11. Come, my beloved, &c. Having distinctly and finally refused the king, who forthwith quitted her, the Shulamite now addresses her beloved shepherd, who approached her, urging their departure from the royal palace for their festive bowers in Nature’s hall. The want of separate names, or initial letters of names, generally used in profane composition to indicate the speaker or the person spoken to, is amply supplied here by the skill of the inspired poet in putting into the mouth of the Shulamite such rural language as shows most plainly that she was a rustic maiden, and that her beloved, whom she here addresses, is a shepherd. Comp. also chap. i. 7; ii. 8; v. 2, 4, &c. To ascribe these words to a princess addressing king Solomon is preposterous. Döderlein, Ewald, Meier, &c., take ‏כְּפָרִיﬦ‎ as the plural of ‏כֹּפֶר‎, cypress, vide supra, i. 14; iv. 13; but 1 Chron. xxvii. 25, where ‏כְּפָרִיﬦ‎, like here, coupled with ‏שָׂדֶה‎, field, forms a contrast to ‏עִיר‎, city, is against it. ‏הַשָּדֶה‎ is the accusative of place, 1 Sam. xx. 11; Gesen. § 118, 1. 12. We will go early, &c. Transported with the thought of her speedy arrival at her mother’s house, the Shulamite vividly depicts to her beloved the scenes of home, where they will again together enjoy rural life. It may be that Milton thought of this passage when he wrote the words:— “To-morrow, ere fresh morning streak the east With first approach of light, we must be risen, And at our pleasant labour, to reform Yon flowery arbours, yonder alleys green, Our walks at noon with branches overgrown.” Paradise Lost, iv. 623, &c. ‏נַשְׁכִּימָה לַכְּרָמִים‎ is constructio praegnans, and is well explained by Rashbam, ‏נשכימה לטייל בכרמיﬦ‎, “we will rise early to stroll in the vineyards.” Comp. Gen. xliv. 33; Numb. xiv. 24; Gesen. § 141. There will I give, &c. The shepherd, gladdened with the fact that his loved one is restored to him, is desirous of expressing his joy and affection, but the Shulamite, anxious to get off as quickly as possible, tells him that at home, amidst the charms of nature, they may indulge in sweet effusions of love. The Sept. and Vulg. have here again ‏דַּדַּיִם‎, breasts, instead of ‏דֹודִים‎, love. But in addition to what has already been remarked, we would state that whenever breasts are mentioned in this Song, ‏שָׁדַיִם‎ is invariably used. 13. The mandrakes diffuse, &c. Another reason for hastening away from the royal prison into the rural home. There nothing will be wanting; they have there the highly prized apples, they have all sorts of precious fruit, which she left on the trees for him. A similar passage occurs in Virgil, Ecl. i. 37, where the loved one kept fruit on the tree for her lover:— Mirabar, quid moesta deos, Amarylli, vocares; Cui pendere suâ patereris in arbore poma: Tityrus hinc aberat.