Commentary on the Song of Songs

Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1897) of the Armenian; neither is shown

In the way that the heart rejoices over wine, so the testaments of Christ give joy. For as children suck milk from the breasts, so everyone who sucks from the law of the commandments of the Gospel gains eternal food. The “breasts” of Christ are nothing other than the two testaments, and the milk is their commandments. Suck, then, proclaiming, milk from the breasts, so that you may become a perfect disciple.

Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1897) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown

Who is the king? Christ. What is the chamber? The church. But the synagogue says this: “We rejoice and are glad in you.” For she calls together, wishing to save all. Beforehand she makes known what is to happen. But she, accepting the time of repentance, says: “We love your breasts more than wine.” The two testaments, we say, “more than wine”: the inexhaustible wine is from Christ. But, as formerly with the drunkenness of Noah, who went down, and of Lot, who was lured into the snare, is it with regard to this sort of wine that “we love your breasts”? No; the breasts of Christ are the two testaments, which make sober those who trust. Therefore the voice of the apostle says: “Drink wine, but let not the wine drink you up.”

Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1897) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown

Tell me, O Christ, and answer me, I pray you, “where do you pasture, where do you rest at noon?” You have left me and gone to the Gentiles, and I have become an orphan.

Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1897) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown

That is, that I may never be clothed with the heresy of the Jews. Therefore he answers her, saying: “If you did not know yourself, O fairest among women”: that is, if you did not know how you are or how you were. For he calls her “the fairest among women,” not as beautiful of herself, but from the one who is beautiful “more than the sons of men,” through “the washing of regeneration.” Therefore he says, “If you have not known yourself.”

Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1897) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown

For “if you have not known” where you were before, then I do not recognize the beauty that you received from me either; so “go out after your flocks, and pasture your kids.” He spoke a terrible word, with a threat. For before she had said, “that I may not become like one who pastures the flocks.” So he threatens her, saying: “If you did not know” your beauty, which you had from me, then “go out” from the flock “and pasture your kids,” which are the souls of sinners.

[VII] This is: barefoot and naked go behind me. For I said, my sheep. The goats on the left are those who are judged, while those on the right are called sheep. From now on Israel is not counted among the sheep of the shepherd. For he sets apart for Jacob the “white,” the “speckled,” and the “dark” to receive for his labor, but for Laban those not marked. Those not marked you shall pasture barefoot. But go out to the Gentiles and to the scattered of the race, where all … of the king. And he calls the kings shepherds, and, scattering in the whole world, …

Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1897) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown

For Christ was the mediator of the law and the Gospel; he “lodges between the breasts.”

Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1897) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown

She cries out again: You have confessed to me, “You are beautiful”; I too confess to you. But what does it mean that Christ calls her beautiful, except that he says: “Take heart, daughter, your sins are forgiven you”?

[X. On Song 2:1] It is to be seen, then, that if anyone from the circumcision believes in Christ, he is “a flower,” which can bring forth “what is old and what is new.” “I am a flower of the field, like a lily of the valleys among thorns.” Mysteries made known plainly in parables from the mouth of the righteous: he sets forth the fragrance of the lily as an image of the righteous, because of the brightness of the lily. So too the works of the righteous shine. And it blooms in the valley as … springing up through grace, as in the midst of the thorns of the works of this life.

Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1897) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown

O blessed “voice,” when he comes on to repay the vineyard, to give, as … foxes. He cries and says, rightly: “Behold, my brother came leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills. My brother is like a roe or a young stag on the mountains of the valleys.” O the new dispensation, O the great mysteries! “Behold, my brother leaping.” What is the leaping? The Word leaped from heaven into the body of the virgin; he leaped from the womb onto the tree; he leaped from the tree into Hades; he leaped up onto the earth again (O the new resurrection!); he leaped again from the earth into heaven. So he sat down at the right hand of the Father. And again he will come with glory to the earth and is able to repay the recompense. See, so “he comes leaping on the mountains, and bounding over the hills.” But I say: he treads on those who think high things, but leaps over them, not resting in them. “My brother is like the roe or the young stags”: it signifies the swiftness of the Word, running ahead lightly and nimbly. See, O man, how he runs nimbly: he appeared from the east to the west, from the west he reached to the south, and from the south to the north he was believed. See the swiftness of his running, going down into the lower regions and hastening up. But appearing as light he passes away into heaven, and again flying out in the heaven like a star, rising as the perfect “sun of righteousness,” appearing on the throne of the Father, glorified again. O beautiful foot of swiftness, everywhere and always present! Now he appears as a roe, now as a stag, signifying the swiftness of his feet. See, then, Christ, now like a roe, now like a nimble stag. Both have cloven hoofs and chew the cud. So the law too shows it, proclaiming what is clean. And what is clean signifies Christ, showing faith through the two testaments, through the law and the Gospel. And he chews the cud openly, bringing things to remembrance through the powers of the Word. Therefore she also says: “Behold, my brother is like the roe and the young stags.”

Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1897) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown

Rightly he calls her “dove,” comparing her to meekness. For he calls her “beautiful,” saying: “Come, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” And who was more burdened than the Shunammite? To her he says:

Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1897) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown

Show yourself with boldness, bearing “the seal” of Christianity “on the forehead.” Make your voice heard to me; confess, speaking the truth. For “sweet is your voice” confessing Christ, and “beautiful” your appearance, trusting in him. And she answers and says:

Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1897) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown

O blessed voice of the truth, proclaiming in truth, by which the heresies are exposed and driven into a corner like foxes! “Catch us the little foxes that spoil the gardens.” While they are still small, catch them, so that they may not grow up and fill the vineyard with their wickedness. What he says in counsel, “Catch us the little foxes,” says nothing else than: Take away the heresies from us, so that “the dough” may appear pure. Notice, O man, that by the foxes he truly means the heretics. For the “false prophets” are nothing else than the heretics; they are the heretics who teach falsely and preach lies. For Jeremiah cries, saying: Behold, “your prophets,” O Jerusalem, “like foxes” hunting. Christ answers concerning Herod: “Tell that fox: Behold, today and tomorrow I perform wonders, and on the third day I shall be glorified.” And what new wonder of mysteries does Samson accomplish concerning the foxes? When his wife was taken from him, “he caught three hundred foxes,” and, having bound “tail to tail” and tied torches to them, he lit them and “sent them off,” and he burned all the vineyards that there were. And it was a sign of those whom the last fire will burn. This shows what the heresies were like. The binding of tail to tail was so that he might expose their lawlessness; and the burning torches on the tails, the fire flaming for them in the last judgment.

Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1897) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown

O blessed voice, O wonderful women, prefigured long ago! Therefore she cries and says: “By night I sought him whom my soul loved.” See this fulfilled in Martha and Mary, who sought the dead Christ, not believing the living one. For this is what it means when she says: “In the night I sought him whom my soul loved.” For the scripture of the Gospel says: the “women” came by night seeking in the tomb “and did not find him.” For the tomb was not fitting as his dwelling, but heaven: “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” Why do you seek on earth the one who is already on the throne of glory? Why do you seek the glorified one in an inglorious tomb? Why do you seek the perfect Rock as one still covered with a stone? Why do you seek the living one in the tomb, who, see, is in heaven? Why do you seek the one set free as one bound? See the new mystery fulfilled! For so she cries and says: “I sought him and did not find him. The watchmen of the city found me.” Who are the watchmen but the angels who sat there? And what city did they guard but the new Jerusalem of the flesh of Christ? The women asked: “Have you seen him whom my soul loves?” And they said: Whom do you seek? “Jesus the Nazarene.” They said to the women: “Why do you seek the living among the dead? See, he is risen.” And when they had gone a little way from them, Jesus met them. Then was fulfilled what is said: “I found him whom my soul loved”; “I found him, I held him fast and would not let him go.” And he called to them, saying, “Mary” and Martha! And they held him by the feet. And he says to them: “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father.” But they held him fast, saying: I will not let you go until I bring you into my heart, not wishing to be separated “from the love” of Christ. For building a chamber for him indeed in her inmost parts, she fixed the love of Christ there and would not be parted. For this reason she cries and says: “I found him and will not let him go.” O blessed women, who hold the Lord by his feet, so that they may fly up into the air! This Mary and Martha cried, proclaiming the righteous mystery foretold long ago through Solomon: “I will not let you” ascend. “I go to my Father.” He bore up a new race; he bore up Eve, who no longer was deceived, but wished to hold fast the tree of life. See, by holding fast the feet, not by plaiting a chain, that he might be bound. I hold the feet of Christ. Do not leave me behind on the earth, lest I be deceived! For the serpent catches me, and again seeks through me to set a snare, again strives to conquer Adam. Lead me into heaven! O blessed woman, who does not wish to be separated from Christ! And for that reason she cries: “When I had gone a little way from him, I found him whom my soul loved.” Receive the soul, join it to the Spirit, so that the body too may be mingled with them! Mix the body for me like wine! Take it, carry it up into heaven! Again mix a new cup, a woman saved and no longer deceived, not stung in the heel, nor touching the tree of knowledge, but the tree that can destroy death! Receive Eve, who no longer gives birth in pain! For “pain and grief and sighing have fled away.” Receive again Eve, living steadfastly and from now on not naked, nor girded with fig leaves, but girded and covered with the Holy Spirit, who is to be clothed with a good garment that cannot decay, holding the Christ who was not unclothed; for when he was laid in the tomb he was not naked; as Adam too before was not naked, but wonderfully clothed with innocence, meekness, and freedom from envy, who, when deceived, was found bare, but now, having come to know himself, is clothed again. When this had happened, she calls again through the women as good witnesses, and they became apostles to the apostles, sent by Christ. To them the angels said: “Go and tell the disciples,” “he is going before you into Galilee.” But so that they might not be disbelieved as sent by an angel, Christ himself meets them and sends them, so that women too might become apostles of Christ, and make good through their present obedience the defect of the disobedience of the first Eve. O wonderful Counselor, Eve becomes an apostle! Now knowing the cunning of the serpent, from now on the tree of knowledge does not deceive her, but, having received the tree of promise, she tasted, being counted worthy to be part of Christ. She desired a food by which she would no longer hunger or thirst with human corruption, now fully making up the fellowship of the old Eve and her disobedience by willing obedience and submission. O new instruction: they become apostles of God! See, from now on, knowing the falseness of the serpent, she no longer gives way; for from now on, despising the commands of Satan, she will not accept him who conquered through desire. The tree that brings a fall will no longer lead her astray; for from now on, gladdened by the tree of life, she has received and enjoyed the promise of the tree, honored by Christ with the food of immortality; she renounces the killer, has no more hunger, no longer offers corruption to the man, since she has received incorruption. Now Eve becomes a helper to Adam. O fair helper through the Gospel! Hence the women too proclaim the Gospel. The reason for this is that it was Eve's habit to proclaim falsehood and not truth. What is this? Among us women proclaim the resurrection as Gospel. Then Christ appears to them and says, “Peace be with you!” I have appeared to the women and have sent them to you as apostles. When this had happened thus, O beloved, the church afterward glories, after the departure of the synagogue.

Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1897) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown

O new voice! … she becomes a companion and helper to Adam. O fair helper, who brings him the good news! Therefore the women too announced the Gospel to the disciples. But for this reason they thought them deluded, because they were afraid. The reason, however, is this: it seemed as though delusion were being told and not truth. What new things are these among you, O women, to tell of the resurrection? Therefore they thought them deluded. But so that they might not again appear deluded, but speakers of truth, Christ appears to them in their stead and says: “Peace be with you!” By which he showed this to be true: When I appeared to the women, sending them to you, I willed to send them as apostles. When all this had happened, O beloved, see, he brings the synagogue of the Jews to complete silence. He glorifies the mystery of the resurrection, which we celebrate today; glorifying this holy and illustrious feast, let us rejoice with the angels. O wonderful mysteries! Of the church “coming up from the wilderness,” that she may become a companion of Christ. “Who,” then, “is this coming up from the wilderness?” Formerly the Gentiles were deserted by Christ, but now by the grace of God they are “fellow citizens with the saints,” from whom the church comes up, adorned with well-mixed ointments. “Who,” then, he said, “is this coming up from the wilderness like columns of the smoke of incense?” O beautiful incense, fragrance full of adornment! And the saying, “like columns of the smoke of incense”: for smoke, rising from the fire, flies up into the air; in the way that Christ, promising the mystery of the dispensation, rose from the earth to heaven. Fair, then, is the palm: he raised up a tree, promising the mystery of the resurrection: “myrrh and frankincense.” From all preparations and fragrances again a proclamation of great mysteries and of righteousness. The myrrh foretells the suffering “for the burial” of Christ; the frankincense, incense offered for the honor of God. All this, dearly beloved, gathered into fragrance, is the proclamation of Christ's commandments of the law and the Gospel. Therefore he cries and says: “myrrh and frankincense.”

Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1897) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown

O blessed lips, O couch of rest! For by the couch of Solomon nothing else is plainly proclaimed than Christ. In the way that someone who has labored and has returned from great labor throws himself on his couch and lays down his toil, so we too, having turned away from this world of vanity and sin, throw ourselves upon Christ, laying down the burden that lay on our shoulder, and find rest as on a couch. For it is a fair couch, able in mystery to receive all the fathers. Of this couch a bodily foreshadowing was given to the blessed Elisha, who rested on this bed: the dead rise, the son of the widow is restored, the boy of the Shunammite rises. This couch Christ commanded the bearers to set down at the gate (he himself appears for salvation, and brings no burden that cannot be borne), and taking him by the hand he gave him to the widow. On this couch lay also the daughter of the ruler, who was twelve years old; then Jesus, while three witnesses were present, raised up the girl. On this couch the woman with the flow of blood labored, though she could not touch the hem. See the wonderful couch, on which those who come are prepared for a marriage of righteousness! They drank water changed into wine. O blessed couch, on which Abraham lay down, on which Isaac was offered, on which Jacob too was enriched, on which Moses is appointed ruler, on which Aaron too is appointed priest! O blessed children of righteous fathers, inheriting the dispensation! See the spiritual meaning of the couch, on which “sixty mighty men” appear. That couch comprises the race of the righteous fathers, and gathers onto it all the righteous of Christ; for he is born from them all. For Scripture said: “Sixty mighty men around it, of the mighty of Israel.” For from all the generations of the sons of Israel the mightiest appeared, those fathers accepted by election, able to bear the sword “on the thigh.” And what is “on the thigh” but the Word? Coming, it goes forth from the thigh of the fathers, so that it might be born from the thigh. These are the sixty fathers. And he does not lie; for from Adam to Christ there are sixty fathers resting on the couch, through whom the Word appears, going forth from the thigh. Therefore Abraham laid the hand of the servant on his thigh, making him swear by the Word that goes forth from the thigh. Therefore Jacob too laid the hands of Joseph on his thigh. O blessed thighs, which could beget the blessed Word! Him whom the Father begets from his heart we see going forth from the thighs, for the truth of his dispensation and of the mysteries. The Word becomes victor. And as those sixty fathers from Adam to Christ are completed, and the mystery of the truth appears foretold, the bed of Solomon is revealed. For it was not Solomon's bed, but from Solomon onward the bed appears. Each of these fathers we see. The first, Adam, begets Seth, and then the rest in order, as the evangelist Matthew has written. That holy couch comprises the race of the fathers, around which they stand bearing “the sword on the thigh,” driving away the deceiver, who cannot rest on it. On it rest, gathered together, the righteous from the nations, glorifying the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1897) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown

When Joseph rejoiced in these spices, he was designated by God the son of the king. When the virgin Mary was anointed with them, she conceived the Word in her womb. Then he shows new mysteries, and new truth, and a new kingdom, and also great and unspeakable mysteries.

Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1897) of the Armenian; neither is shown

[On Song 1:5] “I am black and beautiful, daughters of Jerusalem, like the tent of Kedar and the curtain of Solomon.” This refers to humanity, which had lost its glory in paradise because of sin and became “black,” but is “beautiful” through the hope that we renewed through Christ. And the “daughters of Jerusalem” are the angels and the innocent, who are the daughters of the Jerusalem above; but “as the tent of Kedar”: Kedar means emigration. David says, “I dwelt in the tents of Kedar,” because I went out from paradise and dwelt in the land of emigration. And again David says: “I am a stranger” before you. “The curtain of Solomon”: Solomon means peace, which Christ gave from heaven to us strangers; as Paul says: “He came and preached peace to those far and near,” and he said again: “You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God.”

