Song of Solomon 7

Song of Solomon 7:1

Aponius: In every way, then, [the beauty of her feet] seems to me to be understood to follow the first fruits of praise in this people who are imitators of the footsteps of those who follow Christ to heaven by dying in the [steps of the] blessed prince of the apostles. Thus does this people, through its earthly works in the example of blessed Peter, by mortifying its flesh, migrate to heaven, just as it also comes into the light from the shadows of ignorance by following Christ the Head. — EXPOSITION OF SONG OF SONGS 10:4-5

Bede: The joining of your thighs is like a necklace, etc. Scripture often uses the thighs to symbolize the succession of offspring. For it says: All the souls that entered with Jacob into Egypt, and came out from his thigh, apart from the wives of his sons, were sixty-six souls (Gen. XLVI). Thus, in the thighs of the Church, rightly is its offspring taken as the spiritual generation, which is fulfilled through the mystery of the Word and the cleansing of regeneration. But the joining of its thighs is the unity of two peoples. Namely, the Jew and the Gentile, from which, united in one faith, the universal Church is perfected, and is increased and made fruitful with spiritual offspring until the end of the world. This joining is also likened to necklaces because the Catholic faith is declared by the testimony of good works. Moreover, these necklaces are crafted by the hand of a craftsman because the works of virtues, by which the Church is built from two peoples into one, are strengthened by the ineffable generosity of our Creator. For He is that craftsman of whom the Apostle says: And coming, he preached peace to you who were far off; and peace to those who were near, because through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father (Eph. II). And of whose marvelous craftsmanship the Psalmist states: The stone which the builders rejected, this has become the chief cornerstone. This was done by the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes (Ps. CXVII). Of this craftsman’s praise, the Apostle remembers Abraham the patriarch, saying: For he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God (Heb. II). Properly, then, after the sandaled steps of the bride, the joining of the thighs is praised, because through the ministry of preachers, the unanimous joining of believing peoples is perfected: and aptly, in these places, the joining of the thighs is brought to mind, where Judah, gathered in faith at the end, promised to be united in Christ, is the partner of both peoples. It continues: — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Jerome: The virgin bridegroom, having been praised by the virgin bride, in turn praises the virgin bride and says to her, “How beautiful are your feet in sandals, O daughter of Aminadab,” which is, being interpreted, a people that offers itself willingly. For virginity is voluntary, and therefore the steps of the church in the beauty of chastity are praised. This is not the time for me like a commentator to explain all the mysteries of virginity from the Song of Songs. I have no doubt that the fastidious reader will turn up his nose at what has already been said. — Against Jovinianus 1.31

Richard Challoner: How beautiful are thy steps: By these metaphors are signified the power and mission of the church in propagating the true faith.

Robert of Tombelaine: The daughter of the prince is called the holy Church, because she is regenerated into new life by the preaching of Christ, who through the power of his divinity rules over every creature that he made. What are the shoes of the Church, if not the examples of the preceding fathers, by which she is fortified on the road of this world, so that through all the tribulations that arise, she may walk confidently shod? Hence elsewhere Paul says to the preachers: “Your feet shod in preparation for the Gospel of peace” (Eph. 6:15). For shoes are made from dead animals. And we spiritually shoe our feet when we take examples from the holy fathers who are dead in the flesh, so that after their likeness we may overcome the temptations of this world. It can nevertheless be understood that the Church is shod when in her preaching she is fortified by the death of Christ to endure the evils that arise against her. Beautiful therefore are the steps of the shod bride, who is the daughter of the prince; because before the divine eyes the service of any elect person preaching according to the examples of the fathers is pleasing.

By the two thighs of the bride, the two peoples of the Church are signified: by the joining of the thighs, the concord of the preachers is designated, by whom the peoples are united, while circumcision and uncircumcision are instructed by them in the Catholic Faith. These are like necklaces; because while in the wisdom by which they shine they do holy works, they bear, as it were, gems set in gold. Of whom it follows: “Which were fashioned by the hand of a craftsman.” Necklaces are fashioned by the hand of a craftsman, because by the work of Christ the preachers are made beautiful and useful. — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 7

Song of Solomon 7:2

Ambrose of Milan: Small, too, are the navel and belly of the soul that ascends to Christ. Therefore it is praised in the words of the spouse, who says, “Your navel is like a round bowl never wanting wine, your belly is like a heap of tiny wheat among lilies.” It is polished by all kinds of learning, and it is a spiritual draught never failing in fullness and in the knowledge of heavenly secrets. The belly of the soul is mystic, like the navel, and it receives not only strong food to strengthen hearts but sweet and fragrant food by which it is delighted. Perhaps Moses meant that this sacrilege needs to be atoned for by many pious prayers. - “Letter 77, To Laymen”

Ambrose of Milan: “Your navel is like a round bowl, not wanting tempered wine. Your belly is like a heap of wheat, set about with lilies. Your neck is like a tower of ivory. Your eyes are a pool in Heshbon.” The good navel of the soul, capable of receiving all virtues, is like a bowl, fashioned by the author of faith himself. For in a bowl wisdom has mixed her wine, saying, “Come, eat my bread and drink the wine which I have mingled for you.” This navel, therefore, fashioned with all the beauty of the virtues, does not lack mixed wine. His belly also was filled not only with the wheaten food of justice, as it were, but also with that of grace, and it bloomed with sweetness like a lily. — CONSOLATION ON THE DEATH OF EMPEROR VALENTINIAN 69

