in the vineyards, and making tracks among the vines and gaps in the fences, they actually bite the young shoots of the vines and eat the grapes. (Cp. Theocritus, Id. v. 112, where vines are said to be spoiled by their deadly bite.) In vine-growing countries, as for instance in Australia, foxes when killed have been found with nothing in their stomachs but grapes. Perhaps there may be a side reference here to the Shulammite’s danger in the royal hareem. She speaks of her person as her vineyard, and there may be here a call to her lover to deliver her from those who wish to profane it.
Read full note →
for our vines have tender grapes] for our vineyards are in blossom. Heb. semâdhâr (cp. Son_2:13). The use by the bride of this peculiar word which her lover has just used may be meant to inform him that she has heard all he has just said.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (15) Take us the foxes.—Possibly this is a verse…
(15) Take us the foxes.—Possibly this is a verse of a familiar country song, introduced here from the suggestion of the “sweet voice” in the last verse; but more probably to be compared to the “avaunt” so commonly addressed by poets in Epithalamia and love songs to all mischievous and troublesome creatures. Thus in Spenser’s Epithalamium, owls, storks, ravens, and frogs are warned off.
Foxes.—Comp. Jdg_15:4. Whether our fox or the jackal (Heb., shual), it is known to be equally destructive to vineyards. Theocritus (Id. v. 112) is often compared:—
Read full note →
“I hate those brush-tailed foxes, that each night
Spoil Micon’s vineyards with their deadly bite.”
In the allegorising commentators they stand for heretics.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil…
Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vineyards; for our vineyards are in blossom. There is some difficulty in deciding to which of the persons this speech is to be attributed. It is most naturally, however, assigned to the bride, and this is the view of the majority of critics. Hence she refers to the vineyards as "our vineyards," which the bridegroom could scarcely say. On the other hand, it must be acknowledged that the words are abrupt regarded as a response to the beautiful appeal of the lover. The following are the remarks of Delitzsch on the subject: "This is a vine dresser"s ditty, in accord with Shulamith"s experience as the keeper of a vineyard, which, in a figure, aims at her love relation. The vineyards, beautiful with fragrant blossoms, point to her covenant of love, and the foxes, the little foxes, which might destroy those united vineyards, point to all the great and little enemies and adverse circumstances which threaten to gnaw and destroy love in the blossom ere it has reached the ripeness of full enjoyment." Some think that Shulamith is giving the reason why she cannot immediately join her beloved, referring to the duties enjoined upon her by her brethren. But there is an awkwardness in this explanation. The simplest and most straightforward is that which connects the words immediately with the invitation of the lover to come forth into the lovely vineyards. Is it not an allusion to the playful pleasure which the young people would find among the vineyards in chasing the little foxes? and may not the lover take up some well known country ditty, and sing it outside the window as a playful repetition of the invitation to appear? The words do seem to be arranged in somewhat of a lyrical form"Catch us the foxes, Foxes the little ones, Wasting our vineyards, When our vineyards are blossoming.
The foxes (shualim), or little jackals, were very numerous in Palestine. (see Jud_1:15:4 Lam_5:18 Psa_63:11 1Sa_13:17) The little jackals were seldom more than fifteen inches high. There would be nothing unsuitable in the address to a maiden to help to catch such small animals. The idea of the song is Let us all join in taking them. Some think that Shulamith is inviting the king to call his attendants to the work. But when two lovers thus approach one another, it is not likely that others would be thought of. However the words be viewed, the typical meaning can scarcely be missed. The idea of clearing the vineyards of depredators well suits the general import of the poem. Let the blossoming love of the soul be without injury and restraint. Let the rising faith and affection be carefully guarded. Both individuals and communities do well to think of the little foxes that spoil the vines.
Read full note →
"The little foxes.
This verse is part of the description which Shulamith, the betrothed, gives of her beloved. In the verses preceding she relates (ver. 8, etc.) how he was wont to come to her home after her, bounding and leaping over the hills in his loving haste, like a young hart. And how, when he had reached the house, he would "look in at the windows," and beg her to come forth to him. And to entice her he would sing the beautiful song of the spring, "The winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth, and the time of the singing of birds is come." And then, because she was still slow to come forth, she tells how he would call her again, and by the tender name of his timid "dove," that hides itself, because of its fear, in the clefts of the rocks, and amid the inaccessible crags and. crevices of lofty cliffs; and then how he would ask her to sing to him her song of the foxes, "Take us the foxes, the little foxes... grapes." Such seems to be the circumstantial setting of this verse; but, like the whole poem of which it forms part, had it no more meaning than lies on the surface it would not, we believe, have found place amongst the sacred Scriptures, the Bible of the people of God. If, then, the words suggest to devout minds, as they have done in all the centuries since they were written, truths which belong to the region of the soul, to our relationships with God more than to any relationship of earth, surely we may believe that they were designed so to do; and earthly as the story may be on which such truths are grafted, like the parables of our Lord, it has a heavenly meaning, and is designed to help us on our heavenward way. Now, of some of these suggested truths let us speak. One word as to the imagery of this verse. "Foxes, jackals, little foxes, are very common in Palestine, and are particularly fond of grapes. They often burrow in holes in hedges round the gardens, and, unless strictly watched, would destroy whole vineyards. Their flesh was sometimes eaten in autumn, when they were grown fat with feeding on grapes. Thus Theocritus says hate the foxes with their bushy tails, Which numerous spoil the grapes of Mecon"s vines When fall the evening shades.
And Aristophanes compares soldiers to foxes, because they consume the grapes of the countries through which they pass" (Burrows). But now as to the spiritual teachings which are contained in these words. We have brought before us here
I A SAD POSSIBILITY. Vines that promised well, spoiled. Translated into the language of the Spirit, they speak of blessed beginnings of the Divine life in the soul not realized. Few things are more beautiful than the beginnings of the Divine life. The promise and hope they give rise to of matured and rich and Christ-like character fill the devout-minded observer especially if he himself has prayed and watched and toiled for suchbeginnings with a deep and sacred joy. What does he not anticipate from them? What of influence on others, in the Church, the home, the business, the world generally? What of service for Christ and truth and all goodness? Hence when he sees that tenderness of conscience, that prayerfulness, that gentleness and humility, that alacrity in service, that delight in worship, all which mark these beginnings, how can he but be glad? or how can any one who has a Christ-like heart in him? But few things are more sad than to see all this hopefulness and promise spoiled.
