Song of Solomon 2:3

2:1-7 Believers are beautiful, as clothed in the righteousness of Christ; and fragrant, as adorned with the graces of his Spirit; and they thrive under the refreshing beams of the Sun of righteousness. The lily is a very noble plant in the East; it grows to a considerable height, but has a weak stem. The church is weak in herself, yet is strong in Him that supports her. The wicked, the daughters of this world, who have no love to Christ, are as thorns, worthless and useless, noxious and hurtful. Corruptions are thorns in the flesh; but the lily now among thorns, shall be transplanted into that paradise where there is no brier or thorn. The world is a barren tree to the soul; but Christ is a fruitful one. And when poor souls are parched with convictions of sin, with the terrors of the law, or the troubles of this world, weary and heavy laden, they may find rest in Christ. It is not enough to pass by this shadow, but we must sit down under it. Believers have tasted that the Lord Jesus is gracious; his fruits are all the precious privileges of the new covenant, purchased by his blood, and communicated by his Spirit; promises are sweet to a believer, and precepts also. Pardons are sweet, and peace of conscience sweet. If our mouths are out of taste for the pleasures of sin, Divine consolations will be sweet to us. Christ brings the soul to seek and to find comforts through his ordinances, which are as a banqueting-house where his saints feast with him.

The love of Christ, manifested by his death, and by his word, is the banner he displays, and believers resort to it. How much better is it with the soul when sick from love to Christ, than when surfeited with the love of this world! And though Christ seemed to have withdrawn, yet he was even then a very present help. All his saints are in his hand, which tenderly holds their aching heads. Finding Christ thus nigh to her, the soul is in great care that her communion with him is not interrupted. We easily grieve the Spirit by wrong tempers. Let those who have comfort, fear sinning it away.

Song of Solomon 2:3 . As the apple-tree — Whose fruit is very pleasant and wholesome; among the trees of the wood — Which are barren. I sat down under his shadow — I confidently reposed myself under his protection. His fruit was sweet to my taste — The benefits which I received by him, namely, remission of sins, faith, grace, and assurance of glory.

(3) Apple tree. —So the LXX. and Vulg.; Heb., tappuach. Out of the six times that the word is used, four occur in this book, the other two being Proverbs 25:11 —“apple of gold”— Joel 1:12 , where it is joined with vine, fig, &c, as suffering from drought. It has been very variously identified. The quince, the citron, the apple, and the apricot have each had their advocates. The apple may be set aside, because the Palestine fruit usually called the apple is really the quince, the climate being too hot for our apple. (But see Thornson, The Land and the Book, p. 546.) The requirements to be satisfied are (1) grateful shade, Song of Solomon 2:3; (2) agreeable taste, Song of Solomon 2:3-5; (3) sweet perfume, Song of Solomon 7:8; (4) golden appearance, Proverbs 25:11. The quince is preferred by many, as being by the ancients consecrated to love, but it does not satisfy (2), being astringent and unpleasant to the taste till cooked. The citron does not, according to Thomson and Tristram, satisfy (1); but according to Rev. W.

Drake, in Smith’s Bible Dictionary, “it is a large and beautiful tree, gives a deep and refreshing shade, and is laden with golden-coloured fruit.” The apricot meets all the requirements, and is, with the exception of the fig, the most abundant fruit of the country. “In highlands and lowlands alike, by the shores of the Mediterranean and on the banks of the Jordan, in the nooks of Judiæa, under the heights of Lebanon, in the recesses of Galilee, and in the glades of Gilead, the apricot flourishes, and yields a crop of prodigious abundance. Many times have we pitched our tents in its shade, and spread our carpets secure from the rays of the sun. . . . There can scarcely be a more deliciously-perfumed fruit; and what can better fit the epithet of Solomon, ‘apples of gold in pictures of silver,’ than its golden fruit as its branches bend under the weight, in their setting of bright yet pale foliage?” (Tristram, Nat. Hist. of Bible, p. 335). Among the sons—i.e., among other young men.

{b} As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. (b) The spouse testifies her great desire toward her husband, but her strength fails her, and therefore she desires to be comforted, and felt it.

