Song of Solomon 8

Song of Solomon 8:1

Ambrose of Milan: The church answers unto [God the Word], “Who will give you to me, my brother, you who did suck the breasts of my mother? If I find you outside I will kiss you, and indeed they will not despise me. I will take you, and bring you into the house of my mother; and into the secret chamber of her who conceived me. You shall teach me.” You see how, delighted with the gifts of grace, she longs to attain to the innermost mysteries and to consecrate all her affections to Christ. She still seeks, she still stirs up his love, and asks of the daughters of Jerusalem to stir it up for her, and desires that by their beauty, which is that of faithful souls, her spouse may be incited to ever richer love for her. — On the Mysteries 7:40

Ambrose of Milan: What are the breasts of the church except the sacrament of baptism? And well does he say “sucking,” as if the baptized were seeking him as a draught of snowy milk. “Finding you without,” he says, “I shall kiss you,” that is, finding you outside the body, I embrace you with the kiss of mystical peace. No one shall despise you; no one shall shut you out. I will introduce you into the inner sanctuary and hidden places of Mother Church, and into all the secrets of mystery, so that you may drink the cup of spiritual grace. — CONSOLATION ON THE DEATH OF EMPEROR VALENTINIAN 75

Ambrose of Milan: Therefore she interceded so that he would go forth from the bosom of the Father, go out of doors like the bridegroom coming out from his chamber, and run his course. She interceded, too, that he would win those who were weak, would not linger on the distant throne of the Father and in that light, for those without strength cannot follow there. Instead he would be taken up and led into the dwelling of the bride and her chamber, that he would be out of doors for her but within for us, would be in our midst, even though unseen by us. — On Isaac and the Soul 8.69

Ambrose of Milan: “I will take you up and lead you in.” It is right to take up the Word of God and lead him in, because he knocks at the soul, that the door may be opened to him, and, unless he finds the door opened to him, he does not enter. But if anyone opens the door, he enters and dines. The bride takes up the Word in such a way that she is taught in the taking up. — On Isaac and the Soul 8.71

Ambrose of Milan: Neither hold back the maidens of whom it is written, “Thus have the maidens loved you, and they have brought you into the house of their mother.” You may not, then, separate the little ones from the love of Christ whom they proclaimed with prophetic exaltation even from their mother’s womb. — Concerning Virginity 7:41

Athanasius of Alexandria: Thus the God of all, after the manner of wise Solomon, distributes everything in time and season, to the end that, at the right time, the salvation of humankind should be everywhere spread abroad. In this way, “the Wisdom of God,” our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ … “passed into holy souls, making them friends of God, and prophets.” Although very many were praying for his coming and saying, “O that the salvation of God would come out of Sion,” the spouse also, as it is written in the Song of Songs, was praying and saying, “O that you were like a brother to me, that nursed at my mother’s breasts.” And the meaning of that prayer is, “O that you were like humanity and would take on human nature for our sake.” After all, it was God who set up times and seasons, and he knows our needs better than we do. Because he loves us, he exhorts us to do right things at right times so that we may be healed. Thus, when the appropriate time had come, the Father sent the Son, just as he had promised. — FESTAL LETTERS 1:1

Bede: And I will find you outside, etc. Surely he was within, because in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John I). But so that he might also be found outside, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (Ibid.). Indeed, the patriarchs saw, the prophets saw the Lord, but within, that is, in the contemplation of the spiritual mind, not in the gaze of the carnal eye. They saw him, but in an image, in the form of an angelic substance; but his very nature, which he showed through the angels as he wished, they could by no means see. Finally, the lawgiver himself, who merited to hear, “I will show you all good” (Exodus XXXIII), again heard, “You cannot see my face, for no one shall see my face and live” (Exodus XXXIII). Happy are they who merited to confer among themselves, “We have found the Messiah, which is called Christ” (John I), and again, “We have found him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus, the son of Joseph of Nazareth.” For it aptly applies to such, that he says: “That I may find you outside, and kiss you” (Cant. VIII). The Synagogue indeed kissed the beloved when found, in those who now, face to face, in the truth of assumed flesh, saw him, who merited to speak with him mouth to mouth. For this is the kiss, that is, the most loving gift of that mouth, and the exchange of mutual speech, which in this song the Synagogue sought above all, thus beginning: “Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth.” Well indeed, by wishing, she adds, “And no one will despise me anymore:” for the Church was despised by external men, as if it were small and of no value, as long as it was confined to the narrowest limits of Judea; but when the Lord came in the flesh, she began to spread out through all nations, already made formidable to the world, as if she were about to fill the whole globe and overthrow the worship of all gods; for it was proven by the fact that a war was publicly declared against her by the whole world: in which war, however, she, either by living or by dying, overcoming, became even more fearful to the whole world. The Church was also despised by unclean spirits, because they boasted that they had deceived the human race and dragged them from their heavenly homeland into this exile and multifarious distress, and that there was no person who could exist entirely free from their dominance. But after the Mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, came into the world, and being tempted, overcame the same enemy by whose temptation the first man was once overcome, he also went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, and at last by dying, destroyed him who held the power of death, and bringing with him the entire multitude of the preceding just from hell, led them to the joys of the kingdom which the first man had lost, and placed the sign of his victory on the foreheads of the faithful. The life of good men is no longer despised by them, because they see that they have been conquered through a man, and they grieve that the human race has been transferred to the kingdom which they lost through pride. It is also fitting to believe concerning the holy angels, that they despised the life of elected men less, after they saw God and their Lord loving the human race so much that he himself deigned to become man, to converse among men, and to die. Hence it is that before his incarnation, they patiently bore being worshipped by men; but in the Apocalypse, an angel forbids John, who started to worship him, saying, “See that you do not do that; I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus: worship God” (Apoc. XII, 17). Hence, rightly sighing for the advent of the same Lord Jesus, that ancient multitude of the elect said, “Who will give you to me, my brother, that I may find you outside, and kiss you, and no one will despise me anymore?” Where it is aptly added: — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Cyril of Jerusalem: Again, referring to the wine mingled with myrrh, the Canticle says, “I will give you a cup of spiced wine.” — SERMON ON THE PARALYTIC 11

Julian of Eclanum: Here are shown many infancies in her, from which we ought to learn. First, it was the Creator of everything that is born from the union of masculine and feminine who fabricated a body from a virgin without the assistance of a man. Next, no sin is congenital to humankind, since it comes forth surrounded by the truth of the flesh and free from stain. Finally, it is impious to ascribe our origin to the works of the devil, since it rejoices that the true God is not only its founder but also its inhabitant. — COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS, FRAGMENT 11

Robert of Tombelaine: Placed under the old Law, she awaited Christ, and ardently desired him who remained in the secret of the Father to come forth through the flesh to human eyes. Whence David too, in his longing, said: ‘Arise, and do not reject us forever’ (Ps. 43:23). And elsewhere: ‘Bow your heavens and descend’ (Ps. 144:5). And Isaiah, greatly desiring to see him, said: ‘O that you would rend the heavens and come down’ (Isa. 64:1). The Bride therefore wishes to find the Bridegroom outside and to kiss him, because, placed under the Law, she longs for him to appear in the flesh—so that she might serve him through love, whom previously, not having received grace, she served more through fear than through love. After his kiss she is now despised by no one, because after Christ came and poured the spirit of liberty into his faithful ones, the Church is honored even by the angels themselves. Hence it is that Joshua worshipped the angel (Josh. 5); but to John, who wished to worship him, he said: ‘See that you do not do it, for I am your fellow servant and of your brothers who have the testimony of Jesus’ (Rev. 22:9). But because the Church received him when he came, while the Synagogue rejected him—she who will receive and love him again at the end of the world—therefore the Church follows after and says: — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 8

Theodoret of Cyrus: “I shall lead you into my mother’s house and into the chamber of the one who conceived me.” Now, what is the house of the all-holy Spirit (of whom the bride was born, after all) if not the divine temple, which resembles the Jerusalem on high, where they enter to speak with the bridegroom, having received the status of bride? And there, she says, “I shall give you some spiced wine to drink and some juice from my pomegranates,” by “spiced wine” referring to the teaching redolent of divine grace, as it were spiced and proving to be fragrant. By “juice of pomegranates” she refers to the benefit deriving from the fruits of love. — COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 8

