You are all beautiful, my love. There is no spot in you.
Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, with me from Lebanon. Look from the top of Amana, from the top of Senir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards.
You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride. You have ravished my heart with one of your eyes, with one chain of your neck.
How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, the fragrance of your perfumes than all kinds of spices!
Your lips, my bride, drip like the honeycomb. Honey and milk are under your tongue. The smell of your garments is like the smell of Lebanon.
My sister, my bride, is a locked up garden; a locked up spring, a sealed fountain.
Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits, henna with spikenard plants,
spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree; myrrh and aloes, with all the best spices,
a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, flowing streams from Lebanon.
Awake, north wind, and come, you south! Blow on my garden, that its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and taste his precious fruits.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 11, 15, 16 Christ promiseth his Church to call his faithful from…
Christ promiseth his Church to call his faithful from all the corners of the world.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv7–16 Son 4:7 Thou [art] all fair, my love; [there…
Son 4:7 Thou [art] all fair, my love; [there is] no spot in thee.
Ver. 7. Thou art all fair, my love.] Christ, having graciously answered his spouse’s petition with a promise of his gracious presence with her and providence over her, proceeds in her commendation. A perfection of parts he here grants her, though not of degrees, a comparative perfection also in regard of the wicked, whose "spot is not the spot of his children." {Deu 31:5} He calls her his spouse in the next verse. The Hebrew word {a} imports that, being dressed in all her bride attire, she is all fair, and hath perfection of beauty, {Jer 2:32} and is all glorious within and without, not having spot, wrinkle, or any such thing, but holy and spotless. {Eph 5:26-27} Fair he called her before, {Son 4:1} but new,
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All fair.] And therefore "the fairest among women," a suitable mate for him who is "fairer than all the children of men." {Psa 45:2} Not but that she hath, while here, her infirmities and deformities, as the moon hath her blots and blemishes but these are ut naevi in vultu Veneris; these serve as foils to set off her superexcellent beauty, or rather the superabundant grace of Christ, who "seeth no sin in Jacob"; that is, imputeth none but freely accepteth his own work in his people, and sweetly passeth by whatsoever is amiss in them. Perfection is what they breathe after, and that which is already begun in them; they have the firstfruits of the Spirit, and all their strife is to "attain to the resurrection of the dead"; that is, to that perfection of holiness that accompanieth the state of the resurrection. {Php 3:11}
There is no spot in thee,] i.e., None in mine account none such as the wicked are full of {See Trapp on "Deu 32:5"} - no leopard spots that cannot be washed away with any water. Faults will escape the best man between his fingers: Nimis angusta res est nusquam errare, In many things we offend all. {Jas 3:2} But as David saw nothing in lame Mephibosheth but what was lovely, because he saw in him the features of his friend Jonathan; so God, beholding his offending people in the face of his Son, takes no notice of anything amiss in them. They are, as that tree of paradise, {Gen 3:6} fair to his eye, and pleasant to his palate; or as Absalom, in whom there was no blemish from head to foot, so are they irreprehensible and without blemish before the throne of God. {Rev 14:5}
{a} Calab of Calol, to profit.
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 On vv7–16 Thou art all fair; it is needless to mention…
Thou art all fair; it is needless to mention the several beauties of all thy parts, for, in one word, thou art wholly beautiful; and it may be said more truly of thee than it was of Absalom, 2Sa 14:25, that from the sole of thy foot to the crown of thy head there is no blemish in thee.
There is no spot in thee; which is not to be understood simply and absolutely, as if the people of God were really perfect, and free from all sin; but either,
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1. Comparatively, no such spot or blemish as is in wicked men, or as is inconsistent with true grace, of which Moses speaks, Deu 32:5. Or,
2. In regard of God’s gracious acceptation, in which respect he is said not to behold iniquity in Jacob, Num 23:21. God doth not look upon them with a severe eye, as they are in themselves, but in and through Christ, in whom he accepts them as if they were perfect, partly because it is their chief design, desire, and endeavour to be so, and partly because Christ hath undertaken to make them so, Eph 5:25,27, and they shall one day be such.
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 On vv8–16 Come - Unto the mountains of myrrh. Look -…
Come - Unto the mountains of myrrh. Look - To the place to which I invite thee to go, which from those high mountains thou mayest easily behold. Of Leopards - From these or other mountains, which are inhabited by lions and leopards. This seems to be added as an argument to move the spouse to go with him, because the places where now she was, were not only barren, but also dangerous.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16 Verse 7. Thou art all fair - there is…
Verse 7. Thou art all fair - there is no spot in thee.] "My beloved, every part of thee is beautiful; thou hast not a single defect."
The description given of the beauties of Daphne, by OVID, Metam. lib. i. ver. 497, has some similarity to the above verses: -
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Spectat inornatos collo pendere capillos.
Et, quid si comantur? ait. Videt igne micantes
Sideribus similes oculos; videt oscula, quae non
Est vidisse satis. Laudat digitosque, manusque,
Brachiaque, et nudos media plus parte lacertos.
Si qua latent meliora putat.
Her well-turn'd neck he view'd, (her neck was bare,)
And on her shoulders her disheveled hair.
O, were it comb'd, said he, with what a grace
Would every waving curl become her face!
He view'd her eyes, like heavenly lamps that shone,
He view'd her lips, too sweet to view alone;
Her taper fingers, and her panting breast.
He praises all he sees; and, for the rest,
Believes the beauties yet unseen the best.
DRYDEN.
Jayadeva describes the beauty of Radha in nearly the same imagery: "Thy lips, O thou most beautiful among women, are a bandhujiva flower; the lustre of the madhuca beams upon thy cheek; thine eye outshines the blue lotos; thy nose is a bud of the tila; the cunda blossom yields to thy teeth. Surely thou descendedst from heaven, O slender damsel! attended by a company of youthful goddesses; and all their beauties are collected in thee." See these poems, and the short notes at the end.
The same poet has a parallel thought to that in So 4:5, "Thy two breasts," &c. The companions of Radha thus address her: "Ask those two round hillocks which receive pure dew drops from the garland playing on thy neck, and the buds on whose tops start aloft with the thought of thy beloved."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16 Son 4:8. Come with me — Unto the mountain…
Son 4:8. Come with me — Unto the mountain of myrrh, mentioned Son 4:6. From Lebanon, my spouse — This is the first time that Christ gives her this name, which he does both to oblige and encourage her to go with him. Look from the top of Amana — To the place to which I invite thee to go, which from those high mountains thou mayest easily behold. From the mountains of the leopards — From these or other mountains, which are inhabited by lions and leopards. This seems to be added as an argument to move the spouse to go with him, because the places where now she was were not only barren, but also dangerous.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 12, 16 Section 4:7–5:1: The king meeting the bride in the…
Section 4:7–5:1: The king meeting the bride in the evening of the same day, expresses once more his love and admiration in the sweetest and tenderest terms and figures. He calls her now “bride” (spouse, Son 4:8) for the first time, to mark it as the hour of their espousals, and “sister-bride” (spouse, Son 4:9-10, Son 4:12; Son 5:1), to express the likeness of thought and disposition which henceforth unites them. At the same time he invites her to leave for his sake her birthplace and its mountain neighborhood, and live henceforth for him alone.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv7–16 Thee. All must be pure before they enter heaven,…
Thee. All must be pure before they enter heaven, as the blessed Virgin [Mary] was on earth, (Worthington) and the Church is still, Ephesians v. 27. (Calmet) --- Before his departure, Christ heaps praises on her.
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 On vv7–16 7. Thou art all fair — Encouraged by this…
7. Thou art all fair — Encouraged by this ardent interruption, the Beloved, in hopeful tone and lively phraseology, declares that she shall escape freely with him, and shall be safe in any and every place, on mountains and among wild beasts. Her declaration of preference, now fixed, if for the moment wavering, gives him the courage and animation belonging to perfect confidence.
