Thine head upon thee [is] like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king [is] held in the galleries.
Ver. 5. Thine head upon thee is like Carmel.] This head is Christ himself, for he is the sole head of his Church: "God hath put all things under his feet" - hence he is here compared to Carmel, because he is high over all - "and given him to be head over all things" - that is, over all persons - "to the Church." Ephesians 1:18 ; Eph 1:22 Angels are under Christ as a head of government, of influence, of confirmation, not of redemption, as the saints are. The angels are great friends to the Church, but not members of it. Heb 2:16 The Church Christ sanctified and washed with his blood. Eph 5:26 Not so the angels. He was but a poor patron of the Pope's headship that said - and, as he thought, very wisely too - that he had read in some vocabulary that Cephas signified a head, therefore Peter was head of the Church. But if that should have been granted him, yet it would not follow that the Pope is therefore so too; for Bellarmine, a a better scholar by far, is forced to say, Forte non est de iure divino Rom. pontificem Petro succedere, perhaps it is not by any divine right that the Pope succeedeth Peter. And again, Rom. pontificem Petro succedere non habetur expresse in Scripturis, it is not expressly set down in the Scriptures that the Pope succeedeth Peter.
And the hair of thine head like purple.] Which was the colour of kings and princes. The saints - called here the hair of the Church's head for their number or multitude - are "princes in all lands"; Psa 45:16 yea, they are kings in righteousness, as Melchisedec was a king, but somewhat obscure. Compare Mat 13:17 Luke 10:24. "Many righteous," saith one, "Many kings," saith the other, "have desired to see those things that ye see," &c.
The king is held in the gallaries,] i.e., There is no king in the world wo great and glorious but might find in his heart to be tied to these walks, and to be held prisoner in the sight of thee and thy bravery; like as King James, coming first into the public library at Oxford, and viewing the little chains wherewith each book there is tied to its place, wished that if ever it were his destiny to be a prisoner, that library might be his prison, those books his fellow prisoners, those chains his fetters. Psalms 138:4,5 ; Psa 119:72 b The Psalmist shows by prophesying that even kings, coming to taste the excellence of the comforts of godliness, and to feel the power of God's Word, should sing for joy of heart, and greatly acknowledge the excelling glory of Christ's spouse the Church. See David's desire. Psa 27:4 Psa 84:1-12 Constantine and Valentinian, two emperors, called themselves Vasallos Christi, as Socrates reports, the vassals of Christ. And Theodosius, another emperor, professed that it was more honour and comfort to him to be membrum ecclesiae, quam caput imperii, a member of the Church, than head of the empire. Nay, Numa, second king of Rome, though but a heathen, held it a higher honour to serve God than to reign over men. c Some interpreters by the king here understand Christ, coveting the Church's beauty, Psa 45:11 and held fast bound unto her in the bands of pure affection, of spiritual wedlock.
a De Rom. Pontif., lib. ii. cap. 12.
b Rex Platon., page 123.
c Tου Yεου υπηροσιαν βασιλευειν ενομεζεν - Plutarch.