is stiled by S. Greg. Nazianzen in his XXXI Oration where he quotes a passage 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as his Words are * P. 503. Edit Paris out of this Bridal Interlude and Song For a Drama as the Greeks teach us consists in the change of persons some of which enter others come to them others withdraw till the whole Work be completed by this shifting and alteration of the Persons Now the Persons which compose this Song are the Bridegroom the Bride the Virgins attending on her and the Youths attending on him to whom some add the Sister of the Spouse mentioned Chap. VIII and the Watchmen and Daughters of Jerusalem who are introduced in their turns For example first the Bride and her Companions comes in and saith Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth c. Then the Bridegroom appears and saith v. 8. If thou knowest not O thou fairest c. After which he seems to withdraw himself leaving the Bride and her Companions alone upon the Stage while he sits at his repast v. 12. who thus speak to her We will make the Borders of Gold c. And then she speaks again v. 13. and he returns and speaks v. 15. How many Parts there are in this Drama is not agreed Some make ten others make but seven Colloquies or interlocutory passages in this sacred Dialogue as they call it About which I do not think fit to dispute but shall take notice of as many as I can observe in the Argument or Annotations upon each Chapter As for the Phrase it is wholly Allegorical in expressions borrowed chiefly from the Fields and Woods and Gardens as I shall show in their proper places when we meet with them And such were the fittest that could be found supposing he would use Poetical Words to set forth the ardent desire he had and would excite in others as I said before to have a sight of that great Shepherd of the Sheep who would make all the World happy III. And none need wonder that he speaks wholly of this glorious King for so doth his Father David in the CXth Psalm which can be applied to no other person whatsoever and so doth the Prophet Isaiah in after-times in his LIII Chapter Which though some have endeavoured to accommodate first to another person yet they have failed in their attempt and never could find any in whom it was so literally fulfilled as in our Blessed Saviour Who alone was there intended as He seems to me to be here also in this present Song of Solomon's Where it need not seem strange neither to any one that he is compared to a Bridegroom and the Church to a Bride who doth but reflect upon the XLV Psalm and observe how Solomon doth only follow the Metaphor wherein his Father David had represented this Mystery and observe withal that it is the common Language of the Prophets who compare Jerusalem and Zion under which names is comprehended the whole Church of the Jews to a Virgin called frequently the Virgin-Daughter of Sion c. whom God had espoused unto himself IV. But for the fuller Explication of this it may be fit to note that the profoundest of the Hebrew Divines whom they now call Cabbalists having such a Notion as this among them that sensible things are but an imitation of things above conceived from thence that there was for instance an Original pattern of that love and union which is between a Man and his Wife here in this World This they expressed by the kindness of Tipheret to Malcuth which are the Names they give unto the invisible Bridegroom and Bride in the upper World And this Tipheret i.e. Beauty or Ornament they call also by the Name of the Adam on high and the Great Adam in opposition to the terrestrial or little Adam here below As Malcuth i. e. Kingdom they call also by the name of Cheneseth Israel i. e. Congregation of Israel who is united they say to that Celestial Adam as Eve was to the terrestrial Which heavenly Adam or Tipheret they call likewise the Sun and Malcuth the Moon and make the former an active Principle the latter a passive or as their Phrase is Tipheret is but the Masculine power which influences Malcuth who is but the recipient of those influences So that in summ they seem to say the same that the Apostle Saint Paul doth when he tells us that Marriage is a great Mystery but he speaks concerning Christ and his Church V. Ephes 32. For the Marriage of Tipheret and Malcuth or Cheneseth Israel is the Marriage of Christ the Lord from Heaven with his Spouse the Church which is the whole Congregation of Christian people Which was represented in the conjunction of Adam and Eve and of all other men and women descended from them when they are joined together in holy Matrimony insomuch that those Divines called Cabbalists have formed this Maxim about this matter that wheresoever in the Scripture we read of the love of Man and Wife there is mystically designed the conjunction of Tipheret and Cheneseth Israel Now if this Notion of which the Learned Dr. Cudworth hath long ago wrote a peculiar Discourse was so ancient among those Doctors that they had it before the times of Christ it gives the plainest account why John the Baptist uses the word Christ and Bridegroom as if they were in a manner synonymous and of the same import III. Joh. 28 29. and why Christ himself compares the whole business of his heavenly Kingdom called by the people in St. Mark XI 10. the Kingdom of our Father David to a Marriage or Marriage-feast which a King made for his Son Matth. XXII 2 c. V. And this is one Argument of its being a very ancient Notion among them that Idolatry and false Worship in the Church is constantly expressed in the Scriptures under the name of spiritual fornication and going a whoring from God whom therefore the Church was to look upon as her Husband And so he taught the Children of Israel to do by using this form of Speech throughout the whole Prophetical Writings LIV. Isai 5. LXII 4 5. III. Jerem. 