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 On vv8–16 8. The order of the words in the Heb.…
8. The order of the words in the Heb. is specially, emphatic, With me from Lebanon, O bride, with me from Lebanon do thou come. Evidently a contrast between the speaker and some other is here intended. Come with me, do not remain with him. This strongly supports the view that Solomon is endeavouring to win the maiden’s love which has been given to another. Budde, finding the verse quite unintelligible on his hypothesis, excises it, but violence of that kind is not necessary. The Shulammite is at this point in some royal residence in the Lebanon, and her lover calls upon her to leave Solomon and come with him to her home. The reference to lions and leopards may be intended to indicate also her hostile surroundings in other respects. Cp. the Mo‘allaqa of Antar, Son_5:6, where the loved one among a hostile tribe is said to be “dwelling among the roaring ones,” i.e. the lions. Lions formerly inhabited Bashan at least, cp. Deu_33:22. Tristram, Nat. Hist. p. 116, says they lingered in Palestine till the time of the Crusades, and they are mentioned as living about Samaria by historians of the 12th century. Leopards are and always have been common in Palestine. They are a pest to herdsmen in Gilead even now. (Tristram, p. 113.)
look from the top of Amana] The verb shûr has generally in Heb. the meaning ‘to look round’; but in common with other verbs of looking in a direction, it also means ‘to go in a direction’ (Isa_57:9). Occurring as it does in this passage in parallelism with ‘come,’ it most probably has the latter meaning. Cp. R.V. marg. We should therefore translate depart from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens, &c. In this way too the lions’ dens and the mountains of the leopards gain a significance which they have not if the word be translated look. He warns her to flee from Lebanon as being full of dangers. Amânâ is generally held to be the district in which the river Amânâh (2Ki_5:12, Qìrç for the Kìthîbh, Abânâh) rises. This is either the Barada which flows from Anti-Libanus, or the other river of Damascus, which flows from the slopes of Hermon. Others, as Budde, think of the Amanus of the ancients, i.e. the spur of the Taurus lying to the north of the Orontes. The former is much the more probable.
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Shenir] or Senir. Hermon is the highest peak of the Anti-Lebanon range. It is called Sion in Deu_4:48. By the Amorites it was called Sìnîr, and by the Sidonians Siryôn (Deu_3:9). It has three peaks, and the names Hermon and Sìnîr, distinguished in 1Ch_5:23, Son_4:8, may refer to two of the peaks. Cp. the Hermons of Psa_42:6 (Oxf. Lex. p. 356).
Chap. Son_4:8–Chap. Son_5:1. A true Lover’s Pleading
With Son_4:8 a new song, representing another scene, begins. In it the peasant lover of the Shulammite comes to beseech her to flee from the mountain region where she is detained, the home of wild beasts and the scene of other dangers. In Son_4:9-15 he breaks forth into a passionate lyric, expressive of his love for her, and in Son_4:16 she replies, yielding to his love and his entreaties. Ch. Son_5:1 contains his reply.
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 On vv8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 16 (8) Come with me.—Better, to me. LXX., hither; so…
(8) Come with me.—Better, to me. LXX., hither; so Vulg. and Luther, reading athî, imperative of athah, instead of ittî = with me, or more properly, as regards me. The reading involved only a difference of vowel points, and is to be preferred. We have here another reminiscence of the obstacles which had attended the union of the pair under another figure. The course of true love, which never yet, in East or West, ran smooth, is beset here by tremendous difficulties, symbolised by the rocks and snows of the range of Lebanon, which shut in the poet’s northern home, and the wild beasts that haunted these regions. Like Tennyson’s shepherd, he believes that “love is of the valleys,” and calls to her to come down to him from her inaccessible heights. The word Shûr translated in English Version look, has properly in the LXX. its primitive meaning, come. To suppose a literal journey, as some do, to these peaks of the mountain chain one after another, is absurd. They are named as emblems of height and difficulty. Shenîr (Senir, 1Ch_5:23) is one of the peaks of Hermon. Amana has been conjectured to be a name for the district of Anti-Libanus in which the Abana (Barada) has its source, but nothing is certain about it. The appellative spouse first occurs in this verse. In Hebrew it is khallah, and is translated in the Authorised Version either “daughter-in-law,” or “bride,” or “spouse,” according as the relationship, now made complete by marriage, is regarded from the point of view of the parents of the bridegroom or of himself (e.g., daughter-in-law, Gen_11:31; Gen_38:11; Lev_20:22; Mic_7:6, &c. bride, Isa_49:18; Isa_61:10; Isa_62:5, &c.). Its use does not by itself prove that the pair were united in wedlock, because in the next verse the word sister is joined to spouse, and it may, therefore, be only a stronger term of endearment, and in any case, when put into the lover’s mouth while describing the difficulties in the way of union, it is proleptic; but its presence strongly confirms the impression produced by the whole poem, that it describes over and over again the courtship and marriage of the same couple. For lion see Gen_49:9. The leopard was formerly very common in Palestine, as the name Bethnimrah, i.e., house of leopards (Num_32:36) shows. (Comp. Jer_5:6, Hos_13:7.) Nor is it rare now. “In the forest of Gilead it is still so numerous as to be a pest to the herdsmen” (Tristram, Nat. Hist. of Bibl., p. 113).
The LXX. translate amana by πίστις, and this has been turned into an argument for the allegorical treatment of the book. But it is a very common error of the LXX. to translate proper names. (Comp. Son_6:4.)
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 On vv7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16 Thou art all fair, my love; and there is…
Thou art all fair, my love; and there is no spot in thee. The bridegroom speaks. The sweet humility and modesty of the bride kindles his love afresh. He praised the loveliness of her bodily form, and she by her response showed the exceeding loveliness of her soul. It must not be forgotten that, whether borrowed from this book or not, such language is undoubtedly employed in Scripture of the Church, the bride, the Lamb"s wife, who is described as "not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing". (Eph_5:27) It should be noticed that the king immediately addresses his love as "bride," and "sister-bride," to show that there is more than admiration of her person in his thoughts. She is his by assimilation and by eternal union, and he invites her to enter fully into the new life which he has prepared for her, as in Psalm 45, "forgetting her own people, and her father"s house." It is not enough that feeling should be stirred, or even that it should take possession of the soul, if it be only feeling; it is required of us that our inner life of emotion should become practical devotedness, "counting all things but loss" for the sake of him we love.
Vers. 7-16. Further conversation.
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I THE WORDS OF THE BRIDEGROOM.
