6. Oh, place me as a seal, &c. That is, “Let me be near and dear to thee.” The Shulamite, having shown her faithfulness during a period of extraordinary trials, could now look up to the witnessing tree with an inward satisfaction. It is therefore very natural that she should remind her beloved, in the presence of this witness, of his vows. In ancient times, when the art of writing was confined to a very few, and writing materials were not so easily procurable, rings or signets, with names engraven upon them, were generally used as manual signs. This contrivance for a signature soon became used as an ornament. People who could afford it had these seals or signets made of silver or gold, inlaid with precious stones. Being indispensable articles of use, and highly prized as decorations, they were carried in the bosom, suspended from the neck by a string (Gen. xxxviii. 15), or were worn on the right hand (Jer. xxii. 24; Sirach xlix. 11), and thus became a symbol of what is dear and indispensable. Jehovah himself uses this metaphor, Jer. xxii. 24:— “Though Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Were as a seal on my right hand, Yet I would pluck thee thence.” Comp. also Hag. ii. 23; Sirach xvii. 22; Rosenmüller, Orient. vi. 252; i. 183; iv. 190; Winer, Bib. Dict.; Kitto, Cyclop. Bib. Lit. s.v. For love is strong as death, &c. True love seizes with a tenacious grasp. Like death, it rules with resistless sway; like Hades, it is never moved to give up its object: neither power nor prayer can overcome it. ‏קָשָׁה‎, hard, firm, inexorable. ‏קִנְּאָה‎ is not jealousy (Sept., Vulg., Authorized Version, Percy, Kleuker, Good, Williams, &c.), but devout affection, ardent love (Ewald, Gesenius, De Wette, Noyes, Meier, Hitzig, Philippson &c.); it is here used as an intensitive term for love, as is evident from the parallelism and the connexion.