Notes
Song of Solomon 4:8. Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon; look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards
‘Come with me’ (תָּבוֹאִי אִתִּי tabhoi itti). אִתִּי sometimes read as the imperative of אָתָה ‘to come.’ So the SEPTUAGINT and VULGATE, followed by COVERDALE and LUTHER. Viewed by most as from אֵֽת ‘with’ and י ‘me.’ So the TARGUM, DIODATI and MARTIN. By others as denoting ‘to me.’ Solomon invites the Bride to his arms as a place of safety. PERCY, WILLIAMS, BOOTHROYD. EWALD strangely supposes the words put by Shulamite into her absent lover’s mouth. Bridegroom invites the spouse to come into more pleasant and secure places. PATRICK. To make an excursion with him to admire together the grand and beautiful scenery. DÖDERLEIN. To see the mountains mentioned, and to be crowned with their flowers. DEL RIO. Bride, after last meeting, had returned home, and, being a shepherdess, had been feeding her flocks as far as Lebanon, &c. “Bride of Christ.” Solomon meets his betrothed on the summits of Lebanon, and invites her to leave it along with him. M. STUART, DELITZSCH. Announces to her that her home should henceforth be with him in the royal palace. ZÖCKLER. ‘Lebanon’ (לְבָנוֹן from לָבַן laban, ‘to be white,’ the ‘white mountain, the Mont Blanc of Palestine’), the magnificent range of mountains, so-called, situated between Phœnicia and Syria, with a double line, called the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon. Remarkable for the grandeur of its appearance, its silvery aspect, its fertility and beauty. The abode of wild beasts (2 Kings 14:9). A forest or wilderness in comparison with other places (Isaiah 29:17). Place of the Bride’s nativity and upbringing. SANCTIUS. Bride exhorted to leave her paternal abode with the Bridegroom. THEODORET. Solomon recalls her descent from a simple shepherd’s family in the mountain region of Northern Palestine. ZÖCKLER. The Bride’s seven-fold beauty the ground on which she comes down with the King from Lebanon and its mountain peaks, and from the haunts of lions and panthers, where she had dwelt on the other side of Lebanon. HAHN. Allegorically: The congregation of Israel invited to come to the Temple, and dwell with the Lord there. TARGUM. The divine presence promised to Israel when they should be carried captive from Lebanon, and should return thither. RASHI. From the Temple, or the city and land where it is situated. ROSENMÜLLER. Israel to leave the temporary sanctuary and follow the Bridegroom in the spiritual way of perfection, being assured of His presence with her in the path of suffering. WEISS; Lebanon the Temple from which Christ calls His people to remove (Zechariah 2:1, compare Matthew 21:13). M. STUART. The Church called to forsake idols, and to leave all and follow Christ, her Bridegroom; like Psalms 45:10. THEODORET, DAVIDSON. Called from the splendour of worldly glory. HONORIUS. From some situation of danger. BUSH. From false Churches and societies of wicked people, to walk with him in newness of life. AINSWORTH. The Church invited to heaven. PISCATOR.
‘My spouse.’ כַּלָּה (callah) a bride; according to GESENIUS, from כָּלל calal, to crown, ‘the crowned one;’ but according to others, from כָּלַל to perfect; a term of affection and esteem, used to express the relation of a son’s wife to his father and mother—a ‘perfect one.’ PARKHURST, WILLIAMS, SIMON. Never used with my. The Bride so called in direct relation to her husband’s parents rather than to the husband himself; equivalent to ‘daughter-in-law;’ the title being retained as long as her husband’s parents were living (Genesis 38:11; Genesis 38:16; Genesis 38:24; Ruth 1:6-8). FRY. More directly applied in reference to the Bridegroom or husband (1 Samuel 3:10): the idea of the word being completion, totality; a family being only complete upon a son’s marriage, and the prospect of issue in the male line; the Bride, or daughter-in-law, being the person through whom the name, honours, and inheritance were to be continued. ‘Three-fold mystery.’ Shulamite here, for the first time called the Bride: hitherto only ‘love’ or ‘friend; this section immediately following the consummation of the marriage. PERCY. So-called on account of the day being appointed for the marriage. JUNIUS.