4.20 XXXI 32. II. Hosea 2 7. and many other places Nay the very Words of the Apostle to the Ephesians seem to suppose some such mystical sense which was current in that Nation of those Words of Adam the first man II. Genes 23 24. This now is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh c. therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh Which the Apostle takes as if they had been spoken of Christ and his love to his Church as any one may see that will read V. Ephes 29 30 31 32. For these are not in the account of the Cabbalists two distinct senses but one and the same sense different only as the matter and the form of the same thing which form say they lies
deny himself the comfort of what he hath for the sake of he knows not whom This also certainly is not only a senseless and unprofitable folly but one of the greatest plagues and torments of humane life See Annot. e 9. ¶ Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labour 9. How much wiser is he who not only enjoys what he hath himself but takes others into his Society to partake of the good things that God hath given him For nothing is more comfortable than good Company as nothing is more dull and melancholy than a solitary life And besides when two or more are adjoined together in common counsel and mutual help and assistance they will not only act more cheerfully but more easily effect their design and take the greater pleasure in the fruits of their labour See Annot. f 10. For if they fall the one will lift up his fellow but woe to him that is alone when he falleth for he hath not another to help him up 10. Or if they have any ill success or fall into danger it will only make the singular benefit of fellowship the more plainly appear because they will relieve and rescue one the other but lamentable is his condition who hath no Friend no Companion to reach out his charitable hand to him when he falls suppose in o a Pit none to comfort him when he is sick none to testifie his innocence when he is defamed or which is worse to restore him when by his own imprudence or negligence he falls into a sin 11. Again if two lie together then they have heat but how can one be warm alone 11. And therefore in the very beginning of the World God did not think fit to let man be alone but gave him an Help meet for him and as two that lie together in the same Bed cherish one another by their mutual hear but it is hard to be warm alone so do they that are strong undaunted vigorous and cheerful infuse that courage and comfort which Silver and Gold cannot give into those that are of a weak timorous dejected or melancholy spirit 12. And if one prevail against him two shall withstand him and a threefold cord is not quickly broken 12. To conclude we are never more sensible of the benefit of Society than when we are assaulted by a powerful Enemy whom we cannot resist alone but by the help of a Friend may be able to overcome for as a great many Threds twisted together are not quickly broken though a single one be soon snapt asunder so he that is surrounded by his Children Friends and Neighbours will make a better defence and hold out longer against those that invade his right than that wretched man can do v. 8. who by loving money alone hath deprived himself of all such succours 13. ¶ Beter is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king who will no more be admonished 13. But it is not Society alone will make a man happy without Wisdom and Vertue For who are better attended and guarded than Kings and yet the poorest man that is if he be wise and good is far happier than the wealthiest Prince on Earth who foolishly abuseth his power nay the towardly Child of a poor man is much better than such a King though his greatness be made more venerable by his grey hairs For besides that Wisdom makes the poor Youth contented with his condition though never so mean a Blessing at which Princes hardly arrive it render wholesome admonition also acceptable to him when by his inexperience he falls into an errour but folly makes the other impatient of all advice and counsel and the older he is the more obstinate because as his Kingly Dignity he fansies authrizes him to do what he list so his Age gives him a privilege of knowing better than any body can tell him what to do See Annot. g 14. For out of prison he cometh to reign whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor 14. By which means it comes to pass that he who was born a mere Beggar nay was as poor and abject as the vilest Slave rises by his singular Prudence Counsel and Conduct unto a Throne when he whose Ancestors were Kings and possessed his Dominions by an Hereditary right is deserted by his Subjects and through his folly and wickedness falls into such contempt that he not only loses his Crown but is reduced to the greatest poverty in which he spends a miserable life 15. I considered all the living which walk under the sun with the second child that shall stand up in his stead 15. Or if this happen not yet such is the infelicity of good Princes I have seen a great King left with nothing but the bare Title and the outward State of Royalty the hearts and affections of all the Nobles Gentry and common people from one end of the Kingdom to the other enclining to his Son or to the next Heir that is to succeed