Bede: Your navel is a rounded goblet, etc. The navel, which is the most fragile member of our body, rightly signifies the frailty of our mortality. And our navel becomes a rounded goblet never lacking in drink, when, reminded of our mortality and frailty, we strive to offer the cup of the word of salvation to our neighbors, so that, as we show mercy, the blessedness of heavenly mercy is repaid to us. There is also nothing to hinder that what is said about the alms of the general cup may be understood, about which the judge himself will say: “I was thirsty, and you gave me drink” (Matthew 25). For a bowl is another, larger, with two handles. About which the poet says, “But when the first rest has come to the feasts and the tables have been removed, And they place great bowls, and crown the wines.” And this bowl is rightly said to be turned: for in this way the vessel which is made by turning is filled more quickly than by other crafts, so that namely the speed of bestowing piety, whether to those who need an earthly or a heavenly cup, or even both, may be shown, according to Solomon’s statement: “Do not say to your friend, ‘Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give,’ when you can give at once” (Proverbs 3). But it must also be said that, as we mentioned above, turning is more indescribable than other arts, because surely from itself it produces its own rule, by which it may accomplish the work it does with disciplined roundness, and therefore rightly insinuates the simplicity of a truly pious mind, which makes alms with pure intention. For whoever gives a cup to the thirsty for this reason, that an equal rewarder may lavish abundance of the earthly cup on him, or for this reason offers the cup of the word to those erring, that the Lord may grant him greater abundance of knowledge, in which he may appear marvelous to men; the cup turned with a lathe is not matched by the navel made with other tools, because in doing a work of mercy as commanded, he does not seek from the Lord a direct and indescribable reward for sustaining his own fragility, but a temporal one. The navel of the bride’s turned cup can also be understood to mean that the Church, or any holy soul, the more it remembers itself to be fragile, and still far distant from the immortality and incorruption it hopes for in the future, the more diligently it takes care to refresh itself with the continuous cups of the word of God and to become warmed in its love, saying that of the Psalmist: “And your cup overflows; how splendid it is!” — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Bede: Your belly is like a heap of wheat surrounded by lilies. The belly, like the navel, denotes our mortal condition: for it is the most certain and greatest judge of our weakness, which daily renews our body with nourishment, lest it fail, until that which we hold promised is achieved: Meat for the belly, and the belly for meat, but God shall destroy both it and them (I Corinthians VI). Therefore, our belly is like a heap of wheat, when mindful of our frailty, we prepare for ourselves the fruits of good works in the present life which perpetually nourish us. However, he says “heap of wheat” well, and not merely a store of wheat, to signify the virtues rising high. And since a heap, rising from a wider base, is usually narrower at the top, this figure rightly suits our good actions, which are fewer in number when they are higher in merit. For you may see more who offer alms from their possessions to the needy than those who leave everything they possess; more good spouses than celibates; more who abstain from physical pleasures than those who lay down their lives for truth. And he well asserted that the same heap of wheat is surrounded by lilies, so we may perform all our good deeds for the sake of eternal love’s sight, and allow no hostile encroachments into the field of our hearts, as we encircle all our deeds with the prospect of heavenly reward. The works of almsgiving which we do for Christ in the poor can also be understood in the heap of wheat, concerning which He says: I was hungry, and you gave me food (Matthew XXV). And well after the bowl filled with cups, are the members of the bride compared to a heap of wheat, to signify that after drink, also, bread may be given to the poor: which indeed can be taken in both a spiritual and a bodily sense, that is, in those things by which we instruct the mind of an erring neighbor. For spiritual instruction is recognized as having the likeness of a cup in some words, and bread of life in others: for it has the similarity of a cup in open teachings, but of bread in mysteries. He hands the cup with those things which, as soon as they are heard, can be easily understood and do not require another explanation, as is the case with: “You shall not kill, you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness” (Deut. V), and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. XXII). He offers bread when he entrusts to his listeners words that are more difficult to understand, which, like food that reaches our insides through chewing, reach the innermost parts of our senses through interpretation. Such is the entire series of this song, such as the law: “Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it” (Exod. XX), where mystically it is admonished to sanctify the light of spiritual grace, in which alone we have true rest, that is, to keep it always unblemished in our hearts as we receive it on the day of redemption. Thus, these and similar words, to whose understanding we attain with the effort of interpretation, are rightly compared to a heap of wheat, which is brought to the use of our refreshment by no small labor of grinding, sowing, baking, and chewing. But clearer issues that never need the cup are rightly compared to a drink because abundant open commands or promises of God in the Scriptures, like a drink taken without delay or labor, can be understood as soon as they are heard and, when understood, stored in the repository of memory for the growth of our salvation. The immaculate womb of the divine fountain from which we are reborn into a new creature can be most suitably figured in the bride: which, like a heap of wheat hedged with lilies, because it obviously teaches all whom you regenerate in Christ to persist in good works with the sole gaze of heavenly glory. It is like a heap of wheat because it cleanses those whom it washes from all the chaff of sins and makes them conform through second birth to him who said of himself, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John XII). It is hedged with lilies because, having freed them from the entanglements of sins with which they were carnally born, it also adorns them with the light of heavenly graces and confirms them. — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Robert of Tombelaine: The navel is also the order of holy preachers, which is fittingly called a goblet, because while the people are instructed through them, they are intoxicated with spiritual wine by their ministry. It is fittingly called “turned on a lathe,” because it is necessary that the tongue of the preacher be turned according to the customs of all people. It “lacks not cups,” because what he serves to others, he must drink more abundantly than the rest, and more fully contain what he gives.

By the belly, the breadth of the people is designated: which is fittingly surrounded by lilies like a heap of wheat; because while intent upon holy works, being prepared for the heavenly granary, it is fortified on every side by the examples of the saints, that it may persevere. — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 7

Song of Solomon 7:3

Bede: Two breasts, etc. We have spoken abundantly about this verse above; but now it should be briefly recalled that rightly after the belly of the bride, her breasts are commended, because indeed the holy Church offers milk to her little ones, whom she generates in Christ from the sacrosanct womb of the saving water, from the nourishment of the neophytes, with gentler doctrine, until she gradually instructs them to receive the bread of higher wisdom. Therefore, the breasts of the Church are those who instruct her little ones, that is, those recently reborn in faith: and it is well that they are mentioned as being two, because from two peoples, namely, the Jews and the Gentiles, the saving font which cleanses them and brings them forth by the heavenly mystery, gathers them. They are well compared to the two young fawns of a gazelle, because the true teachers take from the teachings of both Testaments what they preach. It is also fitting that these fawns are said to be twins, because the Testaments themselves are given by the same author, from the one of whom Ecclesiastes says: The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed, given by one shepherd through the counsel of masters (Ecclesiastes XII). Therefore, there are two breasts of the bride, like two twin fawns of a gazelle, because the teachers of the neophytes do not preach their own but speak as from God, before God in Christ; He is the one shepherd, who from two flocks of sheep makes one fold; whose burning desire the bride above cries out: Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you rest at noon. He is the one teacher of the teachers, for he commanded his disciples, who are our teachers, saying: Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you (Matthew XXVIII). Rightly also is the name gazelle assigned to him, for it is a clean animal, noteworthy for its sight and speed, splitting the hoof and chewing the cud, and like all clean quadrupeds, armed with horns. If indeed saints of such nature are apt, because they have a split hoof in the discernment of good and evil, and customarily speak sweetly and as if chew the cud on things they discern are good from evil, who have learned to direct the eye of their heart far off, that is, to contemplate heavenly goods from earth; who eagerly desire to penetrate with a swift course the path of virtues; who rejoice that they have received from the grace of their Creator the cleanliness of mind and body, who, with the confidence of faith, raised against the strength of this world, are accustomed to say to God: Through you we shall push down our enemies with the horn (Psalm XLIII), how much more this nature of the animal suits the meaning of the one who possesses all these gifts of virtues in himself and grants them to others according to the measure of his own gift. — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Robert of Tombelaine: The two breasts are two peoples: because while they always live in fraternal love, they nourish one another with the milk of piety in charity. They are fittingly called two fawns, twins of a gazelle: because while begotten in faith through the preaching of the Synagogue, they are nourished in its Scriptures, directing themselves toward the hope of eternity, they feed in harmony as if upon the mountains. — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 7

