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1–7. The bride, named Shulamite (Song 7.1), first in a monologue with herself (vv. 1–3), and then, in an appeal to the women of Jerusalem (vv. 4–7), expresses her fiery love for the groom and persistent search for him. 8–16. The Bridegroom, who has just appeared, praises the Bride (vv. 8–10, 14) and, in turn, listens to her enthusiastic praise for himself (vv. 11–13, 15–16). Song 1:1. May he kiss me with the kiss of his lips! For your caresses are better than wine Song 1:2. Because of the fragrance of your ointments, your name is like spilled ointment; that's why girls love you. Song 1:3. Draw me, we will run after you; - the king led me into his palace, - we will admire and rejoice in you, extol your caresses more than wine; they love you with dignity! Captivated by the delight of love for the Groom, surrendering with her whole being to the impulse and enthusiasm of love, the Bride lives only in the thought of him, with all the strength of her soul strives to unite with him and involuntarily expresses the desire for the Groom to give her a tangible manifestation of love - a kiss: “let him kiss,” says the Bride about her Beloved, without even calling him by name, since for the heart that loves her, the object of love is too well known, “me.” with the kiss of your lips!” (Article 1). Sexual human love is the mutual attraction of two polar opposites. But similar polar opposites exist in general in the kingdom of nature, and in socio-political and religious life; hence the passionate love and attraction to the Groom that the Bride has - in a figurative or allegorical sense it can mean: 1) the desire of the earth in general and Palestinian nature, in particular, for the sun, as a source of heat, light and life; 2) the attraction of a country, for example, Palestine, to the King, as the moral sun of the country; 3) finally, and mainly, the grace-filled and mysterious desire of humanity or the Church - Old Testament and New Testament - to unite with God and Christ. In this case, the indicated desire of the Bride to unite with the Beloved will mean the fiery desire of the members of the Old Testament Church - the prophets and the righteous in general - to behold Christ Himself (see Matthew 13.16–17). This is exactly how the meaning of the words is explained: “let him kiss me” from Origen - Jerome: “The meaning of these words is this: how long will my bridegroom send me kisses through Moses, how long will he give me kisses through the prophets? I already want to touch his own lips: let him come himself, let him come to me himself” (p. 140). That the idea of a church or a community of believers in its relation to God and the Messiah was already clearly understood by David is evident from Psalm 44 (Heb. 45), which is parallel in content to the Song of Songs, which depicts (especially in its second half, vv. 10–18) the gracious-mysterious relationship of Christ and the Church (see “Explanatory Psalter” by Euthymius Zagiben, translated from Greek. Ed. 3rd Kyiv, 1907, pp. 347–363). “For your caresses are better than wine.” These words and the entire article. 2, as then art. 3, represent the rationale for the passionate desire expressed by the Bride to receive the kisses of her Beloved. But here there is a difference between the Hebrew Masoretic text on the one hand and the Greek, Vulgate, slav. and Russian, on the other. Heb. dodekha - your caresses - in addressing a man - as the sequence of speech requires. However, the reading dod - “weasel” most likely represents a deliberate, tendentious correction of the original dod female breasts, virgin nipples (cf. Eze 23.3, 8; Proverbs 5.19), as it appears in the LXX text: μαστοι σου, in the Vulgate: ubera tua, Slavic: “your nipple” . The Jewish scribes here faced a difficulty that was barely surmountable. In accordance with the general view of the Jewish synagogue on the Song of Songs as a depiction of God's love for the community of Israel, they should have seen here an appeal to a man (God), but this was opposed by the seeming inappropriateness in this combination of the word dad; therefore, they either changed the concrete dad into the abstract “dad” or the suffix husband. p. (ha) was changed to the suffix zh. r. (x), reading dadaikh. Direct evidence of this has been preserved in the Mishnah (tr. Abod Zara, Chapter II, § 5). But, from the point of view of a broader symbolic-allegorical understanding of the idea of ​​the Book of Songs, it is quite acceptable and accepted in the LXX, in the Vulgate and Slavic. specific meaning, as a symbol of the tenderness of love and the abundance of benefits given by the Beloved. Comparing love with wine indicates the fullness of all joy and gladness (cf. Ps 103.15). “From the fragrance