him unto whom they do obeysance as if he were already upon the Throne but neglect his old Father who sees himself robbed of those honours in which he placed his happiness and that by his own Son who would have been more dutiful perhaps if he had been a private man See Annot. h 16. There is no end of all the people even of all that have been before them they also that come after shall not rejoyce in him Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit 16. Nor is this a thing that will have an end but a humour so rooted in all Mankind that as in all preceding times before this King and Son were born they have been weary of that which they have long enjoyed so this young Prince who is now followed with such applause must not think that it will last alway but they that come after will take as little delight in him as the present Generation doth in his Father and when he grows old court his Son after the same fashion as they now do him being young From all which it appears that happiness is not to be found in Honour and Dignity no not in the very highest Pitch of it which is the Kingly Power for there also is not only dissatisfaction but many dangers troubles and vexatious cares which very much disturb and perplex their Spirits See Annot. i ANNOTATIONS a V. 1. oppressions There are more evils than one that arise from the ill administration of publick Affairs For they are either external or internal And the external are two either from Superiors or from Equals and Inferiors Those from Superiors he speaks of in this Verse and calls by the general name of oppressions Which comes from a Root in the Hebrew that signifies indifferently to oppress or rather to squeeze others and utterly crush them whether it be by forcible violence or by extortion in traffick or by fraud circumvention and false accusation
present possession be not much moved with this fond humour nor make any great matter of it as neither Scylla nor Tiberius did nay they smile it is possible at the levity of men and do not stand to fight with Dreams for Hope is but the Dream of a man awake yet it cannot but inwardly vex them to see themselves slighted even by those on whom they have bestowed many benefits merely in hope of receiving more from their next supposed Successor For they cannot reasonably expect more perhaps from him that now reigns and therefore they make timely applications to the next Heir He hath done enough for them and therefore they betake themselves to him who hath yet done nothing And besides old men grow tenacious morose and sowre whereas Youth is commonly liberal jocound without care and ambitious to do great things especially at his entrance upon the Kingdom This saith another learned Writer makes the long life of Princes and their power troublesome and grievous both to Courtiers and people of which they that live at Rome do not want ocular demonstration There is nothing more needful for the explication of this Verse but only to observe that the Child or Youth who is here called the second doth not suppose another Child or Youth that is first but only signifie that this Youth is second in the Kingdom Not second in respect to another Son but second in respect to his Father who reigns before him and when he dies this Son succeeds him i V. 16. The first words of this last Verse L. de Dieu seems to me to have expressed better than any other Interpreter they running thus word for word in the Hebrew There is no end to any people That is no end of their fickleness no bounds to their inconstancy but one Nation is as subject to it as another And as this Age follows the former so the next will follow this in its levity and mutability And therefore those young Princes who are transported with the acclamations of the people do but feed upon Wind as some I observed upon the first Chapter translate those words which we render vexation of Spirit For their applauses are like to their affections as changeable as the Wind which will turn another way to some other person when this present Prince grows old or he rules ill or the peoples fancy and humour alters And then it will indeed be a sore affliction to him to see himself despised by those who formerly cried him up as if he had been their Darling It may be referred also to the very Government it self with which the Israelites were not pleased For when they were under Judges they desired a King and then they were not pleased with the Monarchy but wished for the old Aristocracy again Though that in truth was the most exeellent Monarchy which they would not understand under the immediate Government of God Himself CHAP. V. ARGUMENT Under an ill Government in the State Religion it self is commonly corrupted in the Church And therefore having set forth the miseries people endure under the oppressions of an abused Power and the extreams of folly into which it drives them he begins this Chapter with a Correction of those errours that are in Religion Which is the only remedy indeed the only comfort we have against all the troubles to which we are subject in this World but such is the Vanity of Mankind they spoil their very remedy and take away all the Vertue of that which should be their support turning it into mere Ceremony whilst their minds remain impure and without any true sense of God For they do not consider that He who is a pure mind Himself must be better pleased with pure thoughts and affections composed to the observance of his Will and acquiescence in his pleasure than with all the Sacrifices and Offerings in the World which the wicked may bring Him as well as