4 Take me away with you. Let us hurry. The king has brought me into his rooms. Friends We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will praise your love more than wine! Beloved They are right to love you.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
The king hath brought me - Made me a member of his household. This is true of every member of the chorus as well as of the bride.
The upright love thee - Better as in the margin: uprightly do they (i. e., "the virgins" of Song 1:3) love thee. Compare the use of the same word in Psalm 58:1; Proverbs 23:31.
Draw me - Let me have the full assurance of thy affection.
We will run after thee - Speaking in the plural through modesty, while still herself is meant.
The king hath brought me - My spouse is a potentate, a mighty king, no ordinary person.
Into his chambers - He has favored me with his utmost confidence.
The upright love thee - The most perfect and accomplished find thee worthy of their highest esteem.
(d) Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his (e) chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.
(d) The faithful confess that they cannot come to Christ, unless they are drawn.
(e) Meaning the secret joy that is not known to the world.
Draw me,.... With the cords of love, for what draw lovers to each other more strongly? under the influence of that they cannot bear to be without each other's company. Aben Ezra takes these words to be spoken by the virgins, who everyone of them said this, promising upon it to follow after the drawer; but they are rather the request of the church, desirous of nearer and more intimate communion with Christ; for this is not to be understood of drawing at first conversion, as the fruit of love, and under the influence of grace, Jeremiah 31:3; but of being brought nearer to Christ, and to enjoy more of him;
we will run after thee; the church and the virgins, she and her companions, or particular believers; everyone of them in their respective stations would act with more rigour upon such drawings; would run in a way of duty, follow Christ, and walk in his steps; and as they had him for an example, and according to his word, and in the ways of his commandments: or "that we may run after thee" (s); intimating that there is no running without drawing; no following Christ, at least no running after him with alacrity and cheerfulness, without being drawn by his love, and influenced by his grace;
the King hath brought me into his chambers: the blessing she sought after, and was so solicitous for in the preceding verses; namely, to have the marriage consummated, to be owned by Christ as his spouse and bride, by taking her home, and introducing her into the nuptial chamber; by putting her into the enjoyment of himself, and the possession of his substance: and this being done by him as King of saints, yea, of the world, showed great condescension on his part, and great honour bestowed on her; since by this act, as he was King, she was declared queen!
we will be glad and rejoice in thee: she and her bridesmaids, the virgins that attended her; that is, "when he should introduce" her into his chambers, as some (t) render the words; then they should express their joy and gladness on that occasion; and that in the greatness, glory, and fitness of his person; in the fulness of grace in him; in the blessings of grace from him; in what he has done for, and is to his church and people; in the offices he bears, and in the relations he stands in to them; and particularly that of a husband, now declared;
we will remember thy love more than wine: which, upon the introduction of the bride to the bridegroom, might be plentifully drank; of the preferableness of Christ's love to wine; see Gill on Song 1:2; it may design more particularly the love of Christ, expressed at this time of solemnizing the marriage between him and his church in an open manner, Hosea 2:19; and which would never be forgotten: Christ's love is remembered when thought of and meditated upon; when faith is exercised on it, and the desires of the soul are drawn after it, and the affections set upon it; and when it is often spoken of to others, being uppermost in the mind; saints under the Gospel dispensation have an ordinance for this purpose, to, commemorate the love of Christ;
the upright love thee; or "uprightnesses" (u); men of upright hearts and conversations, who have right spirits renewed in them; or Israelites indeed, in whom there is no guile; who have the truth of grace in them, walk uprightly according to the rule of God's word, and the Gospel of Christ; and do all they do sincerely, from a principle of love, and with a view to the glory of God; such love Christ superlatively, sincerely, fervently, and constantly; and "love him rightly", or "most uprightly", as some (w) render the phrase.
(s) "ut carramus", so some in Marekius. (t) "Quum introduxerit me", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, so Schmidt. (u) Sept. "rectitudines", Montanus, Vatablus, Marekius, Michaeilis, so some in Vatablus. (w) Junius & Tremellius; so Cocceius and Jarchi.