1. His entire love for the bride. If the view of ver. 6 indicated above gives the true meaning, the bride has left the bridegroom for a time. In the evening they meet again, and the king again expresses his affection: "Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee." Such shall the Church be in the eyes of Christ, when he has sanctified and cleansed her with the washing of water by the Word; when she is clothed in the fine linen, clean and white, which is the righteousness of saints; when he "of God is made unto her Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Sanctification, and Redemption". (1Co_1:30) Such shall the saints be in his eyes when they have "washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb;" "they are without fault before the throne of God". (Rev_14:5) But it is Christ who has cleansed them. They were stained with many sins, as David was when he cried in the anguish of his deep penitence, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. (Psa_51:7) We have sinned so long and so greatly, we have so often fallen back into sin after imperfect repentance, that to be "whiter than snow" seems a hope altogether too high for us, out of our reach. But we have the sure Word of God. He is able to "present us faultless before the presence of his glory;" he is able to "cleanse us from all unrighteousness;" "the Lamb of God taketh away the sins of the world." Indeed it is true that "we are all as an unclean things and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags", (Isa_64:6) but we may have, if we come to Christ in faith, "that righteousness which is through the faith of Christ;" that righteousness which is his, not our own; and yet, if we abide in him, it becomes through his grace our own; for it is given to us, imparted to us, infused into us by the indwelling influences of the Holy Spirit of God. Then we may dare to hope for that spotless righteousness; we may, we must, long for it and strive after it. Not to do so is not humility, but unbelief; not distrust of ourselves, but distrust of God; for we have the sacred word of promise, "Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
2. His invitation. The Hebrew words are full of life: "With me from Lebanon, O bride, with me from Lebanon shalt thou come." The bride is henceforth to be with the bridegroom, with him always: she is to forget her own people and her father"s house. (Psa_45:10, Psa_45:11) She is to come away from her old haunts from Amana, Shenir, and Hermon; for even Hermon in all its grandeur is but a "little hill" in comparison with the spiritual glory of Mount Zion, where God is pleased to dwell. (see Prayer book Version of Psa_42:6) She must come from the lions" dens, from "the violence of Lebanon", (Hab_2:17) to Jerusalem, the foundation of peace. The Church, the bride of Christ, shall be in the eternal blessedness "forever with the Lord." She shall come away from her old habitation, the earth which is filled with violence; (Gen_6:11) away from the raging of the roaring lion, who walketh about, seeking whom he may devour, (1Pe_5:8) to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. And the Christian soul, which looks forward in living hope to the inheritance of the saints in light, must now come with Christ away from other masters, from the lusts of the flesh and the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. "To depart and to be with Christ," St. Paul says, (Php_1:23) "is far better much very far better," for such is the full meaning of the emphatic words. Then the soul that hopes to be with Christ in Paradise must be much with Christ now; with him in the daily life of faith, in prayer and praise and frequent communion. He bids us come. "Come unto me," he says, "and I will give you rest." He only can give peace. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you." If we listen to his voice, and come with him away from Lebanon, which, though fair to look upon, with grand and wide-reaching prospects, was yet the haunt of noisome beasts; if we leave the love of the world, with its enticements and its dangers, for the blessed love of Christ, we shall have all that we need for our soul"s peace and safety. "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
3. His praises of the bride. He calls her repeatedly, "My sister-bride." His heart is hers; every little thing about her, the very smell of her garments, is dear to him; her love is by much better than wine; her voice is sweet as honey. He dwells now less on graces of person, as in vers. 1-5, than on her looks of affection, the depth and beauty of her love, the music of her voice. These words tell of a great love; but the love of Christ for his Church is beyond the power of language. Solomon left his first love he loved many strange women; but the love of Christ for his Church is "an everlasting love", (Jer_31:3) unchangeable, unutterable. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends;" but "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us". (Rom_5:8) And because he loved the Church with so great a love, the responsive love of the Church is very dear to him. "He is not ashamed to call us brethren". (Heb_2:11) The voice of the Church lifted up to him in prayer and praise, making melody in the heart unto God, is sweet to the Saviour. He praises the graces of the Church, though those graces come all from him; they are his gift. He praises in the Book of the Revelation the Churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia; he sees the beauty of holiness in those afflicted and despised Churches: "I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, but thou art rich;" "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life;" "They shall know that I have loved thee; Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name". (Rev_2:9, 10 3:9, 12)
4. He compares her to a garden enclosed. She is like a garden shut up, barred against intruders, kept sacred for its master"s use; she is like a spring shut up, a fountain sealed as with the royal signet which none but the king can touch. The garden, or paradise, is full of the choicest fruits, flowers, and spice-bearing plants, the produce of many countries, some of them brought in Solomon"s time by his navy from Arabia or India. The fountain is a well of living waters, fresh as the gushing mountain streams of Lebanon. Solomon praises the bride not only for her beauty and her rare endowments, but also for her purity and faithfulness. The "garden enclosed," the "fountain scaled," remind us of our marriage vow: "Wilt thou... forsaking all other, keep thee only unto him so long as ye both shall live?" Such should the wedded pair be each to the other; such was not Solomon. We cannot but think and believe that the bride, innocent and artless as she is described, kept herself pure unto the end. The Church, which is the bride of Christ, should be as a garden enclosed, kept sacred for the one Lord. The garden of Eden was a garden enclosed, but Satan marred its sanctity; he, in the words of Milton, "At one slight bound high overleaped all bound Of hill or highest wall, and sheer within Lights on his feet.... So clomb the first grand thief into God"s fold: So since into his Church lewd hirelings climb.
The Lord has said, "He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." Again he has said, "I am the Door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and shall find pasture." They who are called to minister in the Church of God must ever remember that it is God"s Church, that "he hath purchased it with his own blood"; (Act_20:28) that it should be "a garden enclosed," kept for the Master, tilled and watered for him; that every barren tree should be carefully tended, that it may bring forth fruit before the awful word goeth forth, "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." The trees in the Lord"s garden differ much from one another. There are pomegranates with their pleasant fruit, henna with its fragrant flowers, spikenard with its costly perfume, frankincense for sacred uses; all manner of sweet spices myrrh and aloes, which tell of the bitter healing cup of sorrow, which point to death and burial. The saints of God differ much from one another. Enoch, Abraham, Moses, Daniel, St. Peter, St. John, St. Paul, have each his own place in the garden of the Lord. All bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, but in different forms and degrees; one we call the apostle of love, another the apostle of faith, a third the apostle of hope; "but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will". (1Co_12:11) It is the Lord himself who giveth the Spirit. Mary Magdalene, on the first Easter Day, supposed him to be the gardener; (Joh_20:15) and in a very true sense he is the Gardener of the garden enclosed. And here we may remember that it was in a garden that he suffered that dread agony, when his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. That blood taketh away the sins of the world; it waters the garden enclosed with its cleansing stream. And again we are told that "in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus". (Joh_19:41) The Lord suffered in a garden; he has purchased with his own blood the Church to be his own, his garden enclosed. But the Church is also "a spring shut up, a fountain sealed;" shut up in a sense, sealed with the Master"s signet, as his own sacred tomb was sealed in the garden of Joseph, but yet (ver. 15) "a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon." The fountain is sealed, for it is the Lord"s; it hath "this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the Name of Christ depart from iniquity". (2Ti_2:19) But its living waters