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| 1 O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised. |
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| 2 I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother's house, who would instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate.
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Of spiced wine – Symbol of doctrine. R5633:2
Of my pomegranate – Symbol of the fruitage of Christ's redemptive work. T30
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| 3 His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace me. |
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| 4 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please. |
Of Jerusalem – Symbol of the Kingdom of God. A296
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| 5 Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee. |
Who is this – The true Church, the protesting Church of God. R1841:6; SM126:1; C65
That cometh up – Cometh forth into prominence. C65
In God's due time his Church emerged from the wilderness. R5501:2
Shortly to come from the wilderness. SM126:1
From the wilderness – At the end of the 1260 years of wilderness hiding and Papal supremacy, from AD 539 to 1799. C65
The true Church is the Church in the wilderness--separate from the world. R1841:6
Upon her beloved – The arm of her beloved, the Word of God. C65
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| 6 Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as Sheol: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. |
As a seal – Or signet, the emblem of power and authority; symbol of that which was most highly esteemed. R360:4*
Jealousy – Jealousy of another is always an evil quality, a most vicious kind of cruelty, unreasoning and insatiable. Signifies either apprehension of being displaced in the affections of another or of being outdone by a rival. It is closely allied to hatred, malice, envy, strife. R4789:1
To the extent that its presence has defiled the heart a cleansing should be invoked. R4789:2
When the Lord announces himself as a "jealous God" it is not to be considered selfishness, rather he wants all of our affections, confidence and entire trust, for our own good. R4789:2
Jealousy in the Lord's cause is different from jealousy in our own interest. R4789:5
We must be sure that it is not jealousy of another, but jealousy for another. R4789:5
Cruel as the grave – Sheol, oblivion, which engulfs all mankind. E368; R828:5, R2600:2, R4789:1
The Bible plainly states that death is an enemy. SM116:2
It is not only a cruel monster of itself, but its poisonous fangs are almost certain to inflict pain and trouble upon others. R4789:2
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| 7 Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned. |
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| 8 We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? |
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| 9 If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar. |
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| 10 I am a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in his eyes as one that found favour. |
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| 11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baalhamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver. |
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| 12 My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred. |
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| 13 Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it. |
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| 14 Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices. |
Make haste – The Bride pleads with the Bridegroom not to tarry. R303:2*
Like to a roe – The Bride's eyes "are toward the hills" over which she expects to behold the Bridegroom coming like a roe. R303:2*
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