Song of Solomon 3:6

3:6-11 A wilderness is an emblem of the world; the believer comes out of it when he is delivered from the love of its sinful pleasures and pursuits, and refuses to comply with its customs and fashions, to seek happiness in communion with the Saviour. A poor soul shall come up, at last, under the conduct of the Comforter; like a cloud of incense ascending from the altar, or the smoke of the burnt-offerings. This signifies pious and devout affections, and the mounting of the soul heaven-ward. The believer is filled with the graces of God's Spirit; his devotions now are very lively. These graces and comforts are from the heavenly Canaan. He, who is the Peace of his people, the King of the heavenly Zion, has provided for the safe conveyance of his redeemed through the wilderness of this world. The bed, or palanquin, was contrived for rest and easy conveyance, but its beauty and magnificence showed the quality of its owner. The church is well guarded; more are with her than are against her: believers, when they repose in Christ, and with him, though they have their fears in the night, are yet safe. The chariot here denotes the covenant of redemption, the way of our salvation. This is that work of Christ, which makes him loved and admired in the eyes of believers. It is framed and contrived, both for the glory of Christ, and for the comfort of believers; it is well ordered in all things and sure.

The blood of the covenant, that rich purple, is the cover of this chariot, by which believers are sheltered from the wind and storms of Divine wrath, and the troubles of this world; but the midst of it is that love of Christ which passes knowledge, this is for believers to repose upon. Christ, in his gospel, manifests himself. Take special notice of his crown. Applying this to Christ, it speaks the honour put upon him, and his power and dominion.

Song of Solomon 3:6 . Who is this, &c. — The persons speaking seem to be the daughters of Jerusalem, who, upon occasion of the bride’s speech to them, make this reply. The person spoken of is the spouse: that cometh out of the wilderness — Believers were to be called, not only out of the holy land, which was as the garden of God, but also out of the Gentile world, which, in prophetical writings, is frequently described under the notion of a wilderness: like pillars of smoke — Being conducted out of the wilderness as by a pillar of smoke going before them, as the Israelites were led through the wilderness to Canaan, by a pillar of cloud and fire: perfumed with myrrh — The spouse is said to be thus perfumed, for her excellent virtues and religious services, which are pleasant and acceptable to God, and for the merits and graces of Christ, which are a sweet savour to God, wherewith she is enriched and beautified: with all the powders of the merchants — Which are fetched by the merchants from Arabia, or other remote parts.

(6) Who is this that cometh. —The dramatic feeling is decidedly shown in the passage introduced by this verse, but we still regard it as a scene passing only in the theatre of the fancy, introduced by the poet in his Epithalamium, partly from his sympathy with all newly-wedded people, partly (as Song of Solomon 8:11 ) to contrast the simplicity of his own espousals, of which all the joy centred in true love, with the pomp and magnificence of a royal marriage, which was a State ceremony. Wilderness.—Heb., midbar. The idea is that of a wide open space, with or without pasture: the country of nomads, as distinguished from that of a settled population. With the article (as here) generally of the desert of Arabia, but also of the tracts of country on the frontiers of Palestine (Joshua 8:16; Judges 1:16; comp. Matthew 3:1, &c). Here = the country. Like pillars of smoke.—The custom of heading a cortege with incense is both very ancient and very general in the East: probably a relic of religious ceremonials where gods were carried in processions. For Frankincense, see Exodus 30:34.

The principal and central action of the Song; the bride's entry into the city of David, and her marriage there with the king. Jewish interpreters regard this part of the poem as symbolizing the "first" entrance of the Church of the Old Testament into the land of promise, and her spiritual espousals, and communion with the King of kings, through the erection of Solomon's Temple and the institution of its acceptable worship. Christian fathers, in a like spirit, make most things here refer to the espousals of the Church with Christ in the Passion and Resurrection, or the communion of Christian souls with Him in meditation thereon. Songs 3:6-11 Two or more citizens of Jerusalem, or the chorus of youths, companions of the bridegroom, describe the magnificent appearance of the bride borne in a royal litter, and then that of the king in festive joy wearing a nuptial crown. Songs 3:6 "wilderness" is here pasture-land in contrast with the cultivated districts and garden-enclosures round the city. Compare Jeremiah 23:10; Joel 2:22; Isaiah 42:11; Psalm 65:12. Pillars of smoke - Here an image of delight and pleasure. Frankincense and other perfumes are burned in such abundance round the bridal equipage that the whole procession appears from the distance to be one of moving wreaths and columns of smoke. All powders of the merchant - Every kind of spice forming an article of commerce.

