| Scripture |
Expanded Comments |
| 1 Who doth make thee as a brother to me, Sucking the breasts of my mother I find thee without, I kiss thee, Yea, they do not despise me, |
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| 2 I lead thee, I bring thee in unto my mother's house, She doth teach me, I cause thee to drink of the perfumed wine, Of the juice of my pomegranate, |
Of spiced wine – Symbol of doctrine. R5633:2
Of my pomegranate – Symbol of the fruitage of Christ's redemptive work. T30
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| 3 His left hand [is] under my head, And his right doth embrace me. |
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| 4 I have adjured you, daughters of Jerusalem, How ye stir up, And how ye wake the love till she please! |
Of Jerusalem – Symbol of the Kingdom of God. A296
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| 5 Who [is] this coming from the wilderness, Hasting herself for her beloved Under the citron-tree I have waked thee, There did thy mother pledge thee, There she gave a pledge [that] bare thee. |
Who is this – The true Church, the protesting Church of God. R1841:6; SM126:1; C65
That cometh up – Cometh forth into prominence. C65
In God's due time his Church emerged from the wilderness. R5501:2
Shortly to come from the wilderness. SM126:1
From the wilderness – At the end of the 1260 years of wilderness hiding and Papal supremacy, from AD 539 to 1799. C65
The true Church is the Church in the wilderness--separate from the world. R1841:6
Upon her beloved – The arm of her beloved, the Word of God. C65
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| 6 Set me as a seal on thy heart, as a seal on thine arm, For strong as death is love, Sharp as Sheol is jealousy, Its burnings [are] burnings of fire, a flame of Jah! |
As a seal – Or signet, the emblem of power and authority; symbol of that which was most highly esteemed. R360:4*
Jealousy – Jealousy of another is always an evil quality, a most vicious kind of cruelty, unreasoning and insatiable. Signifies either apprehension of being displaced in the affections of another or of being outdone by a rival. It is closely allied to hatred, malice, envy, strife. R4789:1
To the extent that its presence has defiled the heart a cleansing should be invoked. R4789:2
When the Lord announces himself as a "jealous God" it is not to be considered selfishness, rather he wants all of our affections, confidence and entire trust, for our own good. R4789:2
Jealousy in the Lord's cause is different from jealousy in our own interest. R4789:5
We must be sure that it is not jealousy of another, but jealousy for another. R4789:5
Cruel as the grave – Sheol, oblivion, which engulfs all mankind. E368; R828:5, R2600:2, R4789:1
The Bible plainly states that death is an enemy. SM116:2
It is not only a cruel monster of itself, but its poisonous fangs are almost certain to inflict pain and trouble upon others. R4789:2
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| 7 Many waters are not able to quench the love, And floods do not wash it away. If one give all the wealth of his house for love, Treading down they tread upon it. |
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| 8 We have a little sister, and breasts she hath not, What do we do for our sister, In the day that it is told of her |
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| 9 If she is a wall, we build by her a palace of silver. And if she is a door, We fashion by her board-work of cedar. |
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| 10 I [am] a wall, and my breasts as towers, Then I have been in his eyes as one finding peace. |
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| 11 Solomon hath a vineyard in Baal-Hamon, He hath given the vineyard to keepers, Each bringeth for its fruit a thousand silverlings; |
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| 12 My vineyard my own is before me, The thousand [is] for thee, O Solomon. And the two hundred for those keeping its fruit. O dweller in gardens! |
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| 13 The companions are attending to thy voice, Cause me to hear. Flee, my beloved, and be like to a roe, |
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| 14 Or to a young one of the harts on mountains of spices! |
Make haste – The Bride pleads with the Bridegroom not to tarry. R303:2*
Like to a roe – The Bride's eyes "are toward the hills" over which she expects to behold the Bridegroom coming like a roe. R303:2*
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