SOURCE: "Lectures on the Song of Solomon," translated by Ian Siggins, in Luther's Works, Vol. 15, edited by Jaroslav Pelikan and Hilton C. Oswald, Concordia Publishing, 1972, pp. 191-210.

[In the following excerpt from a series of lectures delivered in 1539, Luther provides a close exegesis of the first chapter of the Song of Songs. Luther attributes the Song specifically to Solomon, suggesting that the work deals with Solomon's government and his people's relationship with God.]

DR. MARTIN LUTHER'S PREFACE TO THE SONG OF SONGS

Many commentators have produced all manner of interpretations of this song of King Solomon's—and they have been both immature and strange. But to get at the simplest sense and the real character of this book, I think it is a song in which Solomon honors God with his praises; he gives Him thanks for his divinely established and confirmed kingdom and government; he prays for the preservation and extension of this his kingdom, and at the same time he encourages the inhabitants and citizens of his realm to be of good cheer in their trials and adversities and to trust in God, who is always ready to defend and rescue those who call upon Him.

Moses did the same in Ex. 15. He composed his song about the work being performed at that moment in the Red Sea; and all the songs found in Holy Scripture deal with the stories of their own times. Of this sort are the song of Deborah in Judg. 5, the song of Hannah in I Sam. 2, and a good many others, including the majority of the psalms, with the exception of those which contain prophecies about Christ. Doubtless, therefore, Solomon, too, wrote his song about his own kingdom and government, which by the goodness of God he administered in the finest, happiest peace and the highest tranquillity. All this will become clear from the text itself too.

Moreover, since every kingdom, principality, or state which has the Word and true worship of God is forced to sustain many affliction—to be a laughingstock and abomination to the whole world, to dwell in the midst of enemies, and every single hour to await death like a sheep bound for the slaughter, such a kingdom or state is deservedly called "the people of God" and has every right to place this song and Solomon's state, before itself as an example, to praise God in the same manner, to glory and rejoice in God, and to proclaim and marvel at His divine mercy and power, by which He protects His own against the snares of the devil and the tyranny of the world.

We use the psalms of David and the writings of the prophets in this way as examples, even though we are not David or the prophets, but because we have the same blessings in common with them—the same Word, Spirit, faith, and blessedness—and because we sustain the same dangers and afflictions on account of God's Word. So we rightly take over their voices and their language for ourselves, praising and singing just as they praised and sang. Thus any state in which there is the church and a godly prince can use this song of Solomon's just as if it had been composed about its own government and state.

And so from this Song of Songs, which Solomon sang about only his own state, there springs as it were a common song for all states which are "the people of God," that is, which possess the Word of God and worship reverently, which acknowledge and truly believe that the power of governments is established and ordained by God and that through this power God preserves peace, justice, and discipline, punishes the guilty, defends the innocent, etc. They praise and proclaim God with thanksgiving for these great benefits.

Again, godly governments and states place no hope or trust at all in riches, power, wisdom, or other human defenses that are neither stable nor lasting, but they console, admonish, and arouse themselves to flee for refuge to God in all their afflictions and dangers and to trust in Him as their true and only Helper and Preserver, who never deserts His people when they suffer persecution for the sake of His name and Word. For it is certainly the case that a people which is zealous in godliness and loves the Word is always exposed to many evils with which it is assaulted by the devil and the world.

This is why this poem is called the Song of Songs, since it deals with matters of the loftiest and greatest kind, namely, with the divinely ordained governments, or with the people of God. It does not treat a story of an individual, as other songs in Holy Scripture do, but an entire permanent kingdom, or people, in which God untiringly performs a host of staggering miracles and displays His power by preserving and defending it against all the assaults of the devil and the world.

