Song of Solomon 1:4

1:2-6 The church, or rather the believer, speaks here in the character of the spouse of the King, the Messiah. The kisses of his mouth mean those assurances of pardon with which believers are favoured, filling them with peace and joy in believing, and causing them to abound in hope by the power of the Holy Ghost. Gracious souls take most pleasure in loving Christ, and being loved of him. Christ's love is more valuable and desirable than the best this world can give. The name of Christ is not now like ointment sealed up, but like ointment poured forth; which denotes the freeness and fulness of the setting forth of his grace by the gospel. Those whom he has redeemed and sanctified, are here the virgins that love Jesus Christ, and follow him whithersoever he goes, Re 14:4. They entreat him to draw them by the quickening influences of his Spirit. The more clearly we discern Christ's glory, the more sensible shall we be that we are unable to follow him suitably, and at the same time be more desirous of doing it. Observe the speedy answer given to this prayer. Those who wait at Wisdom's gate, shall be led into truth and comfort. And being brought into this chamber, our griefs will vanish. We have no joy but in Christ, and for this we are indebted to him. We will remember to give thanks for thy love; it shall make more lasting impressions upon us than any thing in this world. Nor is any love acceptable to Christ but love in sincerity, Eph 6:24.

The daughters of Jerusalem may mean professors not yet established in the faith. The spouse was black as the tents of the wandering Arabs, but comely as the magnificent curtains in the palaces of Solomon. The believer is black, as being defiled and sinful by nature, but comely, as renewed by Divine grace to the holy image of God. He is still deformed with remains of sin, but comely as accepted in Christ. He is often base and contemptible in the esteem of men, but excellent in the sight of God. The blackness was owing to the hard usage that had been suffered. The children of the church, her mother, but not of God, her Father, were angry with her. They had made her suffer hardships, which caused her to neglect the care of her soul. Thus, under the emblem of a poor female, made the chosen partner of a prince, we are led to consider the circumstances in which the love of Christ is accustomed to find its objects. They were wretched slaves of sin, in toil, or in sorrow, weary and heavy laden, but how great the change when the love of Christ is manifested to their souls!

Song of Solomon 1:4 . Draw me — By thy grace and Holy Spirit. We will — Both I, thy spouse, and the virgins, my companions. And this change of numbers teaches us, that the spouse is one great body, consisting of many members; run after thee — Will follow thee readily, cheerfully, and swiftly. The king hath brought me, &c. — Christ, the king of his church, hath answered my prayer; into his chambers — Where I may freely converse with him, and enjoy him. He hath taken me into intimate communion with himself. We will remember thy love, &c. — This shall be the matter of our thoughts and discourses.

(4) The king hath brought me. —The dramatic theory of the poem (see Excursus II.) has been in a great measure built up on interpretations given to this verse. We understand it as a repetition, in another form, of the protestation of love made in Song of Solomon 1:1-3 . Like them, it forms a stanza of five lines. The clause, “the king hath brought,” &c, is—in accordance with a common Hebrew idiom, where an hypothesis is expressed by a simple perfect or future without a particle (comp. Proverbs 22:29 ; Proverbs 25:16 )—to be understood, “Even should the king have brought me into his chambers, yet our transport and our joys are for thee alone; even then we would recall thy caresses, those caresses which are sweeter than wine.” The upright love thee.—Marg., they love thee uprightly; Heb., meysharîm, used in other places either (1) in the abstract, “righteousness,” &c, Psalm 17:2; Psalm 99:4; Proverbs 8:6 (so LXX. here); or (2) adverbially, Psalm 58:2; Psalm 75:3 (and Song of Solomon 7:9 below; but there the Lamed prefixed fixes the adverbial use). The Authorised Version follows the Vulg., Recti diligunt te, and is to be preferred, as bringing the clause into parallelism with the concluding clause of Song of Solomon 1:3 : “Thou who hast won the love of all maidens by thy personal attractions, hast gained that of the sincere and upright ones by thy character and thy great name.”

{d} Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his {e} chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee. (d) The faithful confess that they cannot come to Christ, unless they are drawn. (e) Meaning the secret joy that is not known to the world.

The king hath brought me - Made me a member of his household. This is true of every member of the chorus as well as of the bride. The upright love thee - Better as in the margin: uprightly do they (i. e., "the virgins" of Sol 1:3) love thee. Compare the use of the same word in Psalm 58:1; Proverbs 23:31.

Draw me; by thy grace and Holy Spirit effectually inclining my heart to come unto thee, as this phrase implies, Jeremiah 31:3 Hosea 11:4 John 6:44,45 . As thou hast outwardly called and invited me, so do thou inwardly move me, who am naturally averse and backward to follow thee. We; both I thy spouse, and the virgins my companions. And this change of numbers teaches us that the spouse in this book is one great body, consisting of many members, of whom therefore he speaks sometimes in the singular, and sometimes in the plural number. Will run after thee; will follow thee readily, and cheerfully, and swiftly; which is opposed to her former sluggishness and listlessness. We will not receive thy grace in vain, but will improve it, and co-operate with it, and stir up all our strength to serve and obey thee. The king; Christ, my Husband and Lord, the King of his church, as he is oft called, the King of kings, &c. Hath brought me, Heb. hath caused me to come , by drawing me as I desired. He hath answered my prayer. Into his chambers, where I may most freely and familiarly converse with him, and enjoy him. He hath taken me into intimate communion with himself. These chambers seem to note either, 1. Those heavenly mansions into which believers are sometimes said to be brought, even in this life, as Ephesians 2:6 , because they have a lively faith, and a well-grounded hope and assurance, and some comfortable foretastes of that blessed state. Or rather, 2.

