As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

So is my friend among the daughters!

As the lily-flower among the thorns of the waste, so is my love among the daughters.

The king resumes, taking up the bride's comparison: "As the lily excels in beauty the thorny shrubs among which it grows, so my friend excels her companions."

As the lily among thorns, so [is] my (a) love among the daughters.
(a) Thus Christ prefers his Church above all other things.

As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. These are manifestly the words of Christ concerning his church, whom he calls "my love"; see Gill on Song 1:9; and was his love still, though in such company, and in such an uncomfortable condition. In what sense she is comparable to a lily has been shown in Song 2:1; but here she is compared to one among "thorns": by which may be meant wicked men, comparable to thorns for their unfruitfulness and unprofitableness; for their being hurtful and pernicious to good men; and for their end, which is to be burned; especially persecutors of religion, who are very distressing to the saints who dwell among them; see 2-Samuel 23:6; and her being among such serves for a foil, to set off her excellency the more: and the simile is designed, not so much to observe that Christ's lily grows among thorns, as to show that the church is as preferable to such persons as a lily is to thorns; which is justly remarked by Carolus Maria de Veil; and which sense the comparison requires, as appears by the reddition, so is "my love among the daughters": the nations and men of the world, and even carnal professors, members of the visible church, whom she as much exceeds in beauty, grace, and fruitfulness, as the lily exceeds thorns. Ainsworth thinks the "woodbind" or "honeysuckle" is meant, which grows in thorn hedges, and is sometimes called "lilium inter spinas", as Mercer observes; this is indeed of a sweet smell, yet very weak, and cannot support itself; and therefore twists and wraps itself about other trees, their twigs and branches, "convolvens se adminiculis quibuscunque", as Pliny (h) says; hence we call it "woodbind", and for the same reason its name in Greek is "periclymenon"; so saints are of a sweet fragrance to Christ, and, weak in themselves, cannot support themselves; yet they twine about Christ, lean on him, and are upheld by him, and depend on him for all good things. But it is the same word as in Song 2:1, and may be rendered "lily" here as there; and not a "rose", as it is in the Targum, from which it is there distinguished. The lily is often mentioned in this love song; it is said to be the delight of Verus (i). Some call it "ambrosia".
(h) Nat. Hist. l. 27. c. 12. (i) Nicander apud Athenaeum, l. 15. c. 8. p. 683.

Jesus Christ to the Bride (Matthew 10:16; John 15:19; 1-John 5:19). Thorns, equivalent to the wicked (2-Samuel 23:6; Psalm 57:4).
daughters--of men, not of God; not "the virgins." "If thou art the lily of Jesus Christ, take heed lest by impatience, rash judgments, and pride, thou thyself become a thorn" [LUTHER].

2 As a lily among thorns,
So is my love among the daughters.
By החוחים are not meant the thorns of the plant itself, for the lily has no thorns, and the thorns of the rose are, moreover, called kotsim, and not hhohhim;
(Note: An Aramaic proverb: "from thorns sprouts the rose" (i.e., bad fathers have often pious children), in Hebrews. is קוץ מוציא שׁושׁן; vid., Jalkut Samuel, 134.)
besides, ben (among) contradicts that idea, since the thorns are on the plant itself, and it is not among them - thus the hhohhim are not the thorns of the flower-stem, but the thorn-plants that are around. חוח designates the thorn-bush, e.g., in the allegorical answer of King Josiah to Amaziah, 2-Kings 14:9. Simplicity, innocence, gentleness, are the characteristics in which Shulamith surpasses all בּנות, i.e., all women (vid., Song 6:9), as the lily of the valley surpasses the thorn-bushes around it. "Although thorns surround her, yet can he see her; he sees her quiet life, he finds her beautiful." But continuing this reciprocal rivalry in the praise of mutual love, she says:

Among - Compared with thorns, which it unspeakably exceeds in glory and beauty. So - So far, doth my church or people, excel all other assemblies. The title of daughter, is often given to whole nations. These are Christ's words, to which the spouse makes the following reply.