What is more, he does not sing of these exalted matters in the common words that people ordinarily use, but he illustrates and adorns his theme with lofty and figurative words to such an extent that when the crowd hears them, it supposes that the subject treated is something very different. For this is the custom with kings and princes: they compose and sing amatory ballads which the crowd takes to be songs about a bride or a sweetheart, when in fact they portray the condition of their state and people with their songs. This is precisely what "Teuerdank" has done in joining "Ehrenreich" to Maximilian as his bride. Or if they speak about hunting, they want to signify by this language that the enemy has been routed and put to flight and that they have gained the victory, as when they say, "The wild boar is speared, the savage beast is taken," and other things of the same sort.

Solomon proceeds in just this fashion in this song of his. He uses magnificent words—words that are worthy of so great a king—in describing his concerns. He makes God the bridegroom and his people the bride, and in this mode he sings of how much God loves that people, how many and how rich are the gifts He lavishes and heaps upon it, and finally how He embraces and cherishes the same people with a goodness and mercy with which no bridegroom has ever embraced or cherished his bride. And thus Solomon begins by speaking in the person of the whole people as the bride of God: "He is kissing me."

DR. MARTIN LUTHER'S BRIEF BUT ALTOGETHER LUCID EXPOSITION OF THE SONG OF SONGS

We take up this book for exposition not from any fondness for display of erudition, like some who lavish every effort upon the obscure books because, of course, on the one hand it provokes praise for their cleverness to have dared address subjects which others flee on account of their obscurity and on the other hand because in the obscure books each of them is free to make divinations and to indulge in speculations or private musings; rather, we take it up in order that after the absurd opinions which have so far obscured this little book have been rejected, we may demonstrate another, more suitable view, useful for life and for a right appreciation of the good gifts of God.

For we know that the purpose of the whole Scripture is this: to teach, reprove, correct, and train in righteousness, so that the man of God may be perfect for every good work, as Paul says in 2 Tim. 3:16-17. Those who fail to observe this purpose, even if they create the impression of erudition among the unlettered by their divinations, nevertheless are ignorant of the true essence of Scripture. Their learning is not unlike bodies infected with dropsy—inflated by inordinate swelling, they give an appearance of vigor, but the swelling is all corrupt and noxious. In the course of this exposition, therefore, we shall direct our reflections to the end that this book, too, may instruct us with doctrine useful for life, and secondly, with consolations.

For we shall never agree with those who think it is a love song about the daughter of Pharaoh beloved by Solomon. Nor does it satisfy us to expound it of the union of God and the synagog, or like the tropologists, of the faithful soul. For what fruit, I ask, can be gathered from these opinions? So even if this book, amidst all the variety of Scripture, has had its place in the shadows until now, yet by pursuing a new path, we shall not depart from the substance of the thought even if we may perhaps err here and there in details. Accordingly, my view is as follows.

There are three books of Solomon in Holy Scripture. The first, Proverbs, deals mostly with the home and sets forth general precepts for behavior in this life. It does so not as the philosophers of the Gentiles do, but it is diffused throughout with that weightier doctrine of faith and the fear of God, which the Gentiles did not perceive.

The second, Ecclesiastes, is a political book, which gives instruction not only to all in general but especially to the magistrate: namely, that the man who governs other men should himself fear God, perform with vigor the tasks that lie before him and not allow himself to be so discouraged either by the difficulty of the task or by the ingratitude of men that he fails to perform his office.

The third is the book before us, which is entitled "Song of Songs." It rightly belongs with Ecclesiastes, since it is an encomium of the political order, which in Solomon's day flourished in sublime peace. For as those who wrote songs in Holy Scripture wrote them about their own deeds, so in Solomon this poem commends his own government to us and composes a sort of encomium of peace and of the present state of the realm. In it he gives thanks to God for that highest blessing, external peace. He does it as an example for other men, so that they too may learn to give thanks to God in this way, to acknowledge His highest benefits, and to pray for correction should anything reprehensible befall the realm.

CHAPTER ONE

1. The Song of Songs.

The book derives its title either from the subject matter, because it deals with the greatest of all human works, namely, government; or else from the style, because it is written in the fashion of grand oratory. For the poem is entirely figurative, and figures of speech produce grand oratory.

