[5]. Oh, strengthen me, &c. The rehearsal of their past union and enjoyment kindled the Shulamite’s affections, and made her wish again for that delicious fruit, i.e. the tokens of his love. The cakes here mentioned were held in high estimation in the East; here, however, both the cakes and the apples are to be taken figuratively as expressions of love. This is obvious from the preceding verse, and from the words, “for I am sick with love,” for no real cake or apple could cure a heart suffering from this complaint. אֲשִׁישָׁה (from אָשָׁשׁ, to burn, to fire; hence אֵשׁ, fire, like אֵם, mother, from אָמַם, to join, to unite), something made by fire, a sort of sweet cake prepared with fire, and is most probably the same which in Hos. iii. 1 is written more fully אֲשִׁישֵׁי עֲנַבִים, grape-cakes. The meaning, cake, is retained in the Sept. in all the passages (except Isa. xvi. 7, where the Sept. reads אֲנְשֵׁי, instead of אֲשִׁישֵׁי, see the parallel place, Jer. xlviii. 31), where this word occurs. Thus λάγανον ἀπὸ τηγάνου, a cake from the frying-pan, 2 Sam. vi. 19; and in [[143]]the parallel passage, 1 Chron. xvi. 3, ἀμορίτης, a sweet cake; in Hos. iii. 1, πέμμα, a baked cake; and ἀμόραις, sweet cakes, in the passage before us. This meaning is supported by the Chald. on Exod. xvi. 31, where אֲשִׁישְׁיָן is used for the Hebrew צַפִּיחִית, and Mishna Nedarim, vi. 10. Gesenius, Hitzig, Henderson, Fürst, &c., derive it from אָשַׁשׁ, to press, to compress, whence, they say, אֲשִׁישָׁה, a cake made of dried grapes pressed together, and אֲשִׁישׁ, a foundation (Isa. xvi. 7), which is pressed down by treading on it. But as the transition from cake to foundation is not so easily conceived, and especially as the meaning to press, attached to אָשׁשׁ, is nowhere to be found in Hebrew (the word in Isa. xvi. 7 is to be translated cake, see Hengstenberg, Christ. i. p. 315), it is far better to derive this word as above from אָשַׁשׁ, to burn. The Rabbinical explanation, נִרְבָא דְחַמְרָא, flagons of wine, which the Authorized Version follows, is not borne out by the etymology, nor does it suit the passages in which this word occurs, and is therefore rightly abandoned by modern lexicographers. The rendering of Hodgson, “Support me with cups, around me strew apples;” and that of Michaelis, “Support me with verdant herbs, spread fragrant fruits under me,” are contrary to the meaning of the words.
[6]. Let his right hand, &c. The pressure of the attempts to alienate her affections from him whom her soul loveth, and the burning desire to be re-united with him, though well sustained by her noble mind, yet overcame her body; and whilst momentarily sinking beneath the weight, the Shulamite desires that no other hand should raise her drooping head, no other arm support her exhausted frame than that of her beloved. This verse is to be taken in the optative mood. Comp. Ps. vii. 9; xlv. 2; Ewald, § 329 a.
[7]. I adjure you, &c. Having evinced her warm and undiminished attachment to her beloved shepherd, the Shulamite adjures the court ladies, who, as we have seen, tried to gain her affections for the king, by everything dear and lovely, not to excite her love for anyone else till her own (אהבה) affections wish (דוד אחר) for another object. The gazelle, צְבִי, so called from the beauty of its form, is an animal of the antelope kind, of very graceful and elegant figure, has very slender limbs, large and soft eyes. The great admiration in which this animal was held in the East, made the Hebrews use it as an emblem of everything beautiful (Prov. v. 19); and from its being charming and lovely, it also became an object by which to swear. Such adjurations are frequently used in the East. Comp. Reland, de Religio Mah. ii. p. 164: Rosenmüller, Orient. i. 146; v. 22. Dio, in the Æneid, lib. iv. 314; Bochart, Hieroz. i. p. 899. אֶתְכֶם, mas., for אֶתְכֶן, fem. Both masculine pronouns and verbs are sometimes used in reference to objects which are feminine. See Gesenius, § 121, Rem. i. § 137, 1; Ewald, § 184 c. אִם, after formulæ of swearing, has the effect of a negative particle (Isa. xxii. 14; Prov. xxvii. 14). This is owing to a part of the oath being omitted. Comp. 2 Sam. iii. 35; Gesen. § 155, 2 f.; Ewald, § 356 a. עוּר, here, is not to arouse, to wake from sleep (Gesen.), but to rouse, to excite the passions, affections; thus הֵעִיר קַנְאָה, he will arouse his zeal, Isa. xlii. 13; Prov. x. 12. The repetition of the same verb in the Hiphil and Piel expresses intensity, [[144]]Isa. xxix. 9; Zeph. ii. 1. אַהֲבָה is the abstract, love, affection, iii. 10; vii. 7. After שֶׁתֶּחְפָּץ supply דוֹד אֲחַר. Similarly, Rashbam. The Sept. strangely renders בִּצְבָאוֹת אוֹ בְּאַילוֹת הַשָּׂדֶה, ἐν δυνάμεσι καὶ ἰσχύσεσι τοῦ ἀγροῦ, by the powers and virtues of the field. Thus in this scene, the first attempts, both on the part of the king and the court ladies, to win the Shulamite’s affections, signally failed. The same formula re-occurs iii. 5, and viii. 4, to mark, at the end of the trials, her successful resistance.