go forth to fertilize the Lord"s garden. The healing waters which the Prophet Ezekiel saw in his vision issued out from under the threshold of the temple; they brought fruitfulness wherever they went "because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary". (Eze_47:1, Eze_47:12) In a true sense the whole world is the Lord"s field: "The field is the world"; (Mat_13:38) and the Church has the Lord"s commandment, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature". (Mar_16:15) The well is the Lord"s; it is sealed with his seal; but the living waters of that sacred well must issue forth, that "the wilderness and the solitary place may be glad for them: that the desert may rejoice and blossom as the rose". (Isa_35:1) And as the Church, the bride of Christ, is for him "a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed," so must every Christian soul be wholly his. "We are Christ"s," St. Paul says. "Whether we live or die, we are the Lord"s;" and again, "God, whose I am, and whom I serve". (Act_27:23) Each Christian soul must keep itself as "a garden enclosed" ("barred," or "belted," is the literal meaning of the Hebrew word). We must strive earnestly to keep out earthly passions, earthly ambitions, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God. We must keep the gate barred against the entrance of the evil one. And we must take heed that the house be not left empty; it must be kept for "a habitation of God through the Spirit". (Eph_2:22) We must strive to keep out worldly cares, coming to God in all our troubles, whether great or small, that so the peace of God, which Passeth all understanding, may keep (guard, protect) our hearts and thoughts through Christ Jesus. The garden must be barred; the peace of God must rule there; (Col_3:15) and it must bring forth fruit, the blessed fruit of the Spirit, which is "love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance". (Gal_5:22) The tree that beareth not fruit must be hewn down at last; it cumbereth the ground; "every branch that beareth not fruit is taken away." How carefully, then, we ought, every one of us, to watch for the fruit of the Spirit in our daily life, to see in diligent self-examination whether we are exhibiting these holy graces in our Christian walk and conversation; and if, alas! we find them not, how earnestly we ought to pray, with fervent, untiring supplication for the help of the Holy Spirit of God to work within us, to assist our prayers, to make intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered, to lead us nearer to Christ, that we may evermore abide in him, without whom we can bear no fruit, without whom we can do nothing! The garden needs the living water; the saint of God is a fountain sealed. The living water is the Lord"s; it bears his seal. The Lord himself is, in the truest sense, the "Fountain opened... for sin and for uncleanness"; (Zec_13:1) with him is "the fountain of life". (Psa_36:9) He leadeth his redeemed to living fountains of waters. (Rev_7:17) But they who have received from him the living water become themselves fountains, as the Lord hath said, "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." And again, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water". (Joh_4:14 Joh_7:37, Joh_7:38) The saint of God is indeed "a fountain sealed," sealed with the Lord"s seal, dedicated wholly unto him; "a spring shut up" from all other waters save only the living water which the Lord giveth, not "a fountain which sends forth at the same place sweet water and bitter". (Jam_2:11) But he must be "a fountain of gardens" (ver. 15); he that is watered of God must water the thirsty ground. (Pro_11:25) St. Paul, who had received the gift of the Spirit from the Lord, passed on the living waters to Apollos; Apollos watered the garden of the Lord at Corinth. (1Co_3:6) So must all God"s people do. They know in their own hearts more or less of that holy calm and blessedness which the living waters of the indwelling of the Spirit (Joh_7:39) bring to the faithful; they must do their best to extend to others the blessings which they have themselves received; they must pray and labour for the spiritual well being of those nearest to them, within the sphere of their personal influence; they must do their best to help missionary work through the world, resting not till "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea". (Isa_11:9) But each must keep himself as "a fountain sealed" for the Lord and the work of the Lord, that at the last he may be sealed with the seal of the living God, and stand on the Mount Zion among the mystic hundred and forty and four thousand who have the Lamb"s Name and his Father"s Name written in their foreheads. (Rev_7:2, 3 14:1)
II THE VOICE OF THE BRIDE. She accepts the bridegroom"s parable. She is a garden enclosed. She calls upon the winds, north and south, to blow upon the garden, that the fragrance of its spices may flow forth to give pleasure to the bridegroom. The garden is hers; for it is herself, her love. And yet it is the bridegroom"s, for she has given herself, her love, to him; she invites him to come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits. So the Church, the bride of Christ, longs for the heavenly Bridegroom; so each Christian soul seeks the Saviour"s presence. The soul that would give itself wholly to the Lord as a garden barred against all other masters, and enclosed for his use, strives ever to please him more and more; she would have her inward life of prayer and meditation and spiritual communion with him to become more and more pleasing to him, more and more fragrant. Therefore she calls for the north wind as well as the south to blow upon the garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. She is willing to submit to the cold blasts of adversity, as well as to be refreshed with the soft breezes of joy and holy gladness. She knows that God will make all things, joy and sorrow alike, to work together for good to them that love him. (Rom_8:28) Therefore she prays only that his will may be done in her, whether by chastisements or by spiritual joy and blessing. She would have the garden bring forth more fruit, even though it must be purged with the pruning knife of affliction. For the garden, though it is herself, her own heart, is yet the Lord"s; for she has given it to the heavenly Bridegroom; therefore she yearns for his irradiating presence, praying him to enter into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.
The immaculate soul.
"Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee." This word has many parallels; cf. "Ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you;" "Ye are washed, justified, sanctified;" "Ye are complete in him;" "There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus," etc. Now, how can all this be? We reply
I THROUGH THE ESTIMATE WHICH LOVE FORMS OF THAT WHICH IT LOVES. (Cf. former homily, on vers. 1-7)
II THROUGH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST, WHICH "CLEANSETH US FROM ALL SIN." Christ is our Representative, the second Adam. Our connection with him becomes vitalized when our hearts trust in him. But he, in and by his death his blood made perfect confession of our sins, and in that confession absorbed them (cf. McLeod Campbell on the Atonement). Forgiveness, therefore, follows for all in him; and thus we are cleansed.
III THROUGH THE POWER OF THE HOLY GHOST. He is ever acting on our hearts, to lead them along the various stages that will bring us to perfect purity, to complete sanctification. He works in us that deep sense of sin which leads to a genuine repentance. He reveals Christ to us, which leads to a living trust. He inspires us with love to Christ, which leads to the surrender of our will. He prompts us to and aids us in prayer, which perpetuates and deepens every holy purpose. He keeps us in touch with Christ, which bars the entrance of sin to our souls. He makes all the means of grace full of help to our souls. Thus step by step the blessed work is done.
IV THROUGH CHRIST"S GRACIOUS ANTICIPATION OF THE COMPLETED WORK. He looks on us, not as we are, but as we shall be, and predates what has yet to, but certainly shall, be realized.
CONCLUSION. What a motive all this supplies to our earnest striving to come up to our blessed Lord"s ideal! S.C.
"Without spot.
Purity is an element of beauty, and to a mind judging justly is also an element of attractiveness. In the maiden he had brought from her mountain home on the slopes of Lebanon, the royal bridegroom admired a purity like that of the snow that clothes the summit of Hermon. She was meet to be the spouse of the king, who (speaking not only of the absence of any blemish of form or feature, but of the qualities of the mind and heart) exclaimed, as he looked upon her fairness, "There is no spot in thee!
I THE PURITY OF THE CHURCH IS IN CONTRAST WITH THE SINFULNESS OF THE NATURAL, UNREGENERATE STATE.
II THE PURITY OF THE CHURCH IS EFFECTED BY THE MEANS OF THE SAVIOUR"S REDEMPTION.
III THE PURITY OF THE CHURCH IS WROUGHT BY THE CLEANSING POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
IV THE PURITY OF THE CHURCH RENDERS HER THE ACCEPTABLE AND SUITABLE SPOUSE OF HER HEAVENLY LORD.
V THE PURITY OF THE CHURCH IS A WITNESS AND REBUKE TO THE MORAL DEFILEMENT OF A SINFUL WORLD.
VI THE PURITY OF THE CHURCH ON EARTH 1S AN EARNEST AND PREPARATION FOR THE STAINLESSNESS OF THE ETERNAL STATE OF FELICITY THE NUPTIALS OF HEAVEN. 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 On vv8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16 Come with Me from Lebanon, My spouse, with Me…
Son_4:8
Come with Me from Lebanon, My spouse, with Me from Lebanon.
