III. Christ commends her beauty
III. Christ commends her beauty
By observing what notice the daughters, queens and concubines took of it, and how much they praised and commended her for it
"The daughters saw her, and blessed her, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her:" it may seem strange that concubines should praise a queen; but it was not unusual in the eastern countries; with the Persians, as the queen admitted of many concubines, by the order of her lord the king; so the queen was had in great veneration, and even adored by the concubines.[4060] Which may be understood, 1. Of the great esteem which the church had or should have in the world, and that from the great men of it; which will appear more visibly in the latter day, when those prophecies shall be fulfilled, of which we read in Isaiah 49:23 and 60:3, 10, 11, when kings shall be, her nursing fathers, and queens her nursing mothers; and God's Jerusalem, the church, shall be the praise of the whole earth. Or, 2. Of the great value and esteem which professors, and especially young converts, have of the church; in whose eyes she is "the fairest among women;" who, as soon as ever they saw her, were ravished with her beauty, loved her, and wished themselves as happy as she: for, 3. They blessed her; that is accounted her happy; as well they might, seeing she was "blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ;" and indeed whether we consider the saints, either as to their entertainment in God's house, or their employment there, it may be said of them what the queen of Sheba said of Solomon's servants (1 Kings 10:8). "Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom." And, 4. They wished all happiness to her, and prayed for it, which also may be the sense of the words, they blessed her (see Psalm 129:8), they prayed for the peace of Jerusalem, which was their duty; and in doing which, they show their affection to the church: nay, 5. They not only thought well of her, and wished well to her; but they also praised her, that is, they spoke well of her, and highly commended her beauty: so that Christ was not alone in his opinion of her; for others thought her to be an accomplished beauty, as well as he: and this, as it serves to commend her beauty, so its being taken notice of by Christ, shows how much he was pleased with it, for as those that touch his people, "touch the apple of his eye;" and whatsoever is spoken against them, he takes as spoken against himself; so, whenever they are praised and spoken well of, he is well pleased with it.