Those places and conditions upon earth in which they enjoy the special favour and fellowship of God in Christ, as the public assemblies, in which Christ is in a peculiar manner present, Matthew 18:20 , where his word and ordinances are dispensed, and where he poureth forth his Spirit and blessings, and speaks great peace, and gives forth his loves unto his people. Yea, even the private closets wherein believers enjoy much of Christ, by prayer, and praise, and reading, and meditation, are such chambers also; for it is not the place, but the state, or privilege, which is here signified, and which is considerable. In thee; or, for thee ; in or for thy love and favour to us, which is the principal cause of our joy. Remember, or commemorate , or celebrate . This shall be the matter of our thoughts and discourses. The upright; those chaste and sincere virgins mentioned Song of Solomon 1:3 , who are here opposed to hypocritical professors.

4. (1) The cry of ancient Israel for Messiah, for example, Simeon, Anna, &c. (2) The cry of an awakened soul for the drawing of the Spirit, after it has got a glimpse of Christ's loveliness and its own helplessness. Draw me—The Father draws (Joh 6:44). The Son draws (Jer 31:3; Ho 11:4; Joh 12:32). "Draw" here, and "Tell" (So 1:7), reverently qualify the word "kiss" (So 1:2). me, we—No believer desires to go to heaven alone. We are converted as individuals; we follow Christ as joined in a communion of saints (Joh 1:41, 45). Individuality and community meet in the bride. run—Her earnestness kindles as she prays (Isa 40:31; Ps 119:32, 60). after thee—not before (Joh 10:4). king … brought me into—(Ps 45:14, 15; Joh 10:16). He is the anointed Priest (So 1:3); King (So 1:4). chambers—Her prayer is answered even beyond her desires. Not only is she permitted to run after Him, but is brought into the inmost pavilion, where Eastern kings admitted none but the most intimate friends (Es 4:11; 5:2; Ps 27:5). The erection of the temple of Solomon was the first bringing of the bride into permanent, instead of migratory, chambers of the King. Christ's body on earth was the next (Joh 2:21), whereby believers are brought within the veil (Eph 2:6; Heb 10:19, 20). Entrance into the closet for prayer is the first step. The earnest of the future bringing into heaven (Joh 14:3). His chambers are the bride's also (Isa 26:20).

There are various chambers, plural (Joh 14:2). be glad and rejoice—inward and outward rejoicing. in thee—(Isa 61:10; Php 4:1, 4). Not in our spiritual frames (Ps 30:6, 7). remember—rather, "commemorate with praises" (Isa 63:7). The mere remembrance of spiritual joys is better than the present enjoyment of carnal ones (Ps 4:6, 7). upright—rather, "uprightly," "sincerely" (Ps 58:1; Ro 12:9); so Nathanael (Joh 1:47); Peter (Joh 21:17); or "deservedly" [Maurer].

4 . Draw me, we will run after thee ] Better, Draw me after thee, that we may run . This rendering is contrary to the Heb. accents, which connect after thee with run , but in that case it is difficult to see who are meant by we . By taking the words as suggested we get the maiden and her deliverer as subjects, and the next clause then does not require to be taken as a hypothetical clause, as it must be if after thee is connected with run . It is simply a statement of the dangerous position from which she calls upon her lover to deliver her. we will be glad and rejoice in thee ] These are the words of the court ladies, continuing the speech of Song of Solomon 1:3 . we will remember thy love more than wine ] Rather, we will celebrate thy caresses more than wine . Nazkîrâh means literally ‘to commemorate,’ ‘to keep in memory,’ but this easily passes over into the signification of praising or celebrating. Cp. Psalm 20:7 , “we will make mention of the name of Jehovah.” In 1 Chronicles 16:4 the word is used absolutely, in the meaning ‘to celebrate’ (R.V.), and this is perhaps the best rendering here. the upright ] Rather, in uprightness , R.V. margin, or rightly , R.V. Rightly do they , viz. the maidens, Song of Solomon 1:3 , love thee .

Verse 4. - Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will make mention of thy love more than of wine: rightly do they love thee. This is best taken as all spoken by the bride. It is the language of the purest affection and adoring admiration. "I drew them," God says ( Hosea 11:4 ), "with cords of a man, with bands of love." "The Lord appeared of old unto me," says Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 31:3 ), "saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee." In the same sense the Greek word ἐλκυεῖν is used by our Lord himself of the Father drawing to the Son, and of the Son, uplifted on the cross, "drawing" all men unto him (cf. John 6:44 ; John 12:32 ). If the spiritual meaning of the whole poem is admitted, such language is quite natural. The king's chambers are the king's own rooms in the palace, i.e. his sleeping, rooms and sitting rooms - the penetralia regis. We may take the preterite as equivalent to the present; i.e. "The king is bringing me into closest fellowship with himself, not merely as a member of his household, but as his chosen bride." The concluding words have caused much discussion. The meaning, however, is the same whether we say, "The upright love thee," or "Thou art rightly loved." The intention is to set forth the object of love as perfect.