“Do not look at me because I am so black.” By this humanity says to the angels: Do not look at my sin, but rejoice greatly when I wash away the blackness of my sins by repentance, and the way of righteousness dawns for me, which is Christ himself. “The sons of my mother fought with me”: the devil fought with us, because he too was the creature of the God who created us. “They made me keeper of the vineyard,” that is, set me at the head of the emigration. And “my own vineyard I have not kept”: here he speaks of paradise, which is our inheritance, as David says, “My inheritance was pleasant to me.”

“Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture, where you rest at noon!” Noon here signifies the light of the coming of Jesus. When will be the time of your coming, and where will you be born? And which are the churches that must follow you, which you guard, and which justify the wolves and the sheep of the nations? Create now the light in the darkness, but hold back in the darkness the dragon with the threefold poison, he says in the Revelation. “Am I perhaps not a straying sheep among the flocks of your companions?” Pray in doubt that I may not be a straying sheep of the flock. This the prophets also taught to pray in the place of assembly, the synagogue. And the bridegroom rebuked it afterward and said: “If you do not know yourself, fairest among women, go out in the footsteps of the flocks.” This the bridegroom, Christ, says to his believing people. See, be careful, he says; watch the track of the sheep, which you … for sheep. …

“Because your cheeks became more beautiful than the dove's.” The cheeks are the servants of the spoken commands, compared to the beautiful voice of the dove that loves its mate, which are those who are humble and sorrowful for the sake of the kingdom of God, since perhaps one of them has erred. The other will not be joined with the others, and will not be able to rest in the flock of the many, but turns away from the green places and the blossoming trees and is always sorrowful. We were counted worthy to chew with holy cheek the Lamb, the living body and the blood of our Savior. “Your neck is like a necklace”; but the fourfold chain belongs to the bride. The priests, bearing the Gospel on the breast, became … the Lord asked, both inwardly and outwardly, that is, both with the spirit and with the body.

“The son of my brother bleeds like a grape in the vineyards of Engedi.” The grape is the cluster that grows everywhere on the vine, which the Life-giver declared, saying, “I am the true vine.” But “to bloom” is what he accomplished in mystery for the forgiveness of our sins. And “Engedi” is the cultivated field in the province of Gad, where gardens are laid out, from which also came the patriarch of the house of Issachar, whom Ezekiel too mentions. They hold, he says, the girls “from Engedi to Engaddis.” The beneficent people call it the field of God, as David says: “He shall be like a tree planted by the waterside.”

“Behold, my friend, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves.” “Beautiful” designates the people who rejected all that was old and became naked and accepted the new, which is Christ. The word “beautiful,” repeated a second time, confirms what was said. But “my friend,” because the human being is after the image of God. “Your eyes are doves”: that is, that we always draw near to God, according to the prophet who said, “Lord, to you I lifted up my eyes,” and also, “My eyes are ever toward the Lord.” But “doves,” because people chosen and upright … the preaching of the apostles together with the apostles; for with wisdom he built his house and set up columns or pillars, which formerly were the prophets, and after them the apostles are the pillars of the house of the church.

[On Song 2] “I am a flower of the fields” and “the lily of the valley.” Because David says: “Your fields will be fruitful and multiply.” These are the peoples of the churches, among whom Christ is like a flower. Christ said: “Where two or three of you are gathered in my name” … the manifold proofs of Christ's mercy through signs and wonders. “Because I am sick with love.” Because he himself said: “Your hearts will rejoice” in me, “and your joy no one will take from you.” But “sick” signifies desire. “His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.” He takes me into his bosom, that is, first through the prophets and afterward through the apostles. For the body (sic) is our head, and the right hand the Godhead, which surrounds the church with providence and, embracing her, holds her fast; because you are in me and I in you, and you are “perfect in one.” “I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the power and might of the field, that if you can, you awaken love.” He says it to the company of the angels who are with us, “the watchers” and the “daughters” of the “Jerusalem above.” … the “dove” was … by men as a good bird … “who were beneath the lattice.” The wall is the time during which the laws were proclaimed in Israel but hidden from the Gentiles. To a few righteous his name was preached as through a window. But the lattices are the laws, which preached only the one God, but the Trinity only in mystery, because they were children and immature.