Who is this? the persons speaking seem to be the daughters of Jerusalem, who, upon occasion of the bride’s speech to them, make this reply; or the friends of the Bridegroom. The person spoken of is the spouse or bride. That cometh out of the wilderness; from the country, which, in comparison of cities, is oft called a wilderness, as Isaiah 42:11 Luke 1:80 3:2 , and elsewhere, from whence we little expected to see so beautiful and glorious a bride to come, such persons being usually bred in courts or noble cities. This phrase implies that believers were, and were to be, called out of the world, which for its barrenness, and disorder, and replenishment with wild beasts, may fitly be compared to a wilderness; and not only out of the Holy Land, which was as the garden of God, but also out of the Gentile world, which in prophetical writings is frequently described under the notion of a wilderness, as Isaiah 35:1 43:19,20 . Withal he seems to allude to the people of Israel, which to the wonder and astonishment of all those parts came up out of the wilderness into Canaan. Pillars of smoke; to which the church may not unfitly be compared, partly for its excellent order and comely proportions; partly, for its direct and constant motion towards heaven; and partly, to imply that though she was really and inwardly glorious, yet she was outwardly obscure and despicable in the eyes of the world.

Possibly the words may rendered thus, as with (which particle is very frequently understood, as hath been showed in divers foregoing texts) pillars, or a pillar , (for the plural number is oft put for the singular,) of smoke. And so the sense may be either, 1. Being conducted out of the wilderness as by a pillar of smoke going before them, as the Israelites were led through the wilderness to Canaan by a pillar of cloud and fire , Exodus 13:21 ,22. Or rather, 2. Attended with many prayers and praises, and other holy performances, which are perpetually ascending from her and offered by her unto God. So he alludes to those pillars of smoke which all the day long ascended from those numerous sacrifices which were offered in the temple, which also was a type of the prayers of the saints offered by Christ unto his Father, as may be gathered from Revelation 8:3-5 . But this I only propose. Perfumed: this doth not belong to the pillars , as appears by the difference of the numbers in the Hebrew words, the pillars being plural, and this word singular; but to the person, to wit, the spouse, who is said to be thus perfumed, partly, for her good name or renown, which is compared to perfumes, Ecclesiastes 7:1 ; partly, for her excellent virtues and religious services, which are pleasant and acceptable to God, and to angels, and to men; and partly, for the merits and graces of Christ, which are a sweet savour to God, Ephesians 5:2 , and wherewith she is enriched and beautified.

6. New scene (So 3:6-11). The friends of the Bridegroom see a cortege approach. His palanquin and guard. cometh out—rather, "up from"; the wilderness was lower than Jerusalem [Maurer]. pillars of smoke—from the perfumes burned around Him and His bride. Image from Israel and the tabernacle (answering to "bed," So 3:7) marching through the desert with the pillar of smoke by day and fire by night (Ex 14:20), and the pillars of smoke ascending from the altars of incense and of atonement; so Jesus Christ's righteousness, atonement, and ever-living intercession. Balaam, the last representative of patriarchism, was required to curse the Jewish Church, just as it afterwards would not succumb to Christianity without a struggle (Nu 22:41), but he had to bless in language like that here (Nu 24:5, 6). Angels too joyfully ask the same question, when Jesus Christ with the tabernacle of His body (answering to "His bed," So 3:7; Joh 1:14, "dwelt," Greek "tabernacled," Joh 2:21) ascends into heaven (Ps 24:8-10); also when they see His glorious bride with Him (Ps 68:18; Re 7:13-17).

Encouragement to her; amid the darkest trials (So 3:1), she is still on the road to glory (So 3:11) in a palanquin "paved with love" (So 3:10); she is now in soul spiritually "coming," exhaling the sweet graces, faith, love, joy, peace, prayer, and praise; (the fire is lighted within, the "smoke" is seen without, Ac 4:13); it is in the desert of trial (So 3:1-3) she gets them; she is the "merchant" buying from Jesus Christ without money or price (Isa 55:1; Re 3:18); just as myrrh and frankincense are got, not in Egypt, but in the Arabian sands and the mountains of Palestine. Hereafter she shall "come" (So 3:6, 11) in a glorified body, too (Php 3:21). Historically, Jesus Christ returning from the wilderness, full of the Holy Ghost (Lu 4:1, 14). The same, "Who is this," &c. (Isa 63:1, 5).

6 . Who is this that cometh out ] In the Heb. as it stands, this is feminine, and the participles coming up and perfumed are in agreement with it. Hence many hold that the verse is spoken of a woman, either of a princess whom Solomon, even in the midst of his wooing of the Shulammite, is about to marry, or of the Shulammite, who is seen approaching Jerusalem with Solomon as her husband in a bridal procession. But it need not necessarily be so. This may be taken as neuter, the fem. often representing the neuter, as there is no special neuter form in Heb. In that case the translation here would be literally ‘Who is that which cometh up?’ This is strictly parallel to Esau’s question to Jacob, Genesis 33:8 , “Who is all this camp?” i.e. ‘Who are the human beings in it?’ (Cp. Davidson, Heb. Synt . § 8, R. 1, and Ewald, Heb. Synt . E. T. p. 196.) This view is more in accord with the following words: for, obviously, the procession is too remote to permit of the spectators who speak here knowing that any lady in it is perfumed with myrrh, &c. It must, therefore, be the thing seen, not any person, which is perfumed. The idea is that something surrounded with incense, naturally supposed to be perfumed, is approaching. “The pomp is like that of a procession before which the censer of frankincense is swung” (Del.). Song of Solomon 3:7 tells us that this is the miṭṭâh of Solomon. out of the wilderness ] i.e. from the pasture lands as distinct from the cultivated lands.