(1) The cry of ancient Israel for Messiah, for example, Simeon, Anna, &c. (2) The cry of an awakened soul for the drawing of the Spirit, after it has got a glimpse of Christ's loveliness and its own helplessness.
Draw me--The Father draws (John 6:44). The Son draws (Jeremiah 31:3; Hosea 11:4; John 12:32). "Draw" here, and "Tell" (Song 1:7), reverently qualify the word "kiss" (Song 1:2).
me, we--No believer desires to go to heaven alone. We are converted as individuals; we follow Christ as joined in a communion of saints (John 1:41, John 1:45). Individuality and community meet in the bride.
run--Her earnestness kindles as she prays (Isaiah 40:31; Psalm 119:32, Psalm 119:60).
after thee--not before (John 10:4).
king . . . brought me into-- (Psalm 45:14-15; John 10:16). He is the anointed Priest (Song 1:3); King (Song 1:4).
chambers--Her prayer is answered even beyond her desires. Not only is she permitted to run after Him, but is brought into the inmost pavilion, where Eastern kings admitted none but the most intimate friends (Esther 4:11; Esther 5:2; Psalm 27:5). The erection of the temple of Solomon was the first bringing of the bride into permanent, instead of migratory, chambers of the King. Christ's body on earth was the next (John 2:21), whereby believers are brought within the veil (Ephesians 2:6; Hebrews 10:19-20). Entrance into the closet for prayer is the first step. The earnest of the future bringing into heaven (John 14:3). His chambers are the bride's also (Isaiah 26:20). There are various chambers, plural (John 14:2).
be glad and rejoice--inward and outward rejoicing.
in thee-- (Isaiah 61:10; Philippians 4:1, Philippians 4:4). Not in our spiritual frames (Psalm 30:6-7).
remember--rather, "commemorate with praises" (Isaiah 63:7). The mere remembrance of spiritual joys is better than the present enjoyment of carnal ones (Psalm 4:6-7).
upright--rather, "uprightly," "sincerely" (Psalm 58:1; Romans 12:9); so Nathanael (John 1:47); Peter (John 21:17); or "deservedly" [MAURER].
The second pentastich also begins with a solo:
4 Draw me, so will we run after thee.
All recent interpreters (except Bttcher) translate, like Luther, "Draw me after thee, so we run." Thus also the Targ., but doubtfully: Trahe nos post te et curremus post viam bonitatis tuae. But the accentuation which gives Tiphcha to משׁ requires the punctuation to be that adopted by the Peshito and the Vulg., and according to which the passage is construed by the Greeks (except, perhaps, by the Quinta): Draw me, so will we, following thee, run (vid., Dachselt, Biblia Accentuata, p. 983 s.). In reality, this word needs no complement: of itself it already means, one drawing towards, or to himself; the corresponding (Arab.) masak signifies, prehendere prehensumque tenere; the root is מש, palpare, contrectare. It occurs also elsewhere, in a spiritual connection, as the expression of the gentle drawing of love towards itself (Hosea 11:4; Jeremiah 31:3); cf. ἑλκύειν, John 6:44; John 12:32. If one connects "after thee" with "draw me," then the expression seems to denote that a certain violence is needed to bring the one who is drawn from her place; but if it is connected with "we will run," then it defines the desire to run expressed by the cohortative, more nearly than a willing obedience or following. The whole chorus, continuing the solo, confesses that there needs only an indication of his wish, a direction given, to make those who here speak eager followers of him whom they celebrate.
In what follows, this interchange of the solo and the unisono is repeated:
4b If the king has brought me into his chambers,
So will we exult and rejoice in thee.
We will praise thy love more than wine!
Uprightly have they loved thee.
