His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.
His left hand. The "stay" she prayed for (Song of Solomon 2:5) is granted (Deuteronomy 33:12; Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalms 37:24; Isaiah 41:10). None can pluck from that embrace (John 10:28-30). His hand keeps us from falling (Matthew 14:30-31): to it we may commit ourselves (Psalms 31:5).
His right hand. The "left" is the inferior hand, by which the Lord less signally manifests His love than by the right: the secret hand of ordinary providence, as distinguished from that of manifested grace, the "right." They really go together, though sometimes they seem divided: here both are felt at once. Theodoret takes the left hand as referring to judgment and wrath; the right to honour and love. The hand of justice no longer is lifted to smite, but is under the head of the believer to support (Isaiah 42:21). The hand of Jesus Christ, pierced by justice for our sin, supports us. The charge (Song of Solomon 2:7) not to disturb the beloved occurs thrice; but the sentiment here, "His left hand," etc., nowhere else fully; which accords with the intensity of joy (Song of Solomon 2:5) experienced in the first love of Israel, the New Testament Church, and the individual believer (Jeremiah 2:2). In Song of Solomon 8:3 it is only conditional, "should embrace," not "doth."