separate from sinners," together with the pure and holy union subsisting between him and the Church.
5. In the allegorical interpretation language is attributed to Christ inconsistent with his dignity and purity. It is almost blasphemous to suppose Christ thus to address his Church:—
"The circuits of thy thighs are like ornaments,
The work of a master's hand.
Thy navel is a round goblet,
Let not spiced wine be wanted in it!
Thy growth is like a palm tree,
And thy bosom like its clusters:
I long to climb this palm tree,
I long to clasp its branches.
May thy bosom be unto me
As the cluster of the vine,
And the odour of thy breath
As that of apples."—Chap. vii. verses 2, 3, 7, 8.
This is the language of seduction, but it is blasphemous when put into the mouth of Him who spake as never man spake.
6. The fact that three individuals are the principal persons represented in this Song, and not two, is subversive of the allegorical theory. That the poem speaks of three individuals, a shepherd, a shepherdess, and a king, and that the shepherd, and not the king, is the object of the maiden's affections, will be evident to every unbiassed reader of the book, and has been recognised by some of the Rabbins of the middle ages. For the sake of avoiding repetition, we refer the reader to the commentary, where the passages pointing out the distinctions of persons are dwelt upon at large.
THE TYPICAL INTERPRETATION.
The defenders of this view maintain that this book records an historical fact; that it celebrates the nuptials of Solomon with the daughter of Pharaoh, or some other heathen princess; and that this marriage typically represents the union of Christ with the Gentiles.
