2 I slept, but my heart was awake. The voice of my beloved! he knocketh: Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, mine undefiled; For my head is filled with dew, My locks with the drops of the night.
My dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the covert of the precipice, Let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
My dove, mine undefiled, is but one; She is the only one of her mother, She is the choice one of her that bore her. The daughters saw her, and they called her blessed; The queens and the concubines, and they praised her.
Many waters cannot quench love, Neither do the floods drown it: Even if a man gave all the substance of his house for love, It would utterly be contemned.
but the prudent took oil in their vessels with their torches. Now the bridegroom tarrying, they all grew heavy and slept.
for I hungered, and ye gave me to eat; I thirsted, and ye gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was ill, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came to me. Then shall the righteous answer him saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungering, and nourished thee; or thirsting, and gave thee to drink? and when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in; or naked, and clothed thee? and when saw we thee ill, or in prison, and came to thee? And the King answering shall say to them, Verily, I say to you, Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it to me. Then shall he say also to those on the left, Go from me, cursed, into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: for I hungered, and ye gave me not to eat; I thirsted, and ye gave me not to drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye did not clothe me; ill, and in prison, and ye did not visit me. Then shall *they* also answer saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungering, or thirsting, or a stranger, or naked, or ill, or in prison, and have not ministered to thee? Then shall he answer them saying, Verily I say to you, Inasmuch as ye have not done it to one of these least, neither have ye done it to me.
And he comes to the disciples and finds them sleeping, and says to Peter, Thus ye have not been able to watch one hour with me? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed [is] ready, but the flesh weak.
And it came to pass in those days that he went out into the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God.
But Peter and those with him were oppressed with sleep: but having fully awoke up they saw his glory, and the two men who stood with him.
When he has put forth all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice.
For the love of the Christ constrains us, having judged this: that one died for all, then all have died; and he died for all, that they who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who died for them and has been raised.
Wherefore he says, Wake up, [thou] that sleepest, and arise up from among the dead, and the Christ shall shine upon thee.
But thou hast a few names in Sardis which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, because they are worthy.
Thou art all fair, my love; And there is no spot in thee.
Thus it was with me: in the day the heat consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from mine eyes. I have been these twenty years in thy house: I have served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy flock; and thou hast changed my wages ten times.
Lift up your heads, ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? Jehovah strong and mighty, Jehovah mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, ye gates; yea, lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is he, this King of glory? Jehovah of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.
I am Jehovah thy God, that brought thee up out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
ALEPH. Blessed are the perfect in the way, who walk in the law of Jehovah.
The voice of my beloved! Behold, he cometh Leaping upon the mountains, Skipping upon the hills.
My beloved spake and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they were in his eyes as single days, because he loved her.
Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, [my] spouse; Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, With one chain of thy neck.
And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine, ... That goeth down smoothly for my beloved, And stealeth over the lips of them that are asleep.
I gave my back to smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
He is despised and left alone of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and like one from whom [men] hide their faces; -- despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely *he* hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; and we, we did regard him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.
Now, as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep stupor, with my face toward the ground. And he touched me, and set me up where I had stood.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Song of Songs 5
Commentary on Song of Songs 5 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 5
In this chapter we have,
Sgs 5:1
These words are Christ's answer to the church's prayer in the close of the foregoing chapter, Let my beloved come into his garden; here he has come, and lets her know it. See how ready God is to hear prayer, how ready Christ is to accept the invitations that his people give him, though we are backward to hear his calls and accept his invitations. He is free in condescending to us, while we are shy of ascending to him. Observe how the return answered the request, and outdid it.
Sgs 5:2-8
In this song of loves and joys we have here a very melancholy scene; the spouse here speaks, not to her beloved (as before, for he has withdrawn), but of him, and it is a sad story she tells of her own folly and ill conduct towards him, notwithstanding his kindness, and of the just rebukes she fell under for it. Perhaps it may refer to Solomon's own apostasy from God, and the sad effects of that apostasy after God had come into his garden, had taken possession of the temple he had built, and he had feasted with God upon the sacrifices (v. 1); however, it is applicable to the too common case both of the churches and particular believers, who by their carelessness and security provoke Christ to withdraw from them. Observe,
Sgs 5:9-16
Here is,