of your ointments (archim. Makar.: your ointments are pleasant to the smell) your name is like spilled ointment.” Slav.: “The stench of your peace is the most aroma of all, the poured out myrrh is your name.” "Masti" or "miro", Heb. shemen, oil is also a symbol of joy (Proverbs 21.17), but more often the highest joy given by grace (cf. Ps 44.8-9; Is 61.3). “The anointing of oil is the influx of the Holy Spirit. For the Holy Spirit is joyful” (Euphem. Zigaben, p. 354). Interpreters find it difficult to understand the Hebrew Turak, transmitted in the LXX: εκκενωθεν, Vulg. effusum, slav. “poured out”, Russian. “spilled” (mirror). The opinion (Raabe, Prof. Olesnitsky) is not without credibility, according to which the root of this word must be sought in the Sanskrit taraka - star, so that the name of the Beloved will combine all the best that is in the world of stars, “Many - we read from Origen - Jerome - had aromas. The queen of the south offered aromas to Solomon, and many others had aromas; but no matter what aromas anyone has, they cannot compare with the incense of Christ, about which the bride now says: the incense of your ointments is better than all aromas. I think that Moses and Aaron and each of the prophets had aromas. But if I see Christ and feel the pleasantness and aroma of His ointments, then I will immediately express my opinion with the words: the aroma of your ointments is higher than all aromas. Words: thy name poured out myrrh! - a prophetic mystery... Just as myrrh, through its outpouring, spreads its fragrance far and wide, so the name of Christ is spread. Christ is glorified throughout the entire earth, the Lord is preached throughout the world. For His name is poured out as ointment. Now the name of Moses is known, whose fame was previously limited only to the narrow borders of Judea... But as soon as Jesus shone forth in the world, He with Him brought the law and the prophets out of obscurity, and the word was truly fulfilled: thy name was poured out in ointment” (pp. 144–145). The comparison of a good name with fragrant oil and ointment occurs, probably not without the influence of the book of Song of Songs, back in Eccl. 7.1; Os 14.7–8; Sir 49.1 (not without significance here was the alliteration of the words shem - name and shemen, oil, oil). Final words of Art. 2: “therefore the maidens love you” partly expresses a conclusion from what was said earlier about the perfections of the Bridegroom, and partly forms a transition from the monologue of the Bride to the words of the choir of Jerusalem women - probably Solomon’s courtiers (cf. v. 4). Verse 3, which constitutes the development and justification of the thought at the end of Art. 2 represents a parallelism to the latter: the Bride’s passionate desire for the Groom is expressed not only in the thirst for his kisses (v. 1), but also in an active desire for the closest union with him, and the Bride expresses her delight and impulse of love and attraction for the Groom to the choir of Jerusalem court maidens now performing. “When she asked the groom’s father and turned directly to the groom himself, the girls were not yet there. But during her conversation with the groom, a chorus of maidens enters and recommends him with the words of the bride” (Origen - Jerome, pp. 145–146). “The king brought me into his palace.” “He does not say: he brought many into his bedchamber. Many remain outside, only the bride enters the bedchamber to see the hidden and secret treasures and to announce to the young women: “The king has brought me into his bedchamber” 4 (Origen - Jerome, ibid.). Meanwhile, the young women... upon the bride’s entry into the groom’s bedchamber and while she is looking at her husband’s wealth there, while they await the groom’s coming, they sing joyfully: we will rejoice and be glad for you. They rejoice over the perfection of the bride. There is no envy in virtues. This love is pure, without blemish... Then, pointing to the bride, the groom: righteousness has loved you. They praise the bride, giving her the name of righteousness from her own virtues” (ibid., p. 147). End of Art. 3, however, is not read the same way in different texts of the LXX, like Origen, - ευθυτης ηγαπησε σε, glory. love righteousness. Vulg. recti diligund te. But the Hebrew mesharim in the Hebrew expression. Masor. mesharim agevukha, can be conveniently translated by the adverb: “worthily” (Russian synod. translation) or: “in fairness” (Archim. Macarius), by analogy with Ps 57:2, 74:3. Song 1:4. Daughters of Jerusalem! I am black, but beautiful, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon. Song 1:5. Do not look at me that I am dark-skinned, for the sun has scorched me: my mother’s sons were angry with me and made me guard the vineyards; I