Song of Solomon 8:2

Bede: I will apprehend thee, etc. But thus the Synagogue speaks, as Paul says, We who live, who are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep (1 Thess. IV). He, though knowing certainly that he could not endure in the flesh until the day of judgment, yet on account of the fellowship of one and the same brotherhood, joins himself to the number of those who in the advent of the Judge will be found alive in the flesh. And here, therefore, the ancient people of God speaks from the perspective of that part of itself which would see Him appearing in the flesh: I will apprehend thee, and bring thee into my mother’s house: I will receive thee with ready and faithful devotion as thou comest, and with eager desires I will embrace thy words, I will await thy promises, and after the dispensation of the flesh is completed, I will lead thee back to the heavens with joyous eyes, I will proclaim thee with a joyful voice to all. For this is the house of His mother, namely the happiness of the heavenly homeland, for the inhabitation of which human nature was created, to which, if no one had sinned, the whole human race would have passed from the delights of paradise, in which the first man was placed, without the intermediary of death. Into this house, therefore, the Church promises to bring her Lord, not able to achieve this by her own power, but desiring it to be fulfilled through her prayers, proclaiming it to be fulfilled or predicting it to be fulfilled; just as the Psalmist could exalt Him to the heavens, who nevertheless said, I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast raised me up (Psalm XXIX). Which is to say openly, Because thou hast deigned to take upon thee my human frailty, rightly do I profess the praises of thy power, who hast glorified this with the unfailing delight of my mind. — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Bede: There you will teach me, etc. There you will teach me, in the very substance of flesh, in which I will find you outwardly and kiss you; there you will give me the precepts of your Gospel, which the prophets, the law, and the psalms promised: there you will teach me to hope for more excellent gifts than I read in the law and the prophets; or certainly to be understood more deeply: there you will teach me in that house of my mother, into which I desire to lead you with a delightful company of eyes, and at the same time with praise of words. For there he taught and teaches the Church, from that part of it which he has received to himself there. There he will teach the whole Church, when, the universal judgment having been completed, his saints will be nowhere else, but all in heaven with him. What he will teach there, he himself designates in the Gospel, when in that most sweet and extensive discourse, which he held with it last before the passion, he says among other things: These things I have spoken to you in proverbs: the hour is coming, when I will no longer speak to you in proverbs, but I will tell you plainly about the Father, that is, I will plainly show you the Father. — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Bede: And I will give you a cup of spiced wine, etc. The Church gives a cup of wine to the Lord when, having received His benefits, it returns great and fervent gratitude of love, and the wine itself is not pure, but seasoned as if with a mixture of noble spices when the same love is proven by the attestation of good works. Nor should we only engage in those works that show our love for the Creator, but also those that demonstrate our fraternal love, if we wish to offer a worthy and acceptable cup of our devotion to Him. This is clearly differentiated by Him when, admonishing His disciples not to show their righteousness before men to be seen by them, He immediately added three types of good action to conclude the same instruction: namely, almsgiving, prayer, and fasting; clearly indicating that our righteousness should consist in these three. For almsgiving pertains to all we mercifully do to relieve our neighbor’s needs; prayer encompasses all that we perform with devoted piety to appease our Creator; fasting involves the full chastisement of the mind by which we strive to abstain from vices and worldly contagions. And because the holy Church offers not only the purity of life to her beloved but also the precious cup of death in many of her members for His love, it is fitting that after saying, “And I will give you a cup of spiced wine,” it adds, “And the juice of my pomegranates.” For the pomegranates are the same as the pomegranates; they are called pomegranates because of their abundance of seeds and are known as “pomegranates” because they are especially abundant in Africa and around Carthage. Since they hold the figure of the blessed martyrs, the reddish color itself is indicative. And well does he call it the juice of pomegranates, not a potion, wine, or strong drink, to signify the fervor of unquenchable love in the heart of the victorious army. For the juice, that is, wine taken directly from the press, is usually of greater fervor; therefore it aptly suits their most fervent virtue, who do not hesitate to pass through iron and flames for the vision of the Creator: for since this type of drink is said to not only heal the heat of the stomach and corrupted belly but also benefit the rest of the body, who does not see that the fervor of charity, the more it abounds, the more it covers, indeed even extinguishes the multitude of sins? Let then the ancient congregation of the righteous, desiring to see their creator’s advent in the flesh, say, “There you will teach me, and I will give you a cup of spiced wine, and the juice of my pomegranates.” As if openly declaring: “There, that is, in the very time or place where I will have found and deserved to speak with You, and You will give me the commands and gifts appropriate for the Son of God appearing in human form to men, and I will render to You the service of an undivided heart, which is truly due to God; because surely His advent grants heavenly rest to the Church laboring in the adversities of the world, both now in hope and in the future in reality,” rightly does it continue: — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Robert of Tombelaine: She leads the one she has seized into the house of her mother, because the Synagogue at the end of the world will preach Christ, in whom she believes; and when he has been received through the preaching of the Church, there he will teach the Church: because she will rejoice to be taught, when she sees the Synagogue, now made the same body, being instructed together with her. The Church will give a cup seasoned with wine, because she will preach to the Synagogue itself the New Testament together with the Old; and she will season the cup, as it were, with wine, because she will surround the sweetness of the Gospel with the testimonies of the Law, which is harsh, so that it may be held more firmly. She will offer the juice of her pomegranates, because she will set forth the examples of brave men who maintained the unity of the Church even in martyrdom, so that the Synagogue may be set ablaze in their likeness, and, strengthened by the examples of preceding martyrs, may not succumb to the persecutions of the Antichrist. For when she has heard the victories of brave fighters, she will not hesitate to enter the fight in imitation of them. — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 8

Song of Solomon 8:3

Bede: His left hand is under my head, etc. By His left hand He designates the sacraments of His incarnation and the gifts of His presence; by His right hand, indeed, He symbolizes the rewards that the elect will receive in the future: among these is not only the vision of divine majesty, but also the glory of glorified humanity, and of the same one Mediator between God and men. Hence, the bride rightly desires His left hand to be placed under her head, while His right hand embraces her, so that now she may rest from worldly turmoil through His temporal aid and then enjoy His manifest vision perpetually. And indeed the eternal rest of the saints is never interrupted by any disturbance. Hence it is rightly said, And His right hand will embrace me, because certainly the presence of divine majesty will surround His own in the heavenly kingdom on all sides, lest any remembrance of misery or fear of an end should violate the happiness worthy of God. Hence also in the Apocalypse John says, And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away: and again: And night shall be no more. And they will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will give them light, and they shall reign forever and ever (Apoc. XXII). But indeed the rest granted to the faithful in the present can by no means be perfect, because the ancient enemy, death, is not yet destroyed. Hence it happens that often the blessed rest of the good, like the most pleasant sleep which makes their minds intent on divine matters almost insensible to this world, is disturbed by the attacks of the wicked, namely of those who, ignorant of the happiest rest, have rather accustomed themselves to remain awake through love of the fleeting world. And would that only those who openly belong to the world and attack the peace of the Church did so, and not even those who within her impede her spiritual endeavors with their carnal ways. But because she indeed also generates many such as these, the Lord admonishes them not to presume to disturb the minds of the faithful devoted to the Church’s prayer, or reading, or other acts of piety, when, having heard the desire of her heart, He immediately added: — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Richard Challoner: His left hand: Words of the church to Christ. His left hand, signifying the Old Testament, and his right hand, the New.

Robert of Tombelaine: The left hand of Christ is held to be the present life, while the right hand is the blessed life. Moreover, our head is spiritually understood to be the mind. Therefore the Synagogue, now converted by the preaching of the Church, strengthened by examples, and uplifted by imitation, says: ‘His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me.’ As if she were saying: since now at last I hold the faith of Christ, I experience his ineffable and desirable grace, and I feel a sweetness I did not know how to desire; now I set aside all earthly things, I even despise the very life of the flesh for love of him, and I long with all my desires to see his blessedness. For indeed, when something embraces a thing, it is understood to hold the thing it embraces entirely within itself. Therefore the left hand is under the head and the right hand embraces, when the holy soul places beneath the mind those things it sees, and with every effort and all its thoughts seeks after those things it does not see. For there are indeed now some who pursue heavenly things with such desire that they count all visible things as nothing; they occupy their mind with heavenly pursuits without ceasing, so that they desire to do nothing else; the soul disdains whatever lies outside spiritual activity, loves this alone, despises the rest, unless perhaps it recognizes those things to be necessary. These truly have the left hand under the head, because with their mind raised up to the blessedness of Christ, they see the present life beneath them. And the right hand of Christ embraces them, because heavenly love, holding them within itself on every side, protects them. Such men indeed delight in holy leisure, in which they enjoyably partake of the love of the blessed life through contemplation. In this contemplation they cleanse the eye of the heart, so that, even while still placed in this flesh, they may see God insofar as it is granted to human weakness — by whose vision they illuminate themselves and refresh themselves with his sweetness. These already experience to some degree that blessedness about which it is said by the voice of Truth in the Gospel: ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God’ (Matt. 5:8). For what is future already begins to be fulfilled in them, because even though they still live in the flesh in this world, yet through that which is greater in them, they are already beyond the flesh. By these is fulfilled what is commanded by the divine voice through the Psalmist: ‘Be still and see that I am God’ (Ps. 46:11). For inasmuch as they live without the tumult of the world, they fix their mind on the vision of God through desire and contemplation. And since many such people from the Synagogue will come through conversion at the end of the world, as we believe, it is rightly understood as spoken of such people: ‘His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me.’ — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 8

Song of Solomon 8:4

Bede: I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, not to awaken, etc. For such souls are rightly called daughters of Jerusalem, because they are united to the body of the holy Church through the bath of regeneration, because they aspire to the heavenly kingdom, although on the foundation of right faith, they build not gold, not silver, not precious stones, but wood, hay, and stubble. Therefore, do not awaken, he says, the beloved with the tumult of carnal disturbances, and do not make her watch from the rest of her calm devotion, with which she delights to stand before the sight of her Creator. Until she herself desires, that is, until, having duly completed the services of divine worship, she herself, urged to return to the common care of human frailty, consents. And because, after Judea has flowed to the faith of the Lord’s incarnation, a multitude of gentiles followed, and hastened to be partakers of the same grace, admiring her unexpected conversion, Judea suddenly exclaims. — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Song of Solomon 8:5

