Charles Ellicott Commentary Song Of Solomon 2:9

"My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: Behold, he standeth behind our wall; He looketh in at the windows; He glanceth through the lattice." — Song Of Solomon 2:9 (ASV)

Wall.—As an example of the fruitfulness of allegorical interpretation, the diverse applications of this passage can be noted. The wall signifies:

1. The wall between us and Christ, that is, our mortal condition.
2. “The middle wall of partition,” the law.
3. The iniquities separating man from God, so that He does not hear or His voice cannot reach us.
4. The creatures behind whom God Himself stands, speaking through them.
5. “si fas dicere, (5) the flesh of Christ itself spread over His Divinity, through which it sounds sweetly and alters its voice” (Bossuet).

Looketh forth.—Rather, looking through, as in the next clause, where the same Hebrew particle occurs. This particle may mean either out or in, as the context requires. Here it is plainly in at.

Showing himself.—In the margin: flourishing. The primary meaning seems to be “to look bright.” Hence, the Hiphil conjugation means “to make to look bright”; here, it means “making his eyes glance or twinkle as he peers in through the lattice.”