did not guard my own vineyard. Song 1:6. Tell me, you whom my soul loves: where do you graze? where do you rest at noon? Why should I be a wanderer near the herds of your companions? Song 1:7. If you do not know this, most beautiful of women, then follow in the footsteps of the sheep and feed your kids near the shepherds’ tents. The Bride’s remark addressed to the daughters of Jerusalem: “I am black, but beautiful, like the tents of Kidar, like the curtains of Solomon” (v. 4) has the character of some kind of justification or explanation, caused, perhaps, by some mocking word from one of the “daughters of Jerusalem” regarding the immediate enthusiastic outpourings of the Bride’s feelings and the certain unfamiliarity she expressed with court etiquette. From many features of the Bride’s conversation and setting, she appears to be a provincial woman who has recently arrived among the court ladies of Solomon. Explaining her blackness (v. 4) or darkness (v. 5), the Bride, firstly, compares her - in terms of color - with the black felt (goat hair) tents of the Kidarians 5 - a people descended from Ishmael (Gen. 25.13) and partly nomadic, partly living in open villages between Petraean Arabia and Babylonia (Isa. 60.7; Jer 49.28–29: Onomast. 614); - and in relation to beauty and attractiveness - with the curtains or pavilions of Solomon (probably referring to the royal tents of Solomon during his country summer trip - like the tents of today's Arab sheikhs). The cause of blackness or darkness is indicated (v. 5) in the action of the sun. “She (the Bride) is beautiful, and one can even point out how beautiful the bride is. But we ask, how is she, being black and without whiteness, beautiful? She brought repentance for her sins, conversion gave her beauty, therefore she is praised as beautiful. But since it has not yet been cleansed from all the impurity of sins, has not yet been washed in the water of salvation, it is called black; however, it does not remain black forever. She becomes white when she strives for more and begins to ascend from the low to the highest, and then it is said about her: who is this ascendant who is made white?” 6 Cantos 8.5 (Origen - Jerome, p. 147). In the same way, the Midrash explains the contrast between blackness and beauty about the many different falls and rebellions of the Israeli community in the Old Testament, for example, about the Jews' resistance to God in Egypt (Eze 20.8) and their cleansing with the blood of the Passover lamb and circumcision (Eze 16.9), - about the contrast between weekdays and the Sabbath, simple days of the year and the day of purification, the present century and the future century (Der Midrasch Schir-ha-Schirim, ubers. A. Wunsche, Leipz. 1880, s. But the opposition of the provincial Bride to the “daughters of Jerusalem” allows us to see in the first not only a Jewish synagogue, but also that “pagan barren church”, which, around the time of Solomon, revealed a special desire for religious and any other unity with Israel (the visit of Solomon by the Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10.1-9), which, in the opinion of Blessed Theodoret , was the image of all well-meaning and honest pagans who were justified without the law according to the Apostle Rom. 11.14–15. Blessed Theodoret, Commentary on the 3rd book of Kings, question 33. See Explanatory Bible, vol. II, p. 413), therefore Solomon prayed to Jehovah that God would be pleased to receive the prayers of the pagans in the temple he built. (1 Kings 8.41–43). “When the voice of the Savior is heard, saying: “The queen of the south will rise up in judgment with this generation and will be condemned, and as if she had come from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon: and behold, more than Solomon is here” (Matthew 12.42), then be attentive to the mysteries that are offered in these words. From the ends of the earth comes the queen of the south, the church, and condemns the people of this race, that is, the Jews, devoted to flesh and blood. She comes from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, not the one who is glorified in the Old Testament, but the one who is greater than Solomon in the Gospel,” Origen - Jerome, p. 149. In this case, the opposition between external ugliness (pagan life) and internal beauty (the souls of the best pagans) stands out with particular relief. Explaining further why the sun had a particularly detrimental effect on her appearance. The bride points out that her “mother’s sons” (i.e., half-brothers, Lev. 18:9, 20 or even relatives, Gen. 27.29; Deut. 13.6) out of hostility gave her an unrelated and alien occupation - to guard someone else’s vineyard, neglecting her own (v. 5). Only at the end of the book does the Bride speak about