Section 601
II. What he declares unto her, is, that she had "ravished his heart."
It is but one word in the Hebrew text, and is used is this form and sense no where else, but twice in this verse
For Christ's love being so unspeakable and inexpressible, he coins, as one,[3804] well observes, new words to discover it by; it is variously rendered, and perhaps by laying the several versions together, it will appear more fully what is intended by it. 1. The words may be rendered, "thou hast heartened me, or put heart into me," and caused me to be of good cheat; so Cocceius and Schmidt: the word is used in this sense, in the Syriac Testament, in Matthew 9:2, and 1 Thessalonians 5:14 and then the sense may be this; the love which I bear unto thee, the charming ideas of thee, which I always carry in my mind, and the "joy which was set before me," of having thy company and presence for ever in glory; have made my heavy sufferings easy, animated me as man and mediator, and cheerfully carried me through them all for thy sake, Hebrews 12:2. 2. Others read them, "thou hast unhearted me;" thou hast taken away my heart, and stolen it from me, so that I have no heart left in me, so the Septuagint; which reading, R. Aben Ezra confirms. Sometimes fear throws persons into such a condition, that they are as if they had no heart, spirit, life, or soul in them; as the Canaanities in Judges 5:1 sometimes wonder and surprise; thus the queen of Sheba, when she had seen Solomon's wisdom and glory, it is said, "there was no more spirit in her:" and sometimes love has such an influence on the heart, and so it had here on Christ; it was so powerful, that it had taken away his heart; "thou hast ravished my heart," that is, thou hast taken it away from me, as it were, by force and violence, that it is no longer mine, but thine; thou art master over it, and hast the command of it[3805] having claimed it to thyself as thine own. 3. It is rendered by others, "thou hast drawn my heart unto thee," so R. Solomon Jarchi; or, "brought me near," or "caused me to draw nigh":[3806] that our hearts should be drawn to Christ, by views of his loveliness, and discoveries of his love to us, is no wonder; but that Christ's heart should be drawn to us, in whom were neither love nor loveliness, is surprising; which shews the exceeding greatness, freeness, and richness of Christ's love. 4. It may be read, "thou hast coupled my heart with thine;" and in this sense the Talmudists use the word:[3807] Christ's heart and a believer's are so knit, joined and coupled together, that they are but one heart, one soul, and one spirit; "he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit;" all the powers of hell and earth, united together, are not able to disjoin and separate, either a believer's heart from Christ, or Christ's heart from a believer. 5. The Targum paraphrases it thus, "thy love is fixed upon the table of my heart;" it is wrote there in legible characters, which can never be erased: the church is not only engraven on the palms of Christ's hands, but also upon the table of his heart; and so the church has what she wished for, chapter 8:6. "Set me as a seal upon thine heart:" Christ's love to the church is so riveted and fixed in his heart, that there is no removing it; "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" 6. It is translated by others, "thou hast wounded my heart," so the Vulgate Latin; which reading is not to be despised; R. David Kimchi[3808] owns it: Christ's heart was wounded with one of love's darts[3809] with an arrow shot from one of the church's eyes; which is expressive of the force and power of love, with what vehemence it dwelt in, and what influence it had upon the heart of Christ.
Now this expression is repeated, to shew the vehemency and passionateness of his love, and the exceeding greatness of it; as also to assure her of the reality of it, that he was hearty end sincere in it; and did not say this by way of compliment to her, as lovers too often do; nor was it a word which wan rashly spoken by him, or that dropped from him at unawares; but as it proceeded from his heart, so it was spoken by him in a deliberate manner; therefore he repeats it, not to correct, but to confirm it.
Hence we may conclude what interest a believer has in Christ's heart. What may he not expect? what can he want? what need he fear, that has so great a share in Christ's heart and what reason has he to give Christ his heart, who has so much of Christ's?