Bible Commentaries

The Incomparableness of Christ

Song of Solomon 5:9

"What is thy Beloved more than another beloved?" Wherein is Christ incomparable?

I. Christ is Incomparable in the Inquiries He Excites.—There must be something in our Beloved that is more than another beloved when such interrogatories are urged upon us. Commonplaceness does not arrest attention. Mediocrity does not challenge comparison. Ordinary personalities do not normally create extraordinary excitement. But our Beloved is much inquired about. Christ's people are always being inquired of concerning their Beloved. The world is intensely interested in the Saviour. He has been lifted up, and through the reluctant centuries He is drawing all men unto Him.

The repeated inquiry in this text arises from the testimony the lover has borne to the Beloved. The Beloved has so captivated the Bride that she has made no secret of her love.

II. Christ is Incomparable in the Love He Evokes.—Note the epithet, "thy Beloved". Note that it is twice repeated. Note also that it is often used in this book. There is no designation by which Christ can be more suitably spoken of. Christ draws out love as none other can. He dominates love as He dominates everything. Others evoke love; there are many beloveds; but this Beloved is "more than another beloved," for none lay up such wealth of love as He. This is His supremacy. As Napoleon said, "Jesus alone founded His empire upon love". And so His empire outlasts all other empires and outlasts the universe.

III. Christ is Incomparable in the Beauty of those who Follow Him.—The loveliness of the Bride appeals to those who inquire of her and they exclaim, "O thou fairest among women". It was largely by reason of her loveliness that bystanders and friends challenged her concerning her Beloved. They felt that He must be glorious after whom so beautiful a being followed. And it is generally the beauty of Christ's followers which leads men and women to inquire after Him. These beautiful followers of Jesus are supremely fair in all eyes but their own. Perfect loveliness is ever unconscious of itself.

IV. Christ is Incomparable in the Earnestness which He Inspires.—Christ's follower is represented by those around her as charging them. The Revised Version reads, "that thou dost so adjure us". Adjuration is an intense and solemn charge. This is typical of Christ's followers—they adjure the world and they adjure one another.

—Dinsdale T. Young, The Crimson Book, p124.

References.—V:9.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlii. No2469. J. Richardson, Penny Pulpit, vol. xiv. No817 , p217. V:9 , 10.—J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Song of. Son, p239. V:10.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlii. No2478. V:13.—Ibid. vol. xlii. No2479. V:16.—Ibid. vol. xvii. No1001; vol. xxiv. No1446. A. G. Brown, Penny Pulpit, No801 , vol. xiv. p97. VI:2.—J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Son, p252. VI:4.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvii. No984. VI:5.—Ibid. vol. xlii. No2486. VI:10.—J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Son, p261. VI:11.—Ibid. p275. W. Robertson Nicoll, The Garden of Nuts, p81. R. Collyse, Where the Light Dwelleth, p19.