INgoma yazo iiNgoma 2:12

Izhibhalo Ezingcwele

12 Iintyantyambo zibonakele ezweni; Ixesha lokuntyiloza kweentaka lifikile; Izwi lehobe ivakele ezweni lethu;

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

flowers: Song of Solomon 6:2, Song of Solomon 6:11, Isaiah 35:1, Isaiah 35:2, Hosea 14:5-7

time: Psalms 40:1-3, Psalms 89:15, Psalms 148:7-13, Isaiah 42:10-12, Isaiah 55:12, Ephesians 5:18-20, Colossians 3:16

of the turtle: Romans 15:9-13, Ephesians 1:13, Ephesians 1:14

Reciprocal: Genesis 8:8 - a dove Genesis 8:22 - seedtime Job 39:26 - stretch Jeremiah 8:7 - turtle 1 John 2:8 - the darkness

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The flowers appear on the earth,.... One of the first signs of the spring being come t; and make the season delightful and pleasant; the sun returning with its warming influences, herbs and plants are quickened and spring up; fields and meadows, as well as gardens, are covered with a variety of beautiful flowers, which make walking abroad very delightful. By these "flowers" may be meant either the graces of the spirit in the saints, which, when a wintertime with them, seem to be dead, at least are hid; but, upon a return of the sun of righteousness, revive and are seen again: or the saints themselves, when in a flourishing condition, and in the exercise of grace; who may be compared to the flowers of the field for the production of them in the spring, which is a kind of re-creation of them, Psalms 104:30; and fitly expresses the renovation of the Holy Ghost, to which the revival of them is owing; and for the fragrancy of them, their persons and services being of a sweet savour through the grace and righteousness of Christ; and for their beauty and ornament to the fields in which they grow, as saints are through Christ in themselves, and to the churches and interest of Christ; and for the gaiety and cheerfulness in which the flowers appear in the spring season, and so a proper emblem of the joy and consolation of the saints; where grace revives, Christ returns, and they are favoured with communion with him. It may not be improper to observe, that this may represent the large conversions of souls to Christ, and the numerous appearance of so many beautiful flowers in the church of Christ in the first ages of Christianity, after a long winter of Jewish and Gentile darkness;

the time of the singing [of birds] is come; another sign of spring, and suits the Gospel dispensation, in which the churches of Christ, and the members of them, sing the praises of the Lord in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; and particularly young converts, those little birds that sing in warbling notes and tuneful lays the songs of electing, redeeming, calling, justifying, pardoning, and adopting grace, to the glory of God, and to their mutual comfort and edification. Some render it, "the time of the branch" u, of the vine putting forth its branches; or "the time of cutting" w, of pruning vines, of lopping trees, and cutting off unfruitful branches; as in the Gospel dispensation, when the Jewish branches were broken off, and the Gentiles were ingrafted in, and being pruned brought forth more fruit; and this agrees with the season of the year, the spring being the time of cutting and pruning vines x; though this is by some objected to as unseasonable;

and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; so one part of rural pleasures is described by the poet y, not only by the singing of birds of various kinds, but particularly by the note of the turtle; which is a kind of dove that lies hid in the wintertime, or is gone, being a bird of passage, and appears and returns at the spring, when its voice is heard again z; see Jeremiah 8:7; for its voice is never heard in winter, unless on a fine day a; by which may be meant, not the voice of the law, as the Jewish writers b, rather of the Gospel, the joyful sound, which for a while was heard only in the land of Judea, called by way of specialty "our land": but either of the voice of the Messiah himself c, preaching the everlasting Gospel in the land of Israel when here on earth; or of John the Baptist his forerunner; and so Alshech interprets it of Elijah, who was to come before the Messiah, and refers to Malachi 4:5. It may design the voice of all the apostles of Christ, and first ministers of the Gospel d; or of the Holy Ghost, as the Targum, who appeared as a dove at Christ's baptism; and whose voice in the hearts of his people, speaking peace and pardon, and witnessing their adoption, causes joy and gladness; or of the church itself, compared to a turtledove for its harmlessness, meekness, chastity, c. whose voice in prayer and praise is heard, and is acceptable to Christ, Song of Solomon 2:14.

t "Ver praebet flores", Ovid. de Remed. Amor. l. 1. v. 188. "Omnia tum florent", ibid. Metamorph. l. 15. Fab. 9. So flowers are called

