Третье изъяснительное слово на книгу Песни песней ( Песн. 4 – Песн. 6:9 )

Song 4:1 Behold, you are good, my neighbor, behold, you are good: your eyes are like a dove, except for your silence. Surprised by her beauty, he describes her in detail. He calls her eyes dove-like, because of their spiritual contemplation, and approves of her timely silence. She, being reviled, does not answer; being oppressed, she does not complain. Then he praises her hair and lips and says: Song 4:1 Thy branches are like flocks of goats, even as they were revealed from Gilead. Song 4:2 Thy lips are as if they were shorn, even as they came forth from the font, and are full of two children, and there is no barren in them. Neither hair - hair, nor lips - lips mean here, but by hair we mean that which is not so necessary and that concerns the body of the Bride. The groom seems to say this: You also act commendably and prudently in human affairs, and are like a flock of goats grazing on Mount Gilead and famous because of its height: your lips, free from all vain reasoning, ridicule, blasphemy, lies and foul language, are so pure that they are equal to flocks of shorn ones, which, leaving the excess, came out of the font. I think that through the flocks of shorn ones we mean here those who, having washed away their sins through baptism, were cleansed, according to the Apostle, “by the washing of water in the word” (Eph. 5:26). Thus, you are like those who have recently been awarded Holy Baptism. Further - “all are double-bearing, and those who are nulliparous are not among them.” I do not compare you with those who, after saving Baptism, turn back to wickedness, but I liken you to those who retain the Grace given to them and improve both in speculation and in moral activity. Song 4:3 For thy mouth is scarlet, and thy conversation is red You have taken the color from My Blood and offer words of truth, with which, as if with a rope, you attract and bind servants. Your red conversation captivates them and does not allow them to move away from you, but makes them always stay with you. Song 4:3 For conversion is the thorn on your cheek, except for your silence. This means her shyness and modesty, for which reason she observes a timely silence, hiding the words of the sacraments. Song 4:4 For thy neck is like a pillar of David, built in Phalpioth: a thousand shields hang thereon, all the arrows of mighty men. Instead of Falpioth, Aquila placed fortifications, and Symmachus placed heights. So, just as the tower built by David surpasses other fortifications and rises majestically, so your neck is raised high, not tilted down, like those of the dumb, but straight and firm. On it “hangs a thousand shields” and “all the arrows of the mighty.” You have many fences and you extinguish the kindled arrows of the evil one. You are provided with the power of the Holy Spirit and, replete with the arrows of the strong, you conveniently defeat the enemies, denouncing them either through the Prophets or through the Apostles, and revealing their powerlessness. Song 4:5 Thy two breasts are like the two young twins of a roe that feeds in bushes, Song 4:6 Until the day expires, and the canopy is moved. By teats we must understand the sources of teaching, teaching that provides decent nourishment to each age, milk for some, food for others. “Your two breasts are like the young twin of a chamois.” The chamois are likened to the twins because we do not yet know everything here, but as the Apostle says: “In part we understand and in part we prophesy” (1 Cor. 13:9) Herded in grains, eating aromatic grass - the teaching of the Holy Spirit, “until the day breathes, and the canopy moves” - until the labors of this life are over, until it passes temporary. Thus the Groom, having described the beauty of the Bride, says: Song 4:6 I will go to Mount Myrrh and to the hill of Lebanon. When you are so beautiful, so superior to everyone, so wounded by love for me, then I endured death for you, “I will go to Mount Humble,” but again I will rise, and will ascend “to the hill of Lebanon. I will go to Mount Myrrh and to the Hill of Lebanon." By myrrh we mean death, and by Lebanon we mean the Divine nature. But why did He, speaking here about death, call it a mountain, while He likened His Divinity to a hill? The great importance and the most incomprehensible mystery is that God, the immeasurable Being, humbled Himself and took on the form of a servant (cf. Phil. 2:7). But that He became famous again after death is not so much worthy of surprise. So, He called death a mountain, because it is much more incomprehensible and inconvenient for God to humiliate himself than to glorify himself. Song 4:7 You are all good, my neighbor, and there is no vice in you. You have become all beautiful and immaculate, for you have united with Me, and have taken your light from My unflickering light. But, oh, if only we, Christians, could be worthy of this, could contemplate with a frank face the glory of the Lord, and be transformed into the same image from glory to glory! God willing! God willing! Amen. We must pray carefully and diligently so that our minds are enlightened and we can discover the true meaning hidden under the roof of the letters. It is impossible to understand Divine Scripture otherwise than by being illuminated by the same Spirit through Whom It was written. So, calling upon this all-enlightening Spirit for help, let us continue our interpretation. At the end of the previous word, the Groom was amazed at the beauty of the Bride, described her in detail and praised that she was all pure and immaculate, and now he was calling her from Lebanon, saying: Song 4:8 Come from Lebanon, O Bride, come from Lebanon: come and pass from the beginning of the faith, from the head of Sanir and Aermon, from the fences of Lion, from the mountains of Pardale. First of all, you need to find out what Lebanon means here, what Sanir means, what the Lvov fences and the Pardaleov mountains mean. Lebanon means idolatry, Sanir means life according to the rites of the Law. Under the fences of Leo we mean the stiff-necked and raging Jews, and under the mountains of Pardaleus - the wise of the pagans, who, with an abundance of words, and the cunning of evidence, covering up lies, deceived simple and uneducated people. So, “come from Lebanon, Bride, come from Lebanon” - leave your former service to idols, “come and pass from the beginning of the faith, from the head of Sanir and Aermon, from the fences of Leo, from the mountains of Pardaleev.” Do not cleave to the rites of the Law, to this shadow of the future - do not associate with other infidel Jews, keep away from cunning deceivers. Thus, the Groom, calling the Bride, giving her salvation through faith and her beauty, which was occupied in vain, further says: Song 4:9 You have attracted our heart, my sister bride, you have attracted our heart with one from your sight, one monist of yours. You have two amazing and spiritual eyes, but one of them, which sees the works of God, sees God Himself, penetrates into hidden secrets, amazes me most of all. I am also amazed at the decoration of “your neck” - that is, the pearls of virtue shining on it, but I prefer one to all of them. Which one? Three virtues are faith, hope, love, but the last is superior to all of them: “greater than these are loves” (1 Cor. 13:13). “On her hang the whole Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:40) So, here is the pearl of the Bride, to which the Groom gives priority. “Our heart has been attracted by the one thing before your eyes, the only monist of your neck.” You have earned My love with your undoubted faith and ardent love. Song 4:10 What is thy breast fertilized, my sister-bride? What is the richness of your breast more than wine, and the stench of your garments more fragrant than all others? “Your breast”, that is, the sources of teachings, from the spiritual wine and the mystical cup took on greater prominence. Your garments are beautiful: for you have put on Me. Their fragrance is “above all fragrances,” that is, it surpasses the lawful virtue, which is signified by fragrances. “What does your breast fertilize, my sister-bride? “He calls her sister, fiancee, and neighbor. Neighbor - for she says: “My soul clings to You” (Ps. 62:9), Bride - for, receiving from Him the seeds of teaching, she gives birth to the fruit of piety. Sister - because He Himself, in His humanity, originated from the same beginning with her and has the same nature. But He goes on to praise her: Song 4:11 Thy lips shall dig up the honeycomb, the bride, honey and milk under thy tongue, and the fragrance of thy garments shall be like the fragrance of Lebanon. The Church, according to Pavlov, like a body, is made up of many members (Rom. 12:5, 1 Cor. 12:27). Some administer the office of the eyes, others the office of the ear, and some the office of the mouth. Why does the Bridegroom, having said: “Your lips dig up the honeycomb, the bride, honey and milk under your tongue,” means here the Teachers of the Church, who preach the teaching of piety, like a honeycomb, they contain it in their lips, and in the sweetness of honey drops they pour on the ministers. But not only do they have honey in their mouths, but also milk, that is, they serve decent food to every age (cf. 1 Cor. 3:2, Heb. 5:12). “And the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.” This is explained above. Song 4:12 The helicopter city is sealed, my sister bride, the helicopter city is sealed, the fountain is sealed. He calls it a helicopter garden because it has produced not just one, but many different fruits of piety and virtue. To prisoners - because she is protected and safe from attacks. “And the gates of hell will not prevail against her” (Matthew 16:18) She is not like the one who was brought out of Egypt, who was damaged by all those passing by and by the boar from the oak grove (Ps. 79:14), but strengthened by a visor, like a prisoner of grapes, whose waters are not open for everyone, but for the worthy, not for the worldly, but for those taught the Divine secrets, not for those who, after purification, remain in wickedness, but for those who live piously and repent. Song 4:13 Thy summer-trees are a garden of thorns with apple fruit, cypress with backgammon, Song 4:14 Nard and saffron, reed and cinnamon with all the trees of Lebanon, myrrh and scarlet with all the first worlds, Song 4:15 The fountain of the city, and the well of living waters that flow out of Lebanon. All this, He says, you grew for me during marriage - and, firstly, a “garden of thorns”, abounding in other fruits. I think shipok means love here. For just as in an apple tree many seeds, being united, do not crowd out or damage one another, so the numerous genera of those who are being saved do not have any harmful relations with each other. “Your summer-growing garden of thorns with apple fruit.” Having shown the love of the Bride, he then calculates her other virtues. "Cypri with backgammon, spikenard and saffron". Cyprus is a type of tree from which hot oil is made, spikenard is a fragrance from which hot oil is also made and used for healing, and saffron has the power of cooling. So, this means that the Bride not only burns with ardent love for God, but also cools down and extinguishes her ardent passions. “Cane and kinnamon” - and this is also a type of aromas, but here, of course, it is not proper. The reed signifies the Divine Scripture: “my tongue is the reed of a scribe and a scribbler” (Ps. 44:2) The reed is fragrant - and the tongue of those who teach the truth is filled with all pleasantness. “Kinnamon” is added to the reed, which was offered to God in the Old Testament (cf. Jer. 6:20), added in order to show them that everything written about God is delightful. "With all the trees of Lebanon". The Bride also has virtues that are contained in the Law not by writing, but by the Spirit. It has “myrrh, scarlet with all the first worlds,” that is, it accommodates passions. For the dead anoint themselves with myrrh; endures the bitterness of temptation, for scarlet is bitter. It also has “a spring and a reservoir of living waters flowing out of Lebanon.” For it not only contains the Gospel teaching, which flows openly, but also a storehouse of the Law, the waters of which are hidden, but with aspiration and thunder are cast down “from Lebanon.” Lebanon here means Jerusalem, where the lawful way of life flourished. So, the Bride, having heard the praise attributed to her from the Groom, and rejoicing that He was not only surprised by her beauty, but also by her very clothes, says: Song 4:16 Arise, ye north, and come, ye south, and blow through my heap, and let my fragrances flow. (c-sl. 5:1) Let my brother go down to his garden and eat the fruit of his vegetables. North in Divine Scripture is something terrible. Using the example of God, through the Prophet Jeremiah, he says: “from the face of the north evil will be kindled” (Jer. 1:14), and again: “I will bring forth from the north and great destruction” (Jer. 4:6) So, the Bride here commands the north wind to cease and instead to blow the south - the grace of God - so that it cools the aromas of the garden, which have ripened so much through her that her brother can eat them. “Let my brother go down to his garden and eat the fruit of his vegetables.”