Song of Solomon 1:13
Song of Solomon 1:13
A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.
The church in these words continues the account of that comfort, delight and satisfaction which she had in Christ, expressing the greatest love and strongest affection for him: and therefore she compares him to the very best herbs and spices, and declares that if her spikenard, or the graces of the spirit in her sent forth an agreeable smell to him, whilst he was at his table, much more grateful and odorous was he, being as "a bundle of myrrh" unto her,
I. Here is a title or character which she gives him; "my well beloved."
II. What Christ is unto her; "a bundle of myrrh."
III. The entertainment she is resolved to give him; "he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts,"
Chapter 11
Ainsworth observes, that the Hebrew word Dodi, which is thus translated, is written with the same letters as David is, a name which is frequently given to Christ in the Old Testament (see Jeremiah 30:9; Ezekiel 34:23, 24; Hosea 3:5). David was a type of Christ, and of him, according to the flesh, he came; for he is "the root and offspring of David;" as he is God, he is David's Lord; and as he is man, David's son; both words, Dodi and David, signify beloved, and both David and Christ are beloved of God. "David was a man after God's own heart," and Christ his "beloved Son, in whom he is well pleased," and both of them beloved of God's people. The Septuagint render it by a word which signifies a nephew,[3410] a brother or sister's son, Christ is near akin to his church, he is partaker of the same flesh and blood as they are, is of the same nature with them; they are "members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones;" the Hebrew word Goel, which is frequently rendered a Redeemer, signifies also a near kinsman; and being applied to Christ; as it is in Job 19:25, shews, that he, who is our Redeemer, is also our near kinsman: but the word is very well rendered here, "my beloved, or well beloved," and is expressive, 1st, Of Christ's love to the church; he is her "well beloved," and has shewn his love by undertaking her cause, espousing her person, assuming her nature, and dying in her room and stead; which love of his is eternal, free, sovereign, unchangeable and unparalleled, and is the strongest motive to, and has the greatest influence upon her love to him; therefore she may well call him her "well beloved." 2dly, It is expressive of her love to Christ, which springs and arises from the manifestations of his love to her, for "we love him, because he first loved us;" which love was now in exercise in her soul, he being present with her; and therefore she gives him this affectionate title as an evidence of it. 3dly, It shews that she had a sense of her interest in him, and his love; a greater blessing a soul cannot be possessed of, than an interest in Christ and his love, whose person is "the chiefest among ten thousand, and whose loving-kindness is better than life," and all the comforts and blessings of it; and next to this is a knowledge and sense of it; a soul may have an interest in Christ, and yet not have the sense of it; the former renders this state safe and secure, the latter makes his life comfortable and pleasant, and is an additional blessing and favor; for a person is then able to say, he "hath loved me, and hath given himself for me."