the good To prevent therefore this new folly into which men are apt to run when they intend to cure all the rest Solomon shows all those who would attain true tranquillity of mind what they must do and what they must avoid in the Worship of God And about the middle of the Chapter as I shall observe in the Annotations proceeds to consider the last of those four things wherein men place their happiness 1. KEep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools for they consider not that they do evil 1. AND now lest any man add to the affliction and torment of his Spirit even by that which is the only cure for it let every one who would be a true Worshipper of God in whom alone lies the happiness we seek take care to avoid that negligence which is observable in many people and to opproach with all reverence both of Body and Soul into his Blessed Presence but do not think to please Him with mere postures of Devotion no nor with Sacrifices and Incense without the Oblation of an obedient heart disposed to do what He would have thee For the worst men in the World may be able to offer Him the richest Sacrifices but are very impious as well as foolish if they think He delights in the fat and the Blood of Beasts save only as testimonies of love to Him and acts of obedience unto his Will for in that very thought they offend Him and make no conscience what evil they do while they believe their Sacrifices atone for all See Annot. a 2. Be not rash with thy mouth and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God for God is in heaven and thou upon earth therefore let thy words be few 2. And next to this when thou makest thy Prayers to God or givest Him thanks for his benefits deliberate with thy self beforehand what it is fit for thee to ask of Him or to vow unto him and let not any sudden passion make thee inconsiderately either with thy mouth or in thy mind desire what is nor fit for thee to have or promise what is not fit for Him to receive or thou art not able or willing to give But remember first how infinitely great the Lord and Governour of the World is who comprehends all things and then how little and vile thou art who prostratest thy self before Him and therefore do not dare to speak to Him as an Equal whatsoever comes into thy mind much less to make Him large promises which thou canst not perform but let a sense of his Majesty and of thy meanness overcome thee into a profound Reverence of Him expressing it self rather in ardent sighs and groans than in abundance of words which signifie nothing but want of a serious apprehension of Him See Annot. b 3. For a dream cometh through the multitude of business and a fools voice is known by multitude of words 3. It is so difficult at the same time
more patient of toil and labour and the other more solid and more serious Whence it is that we find the greatest Captains among the Romans such as Camillus Regulus Fabius Cato Cincinnatus were fetcht from the Plough as Gideon among the Israelites was from the Threshing-floor and Elisha called to the high Office of a Prophet as he was driving one of the twelve Ploughs his Father had going in the Field And therefore Maldonate's Translation of these words is not to be despised who and he alone as far as I can find thinks they are capable of being rendred thus By following Husbandry diligently a man may grow so rich as to become a King Melancthon alone translates the whole Verse thus The King in the Earth is above all for the Tillage of the Field Where Solomon saith he distinguishes a King from a Tyrant A Tyrant depopulates his Country and lays all waste a good King cherishes his people especially honest Husbandmen and Farmers and loves to see them thrive together with all good Arts. The Vulgar Latine I suppose aimed at something of this though it be taken otherwise by those that follow it Agreeable to which is this memorable Passage in a Persian Writer quoted by Mr. Pocock in his Notes upon Abul Faragii p. 202 203. that in that Country they kept a solemn Feast every Year wherein the King descended from his Throne laid aside his Royal Apparel threw the Veil from his Face and conversed with the most ordinary people even with Country Swains and Husbandmen with whom he ate saying I am one of you nor can the World subsist without Tillage which is performed by your pains and that Tillage subsists it is owing to the King so that neither of us being able to subsist without the other we are as it were individual Brethren There are those that comprehend Pastorage as well as Tillage under these words because the antient Patriarchs were Shepherds But there is no need of this and Husbandry or Gardening was far more ancient even as old as Adam and after the Floud we find Noah thus employed as Isaac also was in succeeding times i V. 10. The latter end of this Verse runs thus in the Hebrew Text Who so loveth viz. Silver reaps no fruit of his abundance i. e. doth not enjoy it as St. Hierom expounds it which is very often the miserable condition of worldly-minded men k V. 11. The latter end of this Verse also is capable of contrary senses which I have expressed in the Paraphrase but shall not give an account of here because I see these Annotations already grow too large For which cause I will not note particularly every thing that is observable in the following Verses but only touch upon some of them under this Observation That he seems to demonstrate the vanity of that sort of happiness which men place in Riches from Ten Considerations The two first are contained in the tenth Verse That the desires of such