Where has your beloved gone, you fairest among women? Where has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you?
Parallel Translations
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Where has your beloved gone, you fairest among women? Where has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you?
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Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee.
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'Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? Whither hath thy beloved turned him, that we may seek him with thee?'
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Song of Solomon 6:1 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Song of Solomon 1:8 If you don’t know, most beautiful among women, follow the tracks of the sheep. Graze your young goats beside the shepherds’ tents.
- Song of Solomon 5:9 How is your beloved better than another beloved, you fairest among women? How is your beloved better than another beloved, that you do so adjure us?
- Jeremiah 14:8 You hope of Israel, its Savior in the time of trouble, why should you be as a foreigner in the land, and as a wayfaring man who turns aside to stay for a night?
- Ruth 2:12 May Yahweh repay your work, and a full reward be given to you from Yahweh, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
- Ruth 1:16-17 Ruth said, “Don’t urge me to leave you, and to return from following you, for where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May Yahweh do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.”
- Song of Solomon 1:4 Take me away with you. Let’s hurry. The king has brought me into his rooms. We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will praise your love more than wine! They are right to love you.
- Song of Solomon 2:2 As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
- Song of Solomon 6:4 You are beautiful, my love, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners.
- Song of Solomon 6:9-10 My dove, my perfect one, is unique. She is her mother’s only daughter. She is the favorite one of her who bore her. The daughters saw her, and called her blessed. The queens and the concubines saw her, and they praised her. Who is she who looks out as the morning, beautiful as the moon, clear as the sun, and awesome as an army with banners?
- Isaiah 2:5 House of Jacob, come, and let’s walk in the light of Yahweh.
- Song of Solomon 5:6 I opened to my beloved; but my beloved left, and had gone away. My heart went out when he spoke. I looked for him, but I didn’t find him. I called him, but he didn’t answer.
- Zechariah 8:21-23 and the inhabitants of one shall go to another, saying, ‘Let’s go speedily to entreat the favor of Yahweh, and to seek Yahweh of Armies. I will go also.’ Yes, many peoples and strong nations will come to seek Yahweh of Armies in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favor of Yahweh.” Yahweh of Armies says: “In those days, ten men will take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they will take hold of the skirt of him who is a Jew, saying, ‘We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’ ”
- Acts 5:11-14 Great fear came on the whole assembly, and on all who heard these things. By the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. They were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch. None of the rest dared to join them, however the people honored them. More believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain That is, is conversant here in earth among men.
That is, is conversant here in earth among men.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Son 6:1 Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou…
Son 6:1 Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee.
Ver. 1. Whither is thy beloved gone? &c.] All Christ’s disciples are ζητητικοι, inquisitive after the "truth that is in Jesus," {Eph 4:21} and are fellow helpers to it. {3Jn 1:8} There is also nescio quid divinum in auscultatione, as one well noteth; that is, a strange and strong energy or forcibleness in hearing, whether publicly or in private conference, Christ and his excellencies displayed and discoursed of. Let but his name, as an ointment, be poured out, and the virgins can do no less than love him. {Son 1:3} These daughters of Jerusalem are, by hearing the Church describing her spouse, and painting him out in lively colours, fired up to a holy contention in godliness, and, might they but know where to have him, they would be at any pains to "partake of the benefit." {1Ti 6:2} They wondered at first why she should make such ado about Christ; but when they conversed a while with her, and had heard her speak with such affection and admiration, they are turned, and will now go seek him with her. God is pleased many times to water the holy meetings and conferences of his people with blessing, beyond expectation or belief. We should frame ourselves to an easy discourse of the "glory of Christ’s kingdom, and talk of his power." {Psa 145:8-9} Our tongues in this argument should be "as the pen of a ready writer," {Psa 45:1} that we may be able to speak oft to one another, with profit and power in the best thing. {Mal 3:16} Little do we know what a deal of good may be done hereby. Mr Foxe, speaking of God’s little flock in the days of Henry VIII, saith: In such rarity of good books and want of teachers, this one thing I cannot but marvel and muse at, to note in the registers, and consider how the Word of God did multiply so exceedingly among them; for I find that one neighbour, resorting and conferring with another, eftsoons, with a few words of their first or second talk, did win and turn their minds to that wherein they desired to persuade them touching the truth of God’s Word and sacraments, &c. {a} In all ages such as were ordained to eternal life "believed"; {Act 13:48} after that they had "heard the word of truth they believed, and were sealed." {Eph 1:13} Contrariwise, reprobates either refuse to hear the Church preaching Christ, {Joh 8:47} or else they hear and jeer - as Pilate, with his What is truth? - in mere mockery {b} {Joh 18:38} hear and blaspheme, {Act 13:45} or, at best, hear and admire, and that is all. They leave the Word where they found it, for anything they will practise. They think they do a great char to sit out a sermon, and then commend it. But wisdom’s children will not only "justify" her, {Mat 11:19} but also "glorify" her. {Act 13:48} They will "seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face evermore"; {Psa 105:4} seek him in his holy temple; seek him in and with the Church, as here. They know that extra Ecclesiam nulla salus. The Church is "the pillar and ground of truth," {1Ti 3:15} inasmuch as, by her ministry, the authority, dignity, knowledge, virtue, and use of the truth of the gospel, is preserved in the world, and "held out," {Php 2:16} as the hand holds forth the torch, or the watchtower the light, and so the haven to the weather beaten mariners.
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That we may seek him with thee.] For he is not like to seek long that seeks alone, there being a notable tie to constancy in the communion of saints. Surely, as sincerity is the life of religion, so society is the life of sincerity. The Philippians had no sooner received the gospel, but they were in fellowship, to a day. {Php 1:5}
{a} Acts and Mon., fol. 750.
{b} Irridentis vox, non interrogantis.
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 These are the words of the daughters of Jerusalem,…
These are the words of the daughters of Jerusalem, last mentioned, whom this full and pathetical description of the Bridegroom’s excellency had inflamed with love to him.
Whither is thy Beloved turned aside, to wit, from thee, as thy words imply, Son 6:6,8; where dost thou use to look for him, and to find him, when thou hast lost him? O thou who art well acquainted with all the places both of his usual abode, and of his diversion, inform us who are ignorant of them. That we may seek him with thee; we ask not with any evil design, but only because we desire an interest in him.
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 An enquiry after Christ, ver. 1. The churches answer,…
An enquiry after Christ, ver. 1. The churches answer, ver. 2. The church confesses her faith in Christ, ver. 3. Christ shews the graces of his church, ver. 4. And the beauty of her several parts, ver. 5-10. He acquaints her where he had been, and what he had been doing, ver. 11. And discovers his affection to her, ver. 12. With an invitation of her to return to him again, ver. 13.
Gone - From thee.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain The companions of the bride inquire after the bridegroom,…
CHAPTER VI
The companions of the bride inquire after the bridegroom, 1-3.
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A description of the bride, 4-13.
NOTES ON CHAP. VI
Verse 1. Whither is thy beloved gone] These words are supposed to be addressed to the bride by her own companions, and are joined to the preceding chapter by the Hebrew and all the versions.
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 6:1-2. Whither is thy beloved gone — Namely,…
Son 6:1-2. Whither is thy beloved gone — Namely, from thee: see chap. 5:6, 8. These are the words of the daughters of Jerusalem, last mentioned, whom the preceding full and pathetical description of the bridegroom’s excellence had inflamed with love to him. My beloved is gone into his garden — The spouse had hitherto been at a loss for her beloved, but, having diligently sought him, now at last she meets with a gracious answer from God, directing her where to find him. The garden may signify the church catholic, and the gardens, as it follows, as also the beds, the particular assemblies of the faithful, in which Christ affords his presence. To the beds of spices — In which the gifts and graces of God’s Spirit, fitly compared to spices, or aromatical flowers, appear and grow. To feed — To refresh and delight himself. To gather lilies — Which may denote either particular believers, whom Christ gathers to himself in his church, or the prayers and praises of his people in the public congregations.
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 The question put by the chorus, and the answer…
The question put by the chorus, and the answer it receives from the bride, show that the loss and seeking are not to be taken too seriously.
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 Lilies. The church teaches, that God is delighted with…
Lilies. The church teaches, that God is delighted with the pious desires and works of the faithful. (Worthington) --- She answers the question which had been put to her. (Calmet) --- God associates lilies, or the perfect, to his angels. He "feeds his flock," and "is fed," on works of piety, as Hebrew and Septuagint imply both. (Menochius)
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).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain See Son_5:1 ff for the passage comments with footnotes.
See Son_5:1 ff for the passage comments with footnotes.
5. Conclusion. c.The question where her lover is and Shulamith’s answer. Son_6:1-3.
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Son_6:1. Whither has thy beloved gone, etc. As in what precedes Shulamith had made no distinct declaration respecting the person of her lover, but only given an ideal description of his beauty, the women might still remain uncertain who and where he was. Hence this additional question, which like that in Son_5:9 is a question of curiosity and expresses some such sense as this: If then thy lover is a person of such extraordinary elegance and beauty, how could he have suffered you to be away from him? how could he have permitted you to become the wife of another so that you now must pine after him and seek longingly for him? At all events that particular in Shulamith’s story of her dream, according to which her lover “had turned away, was gone,” Son_5:6, determined the form of their question. The women may have thought that they perceived in this the echo of an actual occurrence, a sudden desertion of Shulamith by her former lover. Manifestly no one of them thought of Solomon as the object of her languishing and painful desire.
