Song of Solomon 1:7

1:7,8 Observe the title given to Christ, O Thou whom my soul loveth. Those that do so, may come to him boldly, and may humbly plead with him. Is it with God's people a noon-time of outward troubles, inward conflicts? Christ has rest for them. Those whose souls love Jesus Christ, earnestly desire to share in the privileges of his flock. Turning aside from Christ is what gracious souls dread more than anything else. God is ready to answer prayer. Follow the track, ask for the good old way, observe the footsteps of the flock, look what has been the practice of godly people. Sit under the direction of good ministers; beside the tents of the under shepherds. Bring thy charge with thee, they shall all be welcome. It will be the earnest desire and prayer of the Christian, that God would so direct him in his worldly business, and so order his situation and employment, that he may have his Lord and Saviour always before him.

Song of Solomon 1:7 . Tell me, &c. — Notwithstanding all these discouragements and afflictions, which I suffer for thy sake, and for my love to thee. Being reproached and persecuted by others, I flee to thee, O my only refuge and joy, and beg direction and help from thee; where thou feedest thy flock — Discover to me which is thy true church, and which are those assemblies and people where thou art present. This is the request of particular believers. Where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon — In the heat of the day, when the shepherds, in those hot countries, used to lead their flocks into shady places. Whereby he means the time of persecution, when it is hard to discover the true church, because she is deformed by it, and because she is obscured and driven into the wilderness. Why should I be as one that turneth aside? — Or a wanderer, or vagabond; like a neglected and forlorn creature, exposed both to censure and danger. By the flocks of thy companions — The assemblies of corrupt teachers and worshippers. These she calls Christ’s companions, because they profess the name of Christ, and their conjunction with him in God’s worship.

(7) Where thou feedest . . . thy flock . . . For why should I be . . . ?—The marginal reading, that is veiled, follows the LXX. in rendering the Hebrew literally. But it has been found somewhat difficult to assign a meaning to a literal translation. The su ggestions=unknown (Ewald), veiled as a harlot (Delitzsch, &c; comp. Genesis 38:15 ), fainting (Gesenius), seem all wide of the mark, since the question only refers to the danger of missing her beloved through ignorance of his whereabouts. A transposition of two letters would give a word with a sense required = erring, wandering about, a sense, indeed, which old Rabbinical commentators gave to this word itself in Isaiah 22:16 (Authorised Version, cover ); and probably the idea involved is the obvious one that a person with the head muffled up would not find her way easily, as we might say, “Why should I go about blindfold?” The Rabbinical interpretation of this verse is a good instance of the fanciful treatment the book has received: “When the time came for Moses to depart, he said to the Lord, ‘It is revealed to me that this people will sin and go into captivity; show me how they shall be governed and dwell among the nations whose decrees are oppressive as the heat; and wherefore is it they shall wander among the flocks of Esau and Ishmael, who make them idols equal to thee as thy companions?’”

Tell me, {n} O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of {o} thy companions? (n) The spouse feeling her fault flees to her husband only for comfort. (o) Whom you have called to the dignity of pastors, and they set forth their own dreams instead of your doctrine.

whom my soul loveth - A phrase recurring several times. It expresses great intensity of affection. Feedest - i. e., "Pursuest thy occupation as a shepherd;" so she speaks figuratively of the Son of David. Compare Sol 2:16; Sol 6:3; Psalm 23:1. Rest - Or, lie down; a term properly used of the couching of four-footed animals: "thy flock" is here therefore easily understood. Compare Ezekiel 34:14-15; Psalm 23:2; Jeremiah 50:6. As one that turneth aside - Or, goeth astray like an outcast.

Whom my soul loveth, notwithstanding all these discouragements mid afflictions which I suffer for thy sake, and for my love to thee. Being reproached and persecuted by others, I flee to thee, O my only refuge and joy, and I beg direction and help from thee. Where thou feedest, understand, thy flock, as Genesis 29:7 37:16 . Seeing false teachers and churches bear thy name, Mark 13:21,22 , and thy true church sometimes lies hid, Revelation 12:14 , discover to me which is thy true church, and which are those assemblies and people where thou art present, and where thine ordinances are dispensed in purity and power, and where thou dost and wilt command the blessing, even life for evermore , as it is expressed, Psalm 133:3 , that I may join myself to them. This is the request of particular believers. For it must be minded, as that which will be useful to explain really difficulties in this book, that the church in this book is sometimes considered, and speaketh, or is spoken of, as one entire body, and sometimes with respect unto and in the name of her particular members, and that promiscuously; and in which of these capacities each place is to be understood is left to the prudent and diligent reader to gather out of the words and context.