As the apple tree, whose fruit is very pleasant and wholesome, among the trees of the wood, which are either barren, or bear ungrateful and worthless fruit. I sat down under his shadow; being weary and heavy laden with manifold sins and troubles, inward and outward, I confidently reposed myself under his protection, (which is commonly signified by a shadow, as Isaiah 4:6 25:4 , &c.,) and by him was defended from the scorching heat of God’s wrath and from the curse of his fiery law, and from the mischief or hurt of all sorts of distresses. His fruit ; the benefits which I received by him, the clear, and full, and certain knowledge of God’s will, and the way of salvation, adoption, and remission of sins, faith and repentance, and all manner of grace, and assurance of glory. Thus he was to me both a sun and a shield , as is said, Psalm 84:11 .

3. Her reply. apple—generic including the golden citron, pomegranate, and orange apple (Pr 25:11). He combines the shadow and fragrance of the citron with the sweetness of the orange and pomegranate fruit. The foliage is perpetual; throughout the year a succession of blossoms, fruit, and perfume (Jas 1:17). among the sons—parallel to "among the daughters" (So 2:2). He alone is ever fruitful among the fruitless wild trees (Ps 89:6; Heb 1:9). I sat … with … delight—literally, "I eagerly desired and sat" (Ps 94:19; Mr 6:31; Eph 2:6; 1Pe 1:8). shadow—(Ps 121:5; Isa 4:6; 25:4; 32:2). Jesus Christ interposes the shadow of His cross between the blazing rays of justice and us sinners. fruit—Faith plucks it (Pr 3:18). Man lost the tree of life (Ge 3:22, 23). Jesus Christ regained it for him; he eats it partly now (Ps 119:103; Joh 6:55, 57; 1Pe 2:3); fully hereafter (Re 2:7; 22:2, 14); not earned by the sweat of his brow, or by his righteousness (Ro 10:1-21). Contrast the worldling's fruit (De 32:32; Lu 15:16).

3 . the apple tree ] The Heb. word is tappûach . Tristram, Fauna and Flora of Palestine , p. 294, takes it to mean the apricot; while Delitzsch, in his commentary on Proverbs, suggests the citron or orange, but neither view has more than a slight support. As between apple , which is held to be the tree meant, by Löw, Prof. Robertson Smith, Dr Post in Hastings’ Bible Dictionary , and Prof. Driver on Joel 1:12 , and quince , which is supported by the authors of the article ‘Apple’ in the Encycl. Bibl . and others, it is difficult to choose. A strong argument against the quince is contained in the last clause of the verse. The quince is not sweet, but rather bitter, and as the reference here is to the fruit in its natural state, we cannot get over the difficulty by saying that it is delicious when sweetened. Dr Post, who is a medical man living in Syria, remarks that to-day sick persons almost invariably ask the doctor if they may have an apple, and if he objects they urge their case with the plea that they want it only to smell. This is strikingly parallel to what we have in Song of Solomon 2:5 , and on the whole we would decide for apple tree. I sat down under his shadow with great delight ] Lit. In his shadow I delighted and sat down . The A.V. gives the sense of the Heb. accurately, as the two verbs are intended here to express one idea, and the second verb, as is usual in such constructions, is the principal one. his fruit ] i.e. the joy of loving converse with him. 3–7 .

Verse 3. - As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. That these are the words of the bride there can be no doubt. The apple tree is noted for the fragrance of its blossom and the sweetness of its fruit; hence the name tappuach , from the root naphach , "to breathe sweetly." The trees of the wood or forest are specially referred to, because they are generally wild, and their fruit sour and rough, and many have no fruit or flower. The Chaldee renders, "citron;" Rosenmuller and others, "quince." The word is rare (see Proverbs 25:11 ; Joel 1:12 ). It is sometimes the tree itself, at other times the fruit. It occurs in proper names, as ( Joshua 12:17 ), "The King of Tappuah," etc., and that shows that it was very early known in Palestine. It occurs frequently in the Talmud. The word is masculine, while "lily" is feminine. "I sat with delight" is expressed in true Hebrew phrase, "I delighted and sat," the intensity of feeling being expressed by the piel of the verb. By the shadow is intended both protection and refreshment; by the fruit, enjoyment. Perhaps we may go further, and say there is here a symbolical representation of the spiritual life, as both that of trust and participation.