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Song 2:1 Az color is full and crin is long. It says - you saw only My human beauty. For no one has seen God anywhere (John 1:18). I became a full color, that is, I took on an earthly body and grew on earth, being Himself Pre-Eternal, Exalted and Immeasurable. He became a crin, and not a mountain or plain crin, but a valley one. For he not only preached salvation to the living, but, having descended into the underworld, he also brought resurrection to the dead. And for this reason he calls himself “I am full color and long-lasting.” But having called himself this way, he says to the Bride: Song 2:2 Like a thorn among thorns, so is my sincere one among my daughters. As much as the krin surpasses the thorns, you are so beautiful with your daughters. The prophet Isaiah also speaks about this: “Rejoice, thirsty desert, let the desert rejoice and let it bloom like a tree” (Is. 35:1). Since the Bride was previously alone, barren, did not have a husband, did not have a bed with overshadowing, thirsted for the Bridegroom and cried out: “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his lips” (Song. 1:1), then the prophet, foreseeing, said, “Rejoice, thirsty desert, let the desert rejoice and let it bloom like a tree.” “Like a tree among thorns, so is my sincere one among my daughters.” By daughters we mean heretical churches. They are called so because they are called by the Bridegroom, and not because they were chosen (cf. Matt. 22:14). He likens them to thorns, and compares his Bride to a fragrant krin, a krin both shiny on the outside and containing a golden color in a cup. For such is the soul, shining with the light of truth and containing within itself the gift of wisdom and understanding. But the bride also rewards Him: Song 2:3 Like apple trees in the midst of the trees of the forest, so is my sister's son in the midst of sons: under his shadow I was pleased and gray, and his fruit was sweet in my throat The great difference between the apple tree and the creen. Krin only pleases the eye and sense of smell, but the apple tree not only pleases the eye and sense of smell, but also the taste. An apple is an edible thing. Therefore, the bride is called a crin, and the Groom an apple. The groom is offered as food and serves as food, but the bride is not, but only one thing emits incense. Therefore she says: “Like apple trees among the trees of the forest, so is my sister’s son among sons.” He calls the very same ones whom the Bridegroom previously called daughters as sons. He compares them to barren trees of the forest, and the Bridegroom to an apple tree, or even more so to the Apple itself, which is tender to the touch, delightful to the taste, fragrant to the smell, charming and beautiful to the sight. Such is our Lord, Savior and Bridegroom! He delights all our senses. The bride desired to sit under His canopy, sat down and tasted His sweetest fruit. “Under the shadow of his delight.” For she tries to avoid the heat of wickedness, so as not to be denigrated. “Under its shadow I have grown desiring and gray, and its fruit is sweet in my throat.” This is justified in the feelings of the truly faithful. Song 2:4 Bring me into the house of wine, make me love: Song 2:5 Establish me in the world, put me in the apple shop: for I am wounded by love. I think the Bride calls the house of the wine of the press of God, which means the Church, in which spiritual wine, in fact, as in the presses of the bega, fills pious souls with joy according to this prophecy: “Your house will be drunk with the fatness, and I will give you a stream of your sweetness to drink” (Ps. 35:9). That is why the bride wants to enter the Groom’s house of wine and asks His servants: “make love for me,” that is, teach me the image of Love, so that I, father or mother, or anything else, will no longer love the Bridegroom and thereby not appear unworthy of him. For He himself said: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37) So, “make me love”, so that I will unite with the Bridegroom, and I will prefer Him to my father, mother and others. “Confirm me in the world,” that is, strengthen me with the fragrance of the Bridegroom, so that I do not stumble, forget Him, and do not deviate to something else. But “put me in the apple shop,” shower me with His fruits, so that I, sitting under His shadow, delighted by His fragrance and burdened with fruit, will forever preserve the memory of Him. “As if I was wounded by love.” For He is the chosen arrow that pierces godly souls. Song 2:6 His sword is under my head, and his right hand will embrace me. You need to be careful that when you hear about shuyts and the right hand, you do not take them in their own sense. For Solomon also speaks about wisdom, which, as we know, is a skill, and not a being, also explains: “The length of life and the years of life are in her right hand, but in her hand are wealth and glory” (Prov. 3:16) “Desire her, and she will protect you, protect you, and exalt you: almost, so that she will embrace you” (Prov. 4:6, 8). From this