Kissing the walls that clasp her; with perfumes
Bathing the splendid portals, and around
Scattering rich wreaths and odoriferous flowers.”
Comp. also Tibul. i. 2, 14. So Herder, Kleuker, Ewald, Döpke, Rosenmüller, Philippson, &c.; Rashbam however is of opinion that the liquid myrrh which distilled from the Shulamite’s hand, was the perfume with which she had anointed herself after washing. Whilst Percy supposes that “she got up in such haste, that she spilt upon her hand the vessel of liquid myrrh, which she had brought to anoint and refresh his head, after having been exposed to the inclemencies of the night.” מוֹר עֹבֵר, liquid myrrh, see i. 2; and not, as Le Clerc erroneously supposes, current myrrh, that kind of myrrh which is most passable in traffic. The Vulg. has, Et digiti mei pleni myrrha probatissima, evidently mistaking the prep. עַל for מָלְאוּ, and takes the words כַּפּוֹת הַמַּנְעוּל over to the following verse, Pessulum ostii mei aperui dilecto meo.
[6]. My beloved had withdrawn, &c. To her great grief she found, when opening, that her beloved had gone. The asyndeton חָמַק עָבַר is very expressive, and the use of the two synonymous terms strengthens the sense. This figure, which is effected by the omission of the conjunctive particle, is used in animated descriptions, both by sacred and profane writers. Comp. Σιώπα, πεφίμωσο, Mark iv, 39. Winer, New Testament Gram. § 66, 4. The phrase יָצָא נֶפֶשׁ, properly denoting the departure of the soul from the body, (Gesen. xxxv. 18; Ps. cxlvi. 4,) like יָצָא לֵב, is used to express the momentary loss of the senses, i.e. to faint. בְּדַבְּרוֹ, in his speaking, i.e. when he had spoken of it, (Judg. viii. 3; 1 Sam. xvii. 28), i.e. of his going away: so Rashi, שאמר לא אבא אל ביתך כי מתחילה לא אבית לפתוח, “Because he said I will not now enter thy house, for thou didst at first refuse to open me,” and Immanuel, נפשי יצאה בדברו אלי הנני הולך לדרכי אחרי שלא תפתחתי הדלת. “My soul departed when he told me, Now I am going away, because thou wouldst not open me the door.” We must employ a finite verb with a conjunction to express in English the Hebrew construction of the infinitive with a preposition, and the relation of time must be gathered from the connection, Gesen. § 132, 2, 3.
[7]. The watchmen who patrol the city, &c. That the seeking and calling mentioned in the last verse were not confined to the door, is evident from this verse. פְצָעוּנִי, הִכּוּנִי are again an asyndeton. רָדִיד, which occurs only once more, Is. iii. 23, is a kind of veil-garment, which Oriental ladies still wear, and denotes more properly an out-door [[167]]cloak. See Schroeder, Vestit. Mul. p. 368; Gesen. on Isa. iii. 23; Winer, Bib. Dict. s.v.; Saalschütz, Archäologie der Hebräer, vol. i. p. 28.
[8]. I adjure you, &c. Having mentioned the indifference with which she had treated her beloved, the Shulamite is anxious to impress upon the court-ladies that this was in a dream, and that in reality, so far from her affections being abated, she was as dotingly attached to him as ever; and begs of them, if they should see him, to tell him so. For the masculine termination in תִּמְצְאוּ אֶתְכֶם and תַּגִּידוּ, see ii. 7. We must supply הַגִּידוּ לוֹ, tell him, after מַה תַּגִּיודוּ לוֹ, what will you tell him? The omission is designedly made, to give animation to the request. The emendation proposed by Houbigant, to read הגידנו, instead of חגידו, is gratuitous, like all his emendations. The Sept. adds ἐν ταῖς δυνάμεσιν καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἰσχύσεσιν τοῦ ἀγροῦ, “by the powers, and by the virtues of the field,” the false rendering of בִּצְבָאוֹת אוֹ בְּאַיְלוֹת הַשָּׂדֶה, from the preceding formula of adjuration.
[9]. What is thy beloved, &c. The great solicitude manifested by the Shulamite for her beloved, induces the court ladies to ask what peculiar attractions there were in him more than in an ordinary lover, to cause such an unusual manifestation of feeling, and thus an opportunity is afforded her to give a description of him. It is evident from this question of the court ladies that Solomon is not the beloved of whom the Shulamite has been speaking in the preceding verses. For surely these court ladies knew the aspect and character of Solomon better than the Shulamite. This is, moreover, established beyond doubt from ch. vi. 2, 3, where the damsel, at the end of the description, designedly states that the object of her delineation and attachment, is the shepherd. The particle מִן, prefixed to דוֹד, with which the comparison is made, expresses the comparative, Gesen. § 191, 1. For הַיָּפָה בַּנָּשִׁים, see i. 8, and for the form הִשְׁבַּעְתָּנוּ, Ewald, § 249, d.
[10]. My beloved is white, &c. The Shulamite answers this question by giving a very graphic description of her beloved. The colour of his countenance and body is such a beautiful mingling of white and red as is seldom seen, and by which he is distinguished above thousands. A similar description is found in Virg. Æn. xii. 65, seq.
Flagrantes perfusa genas: cui plurimus ignem