(1) I am come into my garden.—This continues the same figure, and under it describes once more the complete union of the wedded pair. The only difficulty lies in the invitation, “Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved” (Marg., and be drunken with loves). Some suppose an invitation to an actual marriage feast; and if sung as an epithalamium, the song might have this double intention. But the margin, “be drunken with loves,” suggests the right interpretation. The poet, it has been already said (Note, Song of Solomon 2:7), loves to invoke the sympathy of others with his joys, and the following lines of Shelley reproduce the very feeling of this passage. Here, as throughout the poem, it is the “new strong wine of love,” and not the fruit of the grape, which is desired and drunk.

“Thou art the wine, whose drunkenness is all

We can desire, O Love! and happy souls,

Ere from thy vine the leaves of autumn fall,

Catch thee and feed, from thine o’erflowing bowls,

Thousands who thirst for thy ambrosial dew.”

Prince Athanase.

Eat, O friends - A salutation from the king to his assembled guests, or to the chorus of young men his companions, bidding them in the gladness of his heart Sol 3:11 partake of the banquet. So ends this day of outward festivity and supreme heart-joy. The first half of the Song of Songs is fitly closed. The second half of the poem commences Sol 5:2 with a change of tone and reaction of feeling similar to that of Sol 3:1. It terminates with the sealing Sol 8:6-7 of yet deeper love.

So 5:1-16.

1. Answer to her prayer (Isa 65:24; Re 3:20).

am come—already (So 4:16); "come" (Ge 28:16).

sister … spouse—As Adam's was created of his flesh, out of his opened side, there being none on earth on a level with him, so the bride out of the pierced Saviour (Eph 5:30-32).

have gathered … myrrh—His course was already complete; the myrrh, &c. (Mt 2:11; 26:7-12; Joh 19:39), emblems of the indwelling of the anointing Holy Ghost, were already gathered.

spice—literally, "balsam."

have eaten—answering to her "eat" (So 4:16).

honeycomb—distinguished here from liquid "honey" dropping from trees. The last supper, here set forth, is one of espousal, a pledge of the future marriage (So 8:14; Re 19:9). Feasts often took place in gardens. In the absence of sugar, then unknown, honey was more widely used than with us. His eating honey with milk indicates His true, yet spotless, human nature from infancy (Isa 7:15); and after His resurrection (Lu 24:42).

my wine—(Joh 18:11)—a cup of wrath to Him, of mercy to us, whereby God's Word and promises become to us "milk" (Ps 19:10; 1Pe 2:2). "My" answers to "His" (So 4:16). The myrrh (emblem, by its bitterness, of repentance), honey, milk (incipient faith), wine (strong faith), in reference to believers, imply that He accepts all their graces, however various in degree.

eat—He desires to make us partakers in His joy (Isa 55:1, 2; Joh 6:53-57; 1Jo 1:3).

drink abundantly—so as to be filled (Eph 5:18; as Hag 1:6).

friends—(Joh 15:15).

Canticle IV.—(So 5:2-8:4)—From the Agony of Gethsemane to the Conversion of Samaria.Christ answereth the church’s invitation, and showeth her the delight he took in her fruit, Song of Solomon 5:1. She acknowledges her negligence to Christ in not opening the door, Song of Solomon 5:2-6. Of the harsh usage she met with, Song of Solomon 5:7. She tells the daughters of Jerusalem she is sick of love to Christ. Song of Solomon 5:8. Their question concerning him, Song of Solomon 5:9. A description of Christ by his graces, Song of Solomon 5:10-15, in whom she boasteth, Song of Solomon 5:16.

I am come into my garden: this is the Bridegroom’s answer to her request, delivered in the next foregoing words.

I have eaten my honey-comb with my honey; I have drunk my wine, with my milk; I have eaten of my pleasant fruits, as thou didst desire. I have taken notice of, and delight in, the service and obedience of my people.