Ambrose of Milan: She ascends leaning on the Word of God. For those who are more perfect recline upon Christ, just as John also was reclining at Jesus’ bosom. So then she either rested in Christ or reclined upon him or even—since I am speaking of a marriage—as if already given into the power of Christ, she was led to the bridal couch by the bridegroom. — On Isaac and the Soul 8.72

Ambrose of Milan: She is radiant … because she is resplendent in faith and in works. — Interrogation of Job and David 2.4.16

Augustine of Hippo: Therefore Christ has given a new commandment to us: that we love one another as he also has loved us. This love renews us that we may be new, heirs of the New Testament, singers of a new song. This love renewed even then those just persons of ancient times, then the patriarchs and the prophets, as it did the blessed apostles later. Even now it also renews the nations, and from the whole human race, which is scattered over the whole world, it makes and gathers a new people, the body of the new spouse, the bride of the Son of God, the Only Begotten about whom it is said in the Song of Songs, “Who is this who comes up in white?” In white, of course, because renewed. By what, except by the new commandment? — TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF John 65:1.2

Augustine of Hippo: Oh, bride of Christ, beautiful among women! Oh, you in white, coming up and leaning upon your beloved! For by his light you are illuminated that you may shine; by his help you are supported that you may not fall! Oh, how well it is sung to you in that Song of Songs, your wedding song, as it were, that “there is love in your delights!” — TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF John 65:3.2

Bede: Who is this who ascends from the desert, etc.? But the Church of the gentiles ascends from the desert, because she who had been abandoned by her Creator for a very long time, now advancing with steps of faith and good works, has reached His grace, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah, where he says, “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose” (Isaiah 35). Overflowing with delights, namely those about which the bridegroom above says, “How beautiful and how charming you are, my love, in delights!” that is, in the desires of heavenly life. Leaning on my beloved: rightly leaning on Him, without whose aid she could not only ascend to the heights but could not even rise: for both the advancement of virtues and the very beginnings of faith we can only have by the Lord’s granting. Therefore Judea marveled more at this grace of the new conversion of the gentiles, since she believed that only she and those who were received into her rite through the mystery of circumcision belonged to it, as the book of the Acts of the Apostles most openly testifies. Therefore, when she said with admiration, “Who is this who ascends from the desert, overflowing with delights?” she concluded with even greater admiration, leaning on my beloved. “My beloved,” she said, meaning, “the one whom I thought loved only me and was unknown to other nations”; to which He, who is our peace, who made both one, and came to preach peace to us who were far off, and peace to those who were near (Ephesians 2), responded, reminding her to remember the grace by which she herself was rescued from gravest evils and brought to the way of truth, and to rejoice in the salvation of others as well, since the author of salvation and life is rich to all who call on Him. — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Bede: Under the apple tree, I awakened you, etc. The apple tree most aptly symbolizes the wood of the holy cross, on which He deigned to hang for the salvation of all; about which the Church said above in praise, “As an apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among the sons.” Under the apple tree, therefore, the Lord awakened the Synagogue, which He recalled from eternal death through the faith in His Passion. Under this same tree, His mother and progenitor was also corrupted and violated, namely the major and elder portion of His people. Certainly, she who, seduced by the persuasion of her leaders, chose Barabbas over the Lord, foolishly shouting, “His blood be on us and on our children” (Matthew 27). For she was also under the tree of the cross, not humbly submitting herself to this faith, but stubbornly invoking its vengeance upon her. From whose company separating the people who agreed to believe, the Lord exhorts them to retain in their heart the memory of the grace given to them, and to join works worthy of the faith received. He follows with: — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Jerome: O mortal, you have now been cleansed in baptism, and it is said of you, “Who is she that comes up, cleansed and leaning upon her beloved?” so that she, indeed, is cleansed, but she is not able to guard her purity, unless she is sustained by the Lord God. You, who but a moment ago were freed from your sins, how is it that you desire to be delivered by the mercy of God, if not in the way I stated, that, when we have done everything, we confess that we of ourselves are insufficient? — Against the Pelagians 3.15

Richard Challoner: Who is this: The angels with admiration behold the Gentiles converted to the faith: coming up from the desert, that is, coming from heathenism and false worship: flowing with delights, that is, abounding with good works which are pleasing to God: leaning on her beloved, on the promise of Christ to his Church, that the gates of hell should not prevail against it; and supported by his grace conferred by the sacraments. Under the apple tree I raised thee up; that is, that Christ redeemed the Gentiles at the foot of the cross, where the synagogue of the Jews (the mother church) was corrupted by their denying him, and crucifying him.

Robert of Tombelaine: Holy Church, or any holy soul, ascends from the desert, because being placed in the exile of this pilgrimage, she reaches toward heavenly joys with her mind and thoughts. Whence Paul also said: Our conversation is in heaven (Phil. 3:20). She abounds in delights, because devoting herself to the meditations of Holy Scripture, she continually feeds her mind on heavenly nourishment. She leans upon her beloved, because trusting in the help of Christ alone, and by his generosity, she is transferred from exile to her homeland. For the Truth himself says to all the faithful: Without me you can do nothing (John 15:5). But whence she received the ability to ascend from the lowest things to the highest, from the desert to the kingdom, the beloved reveals when he adds:

What is designated by the evil tree, if not the holy cross? Which bore that apple, of which the same Bride says in the preceding passages: ‘As the apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among the sons’ (Song of Solomon 2:3). But Christ roused his bride under the apple tree, because when placed on the cross, he called the Church, subject to him, to life; so that she might rise from the sleep of death, and crucifying herself with him, hasten toward the new resurrection. Whence the Apostle also says to any soul that is dead: ‘Arise, you who sleep, and rise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light’ (Eph. 5:14). And to certain ones who had already risen, he says elsewhere: ‘If you have risen with Christ, seek the things that are above’ (Col. 3:1). But because the unbelief of the Synagogue crucified Christ, there follows: ‘There your mother was corrupted.’ The mother of the Church is said to have been corrupted under the apple tree, because when she fixed her Savior to the wood, she corrupted herself by an abominable crime. He drives home the magnitude of this crime when he repeats the same thing, saying: ‘There your mother was violated.’ But since blindness has come upon Israel in part, so that the fullness of the Gentiles might enter in (Rom. 11), therefore it is said to the entering Church: — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 8

Theodoret of Cyrus: “Who is this coming up all covered in white, leaning on her nephew?” They do not say “white” but “all covered in white,” being black, remember. While the bride said of the bridegroom, “My nephew is white,” and did not say “covered in white,” being such by nature, she on the contrary was covered in black (the sun looked on her, remember) and is now covered in white and shares the bridegroom’s whiteness. And just as being the light he both made her light and called her so, and being holy he made her holy, and becoming resurrection he accorded her resurrection, so he also gave her a share in his own peculiar whiteness. Hence on seeing her, the young women say, “Who is this coming up all covered in white, leaning on her nephew?” Guided by him and as it were led hand in hand, she makes her ascent into heaven and her departure to her beloved through her firm belief in him. — COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 8

Song of Solomon 8:6

Ambrose of Milan: The Lord Jesus himself, invited by such eager love and by the beauty of comeliness and grace, since now no offences pollute the baptized, says to the church, “Place me as a seal upon your heart, as a signet upon your arm”; that is, you are comely, my beloved, you are all fair, nothing is lacking in you. Place me as a seal upon your heart, so that your faith may shine forth in the fullness of the sacrament. Let your works also shine and set forth the image of God in whose image you were made. Let no persecution lessen your love, which cannot be quenched by many waters nor drowned by many rivers. — On the Mysteries 7:41

Ambrose of Milan: And since you are worthy to be compared not now with humans but with heavenly beings, whose life you are living on earth, receive from the Lord the precepts you are to observe: “Set me as a signet upon your heart, and as a seal upon your arm.” [Thus] clearer proofs of your prudence and actions may be set forth, in which Christ the figure of God may shine, who, equaling fully the nature of the Father, has expressed the whole which he took of the Father’s Godhead. Whence also the apostle Paul says that we are sealed in the Spirit; since we have in the Son the image of the Father, and in the Spirit the seal of the Son. Let us then, sealed by this Trinity, take more diligent heed, lest either levity of character or the deceit of any unfaithfulness unseal the pledge which we have received in our hearts. — Concerning Virginity 1.9.48

Ambrose of Milan: That we may fully know that this is true you have in the Canticles to the soul, now fully perfect, what I wish the Lord Jesus may say to you, “Put me as a seal upon your arm.” May peace glow in your heart, Christ in your works, and may there be formed in you wisdom and justice and redemption. — LETTER 80, TO LAYMEN