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The invitations of Christ
The whole idea is that the Shulamite Virgin who is sought as a bride lives in high, craggy, cavernous regions--amid inhospitable scenes--and close to the mountain haunts of beasts of prey. Such words as Amana, Shenir, Hermon, and Lebanon are used to typify a region of mountain, rock, fastness, forest, and jungle. There the fair Shulamite has her native home, That is one side of the picture. On the other side is the King, who lives in Jerusalem, the royal city, the city of peace, far away from the haunts of leopards; and He goes forth to invite the bride to leave the crag and the den, the forest and the danger, saying, Come to Jerusalem, to the centre of civilization, to the home of beauty, to the Kings palace, to the splendid and inviolable home,--no lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast go up thereon,--come, O My dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, whose lips drop as the honeycomb, and the smell of whose garments is as the smell of Lebanon, come! How is all this sustained by collateral Scripture, and made to apply to the Son of God? Christ calls men away from what may be regarded as the nativities of the present scene. There must be no division, no holding on with both hands: the attitude must not be that of one who has the right foot in the caverns and the left foot in the metropolis: there must be a complete detachment from all that is native and original, and a clear coming away with all trust and love and hope to the new abode. Christ is calling us away from our animalism--the first condition of our birth. He will not have it that the body is the man, that the flesh is the immortal part of humanity. So Christ calls the Church, which is His Bride, the Lambs Wife,--He calls her away from stony places, and from low associations, and from connections with lions dens and mountain haunts of leopards,--calls humanity away from flesh, and earth, and time, and sense, and prison, into all the upper spaces, where the blue sky is unclouded, and where the infinite liberty never degenerates into licence. What does Christ call us from? Precisely what the Shulamite was called from--from stony places and desert lands and mountain fastnesses--from desolation desolate. When does Christ ever call men from knowledge to ignorance? from abundance of spiritual realization to poverty and leanness of soul? When does Jesus Christ ever offer men an inhospitable welcome? The great offers of the Gospel are in such terms as these: Eat and drink abundantly, O beloved! He, every one that thirsteth, Come! We are called not only from desolateness, but from danger. If we have not entered into the spirit-life, the faith-life, that higher life which sees the invisible and realizes the eternal, then we are simply walking through perils without number, and as for seductiveness or subtlety or power of involving us in mischief and in suffering, no language can express the reality of the situation. We are called not only from desolateness and from danger, but from incongruity. What a background was the mountain region to the fair and lovely Shulamite! Surely that fair dove was made for Jerusalem, and not for some region of caverns or mountain haunts of leopards. Save her! This sense of incongruity afflicts men who profess to be under the spell of refined and elevating taste. What shocks do men receive who profess to be refined and large in their culture! A musician feels as if he were staggering under a blow of insult when he hears a false note. Is there no law of incongruity in morals, in spiritual relation? What doest thou here, Elijah?--why wanderest thou in these desert places, O thou child of the king, meant to adorn a palace? Why estranged and ragged and humiliated and debased, thou child of fortune? Explain the ghastly incongruity! Christ ever calls men to home, to security, to honour. Herein he is like the man who seeks the Shulamite for his bride: he calls her to the palace, to Jerusalem, to all beauty and comfort and security. Jesus Christ says, I go to prepare a place for you. When Jesus Christ prepares a place, who can describe its largeness, its beauty, its completeness? Where I am, there ye shall be also; and where He is, heaven is. But, there is on the road a cross? We cannot enter into the city unless we understand the cross, and die upon it. The cross is not an intellectual puzzle; it is a cross on which every man must be himself crucified with the Son of God. After the cross the crown--the pure river of the water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. After the cross, the city in the midst of whose street, and on either side of the river, is the Tree of Life. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Christs invitation to His bride
This world was never designed to be the fixed abode of the children of men, and therefore there was a restraint laid upon our first parents in paradise, as to the forbidden tree, showing that they behoved to look to another world for their happiness. Man was once set fair on the way to the land where glory dwells, but he lost his way, and now poor sinners are found wandering on the mountains of vanity. The first Adam managed ill, and brought us into this condition. But behold, the second Adam came to gather the dispersed of Israel, and to lead them on their way to the better country. Hear His voice in the text, calling His people to leave the weary world and go homeward with Himself.
I. Take notice of some things supposed in this kind call and invitation.
1. It supposeth that Christs bride is yet in the world. Though brought out of Egypt, yet not come to Canaan, but still in the wilderness.
2. Though she be there, and perhaps has been there many years since she was united to Christ, yet He has not forgot her, but kindly remembers, her still, whatever she may think otherwise.
3. The world is not a place for Christs spouse to rest in, she is in great danger there.
4. Yet sometimes the foolish creature lies down even among the lions dens, and being charmed with the deceitful mountains is averse to come away.
5. Our Lord takes notice of and is concerned for the souls danger from the deceitful world. And therefore He cries with earnestness to come away.
II. Explain this coming from the world, or show what is implied in it. There is a twofold coming away from the world,
1. There is a natural coming out of it. By the course of nature, we are all on our way out of it.
2. There is a spiritual coming out of it, namely, in heart and affection. This is what Christ is calling you to this day.
(1) Take your last look, the parting look of the world by faith even as Moses did of the profits and pleasures of Egypt.
(2) Turn your backs, then, upon the things of the world. Be mortified to them.
(3) Give up this day with the men of the world, never more to mix with the natives of the weary land; who labour for nothing but the entertainment of Lebanon, and who have taken up their home among the lions dens.
III. Show the import of coming away with Christ from the world.
1. Our Lord has a better place for your reception, than the world can be in its best dress. This is the new Jerusalem. There His Fathers house stands. And in that house are many mansions. The society of saints, angels, and to be ever with the Lord constitute the felicity of the place.
2. Our Lord can assuredly bring you into this glorious and happy place. But oh! will I obtain admission? Why, come with Me, says Christ, there will be no hindrance if you enter along with Me.
3. That place is His own choice.
4. Christ is in His way thither, out of the world to His Fathers house, the better country. What, is not Christ there already? True, Christ personal is there, but Christ mystical is not there yet.
5. Our Lord is very desirous of your company by the way, yes, and to have you away with Him for altogether.
6. Our Lord displays His glory to you in the Gospel, to win your hearts and get you away with Him.
7. Our Lord offers you, not only better in hope, but better in hand than the world can give you.
8. If you will come away, you shall go as He goes, you shall go together. Go as He goes in point of duty. Esteem all things as He does. Let His choice be your choice. Rejoice in those things in which He rejoices; and be grieved for what grieves His Spirit. Love what He loves, and hate what He hates.
9. He will lead you and support you through the whole of the way. You are now in the fields of the world, and there will be difficult steps in your way to the city; these will not be easily discerned, but come with Him, He will keep you from stumbling on the dark mountains.
10. He will be all to you in all. Leave all the world and come with Me, for all, as the espoused bride goes with her husband. Whatever comfort, pleasure and delight you drew out of the muddy streams, you may now draw in a far superior manner from the fountain. Thus it shall be your duty and privilege too, to live as people of another world. For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. (T. Boston, 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 On vv8, 9, 16 Son_4:8. Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with…
Notes
Son_4:8. Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon; look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards
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‘Come with me’ (תָּבוֹאִי אִתִּי tabhoi itti). אִתִּי sometimes read as the imperative of אָתָה ‘to come.’ So the SEPTUAGINT and VULGATE, followed by COVERDALE and LUTHER. Viewed by most as from אֵֽת ‘with’ and י ‘me.’ So the TARGUM, DIODATI and MARTIN. By others as denoting ‘to me.’ Solomon invites the Bride to his arms as a place of safety. PERCY, WILLIAMS, BOOTHROYD. EWALD strangely supposes the words put by Shulamite into her absent lover’s mouth. Bridegroom invites the spouse to come into more pleasant and secure places. PATRICK. To make an excursion with him to admire together the grand and beautiful scenery. DÖDERLEIN. To see the mountains mentioned, and to be crowned with their flowers. DEL RIO. Bride, after last meeting, had returned home, and, being a shepherdess, had been feeding her flocks as far as Lebanon, &c. “Bride of Christ.” Solomon meets his betrothed on the summits of Lebanon, and invites her to leave it along with him. M. STUART, DELITZSCH. Announces to her that her home should henceforth be with him in the royal palace. ZÖCKLER. ‘Lebanon’ (לְבָנוֹן from לָבַן laban, ‘to be white,’ the ‘white mountain, the Mont Blanc of Palestine’), the magnificent range of mountains, so-called, situated between Phœnicia and Syria, with a double line, called the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon. Remarkable for the grandeur of its appearance, its silvery aspect, its fertility and beauty. The abode of wild beasts (2Ki_14:9). A forest or wilderness in comparison with other places (Isa_29:17). Place of the Bride’s nativity and upbringing. SANCTIUS. Bride exhorted to leave her paternal abode with the Bridegroom. THEODORET. Solomon recalls her descent from a simple shepherd’s family in the mountain region of Northern Palestine. ZÖCKLER. The Bride’s seven-fold beauty the ground on which she comes down with the King from Lebanon and its mountain peaks, and from the haunts of lions and panthers, where she had dwelt on the other side of Lebanon. HAHN. Allegorically: The congregation of Israel invited to come to the Temple, and dwell with the Lord there. TARGUM. The divine presence promised to Israel when they should be carried captive from Lebanon, and should return thither. RASHI. From the Temple, or the city and land where it is situated. ROSENMÜLLER. Israel to leave the temporary sanctuary and follow the Bridegroom in the spiritual way of perfection, being assured of His presence with her in the path of suffering. WEISS; Lebanon the Temple from which Christ calls His people to remove (Zec_2:1, compare Mat_21:13). M. STUART. The Church called to forsake idols, and to leave all and follow Christ, her Bridegroom; like Psa_45:10. THEODORET, DAVIDSON. Called from the splendour of worldly glory. HONORIUS. From some situation of danger. BUSH. From false Churches and societies of wicked people, to walk with him in newness of life. AINSWORTH. The Church invited to heaven. PISCATOR.
