indifferent on such a heart-melting theme, when it is to be remembered that a greater than Solo'mon is here'?' Sure I am, that holy men, even apostles themselves, those infallible expositors of ancient types, have expressed themselves on this subject in such terms, as manifestly indicate the devout confusion of their hearts, and that they were in some measure out of themselves, lost in, and, as it were, sick with the affecting theme. Hear how St Paul prays for his Ephesians, that we, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God? A writer such as St Paul, who could thus express himself, when labouring under a powerful assurance of the unmeasurable and incomprehensible love of Christ, might properly enough be said to have been, and that literally, like the fair one here'sick of love.' Therefore, she 6 says, stay me with 'flagons, comfort me with apples.' The address is in the plural number, and without applying to companions or virgins, may be taken impersonally, as a general wish usual in such cases. But what mean the 'flagons and apples? What I have already offered about the tappuhh may be sufficient to point out the meaning of the apples. But what we are to understand by the flagons is not so clear.

The words, ashishuth, (probably from , ash, fire, so some vessel or pitcher made by fire), occurs but seldom, and is variously rendered by the LXX. Once in Hosea' it is joined with, grapes, which perhaps may justify our translators making it a fla'gon of wine, as they have rendered the grapes in Hosea wine. This wish of the church, therefore, certainly implies a prayer for something that she stood much in need of, some support that she could not procure for herself; something, in a word, relative to the happy state she had been describing, of being under the comfortable shade of her beloved tappuhh, and of being brought into the house of wine, with its ashishuth, flagons, the cup, or flagon of blessing 3. Or, if after all it shall be thought that the speaker here did not well understand her own language, when under such agitation of mind, let another apostle plead her apology; who, when sickened, as it were, into sleep, by the glorious vision of the Beloved's' transfiguration upon the mount, broke out into a rapturous strain of devotion, but did not know what he said:" And as I have made use of St Paul's authority for explaining what is meant by the church's being sick of love,' I cannot do better, to illustrate her wish here, than by his conclusion of the passage referred to Now unto him, who is able to do ex

I Chap. iii. 3.

ceeding

2 2 Sam. vi, 19

31 Cor. x. 16. He took the cup'- This cup,' &c.-passim.

4 St Luke ix. 28-33.

ceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto 'him be glory,' &c.

VER. 6. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.

6

The only verb in this passage, embrace,' is future, in the Heb. pnn, tehabaq, in the Greek of the LXX. Tempera, will embrace, so expresses either a hope or a wish; and in this view, it is easy to perceive the meaning of it. But as I have long thought, that there is not a single word in the writings of inspiration, but what has its particular intent, besides the general scope of the whole passage, I would be well pleased to know, why both left hand and right hand are here mentioned, and that too in different attitudes, and for different ends. Some no doubt will smile at this needless piece of curiosity, and others will consider the description as made up of a little ornamental tautology. I differ from them both, and still am of opinion, that there is a reason for, and a meaning in, this variation, which deserve to be enquired into, whatever may be the success of my enquiry. About the latter clause, indeed, his right hand embracing her,' there is no difficulty. The application of this title, and to whom, is too obvious not to be known. It had often been applied by Solomon's father in his book of Psalms. The man of thy right ' hand.

Gg 2

• The

And

' hand'.' 'Sit thou on my right hand*.' years of the right hand of the Most High the christian who remembers his creed can be at no loss how and where to direct his ideas. It is the other part that requires a solution, or what the church means, either in declaration or wish, by Christ's left hand under her head.'

6

The only word in all scripture for the left hand, pw, shemal, is said to be, what is not very common, a four-lettered root; so like many others even of the tri-literals, may be resolved into its component parts: And here there appear at first sight two remarkable words, Shem, name, and, Al, one of the known names of God, which bid fair by usage to enter into this composition. Why these two words should be applied to the left hand, I cannot positively say. But it is worth the observing, as a sort of warrant for my derivation, that the Greek word used by the LXX. here, and indeed of current use for the left hand, is wμ, which the dictionaries make up of 'ev, bene, good, and 'ovopa, name; so fausti nominis ac ominis, of lucky name and omen;' and tell us, as a reason for this, that in soothsaying, the 'left was reckoned happy.' And even the other Greek word for the left hand, 'agisega, has some look this way, being borrowed from 'agis, one of the superlatives of 'ayados, good. I know the Latin

6

1 Psalm 1xxx. 17.

2 Psalm cx. 1. &c.

'si

3 Psalm 1xxvii. 11. compare with this Psalm 1xxx. 27. My firstborn higher than the kings of the earth,' literally Heb.' The Most High

to the kings,' &c.

、

'sinister,' and English left,' are commonly taken in a bad sense, as we say, 'sinistrous dealing,'' left'handed ways of doing,' but upon what account is not very clear. Perhaps too, it may raise some prejudice against what I am offering, that Christ's left hand is in a very solemn process described, and by himself too, as a most terrible position. Then 'shall he say to them on his left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed'.' But the force of this inference, if there be any force in it, will vanish, when it is remembered, how a faithful woman among his followers petitioned him in the days of his flesh, and in terms too, which he does not find fault with, though he rejects the matter of her petition, to grant that her two sons might sit, the one on his right hand, and the other on his left, in his king'dom';' in allusion, no doubt, from a Jewish believer, to that inviting particular which she knew Solomon had specified in his beautiful description of wisdom-Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and honour3.' If therefore, this interpretation of our present Hebrew word will hold, as there is, we see, a good deal of probability for such interpretation, it will open up to us one comfortable meaning of what the church says here about the left hand under her head. But there may be even more in it, than this seems to indicate. Under my head, wnnn, tahat le rashi, literally, under, to, or for, my head., tahat, sub, under,

"

1 St Matth. xxv. 41.

2 St Matth. xx, 21.

3 Prov. iii. 16.