Ambrose of Milan: Christ is the seal on the forehead, the seal in the heart—on the forehead that we may always confess him, in the heart that we may always love him, and a sign on the arm that we may always do his work. Therefore let his image shine forth in our profession of faith, let it shine forth in our love, let it shine forth in our works and deeds so that, if it is possible, all his beauty may be represented in us. Let him be our head, because “the head of man is Christ”; let him be our eye, that through him we may see the Father; let him be our voice, that through him we may speak to the Father; let him be our right hand, that through him we may bring our sacrifice to God the Father. He is also our seal, which is the mark of perfection and of love, because the Father, loving the Son, set his seal on him, just as we read, “Upon him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.”34And so Christ is our love. Good is love, since it has offered itself to death for transgressions; good is love, which has forgiven sins. And so let our soul clothe itself with love, and love of a kind that is “strong as death.” For just as death is the end of sins, so also is love, because one who loves the Lord ceases to commit sin. For “charity thinks no evil and does not rejoice over wickedness, but endures all things.” For if one does not seek his own goods, how will he seek the goods of another? Strong, too, is that death through the bath through which every sin is buried and every fault forgiven. — On Isaac and the Soul 8.75-76

Augustine of Hippo: When death comes, it cannot be resisted. By whatever arts, whatever medicines, you meet it; the violence of death can none avoid who is born mortal; so against the violence of love can the world do nothing. For from the contrary the similitude is made of death; for as death is most violent to take away, so love is most violent to save. Through love many have died to the world, to live to God. — EXPLANATIONS OF THE Psalms 48:12

Augustine of Hippo: Rightly is [love] said to be “strong as death,” either because no one overcomes it as no one overcomes death, or because in this life the measure of charity is unto death, as the Lord said: “Greater love than this no man has, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Or, rather, because as death tears the soul away from the senses of the flesh, so charity tears it away from carnal passions. — LETTER 167:11

Bede: “Set me as a seal upon your heart,” etc. Place me as a seal upon your heart, by thought; upon your arm, by action, so that charity from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and unfeigned faith (I Tim. I) may be within, and the same devotion of the heart, which the inner judge sees, may also be proven by good deeds visible to outward eyes, to the glory of the Father who is in heaven. He rightly says, Place me as a seal: for we often carry some sign tied to our finger or arm, by which we may be reminded of that thing whose memory we care to keep more frequently. Thus, the Lord also wishes us, by the present sign, always to be reminded to keep His commandments, according to what He Himself commands, saying about the law which He gave: It shall therefore be as a sign on your hand, and as a mark before your eyes for remembrance (Exod. XIII). And it comes to pass that if we continuously bear His memory in our breast, He who granted us this grace, being mindful of us eternally, may keep us happy with His presence in His heavenly kingdom, as if with the function of a seal, according to what He promises to the distinguished leader of His people, saying, I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant, and I will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, says the Lord (Haggai II). To the contrary, rejecting him who turned to apostasy after faith, He says, If Coniah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off (Jer. XXII). Or certainly it should be more deeply understood, because a seal, where it is placed, is usually a sign of mysteries, of precious things, and those which ought not to be profaned; as it is written about the Lord, And He seals up the stars like under a seal (Job. IX): evidently so that they may not be opened or commanded except by the permission of Him who sealed them. Hence Abraham received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which is in the uncircumcision; for by circumcision which he received in the flesh, it was signified that the faith which he had already received even before circumcision was effective for the purification of both heart and body; which faith we now have without fleshly circumcision, in which we are also justified, according to the prophet and apostle’s saying, The just shall live by faith (Rom. I). Therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ should be placed as a seal upon our heart, as a seal upon our arm, so that we may know that everything He did or said in the flesh is heavenly and mysterious. For since He Himself is the power of God and the wisdom of God, we place Him as a seal upon our heart, when we learn the things He said as if they are truly divine words of wisdom; we place Him as a seal upon our arm, when we strive to hear and follow, as much as we can, the things He did, as if they are true examples of virtue. Again, we place the Lord as a seal upon our heart and arm, when we keep His commandments in the present for the reward of that which we are not yet able to see. — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Bede: For love is as strong as death, etc. This love, or jealousy, can rightly be understood both in our Lord Redeemer and in His chosen ones: for the love by which He loved us was as strong as death, because it was so great that through it He came to death for us. Hence, He says, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). The zeal by which He was zealous for us was as harsh as hell, because He could not be diverted from His concern for our salvation by any temptations of opposing enemies, just as hell cannot be mitigated by any tortures of the wretched, nor its severity be changed. This comparison indeed appears austere, but the more austere the comparison is given, the more the affection of our zealous Lord is commended. Of whom He Himself, having driven the deceitful from the temple, says to the Father, “Zeal for Your house has consumed me” (Psalms 69:9). And the greater His zeal is shown, the graver the condemnation follows us if we spurn it. But even the love of His faithful is as strong as death, because they cannot be separated from it by the bitterness of death itself. Hence, they confidently say, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” (Romans 8:35). Their pure and God-devoted jealousy is likened to hell, because just as it never loses those whom it has once seized, so the fervency of their zealous persistence never cools at any time. It is the same zeal by which Phinehas, inflamed, struck down the fornicators in the desert; the same by which Elijah burned, when after suspending the waters of heaven, and then recalling them after three years, after slaying the prophets of Baal, and turning the heart of the people to the Lord, he said: “I have been very zealous for the Lord of hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, they have thrown down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword” (1 Kings 19:14); the same zeal Peter used when he led the lying neophytes to death; the same of which Paul speaks to the Corinthians: “I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:2-3). Appropriately, in this place, was introduced the greatness of perfect love or zeal, where Judea, marveling at the new conduct of the Gentiles, was reminded by the Lord to bring back to mind the gifts of piety that were granted to her, because clearly after the corruption of her mother and her own mother, she herself was awakened through the tree of the cross in the first resurrection to grace. Similarly, this sentence can fittingly be applied to the preceding: Remember, O Church gathered from the Jews, that you have come to life through the wood of my passion, and never forget that the greatness of love and zeal led me to death for you. Nor marvel that I have received into my faith the crowds of Gentiles, whom you see inflamed with such great love and such great zeal to fulfill my will that it seems easier that either death could be convinced not to seize more souls from the world, or hell, not to receive those seized, than it would be for them ever to depart from my faith. Do not think you can please me with mere verbal profession alone; rather, if you wish to come to life, place the memory of my will as a seal upon your heart, place it on your arm; and so imbue your mind with divine or brotherly love, so zealously, that the gathering of your people into the heavenly citizenry may be fully completed, so that such love, such zeal, can never be changed or diminished by any state of opposing or alluring things. Some understand the statement “Zeal is as harsh as Hell” to refer to the envy that the synagogue often had against the Church of the Gentiles; thus it is read in the Acts of the Apostles, “On the following Sabbath, nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting what was said by Paul” (Acts 13). This zeal is harsh as Hell because it consumes the soul it has captured with the plague of impiety. Hence it is written, “Zeal seized the ignorant people, and now the fire consumes the adversaries.” If understood this way, the Lord rightly admonishes the synagogue not to be held by this zeal against the Church when it sees it rising from the desert of vices and abounding in heavenly delights, adhering with an irrevocable mind to her Beloved, lest by envying others she loses the goods she could have had herself. Adding more on the strength of love, He says: “Its flashes are flashes of fire, a most vehement flame,” meaning the fire within them in that same charity they internally burn; while the flames, in the execution of righteousness, shine far and wide. Did not the hearts of those who said, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He spoke to us on the road, and opened the Scriptures to us” (Luke 24), prove themselves to be lamps of fire? Did our Lord not want us to be lamps of flame when He said: “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works” (Matt. 5)? Those are the lamps which the virgins who have them will enter the marriage chamber of the eternal kingdom with the bridegroom. These have placed His love and fear upon their hearts and arms, that is, all their thoughts and actions they have subjected to His commandments. Then indeed the lamps of the foolish will go out, because their works, by which they seemed to shine before men, will grow dim when the internal Judge comes and reveals the intentions of hearts, for they performed their good works with a view to temporary praise. — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Fructuosus of Braga: “Stern as death is love.” Love is compared with the sternness of death, for, doubtless, once it comes, it summons the mind completely away from the love of the world. Accordingly, abbots must be such that they may perfectly love God and their neighbor; they must have their eyes removed from the evil desires of this world, as Adam did in paradise before the fall. — GENERAL RULE FOR MONASTERIES 10

Gregory the Dialogist: Concerning the love of which it is rightly said through Solomon: Love is strong as death, because indeed just as death kills the body, so the love of eternal life slays attachment to bodily things. For whomever it has perfectly absorbed, it renders outwardly insensible to earthly desires. — 40 Homilies on the Gospels, Homily 11

John the Solitary: Let the love of God be stronger than death in you. If death releases you from the desire for everything, how much more appropriate is it that the love of God should release you from the desire for everything. — LETTER 45, TO HESYCHIUS

Robert of Tombelaine: In the heart are thoughts, and in the arm are works. Upon the heart therefore and upon the arm of the Bride, the beloved is placed as a seal; because in the holy soul how much he is loved by her is shown both in will and in action. For the holy mind bears Christ as a sign both inwardly and outwardly; because while she labors constantly in meditations upon him, she does not cease to imitate him in outward action, so that there should be no doubt that she is his beloved. Concerning this sign the Bridegroom himself said to his disciples: “By this all will know that you are truly my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

Rightly, without doubt, love is declared to be strong as death; because when we are put to death to vices through love, what death accomplishes in the senses of the body, love accomplishes in the desires of the mind. For there are some who so love God that they disregard all visible things, and while they reach toward eternal things with their mind, they become nearly insensible to all temporal things. In these persons, surely, love stands forth as strong as death, because just as death slays the outer senses of the body from every proper and natural appetite, so love in such men compels the mind, otherwise occupied, to despise all earthly desires. To those dead and yet living of this kind, the Apostle was speaking: “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3). These without doubt hide their life with Christ, because while they set aside all things that we see, they truly and secretly live in those things that we do not see—namely, in the blessedness of Christ. For because they despise the false life that visibly appears, they hide themselves in the true life, which presents itself as manifest only to invisible eyes. It can also be understood, however, that Christ says this of Himself, declaring: “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death.” As if He were saying: It is fitting that you bear me with you as a sign of my love in your mind and in your action, because in the strength of my love for you I underwent death, so that you, who were dead in unbelief, rising with me, might live spiritually in the newness of faith.

