Like a part of, &c. That is, the rosy cheeks visible beneath the veil resemble the vermilioned part of the pomegranate. Eastern poets frequently compare the colour of the cheeks with pomegranates and apples. Thus in a Persian ode quoted by Sir William Jones: “The pomegranate brings to my mind the blushes of my beloved, when her cheeks are covered with a modest resentment:” and Ibn Challecan, as adduced by Magnus in loco: “Believest thou that the apple can divert my looks from thee, when I behold thy cheeks?” Ibn Ezra, who is followed by some modern commentators, explains פֶּלַח by ציץ הרמון האדום, the red flower of the pomegranate; but this is contrary to 2 Kings iv. 39, where the root פלח is used for dissecting fruit, and 1 Sam. xxx. 12. Others again take the simile to be between the interior of the pomegranate, when cut or burst open, and the cheeks; but this being flat would by no means represent the round form of the coloured cheek here referred to. The comparison appears natural, striking, and beautiful, according to Rashi’s explanation of פֶּלַח, viz. חצי רמון שבחוץ שהוא אדום, that external half of the pomegranate which is red, one half of the pomegranate being brown, and the other beautifully vermilioned, intermixed with yellow and white; and it is to the latter part to which reference is here made. So the Sept. λέπυρον, the peel, or the external. Rashbam, Döpke, Hitzig.
[4]. Thy neck is like, &c. That is, “The erect and bold carriage of thy neck, decked with ornaments, resembles that high, commanding tower, adorned with trophies.” Though the text supplies us with no clue for finding out what tower this was, yet the comparison implies that it must have been one well known and celebrated for its imposing aspect and symmetrical proportions. Sandys (iii. 137), who is followed by others, identifies this tower with some ruins still found in the uttermost angle of Mount Zion, which bears that name. תַּלְפִּיּוֹת is rendered by the Sept. Θαλφιώθ, as a proper name; but there is no place known by such a name. Aquila has εἰς ἐπάλξεις: so Vulg. cum propugnaculis, battlements, Sym. ὕψη, heights; but it is difficult to divine how these renderings are to be made out from the form and meaning of the word. The Talmud Jerushalmi, Berachoth, section 4, and Saadias explain it תל שהכול פונים לו, an elevation towards which all look, i.e. by which they are guided. Ibn Ezra seems to favour the view that לְתַלְפִּיּוֹת is a compound of לְתַלוֹת פִּיוֹת, for the suspension of arms. But the Talmudic explanation rests upon the favourite whim of making a word of every letter. Ibn Ezra’s explanation incurs the objection that פִּיוֹת, by itself, never means swords or arms. Besides, it is evident that this interpretation owes its origin to the immediately following clause, אֶלֶף הַמָּגֵן תָּלוּי עָלָיו. Gesenius derives it from the Arabic תָּלַף, to destroy; hence תַּלְפִּי, destructive, deadly; poetically, for arms. But, apart from the difficulty of making תַּלְפִּיּוֹת, even according to this derivation, to mean weapons, according to this rendering there is no connexion between this clause and the figure. [[157]]It is therefore better, with Rashi and Rashbam, to take תַּלְפִּיּוֹת as a contraction for תְּאַלְפִּיּוֹת from the root אָלַף, to teach. The radical א in the feeble verbs פ״א, does not unfrequently fall away: thus וַתַּזְרֵנִי, 2 Sam. xxii. 40, for וַתְּאַזְּרֵנִי, and in the same verb, מַלְּפֵנוּ for מְאַלְּפֵנוּ, Job xxxv. 11; Gesen. § 68, 2; Ewald, § 54. תַּלְפִּיּוֹת (plur. of תלפית, according to the analogy of תַּבְנִיוֹת, from תַּבְנִית, תַּרְמִיוֹת, from תַּרְמִית), would therefore signify instruction; the plural being here used for the abstract, see supra, i. 2. This derivation is confirmed by the Chald., which periphrases תַּלְפִּיּוֹת by אוּלְפַן דְּאֹורַיְתָא, instruction of the law, and bears out the figure, and yields a beautiful sense. The Shulamite’s neck is not compared to some common turret, but to that splendid tower which was built for a model, that, as Rashbam rightly remarks, כל אומנין בנאים מתלמדים ממנו, all architects might learn their designs from it.
A thousand shields, &c. It was customary to adorn the walls of towers and castles with all sorts of splendid arms, Ezek. xxvii. 11. The castles of the maritime people, whose conquest is recorded by the Kouyunjik bas-reliefs, and distinguished by the shields hung round the walls. Layard’s Nineveh, ii. 296. אֶלֶף, thousand stands for a round, large member, Isa. xxx. 17; lx. 22; Ps. cv. 8; Eccl. vi. 6. כֹּל, all kinds, all sorts, see supra, iii. 6.
