Verse 3
Sol 2:3 3a As an apple-tree among the trees of the wood, So is my beloved among the sons.
The apple-tree, the name of which, תּפּוּח, is formed from נפח, and denominates it from its fragrant flower and fruit, is as the king among fruit trees, in Shulamith's view. יער (from יער, to be rough, rugged, uneven) is the wilderness and the forest, where are also found trees bearing fruit, which, however, is for the most part sour and unpalatable. But the apple-tree unites delicious fruit along with a grateful shade; and just such a noble tree is the object of her love. 3b Under his shadow it delighted me to sit down; And his fruit is sweet to my taste.
In concupivi et consedi the principal verb completes itself by the co-ordinating of a verb instead of an adv. or inf. as Isa 42:21; Est 8:7; Ewald, §285. However, concupivi et consedi is yet more than concupivi considere, for thereby she not only says that she found delight in sitting down, but at the same time also in sitting down in the shadow of this tree. The Piel חמּד, occurring only here, expresses the intensity of the wish and longing. The shadow is a figure of protection afforded, and the fruit a figure of enjoyment obtained. The taste is denoted by חך = חנך, from חנך, to chew, or also imbuere; and that which is sweet is called מתוק, from the smacking connected with an agreeable relish. The usus loq. has neglected this image, true to nature, of physical circumstances in words, especially where, as here, they are transferred to the experience of the soul-life. The taste becomes then a figure of the soul's power of perception (αἰσθητικόν); a man's fruit are his words and works, in which his inward nature expresses itself; and this fruit is sweet to those on whom that in which the peculiar nature of the man reveals itself makes a happy, pleasing impression. But not only does the person of the king afford to Shulamith so great delight, he entertains her also with what can and must give her enjoyment.
Verse 4
Sol 2:4 4 He has brought me into the wine-house, And his banner over me is love.
After we have seen the ladies of the palace at the feast, in which wine is presented, and after Solomon, till now absent, has entered the banqueting-chamber (Arab. meglis), by היּין בּית we are not to understand the vineyard, which would be called bēth hǎggephānim or bēth hā'ǎnāvim, as in Act 1:12, Pesh. the Mount of Olives, bēth zaite.[1]
He has introduced her to the place where he royally entertains his friends. Well knowing that she, the poor and sunburnt
- ↑ In Heb. יין does not denote the vine as a plant, as the Aethiop. wain, whence asada wain, wine-court = vineyard, which Ewald compares; Dillmann, however, ineptly cites “vine-arbour,” and South-Germ. “kamerte” = vinea camerata; in Heb. היין בּית is the house in which wine is drunk.