‘Look from the top of Amana,’ &c תָּשׁוּרִי (tashuri) susceptible of two meanings—to ‘look’ and to set out on a journey.’ The latter preferred by ZÖCKLER and others as parallel with תָבוֹאִי. Thus understood by the SEPTUAGINT (διαλεύοῃ.) So LUTHER. The VULGATE: Thou shalt be crowned; either from שׁוּר to rule (SANCTIUS), or from אָשַׁר to be happy (DEL RIO). So CALMET: The Bridegroom promises to deck her with a crown, and make her his Bride. TARGUM: Thou shalt see persons coming i.e., with presents. So ROSEMULLER. GROTIUS: I will conduct thee through the most pleasant parts of my kingdom. COCCEIUS: Come and enter into possession: look forth on the inheritance. PERCY: She may now look down in security amidst any dangers of which she was apprehensive. FRY: The Bride, in passing from her home to her husband’s abode, would obtain from the heights of these mountains a gratifying prospect of the land of promise. DELITZSCH: Solomon would conduct her from one summit of Lebanon to another and give her to see and enjoy the prospect of his wide dominions. ‘Amana’ (אֲמָנָה), the name of a mountain in the north of Palestine. RASHI At present not precisely known: probably belonging to the same range of mountains in Antilibanus as Shenir and Hermon. WEISS. Not likely, as A. CLARKE, the mountains dividing Cilicia and Assyria. WILLIAMS: A mountain in Syria; the valley and the river called by the same name, Amana and Abana (2 Kings 5:12; Keri אמנה Amana). GESENIUS: The name of a river rising in Antilibanus and watering Damascus, and giving its name to that part of the Lebanon. According to later Jews, only the name of a river. EWALD: Amana, some part of Lebanon not far from Damascus, whence a small river of similar name had its rise, called Abana. MICHAELIS: Abana probably the river now called Fiji. ZÖCKLER: Amana, the peak lying farthest to the east and north-east of the Anlitibanus range. ‘Shenir’ (שְׁנִיר, better read שְׂנִיר Senir), the name of Mount Hermon with the Amonites (Deuteronomy 3:9); as Sirion (שִׂרְיוֹן) was with the Sidonians. In a stricter sense, a part of Hermon or Antilibanus lying to the north, and now called by the Arabs, Jebel Senir; Hermon being distinguished from Shenir both here and in 1 Chronicles 5:23. GESENIUS. Shenir the more northern, Hermon the more southern, of the principal peaks in the Hermon or Antilibanus range. ZÖCKLER. Sirion identical with Shenir, meaning a breastplate; referring probably to its glittering breastplate of ice. STANLEY. ‘Hermon’ (חֶרְמוֹן). A high mountain of Antilibanus covered with snow, now called Jebel Sheikh. Sometimes as here, and in 1 Chronicles 5:23, distinguished from Shenir, the common usage apparently fluctuating. Hermon consisted of more mountains than one (Psalms 42:7), these mountains being called also Zion (Deuteronomy 3:9; Deuteronomy 4:48). GESENIUS. The poet here only varies the names, because one meant the same as another to him. HITZIG, ZÖCKLER. Amana, Shenir, and Hermon, all different mountains of the Lebanon chain. COBBIN. The SEPTUAGINT, strangely translating the first name, Amana, has: ‘From the beginning of the faith.’ In the second clause, however: ‘From the top,’ &c.; as the VULGATE in both clauses. The passage thus allegorized. THEODORET: Shenir and Hermon the law or legal life. WEISS: Wild mountains of Israel’s captivity. DAVIDSON: The whole land of Gentile ESAU—the Gentile and estranged wilderness. PATRICK: From the horrid mountains, where thou wast exposed to the rage and cruelty of furious and troublesome men, look down and behold the goodly heritage I have purchased for thee. PISCATOR: Heaven to be beheld by faith. DURHAM: Elevate the heart to heaven; look, at least. FRY: The believer, like Moses on Pisgah, obtains a prospect of the promised rest. GILL: The Church called to look down and see how the Gospel was received by the nations: or, Christ’s call to His Church to leave the society of the wicked men of the world, and go along with Him (2 Corinthians 6:17; Revelation 18:4). ‘Lion’s dens and mountains of leopards.’ A poetical exaggeration of the mountains around Shunem, as if to be compared with Lebanon; alluding, in a general way, to the wild beasts and inhospitable character of the region of Shulamite’s home (Zechariah 2:3; Jeremiah 12:5; Deuteronomy 33:22). ZÖCKLER, Allegorically, the inhabitants of strong towns, who are strong as lions. TARGUM. Furious Jews and crafty Gentile philosophers. THEODORET. Malicious, cruel, and hypocritical men. JEROME, GREGORY. Heretics. PHILO, ANSELM. False brethren. HONORIUS. Persecuting tyrants. PISCATOR, DURHAM. Regions of idolatry, of which Egypt whence the Bride came (?) was one of the most remarkable HARMER. Babylonian lions and Chaldean panthers. WEISS. Savage, beastly, and idolatrous people. AINSWORTH. These mountains, thus beautiful but dangerous, put in contrast with the mountain of myrrh and hill of frankincense. BURROUGHS.