Son_6:2. My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of balm. This answer of Shulamith is certainly evasive, but scarcely jesting and roguish (Hitz.); it is rather sadly ironical. She does not seriously mean to represent Solomon as actually occupied with working in the garden or with rural pleasures (as Del. supposes). She merely intends to intimate that other matters seem more pressing and important to him than intercourse with her, his chosen love, and with this view she makes use of those pastoral and agricultural (horticultural) tropes, with which she is most conversant and most entirely at home (comp. Son_1:7; Son_1:14; Son_2:3; Son_2:16, etc.) It is further probable that “going down to the beds of balm” and “gathering lilies” may contain an allusion to amorous intercourse meanwhile indulged with others of his wives; and with this the primarily apologetic drift of her whole statement, which is purposely figurative and ambiguous, might very well consist. What Shulamith here says can in no event refer to a lover of the rank of a shepherd; for it would be trifling and in bad taste to attribute to him in that case besides his main business of feeding his flock, that of being engaged with beds of balm and other objects belonging to the higher branches of gardening (comp. Weissb. in loc.) and to explain the “garden” in the sense of Son_4:12-15 (that is, of Shulamith herself, as the locked garden, which her country lover had now come to Jerusalem to visit) must be regarded as the extreme of exegetical subtilty, and can neither be brought into harmony with the verb יָרַד “has gone down” (for which we would then rather expect עָלָה “has come up”), nor with the plur. בַּגַנִּים “in the gardens” (vs.Hitz., Böttch., Ren.).
Son_6:3. I am my beloved’s,etc.—The partial transposition of the words as compared with Son_2:16 is not due to chance, but is an intentional alteration; comp. Son_4:2 with Son_6:6; Son_2:17 with Son_8:14.—The connexion of the exclamation before us with Son_6:2 is given by Hitzig with substantial correctness: “The words of Son_6:2 are a rebuff to strangers concerning themselves about her lover; the averment in Son_6:3 that they belong to one another, indirectly excludes a third, and is thus inwardly connected with Son_6:2.” With which it must nevertheless be kept in view that this present assertion is not made without, at the same time, feeling a certain pain at the infidelity of one so purely and tenderly beloved.1—The remark made by Del. on this verse cannot be substantiated: “With these words, impelled by love and followed by the daughters of Jerusalem (?), she continues on her way, hastening to the arms of her lover” (similarly too Weissb.). The text does not contain the slightest intimation of such a departure of Shulamith to look for him, and a consequent change of scene. Comp. above, No. 2.
6. Second Scene. a.Solomon’s reiterated praise of the beauty of Shulamith, Son_6:4-10. The simplest view of this scene is that all to Son_6:10 incl. is an encomium pronounced by the king, who has mean while entered, upon his beloved, but hitherto somewhat neglected and consequently saddened wife Shulamith, whilst Son_6:11-12 is spoken by her, and Son_7:1 by her alternately with the chorus. And the following explanation of the details will show that this is on all accounts the most satisfactory. We must reject, therefore, the views of Ewald, who puts the whole, even the colloquy, Son_6:11 to Son_7:1, into the mouth of Solomon, and consequently assumes but one speaker; of Hitzig, who makes the ladies of the court retire and the “shepherd” enter and speak, Son_6:9; of Böttcher, who besides introduces the queen mother likewise as a speaker in the words “she is the only one of her mother, the choice of her that bare her” (Son_6:9 a); of Umbreit, who takes Son_6:10 to be the question of the poet, Son_6:11 ff. the language of Shulamith walking sadly about in the king’s nut garden; of Magnus, who breaks up the whole section into no less than five fragments, etc.
Son_6:4. Fair art thou, my dear, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem.—תִּרְצָה Tirzah (“delightful;” also the name of a woman, Num_26:33, in the passage before us rendered εὐδοκία by the Sept.) is certainly the subsequent residence of the kings in the northern kingdom, yet not here named as such along with Jerusalem, but as a remarkably beautiful and charming town in northern Palestine. Its mere name cannot possibly have afforded the reason of its being mentioned. It is much more likely that its location not far from Shunem (according to Hitz., in the territory of Issachar, the tribe of Baasha?) may have had some influence, since Solomon is elsewhere particularly fond of comparing his beloved with localities in the region of her home (Son_4:1; Son_4:8; Son_4:11; Son_4:15; Son_7:5-6). Comp. moreover Introduction, § 3, Rem. 1.—The site of ancient Tirzah is no longer accurately known. K. Furrer, Wanderungen, etc., p. 241, thinks that he saw it not far from Sichem (to the north of it and due west of Samaria), “on a charming green hill, part of which has a very steep descent;” but he has probably taken a locality considerably to the south for the ruins of the old royal city, probably Thulluza (three hours east of Shomron, one hour north of Mount Ebal), so explained also by Robinson. Comp. Hergt, Palästina, p. 410; L. Voelter, Art. “Thirza,” in Zeller’s Bibl. Wörterbuch, and Winer, in Realwörterbuch.—Jeremiah also speaks of Jerusalem’s comeliness, Lam_2:15.—Hengstenb. makes the poet rise from Tirzah to Jerusalem as a still grander city; but this is contradicted by the fact that the predicate נָאוָה “comely,” as appears from Son_1:5 compared with Son_1:8, is inferior to יָכָּה “fair.”—Terrible as bannered hosts.—אָיםֹ from the same stem with אֵימָה “terror,” is used Hab_1:7 to designate the Chaldeans as a dreadful foe, and here, therefore, can only designate the person addressed as fearful, terrible, as is especially evident from the comparison with “armies” or “bannered hosts.”—But why is Shulamith here said to be “terrible as bannered hosts” (which is only further unfolded in what follows, “turn away thine eyes from me, for they assault me”)? Not because she was to be represented in a general way as triumphant over men, whose hearts she wounds and captivates by her glances, (Gesen.); much more likely, because she has exerted upon Solomon in particular, her ardent lover, a fearful power by those eyes of hers, which pierce the heart and vanquish all resistance (Ew., Döpke, Delitzsch, and the great body of interpreters); but most likely of all because it was from those marvellously beautiful eyes a grave reproachful look had fallen upon him, because he had felt himself, as it were, called to account and chastised by the awe-inspiring innocence and purity of her look. Hitz. is substantially correct, only he makes the “chastising look” proceed from Shulamith still unmarried, who from love to her young shepherd acts coldly towards the king in his addresses. This explanation cannot be invalidated by the fact that the predicate “terrible as bannered hosts” recurs Son_6:10 below, as the language of the ladies of the court, quoted by Solomon;2 for in this quotation Solomon uses great freedom, as is shown by the extravagant comparisons with the sun, moon, and dawn of the morning (see in loc.).
Son_6:5. Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have taken me by storm.—By this must be substantially meant, as appears from the context, an influence proceeding from Shulamith’s serious looks to the heart of her conscience-smitten husband, by which he was awed and abashed (comp. the parallels adduced by Hitz. from the Syr. and Arab. for the sense of terrifying), not the exciting of love to a passionate ardor (Döpke), nor bewitching (Vaihinger), nor manifesting her resistless and victorious power over her lover (Delitzsch), etc.—Thy hair is like a flock of goats,etc. Comp. Son_4:1 b. On Son_6:6 comp. Son_4:2. On Son_6:7 comp. Son_4:3 b. The omission in this passage3 of the description of the lips and tongue contained in Son_4:3 a, is simply to be explained from the abridged character of the present delineation, which is, as it were, but an abstract of the preceding, and since it was enough simply to remind his beloved of the encomiums passed upon her on her wedding day, might fitly be restricted to bare hints or a summary recapitulation. The opinion of Hengstenberg and Weissbach, that the number four is maintained as characteristic of the form of this abridged description, as the number ten in the larger one, imputes too whimsical a design to the poet. Far too artificial also Hitzig: The omission of Son_4:3 a is to intimate “a brief pause” in the vain endeavors of the king to gain over the coy Shulamith, whereupon the voluptuous sensualist and inconstant “butterfly” suddenly breaks off after Son_6:7, bethinking himself that there are other damsels yet (Iliad ix. 395 f.), and accordingly leaving the scene with the words, “Well, I have sixty queens and eighty concubines,” etc., to make love, soon after (Son_7:2 ff.) to another(!).
