The two members of vers. 6 and 7 stand in an inverted relation to each other. In ver. 6, we have, first, the punishment described, and then their hostile nature, by which the punishment was called forth. In ver. 7, we have, first, the cause, and then the consequence. The thought in the first member is: every touch of them bears a hostile character. _Iron_--instead of weapons fabricated of iron; comp. 1 Sam. xvii. 7; Job xx. 24, xli. 19 compared with vers. 18, 20; Jer. xv. 12. [Pg 159] בשבת, literally, "in the dwelling" (compare Ps. xxiii. 6, xxvii. 4; Deut. xxx. 20) instead of "where they dwell," shows that in their own borders they shall be visited and overtaken by retribution. בשבת cannot have the signification, "without delay," ascribed to it by _Thenius_. Footnote 1: תחת, "below," "beneath," "under," is often used adverbially, _e.g._ Gen. xlix. 25. על, in the signification "on high," occurs also in Hosea xi. 7,--less certainly in Hos. vii. 16. For, according to 2 Chron. xxx. 9, that passage may be explained; "they return, not _to_," _i.e._, there is the mere commencement of conversion, but not the attainment of the end. On הוקם Deut. xxviii. 36 is to be compared. THE SONG OF SOLOMON. An important link in the chain of the Messianic hopes is formed by the Song of Solomon. It is intimately associated with Ps. lxxii., which was written by Solomon, and represents the Messiah as the Prince of Peace, imperfectly prefigured by Solomon as His type. As in this Psalm, so also in the Song of Solomon, the coming of the Messiah forms the subject throughout, and He is introduced there under the name of Solomon, the Peaceful One. His coming shall be preceded by severe afflictions, represented under the emblems of the scorching heat of the sun, of winter, of rain, of dark nights, and of the desert. Connected with this coming is the reception of the heathen nations into His kingdom, and this, through the medium of the old Covenant-people. Thus far the first part, down to chap. v. 1. The subjects contained in the second part are, the sin of the daughter of Zion against the heavenly Solomon and the judgment; then, repentance and reunion, which will be accomplished by the co-operation of the daughters of Jerusalem, _i.e._, of the very heathen nations who had formerly received salvation through them; the complete re-establishment of the old relation of love, in consequence of which the daughter of Zion again occupies the centre of the kingdom of God; and the indissoluble nature of this covenant of love now anew entered into, in contrast with the instability of the former.