Song of Solomon 3

So 3:1-11.

1. By night--literally, "By nights." Continuation of the longing for

the dawn of the Messiah

(So 2:17;

Ps 130:6;

Mal 4:2).

The spiritual desertion here

(So 2:17; 3:5)

is not due to indifference, as in

So 5:2-8.

"As nights and dews are better for flowers than a continual sun, so

Christ's absence (at times) giveth sap to humility, and putteth an edge

on hunger, and furnisheth a fair field to faith to put forth itself"

[RUTHERFORD]. Contrast

So 1:13;

Ps 30:6, 7.

on . . . bed--the secret of her failure

(Isa 64:7;

Jer 29:13;

Am 6:1, 4;

Ho 7:14).

loveth--no want of sincerity, but of diligence, which she now makes

up for by leaving her bed to seek Him

(Ps 22:2; 63:8;

Isa 26:9;

Joh 20:17).

Four times

(So 3:1-4)

she calls Jesus Christ, "Him whom my soul loveth," designating Him as

absent; language of desire: "He loved me," would be language of

present fruition

(Re 1:5).

In questioning the watchmen

(So 3:3),

she does not even name Him, so full is her heart of Him. Having found

Him at dawn (for throughout He is the morning), she

charges the daughters not to abridge by intrusion the period of His

stay. Compare as to the thoughtful seeking for Jesus Christ in the time

of John the Baptist, in vain at first, but presently after successful

(Lu 3:15-22;

Joh 1:19-34).

found him not--Oh, for such honest dealings with ourselves

(Pr 25:14;

Jude 12)!

2. Wholly awake for God

(Lu 14:18-20;

Eph 5:14).

"An honest resolution is often to (the doing of) duty, like a needle

that draws the thread after it" [DURHAM]. Not a

mere wish, that counts not the cost--to leave her easy bed, and wander

in the dark night seeking Him

(Pr 13:4;

Mt 21:30;

Lu 14:27-33).

the city--Jerusalem, literally

(Mt 3:5;

Joh 1:19),

and spiritually the Church here

(Heb 12:22),

in glory

(Re 21:2).

broad ways--open spaces at the gates of Eastern cities, where the

public assembled for business. So, the assemblies of worshippers

(So 8:2, 3;

Pr 1:20-23;

Heb 10:25).

She had in her first awakening shrunk from them, seeking Jesus Christ

alone; but she was desired to seek the footsteps of the flock

(So 1:8),

so now in her second trial she goes forth to them of herself. "The more

the soul grows in grace, and the less it leans on ordinances, the more

it prizes and profits by them" [MOODY STUART]

(Ps 73:16, 17).

found him not--Nothing short of Jesus Christ can satisfy her

(Job 23:8-10;

Ps 63:1, 2).

3. watchmen--ministers

(Isa 62:6;

Jer 6:17;

Eze 3:17;

Heb 13:17),

fit persons to consult

(Isa 21:11;

Mal 2:7).

found me--the general ministry of the Word "finds" individually souls

in quest of Jesus Christ

(Ge 24:27,

end of verse

Ac 16:14);

whereas formalists remain unaffected.

4. Jesus Christ is generally "found" near the watchmen and means of

grace; but they are not Himself; the star that points to Beth-lehem is

not the Sun that has risen there; she hastens past the guideposts to the

goal [MOODY

STUART]. Not even angels could satisfy Mary, instead of

Jesus Christ

(Joh 20:11-16).

found him--

(Isa 45:19;

Ho 6:1-3;

Mt 13:44-46).

held him, &c.--willing to be held; not willing, if not held

(Ge 32:26;

Mt 28:9;

Lu 24:28, 29;

Re 3:11).