Son_6:8. There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,etc. That this exclamation is not “uttered aside,” and indicative of the sudden breaking of the thread of the king’s patience, who has thus far been vainly laboring with Shulamith (according to Hitzig’s view, just stated), incontrovertibly appears, from its close connection with Son_6:9, which nothing but the extreme of arbitrary criticism can sunder from it, and put into the mouth of the “shepherd.” Accordingly, even Renan has not ventured to approve Hitzig’s separation of Son_6:9 from Son_6:8, but has assigned both verses to the shepherd, who interrupts the king by singing them “from without!” But how could the praise of the “one dove,” the “one perfect,” etc., contained in Son_6:9, come from any other mouth than that which uttered the encomium upon the beauty of the king’s beloved, beginning Son_6:4! And again, how else could the way be prepared for the emphatic declaration: “My dove is one,” etc., but by this glance at the great number of the queens, concubines and virgins, who were all at the rich king’s command, but all of whom he was ready to subordinate to that one! It is plain that one verse here sustains the other, and they are all to ver.10 inclusive most intimately connected together like links in a chain, which cannot be broken. This has been seen by the majority even of the advocates of the shepherd-hypothesis, without their finding anything better here after all than a “last violent assault” upon Shulamith’s innocence (Ew.), or a “new and heightened piece of flattery” (Vaih.), or a “thought adapted to win the heart and ensnare the refined feelings of Shulamith” (Böttch.), etc. On the relation of the numbers here given, “sixty queens” and “eighty concubines” of Solomon to the seven hundred queens and three hundred concubines, as stated (1Ki_11:3, see Introduc., § 3, p. 12). The passage before us evidently contains a statement referable to an earlier period in Solomon’s life, which must as surely have been correct for some fixed point of time (which it is true cannot now be accurately ascertained), as the much larger numbers of the book of Kings are to be reckoned historically accurate for Solomon’s latest and most degenerate years.4 For there is just as little necessity really for discrediting them as “very large statements in round numbers” (Hitzig), as there is for the attempt to bring out an approximate adjustment with the lower statements of this passage, by the change of 700 to 70, and of 300 to 80 (comp. Thenius on 1 Kin. in loc.). The accounts of ancient writers, as Plutarch (Artax. c. 27), Curtius (III. 3, 24), Athenæus (Deipnos. III. 1), respecting the size of the harem of the later Persian monarchs. (e.g., Artaxerxes Mnemon had 360 παλλακίδες; Darius Codomannus was accompanied by 360 pellices on his march against Alexander, etc.) are analogies, which, rightly weighed, make rather in favor of than against the credibility of the book of Kings in this matter. And although the harems of modern oriental rulers are often stated to be considerably smaller, so that e.g., Shah Sefi of Persia, according to Olearius, had but three wives and three hundred concubines, Sultan Abdul Medjid, of Constantinople, something over three hundred and fifty wives, etc., these accounts of a very recent period prove nothing respecting the customs and relations of a hoary antiquity. The seven hundred and three hundred of the book of Kings, as well as the sixty and eighty of this passage, may indeed be round numbers. This is favored to some extent in the former case by the circumstance that the total amounts to precisely one thousand, and in the latter by the popular and proverbial use of the numbers six, sixty (comp. Cic. Verrin. I. c. 125), six hundred (Exo_14:7; Jdg_18:11; 1Sa_27:2, and the well-known use of the lat. sexcenti). But both these numerical statements must at all events pass for approximately exact; and neither the hypothesis that 1 Kings, loc. cit. states the entire number of all the wives, both principal and subordinate, that Solomon had in succession (so e.g.Keil in loc.), nor the opinion that the “virgins without number” may afford the means of adjusting the difference between them, seems to be admissible. Against the latter resource even Hitzig remarks: “The above difference cannot be reconciled by means of the עלמות virgins; for these plainly constitute a third class, and one outside of the harem”—that is to say, merely maids of the court, attendants upon the harem, whom the king, if he had chosen, might likewise have exalted to be concubines. On Hengstenberg’s allegorical explanation, according to which the “household of the heavenly Solomon” is here depicted, and consequently sixty and eighty = one hundred and forty, is to be taken as a mystical number,5 see Introduction, p. 31.
Son_6:9. My dove, my perfect is one, comp. on Son_5:2. The opinion that אֲחֹתִי “my sister,” which stands with יוֹנָתִי תַמָּתִי “my dove, my perfect” in the parallel passage Son_5:2, can have influenced the selection of אַחַת “one” in this place, is very improbable (vs. Weissb.).—The only one of her mother, the choice one of her that bare her. It follows, from the subsequent mention of Shulamith’s little sister, Son_8:8, that the predicate “only” here (as in Pro_4:3) is not to be taken literally, but in the tropical sense of “incomparable.” On the combination of “mother” and “she that bare her,” Son_3:4, Son_8:5. On the clause generally, Pro_4:3.—Daughters saw her and called her blessed, queens and concubines and they praised her. On the sentence comp. Pro_31:28, probably a free imitation of this passage. The “daughters” evidently correspond to the עֲלָמוֹת “virgins,” Son_6:8, as also the “queens and concubines” of that verse recur here, that they may expressly subordinate themselves to Shulamith, who is preferred above them. On account of this exact correspondence between this clause and Son_6:8, it is incomprehensible how Hitz. can regard Son_6:9 as spoken by the shepherd. Whence could he know that Solomon’s queens and concubines had such an opinion of Shulamith? And how unnatural and far-fetched would such a remark about the uniqueness and all-surpassing loveliness of his beloved appear as the first exclamation of the shepherd immediately upon his coming to her! In the course of his familiar conversation with her he might appropriately say something of the sort, but not as the first word of his salutation.
Son_6:10. Who is this that looks forth like the dawn? If these words, like the exclamations Son_3:6 and Son_8:5, which likewise begin with מִי־זֹאת “who is this,” had really been the opening of a new scene (as Rosenm., Döpke, Heiligst., Del., Vaih., Weissb., etc., maintain, either supposing Solomon, or his courtiers and attendants, or the ladies of the court to be the speakers) they would have been preceded by a concluding formula like Son_3:5 and Son_8:4. Instead of this Son_6:9 rather required to be further explained and supplemented in regard to Shulamith’s being praised and pronounced blessed by Solomon’s wives; a statement was still needed of what the אַשֵּׁר ‘blessing’ and הַלֵּל ‘praising’ of those women amounted to. And the thing of all others best adapted to this purpose, was a mention of that admiring praise, which according to Son_3:6 ff. the ladies of the court bestowed upon Shulamith on her entry into Zion upon her wedding day. To this panegyric, of which he must have had mediate or immediate cognizance, Solomon here refers, though only in the way of inexact suggestion not of faithful reproduction (substantially correct Ew., B. Hirzel, Böttch., Hitz.).—הַנִּשְׁקָפָה lit. “looking down, gazing down” from a high position: comp. שׁקף in Jdg_5:28; Psa_14:2; Psa_53:3; Psa_102:20; Lam_3:50. Reference is thus made to the prominent or exalted place occupied by Shulamith in the world of women. She outshines all others like the early dawn, which looks from heaven over the mountains down to the earth. Yes, like the sun and moon! Dawn, moon and sun are here, therefore, personified as it were, like the sun in Son_1:6 above. Fair as the moon, pure as the sun.בָּרָה here equivalent to spotless, bright-shining, comp. Psa_19:9; and on the silvery moon as an image of superior purity and beauty Job_25:5; Job_31:26. Arabic poets also sometimes compare female beauty with the brightness of the moon e. g. Hamasa (ed. Schultens, p. 483.) “Then Lamisa appeared like the moon of heaven when it shines;” Motanebbi (Translation by Von Hammer, p. 29, 42, etc.) and others, comp. Döpke and Magn. in loc.)6 The poetic expressions לְבָנָה “white” and חַמָּה “hot” for moon and sun, which are again combined in Isa_24:23, are particularly suited for the comparison, because they are both feminine and alike indicative of white and blazing radiance.—Terrible as bannered hosts. This concluding simile points to the identity of the person intended with the one described in Son_6:4, and at the same time testifies to the identity of the speaker and against the sundering of this verse from the preceding.7
7. Continuation. b.Shulamith and the ladies of the court,Son_6:11 to Son_7:1.
Some recent commentators take this particularly difficult little section to be a narration by Shulamith of something which she had previously experienced, in which she also repeats the language of others to her, together with her answer (Hitz., Meier, etc.); Naegelsb. (in Reuter’s Repert. 1852, No. 10) on the contrary regards it as a reverie of Shulamith, in which she foreshadows to herself her reception by her country friends on her expected return to them; Ew. (and Hahn) a continuation of the discourse of Solomon, in which a colloquy between Shulamith and the ladies of the royal court is repeated; the majority of both the older and the later expositors, however, make of it an independent dialogue between Shulamith and the “daughters of Jerusalem,” in which the verses Son_6:11-12 together with the words “what do you see in Shulamith” in Son_7:1 are assigned to the former, and the remainder of Son_7:1, to the latter. This last understanding of it is the only one which avoids the manifold difficulties and forced explanations with which each of those previously mentioned is chargeable.