Song of Solomon 7:4

Bede: Your neck is like an ivory tower. Because through the neck, both voice and speech proceed, and food, through which all the members of the body are nourished, usually enters; rightly through the neck, as we have previously admonished, the form of teachers is designated, who strengthen the whole body of the Church both with the voice of exhortation and refresh it with the sustenance of life. This neck, indeed, is like an ivory tower, because teachers provide both adornment and strength and the beauty of their lives to the holy city of God, that is, the Church. Because they are proven to be already dead to this world, they show themselves like ivory to all who see; and they defend the city of God, as a tower elevated and impregnable, from the assault of all enemies. For when they say that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for the destruction of fortresses, destroying counsels and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God (II Cor. X), they prove that they are positioned as a tower for the fortification of the holy city; and when the same Paul, describing his and his co-workers’ lives, says: For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God, I am crucified with Christ (Galat. II), he signifies that the quality of ivory, that is, of a bone indeed dead but marked by exceptional beauty, belongs to him. — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Bede: Your eyes are like the pools in Heshbon, etc. The same holy preachers, who were compared to the bride’s neck for the nourishment of the word, are also designated in the eyes; this means the inspection of the mysteries, which they learn in secret so that they can openly proclaim them, and through those things which they perceived in secret meditation, they minister the manifest nourishment of the holy Church by teaching. These eyes are rightly compared to the pools built in the gate of the city of Heshbon. He also calls this city, because of the abundance of inhabitants, the daughter of the multitude, because just as those same pools, with the citizens flocking to them, used to provide a continuous abundance of water, so the preachers do not cease to provide streams of doctrine to their listeners; with these streams, they themselves are always filled inwardly, just as the pools are full of living springs of water. These pools resonate with that once-famous probatical pool in Jerusalem, in which the water used to be stirred by an angel at certain times, and the first of the sick to descend was healed, because undoubtedly there is one God, one faith, one baptism; which, when the Holy Spirit descends into the font of life, washes one people of believers with the grace of second regeneration, which is aptly called the probatical pool, that is, for sacrificial use, indicating literally that sacrifices used to be washed in it by the priest; and typically expressing that it is proper for those who are to be brought to the holy altar and offered as a sacrifice to God to be washed in the waters of regeneration. Heshbon is rightly set forth as a type of the Church, either because of its name, which is interpreted as girdle of sorrow, or because it once belonged to Sihon, king of the Amorites, and after he was killed it was seized by the children of Israel. For it is certainly known that the Church was once enslaved to the rule of the devil, the king of all iniquities, but after he was expelled and renounced, it became the city of its Redeemer. And now it has taken the name of Church, which was formerly called Gentiles, since, instead of the wanton and fleeting joy of this world, it has girded itself with the most salutary girdle of sorrow: namely, the girdle to restrain the loins of its mind from all uncleanness; and the girdle of sorrow, that being utterly detached and alienated from temporal joys, fixed confidently in the heavens, it might hope to receive joys. This city, that is, the Church, which is also called the daughter of the multitude because of the abundance of people flocking to the faith, has pools in its gate, to which the eyes of the bride are compared, because no one can enter her who has not first been sprinkled with the water of the salutary doctrine, who has not been cleansed by the washing of the water of regeneration, who has not been consecrated by the drinking of the living fountain. This was most clearly and beautifully prefigured in the tabernacle or the temple of Solomon, at whose entrance a basin or brazen sea was placed, where the priests who were about to enter would wash their hands and feet; doubtlessly for a certain mystery’s sake, because the Lord would provide us with the washing of heavenly teaching, with the font of regeneration; by which we, initiated, might be able to enter either the fellowship of the present Church or the dwelling of its eternal home, which is in heaven. — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Bede: Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon, etc. Because by the nose odors and stench are usually distinguished, the dispensers of the word of God, who had previously been designated for certain reasons to the neck and eyes of the Church; now also for the cause of very beneficial discretion, which is proven by the fathers to be the mother of virtues, is designated in the nose, because certainly by the function of smelling, they are able to discern more than others, in which acts or words the good odor of Christ flourishes, and which exhale the lethal stench of depravity: for indeed the teacher, or any faithful person, has much need of discretion, lest perhaps vices disguise themselves under the guise of virtues, lest they carry something wolf-like under the sheep’s clothing, lest cunning be mistaken for prudence, tenacity for frugality, the desire for revenge for justice, harshness for fortitude, the semblance of constancy for the stubbornness of fools. Hence rightly teachers, rightly the chosen ones, who have received this grace from the Lord, that they may be able to separate the odors of virtues from the stench of vices, are said to be like the tower of Lebanon, which looks towards Damascus, because they hold an eminent place in the holy Church, and always with the most cautious eye of the mind watch against the snares of the old enemy. For it has often been said that Mount Lebanon signifies the Lord the Savior and His Church. Conversely, however, Damascus, because it signifies the city of the devil, that is, the crowd of reprobate angels or men, is as clear as light: for it was the metropolis of the whole of Syria, having the most impious and strong kings, who, as rightly carrying the emblem of the devil, inflicted frequent wars and captivities on the people of God, which clearly symbolize the temptations and snares of the devil, with which he continually attacks the Church. But also the fact that Damascus is called the drink of blood or the eye of blood corresponds to their signification, who delight in the allurements of the flesh and of blood, in whom even the very shedding of blood, which is inflicted on the innocent, is counted. It also corresponds to the most perverse intention of the demons, who labor to spiritually slaughter us, and take away from us the eternal life, which we have in Christ. Against both of them the Psalmist prays to the Lord, saying: Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation (Ps. 51:14). For whoever is firmly established in Christ, watches with diligent caution over himself and his own, lest he be overcome by such wars, which are either openly inflicted by men, or secretly by the devil; such a one can rightly be called the nose of the bride of Christ, and be like the tower which is constructed on Mount Lebanon to look towards Damascus, because skilled in discernment and living a sublime life, he provides continuous vigilance lest the Church be disturbed by sudden incursions of evils. — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Robert of Tombelaine: The neck of the bride is said to be like a tower of ivory; because the preachers of the Church are considered both lofty through contemplation, and strong through the exercise of holy works, and precious through divine wisdom.

Heshbon is interpreted as the girdle of sorrow. The eyes of the bride are therefore said to be like the pools in Heshbon, because while they are saddened by their pilgrimage, and strengthened by sorrow, they gird themselves against spiritual enemies; they wash themselves with tears, so that through them the peoples may be fittingly cleansed before God. Moreover, they are at the gate of the daughter of the multitude, because they stand in faith, through which they lead the multitude of the Church to heavenly things.

In the nose the discernment of smell is found. By the nose, therefore, the order of preachers is designated: because through them the fragrances of virtues and the stenches of vices are made known to us. But the nose stands like a tower of Lebanon: because once preachers are washed in the water of Baptism, and are made white by daily tears from the sins they committed against God, they become worthy to be raised higher and higher through fortitude. But the tower looks toward Damascus: because any holy preacher always opposes sinners. Damascus indeed is interpreted as “bloody,” and it is said to the sinful nation: Your hands are full of blood (Isaiah 1:16). But because he spoke of the members, it is fitting that he speak of the head. — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 7

