The first section—Chap. i. 2,–ii. 17,—represents man, who either ideally or actually, was in the garden of Eden before he sinned, and brought into activity his choice for good and evil; as it is written, “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil” (Gen. ii. 8, 9). The Lord permitted, or commanded him to eat of all the fruit of the garden; but He pointed out to him one tree of which he was not to eat, lest he should die; as it is said, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen. ii. 17). And if, as man, he had the choice to eat of the tree of life, he might have eaten and lived for ever, without mortification or trouble; as it is written, “Behold, I have set before thee life and good, and death and evil: choose, therefore, of the life, that thou mayest live” (Deut. xxx. 15). This represents one who endeavours to learn wisdom in its order, but is afraid lest he should be terrified when looking up to God, seeing that his fruit is not yet ripe. This is the meaning of what is said in the section, “Turn, my beloved, and be thou like a gazelle or a young hind upon the mountains of separation” (Song of Songs ii. 17); and again, “Catch us the foxes, the little foxes, that destroy the vineyards; for our vineyards are in blossom” (ibid. 15). This teaches that the fruit was not yet ripe. There is no mention in this first section that the shepherdess did eat of the fruit. Her saying, “I desired to sit down under its shade, and its fruit is sweet to my taste” (Song of Songs ii. 3), merely declares her desire, which is evident from the word ‏חמדתי‎. The expression ‏פריו‎ is here used in the sense of words, wisdom, and instruction. The whole, therefore, of the first section refers to the mind of man when still young, prior to its developing the end for which its existence was designed, and when the powers of the body have still the dominion over it, for he has not pursued his studies farther than mathematics and physics. This first section is again subdivided into two parts. The first part begins chap. i. 2, and ends ii. 7, and represents one who fears God and shuns evil; but his knowledge of God is derived from tradition, and has no wisdom of his own. And the second part (chap. ii. 8 to iii. 1) represents one who has studied mathematics and physics.