Song of Solomon - Grace Notes

SONG OF SOLOMON Page 45By C. F. Keil and F. Delitzscha Grace Notes studyחֲ‏ תֻ‏ נָ‏ ה following. determined by the relat. clauseis the marriage (the word also used in the postbibl.Heb., and interchanging with פָ‏ ה ‏,חֻ‏ properlyυ φώ , Matt. 9:15), from the verb תַ‏ ן ‏,חָ‏ which,proceeding from the root-idea of cutting into‏,חָ‏ תַ‏ ‏ְך whence ‏,חת R. (Arab. khatn, to circumcise;denotes the pressing into, or going ‏,(חָ‏ תַ‏ ר ‏,חָ‏ תַ‏ םinto, another family; חָ‏ טַ‏ ן is he who enters intosuch a relation of affinity, and חֹתֵ‏ ן the father ofher who is taken away, who also on his part isrelated to the husband. Here also the seductionfable is shattered. The marriage with Shulamithtakes place with the joyful consent of thequeen-mother. In order to set aside this fatalcircumstance, the “crown” is referred back tothe time when Solomon was married toPharaoh’s daughter. Cogitandus est Salomo, saysHeiligst., qui cum Sulamitha pompa sollemniHierosolyma redit, eadem corona nuptialiornatus, qua quum filiam regis Aegyptiorumuxorem duxeret ornatus erat. But was he then sopoor or niggardly as to require to bring forththis old crown? and so basely regardless of hislegitimate wife, of equal rank with himself, as towound her by placing this crown on his head inhonour of a rival? No; at the time when thisyouthful love-history occurred, Pharaoh’sdaughter was not yet married. The mention ofhis mother points us to the commencement ofhis reign. His head is not adorned with a crownwhich had already been worn, but with a freshgarland which his mother wreathed around thehead of her youthful son. The men have alreadywelcomed the procession from afar; but theking in his wedding attire has specialattractions for the women—they are herecalled upon to observe the moment when thehappy pair welcome one another.Song of Solomon 4Second Scene of the Third Act, 4:1–5:1This scene contains a conversation betweenSolomon and his beloved, whom he at first callsfriend, and then, drawing always nearer to her,bride. The place of the conversation is, as 5:1shows, the marriage hall. That the guests thereassembled hear what Solomon says toShulamith, one need not suppose; but the poethas overheard it from the loving pair. Fairerthan ever does Shulamith appear to the king. Hepraises her beauty, beginning with her eyes.1a Lo, thou art fair, my friend! yes, thou artfair!Thine eyes are doves behind thy veil.Song 4:1. The Gr. Venet. translates, afterKimchi, “looking out from behind, thy hairflowing down from thy head like a mane.” Thusalso Schultens, capillus plexus; and Hengst., whocompares πλέγ , 1 Tim. 2:9, and ἐ πλ ὴχῶ , 1 Pet. 3:3, passages which do not accord‏,צָ‏ מַ‏ ם with the case of Shulamith; but neitherArab. ṣmm, nor ṭmm signifies to plait; the latteris used of the hair when it is too abundant, andready for the shears. To understand the hair asdenoted here, is, moreover, inadmissible,inasmuch as מבעד cannot be used of the eyes inrelation to the braids of hair hanging beforethem. Symm. rightly translates צמה by άλυ[veil] (in the Song the LXX erroneously rendersby σ π σε ς [behind thy silence]), Isa. 47:2.The verb מַ‏ ם ‏,צָ‏ (Arab.) ṣmam, a stopper, and(Arab.) alṣamma, a plaid in which one veilshimself, when he wraps it around him. The veilis so called, as that which closely hides the face.In the Aram. מַ‏ ם ‏,צְׁ‏ Palp. , means directly toveil, as e.g., Bereshith rabba c. 45, extr., of amatron whom the king lets pass before him it issaid, פניה ‏.צימצמה Shulamith is thus veiled. Asthe Roman bride wore the velum flammeum, soalso the Jewish bride was deeply veiled; cf. Gen.24:65, where Rebecca veiled herself (Lat. nubit)before her betrothed. עַ‏ ד ‏,בַ‏ constr. עַ‏ ד ‏,בְׁ‏ asegolate noun, which denotes separation, is aprep. in the sense of pone, as in Arab. in that ofpost. Ewald, sec. 217m, supposes, contrary tothe Arab., the fundamental idea of covering(cogn. ‏;(בגד but that which surrounds is thoughtof as separating, and at the same time ascovering, the thing which it encompasses. Frombehind her veil, which covered her face (vid.,צַ‏ מְׁ‏ צֵ‏ ם