Commentary on the Song of Songs 1 part 6/9

and it is possible also to find another contemplation from the partitions within it;

for among those who are being saved we see many orders;

for one is the order of those who keep virginity, and another of those who practise continence, and another of those who draw the yoke of marriage, and of those who are surrounded with wealth, and another of those who live with poverty;

another of servants who love godliness, and another of masters who rule lawfully.

The pomegranate, therefore, has as it were certain dividing walls, separating the grains into certain companies;

for this reason he likens the bride's shoots to an orchard of pomegranates;

for first he marvels at her fruit of love, and says that she abounds also in the other forms of virtue;

'With the fruit of choice tree-crops.' Then he goes through these in detail according to kind.

'For cypress-flowers with spikenards.' Now cypress is a kind of tree, from which a warm oil is prepared.

And spikenard is a fragrant aromatic, from which again an oil of the same name is made, itself also warm, and suitable for the healing of bodies.

But he says the orchard has saffron also;

for we have need not only of the things that warm us and kindle in us the love of God, but also of the things that cool the unbridled desires;

for saffron is among the things that cool.

'And calamus,' he says, 'and cinnamon.' These too are kinds of spices, but are to be understood figuratively.

'My tongue is the pen of a swift-writing scribe;' and the aromatic calamus is fragrant;

for indeed the tongue of the teachers of godliness is filled with all sweet fragrance;

and joined to the calamus is the cinnamon, which under the old law was offered to God, that we may learn that the writings concerning God are both praiseworthy and fragrant, and likened to the aforementioned sweet spices.

'With all trees of Lebanon.' 'For she has,' he says, 'also the virtue that lives according to the law, not that according to the letter, but that according to the spirit;'

for we have often been taught that by Lebanon Jerusalem is signified.

'And she has also myrrh and aloes with all the chief spices.' That is to say, the mortification of the passions;

for myrrh is proper to the dead;

and also the bitterness of trials;

and, in a word, she has all the chief spices, not the second, nor the third, but the chief;

for to the perfect belong things that are perfect.

'And she has also a fountain, and a well of living water, and it rushing down from Lebanon.' For she has not only the evangelical teaching flowing forth openly, but also the well of the law, which is a well of living water, having its streams hidden indeed, yet rushing and producing a sound, and poured forth from Lebanon; for in Jerusalem the legal polity flourished, which is figuratively named Lebanon;

and this well too passed over to the Lord's bride, the Church;

and it is hidden, yet borne along with a rushing sound and watering the paradise of the Church.

The bride, having heard the praises from above, and being glad and rejoiced that he not only marvelled at her beauty, but also praised her robes, says:

'Awake, O north wind, and come, O south; and blow through my garden, and let my spices flow out.'

'Let my beloved come down into his garden, and eat the fruit of his choice tree-crops.'

The north wind is among the things spoken against in the divine Scripture;

'From the north I will drive them out from you.' And elsewhere:

'Behold, evils come from the north, and great destruction.' She bids the north wind, therefore, awake and withdraw, so that the south may blow through and cause the ripened spices of the garden to flow forth;

that her beloved may enjoy her fruits.

Now the south is evident, that it blows from the noonday, being called the south (notos) because it is moist, and fills bodies with moisture as it blows;

and moreover the light streams in more fully from the noonday;

wherefore Habakkuk also foretells that the Lord will come from the noonday;

'For God,' he says, 'shall come from Teman;'

and this is interpreted so in the tongue of the Hebrews and of the Syrians. She bids, therefore, the contrary Spirit depart, and the divine grace blow, so that her beloved may gather the ripened fruits of her spices, none being blasted by the wind or falling before its season.

'I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride. – I have gathered my myrrh with my spices, I have eaten my bread with my honey, I have drunk my wine with my milk.'

'Eat, O friends, and drink, and be drunken, O my beloved ones.' 'For I have come,' he says, 'into my own garden, the one offered to me by thee, and I have gathered first my myrrh, that is, the myrrh which I planted in thee;'

for I first accepted the death on thy behalf, and thereafter thou didst desire to die together with me and to be buried together with me.

'For thou wast buried together with me through baptism into death, and didst mortify thy members that are upon the earth.'

'I have gathered, therefore, my myrrh with my spices;'

'And the other virtue also,' He says, 'which you were taught by Me, I have gathered and received as fruit.'

'I have eaten My bread with My honey' — that solid and sweet nourishment which is found among those who are perfect.