And such things do happen. "Ye did run well; who did hinder you?" so said St. Paul to the foolish Galatians who had so bitterly disappointed him. And how often in our Lord"s ministry had he to bear this disappointment! Again and again there would come to him those about whom bright hope might have been cherished amiable, well disposed, warm-hearted, intelligent, pure-minded, generous, much esteemed, kindly, lovable, and. beloved. Such people were irresistibly drawn to him, and for a while they would follow him; but then after a while we find something offending them, and they go away. Christ drew their portrait in his parable of the sower, where he likens such to the seed sown on the stony ground. Quick to spring up and present the appearance of vigorous life, but as quick to wither away when the sun"s scorching heat smote them as it smote all else. And surely, in the spoiled vines told of in our text, we have another of these Bible portraitures of the same, or a similar class. And where there is not the actual destruction and perishing of what is good, there is yet the spoiling. The vines are not cut down, they are not hindered from bringing forth any fruit; the foe told of "spoils," which is less than to destroy. And how often we have to mourn this "spoiling of the vine"! Neither we nor others come up to that elevation of Christian character which might fairly have been expected. Many people are, in the main, worthy; there is very much that is excellent in them, but their characters are sadly marred. They are ineffectual; they do not tell for any real or large amount of good in any one, anywhere. Their type of life is low; they have the name and the form of godliness, but all too little of the power. They are respectable, decorous, outwardly religious, and live, as we say, consistently with their profession. But if you come to know them, how little of their real life is touched by their religion; what a mere veneer it is on their ordinary existence! How little it does for them in making them really holy or happy, or powerful for good! They began well, but they have sunk and settled down to this. He who looks that these people should bring forth their fruit in due season plentiful fruit, much fruit, the best fruit will assuredly be disappointed.
"And what hinders them? Now, mark you, it is not said here, as in that mournful psalm, "The wild boar out of the wood doth root it up, and the wild beasts of the field devour it." it is not said here, "It is burnt with fire and cut down, and they shall perish at the rebuke of thy countenance." It is not said here, "Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they that go by pluck off her grapes?" No; it is the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the tender grapes." Therefore let us now look at this
II ITS TOO MUCH NEGLECTED CAUSE. It is the little sins, the small faults, the slight self-indulgences, what we count as trifles and think nothing, or almost nothing, of these are the little foxes which spoil the tender grapes. All sins waste and destroy the soul. Not merely the Wage but the work of sin is death. Some there are so notorious that they are as St. Paul says, "open beforehand, going before to judgment." They are as the wild boar out of the wood and the beasts of the field, told of in the psalm we quoted just now. High-handed, bold, Heaven-defying sins, bringing down on the doers of them, sooner or later, the dread judgments of God. But there are other masters of the soul, spoilers of the grapes of God, those sins which here are pictured to us as "the little foxes." Little," so we call them, and others call them so too; and. hence, though we be all wrong together in so calling them, we have come to think them little as well as call them so. And fox-like, which we often forget, for they skulk and lurk and hide; they have, as our Lord said, "their holes," and there they burrow and bury themselves out of sight. And many of them have other characteristics of the fox deceit, cruelty, foulness; true vermin of the soul are they. And they all of them often feign death as the fox does. And we think them dead, and lo! they spring to life again, and are as active as ever. Hence we do indeed need to be on our guard against them. But it is the littleness of these sins to which our thoughts are chiefly turned by the vivid image of the little foxes. Their littleness, like charity, covers a multitude of them, and so conceals them from our own censure and that of others. And if the great adversary of our souls can persuade us not to mind these little sins, he has almost all he cares for. For then he knows that we shall never be what he most of all hates, that is, great saints.
1. For such have ever shunned them with holy care. It has often been pointed out how Daniel might have prayed to God notwithstanding the king"s decree, and yet never have incurred the awful peril of the lions" den, if he would only have shut his window when he prayed. But he must needs open it, and so, of course, he was seen. But he would not compromise with what he deemed his duty to God even in so slight degree as this. And the martyrs, too. The Roman judges used perpetually to remind them how trifling was the concession asked for just sprinkling a grain or two of incense on an altar, that was all. "Now, if men have been able to perceive so much of sin in little transgressions, that they would bear inconceivable tortures rather than commit them, must there not be something dreadful after all in these little sins?" If we would have fellowship with the great saints of God, the eminent and true disciples of our Lord, we must give no quarter to these so called trifling sins. They did not, or they would not have been what they were.
2. And the little foxes grow into great ones. Has not the indulgence in one glass of intoxicating liquor often led on to the liking for two, and that to the taking of three, and that has been followed by the man"s becoming a drunkard and a sot? "Tremblez, tyrans; nous grandirons!" was the shout of the young French lads who, drilled and dressed as soldiers, marched, in the days of the Revolution, through many a town and village in France. They bade the tyrants that oppressed their nation tremble, because they, though but little lids now, would one day be grown up into men. And might not our souls be well made to tremble as they contemplate one of these little sins? for it, too, will grow up, and then will be no longer little, but great and strong. Scarcely more surely does the boy grow into the man than does a little sin tolerated grow into a great one. It is one of the ways of burglars, in effecting an entrance into a house, to attack a small window not nearly large enough to admit a man. But they bring a boy with them, and him they thrust through, and he then undoes larger windows or doors, and so the men enter too. Yes, my brother, if you are allowing yourself in what you are pleased to call a little sin, it may be but the boy getting in at the window who will let in the greater thieves as soon as he is safely in himself. Let us remember that.