Son_6:11. To the nut-garden I went down. According to the various interpretations put upon the entire section, these words are thought to contain either 1) Shulamith’s answer to what is supposed to be the wondering question of the ladies of the court in Son_6:10 (so Del. and Weissb.: she states to her noble auditors in these words not so much who she is, as why she had come down to the king’s garden); or 2) the beginning of an account of what happened to her on the occasion of her being first brought to the king’s court (Ew., Umbr., Hitz., Vaih., Böttch., Ren. etc.—all agreeing in this that Shulamith here begins to tell the story of her former “abduction” to the king’s harem); or 3) the beginning of a dreamy description of what Shulamith would do after her return home (Naegelsb. loc. cit.) or 4) the beginning of a statement of the way in which the daughter of Zion attained the high dignity which the words of the heavenly Solomon had ascribed to her, especially in Son_6:9-10, (Hengstenb.); or 5) the beginning of a recital by Solomon, in which he prophetically depicts the process of the conversion of the gentiles to the God of Israel (Hahn) etc. We hold that of these views the second comes nearest to the true sense of the poet, but prefer to find in the words instead of a statement of what Shulamith was doing at the precise moment of her “abduction,” a description of what she was in the habit of doing before she came to the royal court. We accordingly take יָרַדְתִּי neither as pluperf. (“I had gone down”), nor as a proper perfect, nor as an aorist, but as a statement of an action frequently repeated in the past, a customary action, in which sense though it elsewhere belongs rather to the future, the perfect is sometimes used in the O. T (e.g.2Sa_1:22,) comp. Ew. Lehrb. § 136, c.—If, therefore, Shulamith commences in this way to describe her rural occupations prior to her exaltation as queen, she thereby gives her husband plainly enough to understand that he has in no wise satisfied her by his enthusiastic laudations and admiring declarations of love, but that she now longed more than ever to get away from his voluptuous court and from the vicinity of his sixty queens and eighty concubines to the green little nut garden, the fresh valleys and the lovely vineyards in the region of her home.—גִנַּת אֱגוֹז denotes according to all the versions as well as to ancient Talmudic tradition a “nut garden,” a meaning for which there is the less need to substitute “kitchen-herb or vegetable garden” (with Hitz.) since אֱגוֹז is doubtless the same word with the Pers. ghuz and JosephusBell. Jud. III. 10, 8, expressly testifies to the occurrence of nut-trees in the region of the lake of Tiberias, not far consequently from Shulamith’s home. The nut-garden here mentioned is to be sought in this her native region and not in the neighborhood of Jerusalem or within the range of the king’s gardens. It can scarcely be different from the vineyards and orchards described Son_7:13 ff. in the immediate vicinity of the house of Shulamith’s mother.—To look at the shrubs of the valley,etc. The garden itself probably lay likewise in this valley-bottom, or at all events considerably lower than Shulamith’s residence (hence ירד “went down”). “Shrubs” or “green” of the valley (אִבֵּי הַנָּֽחל) probably denotes whatever verdure sprouted up in the place where the water of the Wady had run off, less likely the green of proper water-plants (Job_8:12). On the combination of verdure or shrubs, vines and pomegranates comp. Son_2:12, f. the like juxtaposition of flowers, fig trees and vines. רָאָה בְּ “to look at anything” denotes, as it invariably does, the pleased, gratified contemplation of an object (comp. Psa_27:4; Psa_63:3; Mic_4:11, etc.) not the busy looking for something, for which latter sense not even Gen_34:1 can be adduced (vs. Hitz.).
Son_6:12. I knew it not, my desire brought me,etc. The thing intended is scarcely her “desire to walk out in the open air” (Ew.), or her “curiosity” (Vaih.), or her “wish to see the vine sprout” (Hitzig), but much more probably her desire to belong to her royal lover, her longing to be wholly and for ever her beloved’s. When and how this desire was first awakened in her, she does not here state; she had given utterance to this in another place, see Son_2:8-17. In the passage before us she simply assumes the existence of her desire and longing for her lover, and only tells how little she knew or imagined in the midst of those rural occupations of hers (Son_6:11) that she was exalted by it “to the chariots of her people, the noble,” in other words, how little she suspected beforehand that her lover was the king, the ruler of all Israel.—To the chariots of my people, the noble.מַרְכְּבוֹת strictly denotes merely “wagons,” but here, like the combination “horses and chariots” in other passages (Deu_20:1; Isa_31:1; Psa_20:8) seems to express the idea of the full display of the power and pomp of the kingdom, but without suggesting anything of a military nature, so that as in 1Sa_8:11; 2Sa_15:1 we are to think chiefly of state carriages in the festive processions of the king and his court. Being transferred or promoted to these chariots of state would accordingly be tantamount to elevation to royal dignity and glory, of which the analogy of Joseph in Egypt is an instructive instance, Gen_41:43 ff. So far as the language is concerned, there is no special objection to this interpretation. The connection of the accusative מַרְכְּבוֹת with the verb שׂוּם without a preposition most probably expresses the idea of “removing or bringing in the direction (comp. Isa_40:26; Dan_11:2; or into the vicinity of something,” (comp. Jdg_11:29); this is the case not merely with verbs denoting motion, but with all possible verbal ideas (see numerous examples in Ew., § 281, d). שׂוּם is often elsewhere synonymous with הֵבִיא “to bring or conduct to any place” (comp. Gen_2:8) and so שׂוּם מַרְכְּבוֹת may very readily mean: “to bring to the chariots, to transfer, exalt into the sphere or region of the chariots”—a meaning which is at all events more obvious than the rendering “to set me on the chariots” (Syr., Del., etc.); or than the explanation of Velth., Gesen., Ew., Böttch., Hitz., Ren., etc.: “made me happen among the chariots” (viz., of the royal retinue); or than the strange rendering of the Vulg., which probably presupposes the reading שַׁמַּתְנִי instead of שָׂמַתְנִי “conturbavit me propter quadrigas,” etc.; or finally than construing מַרְכְּבוֹת as a second object, either in the sense of “making me or converting me into chariots,” i.e., “a princess” (Umbr.) or “a defence” (Hengstenb.); or “making like chariots, i.e., as swift as chariots” (Rosenm., Magn., Döpke). Since no one of these constructions appears to be better established in point of language than ours, while this latter undoubtedly yields a less forced and more attractive thought, we might with all confidence declare it to be the only one that was admissible, if it were not that the difficult limiting genitive עַמִּי נָדִיב “of my people, the noble,” involves the real meaning of מַרְכְּבוֹת and consequently of the entire passage in an obscurity that can scarcely be cleared up. The translation “chariots of my people, the noble,” or “chariots of my noble people,” is on the whole the most satisfactory (the absence of the article before the adjective is of no consequence, comp. Gen_43:14; Psa_143:10 [Green’s Heb. Gram., § 249, 1, b]). The resulting sense cannot then be materially different from that of נְדִיבֵי עַם “nobles of the people” Psa_113:8 or נְ״ הָעָםNum_21:18 (comp. נְ״ ·עַמִּים Ps. 47:10) and will accordingly refer to the noble countrymen of Shulamith, to the proceres seu optimates gentis suæ; for the explanation “warchariots of the people of the prince” (Weissb.) certainly has as much against it as the opinion that עַמִּי נָדִיב is one noun, either equivalent to “prince of the realm” (Vaih.) or = the well-known proper name Amminadab (Exo_6:23; Num_1:7; Rth_4:19; 1Ch_2:10; 1Ch_6:7, etc.). This last expedient, manifestly the most confusing of all, was already tried by the Sept., Symmach., Vulg., Luther (who has Amminadib instead of Amminadab), and after them by most of the older interpreters, especially the allegorizers, with whom it was, so to speak, a fixed dogma that Amminadab means the devil! But even if we shun such devious ways, the sense of the expression “transferred to the chariots of my noble people” remains obscure and ambiguous enough, and we can either assume that the “noble people” or “noble folk” “Edelvolk” (Ew.) was intended to denote the noble extraction of Israel, or the courtiers of Solomon, or the whole people as represented in the person of its prince (so substantially Del., comp. Vaih.). In all which, however, it still remains a question why the poet did not make Shulamith speak in so many terms of her elevation to the chariot or to the throne of her prince.—To complete as far as possible our enumeration of all that interpreters have made out of the crux before us, Weissbach’s view of this verse may here be stated in conclusion. According to it “the words of Son_6:12 in the mouth of the person, who had proposed the question Son_6:10 (viz., a courtier, who had gazed with astonishment upon Shulamith in the garden) mean: I asked the question because I did not know that this brilliant and majestic spectacle was you; I had rather supposed that I saw the prince’s army chariots before me!”—Hahn, too, thinks that the speaker of these words is not Shulamith but Solomon, who thus relates how, when filled with longing desire for a reunion with Japhetic gentilism, his soul suddenly and insensibly set him “on the chariots of his people as a prince.”8
See Son_8:1 for DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.
Footnotes:
[1][This is certainly a most extraordinary comment upon language which manifestly expresses nothing but the most entire confidence in Solomon’s unabated attachment to herself while it reaffirms her own undivided attachment to him. The inconstancy of the bridegroom, which Zöckler’s preconceived scheme obliges him to assume, is contradicted in express terms by this verse, converts Son_6:2 into an unmeaning evasion instead of the frank statement, whether literal or figurative, which it plainly is, and imputes a meaning to Son_6:1 which the words certainly do not contain, and which no one who was not pressed by the exigencies of a theory would ever imagine that he found there. If the unsuccessful search for her lover, which Shulamith reports, Son_5:6-7, was only a troubled dream, it can create no surprise that in her waking moments she knows and is able to state in the general whither her beloved had gone, even if she were not certain in what particular spot in his extensive gardens he was then to be found. The allegorical sense commonly put upon these verses will appear sufficiently from the following citations: “Jerusalem being on an hill, they went down to the gardens; so Christ comes down from heaven spiritually into the congregation.” Westminster Annotations. “The garden which had been described in Son_4:12 to Son_5:1. The ‘garden’ refers to the Christian body in its unity, the ‘gardens’ denote its manifoldness; in the New Testament we read, as Theodoret remarks, alike of the Church and of the churches. Under the dispensation of the gospel, no less than under that of the older covenant, Christ nurtures His people in the purity of holiness. But He now not only feeds His flock among lilies, but also gathers lilies; gathers with joy and acceptance from His people those fruits of holiness which through the grace of His Spirit they are continually bringing forth.” Thrupp.—Tr.]
[2][This can scarcely be characterized in any other way than as carrying a theory through regardless of difficulties which the plain words of the text may interpose. The expression “terrible as armies with banners” cannot mean one thing here and a different thing in Son_6:10. As Good correctly remarks: “The artillery of the eyes is an idea common to poets of every nation.” Comp. Anacreon, Od. ii., xvi.; Musæus, Hero et Leander. —Tr.]
[3]At least according to the Masoretic text; though the Septuag. insert the words Son_4:3 a (Ὡζ σπαρτἰον κὀκκινον χεἰλη σον καἰ, ἠ λαλιἀ σον ὡραἰα) here too in their proper place (between Son_6:6-7). [But gratuitous insertions from parallel passages are too frequent in the Septuagint to warrant the suspicion of an omission from the currently received text].
[4][Westminster Annotations: “It seems that Solomon writ this book of Canticles before he had his full number of wives; for he had many more after.” Patrick (followed by Williams, Scott and Henry) supposes allusion not to Solomon’s own wives, but to those of other princes, for the reason that “it is not at all likely that he had so many as are there mentioned, while his mind was filled with such divine raptures as these.” Fry fancies that he finds here an argument for the idyllic hypothesis: “The passage before us contains a tacit intimation that though King Solomon’s name and King Solomon’s pen were made use of by the divine Inspirer of these Canticles to construct an allegory representative of the loves of Christ and His Church, very different loves from those of Solomon must be imagined as the archetype, even when in the exterior of the allegory, circumstances of royalty and circumstances connected with the Israelitish monarch are supposed. And it is for the same reason that though King Solomon is the undoubted author of these songs, he so frequently disrobes himself of his royal character, and speaks in the person of a shepherd, or leads us to contemplate some faithful pair in the humbler ranks of life”].
[5][Thrupp gives a different view from the allegorical standpoint: “As regards the sixty and the eighty, we have of course in each case a definite number for an indefinite. The choice of the particular numbers seems to have been mainly dictated by a studied avoidance of the number seventy, to which a certain sacredness and completeness would have attached. It is no harmonious covenant-relationship, in which the queens and concubines stand to Christ: all is with them imperfect and wide of the mark. A directly opposite view is erroneously taken by Hengstenberg.” Wordsworth exhibits the Archdeacon of Westminster in his comment: “The concubines are more numerous than the queens. May not this perhaps signify that the number of the members of sectarian congregations would be greater than that of the Church?” He had before remarked upon the fourscore concubines: “A state of things is here represented when schisms prevail in Christendom. The concubines represent Christian congregations which have some spiritual gifts and graces, but are not perfectly joined to Christ in the unity of the one faith and apostolic fellowship”].
[6] Here too belong the verses from Theocritus, Id. xvii. 26 ff.
“ Ἀὡζ ἀντέλλοισα καλὀν διέφαινε πρὀσωπον,
ΙΙότνια νὺξ ἅτε, λενκὸν ἔαρ χέιτῶνοζ ἀνέντος,
Ὤδε καὶ ἁ χρνσέα) Ἑλένα διεφαίνετ̓ έν ἁμῖν.”
[7][Doway note: “Here is a beautiful metaphor describing the church from the beginning. ‘As the morning rising,’ signifying the church before the written law; ‘fair as the moon,’ showing her under the written law of Moses; ‘bright as the sun,’ under the light of the gospel; and ‘terrible as an army,’ the power of Christ’s church against its enemies.”]
[8][The simplest and most natural explanation of these words finds in them, as it is expressed by Wordsworth: “the cheerful alacrity and fervent affection of the bride flying on the wings of love” to the bridegroom. Moody Stuart: “In a moment her soul is carried away directly, irresistibly, rapidly toward her bridegroom and her king.” Withington thus paraphrases: “I went into the garden; I walked among its shades; I surveyed its beauties; I remembered the owner, and my soul melted with rapture and love.” Patrick makes a somewhat different application: “The meaning of this verse seems to be that the spouse hearing such high commendations of herself, both from the bridegroom and from the persons mentioned, Son_6:10, with great humility saith, that she was not conscious to herself of such perfections (I did not know it, or I did not think so), but is excited thereby to make the greatest speed to endeavor to preserve this character he had given her.” Percy and Good understand it of the bride’s hesitation and irresolution after she had promised to meet her beloved in the garden. The latter states its meaning thus: “I was not aware of the timidity of my mind, which hurried me away from my engagement, when in the very act of adhering to it, with the rapidity of the chariot of Amminadib.” Thrupp on the basis of 2Ki_2:12; 2Ki_13:14 : “The church had unconsciously and unexpectedly become the source and channel of victorious might to all the willing people of God. ‘My soul,’ she says, ‘had made me.’ It is the unshrinking and devoted zeal with which the church prosecutes the task set before her that makes her the rallying point for all who would join in the service of her Lord.” Others attribute this language to the bridegroom. Thus Taylor and Williams: “The affections of the prince carried him to meet his love with the rapidity of a chariot.” Burrowes, as Scott and Henry, finds in Son_6:11-13 a statement of the feelings of the bridegroom during his temporary withdrawal. When he left his spouse, Son_5:6, it was “only to withdraw to his favorite place of resort in the garden;” where “almost unconsciously, ere he was aware, his soul was filled with the desire of meeting her again, a desire so strong that it would have carried him to her arms with the swiftness of the chariot of Amminadib.” It is characteristic of Gill’s exposition that in commenting on Son_6:11 he proposes the question, Why are believers like nuts? and answers it under ten heads.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 1. Whither… gone — By a very skilful and…
1. Whither… gone — By a very skilful and gentle turn of the action. the reader is prepared for a very different scene. The Chorus, as being in the secret knowledge of the King’s desires, remind the Enamoured that her Beloved, charming as he may be in her eyes, has suddenly gone and left her, as intimating that his love for her cannot be very ardent, and that she may as well not be wholly inaccessible to the approaches of one who has much to recommend him. This sentiment is half concealed and half revealed in this first verse.
That we may seek — Supply, Tell us, in order that we may, etc.
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 Ch. Son_6:1. These words are parallel to ch. Son_5:9.…
Ch. Son_6:1. These words are parallel to ch. Son_5:9. In Son_6:8 the Shulammite had adjured the daughters of Jerusalem, if they found her beloved, to tell him she was sick for love. They ask what is there special about her beloved that they should do so. She answers by describing him. Moved by this, the daughters of Jerusalem are eager to seek him, and now ask whither he is gone.
Whither is thy beloved turned aside?] R.V. Whither hath thy beloved turned him?
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 (1-3) Whither is thy beloved gone . . .…
VI.
(1-3) Whither is thy beloved gone . . . By a playful turn the poet heightens the description of the lover’s beauty by the impression supposed to be produced on the imaginary bystanders to whom the picture has been exhibited. They express a desire to share the pleasures of his company with the heroine, but she, under the figure before employed (Son_4:12-16), declares that his affections are solely hers, and that, so far from being at their disposal, he is even now hastening to complete his and her happiness in their union. Difficulties crowd on the dramatic theory at this passage. Most of its advocates have recourse to some arbitrary insertion, such as, “here the lovers are re-united,” but they do not tell us how the distance from the harem at Jerusalem to the garden in the north was traversed, or the obstacles to the union surmounted. In the imagination of the poet all was easy and natural.
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 Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among…
Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? Whither hath thy beloved turned him, that we may seek him with thee? The dialogue still continues, possibly because, as Delitzsch suggests, the effect of the dream which Shulamith narrates is not passed away in the morning. Under the influence of it she goes forth and meets the daughters of Jerusalem, who offer their assistance. But there is no necessity for this. The poetry merely demands that the idea of the dream should be still kept before the mind of the reader. The scene is still in the palace. The ladies playfully carry on the bride"s cue, and help her to pour out her feelings. The bridegroom, they know, is near at hand, and is coming to delight himself in his bride; but the bride has not yet drawn him back completely to her side. This is evident from the fact that there is no distress in the language of the bride. She is not complaining and crying out in agony under a sense of desertion; she is waiting for the return of her beloved, and so she calmly sings of his love and his perfect truthfulness, even though absent from her. He is where his perfect beauty and fragrance might well be.
Vers. 1-3. Dialogue between the bride and the daughters of Jerusalem.