'I have drunk My wine.' And He has fitly added the possessive pronoun.

For He Himself is the true Vine, from which this wine was cultivated.

'I have drunk My wine with My milk.' For He does not thrust away even the infants, those as it were still at the breast and nourished with milk, but receives from them too their measured fruit; and being good, He also calls His friends to the feast, and says:

'Eat, O My neighbours, and drink, and be drunken, O My brethren.' Those who have been made perfect draw near to Him and boast of their kinship with Him — those who keep the image undefiled.

And He bids them not only to drink, but even to become drunken;

for there is a drunkenness that works soberness of mind, and not derangement;

one that does not loosen the limbs, but strengthens them.

'They shall be drunken,' it says, 'with the fatness of Thy house, and Thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of Thy delights.' To the things spoken above from on high, the bride replies, [chapter] 2:

'I sleep, but my heart waketh.'

For even if I am constrained by nature to close my eyes and receive sleep, yet in my mind I am awake, and I do not admit the sleep of slothfulness, while I await the coming of the Bridegroom.

'For the voice,' she says, 'of my beloved knocks at the door.' Let us set beside these words, if it seems good, the things spoken in the divine Gospels by the Good Shepherd:

'For My sheep,' He says, 'hear My voice.' And again:

'But a stranger will they not follow, for they know not the voice of strangers.' Blessed then is the one who is shepherded and recognizes the shepherd's voice.

Blessed is the one led as a bride, and who knows how to distinguish the voice of the adulterer from that of the Bridegroom; blessed is the one who says:

'I will not give sleep to my eyes, nor slumber to my eyelids,' but keeping watch and awaiting the Bridegroom, according to the Lord's own exhortation:

'Your Lord cometh.' This counsel too the blessed Paul offers, saying:

'Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong; let all your things be done in love.' The bride therefore, being awake — although she sleeps the bodily sleep — comes to enjoy the voice of the Bridegroom, and hears the knocking at the door.

And what are the doors of the soul but the senses of the body, through which the bride receives the Bridegroom, not only knocking but even entreating that the door be opened to Him? 'For open to me,' He says, 'my sister, my neighbour, my dove, my perfect one; for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.' Now by the night He signifies the uprising made against Him in the night by the Jews;

and by the dew and the drops, the three days' death, which His locks of hair — and not He Himself — received.

'Since, then,' He says, 'I have accepted death on your behalf, and endured these things for your sake, open to me and receive me;

for I love your spiritual comeliness, and your perfection in virtue.'

'Perfect one' — as fulfilling the perfection I have laid down as law:

'Be ye perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect.' And again:

'If thou wilt be perfect, sell thy possessions, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven;

and taking up thy cross, follow Me.' And I call her My dove, as having become spiritual, and having put off the old man with its sufferings and desires, and being able to see spiritually.

And 'My neighbour,' as walking in My footsteps and longing to draw near to Me:

'Draw near to Me, and I will draw near to you.' And I call her also My sister;

not only because of the kinship of the nature which I have assumed, but also because of the intimacy of piety.

Hearing then the words from above, the bride answers, saying:

For the bride, having made use of delays, and not being willing at once to open the door to the Bridegroom, is compelled after a little while not only to walk as far as the door, but even to run into the city, to go about the marketplaces, and to fall in with certain watchmen, from whom she also receives wounds, and scarcely finds the longed-for Bridegroom.

But if she had at once obeyed Him who called, she would have been delivered from all these toils:

'I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?' And yet this is not what the Bridegroom bids her;

for neither does He wish her, having put off the old man, to put it on again, nor does He desire her, having washed her feet and enjoyed the touch of His holy hands, to defile them once more;

but rather to open to Him, without toil and without defilement, the door either of the hearing or of the eye;

so that the Bridegroom, entering either through knowledge or through hearing, may dwell in the sanctified souls.

And since she put Him off, making use of those pretexts, the Bridegroom rouses her by another means, no longer merely knocking from without, but even introducing His hand through a certain opening;

and by 'hand' we understand the sense of touch, and His divine operation, by which He made her come to sensation, so that she cried out:

'My beloved put in his hand by the opening;

and my bowels were moved for him.'

'I rose up to open to my beloved;

my hands dropped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.'

'My soul went forth at his word.'

'I sought him, but I found him not;

I called him, but he answered me not.'

'The watchmen that go about the city found me;

they smote me, they wounded me;

the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.'

