the Second Week after Easter
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Izhibhalo Ezingcwele
INgoma yazo iiNgoma 3:10
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Torrey'sDictionaries:
- BridgewayEncyclopedias:
- InternationalBible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Psalms 87:3, 1 Timothy 3:15, 1 Timothy 3:16, Revelation 3:12
the midst: Romans 5:8, Ephesians 3:18, Ephesians 3:19, Revelation 1:5
Reciprocal: Luke 5:34 - the children Luke 23:28 - daughters
Gill's Notes on the Bible
He made the pillars thereof [of] silver,.... The truths and doctrines of the Gospel are the "pillars" of it; which, like pillars, are solid and substantial, and continue firm and immovable, and are of great use to support the children of God under the several trials and exercises they are attended with; and, for their utility, value, and duration, are said to be of "silver", and are as carefully to be sought for and into as that is, and even to be preferred to it, being of more worth than "thousands of gold and silver"; the ministers of the Gospel are sometimes compared to pillars, and the church itself is said to be the pillar and ground of truth, Galatians 2:9;
the bottom thereof [of] gold; Christ, the golden bottom of the Gospel, the sum and substance of it, the principal subject in it to be insisted on; he is laid in it as the bottom, ground, and foundation of faith and hope, and of everlasting life and salvation; and for its richness, firmness, and duration, may be said to be of gold, as the street of the New Jerusalem, Revelation 21:21; or its "pavement" b, as the word here signifies. The Septuagint render it, a "reclining" c place, to sit and rest, or lean upon; such is Christ;
the covering of it [of] purple; or the top of it; the word signifies a chariot itself: it may respect such doctrines of the Gospel which relate to redemption, pardon of sin, and justification through the blood of Christ; and all under the purple covering of the blood of Christ are secure from wrath to come, and go safe to heaven;
the midst thereof being paved [with] love, for the daughters of Jerusalem; the carpet wrought with lovely figures or with love stories: the doctrines and ordinances of the Gospel are full of love, of God in Christ, in providing Christ as a Saviour, and sending him to be one; and of the love of Christ in assuming human nature, and suffering and dying in it for sinners, even for Jerusalem sinners; the Gospel sets forth the heart of Christ as "inflamed" d, as the word here used signifies, with love to the daughters of Jerusalem, his dear children, which moved him to do all he did and suffered for them; and could his heart be looked into, the very images of these persons would be seen upon it: the ordinances of the Gospel are designed both to set forth, in the most striking manner, the love of Christ to his sons and daughters, for whose sake he became man and suffered death, and to draw forth their love to him; so the words may be rendered, "paved with love by the daughters of Jerusalem" e, or "with the love of them" f how delightful must it be to ride in such a chariot, or sit under such a ministry, where there is nothing but love! moreover, the whole description of the "bride chamber", which some choose to render the word for "chariot" by, well agrees with the New Jerusalem state, as given in Revelation 21:1, where the church being as a bride prepared for her husband, will be introduced, the nuptial feast will be kept, and Christ will be seen by the daughters of Zion in all his regal glory, with the royal diadem on his head, as he is described in Song of Solomon 3:11.
b רפידתו "pavimentum ejus", Vatablus, Grotius. c ανακλιτον, Sept. "reclinatorium ejus", Arabic interpreter. d רצוף "succcensum", Montanus, Marckius; "accensum, sive exustum", some in Vatablus, so Aben Ezra. e מבנות "a filiabus", Montanus, Cocceius; so Sept. "a puellis", Junius Tremellius, Piscator. f "Amore foeminarum", Tigurine version "amore filiarum", Vatablus, Mercerus.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
The principal and central action of the Song; the bride’s entry into the city of David, and her marriage there with the king. Jewish interpreters regard this part of the poem as symbolizing the “first” entrance of the Church of the Old Testament into the land of promise, and her spiritual espousals, and communion with the King of kings, through the erection of Solomon’s Temple and the institution of its acceptable worship. Christian fathers, in a like spirit, make most things here refer to the espousals of the Church with Christ in the Passion and Resurrection, or the communion of Christian souls with Him in meditation thereon.
Song of Solomon 3:6-11
Two or more citizens of Jerusalem, or the chorus of youths, companions of the bridegroom, describe the magnificent appearance of the bride borne in a royal litter, and then that of the king in festive joy wearing a nuptial crown.
Song of Solomon 3:6
“wilderness” is here pasture-land in contrast with the cultivated districts and garden-enclosures round the city. Compare Jeremiah 23:10; Joel 2:22; Isaiah 42:11; Psalms 65:12.
Pillars of smoke - Here an image of delight and pleasure. Frankincense and other perfumes are burned in such abundance round the bridal equipage that the whole procession appears from the distance to be one of moving wreaths and columns of smoke.
All powders of the merchant - Every kind of spice forming an article of commerce.
Song of Solomon 3:7
Bed - Probably the royal litter or palanquin in which the bride is borne, surrounded by his own body-guard consisting of sixty mighties of the mighty men of Israel.
Song of Solomon 3:8
Because of fear in the night - i. e., Against night alarms. Compare Psalms 91:5.
Song of Solomon 3:9, Song of Solomon 3:10
A stately bed hath king Solomon made for himself of woods (or trees) of the Lebanon. The word rendered “bed” occurs nowhere else in Scripture, and is of doubtful etymology and meaning. It may denote here
(1) the bride’s car or litter; or
(2) a more magnificent vehicle provided for her reception on her entrance into the city, and in which perhaps the king goes forth to meet her.
It has been made under Solomon’s own directions of the costliest woods (ceda and pine) of the Lebanon; it is furnished with “pillars of silver” supporting a “baldachin” or “canopy of gold” (not “bottom” as in the King James Version), and with “a seat (not ‘covering’) of purple cushions,” while “its interior is paved with (mosaic work, or tapestry of) love from (not ‘for’) the daughters of Jerusalem;” the meaning being that this part of the adornment is a gift of love, whereby the female chorus have testified their goodwill to the bride, and their desire to gratify the king.
Song of Solomon 3:11
Daughters of Zion - So called here to distinguish them from the bride’s companions, who are always addressed by her as “daughters of Jerusalem.”
His mother - Bathsheba 1 Kings 1:11. This is the last mention of her in sacred history.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 10. The pillars - of silver — The bedposts were made of silver, or cased with wrought silver plates, like the king's chairs brought from Hanover, now, in one of the staterooms in Windsor Castle.
The bottom thereof of gold — This may refer to cords made of gold thread, or to the mattress, which was made of cloth ornamented with gold.
The covering - of purple — Most probably the canopy.
The midst - paved with love — The counterpane, a superb piece of embroidery, wrought by some of the noble maids of Jerusalem, and, as a proof of their affection, respect, and love, presented to the bride and bridegroom, on their nuptial day. This is most likely to be the sense of the passage, though some suppose it to refer to the whole court.
A Turkish couch is made of wooden lattices painted and gilded; the inside is painted with baskets of flowers and nosegays, intermixed with little mottoes according to the fancy of the artist. Solomon's couch may have been of the same kind, and decorated in the same way; and the paving with love may refer to the amatory verses worked either on the counterpane, hangings, or embroidered carpet. And as this was done by the daughters of Jerusalem, they might have expressed the most striking parts of such a chaste history of love as Halaly's Leely and Mejnoon on the different parts. I see that Dr. Good is of this opinion. It is sufficiently probable.