Song of Solomon 7:5

Bede: Your head is like Carmel, etc. In the head of the bride, the soul of the faithful is rightly understood, because just as the members are ruled by the head, so are thoughts arranged by the mind. Hence, even the thoughts themselves, which emerge countless times every hour and moment from the human mind, are aptly depicted as hair. What is said about one chosen soul is to be understood by the prudent reader as applying to the whole Church, because even though the multitude of believers differs in merits, they nevertheless have one heart and soul, insofar as they all aspire to the heavenly courts with one and the same faith, hope, and love. Scripture recounts that Elijah prayed on Mount Carmel kneeling, and after a long drought, he obtained rains from the Lord. Thus, the head of the bride is like Carmel, because the hearts of the chosen are elevated through their way of life and provide an ascent to the Lord through their daily progress in virtues. For Elijah is called the Lord God, who prays to the Father in them and, like dry fields, calls rains from heaven because he invisibly ignites them to pray to God, and through their prayers and merits, he often grants his gifts to a world in peril. The name of Carmel, which is interpreted as the knowledge of circumcision, fits the head of the bride, that is, the ecclesiastical mind, which well knows it should not boast in carnal but in spiritual circumcision, about which the Apostle also debates much to the Galatians, and the prophet teaches, saying, “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart” (Jer. IV). The Jews refused to have this knowledge when they only glorified in the outward circumcision. Therefore, they did not know to have their head like Carmel because their mind was set on things below and on the glory of the flesh. Hence, they rightly deserve to be reproached by the voice of the blessed proto-martyr Stephen, saying, “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit” (Acts VII). And he says, “The hair of your head is like a purple rope bound in channels.” The hair of the bride’s head, as we said, represents the thoughts of the faithful soul. But the purple signifies the imitation of the Lord’s passion, to which the hair of the bride’s head is rightly compared, because every thought of the chosen ones is fortified by the holy faith of the cross, and every intention of their heart is ready to suffer for the Lord, so they may deserve to be resurrected with him. But that the same purple is said to be bound in channels can either be understood to mean that the dyed wool, before it is woven, is stored separated in channels, or that, since the wool is dyed in the channels with the blood of the murex, it is there distinguished and tied separately to be dyed. For the purple dye is extracted by cutting with iron the shellfish, that is, the sea snails, which are also called “conchylia,” releasing tears of purple color. When collected, they produce the purple dye. This mystically conveys one and the same meaning. For the channels that receive the king’s purple denote the faithful hearts of Christ; thus, the wool that is sent to be dyed in the channels, so that it may become an ornament for the king after dyeing, represents the humility, the mildest and kindest of a faithful conscience, which through sufferings and works of justice attains the appearance of the eternal king. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Galatians 3). Now, this wool bound in the channels is dyed with the purple color, because the virtue of humility, fastened and as if bound in the hearts of the elect, is continuously animated by the memory of the Lord’s blood to endure temporal tribulations, by which it may attain to the fellowship of the Lord’s kingdom. And what we have said about the purple bound in the channels can be understood in such a way that fleeces already dyed by the shellfish, before being spun into threads, are kept stored in compartments, symbolizing the higher virtue, since it represents the humility of those who are already exercised in frequent tribulations for the Lord, showing that they can be overcome by no adversities. They say that the perfect dye of purple never fades from sunlight or water sprinkling, and that the tint once received endures. Thus, the bride’s hair on her head is bound in the purple channels of the king, when thoughts prepared in the devoted hearts for God are also ready to die for Christ, so that they may reign with him, making the purple, drawn from the channels, the highest ornament of the king. When the occasion for suffering is given, they show what they have rendered in that heart, bravely prepared to undergo all sorts of adversities and even death, if it happens, for the glory of their Redeemer. This was well represented in the Acts of the Apostles by Lydia, the purple-seller, who, being a fearer of God, was the first to believe and be baptized with her household when Paul preached in Macedonia, and who received him into her house, both when he first preached the word of faith and later when he suffered beatings, imprisonments, and bonds from the infidels. For she foreshadowed in her profession, faith, and obedience the Church made up of the Gentiles, who, imbued with the confession of the Lord’s passion, were themselves to shed their blood for it and to receive deeply in their hearts the apostolic doctrine expelled by the infidels. — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Richard Challoner: Thy head is like Carmel: Christ, the invisible head of his church, is here signified.

Robert of Tombelaine: The head of the Church is Christ, who is fittingly called Carmel, because through the passion He endured, He was exalted to the glory of the Father. Of Him it is written: “And in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of the mountains” (Isa. 2:2). On Carmel, Elijah praying obtained rain (1 Kings 18), and we praying on Carmel obtain rain, when believing in Christ we desire Christ and receive from the Father the watering of grace for which we ask. In the moral sense, however, the head of the bride is called the mind, because just as the members are governed by the head, so all our thoughts are directed by the mind. Now Carmel is interpreted as “knowledge of circumcision.” Therefore the head of the bride is said to be like Carmel, because every holy mind knows how to be worthily circumcised: it knows that whatever is done in the body is nothing if the mind has been unclean; and if it is made into a temple of Christ, it is inhabited by Him. Because the Pharisees did not do this, blessed Stephen said to those who were killing him: “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit” (Acts 7:51). Now the hair of his head is said to be like the purple of a king bound to channels. For purple is tied by bundles in channels, over which when water is poured, it runs through the channels to the garment placed beneath, so that the garment may be dyed; and from this it receives its name, so that what is dyed with purple color is called purple. All of these things correspond to the holy mind, if they are understood. For the hairs of the head are the thoughts of the mind, which are bound in channels, because they are restrained in the divine Scriptures lest they flow uselessly. Water is poured over them, which dyes the royal garment, because in the thoughts of the holy mind, heavenly grace is received and composes the whole soul into a heavenly ornament, so that the whole soul may burn with desire for eternal life and long to go to the eternal Bridegroom even through the blood of martyrdom. For Paul says of the whole Church: “Who presented to Himself the Church, a garment without spot or wrinkle” (Eph. 5:27). And of each of the Church’s faithful it is said: “You shall clothe yourself with all these as with an ornament” (Isa. 49:18). Thus rejoicing over the bride made dyed, thus beautiful, thus made purple, the Bridegroom speaks. — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 7

Theodoret of Cyrus: “The hair of your head like purple, a king caught in its tresses.” Your hair was previously loose and hence was compared with the flocks of goats emerging in Gilead, whereas now it is caught up, and not only caught up but also wondrously dyed, resembling a king clad in purple and hastening in all directions. By the comparison of her fastened hair to royal purple he refers to the teaching proposed in orderly fashion and colored with the blood of Christ. A king clad in purple is not so resplendent as the teacher of religion who carefully composes the proclamation of the knowledge of God and offers it to the devotees of truth. — COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 7

Song of Solomon 7:6

Ambrose of Milan: The church is beautiful in [those recently baptized]. So that God the Word says to her: “You are all fair, my love, and there is no blemish in you,” for guilt has been washed away. “Come here from Lebanon, my spouse, come here from Lebanon, from the beginning of faith you will pass through and pass on,” because, renouncing the world, she passed through things temporal and passed on to Christ. And again, God the Word says to her, “How beautiful and sweet are you made, O love, in your delights! Your stature is become like that of a palm tree, and your breasts like bunches of grapes.” — On the Mysteries 7:39

Ambrose of Milan: The laurel and the palm are the symbols of victory. The heads of the victors are crowned with laurel, and the hand of the conqueror is adorned with a palm. Hence the Church says: “I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of its branches.” Seeing the excellence of the Word and hoping that she can ascend to His height and the summit of knowledge, she says: “I will go up to the palm tree,” so that she may leave behind all lower things and strive for higher things, for the reward of Christ, so that she may enjoy and taste the sweet fruits of His love. For the fruit of virtue is sweet. — The Six Days of Creation

Ambrose of Milan: Therefore, imitate her, o man, so that it may be said of you as well: “Your stature has become like a palm tree.” Preserve the greenness of your childhood and that natural innocence which you received from the beginning, so that, being planted beside the flowing waters, you may have your fruit prepared in your time, and your leaf may not wither. … Therefore, remain planted in the house of the Lord, so that in His courts you may flourish like a palm, and let the grace of the Church ascend in you, and let the fragrance of your nostrils be like apples, and your mouth like the best wine, so that you may be intoxicated in Christ. — The Six Days of Creation

Bede: How beautiful you are, etc.! Previously, in the praise of the bride, it was said, You are beautiful, my friend, sweet and lovely like Jerusalem, terrible like an army set in array. There, therefore, along with beauty and loveliness, she is said to be terrible as an army set in array; here, she is stated to be beautiful and lovely in delights. However, according to human custom, it is difficult for one and the same person both to lead a life in delights and to be terrible as an army set in array, because indeed delights soften the mind and do not allow it to focus on warlike matters. But where the delights are spiritual, that is, where the desire for eternal sweetness fills the mind’s throat, there the soul becomes terrible to spiritual enemies, and as if an ordered army, it crushes all their weapons; rather, the more it comprehends the taste of internal satisfaction, the more terrifying it becomes to those who have completely lost the glory of the sweetness of heaven, for which they were created, to the bitterness of proud tyranny. And well did the lover of the holy soul say, How beautiful you are, how lovely! that is, how perfect in faith and work, and immediately he added, Most dear in delights. For it is fitting that the soul, which is seen to be devoted to heavenly delights, should be most dear to the Lord, because indeed the more the pure mind tastes the food of life, the more it is inflamed with that love, and the more fervently it loves the heavenly, the more perfectly it is loved by the author and giver of celestial goods themselves. Therefore, the holy soul is most dear to the Lord in delights, because while it ardently hungers for the joys of internal refreshment, the love for its Creator increases in it; and since such a soul also fore-tastes no small portion of the delights of the future reward in the struggle of the present life, it is rightly added: — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Robert of Tombelaine: It should be noted that she is called “most dear” in delights, because no one arrives at the love and intimacy of Christ who does not strive to abound in the delights of Holy Scripture. For thus it is said: ‘For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath’ (Matt. 13:12). For whoever abounds in these delights is refreshed; and being refreshed by them, is continually prepared to receive greater things. — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 7