men are unsatiable and the more unsatiable they are the less they enjoy of what they have The third and fourth in the 11th Verse that if they will enjoy it the more they have the more others must also have of it and the pleasure of this is very small being no more than to behold a great many people eat and drink at their Cost l The fifth v. 12th That their Servants commonly sleep more sweetly than they For so Haofed which we translate labouring man signifies one that serves that undertakes work for another or any way ministers unto him m The sixth That their Riches expose them to the danger even of their life by poyson or by open violence v. 13. Where the first words Ráa chole sore evil import such an evil as makes one sick when he thinks of it especially when he fears it For the Hebrew word Chalah always carries in it the Notion of sickness and weakness and that sometimes accompanied with pain and torment as in the case of Hezekiah XXXVIII Isai 1. and proceeding from a deadly wound as in the case of Ahab 1 King XXII 34. It may therefore be translated here a tormenting or a deadly evil or an evil that disables a man and makes him so feeble and languishing that he is unfit for any thing For the LXX frequently render the Noun that comes from hence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See v. 17. of this Chapter n And seventhly Though they escape these dangers there are many other ways whereby their Riches may be lost which seem to be included in that Phrase v. 14. injan ra an evil business or matter Which may signifie as well the way of their perishing as that they perish with the great grief and affliction of him that loseth them Whether that way be by their very merchandice in the way of their trade or by their own frauds and subtilties in traffick whereby they over-reach themselves or lastly by other accidents as we call them such as Fire Storms c. And then follows the 8th That he leaves his Son a Beggar which is no small trouble to them both he having bred his Son in expectation of an Estate which never comes to him or if it do neither Father nor Son can enjoy it longer than their lives v. 14 15. Which is the ninth thing if their Riches do not leave them they must leave their Riches ver 16. o And whilst they live which is the last v. 17. they spend their time perhaps either in filthy lusts as Gregory Thaumaturgus understands those words eateth in darkness with vile Harlots or in wretched niggardice and such sordid penuriousness that the Miser even eats up himself taking no joy no comfort in any thing that he possesseth So darkness signifies being opposed to light and Scripture which denotes joy and gladness and thus the LXX here explain it by adding a word in darkness and in mourning It may refer also to his dismal habitation to which I have had respect in the Paraphrase in some bye place where he hopes no body can find him or in a Room whose Windows are shut up and barred for fear of Thieves The last Clause of this Verse runs thus word for word in the Hebrew Sorrow is multiplied or there is much sorrow and sickness and wrath the force of which I hope I have expressed in the Paraphrase and shall only note that the first word sorrow as was observed Chap. I. includes in it indignation together with heaviness and the next word sickness includes in it pain and anguish as was observed before and the last word ketzeph wrath denotes the highest commotion of that sort For being applied to the Sea it signifies such a boiling rage as makes it foam There is another word indeed which we render hot displeasure but this is joined with it XXXVIII Psal 1. as equivalent to it or the effect of it p From all which he concludes this Chapter as he had done his Discourse upon the foregoing Subjects
fast in the memory as Nails do when they are driven into a Board and to collect also the thoughts affections and resolutions unto one certain end especially when they are fastned by the skilful hand of those who rule the Assemblies of God's people and are ruled themselves by one and the same supreme Governour whose Holy Spirit directs them all See Annot. l 12. And further by these my son be admonished of makeing many books there is no end and much study is a weariness of the flesh 12. Therefore my Son or whosoever thou art that shall read these things whose happiness I wish as my own be advised by me and not only believe these things but rest contented with such useful Knowledge and do not trouble thy self either in composing or reading many Books For all that is needful to instruct men how to be happy may be comprized in a few wise Precepts and if thou extendest thy desires beyond this thou mayst turn over infinite Volumes which are encreasing continually and serve only to distract thy mind and tire thy spirits and impair thy health but yield little profit after the expence of a great deal of pains and time See Annot. m 13. ¶ Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man 13. Let us draw up all then that can be said in this matter into as small a compass as is possible If thou wouldst be happy preserve in thy mind such an awful sense of God as to have a greater regard to Him both as thy Creator and Governour and as thy Judge than to any thing in this World and dreading his displeasure not only worship Him religiously but observe all His Commandments For as unto this all men are bound so in this consists all their Duty and their whole happiness and therefore they ought to make this their main business and employ their best endeavours in it See Annot. n 14. For