Then “the son of my brother answered and said: Come, my friend, my beautiful one, my dove.” The friend is humanity, which was created by the hands of God, and “beautiful” because it adorned God's footstool; and … chosen. “The winter is past”: the ice grew soft, and he came as the hatred of the devil against humanity … “The rain is gone and departed”: here he thinks of the storm-like confusion of idolatry, which was then in the land. “The flowers appeared in our land”: they are the preachings of the prophets about Christ, which were fulfilled; and Christ came. “The time of fragrance came,” to lay waste the worldly garden and to build and grow the spiritual garden. “The voice of the dove was heard in our land”: the eloquent John, who was bedewed with the dew of repentance; the winter passed, and he was set free from his sins as well. The apostles and Paul too said: We “must … ; but the second call is the forgiveness of sins, which the apostles brought through the Holy Spirit. … The rock is Christ, under whose “shelter” the church desires to sit; hence Christ himself cries: “Come to me, you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” And the supports and the wall are the laws, which were made not to be destroyed but to be fulfilled. “Show me your face and let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet and your appearance beautiful.” … “Let me hear your voice,” that is: Sing with your angels on the height of God, because, he said, … I was created with you with a sweet voice and a beautiful form. Because he says to the girls: “Let us keep away the little foxes, which are the spoilers of the gardens, and then our gardens will blossom.” The foxes are the devils with their followers; but against them holds that right which he gave the apostles, when they themselves said: “Lord, even the evil spirits obey us.” “The spoilers of the gardens” are the characters of human beings … Through the hands … “he gave us authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and on all rulers.” “The son of my brother is mine and I am his.” This is what Paul says: “Who can separate me from the love in Christ?” “I am his,” that is: “Abide in me and I in you.” “Who pastures among the lilies.” This is what Christ said to the rulers: “Feed my lambs and sheep,” that is, the innocent and the guilty. But “lily” signifies the various teachings; therefore Paul says: “I was with the Jews, the Gentiles, and the weak,” who through the graces of the Holy Spirit … a dark place makes bright, until the day dawns and the morning star shines”; because “the shadows” of the laws “moved,” and the truth of Christ began.

[On Song 3] “By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loves.” The bed is like the storehouse of counsels, of which the heart is full; but “by night” refers to the hidden counsels. Therefore David says: “By day,” when I was troubled, I sought God; but what I asked of him, he knows. But “I did not find him.” “I called him,” and did not hear his voice, nor any other voice at all. “I rose and went about the city, in the streets and squares.” In the … of the angels and archangels, whom Paul calls the countless dwellings of God, I did not find him, nor could I learn his being from their words. “The watchmen who go about in the city found me.” “The watchmen” are the angels of the Jerusalem above. “I asked them whether they had seen him whom my soul loves.” “When I had passed a little beyond them, I found him whom my soul loved.” I found him who is truly God and … before the Lord, the Only-begotten. … like branches (or a column) of incense are the fragrant deeds. “The myrrh and the incense of the ointment of all powders” are the deeds. The myrrh is the witness of their mortality; but the powder he changed into ointment through the grace of the Holy Spirit, who adorned them with all boldness. “Behold, the thrones of Solomon,” or rather the sixty armed men around him. … again: “I opened my mouth and drew breath.”