2. He kisses me.

He speaks according to the custom of the people of that day. Among us kisses are held in less esteem. However, kisses are signs of love and favor. And so he says The Lord kisses me, that is, "He shows favor to this government, He kisses it, He honors it with all manner of blessings and love."

Now, to declare that a realm which to outward appearance was suffering all sorts of afflictions is God's own concern, that it is loved and cherished by God, is certainly the voice of faith. To outward appearance it is not obvious that He kisses the synagog, but rather that He wounds it and hates it. But he adds:

With the kisses of His mouth!

This means that God honors this people with His Word. And certainly this is the treasure which deserves to be extolled first in the political realm, for without it government cannot endure. Paul, too, extols God's gift to this people in Rom. 3:2: "The Jews are entrusted with the oracles of God." Similarly Ps. 147:19 says: "He declares His Word to Jacob, etc." He did not do so to every nation. For it is the Word which distinguishes the godly from the ungodly. It is also through the Word's agency that we come to regard everything we possess either in the domestic or the political realm to be gifts of God and sheer signs of the divine will and favor towards us. Granted that everyone else abounds in all good things, they nevertheless do not understand them to be the gifts of God and therefore cannot avoid abusing them to their own destruction.

For Your breasts are more delightful than wine.

Breasts refer to doctrine, by which souls are fed so that "the man of God may be perfect for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:17). He compares doctrine with wine, of which Holy Scripture declares that it makes the heart glad (Ps. 104:15). Wine is thus metaphorically used for all the world's delights and gratifications.

And this is, so to speak, the voice of an outstanding faith, which declares, "I prefer Your Word to all the pleasures of the world." For we must refer everything to the Word.

3. For Your name is oil poured out.

These are very meaningful figures and symbols. Your name, that is, "the knowledge of You," is like oil, since it yields a pleasing aroma and is spread abroad through the Word. And this blessing is not hidden away in a corner but is published throughout my whole realm, and it spreads its aroma also to neighboring peoples, like an ointment that is poured out.

So that Your best anointing oils are fragrant.

That is, "where Your Word is, there Your blessings are recognized." For the godly know through the Word that they enjoy the gifts of God and abound in them. But if these are taken away, they know that they are being tried by God, and they bear their cross patiently.

Therefore the maidens love You.

It is a Hebraism that cities are called "mothers" and "daughters." Here he calls Jerusalem a maiden. So the meaning is this: "Through the agency of Your Word it comes about that those who are the godly men on every hand in my kingdom are attracted by these great blessings, set their affections on You, and love You."

So far he has been commending his government for the special reason that it possesses the Word of God. It is therefore an ungodly thing that the external Word is nowadays despised by many who through diabolical revelation boast of the Spirit apart from the oral Word. And yet they know neither what the Spirit nor what the Word really is!

4. Draw me after You.

To know and to be able to do are two different things. When we therefore possess the Word, we are not immediately able to follow it, but our flesh, the world, and Satan draw us away from the Word again. Now, therefore, he adds this prayer: "You have given us Your Word, and I thank You for it. Now grant that we may also perform what the Word teaches and follow it in our lives."

No manner of life is without its special burden. Marry a wife: immediately you will discover a flood of ills! You will find things which displease you in your wife and in your children, and the care of the stomach will occupy you. Similarly those who are in government experience a host of evils, for Satan is nowhere inactive. Prayer, then, is all that remains; by prayer let us overcome the various hazards and rocks on which we run aground. For God allows us to be tested by such ills so that the glory of the Word may be demonstrated and the divine power magnified in our weakness. Otherwise there would be no way to demonstrate His glory and mercy.

We shall make haste.

This is emphatic. He does not say "we shall walk" but "we shall run." "If You breathe Your Spirit upon me, then I shall be glad to perform the task of prince, teacher, husband, pupil, etc. Unless You inspire, no one will accomplish anything, no matter how great his zeal and care, especially not in government." Thus we see the most flourishing states ruined rather than sustained by the wisdom of the greatest men.