Since she was not willing at once to open to Him who knocked, He touches her through one of the organs of sense — which He called an 'opening' — having introduced His hand, that is, His operation;

and He warms and kindles her love;

for this is what is intimated by 'My bowels were moved for him' — which Theodotion rendered as 'was warmed';

and she, being made drunken with longing, rises and runs to the door, and says:

'That my hands, holding the lock and wishing to open, dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with flowing myrrh'; for I am clothed with the perfect mortification, even to the very tips of the extremities.

'And when I had opened the door, I behold my beloved passing me by, and unwilling to enter.'

'But I, hanging upon his love and clinging to his sacred words, held fast to the search, and continued crying out, and calling ceaselessly;'

'but he did not answer, nor deign to give me a reply;'

'and while I went about seeking the one I longed for, I fell in with those who dwell in and guard the city;'

'and they not only maltreated me, or scourged me, but even inflicted wounds, and took away my veil.'

And I consider that by 'keepers of the walls' and 'keepers of the city' the bride means the demagogues and rulers and tyrants who of old warred against the bride of God, and who smote and wounded the gloriously victorious martyrs, and delivered them to death, and stripped their souls bare, and took their body from their souls like a kind of veil.

For those martyrs too, longing for the Bridegroom, and everywhere proclaiming Him in the cities and fields and remotest places, endured all these things.

'I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the powers and by the might of the field, if ye find my beloved, tell him that I am wounded with love.'

For often the Bridegroom appears also to those still imperfect and to babes, condescending to their weakness, and urging them on toward perfection:

'For they that are strong have no need of a physician, but they that are sick.' She therefore adjures the maidens, if they should find her beloved, to declare how great a love she has for Him, and that she is wounded by the choice dart of love.

The maidens are ignorant of the name of the beloved;

for they are still imperfect, and are ignorant of the depth of the mysteries.

'What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? What is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou hast so adjured us? For often,' they say, 'we have heard thee saying:'

'My beloved, of my beloved,' and we know not the meaning of the things spoken by thee.

'Since, then, an oath is set before us, we cannot pass over in silence the things enjoined by thee;

teach us therefore, O thou fairest among women.'

And so the bride teaches those whom she is instructing the tokens of the Bridegroom, and she says to them:

'My beloved is white and ruddy, chosen out from among ten thousands.'

'His head is gold, ophaz' (that is, of finest gold).

'His eyes are as doves by the fulness of waters, washed with milk, sitting by the fulness of waters.'

'His cheeks are as bowls of spice, putting forth perfumes.'

'His lips are lilies dropping full myrrh.'

'His hands are turned, of gold, filled with Tharsis (chrysolite).'

'His belly is a tablet of ivory upon a sapphire stone.'

'His legs are pillars of marble, set upon bases of gold.'

'His appearance is as choice frankincense, as cedars.'

'His throat is sweetness, and he is altogether desirable.'

'This is my beloved, and this is my dear one, O daughters of Jerusalem.'

When the maidens have asked, the bride teaches them the tokens of her beloved, and she says:

'My beloved is white and ruddy.' First she sets down 'white,' and second 'ruddy'; for he was ever God, yet he also became man, neither abandoning what he was, nor being changed into a man, but rather clothing himself with the human nature.

He is white, therefore, as God;

for what is brighter than light? And he is the true Light, according to the voice of the Gospels;

'For there was,' it says, 'the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.' Yet he is not only white, but also ruddy;

for he is not only God, but also man;

and the ruddiness signifies the earthly.

Wherefore also in Isaiah the divine powers, beholding him ascending from earth to heaven, ask and say:

'Who is this that cometh from Edom, the redness of his garments from Bosor? He is comely in his robe, with strength and might.' And they marvel also at the beauty in his body, calling this his robe.

For he is comely in beauty beyond the sons of men, as man;

for his divine beauty is incomparable, as being unattainable;

and they question him, and say:

'Wherefore are thy garments red, as of one that is full from a trodden winepress, when it hath been trampled?' And teaching them, since they long to learn the cause of the redness, he says:

'I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the nations there was none with me.' — For it was neither an elder nor an angel, but the Lord himself who saved us, according to the prophecy of Isaiah;

'And I trampled them,' he says, 'in my wrath, and I crushed them in mine anger' — those demons that war against human nature, and their host;

'And my garments were sprinkled through their overthrow'; for in conquering and destroying their power, I received certain drops of blood upon my garments;

and this signifies the three-day death.

