Verse 1

despised = reproached.

Verse 2

would lead thee = would fain lead thee thence [in triumph].

who would = thou wouldest, or she would.

spiced wine = the aromatic [wine]. Hebrew. rekah.

Verse 3

His left hand = [Let] his left hand [be].

Verse 4

I charge you = I have adjured you. In this last charge the addition is not "by the roes", &c. And we have mah instead of "im = Why incite, &c.

you. See note on Song of Solomon 2:7.

stir not up . . . awake. See note on Song of Solomon 2:7, and Compare Song of Solomon 3:5.

love. Hebrew. "ahabah (feminine) Used of love in the abstract. See notes on Song of Solomon 2:4, and Song of Solomon 3:5.

he = she.

Verse 5

Who is this? The companions of the shepherd are the speakers.

I raised thee up: i.e. I awakened [love] in thy heart: i.e. I won thy heart. See note on "love", Song of Solomon 2:7.

under the apple tree = under the orange tree. The place of the birth of their love. The orange-blossom is everywhere, now, the bridal flower.

there: thither came she that bare thee. Confinements in the open air are of frequent occurrence.

brought thee forth = to bring thee forth.

Verse 6

Set = Oh place.

seal = signet, regarded as good as a signature. Now that writing is more common it has become an ornament. It was worn round the neck (Genesis 38:18, Genesis 38:25), or worn on the right hand (Jeremiah 22:24). Compare also Haggai 2:2, Haggai 2:3.

cruel = inexorable, hard.

as the grave = as Sheol. See App-35.

the coals thereof = its flames.

which hath a most vehement flame. Hebrew "flames of Jah": shalhebeth-yah. Render this: For love is strong as death, The flames thereof are flames of fire, Jealously is inexorable as Sheol, The vehement flames of Jah.

flame. Same root as Genesis 3:24.

Verse 7

cannot quench: i.e. earthly things cannot destroy that which is divine.

a man. Hebrew. "ish. App-14.

Verse 8

We have. One of the brothers now speaks.

We have a little sister = Our sister is still young.

she hath no breasts. The idiom for not yet marriageable. This is what the brothers had once said in earlier days. The reference here is "not obscure" when we note who the speakers are, and when they said this.

spoken for. i.e. demanded [in marriage]. Compare 1 Samuel 13:9; 1 Samuel 25:39.

Verse 9

If she be a wall. Spoken by another brother: i.e. like a wall that keeps out all intruders.

palace = turret, or battlement.

a door: i.e. accessible to any one.

boards = planks, or panels.

Verse 10

I am a wall. The Shulamite thus replies: I stand firm against all the blandishments of Solomon. I am not a door admitting any one.

his eyes: i.e. her shepherd lover"s, or the brother"s who last spoke (not Solomon"s. Solomon is mentioned in the next verse).

Verse 11

Solomon. The Shulamite, in demanding her reward, gives her reasons.

Baal-hamon. Not yet identified.

keepers = husbandmen: i.e. tenants.

Verse 12

is before me = is my own.

thou. Apostrophising the absent Solomon whom she had left.

must have. Instead of these words supply "[mayst keep his] thousand".

those that keep, &c. = the keepers [may keep] their twohundreds.

Verse 13

Thou that dwellest = Oh thou that dwellest. Spoken by the shepherd.

dwellest in the gardens. No longer in "the city" of Song of Solomon 5:7, but now abidest permanently. Hebrew. yashab.

the companions = my companions (who were the speakers of Song of Solomon 8:5).

hearken = are listening.

me, &c.: or "me [and our companions] to hear".

Verse 14

Make haste, &c. The Shulamite lets him hear it; and, before all, announces and avows him as her beloved, bidding him always to hasten to her like a gazelle.

upon = [that turneth itself about] upon: or that boundeth over the mountains of spices (Song of Solomon 4:6), "Besamim. "(= spices); and no longer over the mountains of separation "Bather" (Song of Solomon 2:17).