3. And how these little sins multiply themselves! Great sins are rare. Tremendous transgressions we are guilty of but now and then but once in our lifetime, it may be; or God"s grace may always keep us "innocent from the great transgression;" we trust it will. But these little ones they are like the myriad insects in our gardens. How they swarm! The more minute they are the more they multiply, until they devour everything if they be let alone. They never come singly, but in troops. And so is it with these little sins that are like them. A man will think it but a trifle if he utter a profane expression, he counts it a very small matter; but it soon comes to pass that he can hardly open his mouth anywhere or any when without some miserable profanity dropping from it. A little temper may come to mean an explosion half a dozen times a day, until it is said of the man that he is always in a temper. That great Zuyder Zee, on which Amsterdam is built, was once a fair fertile land covered with farms, villages, and hamlets; a strong embankment shut it off from the Northern Sea. But that embankment had, no doubt, somehow began to yield in very slight degree, when one stormy winter night the whole gave way, and now the once fruitful land is turned into barrenness, and has been so for centuries past. Oh, take heed of these small beginnings of sin. Yes, they "are like the letting out of water: first there is an ooze, then a drip, then a slender stream, then a vein of water, and then at last a flood, and a rampart is swept before it and the whole land is devoured." God help us, therefore, to be on our guard. And, indeed, if we will think of it, they are not little. There may be but a handful of men cross the frontier of a state, but that is as much an act of war as if an army had come. There are people who never cease to ridicule the idea that "death and all our woe" were the result of man"s once eating the forbidden fruit. But there the fact is, all the same. It was the violation of the Divine Law, and it did not matter how it was done. And so with all those sins which we are pleased to call little. They are as much outrages on the Law of God as if they were acts so flagrant and enormous that all men should denounce them. Broken law is broken law, no matter whether the breach be great or small. Moreover, these sins which we call little are often greater than those which we call great. "If you have a friend and he does you a displeasure for the sake of ten thousand pounds, you say, "Well, he had a very great temptation. It is true he has committed a great fault, but still he has wronged me to some purpose." But should your friend vex and grieve your mind for the sake of a farthing, what would you think of that? "This is wanton," you would say. "This man has done it out of sheer malevolence towards me. And must not the same verdict be passed when, for the sake of one of these trifles, as we term them, we grieve the Spirit of God and outrage his holy Law? And, remember, if you be a Christian, these sins will ruin your peace with God. You cannot be happy in him whilst you walk contrary to his will. And if you be not a Christian, these same sins will lessen the likelihood of your ever becoming one. They may be but as small stones, but they will build up a strong and high wall of separation between you and God, which will more and more effectually shut you off from him. Every way they are deplorable things. Therefore consider
III THE SURE REMEDY. These "little foxes" must be taken and destroyed. You must search them out by prayerful and diligent self-examination. You must drag them forth into the light of conscience and the judgment of God by full and penitent confession of them; and by vigorous acts of a will inspired by the Spirit of God you must slay them before him. "These mine enemies which would not that I should rule over them, bring them hither and slay them before me." These are our Lord"s words, and he who spoke them will, if you do really desire it, give you grace to obey them. May he help you so to do! S.C.
"The little foxes.
The maiden sings a vintage song, or repeats the admonition of her brothers, who have left her in charge of the vineyard. It is her duty to protect the precious plants and fruits from the incursions of enemies, even of those which seem the most unworthy of notice. It has been usual to regard these "little foxes" as emblematic of evil powers which perhaps insidiously threaten the welfare of the spiritual vineyard.
I THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IS THE SPIRITUAL VINEYARD WHICH GOD HAS PLANTED IN THE BARREN SOIL OF THE WORLD. As in the Old Testament Israel is often compared to a vine (Psalm 80) or to a vineyard (Isaiah 5), so in the New Testament the spiritual society which the Son of God has founded is exhibited under the same similitude.
II THE CHURCH OF CHRIST EXISTS FOR THE SAKE OF SPIRITUAL FRUIT. The vineyard may be beautiful to behold; it may be a charming addition to the landscape; its gracefulness and verdure may afford pleasure to the passer by: yet it exists for the sake of fruit. So with the Church, which is indeed an element of interest in history, an important factor in the state, an admirable illustration of the higher capacities of man"s being; but which yet exists for the sake of that holy life, those deeds of justice, mercy, and devotion, which are the true fruits of the Spirit, the very vintage of God.
III THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IS OFTEN ASSAILED BY MISCHIEVOUS INFLUENCES. Like the enemies of the vineyard, evil powers enter in, and damage the spiritual blossom and threaten to destroy the spiritual vintage. False doctrines, heresies, and schisms, delusions, human ambitions, selfish habits, gross corruptions, sins of worldliness and unspirituality, such are some of these influences which portend disaster to the work which has been undertaken for God upon earth.
IV THOUGH APPARENTLY TRIFLING, THESE MISCHIEVOUS INFLUENCES MAY DO GREAT HARM. Like the "little foxes," the power of harmful influences must not be measured by appearances, by magnitude. Deflections from truth or from virtue may appear at first slight and insignificant; but the entrance of evil into Christ"s Church is like the letting in of water; what is at first a leak becomes a flood. To change the figure, the disease may in its first approach appear unimportant, yet it may grow until it threatens not only health, but life itself. The vineyard, if left open to the incursions of vermin, will soon give evidence of ravages most serious, if not disastrous. Let no one concerned for the safety and welfare of Christ"s Church be indifferent to the insidious commencement of harm. No one can say whereunto the thing may grow.
