{-parared apartments in the Houſe. For the myſtical meaning whiclr is the-priricipal ſenſe intended in this Book,as the Spouſe here,and arr ray other places of this Book, ſignifies particular Believers, ſo her Mother is the univerſal Church, or the true Jeruſalem, which hath its riſe from above, which is the Mother of us all, Gal. 4. 26. in. which Chviſt and Believers are united, and have ſweet communion rdgether in holy Ordinances, into which Believers are ſaid to bring Chriſt by Faith; and Prayer, and the preparation of their Hearts for.
* l
him,whereby they invite & in'ſome' tort ingage Chriſt to go with them into! the publick Afffemblies,and there to give them his Loves, albhbough otherwiſe it isChrift who properly bringsBelievers into the m Altegorical Sgriptyres, are not to be
5 NN 3 i {triftly
BY night on my bed @ I fought him 6b whom my ſoul
found him « whom my ſoul loveth : I. held him, an % Ch. 5.7;
© »þ dI I
Ch.8.s.
fi Orbea,
friftly urged, as all learned Interpreters agree, many being added only for the decency of the Allegory. r Chriſt isas it were the Fa tlier that begets, and the Glhurch the Mother that conceiveth and bringeth forth Believers. |
* T charge you,Oye daughters of Jeruſalem,by the
' roes, and by the hinds of the field,that you tir not up,
norawake my love till he pleaſe 5. : | 5 This verſe is repeated from Ch. 2. 7« where it is explained. The Spouſe exhorts her ſelf, and all her Fellow-Members to be very cir- cumſpe&, leſt by any unkind or provoking carriage, they ſhould give Chriſt-any cauſe to depart from them. He is ſuppoſed to al- Jude to the cuſtom of awakening the Bridegroom and Bride by Songs and muſical Inſtruments. l 6 * Who is thiss that comethout of the wilderneſs « like pillars of ſmoak x, perfumed x with myrrhe and frankincenſe,with all powders of the merchant z? £ The perſons ſpeaking ſeem to be the Daughters of Jeruſalem, who upon occalion of the Brides Speech to them, make this reply, or theFriends of the Bridegroom:The perſon ſpoken of is the Spouſe or Bride. « From the Country, which in compariſon of Cities, 1s oft called a Wilderneſs, as ſa. 42. 11. Luke 1. 80. & 3. 2. and elfe- where, from whence we little expe&ed to ſee ſo beautiful and glo- rious a Bride to come, ſuch Perſons being uſually bred in Courts or noble Cities. This Phraſe implies that Believers were, and were to be called out of the World, which for its barrennefs, and diſorder, and repleniſhment with wildBeaſts,may fitly be compared to aWil- derne(s, and not only out of the Holy Land,which was as the Gar- den of God, bur alſo out of the Gentile-World,which in Propheti- calWritings is frequently deſcribed under the notion of a Wilderneſs as Iſa. 35. 1. & 43. 19, 20. Withal he ſeems to allude to the People of Iſrael, which to the wonder and aſtoniſhment of all thoſe parrs came up out of theWilderneſs into Canean.xTo which the Church may not unfitly be compared, partlyfor its excellent order and comc- ly proportions, partly for its dire&8&conſtant motion towardsHea- ven, andpartly to imply that though ſhe was really and inwardly glorious, yet ſhe was outwardly obſcure and deſpicable in the eyes of theWorld.Poflibly the words may be rendred thus,as with(which particle is very frequently underſtood,as hath been ſhewed in divers foregoing Texts )Pillars or # Pillar { for the plural number is oft pur for the ſingular ) of ſmoak, And ſo the ſenſe may be either 1, Being condatted out of rheWilderneſs as by aPillar of fmoak going before them, as the Iſraclites were led through the Wildernels to Canaan, by s Pillar of Cloud and Fire, 'Exod- 13: 21, 22. Or rather 2. Artend=- ed with many Prayers and Praiſes, and other holy performances, which'are perpetually aſcending from her, and offered by her unto God,So he alludes ro thoſe Pillars of ſmoak which all che day long aſcended from thoſe numerous Sacrifices which were offered in the Temple,which alſo was a Type of the Prayers of the Saints offered by Chrift unto his Father,as may be gathered from Rev, 8. 3, 4, 5. Bur this I only propoſe. y This doth not belong to the P:Ulars,as ap- pears by the diff:rence of the numbers in the Hebrew words the P:l- lars being plurahand this word ſingular, but to the Perſon, to wir, .the Spouſe, who isſaid to be thus perfumed, partly *for her good Name or Renown, which is compared to perfumes, Eccl.7.1.partly for her excellent Virtues and religious Services which are pleaſant and acceprable to God,and to Angels, and Men; and partly for the Merits and Graces of Chriſt, which are a ſweet ſaveur to God, Eph. 5. 2..and wherewith ſhe isenriched and beautified. z Which are fetched by the Merchants from A4rab:a,or other remote parts of the World for the ufe of perfuming- ; 7 Behold, his bed a,which is Solomons b, threeſcore c valiantmen are about it,of the valiant of Ifrael d. | & Theſe are the words either 1. Of the Bride=men, who ſpake v.6.& here continue their ſpeech, and from the admiration of rhe Bride proceed ro rhe admiration of the Brid:zgroom- Or 2. Of the Spouſe, who being admired by the Bridemen,turns their Eyes and Thoughts to the Bridegroom, and dire&s them tothe ſtudy of his excellencies,& intimates that all her comfort and ſafety is from him The Bed, the place of reſtand conjugal converſe, ſeems to denote the Church, which is comely through Chriſt's Beauty, and ſafe by his Prote&ion, in which Chriſt is glorified, & Believers enjoy ſweet fellowſhip with him,both kere:in the Church militanr, & eſpecially hereafter in the Church triumphane. 5 Which is the Bed, notof an ordinary Man, but of a great King,whom Solomon' repreſents or rypi- fies, and who is greater than Solomon, Nor is it hard to underſtand the Meſſias under the name of Solomon, his Type and Progenirtor, ſe- ing, he is upon the ſame reaſon called Davis, Jer. 30. 9. Ezek, 34. 23. aadelſewhere, eſpecially conſidering that this whole Book is by the confeſſion both of Jewiſh and Chriſtian Interpreters ro be myſttz cally underſtood. cz, 8: Very many,the certain number being 'pur for an uncertain, as is frequent. 4 He alludes to Selomon's Guard or
Watchmen, whereby he deſigns all thoſe Creatures,whether Angels
Princes, Miniſters, or others; whoſe Miniſtry God uſeth for rhe Prote&ion'of his Church.. :
8 Theyall hold ſwords, being expert in wars every |