God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil 14. As they would with all seriousness did they but believe and remember what is most certainly true That though now the wicked and the good sometimes fare alike yet there will be a notorious distinction one day made between them when God whose knowledge nothing can escape and out of whose memory nothing can slip will pass an exact Sentence upon every thing we do here in this World though never so secret and known to none but Himself and then no evil thing though only designed and never actually committed shall go unpunished and no good thing though only heartily intended for want of power to accomplish it shall be unrewarded See Annot. o ANNOTATIONS a Verse 1. From the consideration of what he had said in the Conclusion of the foregoing Chapter that Youth is attended with folly and folly attended with destruction as Greg. Thaumaturgus excellently explains those Words he begins this with the most weighty Lesson which ought to be perpetually inculcated and beaten into the mind and memory of young men viz. That they would reflect so far as to consider who gave them their being and what upon that account they owe unto Him who as He is the sole Author of all things that give us any delight so He is of all the abilities and faculties which make us capable to take pleasure in them and the sole Disposer likewise of all opportunities that bring us and those Delights together All this may well be comprehended in the Word Creator if this place be compared with XL. Isai 28. XLV 7.18 LXV 17 18. Which being in the Hebrew a Word of the Plural Number some from thence draw the Mystery of the Holy Trinity which I cannot certainly say is here intended because it is very ordinary in the Scripture to put the Plural for the Singular especially when God is spoken of Thus when the Israelites had made the golden Calf they said These are thy Gods O Israel c. so we translate it XXXII Exod. 4. as if there had been more Gods than one in that Calf But it should be translated This is thy God O Israel as appears by what follows which brought thee out of the land of Egypt signifying they worshipped in this Image Him who had wrought that great deliverance for them And thus Jonathan there understands it and Theodoret upon 1 Book of Kings Quest 10 More places like to this are observed by Bochartus L. II. de Animal Sacr. C. 34. P. 1. in whom the Learned Reader may find many such Latine Words that are only of the Plural not Singular Number And I will only mention one remarkable place which he might have added 1 Sam. XXVIII 9. where the Woman says she saw Gods ascending out of the Earth and Saul thereupon asks her What form is he of understanding she saw a single person But what ever becomes of this we Christians to whom this Mystery is now plainly revealed ought when we read such places as these to think of the obligations we have unto God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost into whose Name we are baptized And not only to consider such things as are above-mentioned but to be moved and affected with them for that is here included in the Word Remember according unto their weight and importance And to do this betime the first thing we do because the days of our youth are our best and choicest days as the Word in the Hebrew signifies whence in 2 Sam. VI. 1. where David is said to gather all the chosen men the LXX hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the young men in Israel in which we are apt to take the greatest delight in our selves or in any thing truly delightful our spirits being then most fresh lively and vigorous So that the measure of our delight whether in our selves or in any thing without us being then truly taken it would constrain us unto an equal delight in Him who is the Author of both and unto a correspondent gratulation for them Whereas if we deferr this remembrance till Old Age come upon us when life grows a burden and the wonted delights of it are either irksome or insipid unpleasant or without all taste or relish our thankfulness for them will be but faint our gratulation worthless our Devotion cold and lumpish as Dr. Jackson excellently glosses upon these Words B. XI upon the Creed C. 33. Which he had expressed long before more briefly in his Treatise of Faith Chap. 8. p. 125 thus The Inventory of what we have received from God in our Creation should be taken in those days wherein we most delight because then the Characters of his Blessings bestowed upon us and their true worth are most fresh and sensible in all our faculties well knowing that if we deferr this Survey till Old Age in which life it self becomes a burden our return of
so happy as to see the Messiah appear though it were but in his infancy which would transport them with joy c. And thus the Chaldee Paraphrast interprets it of the time when the Messiah shall be revealed to the Congregation of Israel But if we consider what follows it will be more reasonable to connect it with what went before and to take it for a most ardent expression of love to the person before-spoken of with a desire to have more intimate familiarity with him such as a Sister hath with a Brother when he is a sucking Child whom if she met in the Street she would not be ashamed to take out of his Nurses Arms into her own and openly kiss and not imagine she should thereby incur any reproach or contempt This seems to be the most literal sense of the Words which may be applied to the open profession of Christianity with the greatest confidence and security nothing being more innocent and harmless than the love and service wherein it engages its Disciples to their Lord and Master Christ Who the more obedient any person is to God's commands holds that man or woman the dearer to Him even as dear as a Brother Sister or Mother XII Matth. 