the integrity and complete ownership of her vineyard (Song 8.12). The history of the pre-Christian world, both in Judaism and paganism, is replete with examples of how those close to the flesh often diverted the true worshipers of God and zealots of God's righteousness from the royal path of their lofty aspirations towards base and unworthy activities. The Midrash, in explaining the words: “they made me watch the vineyards,” says: “they made me, says Moses, a judge of the disputes of the daughters of Jethro, and “I did not guard my own vineyard,” that is, I did not have the opportunity to take over the work of my brothers in Egypt” (s. 34). Origen makes an application from this passage to the initial history of the Christian Church: “Look at Paul, the persecutor of the Church, and you will understand how her mother’s son was at enmity against her. The persecutors of the church brought repentance, and its opponents, returning again under the banner of their sister, preached the faith that they had previously refuted” (p. 150). After addressing the court women, the Bride, with a new strength of passion, turns her thoughts and whole being again to her Beloved and, despite his absence, speaks to him as present, begging him to reveal to her the place where he grazes, where he rests with the flocks at noon, so that she does not have to be a wanderer (archim. Makar.: as if “covered,” which more accurately corresponds to the meaning of the Hebrew ata, cf. Gen. 38:4; Lev. 13.46, etc.) with the flocks of his companions (v. 6). To this, the “daughters of Jerusalem” respond, no stranger to irony, that since she is not aware of her lover, then let her stay with the flocks of other shepherds for the time being (v. 7). It is clear that the innocent Bride naively considers Solomon to be with the flocks, even tending them, and this is what gives Solomon’s ladies at court their unfriendly irony. This is very reminiscent of the usually unfriendly attitude of Jews towards proselytes. Only such God-enlightened men as the prophets: Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, etc. understood and implemented the idea of ​​the unity of Israel with the rest of humanity, at least with its best representatives (1 Kings 17.8–28; Luke 4.25–26; 2 Kings 5.1–19, etc.). Song 1:8. I have likened you to my mare in Pharaoh’s chariot, my beloved. Song 1:9. Your cheeks are beautiful under pendants, your neck is in necklaces; Song 1:10. We will make you gold pendants with silver sparkles. Solomon, who suddenly appeared, extols his beloved with praises, comparing her, in terms of harmony, beauty, liveliness, with the cavalry of the pharaoh and endowing her with all kinds of jewelry. “What is this: “I have made you like my horses in Pharaoh’s chariots”? I know that this rider is a bridegroom, as the prophet says: “and his riding is salvation” (Hab 3.8). So you are like my horses in Pharaoh's chariots. How different are the horses that belong to Me, Who is the Lord, and Who drowned in the rivers Pharaoh, and his captains, and his horsemen, and his horses, and his chariots (Ex. 14), from the horses of Pharaoh, so much better than all the daughters are you, bride” (Origen, p. 153). - In Art. 9 (Heb. 10) Heb. battorim in pendants, LXX (read: kattorim) convey ως τρυγογες, slav. (your cheeks are beautiful) “like turtledoves”, Vulg. sicut turturis. In an aesthetic sense, the latter reading takes precedence over the first, although the parallelism of speech speaks for the Masoretic reading. To Art. 10 Origen notes: “After this, the bridegroom is on the bed, he rested like a lion, like the skimen of lions fell asleep (Gen. 49.9), so that later he could hear: who will awaken him. Meanwhile, during his sleep, the groom’s comrades, Angels, appear and console the bride with these words: we cannot make you gold jewelry, for we are not as rich as your groom, who gave you a gold necklace” (p. 154). Song 1:11. While the king was at his table, my spikenard gave off its incense. Song 1:12. A bunch of myrrh, my beloved, is with me, at my breasts. Song 1:13. Like a keeper's brush, my beloved is in the vineyards of Enged. Verse 11 was understood by supporters of the so-called “shepherd hypothesis” as the Bride’s appeal not to Solomon, but to another (Ewald, Weiginger, etc.) of her beloved - an unknown shepherd, explaining this verse as follows: while the king was away (hunting, at war, in the camp) and did not burden me with his caresses, I was happy with the memory of a distant friend. But in fact, the text speaks not of the absence, but of the presence of King Solomon at his table (LXX: εν ανακλισει αυτου, Vulg. in accubito suo. Slav. “at his delight”), in general at his home. Therefore, in Art. you need to see the Bride’s speech about her love specifically