For they inspire me with awe!
Thy hair is like a flock of goats
Springing down Mount Gilead;
6 Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep,
Which come up from the washing-pool;
All of which are paired,
And not one among them is bereaved.
7 Like a part of the pomegranate
Are thy cheeks behind thy veil.
8 I have threescore queens,
And fourscore concubines,
And maidens without number;
9 But she is my only one, my dove, my perfect beauty,
She, the delight of her mother,
She, the darling of her parent!
Solomon implores the Shulamite to remove from him. "The artillery of the eyes," says Dr. Good, in loco, "is an idea common to poets of every nation." Thus Anacreon, xvi.
[GR: Su\ me\n le/geis ta\ Thê/bês,
O( d' au)= Phrugô=n a)u+ta/s;
E)gô\ d' e)ma\s a(lô/seis.
Ou)ch i(/ppos ô)/lese/n me,
Ou) pezo\s, ou)chi\ nê=es;
Strato\s de\ kaino\s a)/llos,
A)p' o)mma/tôn me ba/lôn.]
"Sing thou of Thebes—let others tell
How Troy's foundations rose and fell;
My numbers shall alone repeat
My own rencounters and defeat.
Me fleets and armies ne'er appal—
'Tis to a different host I fall:
A host within thine eyes, my fair,
That lurk and ply their arrows there."
Comp. also Ode ii. [HE: rohab], in Kal, to tremble (Isa. lx. 5), and Hiphil, to cause to tremble or fear, to frighten, to awe. Similarly the Sept. [GR: a)nepte/rôsa/n me]. Vulg. me avolare fuerunt, "they make me flee for fear;" and the Syriac [SY: 'arheb], they make me fear. The explanation of Ibn Ezra, [HE: Hzqv mmny], which is followed by the Authorized Version, cannot be deduced from the root; nor does it suit the context. Equally untenable is the explanation [HE: hgysv lby], Rashi and Rashbam. For [HE: hEm/], mas, with [HE: `Eyaniyk/^e], fem. see supra, iv. 9.
6, 7. Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep, &c. For the interpretation of the second half of ver. 5 and vers. 6, 7, see iv. 1-3, where the same description is given, with the exception that there [HE: q^exv.bvOt] is used for sheep, and here [HE: r^eHEliym/], and that the first half of ver. 3 is here omitted in the Hebrew, which is here given by the Sept. We cannot refrain from quoting the beautiful explanation of these figures from the manuscript commentary of Immanuel: [HE: tltly S`rk/ vSvrvtyv nvplym/ zh `l zh ldmyvn/ `dr h`zym/ Shm/ ntlym/ zh `l zh bhrym/ vSnyk/ hm/= lbnym/= vSvym/= ldmyvn/ `dr hrHlym/=, Sxmdm/ lbn/ vhm/ `vlym/ mn/ hrHxh, Sklm/ mt'ymvt Sb 'l Snyh Shm/ Svvt, vSkvlh 'yn/ bhm/ S'yn/ Sn/ mSnyh ngr` vnHsr, 'v hm/ tv'r hrHlym/ Shm/ Svvt v'yn/ bhm/ Skylh vkn/ Snyh dvmvt 'lyhm/]. The Septuagint adds after [HE: v^eS/ak.ul.oh 'Eyn/ b.ohem/], and not one among them is bereaved, in ver. 6; [GR: ô(s sparti/on to\ ko/kkinon chei/lê sou, kai\ lalia/ sou ô)rai/a], like a braid of scarlet are thy lips, and thy mouth is lovely, from chap iv. 3.
8, 9. I have threescore queens, &c. The flattery and praise here exceed all that have been previously offered. Solomon protests that, though he is surrounded by a numerous retinue of women of all ranks, the Shulamite is the sole possessor of his heart: she who is the
