9. And thy speech, &c. That is, Let thy language to me be as the sweetness of delicious wine. Rosenmüller, Döpke, De Wette, Noyes, Delitzsch, Hengstenberg, &c., put these words into the mouth of the maiden. But it is incredible that this modest woman would approve of these expressions with regard to her own person, and that she would continue the words ‏דּוֹבֵב שִׂפְתֵי יְשֵׁינִים‎. ‏חֵךְ‎, palate, metonymically for speech; vide supra, chap. v. 16. ‏טוֹב‎ is used as a substantive, and placed in the genitive after ‏יַיִן‎; comp. Ps. xxi. 4; Prov. xxiv. 25; Ewald, § 287 b. The phrase ‏הֹלֵךְ לְמֵישָׁרִים‎ describes the smooth or mellow wine, which is of a very superior quality, and highly prized, Prov. xxiii. 31. The expression ‏לְדוֹדִי‎ is added in order to describe still more forcibly the nature of the wine, and affords a more striking illustration of the pleasantness of the damsel’s speech. Her voice is not merely compared to wine, valued because it is sweet to everybody; but to such wine as would be sweet to a friend, and on that account is more valuable and pleasant. Ammon, Ewald, Heiligstedt, Hitzig, &c. regard ‏לְדוֹדִי‎ as having erroneously crept in here from ver. 11, whilst Velthusen, Meier, &c. point it ‏לְדוֹדַי‎ in the plural; but this is unsupported by MSS. Hodgson, taking ‏לְדוֹדִי‎ for ‏לְדוֹדִים‎, translates it ad amores, delightfully, corresponding to ‏לְמֵישָׁרִיﬦ‎ in the next clause. But this rendering, to say the least, is contrary to the general meaning of this word. The rendering of Williams, “which I sent to those whom I love for their integrity,” is preposterous. And causes slumbering lips, &c. The wine is of such an animating nature, that it even causes silent lips to speak. Thus Horace, Epist. lib. i. Ep. v. 19:— Fecundi calices quem non fecere disertum? “Whom have not soul-inspiring cups made eloquent?”