THE BRIDEGROOM’S INVITATION
Come with me from Lebanon,
My spouse, with me from Lebanon;
Look from the top of Amana,
From the top of Shenir and Hermon,
From the lions’ dens,
From the mountains of leopards.
The King intimates to his beloved that he has a better place of residence prepared for her than that which had hitherto been her home; that it was his desire that she should soon accompany him to it; and that in the meantime she should withdraw her affections from her former abode. Her previous home is represented as being in Mount Lebanon with its snow-capped heights, either really, or in a locality thus poetically named. Lebanon, in its higher regions, with its adjacent peaks of Amana, Shenir or Sirion, and Hermon, mentioned as a place both of danger and discomfort, notwithstanding the pleasant spots found in its valleys and lower slopes. The text the language of tenderest affection. For the first time Shulamite called by the King ‘my spouse.’ The marriage viewed as now having taken place. The Bridegroom’s earnest desire to have his Bride always with him. His care that she should be with him in a place of comfort and security. Wishes her to leave those cold bleak mountains, the haunts of the lion and the panther; but to do so with the aid and protection of his arm and the solace of his company.
The text may be viewed as corresponding with the words of Jesus at the Last Supper: ‘In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you; I go to prepare a place for you: and if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:2-3). Observe, in reference to the Bridegroom’s.
Call from Lebanon,
I. The CALL itself. ‘Come with me,’ &c. To be viewed as a Call—
1. To leave the world in heart and affection. The world, in its present state of apostasy and rebellion, here represented by Lebanon and its snowy peaks. This the believer’s native home. The place where he is born and brought up. Christ’s Bride originally of the world as well as in it. ‘Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past’ (Ephesians 2:3; Titus 3:3). This world, in its present state, however, not to be the home of Christ’s Bride. A place prepared for her in His Father’s house. The world is to believers—
(1) A place of discomfort. Like Lebanon with its bleak and barren rocks, and its cold snowy heights. ‘In the world ye shall have tribulation.’
(2) A place of danger. Lebanon a place of lions’ dens. ‘Your adversary, the devil, goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.’ ‘My soul is among lions—the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows’ (1 Peter 5:8; Psalms 57:4).
(3) Yet a place not without attractions. Lebanon adorned with some of the loveliest spots in nature. The world, even in its fallen state, possessed of many attractions which might entangle the affections of Christ’s Bride—‘the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life’ (1 John 2:16). The call in the text, not to leave the world as to bodily presence, but in heart and affection. This, perhaps, indicated in the parallel clause: ‘Look from the top of Amana,’ &c. Withdraw your thoughts and affections from those rugged heights to your better home. ‘Arise ye and depart, for this is not your rest.’ ‘Seek those things that are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.’ ‘Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world’ (Micah 2:10; Colossians 3:1-2; 1 John 2:15). The Bride to forget her own people and her father’s house (Psalms 45:11). Believers to look not at the things which are seen and temporal; but at those which are unseen and eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18). This world not be viewed as our home, but as an inn where we tarry for a night. Believers, while here, only strangers and pilgrims, journeying to their own country. Their home in the better land, the heavenly Canaan, the new Jerusalem, the city that hath foundations. Their language to be that of the pilgrim in reference to the cities which he passed on his way to Jerusalem—“very beautiful; but this is not Jerusalem.”
2. To leave it in life and practice. Believers not to be ‘conformed to this world, but transformed,’ by the renewing of their mind. Though in the world, not to be of it. ‘Be ye not, therefore, like unto them.’ Believers to be as strangers in this world in life and practice, as well as in heart and affection. Christian and Faithful represented as passing through Vanity Fair without buying any of its wares, or even so much as pricing them. Gazed at in the Fair as ‘outlandish men.’ Their only answer: ‘We buy the truth.’ Paul’s testimony, in the name of believers—‘Our conversation (life or citizenship) is in heaven.’ Believers to act and comport themselves in this world as citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, to which they belong (Philippians 3:20).
