Song of Solomon 8.

¹O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised. ²I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother' s house, who would instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate. ³His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace me. ⁴I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please. ⁵Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee. ⁶Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. ⁷Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned. ⁸We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? ⁹If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar. ¹⁰I am a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in his eyes as one that found favour. ¹¹Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver. ¹²My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred. ¹³Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it . ¹⁴Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.

Commentary (3)

Adam Clarke

The love of the bride to her spouse, and the nature of that love, Sol 8:1-7. The younger sister, Sol 8:8-10. Solomon's vineyard, Sol 8:11, Sol 8:12. The confidence of the bride and bridegroom in each other, Sol 8:13, Sol 8:14.

John Gill

INTRODUCTION TO SONG OF SOLOMON 8

This chapter begins with an ardent wish of the church for a free and intimate converse with Christ; declaring what she would do to him, and for him, should she have such an interview with him, Sol 8:1; what familiarity should be between them, Sol 8:3; charging the daughters of Jerusalem not to give him any disturbance, Sol 8:4. Upon which they inquire who she was that was in such a posture they saw her in, Sol 8:5; when the church, instead of giving them an answer, says some things concerning her beloved, on whom they saw her leaning; and makes some requests to him for more nearness to him, and manifestations of his love to her; urged from the strength her love and affections to him, which was invincible, Sol 8:6. Next follows a speech of the church about her little sister; expressing a concern for her, and what she would do to her and with her, Sol 8:8; and the answer of the little sister, declaring what she, was, and what she enjoyed, Sol 8:10; then the words of the church again, concerning her husband's vineyard; the place, keepers, and profit of it, Sol 8:11. And the chapter, and with it the Song, is concluded with a request of Christ to the church, that he might hear her voice, Sol 8:13; and with a petition of hers to him, that he would come quickly to her, Sol 8:14.

JFB

He had been a brother already. Why, then, this prayer here? It refers to the time after His resurrection, when the previous outward intimacy with Him was no longer allowed, but it was implied it should be renewed at the second coming (Joh 20:17). For this the Church here prays; meanwhile she enjoys inward spiritual communion with Him. The last who ever "kissed" Jesus Christ on earth was the traitor Judas. The bride's return with the King to her mother's house answers to Act 8:25, after the mission to Samaria. The rest spoken of (Sol 8:4) answers to Act 9:31.

that sucked . . . mother--a brother born of the same mother; the closest tie.

Cross-references (78)

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