Song of Solomon 7:7

Bede: Your stature is compared to a palm tree, etc. For the stature of the Church is indeed the uprightness of its good work, because, despising to bend down to earthly desires, it raises itself entirely to attain heavenly rewards. The Apostle admonishes concerning this, saying, “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave” (1 Cor. 16). And the Lord Himself, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of servitude, by which the Egyptians oppressed you, so that you would walk upright” (1 Kings 10). The palm tree, moreover, is adorned with the hand of the victor. And also among the ancients, whoever had won in a contest was crowned with a palm. Therefore, the stature of the bride is compared to a palm, when the entire intention of the faithful, upright in love for heavenly things, meditating meanwhile while standing in the battle line, reflects on that prize, which is to be given as a reward when the contest is over. Likewise, because the palm tree appears rough in its lower parts but shows beauty and the sweetness of its fruit at the top, it is fittingly compared to the stature of the Church, or of any faithful soul, which bears rough labors on earth for the Lord, but hopes to receive a most pleasant reward from the Lord in heaven. The palm is rough near the ground, because the elect suffer persecution for righteousness. It is beautiful and sweet at the top, because they rejoice in tribulations and exult, knowing that their reward is abundant in heaven. Similarly, just as the palm is covered with enduring leaves and preserves its foliage without replacement, who does not see that it holds the symbol of the stature of faith, which, while the state of the passing world changes, retains the same words of true confession, like leaves that neve fall and are kept, and maintains the same perfection of works that began from the outset, as if the beauty of the palms is held inviolate in His chosen ones until the end of the world? And he says, “Your breasts are like clusters.” The breasts, as often said, are the teachers of the Church when they minister the milk of initial instruction to the little ones of Christ. But these same breasts are likened to clusters when those teachers, to whom the initial sacraments of His incarnation were entrusted, also reveal the secrets of the divinity, by which He is equal to the Father; and those who previously said, “We resolve to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2), afterwards say to those capable of receiving more profound teachings, “Whose are the fathers, and from whom according to the flesh, is Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever” (Romans 9). The breasts of the Church are also likened to clusters when the masters of truth at the same time, reveal to mature listeners the great mysteries or teachings of the Scriptures, and offer to those weak in understanding the sustenance of life that they can grasp. To these they say, “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments; you shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness. Honor your father and your mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself”; but to those they say, “If you wish to be perfect, go and sell all that you have and give to the poor” (Matt. 19), and the like. But these breasts are also likened to clusters, because the Apostle says, “For whether we are beside ourselves, it is for God; whether we be sober, it is for you” (2 Cor. 5). For they fulfill the function of breasts when they temper their words according to what the weak can hear; they are compared to clusters when, being elevated in mind, they are inebriated by the abundance of the house of God and of that house of God which is not made by hands but is eternal in the heavens. But since all the saints, whatever good they possess, have received it by the liberality of divine grace, it is rightly added: — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Robert of Tombelaine: For the palm, as it grows, is narrow at the bottom and spreads wide at the top. So the holy soul begins from the lowest and smallest things, and gradually growing to greater things, arrives at the breadth of perfect charity. For no one, as it is written, suddenly reaches the highest. In the Psalm it is said of the just man: “The just shall flourish like the palm tree” (Psalms 91:13). The breasts of the bride are the two precepts of charity, which possess the soul, inebriate it with heavenly wine, and nourish it. Yet the palm can also be understood as the cross of Christ. For the palm, growing to a very great height, produces the sweetest fruits; and the cross of Christ has prepared heavenly food for us. The bride’s stature is compared to it, because whoever, greatly loving Christ, worthily imitates Him does not hesitate to die for Christ. — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 7