The King has brought me into His chambers.

He alludes to the way of a groom and his bride and figuratively shows that prayer is heard, for he is picturing God's highest goodwill toward us. "God," he says, "consoles me in the evils I experience in government and reveals Himself to be willing and favorable—just as when a groom brings his bride into his chamber, he certainly does not do so from hatred of the bride!"

In this way he represents that sublime affection which God holds toward those who pray, in that He hears, consoles, cherishes, and enriches them with His own gifts and powers so that each may be able to execute his office more fitly.

We will now exult and rejoice in You;

Thanksgiving follows heeded prayer. "Now I shall exult because You do not forsake me but receive me in Your mercies."

His words in You are emphatic. It is as if he were saying: "Outside Your solace and aid one experiences nothing but toils, afflictions, unendurable burdens, griefs, lamentations, etc."

We will recall Your breasts more than wine.

This is part of his thanksgiving, that is: "We shall be grateful, we shall remember Your remembrance, how You love us, seeing that You give us Your breasts." For "to recall" means to preach, to praise, to give thanks. As before, he calls all physical and fleshly joys " 'wine."

The upright love You.

Twisted men, bent on their own advantage, want to live a life in which they suffer no inconveniences. But if inconveniences do befall them, they are offended and complain with utter impatience.

By contrast, when the upright suffer difficulties and inconveniences, they bear them patiently and pray. Accordingly, when they have been delivered, they acknowledge God's sheer goodwill and love towards them, and so they love God the more fervently.

Next, therefore, Solomon addresses his discourse to the instruction of such crooked men, so that they, too, may learn to triumph over present evils by the same means, namely, by endurance and prayer. For the normal response of those who have been tested and whose prayers have been answered is to teach and instruct others also, as Ps. 116:10 testifies: "I have believed, therefore have I spoken."

ABOUT THE COURSE AND ORDER OF THE BOOK AS A WHOLE

Now, this is the order and course of this song, that it alternates consolations, complaints, prayers, and exhortations. For just as events occur in any legally established state—indeed, just as this life of ours is lived—so Solomon proceeds in this book. He lays out a sort of image of the state and the common life in which by turns consolation follows affliction and new affliction follows consolation as the night the day. Thus in public affairs new storms, new disturbances, and alarms arise constantly, and when they are dispersed, the ensuing period of quiet does not prevail longer, but straightway other tumults and calamities follow. Those who are experienced in government will testify to this state of affairs.

For instance, a rebellion of the people beset David at first. Scarcely had that disaster been put to rights when lo and behold, another ensued, the graver for its being less expected. His most beloved son, Absalom, takes up hostile arms against his father. He is not satisfied with banishing his father from the realm; he violates the royal concubines and also his father's wives. Thus government is like dangerous navigation on a stormy sea.

Consequently Solomon frequently repeats his consolations and exhortations to give encouragement to the hearts of rulers, so that they do not retreat or despair, discouraged by their difficulties, but may learn to lift themselves up by prayer in this manner and to hope for deliverance. And when deliverance has come about, the soul must in this way be prepared again not to succumb to subsequent vicissitudes. For just as valleys follow mountain ridges and the day follows the night, so deliverance follows affliction in constant interchange, and fresh disaster again follows deliverance. Anyone who has observed this rule will understand a good part of this book. And if someone wants to add some allegories later, it takes no effort to invent them!

5. I am very dark, but comely, O daughters of Jerusalem.

I have suggested earlier that after his thanksgiving he begins an address.

O daughters of Jerusalem, that is, "You states and adjoining towns, do not be scandalized if everything here is not flourishing."

I am very dark. "Although I am a state founded by God and adorned with the Word of God, yet I seem to be most wretched in appearance, there is no success, and there are very few who desire and maintain public peace. I seem to be not a state but some sort of rabble of seditious men. Do not be offended by this appearance. Turn your attention not to my blackness, but to the kiss which God offers me, and then you will see that I am comely and lovable. For although outwardly I suffer all manner of vexation, yet I am desirable on account of the Word and faith."