"As a little weeping child will hold its mother fast, not because it is

stronger than she, but because her bowels constrain her not to leave

it; so Jesus Christ yearning over the believer cannot go,

because He will not" [DURHAM]. In

So 1:4

it is He who leads the bride into His chambers; here it is she who

leads Him into her mother's. There are times when the grace of Jesus

Christ seems to draw us to Him; and others, when we with strong cries

draw Him to us and ours. In the East one large apartment often serves

for the whole family; so the bride here speaks of her mother's

apartment and her own together. The mention of the "mother" excludes

impropriety, and imparts the idea of heavenly love, pure as a sister's,

while ardent as a bride's; hence the frequent title, "my

sister--spouse." Our mother after the Spirit, is the Church, the

new Jerusalem

(Joh 3:5-8;

Ga 4:19, 26);

for her we ought to pray continually

(Eph 3:14-19),

also for the national Jerusalem

(Isa 62:6, 7;

Ro 10:1),

also for the human family, which is our mother and kindred after

the flesh; these our mother's children have evilly treated us

(So 1:6);

but, like our Father, we are to return good for evil

(Mt 5:44, 45),

and so bring Jesus Christ home to them

(1Pe 2:12).

5. So

So 2:7;

but there it was for the non-interruption of her own fellowship

with Jesus Christ that she was anxious; here it is for the not

grieving of the Holy Ghost, on the part of the daughters of Jerusalem.

Jealously avoid levity, heedlessness, and offenses which would mar the

gracious work begun in others

(Mt 18:7;

Ac 2:42, 43;

Eph 4:30).

CANTICLE III.--

(So 3:6-5:1)

--THE

BRIDEGROOM WITH THE

BRIDE.

Historically, the ministry of Jesus Christ on earth.

6. New scene

(So 3:6-11).

The friends of the Bridegroom see a cortege approach. His palanquin and

guard.

cometh out--rather, "up from"; the wilderness was lower than Jerusalem

[MAURER].

pillars of smoke--from the perfumes burned around Him and His bride.

Image from Israel and the tabernacle (answering to "bed,"

So 3:7)

marching through the desert with the pillar of smoke by day and fire by

night

(Ex 14:20),

and the pillars of smoke ascending from the altars of incense and of

atonement; so Jesus Christ's righteousness, atonement, and ever-living

intercession. Balaam, the last representative of patriarchism, was

required to curse the Jewish Church, just as it afterwards would

not succumb to Christianity without a struggle

(Nu 22:41),

but he had to bless in language like that here

(Nu 24:5, 6).

Angels too joyfully ask the same question, when Jesus Christ with the

tabernacle of His body (answering to "His bed,"

So 3:7;

Joh 1:14,

"dwelt," Greek "tabernacled,"

Joh 2:21)

ascends into heaven

(Ps 24:8-10);

also when they see His glorious bride with Him

(Ps 68:18;

Re 7:13-17).

Encouragement to her; amid the darkest trials

(So 3:1),

she is still on the road to glory

(So 3:11)

in a palanquin "paved with love"

(So 3:10);

she is now in soul spiritually "coming," exhaling the sweet graces,

faith, love, joy, peace, prayer, and praise; (the fire is lighted

within, the "smoke" is seen without,

Ac 4:13);

it is in the desert of trial

(So 3:1-3)

she gets them; she is the "merchant" buying from Jesus Christ without

money or price

(Isa 55:1;

Re 3:18);

just as myrrh and frankincense are got, not in Egypt, but in the

Arabian sands and the mountains of Palestine. Hereafter she shall

"come"

(So 3:6, 11)

in a glorified body, too

(Php 3:21).

Historically, Jesus Christ returning from the wilderness, full of the

Holy Ghost

(Lu 4:1, 14).

The same, "Who is this," &c.

(Isa 63:1, 5).

7. In

So 3:6

the wilderness character of the Church is portrayed; in

So 3:7, 8,

its militant aspect. In

So 3:9, 10,

Jesus Christ is seen dwelling in believers, who are His "chariot" and

"body." In

So 3:11,

the consummation in glory.

bed--palanquin. His body, literally, guarded by a definite number of

angels, threescore, or sixty

(Mt 26:53),

from the wilderness

(Mt 4:1, 11),

and continually

(Lu 2:13; 22:43;

Ac 1:10, 11);

just as six hundred thousand of Israel guarded the Lord's tabernacle

(Nu 2:17-32),

one for every ten thousand. In contrast to the "bed of sloth"

(So 3:1).

valiant--

(Jos 5:13, 14).

Angels guarding His tomb used like words

(Mr 16:6).

of Israel--true subjects, not mercenaries.