‘My spouse.’ כַּלָּה (callah) a bride; according to GESENIUS, from כָּלל calal, to crown, ‘the crowned one;’ but according to others, from כָּלַל to perfect; a term of affection and esteem, used to express the relation of a son’s wife to his father and mother—a ‘perfect one.’ PARKHURST, WILLIAMS, SIMON. Never used with my. The Bride so called in direct relation to her husband’s parents rather than to the husband himself; equivalent to ‘daughter-in-law;’ the title being retained as long as her husband’s parents were living (Gen_38:11; Gen_38:16; Gen_38:24; Rth_1:6-8). FRY. More directly applied in reference to the Bridegroom or husband (1Sa_3:10): the idea of the word being completion, totality; a family being only complete upon a son’s marriage, and the prospect of issue in the male line; the Bride, or daughter-in-law, being the person through whom the name, honours, and inheritance were to be continued. ‘Three-fold mystery.’ Shulamite here, for the first time called the Bride: hitherto only ‘love’ or ‘friend; this section immediately following the consummation of the marriage. PERCY. So-called on account of the day being appointed for the marriage. JUNIUS.
‘Look from the top of Amana,’ &c תָּשׁוּרִי (tashuri) susceptible of two meanings—to ‘look’ and to set out on a journey.’ The latter preferred by ZÖCKLER and others as parallel with תָבוֹאִי. Thus understood by the SEPTUAGINT (διαλεύοῃ.) So LUTHER. The VULGATE: Thou shalt be crowned; either from שׁוּר to rule (SANCTIUS), or from אָשַׁר to be happy (DEL RIO). So CALMET: The Bridegroom promises to deck her with a crown, and make her his Bride. TARGUM: Thou shalt see persons coming i.e., with presents. So ROSEMULLER. GROTIUS: I will conduct thee through the most pleasant parts of my kingdom. COCCEIUS: Come and enter into possession: look forth on the inheritance. PERCY: She may now look down in security amidst any dangers of which she was apprehensive. FRY: The Bride, in passing from her home to her husband’s abode, would obtain from the heights of these mountains a gratifying prospect of the land of promise. DELITZSCH: Solomon would conduct her from one summit of Lebanon to another and give her to see and enjoy the prospect of his wide dominions. ‘Amana’ (אֲמָנָה), the name of a mountain in the north of Palestine. RASHI At present not precisely known: probably belonging to the same range of mountains in Antilibanus as Shenir and Hermon. WEISS. Not likely, as A. CLARKE, the mountains dividing Cilicia and Assyria. WILLIAMS: A mountain in Syria; the valley and the river called by the same name, Amana and Abana (2Ki_5:12; Keri אמנה Amana). GESENIUS: The name of a river rising in Antilibanus and watering Damascus, and giving its name to that part of the Lebanon. According to later Jews, only the name of a river. EWALD: Amana, some part of Lebanon not far from Damascus, whence a small river of similar name had its rise, called Abana. MICHAELIS: Abana probably the river now called Fiji. ZÖCKLER: Amana, the peak lying farthest to the east and north-east of the Anlitibanus range. ‘Shenir’ (שְׁנִיר, better read שְׂנִיר Senir), the name of Mount Hermon with the Amonites (Deu_3:9); as Sirion (שִׂרְיוֹן) was with the Sidonians. In a stricter sense, a part of Hermon or Antilibanus lying to the north, and now called by the Arabs, Jebel Senir; Hermon being distinguished from Shenir both here and in 1Ch_5:23. GESENIUS. Shenir the more northern, Hermon the more southern, of the principal peaks in the Hermon or Antilibanus range. ZÖCKLER. Sirion identical with Shenir, meaning a breastplate; referring probably to its glittering breastplate of ice. STANLEY. ‘Hermon’ (חֶרְמוֹן). A high mountain of Antilibanus covered with snow, now called Jebel Sheikh. Sometimes as here, and in 1Ch_5:23, distinguished from Shenir, the common usage apparently fluctuating. Hermon consisted of more mountains than one (Psa_42:7), these mountains being called also Zion (Deu_3:9; Deu_4:48). GESENIUS. The poet here only varies the names, because one meant the same as another to him. HITZIG, ZÖCKLER. Amana, Shenir, and Hermon, all different mountains of the Lebanon chain. COBBIN. The SEPTUAGINT, strangely translating the first name, Amana, has: ‘From the beginning of the faith.’ In the second clause, however: ‘From the top,’ &c.; as the VULGATE in both clauses. The passage thus allegorized. THEODORET: Shenir and Hermon the law or legal life. WEISS: Wild mountains of Israel’s captivity. DAVIDSON: The whole land of Gentile ESAU—the Gentile and estranged wilderness. PATRICK: From the horrid mountains, where thou wast exposed to the rage and cruelty of furious and troublesome men, look down and behold the goodly heritage I have purchased for thee. PISCATOR: Heaven to be beheld by faith. DURHAM: Elevate the heart to heaven; look, at least. FRY: The believer, like Moses on Pisgah, obtains a prospect of the promised rest. GILL: The Church called to look down and see how the Gospel was received by the nations: or, Christ’s call to His Church to leave the society of the wicked men of the world, and go along with Him (2Co_6:17; Rev_18:4). ‘Lion’s dens and mountains of leopards.’ A poetical exaggeration of the mountains around Shunem, as if to be compared with Lebanon; alluding, in a general way, to the wild beasts and inhospitable character of the region of Shulamite’s home (Zec_2:3; Jer_12:5; Deu_33:22). ZÖCKLER, Allegorically, the inhabitants of strong towns, who are strong as lions. TARGUM. Furious Jews and crafty Gentile philosophers. THEODORET. Malicious, cruel, and hypocritical men. JEROME, GREGORY. Heretics. PHILO, ANSELM. False brethren. HONORIUS. Persecuting tyrants. PISCATOR, DURHAM. Regions of idolatry, of which Egypt whence the Bride came (?) was one of the most remarkable HARMER. Babylonian lions and Chaldean panthers. WEISS. Savage, beastly, and idolatrous people. AINSWORTH. These mountains, thus beautiful but dangerous, put in contrast with the mountain of myrrh and hill of frankincense. BURROUGHS.
THE BRIDEGROOM’S INVITATION
(Son_4:8)
Come with me from Lebanon,
My spouse, with me from Lebanon;
Look from the top of Amana,
From the top of Shenir and Hermon,
From the lions’ dens,
From the mountains of leopards.
The King intimates to his beloved that he has a better place of residence prepared for her than that which had hitherto been her home; that it was his desire that she should soon accompany him to it; and that in the meantime she should withdraw her affections from her former abode. Her previous home is represented as being in Mount Lebanon with its snow-capped heights, either really, or in a locality thus poetically named. Lebanon, in its higher regions, with its adjacent peaks of Amana, Shenir or Sirion, and Hermon, mentioned as a place both of danger and discomfort, notwithstanding the pleasant spots found in its valleys and lower slopes. The text the language of tenderest affection. For the first time Shulamite called by the King ‘my spouse.’ The marriage viewed as now having taken place. The Bridegroom’s earnest desire to have his Bride always with him. His care that she should be with him in a place of comfort and security. Wishes her to leave those cold bleak mountains, the haunts of the lion and the panther; but to do so with the aid and protection of his arm and the solace of his company.
The text may be viewed as corresponding with the words of Jesus at the Last Supper: ‘In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you; I go to prepare a place for you: and if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (Joh_14:2-3). Observe, in reference to the Bridegroom’s.
Call from Lebanon,
I. The CALL itself. ‘Come with me,’ &c. To be viewed as a Call—
1. To leave the world in heart and affection. The world, in its present state of apostasy and rebellion, here represented by Lebanon and its snowy peaks. This the believer’s native home. The place where he is born and brought up. Christ’s Bride originally of the world as well as in it. ‘Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past’ (Eph_2:3; Tit_3:3). This world, in its present state, however, not to be the home of Christ’s Bride. A place prepared for her in His Father’s house. The world is to believers—
(1) A place of discomfort. Like Lebanon with its bleak and barren rocks, and its cold snowy heights. ‘In the world ye shall have tribulation.’
(2) A place of danger. Lebanon a place of lions’ dens. ‘Your adversary, the devil, goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.’ ‘My soul is among lions—the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows’ (1Pe_5:8; Psa_57:4).
(3) Yet a place not without attractions. Lebanon adorned with some of the loveliest spots in nature. The world, even in its fallen state, possessed of many attractions which might entangle the affections of Christ’s Bride—‘the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life’ (1Jn_2:16). The call in the text, not to leave the world as to bodily presence, but in heart and affection. This, perhaps, indicated in the parallel clause: ‘Look from the top of Amana,’ &c. Withdraw your thoughts and affections from those rugged heights to your better home. ‘Arise ye and depart, for this is not your rest.’ ‘Seek those things that are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.’ ‘Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world’ (Mic_2:10; Col_3:1-2; 1Jn_2:15). The Bride to forget her own people and her father’s house (Psa_45:11). Believers to look not at the things which are seen and temporal; but at those which are unseen and eternal (2Co_4:18). This world not be viewed as our home, but as an inn where we tarry for a night. Believers, while here, only strangers and pilgrims, journeying to their own country. Their home in the better land, the heavenly Canaan, the new Jerusalem, the city that hath foundations. Their language to be that of the pilgrim in reference to the cities which he passed on his way to Jerusalem—“very beautiful; but this is not Jerusalem.”
2. To leave it in life and practice. Believers not to be ‘conformed to this world, but transformed,’ by the renewing of their mind. Though in the world, not to be of it. ‘Be ye not, therefore, like unto them.’ Believers to be as strangers in this world in life and practice, as well as in heart and affection. Christian and Faithful represented as passing through Vanity Fair without buying any of its wares, or even so much as pricing them. Gazed at in the Fair as ‘outlandish men.’ Their only answer: ‘We buy the truth.’ Paul’s testimony, in the name of believers—‘Our conversation (life or citizenship) is in heaven.’ Believers to act and comport themselves in this world as citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, to which they belong (Php_3:20).
3. To leave it as to its friendship and society. Too great a difference between believers and the men of the world to admit of cordial friendship and society. ‘We are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness’ (or ‘in the Wicked One’) (1Jn_5:19). ‘How can two walk together except they be agreed?’ ‘Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath light with darkness? Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate’ (2Co_6:14-17). ‘The friendship of this world is enmity with God: whosoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God’ (Jas_4:4). The believer’s proper language: ‘I am a companion of all them that fear thee.’ ‘My goodness extendeth not unto thee; but unto the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.’ ‘I have not sat with vain persons: I have hated the congregation of evil doers, and will not sit with the wicked.’ ‘Depart from me, ye evil-doers, for I will keep the commandments of my God’ (Psa_16:2; Psa_26:4-5; Psa_119:115). Men known by the company they keep. Peter and John, ‘being let go, went unto their own company.’ ‘Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another’ (Mal_3:16; Act_4:23).
The believer’s life a daily coming ‘from Lebanon.’ ‘If any man will be My disciple, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.’ Believers, being redeemed from this present evil world, to take heed lest they be ‘again entangled in the yoke of bondage.’ Need the daily prayer: ‘Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity.’ Their standing caution: ‘Remember Lot’s wife.’
4. To leave the world at death. The comfort of believers that they have to leave this world, not merely in heart and affection, in life and practice, and in respect to its friendship and society, but also, in due time, in actual bodily presence. A better home provided for them. Their happiness in being where their Husband is. The death-call to them only their Bridegroom’s voice: ‘Arise, my Love, my Fair One, and come away.’ To the believer, the passage to the tomb no Dolorous Way. Sense sings a dirge at the grave; faith, a Hallelujah. A believer enters his sepulchre through pearly gates. Not deadly nightshade, but roses and lilies line the path to it. It is the last step in the journey home, or rather the actual arrival at it. The funeral bell may toll its slow and solemn strokes on earth, but cheerful peals are rung in heaven. The pardoned soul’s desire now granted: ‘I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. To me to die is gain.’ ‘I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord.’ ‘Now, Lord, lettest thou Thy servant depart in peace; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.’
5. To leave the world at the Lord’s Second Coming. Till then, a part of the Bride always still in Lebanon. The bodies also of those whose spirits are with Christ in Paradise still in the earth. The final call to come from Lebanon given at last. ‘Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust,’ uttered by the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God. The Lord Himself descends from heaven with a shout that echoes through the mansions of the dead. They that sleep in Jesus, joining the living and now glorified saints, ascend to meet Him in the air. The Church’s blessed hope at last accomplished. The Bride’s last recorded prayer on earth now answered. The Bridegroom’s last loving promise now fulfilled—‘Surely I come quickly.’
II. The character of the JOURNEY. ‘Come with me from Lebanon.’ The journey from Lebanon and its snow-capped heights neither easy nor safe. Its rugged paths, steep precipices, and ferocious animals, sufficient to render the descent both painful and perilous to the bride. A picture of the believer’s passage from this world, the place of his nativity, to the home prepared for him in the Father’s house. Manifold temptations often mingling heaviness with our joy. Much tribulation the way to the kingdom. Persecution promised to all who will live godly in Christ Jesus. The world’s hatred in proportion to their faithfulness to their Master and to their character as the Bride of Christ. Their adversary, the devil, like a roaring lion, going about and seeking whom he may devour. Principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, leagued to obstruct or annoy their passage. A carnal mind and evil heart of unbelief still lingering within themselves. The flesh lusting against the spirit, and its lusts warring in their members. The flesh weak to what is good, even when the spirit is willing. Need for constant watchfulness and prayer. The foot easily slipping, and the consequence a bruising fall. Broken bones not unfrequent in the descent from Lebanon. Noah, David, and Peter, humbling examples. No easy matter to walk safely down the rugged steeps. Difficult so to keep ourselves that that Wicked One touch us not. Not easy to break with a world lying in wickedness, and to pass through it unscathed. Faithful made a victim in Vanity Fair, and Christian well high the same. Not easy to pass through pollution without being soiled; to travel through an enemy’s country without getting into trouble; or to walk among gins and pits without making a fall. Constant need for the prayer: ‘Hold thou me up, that my footsteps slip not. Preserve me, O God, for in Thee do I put my trust.’ Death, too, in the journey from Lebanon. A passage from which poor human nature instinctively recoils. To us an unknown and naturally a formidable road. Beset also with spiritual adversaries. Not unfrequently accompanied with acute and prolonged suffering. The taking down of the tabernacle not always a smooth or easy process. The presence of earthly friends often of little avail. The roughest and dreariest part of the passage, perhaps, to be travelled alone. Sometimes the pathway tracked with blood. Lies at times through torture, the scaffold, and the stake. The path at first too rugged even for a Cranmer. The prayer in the Burnal Service not entirely needless: ‘Suffer us not, in our last hour, for any pains of death to had from thee.’
