literature occasionally refers to the book. Returning, then, to our imaginary Biblical student, we find the case stands thus:the Church of England, per se, acknowledges the canonical authority of the Canticles, but does not read the book in public; and this reserve is followed by the great body of her public teaching. Her divines have, indeed, followed the taste of various ages, and more or less expounded the book; but the present feeling is against the use of it in the public instruction of the people.

And it will not be difficult to see the wisdom of this tacit understanding among the greater part of religious teachers of all denominations of the present day. Looking back on the whole mass of Biblical literature which the Church has produced upon the Song of Songs, we see that it has been the product of a luxurious fancy rather than of any sound exegesis, and that the lesson clearly taught is, that the purpose to be answered by that book being in the Canon is not yet discovered to us. Catholic consent, indeed, leads us to acquiesce in the general idea, that the relations of our Lord and his Church may be indicated in the book; but when we come to apply this supposed principle in its details, the want of a guide is at once discovered, by the various and often contradictory statements of expositors. Origen, Eusebius, Athanasius, Cyril, Bede, and a host of others in ancient times, and Bernard, De Lyra, Luther, Brightman, Ainsworth, Trapp, etc., etc., among the more recent writers on Canticles, have toiled hard, but in vain, to elicit from it a rational and consistent meaning, or to give an exegesis which can command assent on anything like scientific grounds. It will be profitable, before we proceed, to give some specimens of the interpretations of the ancients and the moderns, both as being curious, and as establishing what we have said on the entire uncertainty of the explanation of the Canticles.

I. Jewish expositors are many, and they vary in their opinions. The Talmud, in Abodah Sarah, thus comments on chap. i. 3:

"R. Nachman ben R. Chasdah once said, in his discourse, the words 'Delicious is the odour of thy perfumes,' denote a learned man; for such an one is like a box of perfumes; if it is covered up, no one can smell the perfumes, but when it is opened the odour becomes widely diffused.

have, as the prophet speaks, put off the corruptible and put on the incorruptible: the gold and silver, respectively, the perfect blessedness of the body and the soul. That is the King's promise, given while he sitteth at His table. Hence the return of His Bride, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof;' and then when she has so earnestly and fondly sought Him, her great reward: 'A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me: He shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.'"

It is so with a learned man without disciples, no one knows of his learning; but if he gets a circle of disciples his name and his learning become widely diffused. And not only this, but he himself will increase learning by teaching, so that things which he formerly did not understand will now become plain to him; for it is written in the same verse Tidby damsels love thee; read my hidden things will love thee, i.e., will become plain to thee; and not only this, but even the angel of death will love him; read then no he who is over death will love thee; and still more, he will inherit both worlds, this world and the world to come; read also my worlds love thee."h

The following is an exposition of three verses from the Targum or Chaldee Paraphrase, which Mr. Ginsburg says is the first commentary upon the Song of Solomon which has been handed down to us. Some have dated it before the time of Christ; but the same authority affirms that "the inferior style in which it is written, the copious use it makes of legends of a very late date, and especially the mention it makes of the Gemara (chap. i. 2), which was not completed till nearly the middle of the sixth century, prove most distinctly that this paraphrase was made in the sixth century." The Targum treats the Song of Songs as a prophetic account of the Jewish nation, from the Exodus down to the coming of the Messiah and the building of the third temple. The "beloved" is the Lord, the "loved one," the congregration of Israel, etc.

"15. Behold thou art beautiful, etc.-When the children of Israel performed the will of their King, he himself praised them in the family of the holy angels, and said, 'How fair are thy works, my daughter, my beloved, O congregation of Israel, in the time that thou doest my will, and studiest in the words of my law; and how well ordered are thy works and thy affairs, as young doves that are fit to be offered upon the altar!'

"16. Behold thou art comely, etc.· -The congregation of Israel answered before the Lord of the world, and thus said, How fair is the shechinah of thy holiness, when thou dwellest among us, and receivest prayers with acceptance; and when thou dwellest in our beloved bed, and our children are multiplied in the world, and we increase and multiply like a tree that is planted by a stream of water, whose leaf is fair, and whose fruit is plenteous !'

"17. The beams of, etc.-Solomon, the prophet, said, 'How beautiful is the house of the sanctuary of the Lord, which is built by my hands, of wood of Gulmish; but far more beautiful will be the house of the sanctuary which shall be built in the days of the King Messiah, the beams of which will be of the cedars of the garden of Eden, and whose rafters will be of cypress, pine, and box.'"

The Jewish liturgical services of the middle ages furnish

some interesting specimens of the allegorical use of the Canticles. Mr. Ginsburg gives a translation of the poetical paraphrase of R. Solomon ben Judah Hababli, extending to the first five verses. It is as follows:

"1 The light and Saviour of the chosen people
Deserving protection,

He shall have from His beloved assembly
"A Song of Songs.'

"2 The Graceful One, the object of all longing desires,

The Reviving Cordial of the fainting heart,

The Bountiful Source of abundant supply,
'He hath kissed me with kisses.'i

"3 The loved one above all nations,

The keeper of the Law Thou hast given,
Her didst Thou perfume with Thy spices,
'The odour of Thy sweet ointments.'

"4 The chosen of Thy house and nobles,
Lo! we are surrounded with splendour,
We press to the house of Thy glory,
'Oh draw us after Thee."

5 Oh Thou all majestic, yet mild,
Thou hast crown'd me with grace above
Though now with grief I am marred,
I am swarthy, but comely.' "m-p. 39.

many,

Mr. Ginsburg enters at great length on the Jewish literature of the Canticles, and all he has advanced will well repay a careful perusal. But we must hasten on to the Christian expositors.

