flock of the Jehovah-shepherd', were confined to, and drudging in, the brick kilns of Egypt. And, if the Egyptian bondage be, as is justly believed, a type of natural servitude to sin-Egypt, and to satan -Pharaoh, we have here a most pertinent and striking allusion, in strong emblematical language, and under a well-known figure, to the miserable state of mankind by nature, not to any inherent excellency or commendation about them; an allusion which, from a Hebrew pen, and to a Hebrew people, could not be mistaken, while they remembered how frequently their prophets and bards had put them in mind of it, and with what fervency their Redeemer on every occasion repeatedly assumes the emphatic appellation of The Lord thy God, who brought ⚫ thee forth from the land of Egypt, out of the house ' of bondage.' So little is there in this simile of the song, when compared with, and explained by, other places of scripture, to infer compliment, or countenance the marriage-fiction.

I have compared thee, O my love, &c. The Hebrew word ", roiti, has not the idea of love in it. It comes from roah, to feed, and in the masculine form is rendered neighbour, friend, &c. Here it is feminine, and is the usual title, by which the beloved addresses his fairest among women,' through the whole of this poem; not my love,' as we read it, but my neighbour;'

μs, LXX.

VOL. II.

B b

'my

1 Psalm lxxx, &c.

2 See Cor. x. 12.

my friend,'amica mea' Latin, literally by derivation, my fed one,' whom I feed, nourish, take care of', so not only the object of, but likewise the profiter by, my love. And here let me once for all observe the instructive propriety of the two capital appellations in the mouths of the two conspicuous personages, through the whole of this sacred poem. He calls her roiti, my fed one; she calls him "77, dudi, ‘my beloved.' Do not these two significant names or titles contain, in their own sense, and point out to us, the particular attitudes in which the two personages brought in here, Christ and his church, stand to one another, and what the respective offices of each are in this blessed connexion? His office is feeding, ruling, governing; her office is love, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God; this is the first and the great ⚫ commandment.—The greatest of these is love'.' Let me further take notice of the gracious manner, in which the BELOVED here makes his first appearance. She had been praying to him, in the 7th verse, for his direction and guidance Tell me, O 'thou whom my soul loveth,' &c. This affectionately dutiful prayer he immediately answers, If • thou knowest not, O thou fairest among women,' &c. ver. 8. He grants her request, before he brings to her mind the sorrowful, but necessary remembrance of her former condition under Egyptian thral

6

See Psalm 1xxix, 13. and xcv. 7.

2 St Matth. xxii. 37.

31 Cor. xiii. 13.

thraldom, and comforts her, we see, before he humbles her. What an admirable condescension, and with what returns of gratitude and love to be received by us! These and such like alluring methods are thecords of love,' by which he draws us to himself'. Who would not wish to run, when thus drawn?

VER. 10.-Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold.

6

בתורים

The jewels and the gold here are additions: The LXX. have it,thy cheeks are comely as the turtle's, thy neck as collars. And St Jerom the same, somewhat indeed more literally, but equally undetermined, comely with rows,' " 18), navu beturim, made comely, (the verb being passive, as in ver. 5.) in, with, by rows, so the word tur signifies, say the lexicons, likewise turtle, order, state, and any of these it might be here. There is a well known word similar to this from 7, to instruct;

turah, the law,' feminine; our word here may mean something like this, instructions, instructors, &c. What the word for chains in the next clause, harizim, is, cannot well be ascertained, as it is of uncertain derivation, and only found here: though the Rabbins, as Buxtorf and Calasio tell us, make much use of it, to signify collections out of the sacred books,' or studied compositions in what we would

call blank verse. The import therefore of the description here must be collected from other places of scripture. Moses ordered the people to have the record of the paschal institution, for a token upon the hand, and for a memorial', for a frontlet (ver. 16.) between the eyes;' and renews the injunction in Deut. vi. 8. in allusion to which, Solomon advises, forget not my turah, my law,—— ' ver. 3. bind them about thy neck:' as he had promised the consequence (chap. i. 8, 9.) hear the in'structions of thy father, and forsake not the turah, law of thy mother, for they shall be ornaments of grace unto thy head, (so comeliness to thy cheeks), and chains about thy neck.' This gives some light to the comeliness before us, and shews what it is, and whence it comes, as is more fully exemplified in the next verse.

VER. 11. We will make to thee borders of gold, with studs of silver.

The change of number here has led to the fancy of changing the person of the speaker in the last verse, and employing the virgins or companions in the business here intended: But the word ny, noshe, we will make, might have brought to mind the first time we meet with it 3. The Elohim, God said, noshe, let us (we will) make, &c. Or, if this shall

I Exod. xiii. 9.

1 Prov. iii. 1.

3 Gen. i. 26.

shall be objected to, (though I think it no strange doctrine that the whole Trinity is employed in adorning the church), let it be remembered, that the hero of the song, the acknowledged speaker in the former verse, is a σUVETOV TI, as Origen calls him, a compound person of Deity and humanity, and so may properly take to himself this plural form; as we are sure he does in his own person undeniably, either in this or the other acceptation, for I will not decide', I say unto thee, We speak 'that we do know, and we testify that we have seen, ' and ye receive not our witness;' so that I have authority enough to continue the speaker, and not give the virgins more to do than lies to their hand. It is the action of ornamenting the church that is here spoken of. Gold and silver are emblematical; the gold of majesty and splendour, the silver of whiteness and purity. The borders are the turim above-mentioned; and their being said to be of gold needs be no surprise to such as have read and admired the golden verses of Pythagoras,' when they remember, as I hope every christian does, that a greater than Pythagoras is here. What our translation renders studs, is p, nequeduth, the spots that were to distinguish Jacob's sheep from Laban's. The LXX. translate it marks. May not this start a hint as to the meaning of St Paul's strange expression, I bear in my body the

6

σιγματα,

marks,

I St John iii. 11.

2 Gen. xxx. 32.

3 Gal, vi. 17.