place we will learn to understand this embrace spiritually, namely, the union of a pious soul with God’s word. But what do right hand and shuytsa mean? God, depending on his deeds, either showers him with favors or depresses him with punishments. So, having recognized the mercy of God as the right hand, and His punishment as the hand, we must represent these words of the Bride: “His hand is under my head, and his right hand will embrace me,” “represent in this way: “His hand is under my head” - I am above punishment and am not subject to it, because I am united with the Bridegroom and diligently serve Him. “His right hand will embrace me” - The Bridegroom will adorn me with his favors, and, as if embracing me, he will bestow upon me his gifts. St. Paul shows this very thing and says: “We will always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17). But, oh, if only we had not experienced the true power of God, avoided the threatening torment, and accepted the gifts promised by the grace of Her Bridegroom, our Lord Jesus Christ, to Him be glory forever! Amen. Song 2:7 I have cursed you, daughters of Jerusalem, to the strength and strength of the village: if you arouse and arouse love, the Dondezh will delight. Those who love sensually only try to enjoy love, while all others, with all possible effort, turn away from the beloved object; on the contrary, those who love spiritually, clinging to God, not only do not reject other people, but with all their might they persuade them to burn with the same love. Why, in the Song of Songs, the Bride, having depicted the embrace of the Groom, does not want to be comforted and enjoy Him alone, but asks, even compels and conjures the daughters of Jerusalem, so that they arouse love until the Bridegroom “delights.” “I have cursed you, daughters of Jerusalem.” “Jerusalemli”, that is, Heavenly Jerusalem, which, according to the Apostle, is the mother of us all (Gal. 4:26). “In the strength and fortress of the village.” He calls the world a village, and the powers and fortresses or the forces of Angels, which flow around the world according to the will of God, or the Holy Prophets and Apostles, who, being filled with the Spirit of God and also going around the universe, expelled God-resisting and God-hating spirits and settled piety in the souls of men. “If you arouse and arouse love, Dondezh will delight” - that is, do not allow the love of God to fade in you, but excite, kindle it and remember His blessings. For if you do not constantly proclaim His salvation, you do not remember the miracles created by Him, then love will dry up and, as it were, die. We must always nourish, multiply it and set the measure of it - desire The Bridegroom, that is, to exalt her until the Bridegroom says that she has come to the limit. “I have sweared you, daughters of Jerusalem, with the strength and strength of the village: if you raise up and arouse love, the Dondezh will delight.” But, speaking this to the daughters of Jerusalem and encouraging them to love, the bride hears the coming Bridegroom and says: Song 2:8 The voice of my sister's son: Often hearing His sacred words, He recognizes His voice: “As the sheep lead His voice.” But they do not follow a stranger, but flee from him, because they do not know the strange voice” (John 10:4-5). The Bride knows the voice of the Bridegroom, knows the difference between the adulterer and Him, and turns away adulterers, predators and covetous people, and submits to the words of the Bridegroom and Shepherd. "The voice of my sister's son." Feeling the approach of the Bridegroom in this way, he does not sit, but stands up, looks on all sides and, seeing Him, exclaims: behold, he comes, galloping up the mountains and galloping up the hills. Song 2:9 My sister's son is like a chamois or a young tree on the mountains of Bethel. It is necessary here to find out why He likens Him to “chamois or young fawn.” It is said that the chamois got its name from the acute vision with which it is gifted, and the herbs do not tolerate reptiles, they devour snakes and echidnas instead of grass, and do not feel any harm from this. So, when Jesus Christ, according to humanity, is a rod coming from the root of Jesse, and the Spirit of God rested on him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and piety (Isa. 11:1-3) - then the bride, because of His insight and foreknowledge of the future, likens Him to roe, and to the sheath because He crushed the heads of the serpent, destroyed the sins of the world and gave to the disciples With His power to tread on the serpent and the scorpion and all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19) But not just the young one, but the young one - for He is called not only a Man, but also the Son of Man, not only a lion, but also a lion's lion (Gen. 49:9) But perhaps the Bride through this also means that He, while still in a young human age, consumed the power of the devil, this evil serpent. “Behold, he comes, leaping on the mountains and leaping on the hills: my sister’s son is like a chamois or a young fawn on the mountains of Bethel.” Here the destruction of idols, arranged by the Bridegroom, is explained. For by the mountains of Bethel and the hills are meant the churches of demons, erected of old on the mountains, over which the Bridegroom, as if galloping with the Wisdom of His teaching and the power of miracles, completely overthrew and destroyed them. Next, the bride adds: Song 2:9 Behold, this one stands behind our wall, look through the windows, see through the darkness. He declares how the Bridegroom, having humbled, according to Isain’s prophecy, every mountain and every hill (Isa. 40:4), comes to it, which was previously humiliated and like a vale, fills it and turns the stubborn into the right, and the sharp in the path smooth. “Behold, this one stands behind our wall, look through the windows, see through the darkness.” Like a city, he erects a wall around himself, so as not to be prey to enemies, like a garden, he puts a fence around himself, so that walking or forest animals do not damage it. “Behold, this one stands behind our wall, look through the windows, see through the darkness.” He has not yet entered her bridal chamber, but standing behind the wall, he looks through the windows. Calls feelings windows. For through them, as if through windows, good and evil enter and exit the soul. “Looks through the windows,” that is, through our feelings - how? When we study the law of the Lord day and night (Ps. 1:2), when we read the word of God with joy or contrition of heart, then we open the windows - our feelings, and the Bridegroom looks through them. When we diligently listen to those talking about God, then the Bridegroom peeks through the windows and shows us His own beauty. But He not only “looks through the windows,” but also “pierces through the depths.” For he protects his Bride from the deceits of the devil, from the snares of the enemy, and in the very temptations she “pierces through the depths of darkness” and encourages and inspires her when she is depressed. This can be seen both from the Old and New Testaments, where pious men borrowed all kinds of consolation from Him. When Sarah was taken away from Abraham by Pharaoh, He “penetrated through the darkness,” comforted Abraham and returned her to him safe and sound. When the Jews also imprisoned the Apostles, He encouraged them too and commanded them to fearlessly preach the word of piety. To this same end, the Bride, aiming, says: Song 2:10 My brother answers and says to me: Arise, come, my neighbor, my good one, my dove. The Groom testifies to the beauty of the Bride, and not only calls her good, but “my good one,” thereby letting him know that her beauty is extremely pleasing to Him. He also calls her a dove, because she is perfect in virtue and filled with the Holy Spirit. “Arise, come, my neighbor, my kind, my dove.” Thus, He, approving and consoling His Church, which is in the midst of temptations, convinces it to rise up and soar to Himself. For he gave her wings to that dove, about which David: “If you sleep in the middle, a limit is in the middle, the wing of a dove is silvered, and its interspaces are in the glitter of gold” (Ps. 67:14) He calls the two Testaments limits, the dove is the grace of the Holy Spirit, the silvered wings are the Light of the word, the interspaces in the glitter of gold are an explanation deepest mysteries. As it were, he says: If you calm down in the midst of the two covenants, you will find there various gifts of the Holy Spirit. So, when the Bride, leaning toward spiritual conviction, calms down in the midst of her borders, she finds silvered wings and flies on them to the Groom. Song 2:11 Behold, the winter is gone, the rain is gone, the rain is gone: Song 2:12 Flowers appeared on the earth, the time of circumcision had come, the voice of the turtledove was heard in our land: Song 2:13 The fig tree brought forth its blossom, the ripening grapes gave off a stink. “Behold, winter is past.” He calls the time preceding His appearance winter, spring the time following it, and summer the age to come. “The winter has passed, the rain has gone” - the threats of the Law and grave punishments for sins have passed, “go away:” for the shadow has given way to the creature, the mentor of the wise Teacher. "Blossoms appeared on earth." Note the subtlety and precision of expressions. He didn’t say: fruit, but blossom. For the perfect enjoyment of blessings is provided to us in the age to come. As long as we are here, we will still speak with Saint Paul: “For now we see as with a mirror in divination, but then face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12). "The time for circumcision has arrived." Symmachus and Aquila set the time for purification. For after Christ’s coming, all languages ​​(nations) were purified. Why does the Lord say: “I am the true vine, and my Father is a worker: every rod for me that does not produce fruit, I will cut it off; and every rod that produces fruit, I will cut it off, so that it will bear abundant fruit” (John 15:1-2). “The time of circumcision has come,” but also “the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.” By the voice of the turtledove, Paki calls the teaching of the All-Holy Spirit, His grace, which is likened to the turtledove, because of the purity of this bird, because of its love for solitude and the construction of nests in branchy trees. “The voice of the turtledove was heard in our land, the fig bore its blossom,” that is the early ripening fruit of faith, from which other fruits of deeds are established, ripen and become sweetest. “The grapes are ripening and they stink.” The spiritual grapes blossomed and released a fragrance. So, Song 2:13 Arise, come, my neighbor, my good, my dove, and come. Song 2:14 You, my dove, are covered with stone, near the entrance: He calls her under the roof of stone, so that she will not be denigrated. And by a roof of stone he means good faith and true confession. “You, my little dove, are covered in stone, near the entrance.” Near the prestinum, he wishes that she should not cling to real life, that she should not think about the visible, but about the invisible: for the visible is temporary, but the invisible is eternal. He wants all this and advises her to be near the throne, as if saying: Mortify your earthly desires while you are in the body, take care of the spiritual, do not be embarrassed amidst disturbances, be outside the real city and its walls. For if you are not near the entrance, you cannot have the pleasure of uniting with Me. If you do not cry out with Paul: “For we walk in the flesh, we do not make war according to the flesh” (2 Cor. 10:3) - if you do not stand in the middle of the present and the future (this, I think, of course, is through the presence), then our marriage will not be consummated. But I ask you, who came there, You have a pure thought and not clouded by any worldly cares. and let your voice be heard: there I want to hear him, then your voice will be sweet to me For then my beauty will be reflected in you as in a mirror, and my words will be in your mouth. Having said this to the Bride, the Groom commands his servants: Song 2:15 Give us the little foxes that destroy the grapes, and our grapes will ripen. Some interpreters refer to the word small as grapes. But even if it related to one or the other, there is not much importance in that. “Give us the little foxes that destroy the grapes.” He calls treacherous people foxes, heretics who arm themselves against churches that are still beginning to blossom, who with the pleasantness of words, cunning turns of phrase, and the subtlety of evidence seduce souls not yet established in the faith, and thus destroy the grapes. Why does the Bridegroom command those who have received the gift of teaching to drive out these heretics, to defeat them with the sword of truth and thereby save the flowering grapes from harm. “Give us the little foxes that destroy the grapes.” Having heard these words, he says: Song 2:16 My brother is mine, and I am his, Just as He preferred me to everyone, so I prefer Him to everyone and I don’t want to unite with anyone else, I turn away from insidious foxes. For it is not fitting for me, who is so beloved and adorned by Him, to not correspond to Him according to the measure of His strength in love. “My brother is mine, and I am his.” But who He is, what, where, when and how much He does, explains: Song 2:17 The day is dying in Dondezh, and the canopy is moving. It should be noted that the Bridegroom first called Himself from the side of mankind a krin - “I am a full flower and a rich krin” (Song. 2:1) - then also the Bride - “like a krin from thorns, so is my sincere one among the daughters” (Song. 2:2), and here the Bride even calls the pasture itself krin. “Grazing in sheep” - for the pasture presented to the sheep is full of incense. But this is so according to the meaning of the Seventy translators, and Symmachus means the shepherds themselves by the krins. “The day is dying in Dondezh, and the canopy will move.” Senyami calls temporary human blessings, such as wealth, fame, power, bodily health, beauty and others. They really are like canopies. For they have nothing in themselves that is solid, permanent, true, imperishable, or essential. So, the Bridegroom shepherds us until the heat of the day passes, the dew of salvation falls, the canopy moves, and until the permanent, eternal future appears. “The day will breathe and the canopy will move” - until the day dawns, revealing the future, until all the present - the canopy of the future - passes away. On that day this good Shepherd will give rest to His flock in the eternal abodes. Song 2:17 Convert yourself, my brother, and be like a roe or a young fir on the mountains of the valleys. Here the Bride, wishing everyone the pleasant presence of the Groom, prays to Him that He, like those animals, would ascend the mountains towering above the valleys. He calls the mountains of the vale those who, in the midst of the low ones, rise with their minds. So she asks him to honor them with his visit. The groom, heeding her prayer, did this, and she, left alone, laments, laments and tells the young women her grief.