The church, too, is similarly undesirable in appearance. It seems to be lacerated and wretchedly afflicted and exposed to the taunts of all men. But this is our consolation: that our salvation is anchored in the Word and faith, not in outward appearance.

Like the tents of Kedar and like the tents of Solomon.

The tents of Kedar, that is, of the Arabs, are cheap and ugly. By contrast, the tents of Solomon are regal and very beautiful.

For this reason I consider that the sentence should be divided as follows: I am very dark … like the tents of Kedar. "I seem to be like some crowd of Arabs who have no government. For there are many in my people who do not believe the Word. There are many, too, who do not obey the government. It looks more like a jumble of men than a well-ordered state." But nonetheless, I am comely … like the tents of Solomon. When one takes the inward aspect into account, one will nevertheless discover in that state many godly men who do obey and are good and faithful members of the state, etc.

6. Do not gaze at me because I am swarthy.

He continues to exhort in the face of scandals. He warns: "Do not stare at the part of me in which I am ugly, but fix your eyes on my beauty and grace, consider my virtues, not my vices."

Moreover, the man who has learned this lesson should discover in the long run that he has learned and known the greatest art of all. For it is inbred in us that we are more disturbed by some single vice than by all the remaining virtues. Thus today those who are adjudged the wisest men in the world are offended by the many evils, which they undeservedly impute to the Gospel. Yet the magnitude of the blessings we have received from the Gospel both privately in men's hearts and consciences and publicly in state and household, is appreciated by no one or by very few. For before the revelation of the Gospel, what station of life was there, I ask, that men could assess correctly? Not husband, not wife, not children, not magistrates, not citizens, not menservants, not maidservants were sure that they were established in a way of life that was approved by God. So they all took refuge in the works of the monks.

Similarly, before the light of the Gospel was given, was the use of the arts rightly displayed or recognized? This is clear in the instruction of the young. The proper use of grammar, dialectic, or rhetoric was simply not apparent, so far removed was the possibility of their being taught correctly. If these things happened in the trivial arts, how much more in the weightier arts! The case of theology speaks for itself. Even if the professors of law did have some sort of knowledge of their discipline and its use, yet the deadliest thing of all was that very few of them believed they were in a station of life approved by God. The same could be said of the physicians.

Formerly no one took any notice of these terrible afflictions. Now utterly ungrateful men, forgetting the blessings now present, notice only the bad things. Our inability to enjoy the sight of these great blessings is the just desert of such sheer ingratitude, as it is written (Is. 26:10): "The ungodly will not see the glory of God." But the godly both see the abundant gifts of God and are grateful for them.

Moreover, this rule ought to be observed most diligently in private life as well: if a man banishes the blackness from his eyes, he will see a world full of God's mercy. Thus we read in Ps. 107:43: "Who is wise and will heed these things and understand the mercies of the Lord?" So in everyday human converse you will discover that no man is so bad that he does not possess innumerably many endowments.

The heart, therefore, should be trained to admire the virtues in individual people rather than to be offended by their vices, if any. If someone has vices, the same man has his virtues too—he must, for he cannot abuse all the capacities which he has received from nature! This argument will certainly help to preserve peace of heart. For if you direct your gaze only on the vices and the calamities which occur every day, the heart is necessarily tempted by impatience and hatred. Accordingly, since those evils and those troubles cannot be changed, change yourself and adopt a different outlook; keep your heart free and ignore the distresses at hand. As that excellent saying, which we have often used in Ecclesiastes, advises: "Let it go as it is going, since it wants to go as it is going." But the present benefits and blessings are so numerous and so great that the godly man may easily forget the evils in comparison with them.

Because the sun has scorched me.