V THESE EVIL INFLUENCES SHOULD, THEREFORE, BE VIGOROUSLY ATTACKED AND SPEEDILY EXTIRPATED. "Take us the little foxes;" wage war against even apparently insignificant foes. Not by way of force or of fraud, but by the presentation of truth, by admonition and exhortation, openly, feelingly, and prayerfully. It is a duty which at some time or other, and in some way or other, every Christian is called upon to fulfil. The ministers of Christ"s Church are especially bound to be upon their guard against the introduction of false doctrine, and of lax and sinful practice; they are set "for the defence and confirmation of the gospel," and it is their office to withstand every foe that threatens the security and the vitality of the Divine society on earth. T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil…
Son_2:15
Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
Read full note →
The little foxes
The fox in the vineyard is exceedingly destructive. The food of that animal is not merely flesh, but honey and fruits, particularly grapes; and the young foxes not merely devour the fruit, but by their sportiveness, and by the action of their teeth on the bark of the vine, destroy as much us they devour. The habits of the fox increase the mischief. Instead of roaming, as some animals, without any certain place of rest, he fixes the bounds of his habitation, choosing a cave or den at a convenient distance from those places which will furnish most substance for plunder; and from this hiding-place and watch-tower united, he exercises his acuteness, ingenuity, prudence, and circumspection, in the capture of whatever is fitted to be his prey. The well-known voraciousness of the fox gives breadth to the mischief, and his cunning renders the application of means of defence almost impossible. So that the husbandman of the vineyard regards the fox as one of his greatest enemies. We will consider the text--
I. As addressed to the individual.
1. The evils, the capture of which is here urged, are such as the following:--Ostentation--the spirit that leads men to give alms that may be seen of men; to pray, that it may be said, Behold, he prays; and to be very particular that their circumspection may become the talk of a street or of a town. Concealment--the temper that prompts men to try to prevent their light shining by placing it under a bushel. The easily-offended and unforgiving spirit--by which allied hearts are moved to a distance from each other, and kept separate. Fear of man and men-pleasing--by which the soul is snared into neglect of duty, and into the occupation of wrong positions. Anxiety--by which the mind is distracted and the heart robbed of peace. A longing for treasure upon earth--by which the religious sight is confused and the spirit darkened. That judging of others--by which our beams are made motes and others motes made beams. That finding our life and burying our dead, and bidding them farewell who are at our house--which involves a looking back and an unfitness for the kingdom of God. All such plausible errors in doctrine and specious deviations from truth as affect principle and conduct; injustice in the things that are least; trifling omissions of duty; all pleasures and indulgences producing moral uneasiness, and especially all doubtful actions and courses, those deeds and paths about which the conscience is uneasy and the spirit timid, about which the mind is not made up, and in the performance or pursuit of which there is, at least, a suspicion of the divine displeasure and frown.
2. The good which may be marred is of this kind. The subjects of Christs kingdom are born from above: we may expect in them heavenly-mindedness. They are born of God: and we may look to them for godliness. They are created anew by Christ Jesus: and we may expect to see Christ-likeness.
3. This good may be thus marred:--The pursuit of religious information may be checked. The attainment of divine knowledge by experience may be hindered. The judgment may be perverted or corrupted. The memory may be burdened with remembrance of sin. The conscience may be blunted or defiled. The affections may be corrupted or divided. Godly action maybe impeded. The energy of holy principle may be impaired. The bloom of spiritual peace and rest may be removed. The enamel of character may be broken. The lustre of reputation may be dimmed.
4. Such mischief ought to be prevented or cured. Take the foxes. Pray in secret, and give in secret. Let your light shine. Forgive a brother his trespasses. Fear not them that kill the body. Cast all your care on Him who careth for you. Lay not up for yourselves treasure upon earth. Judge not Let the dead bury their dead. Hold the faith and a good conscience. Do nothing by which others are offended and made weak. Defy the persecutor. Withdraw from the backslider. Take the foxes. Make impending evil captive, and, if possible, destroy it.
II. As addressed to the Churches of Christ.
1. The foxes in any congregation of believing men are such evils as these:--Ill-humour, whether arising from the body, or from circumstances, or from any dominant evil passion--that mood which makes a jaundiced eye and an itching ear, and which will not see good, but is determined to discover evil. Suspicion--the opposite temper to the charity that thinketh no evil, the spirit that sees nothing but whited sepulchres, and platters clean but on the outside. Distrust--the spirit that has no friend or counsellor, but saith deliberately, All men are liars. Self-importance--the thinking too highly of oneself, and too meanly of others, instead of estimating others and oneself soberly. Carelessness and disorder--by which the sweetest ointment is spoiled, dead flies being allowed to abide in it, and by which the most magnificent music is marred, through the performance being slovenly in the execution.
2. So far as these evils have influence, they check the life of God in the soul of the man, and thereby damage the fellowship. As a congregation consists of individuals, so the character of a church is created by the moral and spiritual attributes of persons. Whatever injures the individual, mars the communion.
3. To prevent this spoliation, take the foxes. This is one with Christs precept (Mat_5:29-30), cast it from thee. (Rom_16:17; Rom_16:20; 2Th_3:14; 1Ti_4:7; 1Ti_6:20; 2Ti_2:16; 2Ti_2:23; Tit_3:9; 2Jn_1:9-10; 1Co_5:11.) Pauls directions and Johns are in harmony with the text. We remark,
(1) That individual life and church life are not maintainable apart from carefulness and exertion. Real religion has nothing mechanical in it. It is all life. It does not proceed on a principle of perpetual motion. It meets resistance and must resist in turn, or it will stop. It is in incessant friction, and must be protected or it will wear out.
(2) To such carefulness and effect we have the strongest inducement. Your labour is not in vain; God cares for you. If you look to Him, He will satisfy thy soul in drought and make thee as a watered garden. Abide in Christ, and you will bring forth much fruit. (S. Martin, M. A.)
Little Foxes
The St. Gotham Alp is a great mountain pass dividing Switzerland from Italy. On the Swiss side the country is bleak and sombre, with great mountains like white-coated sentinels keeping watch over the valleys. On the Italian side the sky is bluer and nature is clad in gentler hues. The sloping hillsides are covered with lovely vineyards. The sun is so warm that grapes will grow in the open air, and the green vines are trained over frames and posts, making the uplands look like a vast garden. The vine-dressers have to use great care in order to preserve the fruit-bearing branches. The grapes have many enemies. Tiny parasites abound which are very destructive. When the grapes are young and tender the little foxes steal into the vineyards, and snatching the bunches pull the branches down and spoil the grapes. Hence arose this vineyard-keepers song. There are little foxes that spoil the character of boys and girls.