And it must be carefully noted that he does not say 'I was sprinkled,' but 'my garments were sprinkled through their overthrow' — that is, my body;

for the divine nature is impassible, but the body received the suffering;

the united God the Word indeed drew it along, yet drew no suffering thence, since by nature the Divine is above suffering.

'My beloved is white and ruddy, chosen out from among ten thousands.' For the first-fruits is superior to every nature;

'For he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth'; wherefore as a spotless sacrifice he was offered up on behalf of the whole race;

for this cause also, through Isaiah the prophet, the God of all things foretells, saying:

'Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my elect in whom my soul delighted;

I will put my Spirit upon him, he shall bring forth judgment to the nations.' Fittingly, therefore, the bride says:

'My beloved is white and ruddy, chosen out from among ten thousands.' For it was fitting that he who had taken up our sins, which were red as scarlet and as crimson, should himself become ruddy and be so named;

'But also his head,' it says, 'is gold, ophaz'; according to Symmachus, 'as a precious stone'; according to the fifth edition, 'marked out with gold.' And by 'his head' it figuratively calls the Divine, the 'white' named above;

for it found no other more fitting name.

The graces that pour forth from him, I consider to be named 'locks';

which are named 'black' in one respect, and 'palm-shoots' in another.

For the palm-shoots are the fruit of the male palm-trees, which, being cast upon the female trees, cause their fruits to become ripe.

Since, therefore, those who have believed in him, enjoying his manifold gifts, bear for him the fruit of godliness, he fittingly likens the locks to palm-shoots;

and he calls them 'black,' signifying by the deep and dark colour the unattainableness of his dispensations.

'The locks are palm-shoots, black as a raven'; and here he has taken the raven only on account of its colour;

'His eyes,' it says, 'are as doves by the fulness of waters';

again here, through the eyes, he marvels at his power of sight;

and he reminds us of the dove that descended upon him at the Jordan.

And let no one be startled that it is said 'as doves,' and not 'a dove';

for we find in the divine Scripture named not only 'spirit,' but also 'spirits';

not because there are many Holy Spirits — for there is one Holy Spirit, the Paraclete —

but the blessed Paul knows to call his gifts 'spirits.'

'But the doves are also washed with milk,' it says, 'and sitting by the fulness of waters.' For some they nourish with milk, who have need of this food;

and others they make new and renew, who have been made old by sin, 'sitting by the fulness of waters,' and sanctifying these also.

And fittingly it said 'the fulness of waters'; for it does not receive those who possess an imperfect faith, and who do not approach with sincere faith;

such as was Simon, who was indeed baptized, but was shown to be unworthy of the grace, not having become full, but deficient, and not possessing the perfection of faith.

'His cheeks,' it says, 'are as bowls of spice putting forth perfumes, and his lips are lilies dropping full myrrh.' And again by 'cheeks' and 'lips' it calls his teaching;

for both lips and cheeks are the instruments of speech;

for when these are moved, articulate speech is produced;

and it names these 'bowls of spice,' on account of the fragrance of the teaching;

and it says that they also 'put forth perfumes';

for from thence the teachers of the Church, taking the occasions of their teaching, become as it were perfumers of the preaching, and prepare the ointment of benefit.

'And his lips,' it says, 'resemble lilies';

for the divine words shine, having nothing human in them;

for the lilies neither spin nor weave, according to the teaching of the Lord, but the Father who is in the heavens clothes them.

Since, therefore, the divine words are stripped of all human wisdom, and possess only the divine beauty, it fittingly says:

'His lips are lilies dropping full myrrh' — that is, teaching the mortification in the present life.

For such are the Lord's teachings:

'He that forsaketh not father, and mother, and wife, and fields, and vineyards for my sake, is not worthy of me'; and:

'He who does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me'; and again:

'If you would be perfect, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and take up your cross and follow me.' For this reason 'his lips drip with full myrrh,'

dissolved, as it were, piercing through and directing aright each action.

'For thus it becomes us to fulfil all righteousness.' And again he calls them 'gold,' as being precious and rare.

And the word 'Tharsis' he took because of the tested purity of the gold;

for from there, divine Scripture says, was brought gold unadulterated, refined, and tested.

'His belly is an ivory tablet upon a sapphire stone.' For the depth of his mysteries, and the storehouse of knowledge, wherein are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden, is an ivory tablet to those worthy of revelation.

And by nature they are incomprehensible;

therefore it says 'upon a sapphire stone,' which signifies the depth and hiddenness of divine things.