The sun signifies tribulation, as Christ indicates in the parable of the seed scorched by the sun (Matt. 13:6). Similarly we read in Ps. 121:6: "The sun shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night."

Thus he is saying: Lest you be scandalized by any blackness whatsoever, I ask you now not to regard me as responsible for it. It is the sun that has blackened me. In other words, wherever the divine Word and ordinance are found, wherever there is some form of government, there the sun will come and inflict blackness. That is, the devil rises in opposition so that that Word or that state will appear on the verge of total failure. But do not be perturbed, Satan will not prevail.

My mother's sons were angry with me.

It is inevitable in the state not only that there are many tribulations but also that the children rage against their mother, that is, against the state, contrary to the mandate and Word of God. The person who holds governmental authority therefore should be aware that he has been set over seditious citizens, who require only a suitable occasion to stir up sedition, with the result that the very people who ought to have provided help in the administration have a single eye towards overturning and disrupting it. David found this out, and so did the Romans; and I believe that this is the special complaint of all godly princes today.

They made me keeper of the vineyards; but my own vineyard I have not kept!

Here is a grievous lament. He admits that he has the right, power, and title of king; but, he says, the administration is in the hands of others. The vineyard is the people. "I have been set over this people as king and prince. What do I do?" My own vineyard I have not kept!

He thus openly confesses that it is impossible to maintain the state by human judgment but that all human wisdom falls far short of what would suffice to sustain so great a task. The reason is obvious: however many good, pious, and wise princes there may be, they could still not alleviate all vices. The malice of the world is so great! And the very men who are in the vineyard oppose and resist and refuse to be ruled.

Then what is to be done? Must one despair of the state on account of such prodigious difficulties and troubles? No, but as far as possible this blackness should be banished from sight, and the mind should busy itself with meditation on the blessings of God, which He both promises in His Word and also displays. Next, one should follow the example of this king in taking refuge in prayer.

7. Tell me, You whom my soul loves.

This is a prayer in which he confesses that he lacks the wisdom and strength for administering the state well. In this vein Duke Frederick of Saxony told Staupitz that he knew less and less how to administer his duchy and yet that there was no one to whom he could safely entrust any matter. Similarly Cicero, after the civil war, uttered this cry brimming with indignation and despair: "Oh! that I should have been reputed wise in vain!" Therefore, in accord with Solomon's example, godly princes should pray and say: "O God, Creator and Governor of all, whom my soul loves, show me how the vineyard committed to me is to be tended, etc."

Where You pasture Your flock, where You rest at noon.

Forsaken by his own wisdom and strength, he yearns for God as the Colleague of his reign. "Show me where I may find You, so that You may administer the state together with me. In government I stray as if in night and black fog; You rest at noon. O that I were permitted thus to reign 'at noon,' that is, in complete peace!"

For why should I be like one who is veiled beside the flocks of Your companions?

Veiling was a sign of mourning, as a covered head was among the Romans. So he is praying: "Rescue me from these afflictions. Reduce my cares by Your help, and the things which weary and disgust me by Your presence."

"Give me heart so that I shall not despair nor succumb to such difficulties. And do this beside the flocks of Your companions. I am in a place of eminence amidst the flock of Your companions. They are those who to this day are ruled by Your Word and Spirit. For their sake, I ask, grant success and tranquillity." In this manner he reverts to prayer and to the Word in his great difficulties.

8. If you do not know, O fairest among women.

We have heard the lament in which the magistrate complains of the difficulty of administering the state, since even the mother's daughters are hostile. He therefore now portrays the person of the bridegroom consoling those who experience such enormous difficulties and troubles. It is as if he were saying: "You complain about your state, even though there is not a single state in the whole world which can be compared with yours, so does it overflow with all God's highest endowments.

"You have the Word of God, the prophets, saintly judges, saintly kings; do you not recognize this your beauty and fairness?"