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I THE QUESTION OF THE MAIDENS. The dream is past. The bridegroom is absent for a time, but the bride is not anxious; she knows where he is, and that he will soon return. Perhaps it was such a short absence which filled her thoughts before, and was the occasion of those narratives which are so dream-like, which recall so vividly reminiscences of dreams such as most men have probably experienced. The chorus again address the bride as "fairest among women." They recognize her beauty and graces. They do not see the bridegroom with her; they ask, "Whither is he gone?" They offer to seek him with her. So we sometimes ask others who have more Christian graces, more love of Christ, than we have, where we may find the Lord. We want to seek Christ with them; we ask for their prayers; we will join our prayers with theirs.
II THE ANSWER.
1. The bride knows where her beloved may be found. She has no doubts now, no anxieties, as she had in her dream. She answers without hesitation, "My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed his flock in the gardens, and to gather lilies." She invests her beloved with the ideal character of a shepherd, as she had done before. (Son_7:1-7) We see that the words are not to be taken literally; he is no shepherd in the ordinary sense. He is said, indeed, to be feeding (his flock), but not in ordinary pastures. He is gone to his garden, a garden of costly spices; and he is gone to gather lilies, apparently for his bride. The bride never dwells on the wealth and magnificence of her royal lover as the chorus do. Such thoughts, perhaps, were to her oppressive rather than attractive; she loves to think of him as a shepherd, as one in her own condition in life. The grandeur of the king was dazzling to the country maiden. So the Christian loves to think of the Lord Jesus as the good Shepherd. We know, indeed, that the kingdoms of this world are his; that he is King of kings and Lord of lords; that he is the Word who in the beginning was with God, and himself was God; that all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. We know that he will come again in majesty and great glory to judge the quick and the dead. But when our souls are dazzled by the contemplation of his glory; when we shrink, as sinful men must shrink, from the thought of the great white throne and him that sitteth on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven flee away; it (Rev_20:11) is a relief then to our weakness to remember that the great King humbled himself to our low estate, that he was made as one of us, that he shared all our human infirmities, sin only excepted; that he who is the Life of the world humbled himself for us unto death, even the death of the cross. And of all the titles by which he has been pleased to make himself known to his people, there is none so full of comfort as that of the Shepherd, the good Shepherd, who calls his sheep by name, who guides them and feeds them, who knows his own and his own know him, who once laid down his life for the sheep. Now he feeds them in his garden, the garden enclosed, (Son_7:1-12) which is the Church, among the beds of spices, which are the fruit of the Spirit. There he gathers the lilies one by one, the souls of his redeemed, the souls which he has tended and cared for, and glorified with a beauty of holiness which is a faint reflection of his own heavenly beauty. Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of those precious lilies. He gathers them one by one when they have grown into that spiritual beauty for which he planted them at the first, and carries them into a better garden, the true Eden, the Paradise of God, there to blossom into purer and holier beauty.
2. She is wholly his. "I am my beloved"s, and my beloved is mine: he that feedeth his flock among the lilies." She repeats the happy assurance of Son_2:16, only she inverts the order of the clauses, and adds the description. "He is feeding his flock among the lilies: but I am his, and he is mine." There is no jealousy, no doubt now, as there seemed to be when she dreamed of his absence. The shepherd is her shepherd, the lilies are for her, she is his. She thinks first now of her gift to the bridegroom. In Son_2:10 she put his gift first. He had given his heart to her in the first happy days of their young love; and that gift had won from her the responsive gift of her affection. She knew now that her heart was wholly his; she delights in owning it. And she was sure of his affection. His heart was wholly hers. "We love him, because he first loved us". (1Jn_4:19) It is the love of Christ manifested in his blessed life and precious death, revealed into the believer"s heart by the power of the Holy Spirit, it is that constraining love which draws forth from our cold and selfish natures that measure of love, real and true, though unworthy and intermittent, with which the Christian man regards the Lord. At first we are more sure of his love than of ours. He loved us, that is certain; the cross is the convincing proof. But we are not sure, alas! that we are returning his love. We have learned from long and sad experience to doubt these selfish hearts of ours; we are afraid that there is no real love in them, but only excited feeling, only transitory emotion. But if by his grace we persevere in the life of prayer and faith, little by little his love given to us, manifested in our souls, draws forth the response of earnest love from us; little by little we begin to hope (oh, how earnestly!) that we may be able at last to say with St. Peter, "Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee." But to say that, with the knowledge that his eye is on us, that he is reading our heart, involves much awe, much heart searching, as well as much hope, much peace. We can only pray that "the God of hope may fill us with all joy and peace in believing, that we may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost". (Rom_15:13) And if that love, though weak, as, alas! it must be, is yet real, we may make the bride"s words our own: "I am my Beloved"s; I belong to him. My heart is his; I am giving it to him; and he, blessed be his holy Name, is helping me to give it by first giving himself to me. I am my Beloved"s, and my Beloved is mine." Therefore the Christian soul may say, "I hope one day to see him face to face, and to be with him where he feedeth his flock among the lilies of Paradise.
HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY Vers. 1-3. Earnest inquirers after Christ.
The conversation still goes on between her who has lost her beloved and the daughters of Jerusalem. She has just poured out her heart to them in the description of him whom her soul so loved, and these verses give their response. We learn
I THAT THERE IS A SPIRITUAL LOVELINESS IN THE SOUL THAT EARNESTLY SEEKS CHRIST. (Cf. ver. 1, "O thou fairest among women.") It is not merely that Christ sees this loveliness, we know he does; but others see it likewise. It is not the beloved who speaks here, but the daughters of Jerusalem. (Cf. 2Co_7:10, 2Co_7:11, where are set forth some of those graces of character and conduct which are found in the seeking soul.) And that humility, tenderness of conscience, zeal, devoutness, holy desire, and gentleness of spirit which accompany such seeking of Christ how beautiful these things are! And, like all real beauty, there is no self-consciousness in it, but rather such soul mourns that it is so little like what Christ would have it be.
II IT WILL WIN SYMPATHY AND HELP, WHICH ONCE IT DID NOT POSSESS. At the beginning of this song it is plain that the maiden who speaks did not have the sympathy but rather the contempt, of the daughters of Jerusalem. (cf. Son_1:5, Son_1:8) But now all that is altered. They are won to her love. Great love to Christ will blessedly infect those about us. We can hardly live with such without coming under the power of its sweet and sacred contagion. Cf. Jethro, "We will go with you, for we see that the Lord hath blessed you." See, at the Crucifixion, how Joseph of Arimathaea, Nicodemus, the centurion, and others ceased from their cold neutrality or open opposition, and showed that they felt the power of Christ"s love.
III IT WILL BECOME THE WISE INSTRUCTOR OF OTHERS. This inquiry of ver. 1 had its fulfilment when Christ lay in the tomb. Those who sought him mourned, but found him not. Cf. Christ"s words concerning his absence, "Ye shall have sorrow, but your sorrow shall be. turned into joy. Mar_2:20. And the reply of ver. 2 had part fulfilment at that same period. Cf. "This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise". (Luk_23:43) Yes, the Beloved had gone down into his garden (ver. 2). But we may also understand by the garden his Church. (cf. on Son_4:6) Arid thus the soul we are contemplating instructs others. She tells them:
1. Where Christ is to be found. In his garden, the place he has chosen, separated, cultivated, beautified, and whither he loves to resort. And:
2. What he delights in there. The spices the fragrant graces of regenerated souls, the frankincense of their worship and prayers. The fruits on which he feeds the holy lives, the manifestation of his people"s faith and love. The lilies the pure, meek, and lowly souls that spring and grow there.
3. What he does there. He "feeds" there. "He shall see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. " As his "meat and drink" when here on earth was "to do the will of" the Father, now his sustenance is those fruits of the Spirit which abound in his true Church. And he "gathers lilies." "He shall gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom". (Isa 40) Whenever a pure and holy soul, like those of children and of saints, is transplanted from the earthly garden to the heavenly, that is the gathering of the lilies. "O death, where is thy sting?" Thus doth the soul that loves Christ instruct others.
IV GAINS THE OBJECT OF ITS SEARCH. (Ver. 3) "I am my Beloved"s... mine." It is the declaration of holy rapture in the consciousness of Christ"s love. They that seek him shall find him. There may be, there are, seasons when we fear we have lost him, but they shall surely be succeeded by such blessed seasons when the soul shall sing in her joy, "My Beloved is mine," etc. (ver. 3). S.C.
HOMILIES BY J.D. DAVIES Vers. 1-3. Successful quest after the chief good.
The inquirer has taken a step in advance. Awhile he asked, "What is there in Jesus that makes him so attractive?" To this question the loving disciple had responded. He had answered the question fully. He had given a full description of the sinner"s Friend. He had testified to the worth and excellence of the heavenly King. And now the inquirer asks further, "Where may I find this gracious Friend? My heart craves the good which this Friend alone can bestow. I fain would have him too. Tell me where I may find him.
I HERE IS SUGGESTED A DILIGENT SEARCH FOR JESUS.
1. Spiritual life and joy in one attract others. Genuine piety acts like a magnetic charm. A well kept garden, stocked with fragrant flowers, has strong attractions for a thousand men, and the fragrant graces of true piety have a like fascination. If "a thing of beauty is a joy forever," the life of a true Christian, being of all things the most beautiful, is an abiding joy. There is nothing so capable of manifesting beauty as character. If all Christians were as gracious and loving as they might be, what a benign effect would this have on the ungodly! This is Christ"s method for propagating his gospel. "I am glorified in them." By which he meant to say, "All the charm of my character and all the fruit of my redemption shall be seen in the lives of my disciples." This will win the world"s attention.
2. Christian Churches are the objects of the worlds respect. This is not true of every community that styles itself a Church. But every true Church commands the respect and homage of mankind. And as a Church is simply an assemblage of individuals, a genuine Christian has a similar influence over men. The bride of Christ is here addressed as "the fairest among women." Purity and magnanimity of character command universal respect. Prejudiced men may malign and slander consistent Christians; they may envy their high attainments; yet in their heart of hearts they do them homage. They crave a good man"s benediction.
3. Active search is needful if we would find Christ. It is quite true that Jesus seeks the sinner. He came to "seek the lost." This first desire to have the friendship of the Beloved has been awakened in the heart by the good Spirit of Christ. Nevertheless, there is a part we must perform, or we shall not gain success. We must strive to enter into the kingdom, or the portals will not open. The salvation of the soul is not to be attained by indolent passivity. There must be search, exertion, intense effort. We must break away from old companions. We must forego former indulgences. We must gain knowledge of Christ. We must search the Scriptures. We must be much in prayer. We must watch the stratagems of the tempter. We must seek if we would find.
4. To find Christ it is best to have an experienced guide. "That we may seek him with thee." The man who has found Christ, and knows well all the favourite haunts of Christ, is the best guide for others. No qualification in a guide is so good as personal experience. Nothing can take its place. No titles, no diplomas, no amount of intellectual learning, will take the place of experience. The pilot who has navigated a hundred ships through the rocky straits, though he may not be able to read a word in any language, is the best guide to bring us safely into port. It is a foolish act to refuse the practical counsels of faithful Christians. A learned man once accounted for his eminent acquisitions by the fact that he had never hesitated to ask questions respecting the unknown. To find Christ is eternal life, therefore let us use every wise measure in order to gain so great a boon.
II VALUABLE COUNSEL. "My beloved is gone down into his garden.
1. Here is confident assurance upon the matter. On the part of a real Christian there is no doubt where Christ can be found. His knowledge is clear, for it is well founded. As surely as men know in what part of the heavens the sun will rise or will set, so the friend of Jesus knows where he can be found. So he speaks in no doubtful tones. There is no peradventure. "My Beloved is gone down into his garden." There he had always found the Saviour, when devoutly he had sought him. For "his delights are with the children of men." And his gracious promise to "his Church has never been broken, "Where two or three are gathered together in my Name, there am I in the midst of them.
2. In the society of living and fruitful saints Jesus will be found. He has gone "to the beds of spices." However imperfect and insipid our graces seem to ourselves, Jesus finds in them a sweet savour. The organ through which Jesus discovers these and enjoys their fragrance and sweetness, is far more highly developed in him than in us. To his sensitive nature there is a fine aroma in our lowliness and patience, in our love and praise, which we had not suspected. Nor do the sweetest songs of angels attract him so much as the first lispings of a penitent"s prayer. The nearer we get to Jesus the richer joy do we attain. There is a rare delicacy in the gladness, easier felt than described. So in our fresh passionate love, and in our simple zeal, and in our childlike trust, Jesus finds profoundest satisfaction. In the midst of such virgin souls he delights to dwell. These hold him, and will not let him go. What spice beds are to every lover of innocent pleasure, the piety of true saints is to Jesus. Near such he may at any time be found. If any man longs to find the Saviour, he will find him in the vicinity of genuine believers. He is gone to the "beds of spices," perchance to some bedside, where deep-rooted love is blossoming and bearing fruit.
3. Purity of Inert wins Christs presence. He is gone "to gather lilies." Using Oriental language to convey heavenly truth, he is described as a Shepherd who feeds his flock "among the lilies," In the former chapter we read, "His lips are like lilies." To express his fondness for purity, he portrays his bride as "a lily among thorns," In the use of all such language he utters his strong affection for that which is pure in moral character. If he stoops in his pity to save a polluted sinner, he at the same time makes it clear that he loathes and abhors sin. His companions shall be spiritual virgins. Until a man is newborn he cannot see the kingdom of heaven, much less can he see the King. Purity of life may not yet be reached, but if in the central heart the purpose and firm resolve be for purity, then Jesus will soon be found. "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
III FAITHFUL TESTIMONY. "I am my beloved"s, and my beloved is mine.
1. Religion is essentially a matter of the heart. This title of endearment, "My Beloved," implies that he has won the affections of the heart. True piety is not simply a matter of conviction. It is not merely a doctrine or a creed. It is not a set of forms and ceremonies. It is an affair of the heart. It moves and holds the whole man. Feeling, desire, choice, strong affection, enter into the warp and woof of true religion. I may be very incompetent to set forth Christ"s claims to the homage of mankind. But one thing I know Jesus is supreme in my heart. None is so worthy of the central shrine as he. I have given myself to him, as the only possible return for his love.
2. This testimony is the outcome of vigorous faith. The bride of Christ had used this language before, but now she reverses the order. The order of events is not always the order of our experience. There are times when the Christian loses the assurance that he is loved by Christ. The sunshine of the Master"s smile is hidden. Yet even then the language of faith is, "Come what may, I give myself afresh to him. Whether he count me worthy of a place in his regards or not, he is worthy of a place in mine. I am his. Therefore faith says (though I do not realize it now), "My Beloved is mine.
3. This renewed testimony is required by new circumstance. The daughters of Jerusalem were inquiring where this Friend of sinners might be found. The bride of Christ undertakes to guide into his presence. Then she wishes to make it plain upon what terms Jesus will reveal himself to seekers. So she means to say, "I gave my whole self to him. I opened to him my heart, and made him Monarch there. Do you likewise, and you shall find the Saviour too." Jesus Christ craves the human heart. "Lovest thou me?" is his inquiry still. Even the city harlot, sick of sin, and opening her heart to Jesus, found in him sympathy and pardon and a new life. "She loved much, therefore her sins are forgiven her. D.
HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON Vers. 1-3. True love is true knowledge.
Knowledge of phenomena and of physical laws is scientific, and is of the intellect. It is not so with knowledge of persons, which is largely intuitive, and depends upon the qualities of the heart. It is sometimes seen that a character, misunderstood by the learned and clever, is apprehended by a very child. A man who is not loved is not truly known; but as love grows warmer, it may well be that knowledge grows clearer. It is certainly so with our experimental acquaintance with our Saviour and Lord.
I CHRIST IS NOT REALLY KNOWN BY THOSE WHO STUDY HIM AT A DISTANCE. How is it that the Lord Jesus is so utterly misunderstood by many able and distinguished. men? that some such class him with impostors or with fanatics? that others are evidently at a loss to explain the hold he has over the heart of humanity? How many distressing representations of the Saviour"s character, sayings, and ministry are to be met with in the writings of even learned and thoughtful men! The explanation is to be found in a law which governs all our knowledge of persons as distinct from our knowledge of phenomena. These latter we may study from without, as cool spectators. But no great man is to be comprehended if studied in such a spirit; far less any man of remarkable moral character and influence. He who will not sympathize with such a person must be content to be ignorant of him; for he is only to be known upon a nearer view, a closer acquaintance, and by means of a profound and tender association with him of feeling and of confidence.
II CHRIST IS, HOWEVER, KNOWN BY THOSE WHO LOVE HIM, AND ABE UPON TERMS OF INTIMATE FRIENDSHIP WITH HIM. The peasant woman who is, in this Song of Songs, pictured as the beloved of the king, cherished for her husband the warmest affection; he was everything to her ever in her memory when absent, and ever in her heart. Hence she knew him better than others; and those who wished to know of his character and his movements did well to inquire of her. In this simple fact we discern the operation of an interesting and valuable moral principle. To whom shall we go for an appreciative estimate of the character and the work of Immanuel? We shall go in vain to those among the learned and the critical who care not for Christ save as for an object of speculative, psychological, or historical inquiry. We shall fare better if we appeal to the lowly and the unlearned, if only they are persons who feel their personal indebtedness to Christ, who have "tasted that the Lord is gracious," who have learned by their own personal experience what he can do for those who put their trust in him. It is those who, like Mary, can exclaim, "My Master;" who, like Thomas, can address him as My Lord and my God;" who, like Peter, can appeal to him, saying, "Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee; it is such that can tell of the mystery of the Saviour"s love, and the gracious wisdom of the Savior"s ways.
APPLICATION. These considerations are a rebuke to those who despise the experience and undervalue the testimony of lowly and unlettered disciples of Jesus Christ. And they point out to all who desire intimate knowledge of Christ, that the true method for them to adopt to that end is to yield to him their heart"s warmest affection and unreserved, ungrudging confidence. By the way of love we may come to enjoy clear knowledge, and to give effectual witness. 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 Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Chapter 6. Son_6:1
SECOND INQUIRY BY THE
DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM
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Chapter 6. Son_6:1
Whither is thy beloved gone,
O thou fairest among women?