50. Which saith Grotius upon that place is the mystical sense of the Song of Songs See more in my Preface b V. 2. This dear Lord i. e. the knowledge of Him she desires here to carry still further till she had brought Him into the house that is into the Family of her Mother Which may be applied unto the design of God to awaken the Jews to believe on Christ by bringing in the fulness that is a vast number of the Gentiles XI Rom. 25. Which the Apostle saith there v. 15. would be life from the dead Unto which the last Words of this Verse may be accommodated For after she had said she would lead him or bring him down and then bring him into the house of her Mother she adds thou shalt teach or instrust me Which agrees with what the Apostle there writes v. 12. that if the fall of the Jews was the riches of the Gentiles that is enriched them with the Treasures of Divine Wisdom and Knowledge how much more would their fullness inrich them If we referr this Clause as we do to Mother before-named the best sense I can make of it is this By whom I was educated and instructed And then follows her making Him drink of spiced Wine that is making a great Feast for Him IX Prov. 2. where the most excellent Wine made the chiefest part of the Entertainment such Wine as makes those who are asleep to speak VII 9. Which effect the receiving of the Jews again will produce as the Apostle tells us when he saith it shall be life from the dead i. e. a most powerful Argument to enliven the most stupid Souls and move them to believe in Christ. Certain it is that Harekach spiced or Aromatick Wine denotes its fragrancy or delicious odour whereby the best Wines are discerned as much as by their taste and the Word we translate Juice signifies every where Muste or new Wine whereby the Prophets set forth something that works with greater power and efficacy than ordinary IX Zach. 17. And here I doubt not relates to something new and unusual and in the mystical Application may signifie a greater fullness and power of the Spirit than had been in former days working like new Wine in the hearts of those that received the Gospel All this is said to be done to Him because as Theodoret noted before what is done to his Members he takes as done to himself c V. 3. Who is here represented as immediately condescending to her desires and fulfilling her wishes vouchsafing a new supply of the power of the Spirit to support and comfort her in those labours of love for his names sake Which were so great that she is represented here as spent and fainting away So she had been before Chap. II. 6. where see the meaning of these Words d V. 4. This Verse hath also been twice used before with no difference from what we read here but that now the mention of Hinds and Roes is left out and yet he charges them with greater vehemence than ever For the Hebrew Phrase here signifies as much as what do you do why do you stir c. that is by no means take heed how you disturb her See II. 7. III. 5. e V. 5. This seems to be the voice of her Companions or Daughters of Jerusalem mentioned in the Verse before and begins the last part of this Song admiring the new change they saw in her For she was represented before as coming out of the Wilderness III. 6. but not leaning upon her Beloved as she is here Which signifies her advancement unto a state of greater dearness to Him and familiarity with Him The Word mithrappeketh is not found elsewhere and therefore variously translated by Interpreters But most agree that it signifies either closely adhering or leaning relying and recumbring as they speak which L. de Dieu hath shown is the use of the Word in Neighbouring Languages But there are those who think it imports something of pleasure and therefore the Vulgar takes in that sense with the other as I have in the Paraphrase and translate it flowing with the delights For she having been in the Fields and Villages visiting the Vineyards and other places VII 11 12 13. is now introduced as coming back from thence into the Royal City Which being seated on high in comparison with the Plains out of which she came she is said to ascend or come up but that she might not be tired with the Journey is represented as leaning upon the arm of her Beloved or as some will have it lying in his bosom as St. John did in our Saviours and laden with the delicious fruit before-mentioned VII 13. Which excited the admiration of all that knew her when they beheld the Grace of her Lord towards her together with her own Beauty Riches Ornaments and Happiness The latter part of the Verse all the Greek Fathers take to be the voice of the Bridegroom and so do many of the Latines But some of them and all the Hebrew Writers take them to be the Words of the Spouse because thee is of the Masculine Gender Which soever way we take them the sense is very hard to find If we go the first way the most natural sense seems to be that He puts her in mind of the poor and mean condition out of which He had taken her into a state of the greatest friendship with Him that she might not be vainly puft up with the acclamations which were made to her But I have followed the Hebrew Points in my Paraphrase and understood the Words of stirring up his love towards her when they were looking after the Plantations mentioned VII 11 12. Which was excited by the care and pains she took in