Page:The Song of Songs (1857).djvu/198

 Which to my friend flows down with mellowed sweetness, And causes slumbering lips to speak.

THE SHULAMITE.

10 I belong to my beloved, And it is for me to desire him. 11 Come, my beloved, let us go into the country,

from ver. 11, whilst Velthusen, Meier, &c. point it [HE: l^edvOday] in the plural; but this is unsupported by MSS. Hodgson, taking [HE: l^edvOdiy] for [HE: l^edvOdiym/], translates it ad amores, delightfully, corresponding to [HE: limEyS/oriym/=] in the next clause. But this rendering, to say the least, is contrary to the general meaning of this word. The rendering of Williams, "which I sent to those whom I love for their integrity," is preposterous.

And causes slumbering lips, &c. The wine is of such an animating nature, that it even causes silent lips to speak. Thus Horace, Epist. lib. i. Ep. v. 19:—

Fecundi calices quem non fecere disertum?

"Whom have not soul-inspiring cups made eloquent?"

Others, however, with less probability, explain these words to mean wine of so excellent a flavour, as to induce those who have indulged in it to dream of it, and converse about it; or wine so delicious and tempting that it leads to excess, in consequence of which the drinkers fall asleep, and then either disclose the subject of their dream, or mutter unintelligible words. [HE: d.vObEb] is not gently flowing, suffusing (Ewald, Döpke, Gesenius, De Wette, Lee, Magnus, Noyes, Meier, Philippson, Hitzig, &c.), but causing to speak (Vulg., Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Rashbam, Mendelssohn, Kleuker, Hengstenberg, Fürst, Delitzsch, &c.) This is corroborated by the derivative [HE: d.ib.oh], which primarily means ''something spoken, a report'', either good or bad, as is evident from Gen. xxvii. 2; Numb. xiv. 37, where the adjective [HE: ro`o:h], evil, is joined to it; and from Ezek. xxxvi. 3, where it stands in parallelism with [HE: S\^epat loS/vOn/], and by the frequent usage in the Talmud and other Hebrew writers of the word [HE: d.obab], for speaking. [HE: d.vObEb] is the Poel of [HE: d.obab], a form frequently used in verbs [HE: `"`] (comp. [HE: HvOlEl], Eccl. vii. 7; [HE: svObEb], Ps. lix. 7; Gesen. § 67, 8), and, like the Piel, is often the causative of Kal, Gesen. § 55, 1. The Sept., Vulg., Sym., Syr., read [HE: S\^epotayim/= v^eS/in.ayim/=], the lips and the teeth, instead of [HE: S\ip^etEy y^eS/Eniym/=]; but this is neither supported by MSS., nor yields a better sense.

10. I belong to my beloved, &c. The Shulamite gently but decidedly refuses the wishes of the king, declaring that her affections are fixed on one whom she ardently loves, and on whom alone it is her sacred duty to look. Even Ibn Ezra and Rashbam, though explaining it differently, admit that the maiden here refuses the petitioner of the last verse on the plea that she belonged to her beloved. [HE: `olay], lit. on me, i. e. it is upon me as a duty. [HE: `al] is frequently used to denote duty or obligation, which rests upon one like a burden, and must be discharged. Thus [HE: `olay lotEt], "it was my duty to give," 2 Sam. xviii. 11; [HE: zib^eHEy S/^elomiym/= `olay], "peace-offerings are due from me," Prov. vii. 14; Gesen. Lexicon, [HE: `al] A. 1, [GR: a g]. Ewald, § 217, 4 [GR: g]. The suffix in [HE: t.^eS/v.qotvO] expresses the object, i. e. the desire for him. This is often the case; comp. [HE: yir^e'otvO], his fear, i. e. the fear for him, Exod. xx. 20; Gesen. § 121, 5; Ewald, § 286 b. We thus obtain the same sense of this clause which Hodgson gives it, without changing the words into [HE: z`lyv tSvqty], upon the slender authority of one MS. to support the first, and three MSS. to support the second alteration.

11 Come, my beloved, &c. Having distinctly and finally refused the king, who forthwith quitted her, the Shulamite now addresses her beloved shepherd, who approached her, urging their departure from the royal palace for their festive bowers in Na