Whither is thy beloved turned aside?
That we may seek him with thee
Result of Shulamite’s description of her beloved on the women of the city. Their sympathy excited, and a desire awakened partly to aid her in her search, and partly to see so beautiful and excellent a person for themselves. Shulamite supposed to know something of her beloved’s haunts. Observe—
1. The faithful and loving tetimony for Christ not always unsuccessful. Often made the means of awakening in others the desire to seek Him and become acquainted with Him. ‘Encouragement to be ready to commend a precious Christ.’ Good for preachers and ministers to dwell on the beauty, excellence, and preciousness of the Saviour.
2. Earnest and loving seekers of a known Christ likely instruments in awakening the interest of others in regard to Him. A holy zeal for Christ the natural means of provoking many (2Co_9:2). Preachers, to be of use in winning others to Christ, must be in earnest about Him themselves, and be able to commend Him both as the Friend of sinners and their own.
3. One end of Christ’s dealings with His people, that they may be the means of leading others to the knowledge and possession of Him. The troubles and afflictions of believers, spiritual as well as physical, often designed for the good of others as well as their own.
4. Every exhibition of Christ’s preciousness and excellence to excite the desire to become personally acquainted with Him, and possess Him for ourselves. Description not to satisfy. ‘Come and see.’ Testimony to issue in personal knowledge. ‘Now we believe, not because of thy saying; for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world’ (Joh_4:42).
5. Earnest seekers of Christ, bearing faithful testimony of Him to others, not likely to be alone in seeking Him. ‘With Thee.’ Thorough earnestness sympathetic. Hence Zec_8:20-21. Apparent in extensive revivals of religion. The nature of enthusiasm, like fire, to extend itself. One heart kindled by the warmth of another.
6. Christ most likely to be found when sought in connection with the Bride—His living people. Good to seek Him alone; still better to seek Him with others who are able to help us.
7. ‘With Thee,’ an indication of the mystical and spiritual nature of the Song; otherwise an unacceptable compliment to the Bride.—Henry. Christ’s true lovers and possessors, desire to see their number multiplied as much as possible. Joy in the possession of Christ by one, not diminished but increased, by the possession of Him by another. The Spouse of Christ one body, consisting of a multitude of individuals.
8. Earnestness required in seeking Christ. The earnestness of the ‘daughters’ seen in their repeated inquiry: ‘Whither is thy beloved gone?’ &c.
9. Knowledge of Christ and His ways to be sought with a view to seeking and professing Him. The inquiry of the women made with a practical object: ‘That we may seek Him with thee.’ An unpractical and uninfluential knowledge of Christ of little value. A knowledge of Christ merely ‘after the flesh’ to be renounced (2Co_5:16).
10. Believers expected to know where Christ is to be found, and to be better acquainted with His ways than other people, to as to be able to guide them in their search after Him.
11. In regard to believers, Christ’s absence only a temporary ‘turning aside,’ not a final departure. ‘In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment’ (Isa_54:7-8). The covenant made with believers an everlasting covenant. ‘I will betroth thee unto me for ever’ (Hos_2:19). ‘The Lord will not cast off His people’ (Psa_94:14; 1Sa_12:22).
12. A soul never fairer than when earnestly seeking Christ. The earnestly seeking spouse addressed four times as the ‘fairest among women.’
The inquiring ‘daughters of Jerusalem! represented historically by the Greeks at the Feast, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, the women that followed Christ to the cross and observed the place of His interment, and by the inquirers on and after Pentecost—‘devout men dwelling at Jerusalem, out of every nation under heaven’ (Act_2:5; Act_2:14).
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.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain I. The Church is a garden in a valley.…
Son 6:11
I. The Church is a garden in a valley. This sets forth (1) the nature of her distinction; (2) the sufficiency of the protection which she enjoys; (3) the abundance of her supplies; (4) the lowliness of her condition.
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II. We have in this text Christ in the valley with His Church. He is with her (1) in the valley of temptation; (2) in the valley of tribulation; (3) in the valley of death.
III. The text shows us Christ in His Church, looking for evidences. He comes to see (1) the characteristics of true piety; (2) the diversity of true gifts; (3) the different developments of true life.
W. H. Burton, Penny Pulpit No. 741
References: Son 6:11.—J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Song of Songs, p. 275; S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. ii., p. 51. Son 6:12.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xx., No. 1155. Son 6:13.—Ibid., vol. x., No. 593, and vol. xxx., No. 1794; S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. ii., p. 256.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain we may seek him
we may seek him
So soon as the bride witnesses to the Bridegroom’s own personal loveliness, a desire is awakened in the daughters of Jerusalem to seek Him.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain The description of Her Beloved was addressed to the…
CHAPTER 6
The description of Her Beloved was addressed to the daughters of Jerusalem. Their answer is recorded in the beginning of this chapter. Her outburst of praise, her glowing testimony of Him, created the desire in the hearts of others to become His. “Whither is thy Beloved gone? ... We will seek Him with thee.” The bride answers and then in words of precious assurance she declares, “I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine.”
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Then the Bridegroom speaks in loving praise of her. He speaks of that which she is for Him. He owns that remnant as “the only one” of her mother (the nation Israel). Nor is she alone His dove, but she is fair as the moon and clear as the sun; glory covers her and she is like an army with banners displayed.
He went down into the garden, to look at the verdure of the valley, to see if His vine budded, and suddenly, before He is aware, His love makes Him like Ammi-nadib, which means “the chariots of my willing people” Psa 110:3. He leads them forth in triumph and in glory.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Confession of the Church Rewarded.
The Confession of the Church Rewarded.
The Further Confession and Christ’s Answer.
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The bride having answered the first question of the "daughters of Jerusalem" for a description of her soul’s Bridegroom, they now ask about her relation to this marvelous King.
v. 1. Whither is thy Beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? Surely if He is such a paragon of excellence, the place of the bride is always at His side! Whither is thy Beloved turned aside, as though spurning her love, that we may seek Him with thee? For even outsiders are sometimes impressed with the message of the Church. The bride answers, accordingly,
v. 2. My Beloved is gone down into His garden, to which she invited Him, but from which she foolishly absented herself, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens and to gather lilies. But she immediately adds, in a burst of joyful confidence, which knows that the present estrangement cannot last:
v. 3. I am my Beloved’s, and my Beloved is mine; He feedeth among the lilies. This confession of love and of trustful confidence is immediately rewarded by the King when He says:
v. 4. Thou art beautiful, O My love, with a surpassing fairness, as Tirzah, the beautiful city of the northern kingdom which Jeroboam chose for his residence, 1 Kings 14, 17, comely as Jerusalem, the capital city praised above all other cities of the world, terrible as an army with banners, a victorious host, carrying everything before it.
v. 5. Turn away thine eyes from Me, which were just then fixed upon Him with a look of the deepest longing, for they have overcome Me, exciting and inspiring a feeling of the same intense love in His heart; thy hair Is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead, 4:1.
v. 6. Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, whereof every one beareth twins, and there is not one barren among them.
v. 7. As a piece of a pomegranate are thy temples within thy locks. Cf 4:2-3.
v. 8. There are threescore queens and fourscore concubines and virgins without number, these idealized figures being introduced here only for the sake of comparison, to bring out all the more strongly the uniqueness of the bride’s position.
v. 9. My dove, My undefiled is but one, perfect in her relation to Him; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her, the only one of her kind. The daughters saw her and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.
Events move rapidly in this paragraph. The Church had indeed for a time been deprived of the merciful presence of her Lord, He had withheld His gracious visitation from her. But she was sure of His return, for she was still united with Him in faith; she could not lose the Bridegroom of her soul. This confession of faith causes the Lord once more to sing the praises of His bride, whose beauty He compares to, and exalts above, the fairest cities of the land, and whose victorious march makes her unconquerable. He is filled with the most burning love for her and therefore lands her qualities in a wonderful burst of song. The former relation of the most intimate love between Christ and the Church has been restored after her repentance. He wants all people of the world to know that His Church, His Kingdom of Grace, ranks highest in His estimation, that for her sake He makes and deposes kings and emperors, so that even these outsiders must acknowledge her superiority and glory, Eph 1:21-23; 1Pe 2:9.
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 General Information:
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In what direction has your beloved gone
"Which way did your beloved go"
your beloved
This phrase refers to the man whom the woman loves. In some languages it may be more natural for the other women to refer to him as "your lover." See how you translated "my beloved" in Song of Songs 1:13. AT: "your dear one" or "your lover" or "the man you love"
most beautiful among women
"you who are the most beautiful of all women." See how you translated this in Song of Songs 1:8.
gone, so that we may seek him with you?
The words "tell us" are understood from the context. They can be stated clearly AT: "gone? Tell us, so that we can look for him with you." (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
beloved
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 6:1-3 The conversation that ends this poem indicates that…
6:1-3 The conversation that ends this poem indicates that it is not an actual event. The dream ends as the young women of Jerusalem ask the woman where her man has gone. The woman tells them not to concern themselves with finding him—he is back in bed with her, enjoying his garden with its spice beds and lilies, a description of sexual intimacy.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.