Song of Solomon 7:8

Bede: I said, I will ascend into the palm tree, etc. For the sole reason is that the breasts of the Church may be equaled to clusters of grapes, because the Lord has deigned to ascend into her and to gift her with His grace. For indeed, so that the teachers may preach both humble things to the little ones and lofty things to the perfect, so that they may both condescend and be temperate with the unskilled, and they themselves may drink deeply in the contemplation of heavenly things, this is not due to their own merit, but it is a gift from heaven. It was said above concerning the Lord, My beloved descended into His garden (Psalms 86); and now He himself says, I will ascend into the palm tree. However, the same Church, or perfect soul, is the Lord’s garden, which is also the palm tree. But there is a difference between the Lord ascending into her and descending into her: for He descends into her when He sends her heavenly grace from above, by which she may become heavenly herself and be transferred to the things above; however, He ascends into the same when He more and more reveals the knowledge of His majesty to the faithful, when He inspires in those who are advancing the love of the heavenly homeland, as it were through certain steps striving towards the heights; when to those to whom He previously said, When you have done all that you were commanded, say: We are unworthy servants (Luke XVII), He adds greater gifts, saying, I will no more call you servants, for the servant does not know what his lord does. But I called you friends (John XV). And again: Go, tell my brothers (John XV). Thus, the Lord descends into His garden when He imparts heavenly gifts to the faithful; He ascends into the palm tree when He graciously bestows the increase of virtues on His advancing chosen ones, until He leads them to perfection: concerning which virtues it is aptly added: — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Bede: I will seize its fruits. For he indeed seizes the virtues of a faithful soul, so that with the most healthful touch of his compunction, he may always make them fruitful with greater blessing. The fruits of the palm can also be taken as each of the chosen ones, whom the Church brings forth to the Lord, as her own palm; these fruits it indeed seizes when it strengthens its own in faith and love, and to protect them from ever failing, it guards them with its protection to the perfect maturity of life, in accordance with that of the Psalmist: “You have given me the protection of your salvation, your right hand upholds me” (Psalms 17). Moreover, in what follows, “And your breasts will be like clusters of the vine,” it can also be understood that those who do not neglect to announce even the small things they know kindly and simply to their neighbors, may sometimes be inebriated with a greater gift of wisdom; and this when the Lord ascends to the palm and seizes its fruits, because unless His grace brings us growth, unless our hearts are fortified by His grace, we can neither have great nor small goods. Aptly, the victorious tree of the cross can also be signified by the name of the palm, to which the stature of the bride is rightly compared, because the holy Church is raised up through the passion of its Redeemer so that it can remain upright, stable, and immovable. It is rightly compared to this because even those who preceded the times of the Lord’s incarnation symbolized the mysteries of His passion either by prophesying or even suffering, and the saints of our time also glorify the same sacred triumph of the passion, all indeed by believing and confessing, many however also by dying. But what the bridegroom says, “I said, I will go up to the palm, I will seize its fruits,” fits that age when Solomon sang these things, when the Lord often promised through the voices of the prophets that He would come in the flesh for the redemption of the human race; when He proclaimed that He would ascend the tree, dying for His bride, destroying the dominion of death, and as a victor return to life. The fruits of the palm, which He said He would seize, are later signs of glory which followed the ascent of the cross, that is the brightness of His resurrection and ascension to heaven, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the salvation of the believing world. Which sense is aptly followed by: — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Bede: And thy breasts, etc. For truly, the first teachers of the Church, that is, the apostles, having completed His passion and resurrection, received a much greater knowledge of salvific doctrine than they had previously had, when appearing after the resurrection He opened their minds so that they might understand the Scriptures; when, having sent the Spirit from above, He granted them the knowledge of all languages; when it was falsely said by those mocking them that ‘these men are full of new wine’ (Acts 2). But they truly were like clusters of grapes because they were refreshed by the grace of spiritual gifts, the prophecy being verily fulfilled which said that new wine must be put into new bottles, and both are preserved (Matthew 9). And what follows aptly fits both senses: — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Bede: And the smell of your breath is like apples, etc. Indeed, in the smell of the mouth is the fame of good speech, and in the throat, however, is the very duty of voice dedicated to God. Both are worthy of praise in the Catholic Church, and both in every elected soul, because the voice itself, which teaches those present, and the fame of speech, which reaches the absent, whether through letters or through those who have heard, is proven to be full of virtue and grace. But because he compares the smell of the bride’s mouth and throat to apples and the best wine, it can be distinguished that apples retain all their strength in freshness itself, but wine achieves its value from age. Therefore, it is rightly compared to both these types—the voice of the Church speaking and its fame, whose beginning and perfection are known to be wonderful. Moreover, because the strength and fragrance of the best wine are greater than that of apples, it is rightly said: And the smell of your breath is like apples. Your throat is like the best wine, it surpasses the grace of apples. So much does the present speech of the holy Church of God excel the fame that the words of those who hear can spread about it. However, thus far the bride has been praised, and when it came to saying that her throat is like the best wine, she seized the word from the bridegroom’s mouth, and she, led by great love, strives to complete it rather. For she understood that by the term “best wine” the word of the Gospel was designated, in which alone is eternal salvation for believers, and she said: — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Robert of Tombelaine: He spoke truly, and ascended: because just as before the ages he determined to die for our death, so at the end of the world, merciful and faithful, he fulfilled it. Therefore he ascended the palm tree and took hold of its fruits: because, suspended on the cross, he found fruit, took hold of it, and bestowed it upon us. Whence what follows was fulfilled: ‘And your breasts shall be like clusters of the vine.’ Truly through the cross the breasts of the bride become like clusters of the vine; because in the death of Christ the senses of the soul received the two precepts of charity, by which the soul, being fed, may become intoxicated, and being intoxicated, may forget the things behind and stretch forward to the things ahead. With these breasts she also nourishes all her neighbors, and leads those who have been strengthened along with her to those things which she desires. Whence it is written: ‘Let him who hears say: Come.’ There follows: ‘And the fragrance of your mouth is like apples’ (Apoc. XXVIII, 17). Pomegranates, about which so much has been said above, are recalled here, to whose fragrance the fragrance of the bride’s mouth is quite fittingly compared. We said above (Chapter 4) that by pomegranates the martyrs are signified. But by the mouth of the bride here we think her preaching should be understood. For while she preaches the virtues of the martyrs, while she stirs the hearts of her hearers to their likeness, while in the preaching of the one faith she reveals that there are many virtues, what else does she carry in her mouth but the fragrance of pomegranates? Because what she preaches both displays the redness of the rind in martyrdom, and demonstrates in the virtues a multitude of seeds under the same faith as if under the same rind. — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 7

Song of Solomon 7:9

Bede: Worthy of my beloved to drink, etc. Wine, he says, the best, which my throat has compared, is worthy of my beloved to drink, because the word of the Gospel, which He has deigned to place in my mouth, is of such sublimity that it ought to be preached to the world only through Him, my beloved spouse and Redeemer. For He, first appearing in the flesh, through the mystery of regeneration, opened the heavenly path to the human race; He first preached the sacrament of His passion, resurrection, and ascension, by which the world would be saved, and then left it to be preached by His faithful ones; He drank the cup of salvation and thus offered it to be drunk by the Church. It should not seem absurdly placed, what is said, That it should be chewed by his lips and teeth, when it is said of wine. It is clear, however, that chewing is more suitable for food than for drink. Figuratively speaking, he calls the lips and teeth of the beloved the holy teachers, as has been proven above, because they chew the best wine which He has drunk, when they are delighted to scrutinize by frequent meditation and to confer the word of grace which they teach with one another. Some understand this response of the Church to the speech of the Lord as subtly interwoven, so that when He, praising her, had said, Your throat, that is, the sweetness of your confession, is like the best wine, she immediately, agreeing with His words, would add, Worthy of my beloved to drink, and to be chewed by his lips and teeth. As if she were openly saying: I already desire greatly that my beloved may judge the affection and sincerity of the mind which I have towards Him by careful examination. For I trust that even if He examines this with as much care as He is accustomed to examine drink or food, because He has diligently endeavored to taste or chew it, He will already prove it worthy of His praises. Hence, the first pastor of the Church responded to the Lord asking him, You know that I love you; and again: You know all things, you know that I love you (John XV). To whom, indeed, the beloved, still adding from the great ardor of the same charity, says: — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Robert of Tombelaine: For the voice is in the throat. Through the throat, therefore, preaching itself is again signified, which is said to be like the finest wine, because it intoxicates the minds of men so that they forget the things behind, as has been said, and running forward to what lies ahead, they do not grow weary. Of this wine the bride, receiving the word from the mouth of the Bridegroom, adds: ‘Worthy for my beloved to drink, and for his lips and teeth to chew upon.’ Such is the bride’s wine that it is worthy for the beloved to drink, because when holy Church preaches the true faith, when she stirs her hearers to holy works, when she demonstrates by words and deeds that to love Christ alone, to imitate Him, to embrace Him, is good — what else does she do but make her wine worthy to be savored in the mouth of the Bridegroom? And rightly is Christ said to drink it, because it is lovingly drunk by His body, that is, by the faithful peoples. Concerning this it should be noted that all drink, but the lips alone and the teeth alone chew, because when the Church preaches through her saints, all indeed hear, but not all discern how great is the power of the sayings that are spoken. But the lips and teeth chew, because when the more perfect recall the words to memory after hearing them, when they ponder whatever they have heard through constant practice — as if bringing back to the mouth what they have taken in — they perceive how great is the power of the food they eat. For this reason it is written in the Law that an animal which does not chew the cud is held to be unclean (Lev. 11), because whoever does not meditate again on the good things he hears or reads, being empty of holy thoughts, necessarily thinks impure ones. — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 7

Song of Solomon 7:10

Bede: I am for my beloved, etc. I am for my beloved and not for another. To whom I offer the whole gift of my service and devotion. And his conversion to me, so that even in this mortal life, lest I become weary by labor, lest I bear lamps without oil, that is, lest I carry out good works without charity, his presence and constant regard may always help me, and finally he may lead me to immortal joys of the heavenly chamber. This which he says, And his conversion to me, can be understood as specially uttered from the figure of the Synagogue, that is, of those people who preceded the times of His incarnation: who, when they had heard Him promising above, I said, I will ascend into the palm tree, I will take hold of its fruits, that is, I will ascend the wood of the cross, on which I will die, and taking the fruits of the resurrection, I will offer them to believers who are nourished for eternal life, justly rejoicing, she declares, I am for my beloved, and his conversion to me, namely, that He who was accustomed to be always present to me in invisible presence, might deign to appear to me also in my nature and form. To the lovers of both times, what follows aptly applies. — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Cyril of Alexandria: I will offer my beloved praise, and his turning will be toward me. What it calls his turning is either the second advent or the conversion of the Jewish people. — FRAGMENTS IN THE COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 7:10