II. Origen wrote a lengthened commentary on the Canticles, of which only fragments remain. From them we learn that he allowed the historical basis of the book, as a song intended to celebrate the marriage of Solomon with Pharaoh's daughter; but he carries out the allegorical application to Christ and the Church to its utmost limit. "He finds in it four distinct parties, a bridegroom and bride, with their separate companions. By the bridegroom we are to understand Christ, by the bride, the Church, by the companions of the former, angels and saints

j "This refers to the giving of the law, and God's speaking face to face. Compare the Chaldee on the verse."

k " Through receiving the law Israel was anointed, i. e., became wise, and the fame of their wisdom was diffused abroad. Compare Saadias on the passage."

66

"i. e., Let the guiding pillar allure us in the path of obedience."

m"i. e., Swarthy through the sin of the calf, comely through the reception of the law. Compare the Chaldee."

in heaven, of the latter, believers on the earth." The specimen given by Mr. Ginsburg is from the beginning of the first chapter.

“2, 3. Let him kiss me, etc. This is the suppliant voice of the bride, of which the meaning is, 'How long will my bridegroom send kisses by Moses and kisses by the prophets? I want to touch his lips. Let him come,' she says to the father of the bridegroom, and give me kisses of his mouth.' The father hears and sends his son; she seeing him near, says, 'How good are thy breasts above wine, and the odour of thy perfumery above all sweet spices.' The bridegroom Christ, sent by the Father, comes anointed to the spouse, who says to him, Thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.' If the odour of that ointment be upon us, we shall become a sweet savour of Christ. Sin has putrid effluvia, virtue breathes forth sweet perfume. The one is an emanation of the flesh, the other of the Spirit.

6

Thy name, etc. This is prophetic. Only so far as the name of God comes into the world is this ointment poured forth. In the gospel, a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment poured it upon the head of Christ. One who was a sinner poured it upon his feet, and one who was not a sinner poured it upon his head. These are not narratives merely, but mysteries. It is not wonderful that the house was filled with the odour of the ointment, since the world will be. It is written in the same place concerning Simon the leper. I think the leprous Simon to be the prince of this world, whose house at the coming of Christ was filled with sweet odour. Therefore do the virgins love thee, because, through the Holy Spirit, the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. The maidens at first are not present, but, upon hearing a chorus from them in praise of the bridegroom, she says, The virgins love thee. By their coming up it is said, 'After thee and the odour of thine ointments we will run.'

seen.

"4. Draw me, etc. In a race all run, but one receiveth the prize. This prize is Christ. The bride, pure and fair, having entered into the royal apartments, returns to the maidens, and tells them what she has The king hath brought me into his chambers. He praises the bride. He says, Justice hath loved thee. Then the bride says to the maidens, "5. Black I am, etc. Do not look upon me because I am blackened, for the sun hath looked upon me. How, black and without whiteness, is she beautiful? Black with sin, and comely because converted. Because not yet purged from all sin she is called black, but her dark colour will not remain. She is made white as she ascends to greater things, according to chap. viii. 5. 'Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?' Tents of Kedar, say the Hebrews, are dark : skins of Solomon, such as ornamented the temple, were comely."—p. 62.

III. Athanasius was biased in his interpretation of the Canticles by the character of the dogmatic conflict by which his life was distinguished; and he turned from the joys and sorrows of the believer's experience, to find in it proofs and illustrations of Christ's divinity and incarnation. The whole Song was,

with him, a Jubilee Song of the Church at the incarnation of the Son of God: it was full of dialogues between Him and mankind, either as embodied in the ancient Church or in the Christian dispensation. A short passage will suffice to exhibit his exegetical peculiarities:

"Let him kiss me, etc. This is the entreaty of his ancient people to the Word, that he would descend and take flesh; and also (chap. vii. 13), "The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved,' and (chap. viii. 1), 'Oh, that thou wert as my brother that sucked the breasts of my mother,' which refers to Christ being of the same nature as man, a brother, and yet in reality having a mother only. In chap. v. 1, Christ speaks of his having become incarnate, 'I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse; I have gathered my myrrh with my spices.' The world is his garden, because it is his creation; and his body breathes forth fragrance, because it is joined to the Divine Word. The Word having put on flesh, he calls his ancient people to him, and says (chap. ii. 10-13), 'Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come, for lo, the winter is past,' etc. His first disciples would recognize in his teaching what they had long been listening for, the voice of the turtle in their land." "

IV. In Augustine we find the Song of Songs coloured with his own subjectivity, as is observable of those who have written upon it in all ages. We are led to wonder how it happened that this localizing of the exposition did not make the Fathers suspect the soundness of their various interpretations; but they probably looked upon the Scriptures as many of the moderns do,as possessing not so much a fixed objective reality as a power of accommodating themselves to all human events and all phases of intellectuality. Augustine thus treats his subject, so as to make it even apply to the special scene of his labours :

"Of chap. i. 7, 'Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest thy flock, where,' etc., he says it is one testimony in behalf of the church in Africa, which lies in the meridian of the world. The church asks Christ to tell her where the one true church is, where it feeds and reclines. The bridegroom answers, In the meridian, I feed in the meridian, I recline in the meridian. The church is in other parts, but in Africa is its meridian. This is the language of believers out of Africa, who also say, 'For why should I be as one roaming among the flocks of thy companions?' that is, why remain concealed and unknown? Other churches are not thy flock, but the flocks of thy companions. Upon the adjuration, 'I adjure you,' etc. (vii. 7), he observes, The church in these words addresses her own daughters. She is a field of God, fruitful in graces, to which by loving Christ the martyrs come, whom he wishes to lay down their lives as lovingly as he laid down his life for them. Chap.

n Ginsburg, p. 63.