[5]. Thy bosom, &c. The point of comparison is the lovely sight which these objects present. The gazelles, as we have seen (ii. 7), are the symbol of beauty. To add however to their native charms, they are represented here as browzing in pasture-ground abounding with lilies. To this lovely spectacle, than which nothing could be more beautiful to an Oriental, her breasts are compared. The explanation which Bochart, Patrick, Henley, Percy, Good, give of this comparison, viz. “The two paps rise upon the breast like lilies from the ground; among which, if we conceive two red kids feeding, that were twins and perfectly alike, they appeared like the nipples or teats upon the paps, to those that behold them afar off,” is extravagant.
[6]. When the day cools, &c. Transported with joy at the sight of her beloved shepherd, the Shulamite interrupts the praises of her personal charms, which, on seeing her again, he began to pour forth, by exclaiming: When the day cools, that is, “this very evening, as soon as it gets dark, I will quit the royal abode, and go to our beautiful and open country, to the flowery meads, where are found aromatic plants growing in abundance.” For an explanation of the first part of this verse, see ii. 17, also spoken by the Shulamite. That such mountains of myrrh and hills of frankincense actually existed, is evident from Florus, Epitome Rerum Rom., lib. iii. c. 6., where Pompey the Great is said to have passed over Lebanon, and by Damascus, “per nemora illa odorata, per thuris et balsami sylvas.”
7, 8. Thou art all beautiful, &c. Gladdened [[158]]with her declaration, the shepherd, crowning and closing his description in the words, “Thou art a perfect beauty,” responds, “Thou shalt go with me, I will help thee to quit these lofty heights, the abode of lions and panthers—the royal residence; and safely conduct thee to the place whither thou wouldst go.” Lebanon is the name of a long range of mountains on the north of Palestine (Deut. ii. 24; Josh. i. 4), consisting of two parallel chains, which run from south-west to north-east. Though the Scriptures have only one name, viz. Lebanon, for both these chains, yet the present inhabitants of that country, as well as modern Travellers, have found it convenient to call the westermost chain, facing the Mediterranean,—Lebanon; and the eastern one, facing the plain of Damascus,—Anti-Libanus, from its being at Tyre, parallel with and opposite to the Syrian Lebanon. Amana, אֲמָנָה, is the name of the southern part of Anti-Libanus, at the root of which, it is supposed, issues the river of the same name; see 2 Kings v. 12. Hermon, חֶרְמֹון, is the name of the highest summit of a chain at the northernmost boundary of Palestine, and belongs also to Anti-Libanus (Josh. xi. 17; xiii. 5), and is now identified with Jebel-el-Sheikh. It consists of several mountains, viz. Sirion, שִׁרְיוֹן, Shenir, שְׁנִיר, and Sion, שִׂיאֹן; whence its plural name חֶרְבוֹנִים, see Fürst, Lexicon, s.v. Lebanon, Amana, Shenir and Hermon are here not intended to denote various parts of the range of mountains, but are merely different names of the royal residence. The word תַּשׁוּרִי is well rendered by the Sept., Syriac, &c., thou shalt go; comp. Isa. lvii. 9. The Common Version look is incompatible with the context and parallelism. Surely no one would invite his beloved to go with him to dangerous mountain-tops, to take a view of the country! Persons are generally anxious to avoid perilous places. The lions and panthers denote the king and his courtiers, Ezek. xix. 7; xxii. 25; Nahum ii. 12. כָּלָה, rendered spouse in the Authorized Version, is taken by some to denote a newly-married woman. The word however only means betrothed = a female under an engagement to marry. This is the sense in which the Jews still use the expression. The Sept., which is followed by the Vulg. and Luther, translates אִתִּי, δεῦρο, mistaking it for אֲתִי, the imp. of אָתָּה, to come. The Vulg. rendering of תָּשׁוּרִי by coronaberis, evidently savours of allegorism. For the Septuagint’s rendering of אֲמָנָה, by πίστις, see Introduction, p. 21.