Robert of Tombelaine: As if she were saying: since by faith and love I cling to Christ alone, follow Him alone, desire to see Him alone as one God with the Father and the Holy Spirit, I joyfully experience the sweetness of His regard, the kindness of His visitation, the delight of His turning toward me. — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 7

Song of Solomon 7:11

Bede: Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field, etc. For even the holy ones of old greatly desired the Lord to come for the salvation of the human race. Thus, praying, they say, “Stir up your might and come to save us” (Psalms 79). They desired him to go forth into the field, that is, for him who was invisible with the Father to appear visible to the world, according to Habakkuk, who prophesied future events as if they were already happening, “You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed” (Habakkuk 3). They too wished to go forth with him into the field, to announce the grace of the Gospel which, being seen and greeted from afar, they proclaimed would come, announcing it present in their age. They desired to dwell with him in the villages, that is, to commit the word of faith even to the pagans. For who does not know that the pagans derive their name in Greek from the villages, because they dwell far from the habitation or even the knowledge of the heavenly city? And what do you think Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel, and the other prophets endured for his proclamations, who prophesied before the dispensation of Christ to come in the flesh, would have done if they could have lived with him in the flesh? Those things that follow, which fit the desires of the faithful saints of old with much propriety, are also added. But the Church of our time, burning with equal fervor, rightly proclaims, “Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; you who have lifted up the man assumed for my salvation, placing him at the right hand of the Father in heaven, I pray that by the presence of divine grace, you may deign to come to me more frequently. You command me to cultivate my field, in which you have sown good seed—that is, you command to preach the Gospel you gave throughout the whole world; but because I can do nothing without you, I beg you, come forth with me into the field, that is, wherever you wish me to preach the word, be my helper and cooperator.” We read that he himself said, at the coming of the day of judgment, “Two will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left” (Luke 17). He who cultivated the field of his own or his brother’s heart with the Lord’s cooperation will be taken up; but he who trusted he had the fruits of good doctrines or actions from himself, will rightly be left by him whose help he neglected to seek. Let us dwell in the villages too, by teaching the hearts of foreigners; and let us not visit these in passing, but let us dwell in them as long as necessary until we make them from pagans to urbane, from foreigners and strangers to domestic, indeed our own. — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Robert of Tombelaine: While the bride, having experienced the sweetness of the Bridegroom, refreshes herself, she also thinks of her neighbor, whom she loves as herself by the Bridegroom’s own command; and because she understands the Bridegroom’s precepts, she desires that others may understand them as well. For the field, as Truth itself attests, is this world (Matt. 13). The Bridegroom goes forth into the field with the bride when the Word of God, having taken on flesh, is shown to the world in the bridal chamber of the Virgin. He dwells in the villages when He visits the nations through faith, which He generously bestows upon those who receive it. — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 7

Song of Solomon 7:12

Ambrose of Milan: Actually, what has always been condemned by the church is the perverse opinion of those who dare to dissolve the unity of marriage. Listen again to the voice of holy church: “Come, my brother, let us go forth into the fields, and lodge in the villages; let us go out early to the vineyards, and see whether the vines have budded.” A field may produce many fruits, but the best field is one richly productive of both fruits and flowers. The church is a field of this sort, fecund in diversity. — Concerning Virginity 6:34

Ambrose of Milan: I have preserved for you, my brother, the new and the old; that is to say, I hold on to all the commandments of the new and the old Testament. Only the Church can say this: no other congregation says it, nor does the Synagogue, nor does it hold on to the new according to the literal meaning; nor does it hold on to the old according to the spirit. The heresy of Manichaeus does not say it, ‘I have preserved for you the Old,’ which does not accept the prophets. It is rightly called white, which shines with the grace of both Testaments. — Commentary on the Song of Songs 7.21

Bede: Let us rise early and go to the vineyards, etc. Thus let us dwell in the villages so that we may rise to cultivate the vineyards; thus let us make our residence among those who have already converted to the faith, and let us also strive to acquire others whom we may dwell among through evangelizing. And rightly she who is to say, Let us rise to the vineyards, has prefaced it with, Early; for Early speaks of the very rising of the true light, through which the world has been rescued from the power of darkness. Early then, he says, let us rise to the vineyards; as if he plainly says: Because the harm of ancient disbelief has departed, because the light of the shining Gospel now begins to appear, let us rise, I beseech you, to the vineyards, that is, let us give our effort to the churches to be established for God throughout the world. — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Bede: Let us see if the vineyard has bloomed, etc. The vineyard blooms when the Church receives the first elements of faith and confession. However, blossoms bring forth fruits when the faith and confession of the saints become prompt, even to the exercise of works of justice, lest their faith be found to be idle or dead without works. The pomegranates bloom when those who have advanced in faith and right action perceive the desire of suffering for righteousness: for the pomegranates, because they appear to be of a sanguine color, fittingly symbolize the passion either of the Lord Savior or of His faithful ones. Rightly in each of these instances the bride seeks the presence of her beloved, saying: Let us go forth into the field, let us dwell in the villages, let us rise to the vineyards, let us see if the vineyard has bloomed, and so forth; for in no way does the Church suffice either to proceed forth to good work by going out, or to persevere in the exercise of good works by dwelling, or to rise to salvation and the purpose of doing good, or to discern how much the souls of its hearers have advanced, without the grace of Him who, about to ascend to heaven, promised, And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world (Matthew 28). But if we are willing to accept these words as said by the person of the ancient righteous ones, the term “morning,” where it says “Let us rise early to the vineyards,” can not incongruously be understood to designate the very time of the Lord’s incarnation; for many prophets and righteous men desired to see the times which the apostles saw; they longed to persist in the flesh until the new light of His coming, if it could be done, so that they might hear His words teaching in the flesh, and adhere to His promises, making conversation about Him in the flesh with those who would later believe in Him. The rest can be understood in the same sense as above, where it says “There I will give you my breasts,” namely in that place where we come to see the vineyards and the pomegranates, whether they bloom or bear fruit. The breasts of the Church are known to be its teachers, those little ones of hers, who certainly offer these breasts to the Lord when they present their deeds and words in service of His preachers, so that, as nurses are accustomed to nourish little ones with diligent attention, so they strive to act in such a way that those who are still unlearned may, both by sight and by hearing, be able to progress in Christ, and reach the strength of spiritual youth, and become worthy to whom the voice of the blessed John may be said, “I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one” (1 John 2). “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world” (John 2). Rightly, indeed, the Church, having prayed to the Lord, saying, “Come, my beloved, let us go into the field,” and the other things that follow, concluded thus, “There I will give you my breasts”; as if she openly said: Therefore I beseech you greatly, that you may undertake the spiritual labor with me, so that I may always acquire new peoples for you, and may know how those who have already been acquired are doing, how much they have progressed in faith; because I strive to subordinate very diligently to you the tutors of my little ones, in such a way that I may forecast for them nothing to follow except what You Yourself have commanded, whether by example or by word. He who said, “We have become little ones in the midst of you, as a nurse cherishes her own children” (1 Thess. 2), thus desiring you, knew that he belonged to these breasts. The bride gave such breasts to her beloved, and to no one else, when, hearing from him, “Separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13), she immediately took care to obey His commands. — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Robert of Tombelaine: He rises early to the vineyards, because after His resurrection, sitting in the glory of the Father, He also defends the churches He has built. He looks to see whether the vineyard has blossomed, because He weighs every advance of the Church with strict examination. He sees whether the blossoms are bringing forth fruit, because He discerns to what degree of progress the tender and imperfect ones are growing. He also sees whether the pomegranates have bloomed, because He regards each of the perfect and recognizes what usefulness they have among their neighbors, as if perceiving fruit in blossoms — about which there rightly follows: ‘There I will give you my breasts.’ In the pomegranates the bride gives her breasts to the Bridegroom, because in the perfect there lives a twofold love, by which, while they nourish the weak members in the Church, they nurse Christ, as it were, whom they recognize to be present in the least of His own. — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 7