I. selfishness. Jesus teaches us to think more of others than we do of ourselves. He pleased not Himself. His life was one long act of service. Unselfishness is one of the tender fruits of a Christlike character. A little fox steals in and prowls around trying to spoil the grapes. His name is Self. He tries to make a boy think of none but himself.
II. temper. This fox is nearly always found in company with Self. When Self finds his way into the vineyard, Temper generally follows, and eats what few grapes are left. This little fox of Temper has a variable face.
1. Sometimes it is passionate. In the last summer months you have seen the sun sailing in a clear blue sky and flooding the earth with life and beauty. Suddenly thick black clouds gather and blot out the sun and smiling sky till the earth is covered with a dark canopy. Great drops of rain splash on the pavement, the lightning flashes and the thunder roars. The storm comes near, passes over our head, dies away as quickly as it came. Then the sun shines out till the raindrops glisten like diamonds, and the birds sing sweetly, and the perfume of the flowers fills the air. So suddenly came these bursts of dark, passionate temper.
2. Sometimes this fox is net passionate, but sulky. Then his victims are like a dull, depressing day, when the mists are unrelieved by a solitary ray of sunlight. The boy pouts and sulks. His anger is sullen, and if he is not very watchful that fox will eat every bit of fruit clustering on the vine.
III. Deceit. None of you, I hope, would ever stoop to wilful falsehoods. Rather die than be false to truth. Deceit is an acted lie. When a girl breaks a jug and hides the pieces in the cellar without saying anything to mother, that is deceit. I knew a boy who was not very quick at sums, but was good at grammar. So he helped a boy at grammar, and that boy did his sums in return. The boy took his sums on the slate to school next day, and they were all correct. The master thought he was improving, and expressed his pleasure to the boy. Tom knew he did not deserve the praise, and felt very guilty. He thought he would tell the master; but just then this little fox called Deceit came along and said: You are a silly boy if you do. The master will never know unless you tell him. But Tom was straightforward, and told the truth, and kept out the little fox. We must be like the vine-dressers, ever upon the watch. Little foxes grow big, and bad habits grow strong. Passion grows in force and intensity. The boy who deceives at school will do so at his work. Deceiving others ends in deceiving self. Keep out the little foxes, and when the Master of the vineyard comes at the time of vintage, He will find the rich and perfect fruit of the Spirit growing in our lives to the glory of God. (E. Clowes Chorley.)
Little foxes
I. What the little foxes are--what we are to understand as represented by them.
1. A little lie. Not a great, black, ugly lie, enough to make conscience cry out, and to startle yourself and everybody that knows of it, but a little untruth that does not hurt and need not frighten anybody.
2. A little theft. It was only a penny or halfpenny or farthing--only a bit of pencil or a bit of ribbon--only a sweetmeat or a pin. It was only some little unfairness in the class or in the game, that got you a place or credit that did not belong to you.
3. A little outburst of temper. You were provoked, and flew into a passion, and you looked or spoke or acted your anger.
4. A little act of disobedience, refusing to do, or putting off doing, or not doing pleasantly and cheerfully, what a parent asked you to do. You say you must do something else first.
5. A little oath, or slang expression, or low bad word.
6. A little act of selfishness.
7. A little yielding to indolence, laziness.
8. A little breaking of the Sabbath.
9. A little omission of prayer. 10. A little yielding to envy or jealousy.
II. The harm the little foxes do.
1. Little sins are real sins. A little fox is a real fox. A little tiger is a real tiger. A little serpent is a real serpent. The smallness of it does not alter its nature.
2. Little sins are apt to be little thought of. That is one great part of their danger. You say it is only a little fault. Who would think anything of that? It is only a little fox, what harm can it do? The little sin does not ruffle your conscience, or make you unhappy, or make other people think much the worse of you for it. That is the worst of the whole case. That is one of the strongest reasons why you should be afraid of it.
3. Little sins prepare the way for big ones, and form habits of sin. I never heard of a boy becoming a drunkard, or a thief, or a swearer, or a liar, or a profligate, or a criminal, all at once. It was gradually--by little and little, that he became such.
III. How to catch them and kill them. Take us the foxes, the little foxes. Have you ever seen a party setting out for a days fox-hunting? How eager all are--men, horses, and dogs. They are prepared to run any distance, to cross rivers, to leap over walls and hedges, each more in earnest than the other to catch the fox. Their first concern is to discover where he is, and then they set out after him with a will. And so your first concern should be to discover what and where the little foxes are, that are spoiling your vines. And having learned that, your next business is to catch them and kill them. There are two hands with which you must seek to catch them. Neither will do alone. Both must go together. These hands are prayer and pains. The most important is prayer, for that calls in Divine help. But then it is said, God helps them that help themselves, and it is in helping yourselves--watching, striving, resisting--that He helps you. You must keep your eye ever open. You must never be off your guard. (J. H. Wilson, D. D.)