for Solomon, and this love is figuratively represented under the aroma of spikenard. Nard (see also Song 4.13–14) is an fragrant plant in northern and eastern India from the valerian family (Valeriana Nardostachys tatamansi), from which a highly fragrant and very valuable oil was prepared (John 12.3 ff.), which in the east was anointed at feasts. In the Bride’s mention of the incense of nard (v. 11), Origen and Jerome see a typical image of the anointing of the body of the Savior by Mary with nard ointment shortly before suffering (p. 156–157). But the Bride represents the source of her incense of love as her Beloved, that is, Solomon, whom she compares to a bunch of myrrh at her breasts (v. 12) and to a bunch of keeper, like a bunch of grapes in the gardens of Enged (v. 13). Myrrh (Hebrew pestilence) or myrrh (Greek) - a sharply fragrant resin, yellow-white and reddish in color, in liquid and solid form; extracted from a tree (Balsamodendron Murrha Nees), growing in India, Egypt and Nubia, but perhaps Solomon cultivated in his gardens (cf. Song 4: 6, 14, 5, see Eccl. 2.5). It was used for incense and anointing at feasts and in the bedrooms of rich women (Song 5.5; Ps 44.9; Proverbs 7.17), as a perfume, it was placed (powder) in the folds of a dress (Ps 44.9). Then, like the Egyptians, myrrh was used for embalming, so among the Jews, at least during the time of Jesus Christ, the corpses of the dead were anointed with myrrh. The Greeks called a particularly high grade of myrrh σταχτη (see Song 1.13 according to LXX and Glav. Song 1:12). Keeper (Hebrew cofer, Greek κυπρος) (cf. Song 4.13), in Arabic Al-henna, is fragrant in Egypt, Persia, Arabia, East Indies, in botany Lawsonia alba. Keeper flowers resemble bunches of grapes, have a white-yellow color and a smell reminiscent of mignonette; favorite flowers of an eastern woman. The most common women's blush in the ancient and modern east is prepared from the dried and crushed petals. Keeper bushes were probably planted by Solomon in the gardens of Enged. Engaddi or En Gedi (Joshua 15.62; Ezekiel 47.10; 1 Samuel 24.1; Onomast. 401), now Ain-Jidi, is a city in the south-east of Palestine, on an oasis near the western shore of the Dead Sea (See Commentary Bible, vol. II, pp. 337 and 402). Song 1:14. Oh, you are beautiful, my beloved, you are beautiful! your eyes are dove. Song 1:15. Oh, you are beautiful, my beloved, and amiable! and our bed is green; Song 1:16. the roofs of our houses are cedars, our ceilings are cypresses. The tenderness of the feeling of love for the Groom expressed by the Bride (vv. 11-13) causes him (v. 14) delight in contemplating her beauty, and he compares her - in terms of her purity, mobility and attractive simplicity and innocence - with doves (sn. Song 5.12, cf. “my dove” Song 2:14, 5:2, 6:9). (According to the Midrash, pious Israelites in visiting the church on holidays and in many other respects are likened to doves, s. 49-50). Origen says: “Why does the bride not say: “Look, you are beautiful, my neighbor,” but only: “Look, you are beautiful”? and why does he not only say: “you are beautiful,” but you are also beautiful, my neighbor”? The bride, if she is far from the groom, is not beautiful; she becomes beautiful when she unites with the Word of God. And rightly she is now learning from the groom that she should be quite close to him and not move away from his side” (p. 160). (The Midrash explains this by saying that the Beloved (God) has other nations besides Israel, and the Bride - Israel - considers only Him worthy of love s. 51). In Art. 15 The bride “hearing such praises about herself, reciprocates the groom with praises, with her laudatory speech not appropriating for him what he does not have, but truly understanding and contemplating his beauty” (Origen - Jerome, p. 161). It is, delighted with the king’s attention to herself, that the Bride praises the beauty and kindness of him, her Beloved, and calls him, for the purpose of complete pleasure, to the bosom of nature, where the bed is green, the roofs of the houses are made of cedar and the ceilings are made of cypress. “Inspecting the properties of these trees, and noticing that cedar is not a rotting tree, and cypress has a very pleasant smell, try to arrange your house in such a way that it can be said about you: the roofs of our houses are cedars, and our ceilings are cypresses.” (Origen - Jerome, p. 162). Slav. "into your lie" But neither the Hebrew cheder nor the Greek ταμετον necessarily designate bedrooms, but have a more general meaning: inner chambers (cf. 2 Samuel 13:10, 4:7). Heb. kedar, like kidron, expresses the concept of darkness, blackness “White” λελευκανθισμενη is read in Canto 8.5 only according to the LXX and Slavic texts. You might be interested in: