Union and Communion; or, Thoughts on the Song of SolomonTaylor, James Hudson
Religion
Union and Communion; or, Thoughts on the Song of Solomon
Taylor, James Hudson
Bible. Song of Solomon -- Commentaries
As in the commencement of Section III., the bride, in unbroken
communion with her LORD, was present though unmentioned until she made
her presence evident by her address to the daughters of Zion; so in this
section the presence of the KING is unnoted until He Himself addresses
His bride. But she is one with her LORD as she engages in His service!
His promise, "Lo, I am with you alway," is ever fulfilled to her; and He
has no more to woo her to arise and come away; to tell her that His
"head is filled with dew," His "locks with the drops of the night"; or
to urge her if she love Him to feed His sheep and care for His lambs.
Herself His garden, she does not forget to tend it, nor keep the
vineyards of others while her own is neglected. _With_ Him as well as
_for_ Him, she goes to the garden of nuts. So thorough is the union
between them that many commentators have felt difficulty in deciding
whether the bride or the Bridegroom was the speaker, and really it is a
point of little moment; for, as we have said, both were there, and of
one mind; yet we believe we are right in attributing these words to the
bride, as she is the one addressed by the daughters of Jerusalem, and
the one who speaks to them in reply.
The bride and Bridegroom appear to have been discovered by their willing
people while thus engaged in the happy fellowship of fruitful service,
and the bride, or ever she was aware, found herself seated among the
chariots of her people--_her_ people as well as _His_.
The daughters of Jerusalem would fain call her back:--
Return, return, O Shulammite;
Return, return, that we may look upon thee.
There is no question now as to who she is, nor why her Beloved is more
than another beloved; He is recognized as King Solomon, and to her is
given the same name, only in its feminine form (Shulammite).
Some have seen in these words, "Return, return," an indication of the
rapture of the Church; and explain some parts of the subsequent context,
which appear inconsistent with this view, as resumptive rather than
progressive. Interesting as is this thought, and well as it would
explain the absence of _reference_ to the KING in the preceding verses,
we are not inclined to accept it; but look on the whole song as
progressive, and its last words as being equivalent to the closing words
of the Book of Revelation, "Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come,
LORD JESUS." We do not therefore look upon the departure of the bride
from her garden as being other than temporary.
The bride replies to the daughters of Jerusalem:--
Why will ye look upon the Shulammite?
or, as in the Authorized Version,
What will ye see in the Shulamite?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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