Words to the little ones
We read in the New Testament of Christ being the Vine, and so our hearts joined to him are the vines, or, as they are called, branches. Now, we know that grapes grow upon vines, so the tender grapes that grow upon our vines are all the good thoughts, and words, and deeds that come forth from your young hearts. We are told that little foxes spoil the vines which have tender grapes. Why do you suppose that it is the little foxes against which we are warned? Because the little foxes are often far more dangerous than the big ones. I remember one day passing through one of our London squares. I saw two cruel dogs chasing a eat--indeed, it was only a kitten. The poor little thing ran for its life, and the two dogs after it, a big fellow foremost, and a smaller one coming on as fast as it could behind. The kitten got safe to the railings of the square, and it jumped in through them; and when the big dog, almost touching it as it went through, tried to follow, he couldnt get in after it--the railings were too close together, and so the little kitten thought itself safe. But up came the little dog, and he was able to get through when the big fellow couldnt; but Im glad to say a gardener, who was working inside, drove it back again, and so the little kitten was rescued. Do you see what I mean by that story? It shows us how small things are often more dangerous than big things, for they can get in through small openings. Now that is just the way it is with your young hearts. There are tender grapes growing in them, and while you couldnt let a big fox in, perhaps many a little one creeps in and destroys them, and takes all the sweetness out of them. You often could not let a great big sin come into your heart, but a little one creeps in almost without your knowing it. And the worst of it is these little fellows come into the vineyard of your heart, and stay there, and grow big there. A little untruth, so innocent-looking that we dont think it can do harm, gets in first, and it grows and grows so gradually, that we dont notice it, and at last it is a big lie! Ah! be on your guard against the small things--the small unkindness, the first bad word, the first untruth, the first disobedience. Take care of the little foxes, or theyll get in and destroy the tender grapes. Dont be taken in by their looks. One time, when our soldiers were fighting against Indians in America, a sentry at a very important point was found one morning dead at his post. The guard had heard no sound, and they could not imagine how any one could have come so close to the sentry as to kill him. They thought he must have fallen asleep at his post. Another man was put in his place, and next morning he, too, was found dead there. They were greatly surprised, for he was a very steady man, and had been warned to be on the look-out. So the officer selected another soldier, and said to him, Now, let nothing escape you; if its only a dog tries to get near you, shoot him. The man promised his officer to obey him. Well, an hour passed, and not a sound reached the sentry. He thought then that lie heard a very little noise, as of something walking on the dead leaves. He called out, Who goes there? and there was no answer. So he looked, and listened; and he saw a slight movement of a branch some few yards off. If you dont answer, Ill fire, said he, and raised his rifle to his shoulder. He was just going to pull the trigger, when he saw a small bear passing away from him beside a bush. So he lowered his gun, saying to himself, What a fool I should have looked to have startled all the camp by shooting that poor animal! Still, he remembered his promise to his officer that hed shoot even a dog; so saying to himself, I know theyll all laugh at me, but Ill keep my word like a good soldier, he fired. The bear fell, and out rushed the guard at the sound of the shot. They ran over to where the bear lay dead, and they found it was only a bears skin and an Indian dead inside it! The Indian had night after night approached the sentry, walking on hands and feet, and concealed in the skin of a bear, and when he got close to the soldier he had killed him. So, boys and girls, be on your guard. No matter how innocent, no matter how small the untruth, the unkindness, the deceit, the dishonesty may look, dont let them pass in that way. They are enemies, after all: theyll kill you, if yon dont kill them. Beware of the foxes that spoil the tender grapes. (T. T. Shore, M. A.)
Little sins
A famous ruby was once offered for sale in England, and the crown jeweller reported that it was the finest he had ever seen, with a single slight defect in one of the cuttings of the face. This almost invisible flaw reduced its value by thousands of pounds, and the ruby was not purchased for the regalia of the kingdom. It is only mans littleness which discovers no importance in trifles. Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle. The most deplorable failures in Christian consistency and uprightness may, generally, be traced back to a very small departure from duty. Give the little foxes an opportunity to break through the enclosure which surrounds the vineyard, and the prospect of grapes will be small. What, then, are some of these little sins, which mar our happiness or hinder our usefulness?
I. At the head of the list may be placed a sour and crabbed temper.
II. Another little sin to be watched against is the giving way to ease and self-indulgence. There is too much of what may be called summer religion; a readiness to enjoy the agreeable parts of it, without its restraints and sacrifices.
III. Dishonesty in our ordinary dealings may be named as another example of little sins.
IV. Another little sin, as the world looks at it, is jealousy. (J. N. Norton, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Son_2:15 : Take us the foxes, the little foxes,…
Notes
Son_2:15 : Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines. שֻׁעָלִים (shualim) foxes. So the old translators. Sometimes also used for jackals, as Jdg_15:4; Psa_63:11. GESENIUS. Probably both these dangerous animals; the word being a general name for animals of the fox and jackal species. EWALD. A term including jackals. FAUSSET. Jackals probably meant wherever the word occurs in the Old Testament. Dr. SMITH. ZÖCKLER, however, inclines to foxes, as jackals are always called איים or תן. But, as Ewald observes, these rather poetically so called. BOCHART: jackals. HARMER: Jackals gregarious, but not foxes; distinguished from the latter as ‘little foxes.’ HASSELQUIST calls the jackal the ‘little Eastern fox.’ Jackals roam in troops about the villages at night. Very destructive in Judæa. BOOTHROYD. COBBIN: ‘Eastern foxes very unlike ours: small delicate creatures; and while seemingly gentle and harmless, creep quietly into any chink left in the fence of a vineyard, and nibble at the young shoots which are thus injured or destroyed.’ ‘Little foxes.’ ZÖCKLER: Young ones. MERCER: Little; as more hurtful to the vineyard, and more bold in doing damage. SANCTIUS: As more easily taken than when full grown. DEL RIO: Still few and feeble in spring, the time of germinating: the double expression used for a single one; ‘the foxes, I say, while still little.’ EWALD: In the early part of the year a prudent farmer will expel the foxes, especially the young ones.
Read full note →
‘Take us,’ &c.; catch us foxes, &c. A little vintage song, or a fragment of one, sung by the Bride. HERDER, ZOCKLER. Sung while she hastens to her Beloved; the song bearing a delicate allusion to their love-relations. DELITZSCH. An intimation that she was not disinclined to his taking part with her in the care of her vineyard. ZÖCKLER. Spoken by the Bride. GOOD, BURROUGHS, NOYES, THRUPP. Words borrowed from a popular song, but receiving a new meaning here from their connection. GREEN. The beloved is conceived by the Bride as commanding the servants and bystanders. EWALD. ‘Let thy servants catch,’ &c. COBBIN. Addressed by Solomon to his companions. MERCER, BOTHROYD. Sending them on their assigned employ. FRY. Spoken by the virgins to the friends of the Bridegroom. WILLIAMS. By the Bridegroom to Shulamite, directing her to look well to her vineyard. WORDSWORTH. A summons to the chase. TAYLOR, WITHINGTON. Bridegroom’s words to his servants reported by the Bride as heard in her sleep. DEL RIO. Spoken to Shulamite by her brothers. GINSBURG. Uncertain whether spoken by Christ, or the Church, or both: more probably by Christ, and chiefly addressed to the ministers of the Church, directing them to discover and refute the errors of false teachers and heretics; and to judge, censure, and cast them out of the Church, or to avoid them if not of it. AINSWORTH, DURHAM, GILL.