But because he would never have been hung on the cross unless the heart of the Synagogue had burned with great envy, therefore it is added: “Jealousy is cruel as hell.” For jealousy is taken both in a good and in a bad sense. It is taken in a good sense, as is said through the Apostle: “Be zealous for the better gifts” (1 Cor. 13:11). But it is taken in a bad sense where it is said to Saul through Samuel: “The kingdom shall be taken from you and given to your rival” (1 Kings 17). For David is called his rival, whom Saul is known to have envied. Jealousy is therefore cruel as hell; because while the Synagogue thought it could send Christ down to the underworld, it envied him even unto death with a merciless heart. Jealousy stood forth as cruel as hell; because just as hell tortures without mercy those whom it holds, so the Jewish people, seizing Christ, dragged him to death without any regard for piety. Of which it is well added: “Its lamps are lamps of fire and flames.” For just as fire consumes what it ignites, so envy destroyed the Jews from all the virtue of faith; of whom it is well said elsewhere: “And now fire consumes the adversaries.” As if it were said: Before they come to the eternal fire, they are consumed in the present, because they carry within themselves the fire of envy, which is not carried without the burning of the one who carries it. This fire of envy brought forth flames when, through the examples by which it was kindled, it grew even among the Gentiles throughout the whole world, even to the point of martyrdoms of Christians. — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 8

Theodoret of Cyrus: Possess “ardor” as well: if you were to acquire it, you would allow no one else to have more importance in your eyes, or yourself to be apathetic, but only her to enjoy your intimacy. “Ardor is harsh,” note, and difficult to overcome, like hades (drawing the name hades from common usage, and applying it also to death). But love is so strong because first of all it has wings, and around its wings it has a fiery flame and emits sparks. What could be more powerful than this when enkindled, especially since its fire is of the kind that is unquenchable? — COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 8

Song of Solomon 8:7

Ambrose of Milan: And so charity ought to be in us, that we may not be called back from Christ by any dangers. For it is written: ‘Many waters cannot quench charity, neither can the floods drown it’; because love passes over the torrent. No storm, no deep peril, no fear of death or punishment can diminish the power of charity. In these things we are tested, in these things a happy life is found, even if it is overwhelmed by many dangers. For a wise person is not broken by bodily pains, nor is he disturbed by discomforts; but he remains happy even in hardships. For the adversities of bodily life do not diminish the gift of a happy life, nor do they detract from its sweetness; because happiness in life does not consist in bodily pleasure, but in a pure conscience free from any stain of sin, and in the mind of one who knows that what is good, even if it is harsh, delights him; but what is indecent, even if it is pleasant, does not soothe him. — On Jacob and the Blessed Life, 1.7.27-28

Bede: Many waters could not extinguish love, etc. He calls the many waters and the rivers the onslaught of temptations, which either visibly or invisibly do not cease to attack the souls of the faithful: for they attempt to overcome them both through open adversaries of faith, and through false brethren, and through the hidden snares of the ancient enemy; yet they are not able in any way to capture with temptations the hearts that are accustomed to being rooted and grounded in love, for the firm promise of truth stands, which says: When you pass through the water, I will be with you, and the rivers will not overwhelm you (Isaiah 43); and in the Gospel about the house built upon the rock: When the flood came, it says, the river burst against that house and could not shake it; for it was founded upon the rock (Matthew 7); and since in whatever mind the love of eternal goods abounds, soon the love of fleeting things diminishes, rightly it is added: — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Bede: If a man gives all the substance of his house, etc. This sentence does not require an explanation of words, as both the apostles themselves at the beginning and countless believers afterward have sufficiently proved its truth by their examples, when for the love of the truth they seemed to leave everything they possessed in this world, and appeared to lose nothing to themselves, so long as they would receive true goods in heaven. Which the Lord clearly indicated in the Gospel with two consecutive parables: “The kingdom of heaven,” He says, “is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man, having found, hides, and for joy thereof goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field” (Matthew XIII). “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking goodly pearls; who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it” (Matthew XIII). Hence the excellent preacher said most excellently, “For the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him” (Philippians III). But if it read, as some manuscripts have, “He will despise him,” a very different sense is generated, that which the Apostle commends when he says, “If I give away all I have to the poor, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing” (I Corinthians XIII). Therefore, if a man gives all the substance of his house to the poor out of love, that is, for the sake of love, it is as if he gave nothing, and he will be despised by the judge who sees his heart empty of love. Although this seems contrary to the previous sense, it nonetheless demonstrates how high and necessary the virtue of love is; and both proceed to signify that we always carry love in our work simply like a seal. — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Cyril of Jerusalem: Though weak in body the women were courageous in spirit. “Many waters cannot quench charity, neither can floods drown it.” He whom they sought was dead, but their hope of the resurrection was not quenched. — Catechetical Lecture 14:13

Robert of Tombelaine: For the holy martyrs burned vigorously with charity, because they blazed wondrously in the love of God and neighbor. Many waters could not extinguish this charity, because however great the tribulations that befell them, they were unable to change them to hatred. This indeed would be to extinguish charity: if through the tribulations they inflicted, they could have brought them low into hatred of God or neighbor. But since waters have been mentioned, what again is understood by rivers, if not the increase and vigor of the waters themselves? For we know that rivers are usually called living waters. Therefore we take rivers as the greatest tribulations, which, while they boiled over upon the martyrs throughout the whole world, rushed together with great force to extinguish the fire of charity. But because charity lives so powerfully amid the rivers that it would rather consume the rivers than allow itself to be extinguished by them, therefore many even of the persecutors converted themselves to that same charity, so that they gave up whatever they possessed in the world and gave themselves over to the death which they had previously cruelly inflicted upon those who suffered.

God is not loved when there is desire for earthly substance, because earthly love soils the eye of the heart, so that the divine brightness cannot be seen. Against this it is said in the Gospel: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matt. 5:8). And the apostle John says: If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15). Nor is it surprising, for how can one love him whom one does not know? Or how can one know him, when one closes the eye of the heart to knowing him? But a man gives all the substance of his house for love when he distributes whatever he possesses in the world for Christ’s sake; so that, casting aside what hinders, he may love God, and with the dust of anxieties wiped away, may open his eyes to see. And when he has given all his substance, he regards it as though it were nothing, because after he has wiped clean the eye and beheld God, in the vision of him he counts whatever he had possessed as nothing. The apostles did this, who abandoned not only what they possessed but even what they desired, in order to follow Christ. To them Christ himself, for whom they had left all things, said: When you have done all the things that are commanded you, say: We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do (Luke 17:10). But since, once earthly substance has been cast aside, one does not immediately ascend to perfection—because after possessions have been renounced, there still remains the labor of denying one’s very self—so that one may advance by degrees and at some point, made perfect, draw not only oneself but also others along to life, therefore concerning the new and still tender Church, or each individual soul, it is said next: — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 8

Theodoret of Cyrus: “If a man gives his whole life for love, they will utterly despise him.” Those bereft and devoid of love will despise the one giving his life for love; hence blessed Paul also said, “When reviled we bless, when persecuted we put up with it, when blasphemed we are encouraging, we have become the world’s refuse, as it were, everyone’s off-scouring to this day.” This happens, in fact, to people who are dizzy: though they cannot stand up straight, they think everything else is spinning around; similarly also people bereft of love blaspheme the devotees of love as stupid and foolish. Far from undermining love, however, this even rendered it more ardent. When reviled the apostles gave blessings, when blasphemed they were encouraging, and on becoming the world’s refuse, as it were, they claimed to be everyone’s off-scouring to this day. — COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 8

Song of Solomon 8:8

Aponius: This sister is undoubtedly understood to be the Jewish people (a people that we said was converted to the God of heaven in the final days), who are led out of the prophesied desert before the end of the world. [They are]“ascending from the desert” of unbelief, where God is not worshiped, “leaning upon” the Word of God, “flowing with delights,” known by faith in the indivisible Trinity, without which not only are there no delights, but the soul incurs danger of starvation. She is a sister because she descended from the seed of Abraham, from whom came Christ according to the flesh and the church according to faith, inasmuch as Abraham would be established by God as a father to the nations. And from these nations comes the church, which is made one body through faith in Christ, just as the soul of Christ is proven to be made one person with the Word, to whom the Word of God the Father united himself. It is the soul of our Lord Jesus Christ which is now understood to say, with pious affection for this very people, “Our sister is little and has no breasts.” — EXPOSITION OF SONG OF SONGS 12:29