But this is the way it goes, in temptation we forget all His gifts because we are intent upon our immediate sorrow or emotion. For temptation swallows everything up, with the result that you see, feel, think, and expect nothing but evil. Even the most learned in Holy Writ, when they are tempted, need someone who will bring them consolation from Holy Writ. So it is necessary that in temptation we should be reminded of the things which have been given us, as Paul says in I Cor. 2. Now he adds still further advice.

Follow in the tracks of the flock, and go to pasture with your kids beside the shepherds' tents.

"I can give you no other advice than that you go out and pasture your own sheep, that you exercise your own administrative role, unconcerned about the fact that you also have goats in your flock, that is, evil, shameless, disobedient, seditious citizens. Do not let evil men make you anxious, for pastures exist for the sake of the sheep, and the state is established principally for the sake of good men."

But what does He mean when He specifies in the tracks of the flock? No doubt He means that he should pay special attention to the example of his forefathers, the saintly judges, kings, and prophets, etc., who were the flock of God, with the result that when he sees that they, too, underwent various trials, he will endure the present disruptions with greater equanimity. David consoles himself this way in Ps.77:11: "I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord; yea, I will remember Thy wonders of old."

Thus there is no consolation, no solace against evils except the Word of God. "For whatever was written in former days" (Paul says in Rom. 15:4) "was written for our instruction, that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." Christ nailed to the cross, John beheaded, Moses at death's door when his own people wanted to stone him, etc.—they console us so that we bear more calmly the world's outrageous ingratitude, so that we fulfill our office with singleness of purpose and are unconcerned about the goats.

9. I have compared you, My love, to My cavalry of Pharaoh's chariots.

This is an amplification of the foregoing consolation. But since there are some periods of war and others of peace, he also divides this amplification into two sections.

This first section should be addressed to a period of affliction and the cross. In tribulation it seems to you that you have been abandoned and defeated. But I have compared you to My cavalry; that is, in My sight you are like a victorious cohort which is equipped to do battle, as are the chariots of Pharaoh, the mightiest of all kings. I think that mention is made of Pharaoh because of all those known to the Jews he was the most powerful king.

This is a consolation of faith, a consolation which is a matter neither of experience nor of sight, for in Solomon's eyes his government is like a worm. Why? Because burdened and disturbed by evils and by its awareness of these evils, it deserts the Word and ignores all of its gifts. But if you look to the Word, all these assertions are perfect truth. It is therefore a most ample promise that God calls the government His friend; but it is not obvious. In appearance it seems rather as if God has deserted it.

10. Your cheeks are comely like earrings, and your neck like strings of jewels.

This is the second section of the amplification, dealing with the time of peace. For then the Word of God, which is lost or barely retained in tribulation, is present with us, then we are delighted by the gifts of the Spirit, which in the time of the cross are completely obliterated by our awareness of evils.

We translate earrings because these ornaments are divided from each other and arranged in beautiful array. The Hebrew word elsewhere means "lines," or "rows." Moreover, earrings and "necklaces" are gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Word. They adorn our neck; that is, the Word is in public use, it is taught, read, heard, and the abundance of the divine promises is possessed everywhere.

11. We will make you ornaments of gold, studded with silver.

Ornaments of gold is the same word which we before translated "earrings." But here it denotes the growth of the ornamentation. It is as if He were saying: "We shall augment this adornment and make even golden ornaments for you. The Word will grow more abundant for you if you make use of it."

For the Word is the sort of treasure which grows with handling and distribution but rots with hoarding. It has to be in constant use, for the more it is taught, heard, and learned, the more readily and the more clearly it is understood.

Those ornaments will not be of gold alone, but they will be set off by studs of silver, or vermiculated; that is, the use of the Word is manifold and varied.

In this manner he tells us that as he exercises himself in God's Word and in the examples set forth in the Word, the result is that he finds he has been taught equanimity and is not anxious about the goats that are in his flock. The person who has faith sees and experiences these things. To the person who does not believe, such rich consolations are a game and a joke.