[8]. Hark! my beloved! Having alluded in the preceding Section (i. 6) to the ill-treatment which she had received from her brothers, the Shulamite now relates the cause of that treatment. Thus whilst this narrative forms the connecting link between this and the preceding Section, it also gradually acquaints us with her history. The description given of the arrival and conduct of her beloved is very graphic and beautiful. She first sees him at a distance, bounding over the hills with the speed of the swift-footed gazelle, and presently he is found behind the wall, peeping through the window, and imploring her in the sweetest language imaginable to go with him into the fields and enjoy the beauties and charms of nature. קוֹל is not קוֹל רַגְלָיו, the sound of his feet (Ibn Ezra, Hitzig), which could not be heard at such a distance from the mountains; nor the voice of his song (Döpke, Philippson), for he could not very well sing when running at such a speed as here described; but simply means hark! (Ewald, Magnus, Meier), [[145]]and is used in animated descriptions to arrest attention, Ewald, § 286 f.
9 My beloved is like, &c. To describe the speed of his approach the Shulamite compares him to the swift-footed gazelle, and nimble fawn. This comparison is also used in other parts of Scripture. Thus Asahel is called light-footed as a gazelle. 2 Sam. ii. 18; Prov. vi. 5; Hab. iii. 19. “The Eastern buildings generally surround a square inner court; the beloved is described as gradually making his approach, first to the wall, then looking through the window.” Here is another incontestable proof that the object of the damsel’s affection, whom she describes as coming to her, is not the king, but a shepherd, for the king could not consistently be represented as bounding over the hills. Though אַיָּל has a feminine, אַיָּלָה, which is used in ver. 7, yet instead of its being here לְעֹפֶר אֲיָלוֹת, we have הָאַיָּלִים: see also Ps. xlii. 2. This is owing to the neglect on the part of the writer to avail himself of the forms established by usage, Gesen. § 107, 1. Or it may be that such names were still of a common gender, and the feminines were only in the process of formation, but not as yet fixedly established, Ewald, § 175 b. כֹּתֶל occurs only here, but it is evident from Dan. v. 5, and the Targum, Josh. ii. 15, where it stands for the Hebrew קִיר, that it means a wall forming a part of the house. The Sept. has here עַל הָרֵי בָתָר, from ii. 17.
10, 11. Arise, my love, &c. The Shulamite introduces here her beloved as speaking. He urges her to go, since the rain is over, and everything without is charming. עָנָה is idiomatically used in reference even to the person speaking first, without any antecedent interrogation. (Deut. xxvi. 5; Isa. xiv. 10; xxi. 9.) The meaning of the word seems to be simply to impart information, either asked for or not. In the former case עָנָה obtains the additional idea of a reply, whereas in the latter it merely means to inform, to tell, like ἀποκρίνομαι in the New Testament. Comp. ἀποκριθεῖς εἶπε, Matt. xvii. 4; Mark ix. 5. On the use of the dative לָךְ, see Gesen. § 154, 3 e. Ewald, § 315 a. The ἅπα. λέγ. סְתָו properly denotes the winter = the rainy season, at the end of which, viz. February or March, the spring advances with surpassing quickness; it excludes the autumn, and thus differs from חֹרֶף. The form סְתָו (from סָתָה, to winter), is, according to the analogy of חֲגָו, מְדָו, קְצָו, see Fürst, Lexicon, under חֲגָו. The Sept. has mistaken the dative לָךְ for the imp. לְכִי, and adds יוֹנָתִי, my dove, after יָפָתִי, my beauty.
[12]. The flowers appear, &c. The gradual development is exceedingly beautiful; the description unfolds with the season. After the graphic delineation of the meadows strewed with a profusion of variegated flowers; of the men in the fields, and the birds hovering over them, joining to pour forth a volume of various sounds; of the delicious odour of the embalmed fig, and fragrant vine, the beloved [[146]]exclaims: “Nature has prepared a rich banquet; come, let us go and enjoy it!” The Sept., Aquila, Sym., Vulg., Chald., Rashbam, render עֵת הַוָּמִיר, by the season for the pruning of vines: Gesenius defends this rendering, but against the usage of the word זָמִיר, and the connexion. Wherever זָמִיר occurs, either in the singular (Isa. xxv. 5), or plural (2 Sam. xxiii. 1; Isa. xxiv. 16), it invariably means song or singing. Moreover, the parallelism, and the whole of the description, demand that it should be rendered so here. All the pleasures and charms here depicted are gratifications for the senses, and are adduced by the beloved as the invitation of nature to enjoy her banquet; whereas the pruning of the vines would be a summons to engage in toil. Besides, the vine is mentioned afterwards in its rotation (v. 13), and it would mar the gradual progression of this minute description to suppose that it has been uselessly repeated. Hence it has been rightly rendered singing by Rashi, Kimchi, Ibn Ezra, Anonymous Oxford Manuscript, Mendelssohn, Kleuker, Ewald, Döpke, Rosenmüller, De Wette, Magnus, Hengstenberg, Philippson, Fürst, Meier, Hitzig, &c. The objection that זָמִיר, singing, means the song of men, is obviated by referring it here to the season when both man and bird begin to sing. זָמִיר, like other words of the form קָטִיל, expresses the time of the action; comp. אָסִיף, harvest; properly the time when the fruit is gathered. חָרִישׁ, the time of ploughing. Gesen. § 84, 5; Ewald, § 149 e.
The cooing of the turtle, &c. The turtle-dove is a migratory bird (Jer. viii. 7; Arist. Hist. Anim. viii. 3, 12, 16; Pliny, Hist. Nat. x. 36; Winer, Bib. Dict.; Kitto, Cyclop. Bib. Lit. s.v.); it resides in the winter farther south than Palestine, and returns in the spring, when its cooing voice in the woods announces the return of that season.
[13]. The fig-tree sweetens her green figs. The word חָנַט is now rendered by many commentators, according to the example of Ibn Ezra, to sweeten, to embalm, to spice; i.e. the fig-tree sweetens her fruit by filling it with aromatic juice. This rendering is confirmed by the use of חָנַט, to embalm (Gen. l. 2, 26), which was done with spices and aromatic plants (2 Chron. xvi. 14; John xix. 40). The Sept., Aquila., and Vulg. render חָנַט, puts forth, but this signification cannot be deduced from the root. Ewald, Magnus, Hitzig, have “the fig-tree reddens,” &c., but the verb is not used in this sense in Hebrew. פָּג (from פָּגַג immature), an unripe fig, Sept. ὄλυνθος, Vulg. grossus; so in the Talmud and Ibn Ezra, פרי טרם שיתבשל, the fruit before it is ripe.
The vines blossom, &c. It is well known that the blossoming vine smells sweetly; comp. Pliny, Hist. Nat. xiv. 2. וְהַנְּפָנִים סְמָדַר, lit. the vines are in blossom, i.e. the vines blossom; so Sym. οἰνάνθη, Vulg. florentes. Substantives are frequently used in Hebrew instead of adjectives to express properties; thus וְהַפִּשְׁתָּה גִבְעֹל, the flax was bolled. Exod. ix. 31; Ezra. x. 13. This peculiarity is to be accounted for by supposing either that the adjectives were not as yet formed, or if formed were still not currently used. Gesen. § 106, 1; Ewald, § 296 b. לָכְי stands for לָךְ; comp. ver. 10; the י has been occasioned by the preceding form קוּמִי, and succeeding words רַעֳיתִי יָפָהִי, which terminate in י. This is not unfrequently [[147]]the case, see Job xix. 29; Eccl. viii. 17; Prov. viii. 35; Mich. i. 8. The Sept. has here again לְכִי for לָךָ, and יֹונָתִי after יָפָיָתִי.