Bede: Our little sister, etc. And this is addressed by the Lord to the Synagogue, admiring the faith or reception of the Church of the Gentiles; with great dispensation, calling her their sister, that is, both His and the Synagogue’s, so that the same Synagogue may recollect that the presence of its Creator was made through grace, and that it may rejoice more and more for the addition of the genuine society in grace. The sister, however, of the Lord the Savior is the entire Church gathered from both peoples, and each holy soul, not only because of the assumption of the same nature by which He also became human, but also by the grant of grace, by which He gave to those who believe in Him the power to become children of God, so that He who was the only Son of God by nature became the firstborn among many brothers by grace. Hence there is that most sweet saying of His to Mary: “Go to my brothers and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father; to my God, and your God” (John 20). Therefore, when He says, “Our little sister is immature and has no breasts,” He designates the early times of the nascent Church of the Gentiles, when it was still small in the number of believing peoples, and less capable of preaching the word of God. Read the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, which extends from the eighteenth year of Tiberius Caesar to the fourth year of Nero, and you will find that during the preaching of the apostles, many crowds from the Gentiles believed; yet you will not find that they preached during that entire time of about thirty years. For the Church of the Gentiles was still small and was not yet sufficient to generate or nourish through doctrine the sons of Christ. Therefore, the Lord admonishes the Synagogue, using fraternal charity, to rejoice in auspicious salvation, and to offer aid to its immaturity so that it can grow. To which He also adds: — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Bede: What shall we do for our sister, etc.? The Lord speaks to the Church; He speaks to every chosen soul, when He admonishes it for eternal salvation, either through the hidden illumination of His Spirit or the open voice of preachers, in which address divine mercy considers the measure of our capabilities and grants its gifts according to the capacity of human understanding. So He says: “What shall we do for our sister on the day when she is to be spoken to?” As if He openly says: “Indeed, the Church of the Gentiles is small in number, and not yet sufficient to undertake the ministry of the word.” What, then, does it seem to you, O Synagogue, should be done with regard to the care of her, that is, our sister, at the time when I begin to address her through my apostles and their successors? Should we entrust her, still as a little child, with the small secrets of heaven? Or should we already render her greater by growth so that, progressing well, she may be capable of perfect virtues? To her, silent and rather listening to what He Himself would want, He immediately reveals what it is proper to do, thus adding: — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Richard Challoner: Our sister is little: Mystically signifies the Jews, who are to be spoken to: that is, converted towards the end of the world: and then shall become a wall, that is, a part of the building, the church of Christ.

Robert of Tombelaine: Christ calls the Church His sister, because He said of the apostles themselves: “Go, tell My brothers” (Matt. 28:10). But the little sister did not have breasts when the Church existed only in the apostles, in whom she could not nourish herself or others with the milk of preaching (Matt. 26). For what would Peter preach to others, when he denied being a disciple of Christ with cursing and swearing at the voice of a single servant girl (John 20)? The Church, therefore, being small, did not have breasts, because after the resurrection, shut up in one house (Acts 1), she feared not only to preach among her persecutors, but even to be seen. Consequently, therefore, it is said: “What shall we do for our sister in the day when she is to be spoken to?” Christ spoke to His sister when He sent the Holy Spirit upon the apostles (Acts 2), and speaking to them inwardly, He taught them all the languages of the world through a manifold distribution. But from whom should He be understood to ask this—He who knows all things—if not from the holy fathers, whom He stirred up to inquire by the Holy Spirit? To them, by the same Spirit by which He led them into the question, He immediately responds fittingly and says: — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 8

Theodoret of Cyrus: It is the holy authors who were celebrated in the Old Testament who see the bride’s spiritual youth and the immaturity and inconspicuous condition of her breasts. In their capacity as go-betweens and marriage brokers [they] say among themselves, “The king is now on the point of taking our sister as his bride, but she is small and without breasts. She is not yet fertile, nor can she provide the milk of instruction or offer developed nourishment to the needy. So we must give thought to what is to be done. Since she is about to be related to the great king and be like a wall of his house, watching and guarding what is within, and being like a door that protects the contents, let us build as if on a wall ‘silver parapets.’ ” That is,[the parapets are] arguments splendid for their reasoning, the Lord’s sayings, after all, being “pure sayings, silver tried in the fire, tested in the earth.” “So … from her position on them she may fire at the enemy and hunt down the schemers. Let us place on her as on a door tablets made of cedar that incur no decay from sin, cedar being incorruptible.” — COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 8

Song of Solomon 8:9

Bede: If she is a wall, let us build on it, etc. It is customary for the Lord Himself often to be designated in Sacred Scripture by the name of a wall or door. For He is rightly called a wall because He fortifies His Church on all sides, lest it be plundered by enemies; a door rightly, because it is only through Him that we enter either the fellowship of the Church or the ramparts of the eternal kingdom. For He says of Himself, I am the door of the sheep; if anyone enters by me, he will be saved (John 10). And again, No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14). The prophet, foretelling future gifts to the Church, says of Him: A wall and a rampart will be set within it (Isaiah 26). The wall indeed is He Himself appearing in the flesh; the rampart, however, is the revelation of prophecy, which by predicting Him to be incarnate from the world’s beginning, greatly aided the structure of the Church. But He who, by appearing in the flesh, deigned to make the Church His sister, also granted her the participation of His name, so that she might also be called a wall and door: a wall indeed in those who, endowed with greater knowledge and power of the Spirit, are strong enough to fortify and defend the minds of the faithful from the incursions of error by resisting the weapons of iniquity; a door in those who, though less trained to repel the sophisms of heretics or pagans, are nevertheless wholesomely imbued with the simplicity of the Catholic faith, would open the entrance of the kingdom to those who wished by preaching, and lead them through the mystery of second regeneration into the courts of the heavenly life: just as He did not refrain from bestowing other names of virtues that undoubtedly specially pertain to Him to the more perfect members of His Bride. For instance, You are the light of the world (Matthew 10), and again, Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves (Luke 10); although He Himself is the true light that enlightens everyone coming into this world (John 1). He is the immaculate and uncontaminated Lamb who took away the sin of the world. Therefore, if she is a wall, He says, our sister, let us build upon her silver bulwarks; as if He were openly saying, If the Church of the Gentiles is suitable in some of its members, having men apt to teach, either naturally clever or instructed by philosophical training, we should not by any means deprive them of the ministry of teaching truth, but rather assist them by giving them the sacred pages of Scriptures, so that they may more strongly and easily guard the weak from the traps either of deceiving doctrine or corrupting example. For indeed silver bulwarks are the sacred words of divine eloquence, about which it is said above, Your neck is like the tower of David, built with bulwarks, and about which in the psalm: The words of the Lord are pure words, silver tried in a furnace, proved in the earth (Psalms 12). If she is a door, let us panel her with cedar boards; if there are those in her who know how to imbue the little ones with the word of simple doctrine, and lead them into the inner parts of holy conversation, let us propose to them the unfading examples of former just ones, by which they may more effectively fulfill the office entrusted to them: for it is often said that the virtues of the chosen are signified by cedars. Indeed, the figure of the boards expresses the width of their hearts in which they receive the memory of heavenly words; about which the prophet says, I run the way of Your commandments, for You have enlarged my heart (Psalms 119). It was fitting that the Apostle desired his listeners to be adorned with these boards, when he said: Our mouth is open to you, O Corinthians, our heart is enlarged. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections; but having the same recompense, I speak as to my children, you also be enlarged (2 Corinthians 6). Wherefore Solomon also admonishes the lover of wisdom, saying; Write her on the tablets of your heart (Proverbs 7). Hearing these counsels or promises of her Redeemer concerning her, the Church did not wait for the Synagogue’s assent or answer to whom He was speaking, but immediately sprang up and responded to Him with a devoted voice: — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Robert of Tombelaine: When the Holy Spirit is given, the holy Church becomes a wall, because she who was previously timid, being instructed by the same almighty Spirit, is impenetrably strengthened to resist adversaries. This is shown by the same Peter, timid before a servant girl, soon firm against the rulers, to whom he said: “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). And again: “Whether it is right to listen to you rather than to God, judge for yourselves; for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19). And concerning the other disciples it is written: “The disciples went away rejoicing from the presence of the council, because they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Jesus” (Acts 5:41). Behold what kind of wall the Church has become, which just now was most tender and could not bear the step of anyone walking upon it without injury to itself, but now, having received the Holy Spirit as a wonderful craftsman, despises unharmed the insults of an entire assaulting army. Upon which battlements are built, because so that she might not only defend herself but also overthrow her attackers by resisting them, she is granted the power to perform miracles, which when the enemies see them, they are terrified, fearing the weapons of her assault. These battlements are rightly said to be of silver, because the miracles themselves are given together with the preaching of the word. And because silver is a very resonant metal, the battlements are of silver, because through miracles it came about that their words grew strong throughout the whole world and spread the preaching of the faith inflexibly in every direction: which the Psalmist shows, saying: “Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world” (Psalms 18:5).