3. To leave it as to its friendship and society. Too great a difference between believers and the men of the world to admit of cordial friendship and society. ‘We are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness’ (or ‘in the Wicked One’) (1 John 5:19). ‘How can two walk together except they be agreed?’ ‘Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath light with darkness? Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate’ (2 Corinthians 6:14-17). ‘The friendship of this world is enmity with God: whosoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God’ (James 4:4). The believer’s proper language: ‘I am a companion of all them that fear thee.’ ‘My goodness extendeth not unto thee; but unto the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.’ ‘I have not sat with vain persons: I have hated the congregation of evil doers, and will not sit with the wicked.’ ‘Depart from me, ye evil-doers, for I will keep the commandments of my God’ (Psalms 16:2; Psalms 26:4-5; Psalms 119:115). Men known by the company they keep. Peter and John, ‘being let go, went unto their own company.’ ‘Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another’ (Malachi 3:16; Acts 4:23).
The believer’s life a daily coming ‘from Lebanon.’ ‘If any man will be My disciple, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.’ Believers, being redeemed from this present evil world, to take heed lest they be ‘again entangled in the yoke of bondage.’ Need the daily prayer: ‘Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity.’ Their standing caution: ‘Remember Lot’s wife.’
4. To leave the world at death. The comfort of believers that they have to leave this world, not merely in heart and affection, in life and practice, and in respect to its friendship and society, but also, in due time, in actual bodily presence. A better home provided for them. Their happiness in being where their Husband is. The death-call to them only their Bridegroom’s voice: ‘Arise, my Love, my Fair One, and come away.’ To the believer, the passage to the tomb no Dolorous Way. Sense sings a dirge at the grave; faith, a Hallelujah. A believer enters his sepulchre through pearly gates. Not deadly nightshade, but roses and lilies line the path to it. It is the last step in the journey home, or rather the actual arrival at it. The funeral bell may toll its slow and solemn strokes on earth, but cheerful peals are rung in heaven. The pardoned soul’s desire now granted: ‘I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. To me to die is gain.’ ‘I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord.’ ‘Now, Lord, lettest thou Thy servant depart in peace; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.’
5. To leave the world at the Lord’s Second Coming. Till then, a part of the Bride always still in Lebanon. The bodies also of those whose spirits are with Christ in Paradise still in the earth. The final call to come from Lebanon given at last. ‘Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust,’ uttered by the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God. The Lord Himself descends from heaven with a shout that echoes through the mansions of the dead. They that sleep in Jesus, joining the living and now glorified saints, ascend to meet Him in the air. The Church’s blessed hope at last accomplished. The Bride’s last recorded prayer on earth now answered. The Bridegroom’s last loving promise now fulfilled—‘Surely I come quickly.’
II. The character of the JOURNEY. ‘Come with me from Lebanon.’ The journey from Lebanon and its snow-capped heights neither easy nor safe. Its rugged paths, steep precipices, and ferocious animals, sufficient to render the descent both painful and perilous to the bride. A picture of the believer’s passage from this world, the place of his nativity, to the home prepared for him in the Father’s house. Manifold temptations often mingling heaviness with our joy. Much tribulation the way to the kingdom. Persecution promised to all who will live godly in Christ Jesus. The world’s hatred in proportion to their faithfulness to their Master and to their character as the Bride of Christ. Their adversary, the devil, like a roaring lion, going about and seeking whom he may devour. Principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, leagued to obstruct or annoy their passage. A carnal mind and evil heart of unbelief still lingering within themselves. The flesh lusting against the spirit, and its lusts warring in their members. The flesh weak to what is good, even when the spirit is willing. Need for constant watchfulness and prayer. The foot easily slipping, and the consequence a bruising fall. Broken bones not unfrequent in the descent from Lebanon. Noah, David, and Peter, humbling examples. No easy matter to walk safely down the rugged steeps. Difficult so to keep ourselves that that Wicked One touch us not. Not easy to break with a world lying in wickedness, and to pass through it unscathed. Faithful made a victim in Vanity Fair, and Christian well high the same. Not easy to pass through pollution without being soiled; to travel through an enemy’s country without getting into trouble; or to walk among gins and pits without making a fall. Constant need for the prayer: ‘Hold thou me up, that my footsteps slip not. Preserve me, O God, for in Thee do I put my trust.’ Death, too, in the journey from Lebanon. A passage from which poor human nature instinctively recoils. To us an unknown and naturally a formidable road. Beset also with spiritual adversaries. Not unfrequently accompanied with acute and prolonged suffering. The taking down of the tabernacle not always a smooth or easy process. The presence of earthly friends often of little avail. The roughest and dreariest part of the passage, perhaps, to be travelled alone. Sometimes the pathway tracked with blood. Lies at times through torture, the scaffold, and the stake. The path at first too rugged even for a Cranmer. The prayer in the Burnal Service not entirely needless: ‘Suffer us not, in our last hour, for any pains of death to had from thee.’
