rounding Indies, then wo must suppose that her love. She wishes to say tlmt he is it ie introduced for lhe sake of whnt follows. perfect, r.verything that h~ oRn be. The bride feels that she does not love her Ver. 10.-My beloved is white and ruddy, belm·<'d one half enough ; she is so conscious the ohiefest among ten thouse.nd. '!'he of ,kficiencies, thRt she might oven lmvc mingling of colours in the countennuoo is 1\ eclcd as her dream represented. It had peculiar excellenco. Tho word leach, from entered her soul and made her ill with iu- the root tsachach (of. Lnm. iv. 7), means n wnrJ grief and self-rcproe.ch. She might so bright, shining clearness; it is not the e,1me act, she might eo treat her husba,nd. So she as lavan, whioh would mcl\n "dead white." adj urea her comp1mious to tell liim how much So in Greek >,.au,rpbs differs from >,.eu1<os. she loves him. The spiritue.l applicntiou is The red adhom, from the root dam, which not difficult to see. When the soul loses its means "to condense," is dark red (rou.ga joy in Christ, it becomes the prey of fears nnd puce), no doubt as betokenin~ hen.Ith o.nd self-Rccuse.tions, and even of reproaches from vigour. The pure, delicate white among lhe Cbrisl's servants and the guardians of his Cnucasio.ns denotes high rank, superior train- Church. For when our religion ceases to be ing, hereditary nobility, ns amon~ ourselves & spontaneons delight to us, we &re apt to the "aristocratic paleness" (of. Hom., 'II.,' carry on even the active work of our life in iv. 14 l, "ivory with purple;" Virg., '.2En.,' e. manner to be misunderstood by sincere xii. 65; Ovid, 'Am.,' ii.; 'Eleg.,' v. 39; Hor., believers around us. Yee., the very efforts OJ., i. 13, etc.; Tibull., 'Eleg.,' cxi. 4, etc.). we me.ke to recover peace may bring reproach The chiefest, that is, the distinguished one, upon us. Any Christian minister who baa tbe chosen (so the Greek versions,· Syriac, Lad to deal with religions despondency will Jerome, Luther). The LXX. he.s l1<>,.,>,.o- quite understand this dream of the bride's. X1Crµlvos, e cohorte selectus. Another render- We may often smite and wound, and even ing is '' bannered," furnished with e. bo.nner deprive of the garment of reputation and or pennon (St!) hence tht1 word Su1 as a past esteem, those who e.re really seeking for pnrticiple (sci° tbc Venetian rr«r11µa,.,µlvos). Christ, because we have misunder~tooJ The numeral (revava") "ten thou.rand" is them. simply used to represent an innumerable Ver. 8.-1 adj'lll'e you, 0 daughters of 'Jera- multitude; "myriad" is so used among our. salem, if ye fi..nd my beloved, that ye tell him, selves (cf. Ezek. xvi. 7). ' that I am sick of love. This appeal to the Vera. 11-16.-His head is as the most ladies suggests that the bride is speaking fi..ne gold, his locks are bushy, a.nd black as from her plo.ce in the royal palace; but it a raven. His eyes are like doves baside the may be taken otherwise, ae e. poetical trans- water-brooks; we.shed with milk and fitly ference of time and place, from the place set. His oheeks a.re as a bed of spices, as where the dream o.ctnally occurred, to Jeru- banks of sweet herbs ; his lips a.re as lilies, salem. It is difficult, in e. poem of such a dropping liquid myrrh. His he.nds are os kind, to explain every turn of language ob- rings of gold set with beryl ; his body is as jectively. We cannot, however, be fBl' wrong ivory work overlaid with se.pphil'es. His if we say the bride is rejoicing, in the legs are as pille.rs of me.rble set upon sockets presence of her attendant ladies, in the love of fine gold. His· e.spact is like Lebanon, of Solomon. He has just left her, and she excellent as the oedars. His mouth is most takes the opportunity of relating the dream, aweet : yea, he is altogether lovely. Thie is that she may say how she cannot bear his my beloved, e.nd this is my friend, 0 daughters absence a.nd how she adores him. The ladies of 'Je,:use.lem. This description, which is enter a.t once into the please.ut scheme of her complete in itself, is best regarded in its un- fe.ncy, e.nd IUISU.IIle that they are with her in broken perfection. We must not expect to the country place, and ready to help her to find a meaning for each sepe.ro.te part of it. find her shepherd-lover, who has turned There are ten corporeal excellences enume- away from her when she did not e.t once re.ted. We naturally rece.11 the descriptions respond to his call. The daughters of Jeru- in Daniel e.nd in the Apocalypse, which salem will, of course, symbolically represent certainly have reference to this, and mani- those who, by their sympathy and by their festly combine the attributes of gree.tncss similar relation to the object of our love, e.nd beauty in the Son of ruo.n. Solomon, no nre ready to help us to rejoice-our fellow- doubt, ae the son of Be.thsbeba, wo.s dis- believere. tinguished by his persona.I attre.ctions. Some Ver. 9.-What is thy beloved more than of the details of description are differently 1mnlher beloved, 0 thou fe.il'est among rcnderc,1 by diffemnt commento.tors. De- women 1 what is thy belond moro than litzsch regards the description of the hnir in annllwr beloved, that thou dolt so adjure ver. 11 ns compared to II hill or hilly range- us 1 '1'1,i,, of course, is podic artifice in order " bi~ locks hill upon hill," i.e." bis hair, s~en to give, lb" opportunity to the bride to enter from his neck upwards, forms In undulatmg upon a glowing deec1·iption of the object of lines hill upon hill." 'fhe blo.ok oolour is no m,. v. 1-lG.] 'fHE SONG OF SOLOMON. 12.3
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