τεκνα εαρος, "the children of the spring", in Athenaei Deipnosoph. l. 13. c. 9. p. 608. "Vernus sequitur color, omnis in herbas turget humus", Claudian. de Rapt. Proserp. l. 2. v. 90. u עת הזמיר "tempus palmitis", Gussetius, p. 231. w καιρος της τομης, Sept. "tempus putationis", V. L. Pagninus so the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions. x Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 17. c. 22. Hesiod. Opera & Dies, l. 2. y εστενε τρυγων, Theocrit. Idyll. 7. z Plin. ut supra, l. 18. c. 28. a Myndius apud Athenaeum in Deipnosophist. l. 9. c. 11. p. 394. So Pliny, "hyeme mutis, vere vocalibus", l. 10. c. 35. Vid. l. 18. c. 28. b In Zohar in Gen. fol. 121. 3. c So Pesikta in Yalkut in loc. d Vid. Stockium, p. 1181.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The bride relates to the chorus a visit which the beloved had paid her some time previously in her native home. He on a fair spring morning solicits her company. The bride, immersed in rustic toils, refuses for the present, but confessing her love, bids him return at the cool of day. It is a spring-time of affection which is here described, still earlier than that of the former chapter, a day of pure first-love, in which, on either side, all royal state and circumstance is forgotten or concealed. Hence, perhaps, the annual recitation of the Song of Songs by the synagogue with each return of spring, at the Feast of Passover, and special interpretations of this passage by Hebrew doctors, as referring to the paschal call of Israel out of Egypt, and by Christian fathers, as foreshadowing the evangelic mysteries of Easter - Resurrection and Regeneration. The whole scene has also been thought to represent the communion of a newly-awakened soul with Christ, lie gradually revealing Himself to her, and bidding her come forth into fuller communion.

Song of Solomon 2:8

Voice - Better, “sound.” Not a voice, but the sound of approaching footsteps is meant (compare “noise,” Isaiah 13:4).

Song of Solomon 2:9

Like a roe - Gazelle (compare Proverbs 5:19 note). The points of comparison here are beauty of form, grace, and speed of movement. In 2 Samuel 2:18; 1 Chronicles 12:8, princes are compared to “gazelles.”

Wall - The clay-built wall of the house or vineyard of the bride’s family, different from the strong wall of a city or fortress Song of Solomon 5:7; Song of Solomon 8:9-10.

Looketh forth at the windows - The meaning evidently is, that he is looking in at, or through, the window from the outside. Compare Song of Solomon 5:4 note.

Shewing himself - Or, peering. Some, taking the marginal rendering, imagine that the radiant face of the beloved is thus compared to some beautiful flower entangled in the lattice-work which protects the opening of the window, from where he gazes down upon the bride.

Song of Solomon 2:10-13

Arise, my friend, my beautiful one, and come away - The stanza begins and ends with this refrain, in which the bride reports the invitation of the beloved that she should come forth with him into the open champaign, now a scene of verdure and beauty, and at a time of mirth and mutual affection. The season indicated by six signs Song of Solomon 2:11-13 is that of spring after the cessation of the latter rain in the first or paschal month Joel 2:23, i. e., Nisan or Abib, corresponding to the latter part of March and early part of April. Cyril interpreted Song of Solomon 2:11-12 of our Lord’s Resurrection in the spring.

Song of Solomon 2:12

The time of the singing ... - i. e., The song of pairing birds. This is better than the rendering of the ancient versions, “the pruning time is come.”

Song of Solomon 2:13

The vines ... - The vines in blossom give forth fragrance. The fragrance of the vine blossom (“semadar”), which precedes the appearance of “the tender grape,” is very sweet but transient.

Song of Solomon 2:14

The secret places of the stairs - A hidden nook approached by a zig-zag path. The beloved urges the bride to come forth from her rock-girt home.

Song of Solomon 2:15

The bride answers by singing what appears to be a fragment of a vine-dresser’s ballad, insinuating the vineyard duties imposed on her by her brethren Song of Solomon 1:6, which prevent her from joining him. The destructive propensities of foxes or jackals in general are referred to, no grapes existing at the season indicated. Allegorical interpretations make these foxes symbolize “false teachers” (compare Ezekiel 13:4).

Song of Solomon 2:16

Feedeth among the lilies - Pursues his occupation as a shepherd among congenial scenes and objects of gentleness and beauty.

Song of Solomon 2:17

Until the day break - Or, rather, until the day breathe, i. e., until the fresh evening breeze spring up in what is called Genesis 3:8 “the cool” or breathing time of the day.

And the shadows flee - i. e., Lengthen out, and finally lose their outlines with the sinking and departure of the sun (compare Jeremiah 6:4). As the visit of the beloved is most naturally conceived of as taking place in the early morning, and the bride is evidently dismissing him until a later time of day, it seems almost certain that this interpretation is the correct one which makes that time to be evening after sunset. The phrase recurs in Song of Solomon 4:6.

Mountains of Bether - If a definite locality, identical with Bithron, a hilly district on the east side of the Jordan valley 2 Samuel 2:29, not far from Mahanaim (Song of Solomon 6:13 margin). If used in a symbolic sense, mountains of “separation,” dividing for a time the beloved from the bride. This interpretation seems to be the better, though the local reference need not be abandoned.