Friends; the friends of the Bridegroom; whereby he understands either,

1. The holy angels and glorified saints, who in a sublime and spiritual sense may be said to eat and drink in heaven, the happiness whereof is frequently represented under the name and notion of a feast. Or rather,

2. Believers or members of the church militant upon earth, who by the argument of Christ’s gracious presence with them, and acceptation of their works signified in the last words, are here invited and encouraged with great freedom and cheerfulness to eat and drink their spiritual food, to feed upon God’s holy word and sacraments, to eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God, who here gives them a hearty welcome to this feast.

I have gathered my myrrh with my spice: to make an ointment of, and anoint his guests with, after invited, as was usual in those times and countries, Luke 7:38; "oil of myrrh" is mentioned, Esther 2:12; These may designs, either the sufferings of Christ; which, though like myrrh, bitter to him, are like spice, of a sweet smelling savour, to God and to the saints; the fruits of which, in the salvation of his people, are delightful to himself, and which he is now reaping with pleasure: or the graces of his Spirit in exercise in them, in which Christ delights; see Sol 4:13; and testifies by his presence; and having got in his harvest, or vintage, as the word (q) used signifies, he makes a feast for himself and friends, as was the custom of former times, and now is;

I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey: bread with honey, as the Septuagint version, dipped in honey, or honey put upon it; see Ezekiel 16:13; or the sugar cane with the sugar, as Jarchi, approved by Gussetius (r): the meaning may be, he plucked up a sugar cane and ate the sugar out of it, which is called by Arrianus, , as Cocceius observes; or rather a piece of an honeycomb, full of honey, just taken out of the hive, had in great esteem with the Jews; see Luke 24:42; the word for "honeycomb" properly signifies wood honey, of which there was plenty in Judea, 1 Samuel 14:25; though this was in a garden, where they might have their hives, as we have. By which may be meant the Gospel and its doctrines, sweeter than the honey and the honeycomb; and, being faith fully dispensed, is pleasing to Christ;

I have drunk my wine with my milk; a mixture of wine and milk was used by the ancients (s); and which, Clemens Alexandria says (t), is a very profitable and healthful mixture: by which also may be intended the doctrines of the Gospel, comparable to wine and milk; to the one, for its reviving and cheering quality; to the other, for its nourishing and strengthening nature; see Isaiah 55:1; and See Gill on Sol 4:11, and See Gill on Sol 7:9. Here is feast, a variety of sweet, savoury, wholesome food and drink; and all Christ's own, "my" myrrh, "my" spice, &c. as both doctrines and graces be: with which Christ feasts himself, and invites his friends to eat and drink with him:

eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved; the individuals, of which the church consists, are the "friends" who are reconciled to God by the death of Christ, and to himself by his Spirit and grace; and whom he treats as such, by visiting them, and disclosing the secrets of his heart to them, John 15:14; and "beloved", beloved of God, and by Christ and by the saints there is a mutual friendship and love between Christ and his people: and these he invites to eat of the provisions of his house, of all the fruits of his garden, to which they are welcome; and of his love and grace, and all the blessings of it, which exceed the choicest wine; and of which they may drink freely, and without danger; "yea, be inebriated with loves" (u), as the words may be rendered; see Ephesians 5:18. With the eastern people, it was usual to bid their guests welcome, and solicit them to feed on the provisions before them; as it is with the Chinese now, the master of the house takes care to go about, and encourage them to eat and drink (w).

(q) Sept. "messui", V. L. (r) Comment. Ebr. p. 179, 337. (s) "Et nivei lactis pocula mista mero", Tibullus, l. 3. Eleg. 5. v. 34. (t) Paedagog. l. 1. c. 6. p. 107. (u) "et inebriamini amoribus", Mercerus, Schmidt, Cocceius, so Ainsworth. (w) Semedo's History of China, par. c. 1. 13.

(a) The garden signifies the kingdom of Christ, where he prepares the banquet for his elect.