We also say that the Church is rightly the door, which we know received from Christ himself the power of opening and closing. The door undoubtedly exists in its preachers, because through them the entrance to life opens itself to us. Whence it is also said to the first pastor of the Church: Whatever you shall bind upon earth shall be bound also in heaven; and whatever you shall loose upon earth shall be loosed also in heaven (Matt. 16:19). Or the door exists in its own head, because he himself says truthfully of himself: I am the door (John 10:7). Now the door is fastened together with cedar boards, because the holy Church, preaching the faith, is adorned with multitudes of peoples; and when peoples are sprinkled with various virtues — so that, namely, one person gives necessities to the needy from the things he possesses; another, renouncing all things, abstains even from lawful marriage; yet another advances so far that he becomes a preacher to others as well — just as a painting is beautified by many colors, so the Church is honored by many forms of devotion, and growing strong in the Holy Spirit, she joyfully responds, saying: — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 8

Song of Solomon 8:10

Ambrose of Milan: Hence, in the Song of Songs it is said: “I am a wall, and my breasts are towers.” The wall is the Church and its towers are the priests, who abound in both the word of nature and moral discipline. — The Six Days of Creation

Bede: I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers, etc. I am rightly called a wall, because I am built of living stones, because I am united by the glue of charity, because I am placed upon an immovable foundation, and because I cannot be overthrown by any battering ram of a heretic. The firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His.” But there are also among us those who, endowed with greater grace, transcend the general life of the faithful by the special height of their virtues as much as a tower surpasses a wall, and who nourish the little ones and those still weak in faith with the milk of simpler exhortation, as though with breasts, and who repel all the darts of the perverse with their excellent power of speech, like a firm tower: all of which I could not have by my own freedom of will, but I received before Him, as one finding peace, by His gracious gift, that is, from the time He deigned to grant me the gift of His peace through the word of reconciliation. For neither by my own effort was I able to come before Him, from whom I had greatly departed, nor to recover the peace I had lost; but I most gratefully accepted the peace offered freely by Him. From the time He generously granted me this gift, I immediately grew in the virtues, and I profess that I am rightly compared to a wall, and that my breasts are like the towers, since I steadfastly repel hostile forces from harming that city, and I strive to raise new peoples for it always: because I could not have done this except through the gift of the peace granted by Him, I am pleased to speak further of the power of His peace. — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Robert of Tombelaine: She had her breasts like a tower, from the time she found peace before the Bridegroom; because after she received the spirit of peace under him, she nourished preachers lofty in contemplation and unbending in strength. But what does it mean that he does not say peace, but as it were finding peace; unless it is because while we are in this world, we do not entirely cease from sin, and as long as we live with sin, we do not have perfect peace with him who lived in the flesh without sin? But since the little peace that we have, we hold through the Mediator himself of God and men, therefore it is added: — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 8

Song of Solomon 8:11

Bede: Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-Hamon; he leased the vineyard to keepers; everyone was to bring a thousand pieces of silver for its fruit. My own vineyard is before me. You, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those who keep its fruit two hundred. Speaking of this, the Church, or the Synagogue, which he saw to be emulated by her or, to say more gently, marveling at her conversion to the Lord, or indeed to her maidens, whom she was accustomed to call daughters of Jerusalem by this song. The Peaceful one, however, whom she names, is her spouse and beloved, the Father of the future age, the Prince of peace (Isaiah 9), whose figure Solomon presented both in the peaceful state of his kingdom and in his name itself. In whose peace the vineyard existed, because by His grace the Catholic Church was established throughout the world. It is mentioned in many passages of Scripture, but most clearly in the Gospel parable where it is written: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who was a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard,” etc. (Matthew 20); where by the laborers of the first, third, sixth, ninth, and eleventh hour it is clearly expressed that the one and the same Church of Christ, throughout the entirety of this age, which is signified by one day’s duration, is tirelessly cultivated by the labor of spiritual teachers. Likewise, there was a vineyard for the peaceful one in it, that is, in that peace about which He had foretold that it would be made in His presence, as if finding peace; because whoever neglects to have peace does not belong to the Church of Christ, even if he seems to confess Christ and obey His commands. For in peace is His place established. And the Apostle says, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one will see God” (Hebrews XII); The society of this peace is set before us by the very sight and form of a most beautiful vineyard, which, to use the words of blessed Ambrose, “first plants a living root for the imitation of our life; then, because it is of a flexible and fragile nature, it clings with tendrils, like certain arms, to whatever it grasps, and with these raises and lifts itself.” The people of the Church are like this, who are planted with a root of faith and restrained by the shoot of humility, and lest they be turned away by the storms of the world and driven by tempest, they embrace those around them with tendrils and circles, as if with the arms of charity, and rest in their union. This vineyard is cultivated when we are relieved from the burden of worldly concerns. For nothing burdens the mind more than such anxiety and desire, whether for money or power. A cultivated vineyard is supported so that it may be elevated when our affection is raised by the example of the saints, and does not lie low and despised, but each mind lifts itself to higher things, daring to say: “Our conversation is in heaven” (Philippians III). This vineyard has peoples, because the holy Church is gathered not from one Jewish nation, but from the peoples of all nations. The Church of the Gentiles was especially added for this reason, to teach that it could belong to this vineyard, and that Judea should not glory in the exclusivity of the divine knowledge given to it; for the Psalmist says, “Praise the Lord, all you nations” (Psalm CXVI). And Moses himself foretold, “Rejoice, O nations, with His people” (Romans XV). Since the Lord greatly cares for this vineyard so that it may be kept undefiled, and there is great necessity for men to participate in it, it is rightly added: — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Bede: He entrusted it to the keepers, etc. For the keepers of the Church are the prophets, the keepers are the apostles, the keepers are the successors of the prophets and apostles, who in different ages of the world were given to its governance by divine command; the keepers are the heavenly host of the military, who at all times during the passing of the age take care for the state of the Church, lest it be disturbed by the inbreaking of the wicked, whether men or spirits. But the man brings a thousand silver coins for the fruit of this vineyard, because whoever makes progress in acquiring the heavenly kingdom forsakes all that is of the world: for the fruit of labors done temporarily for the Lord is the reception of the eternal rest and kingdom with the Lord. Concerning which He Himself said, “I have appointed you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain” (John XV); that is, that you should work and receive wages, and that wage itself should never be ended. Scripture is accustomed to call a man of perfect virtue vir (man): for indeed vir takes its name from virtue, since undoubtedly a vir, that is, a soul elevated by the grace of virtue, brings a thousand silver coins for the fruit of this vineyard when he forsakes all his temporal possessions so as to be worthy to receive eternal goods. By the term silver coins, it designates any kind of money that should be forsaken. By the number a thousand, which is perfect and complete, the entirety is usually designated, and therefore by the thousand silver coins which a man is said to bring for the fruit of this vineyard, the entirety of what the perfect forsake for the Lord is indicated; which, even if sometimes small in valuation, is certainly judged to be great and abundant in the estimation of Him who considers not the sum of the given money, but the conscience of the giving man. This is the same sentiment which above is set forth in other words, “If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, he will utterly be contemned”: indeed, here the thousand silver coins are set for all the substance of the house which is to be forsaken; but love, which, the other charismata ceasing, embraces us perpetually in the heavenly fatherland, is itself the fruit of the vineyard by which the blessed will then be satiated, who now in the same vineyard are laboring and are hungry and thirsty for righteousness. Then follows the voice of the One at peace, as it teaches how much care He has for His vineyard, namely the Church, what He conserves eternally for those who forsake their own for Him, what special reward He intends to give to the keepers of the same vineyard, that is, the teachers. — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Cyril of Alexandria: The vineyard which, it says, was given to the spiritual Solomon is surely the church. And we have already said that Baal-hamon means “in believers.” For who believed, apart from those who accepted his commandments? — FRAGMENTS IN THE COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 8:11

Robert of Tombelaine: He himself is said to be our Peaceful One, because through him all the human race is reconciled to God. This Peaceful One had a vineyard, because in the labor of carnal precepts he planted the Synagogue, of which it is said: “The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel” (Isaiah 5:7). This vineyard existed in that which has peoples, because it was established in the Law, which gathered many peoples under itself. Of which peoples it is said: “The peoples have meditated on vain things” (Psalms 2:1). He handed this vineyard over to keepers, because he entrusted the Synagogue to Moses and the other fathers to be guarded. Of which it is well added: “A man brings for its fruit a thousand silver pieces.” This vineyard brought forth fruit, because from the Synagogue that great cluster of grapes which was brought from the land of promise—namely Christ Jesus—came forth through his humanity. Of which fruit the Father said to David: “Of the fruit of your body I will set upon your throne” (Psalms 132:11). Whence the Apostle also writes: “Whose are the fathers, and from whom is Christ” (Romans 9:5). By “silver pieces” in this place we understand all earthly substance, of which Peter said to the lame man asking for alms: “Silver and gold I do not have” (Acts 3:6). Therefore a man brings a thousand silver pieces for the fruit of the vineyard, because whoever conducts himself manfully in the faith which he has received willingly and perfectly relinquishes all earthly things, so that he may truly possess Christ. For a thousand is a perfect number, and therefore through it the perfection of any thing is demonstrated. These silver pieces, then, were offered by those in the early Church, of whom it is written in the Acts of the Apostles: “As many as were possessors of fields or houses sold them, and bringing the proceeds laid them at the feet of the apostles” (Acts 4:34). These, gathered together, built from themselves another vineyard, namely the holy Church, and as good farmers propagated it with their blood and extended it by their preaching to the ends of the earth, so that it now fills nearly the whole world and, entrusted to farmers, returns pleasing fruit in its proper seasons. Whence it is said in the Gospel: “He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard to other farmers, who will render him the fruit in their seasons” (Matthew 21:41). Of which vineyard, now entrusted to good men, the Peaceful One himself says: — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 8