[On Song 4] But “the flocks shorn,” because with our teeth we shear the innocent Lamb. So too a person should cut off the old garment and throw it away, and wash himself in the bath of baptism through holy repentance, and so be like a sheep of Christ. And “twins” are the soul and the body. “Your lips are like the scarlet thread.” “Thread” signifies the uprightness that comes from the heart; “scarlet,” because it is dyed with the blood of the immortal Lamb. “Your heart is like the rind of the pomegranate.” Like the pomegranate, which has its edible fruit hidden behind the rind, so a person too has the fruit of God, which only God knows; they can only say: Lord, my face seeks your face. “Besides your silence.” Although, he says, you call on me in silence, yet your deeds will make known your virtue. “Your neck is like the tower of David, built with a battlement.” The “tower of David” cannot be shaken by enemies, because the Creator of David (sic) … adorned it even more than an unconquerable tower; although he fell through lust, he rose again when the cross stood again. “Fortress” is the name of the citadel, because the site of the tower is excellent and high and always remains untouched by enemies. So too the church, through the Lord and his power, remains without danger in war. “On it hang a thousand shields, all the drawn arrows and spears of the armed men.” “The armed men” and mighty are the angels; therefore David says, “You who do all things with might”; and “the spears” are the powers by which they put the devil to flight with their arrows … and prophets, whose leader is Jesus Christ.” “Your two breasts are like two lambs or twin kids, which feed among the lilies.” “Two,” because knowing and seeing, or soul and body; “kids,” because they run quickly and look about like the human being himself; “twins,” because knowing and seeing were created together; and “among the lilies” signifies holding the bright and fragrant impulses which he placed naturally in our nature, because God at the beginning determined to act according to these impulses. “Until the day comes,” that is, until the Holy Spirit gives his graces to whom he will or whence he will. “And the shadows move”: because after the light appears the darkness goes away. “I went alone to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense.” “The mountain of myrrh” signifies when some people crucify their bodies with strength and with desire; then they become “hills of frankincense” and joyful. “You are all beautiful, my friend, and there is no blemish in you.” Those who mortify their body then are fragrant like incense through righteousness. Such people are “all beautiful,” and the innocent friends of the heavenly Bridegroom. “The bride” came “from Lebanon.” This is what Christ says: “Come to me, you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” “Lebanon” sometimes roots out fine and sometimes poor cedars, and also various many-toothed eagles, according to the prophet: “You shall not fear before danger.” Although it refers to Babylon and to Cyrus, who abolished most of the idols, he calls him … “… leopards” signify the idolatrous people, because he ordained the peoples of the Jews and the Gentiles into one church and made all of them sons of the faith of Abraham. “You have taken our heart, my bride, you have taken our heart with one of your eyes and with one of your necklaces.” This voice is not the bridegroom's, because the “our” spoken is plural; but it is like the voice of the girls, who are the angels, from whose spirits also the souls of human beings are. “To take the heart” means to marvel spiritually; or: you placed in our spirit and heart envy of the fair conduct of our body, although we, after the image of … to join with his love. “Our sister and bride is like a garden shut up, a garden shut up and a fountain sealed.” Because the garden is shut up not by one plant or growth, but by different plants of flowers and by fragrant and edible growths and by what pleases the eyes. For when a person sows well and reaps righteousness, that is still better than a tree planted by the course of the water, or the fruit. And “the sealed fountain” are the true saints, who neither think of strange fountains nor approach them. “Your message is like the paradise with fruit trees.” It is the spreading of the word from one place to another by the apostles, to preach God, to be content through God, or to pray after good deeds from a holy heart, which brings edible fruit. “The flower with nard, saffron, calamus, and cinnamon, with all the trees of Lebanon, myrrh and aloes with all the best kinds of incense.” These are the good deeds, not simple but manifold; for it is not righteousness not to be angry, but to overcome another's anger by kindness: that is to be virtuous. Righteousness is imperfect that robs no one, if it does not also give of its own to others. It is righteous not to be hostile to others, but still unrighteous if one does not also love one's enemies, or is hypocritical in prayer. This is the fragrance of which the Word spoke, which is truly merciful, held in love without hypocrisy, in prayers without hypocrisy, in true brotherly love and untiring hospitality, brave for good deeds in the effort to be patient, and to receive death for all shining virtues. But “myrrh and aloes” signify death, and the “trees of Lebanon,” which were named by the Gentiles. “With” the “best ointments”: that is his death, which the Life-giver announced, saying: “Anoint my body with this ointment, that is, for my burial.” … “a fountain of gardens, a well of living water” … not a well of mountains or fields, from which three fields drink, or in whose mud swine wallow, but the well of life, which sanctifies humanity. Shut up with the hedge signifies shut up with the law, the prophets, and the apostles, who drink for ever the living water that gives peace in eternal life: it is the true teaching of the Life-giver, flowing from the Holy Spirit, by which humanity is satisfied. It was fulfilled: “The earth was so full of all knowledge” of Christ “as much water as covers the seas” and the earth. “Flowing from Lebanon,” that is, from fishermen, tax collectors, and such men. “Arise, north wind, and come, south wind!” The “north wind” is the rough air that, as all know, makes the winter hard, as sins do human beings. But the “south wind” warms and drives away sins, since the Holy Spirit cleansed us from ignorance and drove away the ice of sins and warmed us through the water of the bath of baptism, according to the prophet: “By the water of rest” (and) nourished; so people learned to depart from evil and …