The cohortative נרוּצה (we will run) was the apodosis imperativi; the cohortatives here are the apodosis perfecti hypothetici. "Suppose that this has happened," is oftener expressed by the perf. (Psalm 57:7; Proverbs 22:29; Proverbs 25:16); "suppose that this happens," by the fut. (Job 20:24; Ewald, 357b). חדרי are the interiora domus; the root word hhādǎr, as the Arab. khadar shows, signifies to draw oneself back, to hide; the hhěděr of the tent is the back part, shut off by a curtain from the front space. Those who are singing are not at present in this innermost chamber. But if the king brings one of them in (הביא, from בּוא, introire, with acc. loci), then - they all say - we will rejoice and be glad in thee. The cohortatives are better translated by the fut. than by the conjunctive (exultemus); they express as frequently not what they then desire to do, but what they then are about to do, from inward impulse, with heart delight. The sequence of ideas, "exult" and "rejoice," is not a climax descendens, but, as Psalm 118:24, etc., an advance from the external to the internal, - from jubilation which can be feigned, to joy of heart which gives it truth; for שׂמח - according to its root signification: to be smoothed, unwrinkled, to be glad
(Note: Vid., Friedr. Delitzsch's Indo-german.-sem. Studien (1873), p. 99f.)
- means to be of a joyful, bright, complaisant disposition; and גּיל, cogn. חיל, to turn (wind) oneself, to revolve, means conduct betokening delight. The prep. ב in verbs of rejoicing, denotes the object on account of which, and in which, one has joy. Then, if admitted into the closest neighbourhood of the king, they will praise his love more than wine. זכר denotes to fix, viz., in the memory; Hiph.: to bring to remembrance, frequently in the way of praise, and thus directly equivalent to celebrare, e.g., Ps. 45:18. The wine represents the gifts of the king, in contradistinction to his person. That in inward love he gives himself to them, excels in their esteem all else he gives. For, as the closing line expresses, "uprightly they love thee," - viz. they love thee, i.e., from a right heart, which seeks nothing besides, and nothing with thee; and a right mind, which is pleased with thee, and with nothing but thee. Heiligstedt, Zckler, and others translate: with right they love thee. But the pluralet. מישׁרים (from מישׁר, for which the sing. מישׁור occurs) is an ethical conception (Proverbs 1:3), and signifies, not: the right of the motive, but: the rightness of the word, thought, and act (Proverbs 23:16; Psalm 17:2; Psalm 58:2); thus, not: jure; but: recte, sincere, candide. Hengst., Thrupp, and others, falsely render this word like the lxx, Aquil., Symm., Theod., Targ., Jerome, Venet., and Luther, as subject: rectitudes abstr. for concr. = those who have rectitude, the upright. Hengstenberg's assertion, that the word never occurs as in adv., is set aside by a glance at Psalm 58:2; Psalm 75:3; and, on the other hand, there is no passage in which it is sued as abstr. pro concr. It is here, as elsewhere, an adv. acc. for which the word בּמישׁרים might also be used.
The second pentastich closes similarly with the first, which ended with "love thee." What is there said of this king, that the virgins love him, is here more generalized; for diligunt te is equivalent to diligeris (cf. Song 8:1, Song 8:7). With these words the table-song ends. It is erotic, and yet so chaste and delicate, - it is sensuous, and yet so ethical, that here, on the threshold, we are at once surrounded as by a mystical cloudy brightness. But how is it to be explained that Solomon, who says (Proverbs 27:2), "Let another praise thee, and not thine own mouth," begins this his Song of Songs with a song in praise of himself? It is explained from this, that here he celebrates an incident belonging to the happy beginning of his reign; and for him so far fallen into the past, although not to be forgotten, that what he was and what he now is are almost as two separate persons.
Draw me - By thy grace and holy spirit. We - Both I, thy spouse, and the virgins, my companions. And this change of numbers teaches us that the spouse is one great body, consisting of many members. Run - Will follow thee readily, chearfully, and swiftly. The king - Christ, the king of his church, hath answered my prayer. Chambers - Where I may freely converse with him, and enjoy him. He hath taken me into intimate communion with himself. Remember - This shall be the matter of our thoughts and discourses.
*More commentary available at chapter level.