The Pulpit Commentary — Song of Songs — Section 18

80, 81) ooour the following linee, rendered br&asts. Ky beloved is unto me as a into English vel'88 : - olnater of henna fl.owera in the vineyard& " Ae towers the cypl'8118 'mid the garden's of Engedi. The preterite is best tl\kon bloom. poetically for the present. The words ore A8 in the chariot proud Thessalia'n steed, evidently I\ response to those of the king. Thus graceful, rose-oomplexioned Helen As such they refer to present feeling l\nd moves.'' not to n past state. The bride expresses her delight in the king. 'fhe tl\ble is used The idea is that of stately beauty and grace- generally. The Hebrew word is from I\ ful movements. The old c-0mmentators see root "to sit round." The habit of reclining the Divine love of esp-0us1tle (Jer. ii. 2), as at table was introduced much later, during in the wilderness of the Ex:odus, and nft.er- the Persian, Greek, and Roman period. wards in the wilderness of the world. The The spikena.rd was I\ powerful perfume, Bible is full of the expression of Divine probably of Indian origin, as the lndifln tenderness and regard for man. word nalada, mooning "that which yields Vers. 10, 11.-Tb.y oheeks &re comely with fragrance," shows. The Persiflnisnard, th.e plaits of hair, thy neck with strings of Old Arabic 11ardu. It we.s ma.de from an jewels. We will make thee plaits of gold Indian .plant, the Valeriana, called Na1·do- with studs of silver. This language may be stachys 'Gatamansi, growing in Northern euggesteJ by the comparison first employed and Eastern India. 'fhe hairy part of the -the trappings of the horse. "The head- stem immediately above the root yields the frame of the horse's bridle and the p-0itral perfume. That it we.s "very precious" we, were then certainly, just as now, adorned see from the account of Mary's offering, with silken t.assels, fringes, 11.nd other -0rna- which was worth more than three hundred, ments of silver. Torim, 'round ornaments,' denarii, i.e. £8 10s. (Mark xiv. 5; John, which hang down in front on both sides of xii. 2). Horace promised, Virgil a whole the head-band or are also inwoven in the cask, i.e. nine gallons, of the best wine in braids of hair in the forehead." The strings exchange for a small onyx-box full of the· of jewels were necklaces-three rows of perfume. The metaphor represents the pearls. The ornamentation is, however, intense longing oflove. Myrrh was an exotic quite in accordance with female dress. The introduced into Palestine from Are.hie., king makes the promise of gold and silver Abyssinia., and India. Like frankincense, decoration ns an expression of his personal it is one of the amyridre. The.Balsamoden- delight in his bride e.nd acceptance of her. dron myrrha is the tree itself with it~.lee.ves Gold and silver were closely connected; and flowers. From the tree came a resin , hence silver wns ce.lled, in the Old Egyptian or gum (Gummi myrrhm), which either language, "white gold." The idea seems dropped from the leaves or was. artificially to be that of silver points sprinkled over obtained by incisions in the bark. The goldeu knobs. Compare the description in natural product was the more valuable. It 'Faust' of Margaret's delight in the casket was much prized as a perfume, e.ud em-. ehe finds in her room. The LXX. and ployed for many pur.poses. The Hebrew Vulgate have mistaken the word torim for women were accustomed to carry little bags a similar word for" doves," ta.king the simile or bottles of myrrh suspended from· their to be the be:rntiful colours of the dove's necks and hanging down between the neck. The bride does not seem to reply breasts under the dress, diffusing an attrac- immedio.tely to the king; but we may sup- tive fragrance round them. The word pose that the king takes his bride by the tseror is, properly, "a little bag," sacculus, lumd, and leads her into the banqueting- "that which one ties up," rather than a che.mber. But the next three verses, wbich "bundle." The meaning, of course, is are certa.inly in the lips of the bride, may rhetorical-He is at my heart and delight- be taken e.s her expression of delight in ful io all my t4oughts as the frngrnnce to her liuRband, eitber while lie feasts in the my senses. The henna flowera, or cypress, banquet or when it is over. The banquet in the vineyards of Engedi, is a very beau- is o. familiar emblem of the delight of mutual tiful figure. Oopher, the cypress cluster, love. Hence the feasts of love in tl1e -in Greek, Kinrpos: in Arabic, al-lienna primitive Church were regarded, not only (Lawsonia)-grows in Palestine and Egypt, as sea;solli! of fellowship between Christians, as we are told by Pliny (' Ne.t. Hist.,' xii. but times of rejoicing, when the e-0nl entered 24). It is a tall shrub reaching to eight or into the full appreciation of the Saviour's ten feet, exceedingly beautiful in appear- prese:nce. ance, and giving forth e. delightful odou1·. Vera. 12-14.-While the king eat (or, It ilj named from e. root '' to be wh1to ?r ail.M) at his table, my 1pikenard sent (sends) yellow-white." The ~oe~em w?men sta.1n fort)l its fr&grance. Ky beloved i1 unto mo their hands and feet with .1t to g1 ve them a &8 a bundle of m.yrrh, that .lieth botwut my yellow tint. Engedi, was a lovely dist~iol OH, I, 1-17.] THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 7