SHULAMITE’S REPLY TO HER BELOVED
(Son_2:15-17)
Take us the foxes,
The little foxes,
That spoil the vines;
For our vines have tender grapes.
My beloved is mine,
And I am his;
He feedeth among the lilies.
Until the day break
And the shadows flee away;
Turn my Beloved,
And be thou like a roe,
Or a young hart,
Upon the mountains of Bether.
Shulamite readily responds to her Beloved. Complies with His request to let Him hear her voice. Her song, a ‘song of loves’ (Psalms 45 title). Expresses her desire and joy. Believers, encouraged and invited by Jesus, lift up their voice in prayer and song to the praise and pleasure of their Beloved. The privilege of ‘the ransomed of the Lord’ to return to Zion with songs. ‘The inhabitant of the rock’ sings; though lonely, yet secure and happy. Believers enabled, through faith and love, to sing the Lord’s song even in a strange land (Psa_137:4). Shulamite’s song a mirror of the believer’s experience. Expresses—
I. CONCERN. ‘Take us the foxes (or jackals), the little foxes, that spoil the vines; for our vines have tender grapes’ (or, ‘are in bloom’). Expresses her concern that nothing may exist to cool their love, or mar the happiness of the anticipated union. Speaks of herself as, in her bridal character, a vineyard, the property as much of her Beloved as her own. The vines of that vineyard, the happy intercourse of the connubial state. These, as in Spring, only then in bloom; the marriage not yet consummated, and the intercourse being only that of parties betrothed. The married state, however, anticipated, when for a time the vines would still only ‘have tender grapes,’ or be in flower. Natural concern in the Bride that nothing may disturb or mar the felicities of their married life. Wishes every hurtful and disturbing element to be detected and removed at the very beginning. Even ‘the little foxes’ to be taken and destroyed. Greater danger from infirmities of temper, little jealousies, coolnesses, or estrangements, at the earlier period of their wedded intercourse than even afterwards. The thought of the possible existence of such things painful to the loving Shulamite. To remove the causes and guard against the occasions of such disturbance, the joint care of both parties, while especially lying upon the husband. ‘Take us the foxes.’ Observe—
1. Care to be taken to preserve unhurt the union and communion between believers and Christ. The peace as well as fruitfulness of believers easily marred and injured. Grace in the soul, and Christ’s presence in the Church, a tender and delicate thing. The Spirit easily grieved. Many foxes about the vineyard, both great and small. Injury to the Church as a whole, and to believers individually, from various causes. These apparent in the earliest period of the Church. Exhibited in the acts of the Apostles, the Epistles, and the Revelation. Appeared both in the form of false doctrines and foul practices. Believers, and the Church in general, warned against them. Care, vigilance, and decision necessary to guard against their entrance and effects.
2. Errors in doctrine and sins in life to be especially guarded against in the Spring-time of grace, and in the revivals of the Church. Spiritual pride, uncharitableness, vain-glory, strife, error, exclusiveness, to be then especially watched against. To be crushed in their first appearances and small beginnings. ‘Take us the little foxes.’ More dangerous and more damaging then, as being more likely to be overlooked, and more easily admitted. Young foxes more injurious to the vines in Spring than the older ones. What might be regarded as small sins, and scarcely observable to others, often the most hurtful to the divine life, and the spiritual health of a Church. ‘I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly,’ &c. (Rev_2:4-5).
3. Sins and errors in the Church an injury to Christ as well as to the Church itself, and to individual believers. ‘Take us the foxes; our vines have tender grapes.’ The purity, happiness, and fruitfulness of the Church, both collectively and individually, the common interest of Christ and His people. The Church Christ’s body. His chosen rest and abode. His walk among the seven golden candlesticks. Injury to them an injury to Him.
4. Christ and His Spirit’s agency necessary to the preservation of the Church’s purity and the believer’s peace. ‘Take us (or ‘for us’) the foxes.’ The Bride unable to do this herself. Believers ‘kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation’ (1Pe_1:5). Christ alone able to keep His people from falling, and to preserve them blameless. ‘A vineyard of red wine: I the Lord do keep it: I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day’ (Isa_27:2-3). Without me ye can do nothing. My grace is sufficient for thee. The Church’s efforts made effectual by the Spirit’s agency. Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts’ (Zec_4:6). Little speed in soul-matters without Christ’s hand in the work.
5. The believer’s duty and interest prayerfully to put the preservation of his own soul, and of the Church at large, into Christ’s hands. ‘Take us the foxes’—the Bride’s earnest prayer to the Bridegroom. Paul’s conduct in regard to the thorn in the flesh: ‘For this I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me’ (2Co_12:8). Arise, plead thine own cause. What Christ can do, and has promised to do, He will do at His people’s earnest prayer (Eze_36:37; Isa_45:11; Mat_9:38.) Prayer the mightiest weapon put by her Lord into the Church’s hand, for the preservation of her purity and the conquest of her foes. Believers’ duty both to work and pray. ‘We will give ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word’ (Act_6:4). The Church’s greatest triumphs won upon her knees.
II. JOY. ‘My beloved is mine and I am His.’ Shulamite expresses her joy in the possession of her Beloved, and in the entire surrender of herself to him as his own. This joy enhanced by the consideration of what he is and does—the excellence of his character, the happiness he imparts to his own, and the pleasure he takes in their society. ‘He feedeth among the lilies.’ The Beloved compared to a noble and beautiful gazelle that pastures only in the flowery meads. Only purest joys the Saviour’s choice. Only the pure His companions and friends. Purest enjoyments attend His presence. Lilies spring and bloom at His steps. Hence the believer’s joy and thankfulness. Justly congratulates himself on his untold treasure. ‘To you that believe He is precious.’ ‘The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places: I have a goodly heritage: the Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup.’ ‘My soul shall make her boast in the Lord.’ ‘I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall be very joyful in my God.’