III. The COMFORT and AID in the journey. Indicated in the two little words: ‘With me.’ These precious words repeated, to call special attention to what they imply, to confirm their truth, and to indicate their importance. An argument to induce compliance with the Call. The Bridegroom’s society preferable to the Bride beyond that of all others. Who would remain among lions and panthers when they can have the fellowship of the king? No great loss to leave the cold bleak heights of Lebanon to be with the heavenly Bridegroom. A twofold blessing implied in the words—
(1) The everlasting presence of Christ after the journey is over;
(2) His company and support all the way through. The descent from Lebanon made safe and comfortable to the Bride by the Bridegroom’s presence. Precious to believers to know that they are not called to leave the world, whether in heart and affection, or in life and practice, or in bodily presence, alone and unaided. The presence and aid of the Friend ‘that sticketh closer than a brother,’ promised in every trying, difficult, and dangerous passage of life, as well as in the last dark valley. ‘Fear not, for I am with thee.’ ‘I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.’ ‘When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the floods, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest in the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.’ Hence the triumphant language of faith: ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise up against me, in this will I be confident.’ ‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff comfort me’ (Psalms 23:4; Psalms 27:1-2).
“The soul that on Jesus hath lean’d for repose,
He will not, he cannot desert to its foes.
That soul, though all hell should endeavour to shake,
He’ll never, no never, no NEVER, forsake.”
The presence of Jesus with the believer in his descent ‘from Lebanon’ on the way to his future home—
(1) For comfort. The company of a friend a solace in a difficult and dangerous journey.
(2) For aid and protection. The Bridegroom’s arm employed to support and defend, as well as His voice to solace and cheer. ‘Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning on her Beloved?’ The grace of Jesus sufficient for the most difficult duties, the strongest temptations, and the most painful trials. His strength made perfect in our weakness. Hence faith’s language: ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.’
(3) For example. The Bridegroom has descended from Lebanon before us. Points us to His steps as He came down its difficult and rugged steeps. ‘He hath left us an example that we should walk in His steps.’ ‘Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame.’ (1 Peter 2:21; Hebrews 12:2).
The promise indicated in the words ‘with me,’ applicable to the believer’s death, as well as his life. His presence with them also in that final, solemn, and untried journey. Joseph sent his servants and waggons to convey his father to Egypt. Jesus not only sends His angelic servants to fetch His Bride and escort her through the darksome valley, but comes Himself. Not only makes a passage for them through the dark swelling waters of death, but, like the Ark in Jordan is with them Himself in the passage. Seen by Stephen on the eve of martyrdom, no sitting as usual, but standing at the right hand of God, as if risen up to be with His faithful servant in the last great conflict, and to give him a loving welcome when it was over. The footsteps of Jesus seen also in that last dark passage. The Bridegroom Himself trod the pathway to the tomb. Encountered death in its most formidable aspect. Passed through the valley in excruciating pain, amid jeers of men and assaults from Satan, and in a bath of blood. Travelled the last hours of His life in loneliness, darkness, and desertion of soul. Has lain in the tomb a lifeless corpse before us. The grave made by His presence there a perfumed bed to all His followers.
Important questions: Have I Jesus with me for my comfort and aid in going through this world? Shall I have His presence in death? Have I heard and obeyed His call to come with Him now? Am I taking up my cross daily, and following Him? Have I given up the world, or am I still making it my home? We come to Christ as sinners, before we come with Him as saints. Have I done this? Reader, if not, lose no time; but do it now.