For love is strong as death, &c. True love seizes with a tenacious grasp. Like death, it rules with resistless sway; like Hades, it is never moved to give up its object: neither power nor prayer can overcome it. קָשָׁה, hard, firm, inexorable. קִנְּאָה is not jealousy (Sept., Vulg., Authorized Version, Percy, Kleuker, Good, Williams, &c.), but devout affection, ardent love (Ewald, Gesenius, De Wette, Noyes, Meier, Hitzig, Philippson &c.); it is here used as an intensitive term for love, as is evident from the parallelism and the connexion.
The flames of the Eternal. These words are exegetical of “flames of fire;” i.e. the flames of love, though having the same energy as those of fire, are not of the same origin; they emanate from the Eternal, the source of all love. Whether, with Ben Asher, we read שַׁלְהָבָתְיָהּ, conjointly, like מַאֲפָלְיָהּ, Jer. ii. 31; or with Ben Naphtali, שַׁלְהֶבָת יָהּ, separately, which is followed by most editions, Rashi, Ibn Ezra, and the majority of modern critics, and which is required by the parallelism; this predicate does not state that the flames of love are “most vehement,” but affirms that they emanate from the Eternal. יָה, an abbreviation of יַהֲוֶה (see Kalisch on Exod. iii. 14; xi. 2; Fürst, Lexicon, s.v.), like אֵל, Isa. xiv. 13, is the genitive of cause or origin. Comp. ἡ ἀγάπη ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἔστι, 1 John iv. 7. שַׁלְהֵב, flame, may either be a quadriliteral, formed from שַׁהֵב, Arabic, to burn, with the insertion of the ל after the first radical, according to the analogy of זַלְעַף, violent heat, (Ps. ii. 6), from the root זָעַף, to be hot; or, which is more probable, is the Shaphel conjugation of לָהַב, to burn. Fürst, Lexicon, s.v.; Gesen. § 55, 6; Ewald, § 122 a. The Sept. has φλόγες αὐτῆς, שִׁלְהָבֹתֶיהָ. That the original reading of the text was שַׁלְהֲבֹתֶיהָ שַׁלְהֲבֹת יָהּ (Ewald, Döpke, Hitzig, &c.) is purely conjectural.
[7]. Floods cannot quench love. Being a flame of celestial origin no terrestrial influence, however great, can destroy or wash it away; it is not subjected to means resorted to for the extinction of ordinary fires. מַיִם רַבִּים, prop. much water, i.e. a great quantity of it (Numb. xx. 11), floods. שָׁטַף, to wash, or sweep away, Job xiv. 19; Isa. xxviii. 17.
If one should offer all, &c. Such divine love spontaneously flows from the heart, and cannot be purchased with money; though one offered all his riches for it, they would be utterly despised. This affirmation, whilst true in itself, is levelled against the king, who attempted to gain love by flatteries and praises (vide supra, i. 11; vi. 8), but was utterly rejected (vii. 11). אִישׁ any one, one, Gen. xiii. 16; Exod. xvi. 29; Gesen. § 122, Rem. 2. בּוֹז, the infinitive absolute, is employed before the finite verb יָבוּזוּ, to express intensity, Gen. xliii. 3; 1 Sam. xx. 6; Gesen. § 131, 3 a; Ewald, § 280 b. יָבוּזוּ, the third person plural, is used for the passive, see supra, chap. viii. 1.
[8]. Our sister is still young, &c. The [[189]]brothers are here introduced, on the arrival of the Shulamite, as repeating the promise which they had once given to their sister if she kept virtuous, and, when espoused, remained true to her vows. One of the brothers inquires of the others what they should do for the Shulamite when she reached womanhood, and is demanded in marriage. אֲחוֹת לָנוּ, i.q. אֲחוֹתֵינוּ, our sister, and is well rendered by the Sept. ἀδελφὴ ἡμῶν, the Vulg. soror nostra, Luther, unsere Schwester. The adjective קָטוֹן, like גָדוֹל, prop. denoting size, is also used with reference to age. Gen. ix. 24; xxvii. 15; Judg. xv. 2. שָׁדַיִם אֵין לָהּ, i.e. she has not yet reached puberty. בְּיוֹﬦ, when, Gen. ii. 4. דִבֵּר בְּ, to speak for, to demand in marriage, 1 Sam. xiii. 9; xxv. 39.
