4 We shall see, by and by, the use of all this: But there are two particularities, which I must first take notice of, to pave the way for my main conclusion. Thy head upon thee,, olike, Heb. ETTE, LXX. Arias Montanus, super te, above, over thee'. Thy head upon thee, is not quite proper stile; upon thy neck, or thy shoulders, would have sounded better: For what is the thee that has the head upon it? The hair of thy head,, dalt, never used in that sense but here. We have the very same word again in the next chapter*, • if she be dalt, a door;' which indeed is the usual, I might have said, the only, rendering of it every where else. And here I cannot but remark, that the current word for the hair, y, shor3, signifies likewise agate:' A remark perhaps of little moment, but it is curious, and there is no harm in making it. The dalt, therefore, in this single place, may signify something about the head, such as vitta, a 'fillet,' which, Buxtorf says, was the sense that some put upon it, and is indeed more relative to (argman, which is always) purple, than the hair can well be said to be; especially in connexion with what follows, the king is held (marg. bound) in 'the galleries.' This in our Bibles stands as a sentence by itself, and passes with commentators for a sudden start of rapturous exclamation; but from what quarter, or to what purpose, they are As above chap. ii. 4. His banner, oli, over me was love.' 2 Ver. 9. 3 See above, chap. iv. 1. not 6 not certain. Jerom joins it to what goes before, 'Sicut purpura regis, vincta canalibus, as the king's 'purple bound in canals; which, from the relation between kings and purple, may give some idea, though, from the additional circumstance, not a distinct or precise one. What Jerom calls canals, and we galleries, the LXX. have Tagadgoμais, courses. The original is, rethim, which, as well as here, we meet with in Genesis', he set the rods in the gutters,' berethim, Heb. in canalibus,' Jerom ε TO ANYOL, LXX.; and again, in Exodus *, filled the troughs,' rethim; and no where else through the whole Bible. What to make of all this is not an easy matter, unless, by admitting a very supposeable conjecture, I shall call it nothing more, that this word rethim, being used by Moses, to signify gutters,' or troughs,' for watering sheep, and applied here to the Beloved, may, in conjunction with what goes before, be a picture, though but a faint one, of Him in his double attitude of King, with his royal purple, (dyed garments, red apparel) 3 bound and obliged, in terms of the eternal covenant, to execute the gracious office of careful shepherd, leading forth his flocks by 'the waters of comfort". In this view, therefore, and upon the footing of Jerom's version, this · verse might be read, as I hinted above about the angelic hymn, The king held (the text has not is) 38.41. 1 Chap. xxx. 38. 41. 2 Chap. ii. 16. 4 Psalm xxiil. 2. in in the galleries, is thy carmel, head, with all the 'excellency of that significant emblem, and adorn⚫ed with his tiara of purple,' &c. : Which, however fanciful it may appear, is no force upon the words, and neither contrary to grammatical construction, nor to christian doctrine, as being an enigmatical commentary on St Paul's clear and express declaration', 'that the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church.' If so, let me ask, Is he the only Head, or are there others besides him? VER. 6. How fair, and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights! Here we have the elegant description from the first verse and downward, summed up, as it were, by the Beloved, in one of his usual raptures of complacency and praise, which needs no particular explanation, only to regulate the meaning of delights, which seems to be somewhat mistaken. Our reading pleasant for delights, makes her the actual giver, whereas the original, yn, betonugim,' 'in deliciis, pleasant in delights,' represents her as a happy receiver, which I think more becoming the church than the other. The root is y, ong, (whence perhaps our word young'), and, as a verb, occurs only in the neutral or hithpahel form, expressing an inward feeling of delight derived from some 1 Ephes. v. 23. 6 some other object. As',' delight thyself, ethong, in, y, upon the Lord;' and', 'the meek shall in‹ herit the earth 3, vetongu, and shall delight them'selves in the abundance of peace;' literally, of rabshalum, upon the great one, prince of peace;' which, to the christian soul, is more satisfactory, and more consonant to fact. The Lexicons tell us, that this hithpahel verb for the most part takes the preposition ol, upon, ' delight 'themselves upon;' and hence, probably, has arisen that phrase in devotional style, of lying, leaning, resting, upon Christ,' which, however abused by fanatics, or ridiculed by philosophers, has a most expressive meaning, and is warranted by scripture. Our present writer countenances it in the next chapter— Who is this-leaning, ol, upon her Beloved?' And * where we read, Commit thy way unto the Lord,' the margin has it, roll thy way upon 'the Lord.' This lets us see what and whence the delights are, which make the fair one so pleasant in and to herself', the excellencies of her Beloved communicated by him to her, and by him commended in her. 1 Psalm xxxvii. 4. 2 Ver. 11. 3' New earth,' Isaiah 1xv. 17. 4 Psalm xxxvii. 5. 5' Quam pulchruisti, et quam dulcuisti,' Ar. Montanus. VER. VER. 7.This thy stature is like to a palm-tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes. VER. 8.-I said, I will go up to the palm-tree, I will take hold of the branches thereof. Let the literal sense try its hand here, and give us any thing consistent or instructive. The spiritual is clear and striking. Like to a palm-tree,— The ' righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree'. Thy stature, op, kumthka", applied by Ezekiel 3 to his parabolical vine, which at first was a spreading vine of low (kume) 'stature,' but became afterwards of exalted stature.' I will go up to the palm-tree, I will take hold of the branches thereof— apprehendam fructus ejus, Jerom; explained by St Paul, He taketh not hold of angels, but of the seed of Abraham he taketh hold,' außaveri, apprehendit. The palm-tree of the Song, to which the church, n, damthe, is likened here, (as before to a connexion with Pharaoh '), is St Paul's * seed of Abraham;' and the conclusion is obvious in both the comparisons. It was the seed of Abraham that were the drudges in Pharaoh's chariot. It is the seed of Abraham (who had righteousness VOL. II. 1 Psalm xcii. 12. 'ws Qorvig, LXX. as 'phoenix,' which has been thought the original of the fable about the bird of that name. 2 Compare Ephes. iv. 13. 3 Chap. xvii. 6. 4 Chap. xix. 10. 5 Heb. ii, 16. where the margin gives the true rendering. 6 Chap. i. 9. |