At noon; in the heat of the day, when the shepherds in those hot countries used to carry their flocks into shady places; whereby he means the time of hot persecution, when it is hard to find and discover the true church, partly because she is deformed by it, and partly because she is obscured and driven into the wilderness, as is said, Revelation 12:14 . Be as one, i.e. be really one, the particle as being here a note of truth, as it is in many other places. Why wilt thou by withdrawing thyself from me, and denying thy direction to me, suffer me, or give occasion to me, to be such a one? One that turneth aside; or, a wanderer , or vagabond , like a neglected and forlorn creature, exposed both to censure and danger, from both which it belongs to thee, my Husband, to protect and save me. By , or about , or towards , as this particle is elsewhere used, the flocks of thy companions; the assemblies of corrupt and false teachers and worshippers, by which I am like to be insnared, if thou dost forsake me. These he calls Christ’s companions , partly because they profess the name of Christ, and their conjunction with him in God’s worship; and partly because they set themselves up in Christ’s stead, and usurp his power in delivering and imposing their own laws and doctrines upon men’s consciences, and behave themselves like his equals or companions, not as becometh his subjects.

7. my soul loveth—more intense than "the virgins" and "the upright love thee" (So 1:3, 4; Mt 22:37). To carry out the design of the allegory, the royal encampment is here represented as moving from place to place, in search of green pastures, under the Shepherd King (Ps 23:1-6). The bride, having first enjoyed communion with him in the pavilion, is willing to follow Him into labors and dangers; arising from all absorbing love (Lu 14:26); this distinguishes her from the formalist (Joh 10:27; Re 14:4). feedest—tendest thy flock (Isa 40:11; Heb 13:20; 1Pe 2:25; 5:4; Re 7:17). No single type expresses all the office of Jesus Christ; hence arises the variety of diverse images used to portray the manifold aspects of Him: these would be quite incongruous, if the Song referred to the earthly Solomon. Her intercourse with Him is peculiar. She hears His voice, and addresses none but Himself. Yet it is through a veil; she sees Him not (Job 23:8, 9). If we would be fed, we must follow the Shepherd through the whole breadth of His Word, and not stay on one spot alone. makest … to rest—distinct from "feedest"; periods of rest are vouchsafed after labor (Isa 4:6; 49:10; Eze 34:13-15). Communion in private must go along with public following of Him. turneth aside—rather one veiled, that is, as a harlot, not His true bride (Ge 38:15), [Gesenius]; or as a mourner (2Sa 15:30), [Weiss]; or as one unknown [Maurer]. All imply estrangement from the Bridegroom.

7 . where thou feedest , &c.] Rather, where thou wilt pasture (thy flock), where thou wilt make (them) rest at noon . ‘Feedest’ is in English ambiguous, but the Heb. word is not. Cp. Genesis 37:16 , “Tell me, I pray thee, where they feed (their flocks).” as one that turneth aside ] Vulg. ne vagari incipiam . The LXX, ὡς περιβαλλομένη = as one veiling herself , is more correct. The Heb. of the text is kě ‛ôtyâh , which is the participle fem. Qal for the usual ‛ôtâh (but perhaps it should be ‛ôtîyyâh ; cp. Ges. Kautzsch Gramm . § 75 v ) of the verb âtâh = to fold, or pack together; cp. Isaiah 22:17 , “He will wrap thee up closely” (R.V.); and Jeremiah 43:12 , “He shall array himself” (literally wrap himself) “with the land of Egypt”; then ‘to veil’ or ‘cover,’ and this must be its meaning here; like one veiling herself . But what is the significance of her veiling herself? Delitzsch and others understand the reference here to be to the custom of harlots to disguise themselves, as Tamar, Genesis 38:15 , “He thought her to be an harlot, for she had covered her face,” but there is no plausible reason given why she should veil herself, especially if this interpretation could be put upon her doing so. Others, taking the text to be correct, make the meaning to be ‘as one mourning or forsaken,’ then ‛ôtyâh must have become a technical term from which the original meaning had almost wholly been stripped.

The Syriac, the Vulgate, and Symm. apparently read, ‘wanderer,’ transposing the letters and making ‛ôtîyyâh into tô‛ iyyâh , the participle of the verb ‘to wander.’ Archdeacon Aglen’s suggestion in Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers , that as the word ‛âtâh in Isaiah 22:17 is given the meaning of ‘erring,’ or ‘wandering about,’ by the Rabbinic commentators, probably the idea they had in their mind was that a person with the head wrapped up has difficulty in finding his way, and thus, even without any transposition of the letters, the word might come to be translated ‘wandering,’ is interesting and plausible. He would translate as one blindfold . This seems the best rendering. 7, 8 . Song of Solomon 1:7 is spoken by the Shulammite, asking her lover where she will find him at noon, and Song of Solomon 1:8 is the mocking comment of the daughters of Jerusalem. Martineau, indeed, supposes that the lover actually appears here, at the king’s residence in Jerusalem, and she asks him where she can find him feeding his flocks. But that seems unmeaning if he was a shepherd of En-gedi, as Martineau supposes; and in any case, he would not be feeding his flocks in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. Budde supposes that this is a song put into the mouth of the newly married couple, in order that the marriage, which really was a mere matter of arrangement, should be made to appear to be the result of previous affection. This, therefore, is an account of a lovers’ meeting before marriage.