Глава 8

1–4. The Beloved expresses a passionate desire for her relationship with her Beloved to become more simple and intimate. 5–7. The Shulamite's fiery confession of the incomparable power of true love. 8–10. About the Shulamite's sister. 11–12. Her memory of her primitive state. 13–14. In conclusion, she again calls her friend, hearing a corresponding call from him, to strive for the bosom of nature to fully enjoy the bliss of love. Song 8:1. Oh, that you were my brother, who suckled my mother’s breasts! Then, when I met you on the street, I would kiss you, and I would not be judged. Song 8:2. I would lead you, I would bring you to my mother’s house. You would teach me, and I would give you aromatic wine, the juice of my pomegranate apples. Song 8:3. His left hand is under my head, and his right embraces me. Song 8:4. I conjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, do not wake up or disturb your beloved as long as she pleases. Normal sexual love, although different in nature and character from love by blood and property, but in terms of intimacy, simplicity and spontaneity, the first naturally takes the second as a model; and therefore, just as the Bridegroom of the book of the Song of Songs more than once called the Bride his sister (Song 4.12), so the Bride, not satisfied with her position - the first of the queens (Song 6.8-9), longs for the closest unfettered communication with her Groom - like the caresses of a sister and brother. At the same time, the Groom-brother must dominate - he must teach the Bride-sister (v. 2), and she must give him selfless love and devotion. Art. 3 repeats what was said in Song 2.6. According to the explanation of Prof. Olesnitsky, in the verses under consideration, “the earth, having completed its summer work and given up its fruits, expresses the desire for the sun to be its brother, that is, to remain inseparably with it so that its vineyards and pomegranates would continuously bloom, so that old fruits would immediately be replaced by new ones. The song again ends with a spell addressed to the daughters of Jerusalem not to violate the love and harmony that reigns in nature” (op. cit. p. 377). Song 8:5. Who is it that rises from the desert, leaning on its beloved? I woke you up under the apple tree: there your mother gave birth to you, there your mother gave birth to you. The question “who is this?” as in similar places of Song 3.6 and Song 6.10, probably belonging to the women of Jerusalem, refers, without a doubt, to the new and now last appearance of the Bride. In euros Bible: ala min-hamidbar, Vulg. ascendit de deserto, Russian. synod.: “rises (archim. Macarius; ascending) from the desert”, which literally agrees with Song 3.6 and is probably artificially transferred from there. LXX was read differently and rendered: λελευκανθισμενη, glory. “whitened,” which corresponds much more closely to the general course of thought and speech of the sacred poet: The Bride in his book appears to be perfecting itself, and if at the beginning of the book she appeared black from the sun’s tan (Song 1.4–5), now, at the end of the book, she - on the contrary - appears whitened, reaching dazzling whiteness. According to prof. Olesnitsky, “the last stage of the Song of Songs (Song 8.5–14) approaches the pictures of the first stage and depicts the first half of the winter season, cooling and sleep, or - so to speak - the reduction of the life of nature... It was not in vain that Palestine in the previous song was so afraid of the removal of the sun. The sun sank - and then one morning Palestine appears all white with snow. This thought is directly expressed in the first words of the song for reading LXX: who is this shining with such a white color (according to LXX) and with the brightness of this snowy color, likening her friend the sun? (p. 377); “The main winter decoration of Palestine is the oranges ripening in December... the sacred poet understands them, and only them alone, under the general name of apples. Orange trees laden with ripening fruits are one surviving guarantee of a close relationship between the earth and the sun; in these belated fruits the winter sun barely awakens Palestine to life, sleeping in the bosom of mother earth” (p. 378). Song 8:6. Place me like a seal on your heart, like a ring on your hand: for love is strong as death; fierce, like hell, jealousy; her arrows are arrows of fire; she has a very strong flame. Song 8:7. Great waters cannot extinguish love, and rivers cannot drown it. If someone gave all the wealth of his house for love, he would be rejected with contempt. In Art. 6–7, according to the consensus of all ancient and new interpreters, the main thought or idea of ​​the entire book of Song of Songs is expressed - about the incomparably high dignity and irresistible power of true love, as the beginning of the essence and source of the divine. The image of love given here by the sacred poet - strong as death, and jealousy, insatiable, like Sheol itself, love, as a divine flame, unquenchable and incorruptible, is truly inimitable, truly classic. But the full profound meaning of this picture becomes clear only in connection with the typological interpretation of the book of Song of Songs. Let us also use here the excellent explanation of Prof. Olesnitsky. “Just