[9]. Thou hast put heart into me, &c. This extraordinary amount of strength and courage which he feels, to enable him to rescue her from the abode of the lion, and to lead her safely home, has been infused into his heart, he says, by the sight of his beloved one. So the Anonymous Oxford Manuscript, שבשביל אהבתך נתגברתי ונבוא לי לב חדש שיש לי כח ללחם עם האריות והנמרים. As the Piel has sometimes an intensive, and sometimes a privative meaning (see Gesen. § 52, 2; Ewald, § 120), a difference [[159]]of opinion exists as to the signification of לִבֵּב here. The Sept. has ἐκκαρδίωσας ἡμᾶς, thou hast unhearted us; the Vulg. Vulnerasti cor meum; Ibn Ezra, לקחת לבי, thou hast taken away my heart; Gesenius, De Wette, &c. adopt this rendering. Against this however it is urged, that it is incompatible with the context. The beloved here accounts for his extraordinary strength and courage, which would enable him to rescue his beloved one from her critical position; and to say, “Thou hast deprived me of all heart,” would be a positive contradiction. To be in such an unusually courageous frame, the individual must have been full of heart, and not disheartened. Hence Herder, Ewald, Döpke, Lee, Meier, &c., translate לִבַּבְתִּנִי, thou hast put heart into me; thou hast made me bold. This is confirmed by Sym., Syriac, Arabic, and Chald. אַחוֹתִי, my sister, does not imply that the betrothed was related to her beloved, but is used as an expression of endearment, Prov. vii. 14; Tobit vii. 12; the Apoc. Esth. xv. 8, and soror in Latin. Good’s rendering of אַחֹתִי כַלָּה by my sister-spouse, and his remark that the pronoun “my” between the two substantives, being a useless interpretation of the versions, are gratuitous. כָּלָּה has no suffix here, not because it is to be joined with אֲחֹתי, but because this word, like אָב in Chald., never takes the suffix 1 pers.; and versions therefore made in languages whose idioms allow of the suffix are right in so expressing it.
With one of thine eyes, &c. It is customary with Eastern women to unveil one of their eyes in conversation, in which case a part of their neck ornaments becomes also visible. Niebuhr, Travels in Arabia, i. 262; see Kitto, Cyclop. Bib. Lit. Art. Veil, figure 536, and infra, viii. 9. The Anonymous MS., however, explains בְּאֶחַד מֵעֵינַיִךְ by בהבטה אחת שאת מבטת בי באחד מעיניך, one look of thine eyes. The rendering at once (Hodgson, Good) is incongruous. The attempt of the Masorites to substitute בַּאַחַת, fem., for בְּאֶחַד, mas., having evidently arisen from their anxiety to avoid the apparent incongruity of coupling a masculine numeral with a feminine noun, is unnecessary. The true solution lies in the fact, that members of the human body, although usually feminine, are most of them employed occasionally as masculine. Job xxi. 20; Zech. iv. 10; and infra, vi. 5; Gesen. § 107, 4 b; Ewald, § 174 d. עֲנָקָ is not look (Vulg.), nor turn (Percy, Good), nor stone (Ewald, Magnus), but chain. This is evident from Judg. viii. 26, and Prov. i. 9, the only two passages where this word occurs again (except as a proper name), and is translated by the Sept. (Judg. and Prov.) κλοιός, necklace, Aquila, περιτραχήλιος, πλόκαμος, neckband, neck-work; Sym. κλοιός, ὁρμίσκος, necklace; Vulg. (Judg. and Prov.) torques. So Ibn Ezra, מני חלי קשוריﬦ על הצואר, a kind of ornamental band, tied round the neck, Rashi, Rashbam, Gesenius, De Wette, Döpke, Lee, Philippson, Meier, Hengstenberg, &c. The objection urged by Hitzig, that an inanimate ornament could not effect such great things, is obviated by a reference to the Book of Judith, xvi. 9, where we are informed that the fair one succeeded in captivating even the savage Holofernes with her sandals: τὸ σανδάλιον αὐτῆς ἥρπασεν ὀφθαλμὸν αὐτοῦ. Besides, the meaning here is, that the slightest view of her is sufficient to inspire him with vigour and courage. The termination –וֹן in צַּוָּרוֹן, like וּן, in Syriac, forms the diminutive; and, like diminutives in other languages, is expressive of affection; Gesen. § 86, 2, 4; Ewald, 5, 167 a. The plur. termination –ָיִךְ in מִצֲוְּרֹנָיִךְ, is to be accounted for on the score that the Hebrews sometimes use plural forms for certain members of the body. Comp. פָּנִיﬦ, face, Gesen. § 108, 2 a; Ewald, § 178 a.
[10]. How sweet is thy love, &c. Here [[160]]the lover tells his loved one why the sight of her is so animating and emboldening. For the comparison of love with wine, see i. 2, 3. The Sept., which is followed by the Syriac, Vulg., Arabic, and Luther, has here again דַדֶּיךָ, thy breasts; but see i. 2. The Sept. has also ὀσμὴ ἱματίων σου, וְרֵיחַ שִׂמְלֹתַיִךְ, for וְרֵיחַ שְׁמָנַיִךְ, evidently taken from the following verse.
[11]. Thy lips, O my betrothed, &c. Every word which falls from her lips is like a drop from the honeycomb. This comparison is used in other parts of Scripture, and by the Greeks and Romans. Thus Prov. v. 3:—