Yet nevertheless this deep, hidden, and obscure thing becomes an ivory tablet to those who are worthy;

wherefore also the blessed Paul cries out:

'Things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love him;'

'but God has revealed them to us through his Spirit.' And again:

and the locks, which are evidently black, he called them so;

for to those who have not yet attained the divine revelation, even the things that seem to be evident are obscure, and the things perceptible by the senses are incomprehensible;

but to those who have come within the divine mysteries, even the obscure things become manifest.

'The obscure and hidden things of your wisdom you have made known to me.' This, then, is what the bride also says:

'His belly is an ivory tablet upon a sapphire stone;

his legs are pillars of marble, set upon bases of gold.' By the marble pillars she signified his firmness, stability, permanence, and endurance;

and she named their bases 'golden,' indicating thereby the preciousness of his deeds.

'His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as the cedars.' Here again she interprets the twofold nature;

for by 'frankincense' she designates the divine nature, since according to the Law frankincense was offered to God.

And by 'cedar' she calls the human nature, as one that received no rottenness of sin;

for among woods the cedar is incorruptible.

'How sweet are your words to my throat, more than honey and the honeycomb to my mouth!' And:

'Never did a man so speak as this man'; and others cried out:

'Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked.' His throat, then, is sweetness; but moreover, he is wholly desire; for being at a loss for further praises, she names him by a single name.

'For why,' she says, 'do I recount his beauty part by part? For he is wholly desire, drawing all men into love, compelling them to affection, casting desire not only upon those who see him, but also upon those who hear.'

Having said these things, she says to the young maidens:

'This is my beloved, and this is my companion, O daughters of Jerusalem.' Since you were ignorant, and asked, 'What is your beloved more than another beloved?'—behold, I tell you: Such is my beloved, and such is my companion;

take heed therefore to the oath, and do not be negligent, but seek him, and declare to me my longing.

Having learned, then, the tokens of the bridegroom, those maidens again inquire and ask where he goes and whither he has departed, and they say:

'Where has your beloved gone, O fairest among women? Whither has your beloved turned aside, that we may seek him with you?'

For if we should learn the place of his sojourn, we will not be negligent, but will share with you in your labour, and will seek the one you long for.

Again, therefore, she answers them, saying:

'My beloved has gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to pasture in the gardens, and to gather lilies.'

But we must inquire why she speaks of both one garden and many;

for 'he has gone down into his garden, to pasture in the gardens.' Indeed, there is one Church, according to the blessed Paul:

'For I have betrothed you,' he says, 'to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.' And again:

'Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church.' Yet the blessed Paul again calls them many;

doing this not according to the spiritual, but according to the local division;

for 'Paul,' he says, 'an apostle, not from men, nor through man, to the Churches of Galatia.' And writing to the Corinthians he says:

To these things the bride adds:

'I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine;

who pastures among the lilies.'

For upon him I depend, and to him I have dedicated myself.

For he himself has preferred me above all the world, and joined me to himself, and renewed me who had grown old, and enriched me who was poor, and made me beautiful who was ill-favoured, and healed me who had festering and foul-smelling bruises, and filled me with fragrance.

'I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine;

who pastures among the lilies,' or 'who pastures the flowers,' according to Symmachus;

for indeed he pastures those who have become lilies, and among the lilies he pastures the worthy;

and nothing is more fragrant than the divine Scriptures.

The bridegroom, having heard the words of the bride, and having taken pity on her who longed for him, and who night and day was imagining him and discoursing about him and recounting his beauty, appears to her, saying:

'You are fair, O my companion, as good pleasure, comely as Jerusalem;'

And he makes for her a name from the very thing that came to pass on her account.

For since the Lord took good pleasure in his land, and turned back the captivity of Jacob, and forgave the iniquities of his people, and covered all their sins; fittingly he calls her 'good pleasure';

and just as she above named him 'desire,' assigning the appellation from her own passion;

for longing after him unceasingly, she calls him 'desire';

so likewise he too, having taken good pleasure and willed to espouse her and join her to himself, names her 'good pleasure.'

'For thus,' he says, 'you are fair, as one well-pleasing to me and beloved;

and not only are you fair, but also comely, and not simply comely, but as Jerusalem;

not this Jerusalem below, but the one above, concerning which the blessed Paul says:

'But the Jerusalem which is above is free;

which is the mother of us all.' To her you are like, O my companion;

for you have imitated the angelic manner of life;