as the writers of prophetic books in the depiction of the extreme political fall of the Jewish people introduce the features of the blessed messianic kingdom in the form of consolation and encouragement to the people, so the writer of the Song of Songs, having reached in his description the lowest level of life of the Promised Land, as if asleep from the action of the winter cold, unexpectedly introduces into his description the feature of the highest direct relationship of God to his land, which has no relation to the real Palestine he depicts. people. Portrayal of love in Art. 6–7, which is not interrupted even by death and hell, is not extinguished by any (winter) waters and is not acquired by any treasures, is an image of that divine love that serves as the basis of the entire Old Testament teaching about the Messiah. Adapted to the fact that our book generally talks about the sun and its beneficial warmth, the love of God is called here a flame (according to the original reading; the flame of Jehovah Yah 7. Thus, quite rightly, the ancient interpreters saw in the Song of Songs one of the highest and brightest prophecies about the Messiah. From the highest point on which we stand in Songs 8.6–7, the general thought of the entire book of Song of Songs should be defined as follows: among all the vicissitudes of the fate of Palestine, among the changing pictures of its nature, for the Jewish people there is only one solid and unchanging foundation of life, this is the highest and most perfect love of Jehovah promised to them, with the revelation of which there will no longer be a need for the sun on the land of the chosen, God, because Jehovah himself will be the sun for it inaccessible” (pp. 378–379). About parallelism Art. 6–7 with Rom 8.35–39 we spoke. Song 8:8. We have a sister who is still small and has no nipples; What will we do with our sister when they woo her? Song 8:9. If it were a wall, we would build chambers of silver on it; if it had been a door, we would have lined it with cedar planks. Song 8:10. I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers; therefore I will be in his eyes as having reached completeness. Song 8:11. Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon; he gave this vineyard to the guards; each one had to deliver a thousand pieces of silver for its fruits. Song 8:12. And I have my vineyard with me. Let a thousand be for you, Solomon, and two hundred for those who guard its fruits. Song 8:13. Resident of the gardens! comrades listen to your voice, let me listen to it too. Song 8:14. Run, my beloved; be like a chamois or a young deer on the balsam mountains! The general meaning of this final section is to indicate the complete contentment and satisfaction that the Bride achieved in the undivided communion she had long desired with her Beloved, finally realized. Particulars, as in many places in our holy book, are difficult to give a satisfactory, indisputable explanation. Thus, it is difficult to determine who exactly the younger sister is spoken of - according to an assumption that has many supporters (see, for example, the Russian translation of Archim. Macarius) - the brothers of the Bride in Art. 8–9. Midrash and many interpreters (including Prof. Olesnitsky) see in this younger sister the Bride - the heroine of the Song of Songs, and it is in application to her, that is, closest to historical biblical Israel, that they explain the imperfections and needs of this sister mentioned here. However, her difference from the Bride is already indicated by the very name of her lesser, as well as by the fact that in Art. 10 The bride, in her qualities, is directly opposed, as having “reached” completeness (in Archim. Macarius: “who has found peace”), to the imperfect younger sister. Therefore, it is more natural to see in the latter a community of pagans alien to Israel and its God-given heritage, although they were believers, but did not have favorable conditions for the development and practical implementation of this faith (for comparison, we can cite the image of the state of paganism by the Apostle Paul, for example, Eph 2.12–13). Vineyard, st. 11–12, on the contrary, is, as in Isa. 5, an image of Old Testament biblical Israel with its theocratic structure. “Baal-Gamon” as a proper name does not appear in the Old Testament canonical books. Comparison of this name with the city of Valamon, mentioned in the book of Judith (Judith. 8:3) has only the possibility that the latter was located (Onomast. 191, 228) near Dothan or Dophaim (Onomast. 396), i.e., near Sunem - the homeland of the Shulamites. But it is even more likely that “Baal-Gamon” is a common noun, the literal meaning of which “ruler of many (nations)” is quite befitting of Solomon, and even more of the Messiah prototyped by him. With the last mutual greetings of love, Art. 13–15, The Beloved disappear into the ethereal heights, with which the last tones of the most excellent of songs - the Song of Songs, this - in truth, "an elusive riddle offered to the human spirit by the Absolute Spirit" - fall silent (Prof. A. A. Olesnitsky, Book of Song of Songs... P. 338). Indeed, instead of the accepted reading in Heb. text of Art. 6 flame (strong), in many codes by Kenpicott and Rossi the flame of Jehovah is read. You might be interested in: