villages. Let us get up early to the vine- the MandragOTci officinalis (Linn.), whitish- yards; let us see whether the vine bath green in colour, with yellow apples about budded and its blossom be open, and the the size of nutmegs; they belong to the pomegranates be in flower: there will I order of Solanacem, and both fruits an,I give thee my love. All true poets will roots were employed as aphro. disit£, to pro- 11ymp11thize with the exquisite sentiment of mote love. We are, of roursP, reminded of the bride in this pnssago. 'fhe solitude Gen. xxx. 14, where the LXX. bas, µtfAa. and glory and reality of externul nature are µa.v6pa,yopwv, when the son of Leall found dearer to her than tile bustle and splendour mandrakes in vintage-time. They produce of the city and of the court. By "the their effect by their powerful and pleasant field" is meant the country generally. The fragrance. They are said to be only rarely village or little town surrounded with vine- foucd in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, yurds and gurdens was the scene of Shula- but they were abundant in Galilee, where mith's early life, and would always be Shulamith was brought up. The Arabs delightful to her. The word is the plural called them abd-el-sal'm, "servant of love " of an unused form. It is found in the form -postilion d'amour. We a.re not wrong in oopher (1 Sam. vi. 18), meaning "a district us1ng that which is 13erfectly natural and of level country," Delitzsch renders. "let simple for the cherishing and increasing of us get up early," rather differently-" in devout feeling. The three elements which the morning we will start "-but the mean- coexist in true spiritual life are thought, ing is the same. The word dodhai, " my feeling, and action. They support one love," is "the evidences or expressions of another. A religion which is a.11 impulso my love" (cf. eh. iv. 16; i. 2). No doubt and emotion soon wears itself out, and is the bride i3 speaking in the springtime, apt to end in spiritual vacuity and paralysis; the Wonnemond of May, when the pulses but when thought and activity hold up and beat in sympathy with the rising life of strengthen and guide feeling, then it is nature. scarcely possible to endanger the soul. Yer. 13.-The mandrakes give forth fra- The heart should go out to Christ in 11 grance, and at our doors are all manner of simple but fervent worship, especially in precious fruits, new and old, which I have praise. There are no Christians who are laid up for thee, 0 my beloved. The more ready to devote themselves to good dudhai after the form Lulai, and connected works thau those who delight much in probably with 1\1, are the "love-flowers," hearty and happy spiritual songs,
HOMILETICS. V ers. 1-5.-The chorus of maidens praise the beauty of the bride. I. THE PRELUDE, 1. The address. They address her as, "0 prince's daughter." She is not a king's daughter, like the bride of Ps. xiv., but she is of honourable extraction. Though she lived in the retired district of Lebanon, and had been brought up there in rustic occupations, her family was one of some distinction. So Joseph, the carpenter ot' Nazareth, was recognized by the angel Gabriel, and was known among men by the testimony of accepted genealogies as" the son of David." The bride always speaks humbly of herself (as in eh. i. 5, 6), but the daughters of Jerusalem praise her. Such praise was common at nuptial festivals; the literal translation of Ps. lxxviii. 63, "Their maidens were not given in marriage," seems to be, "Their maidens were not praised." The daughters of Jerusalem do not regard the bride with envy; they do not despise her because of her former low estnte; they rather bring forwa._rd every point that may tend to her praise. We should be like them in this respect. Jealousy is one of the most common of evil tempers; even the Lord's apostles were jealous of one another, and that in the very presence of the Master; again and again they disputed amoncr themselves which should be the greatest (Matt. xviii. 1; Luke xxii. 24). We must covet earnestly the blessed grace of charity-charity which "envieth not, vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, ~rnt rejoiceth in the truth." We must pray fervently, "From envy, hatred, and malice, and all uncharitableness, good Lord, deliver us." 2. The bride's approach. "How beautiful are thy feet with shoes I" The word here rendered "feet" more gener::i.lly means steps; this has been taken as an argument in favour of " the dl\nce of Mahanaim," mentioned above. It is used also for "feet;" but even if we take it in its more common sense, the words of the chorus may be well understood of tha lGG THE SONG OF SOLOMON. Len. vn. 1-13.