[9]. If she be like a wall, &c. To this inquiry the second brother replied, that if, having reached that age, she should firmly resist every allurement as a battlement resists the attack of an enemy, they would decorate her as an impregnable wall; i.e. highly reward her. The expression “wall” is figuratively used for impregnability, Jer. ii. 18; so Immanuel, שעמדה הזקה כהומה. The silver turret here mentioned most probably refers to the silver horn, a highly prized ornament which women wear on their heads. “One of the most extraordinary parts of the attire of their females” (Druses of Lebanon), says Dr. Macmichael, “is a silver horn, sometimes studded with jewels, worn on the head in various positions, distinguishing different conditions. A married woman has it affixed to the right side of the head, a widow to the left, and a virgin is pointed out by its being placed on the very crown. Over this silver projection the long veil is thrown, with which they so completely conceal their faces as to rarely have more than one eye (vide supra, chap. iv. 9), visible.” Comp. also Bowring, Report on Syria, p. 8.
But if she be like a door, &c. That is, accessible (vide supra, chap. iv. 12), she shall be barricaded with cedar planks—be punished by being locked up. The word “door” is metaphorically used for open to seduction. The cedar wood is mentioned because it is exceedingly strong, and increases the idea of strict vigilance. Similarly Immanuel, ואם דלת שכבר נפתח נצור עליה לרח ארז כלמ׳ נביאה במצור ונסגור בעדה שלﬡ תראה, וכלוה אדז שהוה הזק ותקיף.
[10]. I am a wall, &c. The Shulamite now triumphantly responds, that she had proved impregnable as a wall, and had now reached womanhood, and therefore the promised reward was due to her. שָׁדַי כַּמִּגְדָלוֹת, i.q. שָׁדַי נָכֹנוּ, Ezek. xvi. 7, is well explained by Rashbam, הגיע זמני להינשא, my time for marriage has arrived, and is an answer to שָׁדַיִם אֵין לָהּ, in the preceding verse.
Then I was in his eyes, &c. That [[190]]is, in her brother’s eyes. He now, being convinced of his sister’s chastity, gave her the reward of virtue. The suffix in בְּעֵינָיו, his eyes, does not refer to Solomon (Ewald, Hitzig, Philippson, &c.), whose name has not been mentioned, but to the brother (Ibn Ezra, &c.), who last spoke. שָׁלוֹם, peace, has no reference to the name שְׁלֹמֹה, but is used in the sense of חַן, favour, and refers to chap. i. 6; comp. Gen. xxxiv. 7 with ver. 11.
[11]. Solomon had a vineyard, &c. Having been obliged, when demanding her promised reward, to describe her virtue as an impregnable wall, the Shulamite now relates more circumstantially how she had resisted the attempt to gain her affections. Solomon had a large vineyard in Baal-hammon, which he offered to consign to her if she granted his request; but the Shulamite refused his offer, telling him he might keep his large estate to himself, for she was quite satisfied with her humble possession. Many are the conjectures hazarded as to the locality of Baal-hammon, which occurs nowhere else, and no place is known by this name. It is taken for Baal-Gad, or Heliopolis (Rosenmüller, Bib. Geog. ii. p. 253), for חַמּוֹן, Hammon, a place in the tribe of Asher, Josh. xix. 28 (Ewald), and for Βελαμὼν or Βαλαμὼν, Belamon or Balamon, a place mentioned in the book of Judith, viii. 3, not far from the plain of Esdraelon, Judith iii. 9 (Meier, Hitzig). It is, however, more probable, according to Rashi, that Baal-hammon was in or near Jerusalem, and was called בַּעַל הַמּוֹן, place of the multitude, because its beauties and charms attracted a multitude of people, thus presenting a greater temptation for the Shulamite. The Vulgate strangely renders כֶּרֶם הָיָה לִשְׁלֹמֹה בְּבַעַל הַמּוֹן, vinea fuit pacifico in ea, quae habet populos.