Bible Commentaries

Where is thy beloved gone, ^k O thou fairest among women? where is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee.

(k) Hearing of the excellency of Christ, the faithful desire to know how to find him.

My beloved is gone down into his ^a garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.

(a) That is, is conversant here in earth among men.

Thou [art] beautiful, O my love, as ^b Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as [an army] with banners.

(b) Which was a fair and strong city, (1 Kings 14:17).

^c Turn away thy eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair [is] as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead.

(c) This declares the exceeding love of Christ toward his Church.

There are ^d sixty queens, and eighty concubines, and virgins without number.

(d) Meaning that the gifts are infinite which Christ gives to his Church: or that his faithful are many in number.

^e Who [is] she [that] looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, [and] terrible as [an army] with banners?

(e) He shows that the beginning of the Church was small, but that it grew up to a great multitude.

I went down into the ^f garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, [and] to see whether the vine flourished, [and] the pomegranates budded.

(f) He went down into the synagogue to see what fruits came from the law, and the prophets.

^g Before I was aware, my soul made me ^h [like] the chariots of Amminadib.

(g) I found nothing but rebellion.

(h) Or, Set me on the chariots of my willing people.

Return, return, O ⁱ Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies.

(i) O ye people of Jerusalem, for Jerusalem was called Shalem which signifies peace.