Song of Solomon 8:12

Bede: My vineyard is before me, etc. “Truly,” he says, “you have been proven worthy because I have entrusted my vineyard to guardians, who would cultivate it with their words and examples alike. But you should know that I have entrusted its care to the same guardians in such a way that I, nonetheless, incessantly observe what is happening in it, with what spirit, with what industry each person works in it; I watch how many covert attacks, how many open conflicts it endures from adversaries. And what more? Behold, I am with it all days until the end of the world. But when this will have appeared, then I will render fitting rewards to everyone who works in my vineyard, or for my vineyard, or against my vineyard. For those who have dispensed all that they had or could have acquired in the world for its fruit, that is, for the hope of the heavenly inheritance, have given to the poor, will certainly attain the realization of their hope; indeed, they will receive greater gifts in the heavens than they could have hoped for, since neither eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love Him. But those who were guardians of the same vineyard by preaching or by shining through higher deeds will be given a double reward above other just ones. Thus, it is said to Daniel through the angel, ‘And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament; and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever’ (Dan. XII). And this is also what here those who contemn transient goods for the sake of eternal perception, who, due to the unanimity of hope, are deemed by the title of a single man. ‘A thousand,’ he says, ‘are yours, O peaceful ones,’ and immediately he explained what greater reward is reserved for those who maintain the state of the Church with greater industry by adding: ‘And two hundred for those who keep its fruits.’ For a thousand and a hundred each being a perfect number, are rightly understood to be set for the perfection and fullness of eternal retribution. Indeed, two hundred, that is, a doubled hundred, designates greater rewards for perfect doctors; of which the Apostle speaks, even of those to be begun in this life: ‘Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine’ (I Tim. V). Therefore, he says, ‘a thousand of yours are peaceful; a thousand of yours are silver, which you have brought for the fruit, peaceful in receiving my vineyard with me,’ that is, preserved in their full number. Nor is it in any way for you to fear that you might lose any of the good works you have done through forgetfulness or through the ignorance of the just judge.” For I come to consider the deeds and thoughts of men, that I may gather them with all nations and tongues, and render to each according to their own body, as they have done. Likewise, because peacemakers are called such from their habit of making peace, just as those are called peaceful who uphold the laws of peace, peacemakers are the saints of silver who contribute through truth, for they open the path to the vision of eternal peace, which is customary to be expressed by the name of the heavenly city and mother of us all, the new Jerusalem. And two hundred to those who guard its fruits; it is understood, Silver peacemakers, that the full sentence be: Your silver peacemakers are a thousand, and two hundred silver peacemakers to those who guard its fruits; for those who undergo double labor in the present, both by living soberly, justly, and piously, and by ensuring the fruits of the church do not fail and are not seized by enemies, protecting them through their preaching, surely attain double rewards in the future. Therefore, the same distributor of gifts soon encourages his church, or any soul devoted to good deeds, to persist as much as they can in preaching the word of truth. Dwelling, he says, in the gardens of a friend, listen, make me hear your voice. As if to say openly: Since our conversation, which has extended far, now needs to be concluded, what do I ask of you most, what do I request? Hear: Nothing is sweeter to me than for you to dwell in the gardens, that is, to place your residence in the cultivation of spiritual fruits. And do not set up a hut there, as if to leave shortly, with makeshift work; but with a fixed and unwavering mind, await my coming. For you know that I am accustomed to often descend to my garden, to the bed of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies, that is, to see, help, and reward the pursuits of good works. Then I require a gift from you, that you make me hear your voice by preaching, as much as you can, my commandments of law and promises of reward. For whenever you do these things, remember that I always listen to you, who am always present to your prayers. Also, our friends listen, namely the angels, whom I have given you as helpers against the daily battles of evil spirits, and the spirits of just men, whom, having taken from your congregation, I have already gathered to the vision of my glory, to which you will all come someday. For both are friends to you, both observe your deeds and words. They greatly rejoice when they see you acting bravely for the attainment of the blessedness they enjoy; they exult whenever some of your faithful enter there; and they hasten to welcome them with their arms. Having said these things, immediately the Church replied: — Commentary on the Song of Songs

Robert of Tombelaine: His vineyard stands before him, because, the wicked farmers having been destroyed, he instructs the holy Church through good teachers with a benign regard.

Who are these peaceful ones who are said to be a thousand and two hundred, unless those aforementioned silver coins, which when we perfectly let go of them, we acquire peace for ourselves with the saints through their distribution? Hence also in the Gospel the Lord says: “Make friends for yourselves from the mammon of iniquity, so that when you fail, they may receive you into eternal tabernacles” (Luke 16:9). But what do we understand by two hundred, unless the double recompense which we acquire when we perfectly despise them in this world for Christ’s sake? Therefore a thousand and two hundred silver coins belong to the Church, because when all the faithful completely relinquish everything they possess, they both make peace for themselves with the saints and receive the reward of the present life together with the heavenly one. And this is what the Lord says in the Gospel: “Amen, amen, I say to you, there is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time — houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and fields, with persecutions — and in the age to come, eternal life” (Mark 10:29-30). But for whom is this reward so doubled, unless for those who guard its fruits? And who are those who guard the fruits of the vineyard, unless those who persevere in the holy work they have begun? For a work that is begun with holy desire, if it is not held by steadfastness of mind all the way to the end, is rendered without fruit, because it is prematurely emptied of that from which it had proceeded. And therefore the Lord says in the Gospel: “He who perseveres to the end, he will be saved” (Matthew 10:22). — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 8

Song of Solomon 8:13

Robert of Tombelaine: The bride dwells in the gardens, because the holy Church, or any holy soul, turns its mind to the fruitfulness of virtues. The bridegroom desires to hear her voice, because it pleases Christ above all that every perfect man should admonish the weak with the word of holy preaching. For the friends listen, because the faithful in the Church await with pious desire that the friend of the bridegroom may speak. And it should be noted that it is a friend who listens; because he who loves God with an undivided mind gladly hears one preaching what he loves. Whence it is said in the Gospel: “He who is of God hears the words of God” (John 8:47). But because while the Church preaches the truth, many do not understand, and many who do perceive it distort it with a perverse understanding; therefore the bride, in response to the one urging her to preach, answers and says: — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 8

Song of Solomon 8:14

Ambrose of Milan: It urges that the bridegroom flee, because already, although it is of earth, it can follow him in his flight. It says this so that it may be like the young deer that escapes the nets; for it desires also to flee and to fly away above the world. — DEATH AS A GOOD 5:18

Ambrose of Milan: Christ, detested by coiling snakes and beset by reptiles crawling on the earth, flees from the barren plain; he knows no dwelling except the heights of virtue; he knows no home except among those daughters of the church who can say, “We are a sweet fragrance of Christ to God.” For some indeed, it is an odor of death, leading to death, for those who perish; but to others, it is an odor of life, leading to life—in those namely, who with living faith, breathe the fragrance of the Lord’s resurrection. — Concerning Virginity 9:49

Aponius: By saying “Flee, my beloved,” Christ makes heard the voice that he desires to hear. Through this, it is confessed that he alone on the earth, alone among all humankind (true man, but born in an ineffable manner), alone found to be a foreigner and pilgrim, alone fleeing the sordid lifestyle of humanity, alone ascending upon the prophesied “mountains of spices,” he alone in every way is made Lord of heaven and earth. It shows that he alone fled both interior and exterior sin. He alone, who would bind the devil, fugitive of heaven, is himself a fugitive of the earth in the midst of a perverse and depraved nation. — EXPOSITION OF SONG OF SONGS 12:83

Robert of Tombelaine: The beloved flees, because he hides himself from reprobate hearts so that he may not be understood by them. For when reprobate minds approach the hearing or reading of God’s words with perverse intention, by a just judgment they do not find the truth which they do not seek with a worthy desire. Hence the very Wisdom of God says: “The wicked shall seek me and shall not find me” (John 7:34). But the beloved, fleeing the reprobate, goes to the mountains of spices; because, leaving the perverse behind, he does not cease to visit holy souls, who are made lofty through contemplation and bear fragrant ointments through the compounding of virtues. Upon these mountains the beloved is likened to a roe and to a young hart of the deer; because in the hearts of holy men it is made manifest that he assumed humanity for us out of loving charity. When he was born from the ancient fathers, he came as a fawn from the deer, as was said above. Though he was rich, he made himself poor so that we might be enriched; and though he was exalted above all things, he took up our lowliness with ineffable condescension. Let us render him immense thanks as long as we live; to him who was handed over to death for us and who rose again into immortality, we owe ourselves—both spirit and body (2 Cor. 8). He who lives and reigns with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, through infinite ages of ages. Amen. — Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 8