Charles Ellicott Commentary Song of Solomon 2

The rose. —Heb., chabatseleth. The identification of this flower is a much-debated question. From its derivation, it should be a bulbous plant (batsal—a bulb), and it happens that the flower which for other reasons best satisfies the requirements is of this kind, namely, the Sweet-scented Narcissus (Narcissus tazetta).

“Others have suggested the crocus, of which there are many species very common, but they are deficient in perfume, and there is no bulb more fragrant than the narcissus; it is, besides, one of which the Orientals are passionately fond. While it is in flower it is to be seen in all the bazaars, and the men as well as the women always carry two or three blossoms, at which they are continually smelling” (Tristram, Nat. Hist. of Bible, p. 477).

Dr. Thomson prefers the mallow, from the fact that the Arabs call it khubbazey.

In Isaiah 35:1, the only other place where chabatseleth occurs, the Septuagint, Vulgate, and Chaldee render it “lily,” and many eminent modern scholars translate it as “autumn crocus.” Here the Septuagint and the Vulgate have flower.

Of Sharon. —It is better translated of the plain, as in the Septuagint. Here (as invariably, except in 1 Chronicles 5:16) the Hebrew has the article before sharon, but without definite local allusion to the district north of Philistia.

Many consider this verse a snatch of a song into which the heroine breaks in response to the praises of her beauty. It is certainly spoken with modest and humble intention: “I am a mere flower of the plain, a lily of the valley,” by no means like Tennyson’s “Queen lily and rose in one.”

Lily. —This is how the Septuagint and Vulgate translate it. The Hebrew word is shôshanath (feminine of shôshan, or shûshan; compare the name Susan). This word occurs seven times in the poem, three times in 1 Kings 7, and in the headings to Psalms 45, 60, 69, and 80.

The Arabs have the word and apply it to any brilliantly colored flower, such as the tulip, anemone, or ranunculus. Although many plants of the lily tribe flourish in Palestine, none of them give a predominant character to the flora. However, there are many other plants that would be called lilies in popular language.

Among these, the Irises may claim the first mention. Dr. Thomson (Land and Book, p. 256) unhesitatingly identifies one, which he calls the Huleh Lily, or the Lily of the Gospel and of the Song of Songs.

“Our flower,” he says, “delights most in the valleys, but it is also found in the mountains. It grows among thorns, and I have sadly lacerated my hands while extricating it from them... Gazelles still delight to feed among them, and you can scarcely ride through the woods north of Tabor, where these lilies abound, without frightening them from their flowery pasture.”

Tristram, however, prefers the Anemone (A. coronaria), describing it as “the most gorgeously painted, the most conspicuous in spring, and the most universally spread of all the treasures of the Holy Land” (Nat. Hist. of Bible, p. 464).

Among the daughters — that is, among other young women.

Apple tree. — So the Septuagint and Vulgate render it; the Hebrew is tappuach. Out of the six times that the word is used, four occur in this book, the other two being Proverbs 25:11—apple of gold—and Joel 1:12, where it is joined with the vine, fig, and so on, as suffering from drought. It has been identified in very different ways. The quince, the citron, the apple, and the apricot have each had their advocates.

The apple may be set aside, because the Palestinian fruit usually called the apple is really the quince, as the climate is too hot for our apple. (But see Thomson, The Land and the Book, p. 546.) The requirements to be satisfied are:

1. Grateful shade (Song of Solomon 2:3);
2. Agreeable taste (Song of Solomon 2:3–5);
3. Sweet perfume (Song of Solomon 7:8);
4. Golden appearance (Proverbs 25:11).

The quince is preferred by many, as it was consecrated to love by the ancients, but it does not satisfy the second requirement, being astringent and unpleasant to the taste until cooked.

The citron, according to Thomson and Tristram, does not satisfy the first requirement. However, according to Rev. W. Drake, in Smith’s Bible Dictionary, “it is a large and beautiful tree, gives a deep and refreshing shade, and is laden with golden-coloured fruit.”

The apricot meets all the requirements and is, with the exception of the fig, the most abundant fruit of the country. “In highlands and lowlands alike, by the shores of the Mediterranean and on the banks of the Jordan, in the nooks of Judea, under the heights of Lebanon, in the recesses of Galilee, and in the glades of Gilead, the apricot flourishes and yields a crop of prodigious abundance.

Many times have we pitched our tents in its shade, and spread our carpets secure from the rays of the sun... There can scarcely be a more deliciously-perfumed fruit; and what can better fit the epithet of Solomon, apples of gold in pictures of silver, than its golden fruit as its branches bend under the weight, in their setting of bright yet pale foliage?” (Tristram, Natural History of the Bible, p. 335).

Among the sons — i.e., among other young men.

Banqueting house. — Margin: house of wine; not the cellar of the palace, nor the banqueting hall of Solomon, nor the vineyard, but simply the place of the delights of love. The comparison of love with wine is still in the thought. (Compare Tennyson’s “The new strong wine of love.”)

And his banner ... —that is, “and there I felt the sweet sense of a tender protecting love.”

Flagons. —Hebrew, ashishôth, apparently a dried cake, but of what substance is uncertain. From the margin of Hosea 3:1, possibly “grape cakes.” In 2 Samuel 6:19 it occurs as one of the gifts distributed by David at the removal of the ark, and is rendered by the Septuagint, a cake from the frying-pan. Here the Septuagint has sweet unguents, and the Vulgate flowers. The Authorized Version, flagons, follows a Rabbinical interpretation.

Comfort. —The margin, straw me with apples, follows the Septuagint; the Hebrew word occurs in Job 17:3 (Authorized Version: “make my bed”). In Job 41:30 (Hebrew 22), the Authorized Version renders it “spreadeth.” Hence, some translate here, “make me a bed of apple-leaves;” but the parallelism is against this, and the root idea in both the words translated “comfort” and “stay” is putting a prop or support under. Metaphorically, it means to refresh or sustain.