Scofield Reference Bible Notes/Song of Solomon (Canticles)

by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield

Book Introduction - Song

Read first chapter of Song
Nowhere in Scripture does the unspiritual mind tread upon ground so mysterious and incomprehensible as in this book, while the saintliest men and women of the ages have found it a source of pure and exquisite delight. That the love of the divine Bridegroom should follow all the analogies of the marriage relation seems evil only to minds so ascetic that martial desire itself seems to them unholy.
The interpretation is twofold: Primarily, the book is the expression of pure marital love as ordained of God in creation, and the vindication of that love as against both asceticism and lust--the two profanations of the holiness of marriage. The secondary and larger interpretation is of Christ, the Son and His heavenly bride, the Church (2 Corinthians 11:1-4 refs).
In this sense the book has six divisions:

• The bride seen in restful communion with the Bridegroom, 1:1-2:7.
• A lapse and restoration, 2:3-3:5.
• Joy of fellowship, 3:6-5:1.
• Separation of interest--the bride satisfied, the Bridegroom toiling for others, 5:2-5.
• The bride seeking and witnessing, 5:6-6:3.
• Unbroken communion, 6:4-8:14.

CHAPTER 1

Verse 6

Verse 6 grave
Hebrew, "Sheol,"

CHAPTER 2

Verse 2

so is
How poor are the similes of the bride as compared with those of the Bridegroom. To Him she is a "lily among thorns; she can only say that He is "as the apple tree among the trees of the wood."

Verse 9

our wall
"Our wall." The bride had returned to her own home: the Bridegroom seeks her.

Verse 14

dove
There is beautiful order here. First we have what the bride is as seen in Christ, "My dove." In herself most faulty; in Him "blameless and harmless" Philippians 2:15 the very character of the dove. The bride's place of safety, "in the clefts of the rock"--hidden, so to speak, in the wounds of Christ. Thirdly, her privilege. "Stairs" speaks of access. It is not "secret places," as in A.V., but "the secret of the stairs"--the way and privilege of access to His presence ; Ephesians 2:18; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 10:19-22. Fourthly, the order of approach: she is to come near before she speaks, "Let me see thy countenance," then "Let me hear thy voice." Lastly, now that she is near and has spoken, He speaks a tender word of admonition: "Take us the foxes," etc.

CHAPTER 4

Verse 9

sister
The word "sister" here is of infinitely delicate significance, intimating the very whiteness of purity in the midst of an ardour which is, like the shekinah, aglow but unspeakably holy. Sin has almost deprived us of the capacity even to stand with unshod feet before this burning bush.

CHAPTER 5

Verse 2

sleep
The bride is satisfied with her washed feet while the Bridegroom, His "head filled with dew," and His "locks with the drops of night," is toiling for others. See Luke 6:12; 14:21-23. The state of the bride is not one of sin, but of neglect of service. She is preoccupied with the graces and perfections which she has in Christ through the Spirit ; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; Galatians 5:22,23. It is mysticism, unbalanced by the activities of the Christian warfare. Her feet are washed, her hands drop with sweet smelling myrrh; but He has gone on, and now she must seek Him (cf. Luke 2:44,45).

Verse 6

I sought him
Observe, it is now the Bridegroom Himself who occupies her heart, not His gifts-- myrrh and washed feet John 13:2-9.

Verse 12

fitly set Heb. "sitting in fulness;" i.e. fitly placed, and set as a precious stone in the foil of a ring.

CHAPTER 6

Verse 1

we may seek him
So soon as the bride witnesses to the Bridegroom's own personal loveliness, a desire is awakened in the daughters of Jerusalem to seek Him.

CHAPTER 8

Verse 6

grave
Heb. "Sheol," (See Scofield "Habakkuk 2:5")

Verse 8

We have
The reference here is obscure.