Song of Songs 5

5:1 I come - This is the bridegroom's answer. I have - I have eaten of my pleasant fruits, I have taken notice of, and delight in the service and obedience of my people. O friends - Believers are here encouraged with freedom and chearfulness to eat and drink their spiritual food.

CHAPTER 5So 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.

"\nI am come into my garden, my sister, [my] spouse,.... This verse should rather have concluded the preceding chapter, being Christ's answer to the church's request, which was speedily and exactly granted as she desired; which shows it was according to the will of Christ, and of which he informs her; for sometimes he is present, when it is not known he is: of the titles used, see So 4:8; and of Christ's coming into his garden, So 4:16. What he did, when come into it, follows:\n\nI 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, Lu 7:38; "oil of myrrh" is mentioned, Es 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 So 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;\n\nI have eaten my honeycomb with my honey: bread with honey, as the Septuagint version, dipped in honey, or honey put upon it; see\n Eze 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, \u03bc\u03b5\u03bb\u03b9 \u03ba\u03b1\u03bb\u03b1\u03bc\u03b9\u03bd\u03bf\u03bd, 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\n Lu 24:42; the word for "honeycomb" properly signifies wood honey, of which there was plenty in Judea, 1Sa 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;\n\nI 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 Isa 55:1; and\n[See comments on So 4:11], and\n[See comments on So 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:\n\neat, 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, Joh 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 Eph 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}.\n\n{q} \u05d0\u05e8\u05d9\u05ea\u05d9 \u03b5\u03c4\u03c1\u03c5\u03b3\u03b7\u03c3\u03b1, Sept. "messui", V. L. {r} Comment. Ebr. p. 179, 337.