‘The opening heavens around me shine,
With beams of sacred bliss,
When Jesus tells me He is mine,
And whispers I am His.’
Observe—
1. A real, complete, and lasting propriety in each other on the part of Christ and believers. Each, with all that he is and has, the property of the other. The humblest and poorest believer equally with the strongest and richest, the sharer of Christ and all that is His—His life, merits, death, resurrection, glory, power, kingdom, throne (Rom_8:17; Rev_3:21). The believer entirely Christ’s—his affections, talents, powers, possessions, influence. The name of King Jesus stamped on all he has and is. ‘Holiness to the Lord’ engraven on the furniture of his house and the tools of his workshop.
2. The believer’s happiness that Christ is his and he is Christ’s. Christ such as to guarantee this happiness. ‘He feedeth among the lilies.’ His presence makes a Paradise to angels, still more to His redeemed. ‘Where thou art is heaven.’ Infinitely blessed Himself, He is able to make all blessed who are the object of His love. The special blessedness of the glorified, that the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, that the Lamb stands on Mount Zion in the midst of the redeemed, and that He appears even in heaven as a Lamb that ‘had been slain’ (Rev_5:6; Rev_7:17; Rev_14:1).
3. The proper character of believers to be lily-like. ‘He feedeth among the lilies.’ Lilies the emblems of sweetness and purity. Descriptive of those among which the Holy and Fair One delights to dwell. The spotless and lovely One can only feed among lilies. He who is sweetness and beauty itself must have lilies for His companions and joy. This fact the guardian of the believer’s life and the security of his peace. To enjoy Christ and His fellowship we must be lilies. Christ only able to live in a pure heart (Mat_5:8; Tit_2:14; 1Jn_3:3).
4. Christ to be found among His people. ‘He feedeth among the lilies.’ Is to be found among such (ch. Son_6:2). ‘Wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.’ ‘He that walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks’ (Mat_18:20; Rev_2:1). Christ still to be sought and found in the temple—His own body, the Church. Found sitting, not in the midst of proud Pharisees and captious Scribes, but among His humble disciples, and the ‘publicans and sinners’ that draw near to hear Him (Luk_15:1; Isa_66:1-2; Isa_57:15; Act_7:48).
III. DESIRE. ‘Till the day-dawn (or breathe), and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved,’ &c. Shulamite’s desire, probably, for the day of the anticipated nuptials, and her Bridegroom’s frequent visits in the meantime. The day longed for that shall make her legally and publicly his own, and shall put her in possession of the happiness and privilege of his married wife. The day of the Lord’s second appearing that of the public nuptials of His Church. The espousals or betrothing, here; the marriage, hereafter (2Co_2:2; Rev_19:7). The Bride not complete till the Bridegroom comes to be glorified in His saints and to make them all like Himself (2Th_1:10; Php_3:20-21). That day the object of the believer’s longing. The blessed hope (Tit_2:13). The day looked for and hasted to (2Pe_3:12). The speedy arrival of that day the last promise of the Bridegroom to His Church, and the last prayer of the Bride to her Beloved (Rev_22:20). That day the termination of the Church’s night. With the Bridegroom’s advent the day dawns and the day star appears. Christ Himself the bright and morning star (Rev_22:16; 2Pe_1:19; Rom_13:12; Rom_8:18-23). His first advent the termination of the night of the legal dispensation; His second that of the present one (Luk_1:78). Meantime He visits and revives His people. ‘I will not leave you comfortless (orphans); I will come unto you’. Such visits their comfort and joy in the night of their pilgrimage (Psa_17:3; Psa_42:8; Job_35:10). Christ, in His love, like a roe, or a young hart bounding over the mountains of Bether (or of cliffs intersected with deep fissures and ravines), when coming in humiliation and weakness; no less so when coming in glory and power. Intervening events and epochs to transpire previous to His second as well as to His first advent. Perhaps the last of these mountains of Bether already reached, or soon to be so. The Lord hasten it in His time!
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 This is plural, as if the woman is speaking…
Catch
This is plural, as if the woman is speaking to more than one man, but most versions translate who she is speaking to as the man, so you could translate this as singular. (See: Forms of You)
Read full note →
the foxes
These animals look like small dogs and were often used in love poetry to represent eager young men who would spoil a young woman. (See: Metaphor)
for us ... our vineyard
The words "us" and "our" could possibly be 1) exclusive, referring to the woman herself, as in Song of Songs 1:4, or 2) inclusive, referring to the woman and the man, or 3) exclusive, referring to the woman and the rest of her family. (See: Exclusive and Inclusive "We")
foxes
Another possible meaning is "jackals." A jackal is a type of thin wild dog with long legs.
the little foxes that spoil
Foxes spoil or destroy vineyards by digging holes and eating vines and grapes. This could be a metaphor for young men who spoil young women. (See: Metaphor)
in blossom
This implies that the vineyard is healthy and the grapes have appeared, but they are not ready for harvest. This could be a metaphor for a young lady ready for marriage and bearing children. See how you translated this in Song of Songs 2:13. (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
vineyard
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 2:15 The foxes may represent threats to the relationship.…
2:15 The foxes may represent threats to the relationship. These threats are not identified; they could be the normal ups and downs of love, rival suitors, or anything else that might keep the couple from enjoying one another. • In the dramatic view, the woman’s responsibilities as a vinedresser are still in mind. She is probably instructing the vinedressers who cared for her vineyard and received two hundred pieces of silver from her in 8:12. The alarm about catching the foxes may be understood in terms of the woman’s personal interest in maintaining the value of her vineyards; eventually, she needs to pay Solomon the lease. If the foxes’ hole-digging ruins the grapevines, she will be further in debt.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.