Let us abide in the villages.
12 We will go early to the vineyards,
We will see whether the vine flourishes;
Whether the buds open;
Whether the pomegranates blossom;
There will I give thee my love.
13 The mandrakes diffuse fragrance,
And at our door are all sorts of delicious fruit,
- ture's hall. The want of separate
names, or initial letters of names, generally used in profane composition to indicate the speaker or the person spoken to, is amply supplied here by the skill of the inspired poet in putting into the mouth of the Shulamite such rural language as shows most plainly that she was a rustic maiden, and that her beloved, whom she here addresses, is a shepherd. Comp. also chap. i. 7; ii. 8; v. 2, 4, &c. To ascribe these words to a princess addressing king Solomon is preposterous. Döderlein, Ewald, Meier, &c., take [HE: k.^eporiym/=] as the plural of [HE: k.Oper], cypress, vide supra, i. 14; iv. 13; but 1 Chron. xxvii. 25, where [HE: k.^eporiym/=], like here, coupled with [HE: S\odeh], field, forms a contrast to [HE: `iyr], city, is against it. [HE: haS.\odeh] is the accusative of place, 1 Sam. xx. 11; Gesen. § 118, 1.
12. We will go early, &c. Transported with the thought of her speedy arrival at her mother's house, the Shulamite vividly depicts to her beloved the scenes of home, where they will again together enjoy rural life. It may be that Milton thought of this passage when he wrote the words:—
"To-morrow, ere fresh morning streak the east
With first approach of light, we must be risen,
And at our pleasant labour, to reform
Yon flowery arbours, yonder alleys green,
Our walks at noon with branches overgrown."
Paradise Lost, iv. 623, &c.
[HE: naS/^ek.iymoh lak.^eromiym/] is constructio praegnans, and is well explained by Rashbam, [HE: nSkymh lTyyl bkrmym/=], "we will rise early to stroll in the vineyards." Comp. Gen. xliv. 33; Numb. xiv. 24; Gesen. § 141.
There will I give, &c. The shepherd, gladdened with the fact that his loved one is restored to him, is desirous of expressing his joy and affection, but the Shulamite, anxious to get off as quickly as possible, tells him that at home, amidst the charms of nature, they may indulge in sweet effusions of love. The Sept. and Vulg. have here again [HE: d.ad.iym/], breasts, instead of [HE: dvOdiym/], love. But in addition to what has already been remarked, we would state that whenever breasts are mentioned in this Song, [HE: S/odayim/] is invariably used.
13. The mandrakes diffuse, &c. Another reason for hastening away from the royal prison into the rural home. There nothing will be wanting; they have there the highly prized apples, they have all sorts of precious fruit, which she left on the trees for him. A similar passage occurs in Virgil, Eccl. i. 37, where the loved one kept fruit on the tree for her lover:—
Mirabar, quid moesta deos, Amarylli, vocares;
Cui pendere suâ patereris in arbore poma:
Tityrus hinc aberat.
"We stood amazed to see your mistress mourn;
Unknowing that she pined for your return:
We wonder'd why she kept her fruit so long,
For whom so late th' ungather'd apples hung:
But no, the wonder ceases, since I see
She kept them only, Tityrus, for thee."
[HE: d.v.do'iym/], which occurs only once more, (Gen. xxx. 14), is, according to the testimony of the ancient versions, the mass of commentators and modern travellers, the mandrake-plant, Atropa mandragora, called yabrochack by the Arabs, the fruit of which is highly valued by the Orientals for its supposed exhilarating, aphrodisiac, and procreative properties. "It grows low, like lettuce, to which its leaves have a strong resemblance, except that they have a dark green colour. The flowers are purple, and the root is for the