12. The King is still on His couch.

The effect of the words of comfort is that that person in government believes the consolation, and this is the unique strength of faith. For the outcome usually is that the heart, conquered by calamity and present grief, is unable to accept the Word, which promises things so different from experience. Yet faith, however afflicted, remains attentive to the Word and is built up by the Word.

So in this passage he says The King is still on His couch. It is as if he were saying: "In my temptation I felt that God had withdrawn very far from me. Therefore I pleaded that He would show me where He pastured His flock. But He has not gone away; He is at hand and reclines at His feast, that is, He cares for me, loves me, protects me, preserves me. He is not planning how to destroy, afflict, or torture me, as I used to feel in my temptation."

My nard gave forth its fragrance.

"My prayer was carried to Him when approach was easy and He still reclined at the feast. Therefore it pleased and delighted Him, and it was heard."

13. My Beloved is to me a bag of myrrh that lies between my breasts.

Now he adds his commendation of the comfort and enlarges on the consolation with images of sweetness. "God is not far away, but He dwells in the midst of our life and is like a bag of myrrh in my bosom and in my embraces. That is, He cares for me, protects and comforts me, etc. In short, His feeling for me is like that of a bridegroom for his bride."

It is to be noted, however, that these realities are not palpable. Rather, this consolation remains in the figure of a fragrance. These things are perceived only by smell, in order to express the mystery of faith, namely, that God dwells among His people through a fragrance, that is, through His Word and His name. The faith must needs be great which can believe these things regarding God, that He is between the breasts, that is, that He is very near and close to us, is not angry, etc.

14. My Beloved is to me a cluster of balsam in the vineyards of Engedi.

This is a figurative commendation of the consoling discovery that God loves, cherishes, protects, etc., as above.

I think cluster of Copher is balsam, and I think so because he adds the words in the vineyards of Engedi, which is a city in the tribe of Judah by the Dead Sea, where there are balsam gardens. Accordingly, it is my opinion that the tree was called Copher in antiquity, that more recently, however, the name "balsam" has been given it for its value, because balsam is far superior to all other ointments.

15. Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful.

After trial, when the consolation of the Word has taken hold of the heart, we not only feel that God loves and cherishes us, but we also feel that we please God, that we delight God, and that God takes care of us. In this way conscience and the Spirit give mutual testimony. Conscience feels that it pleases God, and so it praises God. The Holy Spirit approves this faith and in turn commends us. That is what you see expressed by this passage.

Your eyes are the eyes of doves.

The dove has a reputation for simplicity. Accordingly, he is commending the simplicity of faith, because it does not change its mind in tribulation as those do who are without the Word, whose eyes are not dovelike but harlotlike. Their eyes are turned now to this attitude, now to that. We constantly observe this in the enemies of the Gospel. But faith persists in one and the same simple regard for the promises of God and retains a strong hope for its own well-being in the most extreme dangers.

16. Behold, you, too, are beautiful, my beloved, truly lovely.

Here is abundance of consolation. The Holy Spirit bears witness in the heart so that we are convinced we are pleasing and beautiful to God. The result therefore is that we in turn also confess that God is beautiful; that is, that He delights us, etc. However, this beauty is not obvious in time of tribulation.

17. Our couch is green; the beams of our house are cedar, our rafters are pine.

All these features are allegorical, and by them he signifies the happiness which he has drawn from consolation. In every state it is the case that at every possible danger the government seems to threaten to fall into destruction and ruin.

This is the mood Solomon expresses here. It is as if he were saying: "Formerly I used to think that the whole realm was on the brink of being overthrown. It seemed to be not a kingdom or a state at all but some ancient edifice which would be toppled by the slightest blast of the winds. But now, after the consolation I have received, I see that my government is as firmly established as a house built of cedar, of a material that does not crumble but endures for the longest time. I see also that it is adorned like a bed bedecked with flowers." Just as in temptation no end of trial is in sight, so those who believe the consolation foresee perpetual joy. As he says in Ps. 30:6: "I said in my prosperity, 'I shall never be moved." '