III. The COMFORT and AID in the journey. Indicated in the two little words: ‘With me.’ These precious words repeated, to call special attention to what they imply, to confirm their truth, and to indicate their importance. An argument to induce compliance with the Call. The Bridegroom’s society preferable to the Bride beyond that of all others. Who would remain among lions and panthers when they can have the fellowship of the king? No great loss to leave the cold bleak heights of Lebanon to be with the heavenly Bridegroom. A twofold blessing implied in the words—
(1) The everlasting presence of Christ after the journey is over;
(2) His company and support all the way through. The descent from Lebanon made safe and comfortable to the Bride by the Bridegroom’s presence. Precious to believers to know that they are not called to leave the world, whether in heart and affection, or in life and practice, or in bodily presence, alone and unaided. The presence and aid of the Friend ‘that sticketh closer than a brother,’ promised in every trying, difficult, and dangerous passage of life, as well as in the last dark valley. ‘Fear not, for I am with thee.’ ‘I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.’ ‘When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the floods, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest in the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.’ Hence the triumphant language of faith: ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise up against me, in this will I be confident.’ ‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff comfort me’ (Psa_23:4; Psa_27:1-2).
“The soul that on Jesus hath lean’d for repose,
He will not, he cannot desert to its foes.
That soul, though all hell should endeavour to shake,
He’ll never, no never, no NEVER, forsake.”
The presence of Jesus with the believer in his descent ‘from Lebanon’ on the way to his future home—
(1) For comfort. The company of a friend a solace in a difficult and dangerous journey.
(2) For aid and protection. The Bridegroom’s arm employed to support and defend, as well as His voice to solace and cheer. ‘Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning on her Beloved?’ The grace of Jesus sufficient for the most difficult duties, the strongest temptations, and the most painful trials. His strength made perfect in our weakness. Hence faith’s language: ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.’
(3) For example. The Bridegroom has descended from Lebanon before us. Points us to His steps as He came down its difficult and rugged steeps. ‘He hath left us an example that we should walk in His steps.’ ‘Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame.’ (1Pe_2:21; Heb_12:2).
The promise indicated in the words ‘with me,’ applicable to the believer’s death, as well as his life. His presence with them also in that final, solemn, and untried journey. Joseph sent his servants and waggons to convey his father to Egypt. Jesus not only sends His angelic servants to fetch His Bride and escort her through the darksome valley, but comes Himself. Not only makes a passage for them through the dark swelling waters of death, but, like the Ark in Jordan is with them Himself in the passage. Seen by Stephen on the eve of martyrdom, no sitting as usual, but standing at the right hand of God, as if risen up to be with His faithful servant in the last great conflict, and to give him a loving welcome when it was over. The footsteps of Jesus seen also in that last dark passage. The Bridegroom Himself trod the pathway to the tomb. Encountered death in its most formidable aspect. Passed through the valley in excruciating pain, amid jeers of men and assaults from Satan, and in a bath of blood. Travelled the last hours of His life in loneliness, darkness, and desertion of soul. Has lain in the tomb a lifeless corpse before us. The grave made by His presence there a perfumed bed to all His followers.
Important questions: Have I Jesus with me for my comfort and aid in going through this world? Shall I have His presence in death? Have I heard and obeyed His call to come with Him now? Am I taking up my cross daily, and following Him? Have I given up the world, or am I still making it my home? We come to Christ as sinners, before we come with Him as saints. Have I done this? Reader, if not, lose no time; but do it now.
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.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v9 The word "sister" here is of infinitely delicate significance,…
sister
The word "sister" here is of infinitely delicate significance, intimating the very whiteness of purity in the midst of an ardour which is, like the shekinah, aglow but unspeakably holy. Sin has almost deprived us of the capacity even to stand with unshod feet before this burning bush.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v8 The Ravishing Love of the Church
The Ravishing Love of the Church
v. 8. Come with Me from Lebanon, My spouse, His affianced bride, with Me from Lebanon, here representing a mountainous and inhospitable country. Look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, all three peaks being in the Anti-Lebanon range, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards, or panthers, where beasts of prey proved a constant menace to the traveler.
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v. 9. Thou hast ravished My heart, robbing Him of His heart by the miracle of her beauty, My sister, as the adopted child of His heavenly Father, My spouse; thou hast ravished My heart with one of thine eyes, literally, with one from thy eyes, that is, with a glance of love, with one chain of thy neck, with the sparkle and charm of the necklace as she turned to look at Him.
v. 10. How fair is thy love, pleasant and acceptable, My sister, My spouse! How much better is thy love than wine, sweet to the taste and pleasant in every way, and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!
v. 11. Thy lips, O My spouse, drop as the honeycomb, distilling sweetness; honey and milk are under thy tongue, in the loveliness of her speech; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon, whose fragrance, the balsamic odor of cedars, was proverbial in Palestine.
v. 12. A garden enclosed is My sister, My spouse, one locked against intruders, open only to the owner; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed, the meaning being that the place where the sparkling water wells from the ground is inaccessible to all but the Bridegroom Himself.
v. 13. Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits, all her acts being charming and excellent; camphire, or cyprus flowers, with spikenard, from which precious perfume was made,
v. 14. spikenard and saffron, from which an agreeably pungent liquid perfume was made; calamus, used for similar purposes, and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, a fine aromatic balsam, with all the chief spices, all of these being important articles of trade, since they were used also for the holy anointing oil, Exo 30:23-31;
v. 15. a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, fed by inexhaustible springs, and streams from Lebanon, fed by its perpetual snows, cool and refreshing. The bride, wrought up to the highest pitch of excitement by this fulsome praise in the mouth of the Bridegroom, exclaims,
v. 16. Awake, O north wind, cool and refreshing, and come, thou south, warm and moist, but usually not boisterous; blow upon my garden that the spices thereof may flow out, its perfume be wafted in every direction. Let my Beloved come into His garden and eat His pleasant fruits, enjoy the companionship and the charms of His bride.
This section contains both a warning and the highest praise. It is necessary for all believers to deny the world with all its blandishments and to be united with Christ alone, through the strength given in His Word. At the same time Christ openly states that the believers, looking upon Him with the eyes of faith, increase His love toward them. Therefore He praises the loveliness of the Church in extravagant terms, especially since the ointment of the Holy Spirit in the bosom of the Church fills the air with lovely fragrance, while her prayer drops from her lips like the most excellent honey, and her confession of Him is as pleasant as milk and honey. Moreover, the Church, in the midst of the world, is a closed garden, in which rich fruits ripen for the delectation of the heavenly Bridegroom, and where the refreshing waters of the Sacraments flow. The Church, in fact, is in every way full of spiritual power and fruitfulness, filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God, Php 1:11. Having heard the praise of Christ, the Church pleads for His gracious presence in her midst, for it is only when He Himself accepts the worship of His believers that the purpose of the Church can be realized; only then can she fulfill her duty in the right manner.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv8, 9, 10, 12, 15 General Information:
General Information:
The man continues to speak to the woman. He speaks of them not being free to make love as if they were in a wild, dangerous, foreign place. (See: Metaphor)
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from Lebanon
"away from Lebanon"
my bride
This Hebrew word can refer to a woman who is married or to one whom a man has arranged to become his son's wife. If your language has a polite word that a man would use to his wife and that has not been used yet in this book, you could use it here. Otherwise you could use any polite term a man would use with his wife.
Amana
the name of a mountain north of Israel (See: How to Translate Names)
Senir
the name of a mountain near Amana and Hermon. Some people think that this refers to the same mountain as Hermon. (See: How to Translate Names)
dens
places where lions and leopards live, like caves or holes in the ground
translationWords
Lebanon
bride
Mount Hermon
lions
leopard
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 On vv8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16 4:8 Mount Amana, Senir, and Hermon are the three…
4:8 Mount Amana, Senir, and Hermon are the three northernmost peaks in Israel and the highest point on the border with Lebanon. They represent the height of the couple’s ecstasy, from which they must at times descend.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.