Song of Solomon 7:13

Bede: Mandrakes have given their fragrance at our gates. The gates of Christ and the Church are the same teachers, who have also been expressed by the name of breasts: who, as often said, are breasts because they nurture his little ones and infants, frequently exerting effort so that even from their mouths perfect praise may be produced for the Lord. They are, however, gates, because those whom they teach, through the ministry of the word and regeneration, they introduce into the dwelling of the holy city; about whom the Psalmist says, The Lord loves the gates of Zion above all the dwellings of Jacob (Ps. LXXXVI). Hence also in Revelation, John says about the same city, And it had a great and high wall, having twelve gates (Rev. XII), because surely the first teachers of the Church, that is, the twelve apostles, are chosen. Therefore, in such gates, mandrakes gave their fragrance, when the apostles and their successors spread the fame of their spiritual virtues far and wide. Rightly, therefore, does the Church beseech the Lord to come there to bring heavenly aid to their preaching, where she knows that the preachers themselves are fragrant with exceptional virtues. But anyone who diligently investigates other natures of mandrakes, and how many medicines they suit, will indeed find that they are aptly suited to signifying the virtues of the faithful. For it is an aromatic herb, having a root resembling the shape of the human body; the fruit, however, is sweet-smelling, in the size of an apple. Hence, the Latins also call it the apple of the earth. It also has such a virtue that through it sleep is often induced where the sick are troubled by the inconvenience of wakefulness. Indeed, one is troubled by the worst wakes who seeks to free his mind from the cares and desires of this world but, delayed by the use of wrong habits, is not yet able to obtain the rest he seeks. But he who strives to cure his weakness with diligent exercise of spiritual studies, comes, as the battles of vices gradually recede, to that mental quiet which the bride speaks of in the higher parts of this song, I sleep, but my heart wakes; that is, I rest from the cares of temporal things, and my heart watches in the contemplation of eternal goods. Likewise, if bodies must be cut for care, the bark of this plant, when put into wine, is given to drink so that, being asleep, they do not feel the pain. What the rationale of this nature signifies to be done in spiritual medicines is easily evident: for the soul languishes gravely that is subdued by great weights of vices; and it is offered as if to be treated by doctors when holy teachers urge it to resist carnal pleasures. But because it cannot be abandoned without great pain, that which was accustomed to be held with great love, it seems to be cut off from that which withdraws it from the long-established habit of allurements. But lest this kind of separation should seem intolerable to the languishing soul, a healthful potion must be given, through which it, usefully lulled, does not feel the pain of the cut. The eternal punishment of the Gehenna flame must be brought back to mind, which will perpetually torture souls neglectful of their salvation; the glory of the heavenly homeland must be brought back to memory, where the taken-up souls of the righteous will reign without end with Christ: for this indeed is the health-giving potion of doctrine, which redeems the soul, long languid from God, either lulled by this world or rather dead, so that it may very easily endure the removal of all the delights it previously adhered to, and even rejoice in their removal. Again, it is said that the mandrake heals those who suffer from nausea, so that they are neither able to contain themselves, nor are delighted to receive food. But the food of the soul is the word of truth, which those who are neither able to receive by hearing, nor keep accepted in the stomach of memory through hearing, suffer from a very dreadful and dangerous ailment, because surely it must be that their life is to be despaired of who spurn either to preserve or at least to receive the bread of life: for such languor, frequent examples of saints, and the present form of virtues are accustomed to provide healing, while anyone indifferent and neglectful at the sight or hearing of good works, upon remembering the glory of the heavenly reward, seeks to imitate the acts and temporary labors of good men so that he may merit to be held as a co-heir of their perpetual happiness. Therefore, anyone who is thus brought to the hope of salvation and life, as if through the fruit of the mandrake, whoever of the learned holds so great a grace of the Spirit, such study of piety, that anyone who sees or hears them, immediately changed in mind, begins to follow their life, they deservedly hold the form of the mandrake, because they fix the food of life in the hearts of the nauseous. And beautifully the bride, rich in living delights, not only promises the fruits of the vineyards and apples to be seen by the bridegroom, but also the odors of mandrakes and their health-giving juices: she boasts not only of having those things which can be eaten and drunk, but also those things which can make food or drink grateful and pleasant to those who are disgusted, because the Church also offers before the presence of its author the gifts of the heavenly word, namely the foods and drinks of life, offers fit ministers, who bring these by preaching to those who hunger and thirst; and moreover, by tasting them first themselves, that is, by first working, make them sweet to those who are disgusted. She brings forth, as if vineyards, innumerable troops of the elect; she brings forth pomegranate apples, the precious ranks of martyrs by the splendor of invincible confession; she brings forth spiritual charisms, which incite the hearts of the sluggish to contemplate and imitate the examples of the good. — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Bede: All the fruits, new and old, etc. The new and old fruits are the precepts or promises of the New and Old Testament, which the Church has kept for its beloved, knowing that He alone is the one who gave the precepts and who will render worthy rewards to those who keep them; knowing Him alone to be the one who delivered lesser commands through the angels to His ancient servants, and greater ones through Himself to us, or made promises of rewards. By this argument, the Church effectively counters the sects of the Photinians, who deny that the Lord Savior existed before Mary; and refutes the madness of the Manichaeans, who teach that the God of the law is different from the God of the Gospel. Likewise, the new and old fruits are the just of the New and Old Testament, none of whom, though distinguished by outstanding sanctity, could enter the gateways to the heavenly kingdom before the incarnate passion, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Savior. The Church of that time, which is now called the Synagogue by the grace of discernment, said, “All the fruits, new and old, I have kept for you, my beloved.” As if she openly says: I know very certainly that no one can be saved except by your grace, no mortal can become perfectly blessed before you, having become mortal, open the way of true happiness to the heavenly realms. For all the just ones I have seen, I have kept for your most holy coming with certain faith, by which I learned that they would reach perfect happiness. Likewise, the Church of the New Testament expresses a similar sentiment through the voice of its first pastor, denouncing those who thought otherwise with this: Why do you test God, putting a yoke on the necks of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? but we believe to be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they do (Acts XV). The following sentence proves this exposition to be true, as it is added: — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Robert of Tombelaine: What is understood by the mandrake, namely a medicinal and fragrant herb, if not the virtue of the perfect? By this virtue, whenever the perfect heal the infirmities of the imperfect, they are proven to be true physicians in the faith which they preach, that is, at the gates of the Church. When they bestow examples of good works all around through holy fame, they sprinkle, as it were, a fragrance by which the sick may be healed.

Here by “fruits,” the meanings of the Holy Scriptures are understood; which, as they come down to us from the holy Fathers and are believed, rise up like fruits from trees, by which souls are delighted. Therefore the Bride keeps all fruits, new and old, for her Beloved; because the catholic Church so receives the New Testament that she does not reject the Old: she so venerates the Old that she always understands the New spiritually within those carnal sacrifices themselves; rejoicing, that is, that Christ has come in the New, while in the Old always expecting him who was to come. — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 7