8. hold--not actually grasping them, but having them girt on the

thigh ready for use, like their Lord

(Ps 45:3).

So believers too are guarded by angels

(Ps 91:11;

Heb 1:14),

and they themselves need "every man"

(Ne 4:18)

to be armed

(Ps 144:1, 2;

2Co 10:4;

Eph 6:12, 17;

1Ti 6:12),

and "expert"

(2Co 2:11).

because of fear in the night--Arab marauders often turn a wedding into

mourning by a night attack. So the bridal procession of saints in the

night of this wilderness is the chief object of Satan's assault.

9. chariot--more elaborately made than the "bed" or travelling litter

(So 3:7),

from a Hebrew root, "to elaborate" [EWALD].

So the temple of "cedar of Lebanon," as compared with the temporary

tabernacle of shittim wood

(2Sa 7:2, 6, 7;

1Ki 5:14; 6:15-18),

Jesus Christ's body is the antitype, "made" by the Father for Him

(1Co 1:30;

Heb 10:5),

the wood answering to His human nature, the gold, His divine; the two

being but one Christ.

10. pillars--supporting the canopy at the four corners; curtains at

the side protect the person within from the sun. Pillars with silver

sockets supported the veil that enclosed the holy of holies; emblem of

Jesus Christ's strength

(1Ki 7:21),

Margin, "silver," emblem of His purity

(Ps 12:6);

so the saints hereafter

(Re 3:12).

bottom--rather, "the back for resting or reclining on"

(Vulgate and Septuagint) [MAURER].

So the floor and mercy seat, the resting-place of God

(Ps 132:14)

in the temple, was gold

(1Ki 6:30).

covering--rather, "seat," as in

Le 15:9.

Hereafter the saints shall share His seat

(Re 3:21).

purple--the veil of the holiest, partly purple, and the purple robe

put on Jesus Christ, accord with English Version, "covering."

"Purple" (including scarlet and crimson) is the emblem of royalty, and

of His blood; typified by the passover lamb's blood, and the wine when

the twelve sat or reclined at the Lord's table.

paved--translated, like mosaic pavement, with the various acts and

promises of love of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost

(Zep 3:17;

1Jo 4:8, 16),

in contrast with the tables of stone in the "midst" of the ark, covered

with writings of stern command (compare

Joh 19:13);

this is all grace and love to believers, who answer to "the

daughters of Jerusalem"

(Joh 1:17).

The exterior silver and gold, cedar, purple, and guards, may deter, but

when the bride enters within, she rests on a pavement of

love.

11. Go forth--

(Mt 25:6).

daughters of Zion--spirits of saints, and angels

(Isa 61:10;

Zec 9:9).

crown--nuptial

(Eze 16:8-12),

(the Hebrews wore costly crowns or chaplets at weddings), and kingly

(Ps 2:6;

Re 19:12).

The crown of thorns was once His nuptial chaplet, His blood the wedding

wine cup

(Joh 19:5).

"His mother," that so crowned Him, is the human race, for He is

"the Son of man," not merely the son of Mary. The same mother

reconciled to Him

(Mt 12:50),

as the Church, travails in birth for souls, which she presents to Him

as a crown

(Php 4:1;

Re 4:10).

Not being ashamed to call the children brethren

(Heb 2:11-14),

He calls their mother His mother

(Ps 22:9;

Ro 8:29;

Re 12:1, 2).

behold--

(2Th 1:10).

day of his espousals--chiefly the final marriage, when the

number of the elect is complete

(Re 6:11).

gladness--

(Ps 45:15;

Isa 62:5;

Re 19:7).

MOODY STUART observes as to

this Canticle

(So 3:6-5:1),

the center of the Book, these characteristics: (1) The bridegroom takes

the chief part, whereas elsewhere the bride is the chief speaker. (2)

Elsewhere He is either "King" or "Solomon"; here He is twice called

"King Solomon." The bride is six times here called the "spouse"; never

so before or after; also "sister" four times, and, except in the first

verse of the next Canticle

[So 5:2],

nowhere else. (3) He and she are never separate; no absence, no

complaint, which abound elsewhere, are in this Canticle.