Song of Solomon 1:4

Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(4) The king hath brought me.—The dramatic theory of the poem (see Excursus II.) has been in a great measure built up on interpretations given to this verse. We understand it as a repetition, in another form, of the protestation of love made in Song of Solomon 1:1-3. Like them, it forms a stanza of five lines. The clause, “the king hath brought,” &c, is—in accordance with a common Hebrew idiom, where an hypothesis is expressed by a simple perfect or future without a particle (comp. Proverbs 22:29; Proverbs 25:16)—to be understood, “Even should the king have brought me into his chambers, yet our transport and our joys are for thee alone; even then we would recall thy caresses, those caresses which are sweeter than wine.”

The upright love thee.—Marg., they love thee uprightly; Heb., meysharîm, used in other places either (1) in the abstract, “righteousness,” &c, Psalm 17:2; Psalm 99:4; Proverbs 8:6 (so LXX. here); or (2) adverbially, Psalm 58:2; Psalm 75:3 (and Song of Solomon 7:9 below; but there the Lamed prefixed fixes the adverbial use). The Authorised Version follows the Vulg., Recti diligunt te, and is to be preferred, as bringing the clause into parallelism with the concluding clause of Song of Solomon 1:3 : “Thou who hast won the love of all maidens by thy personal attractions, hast gained that of the sincere and upright ones by thy character and thy great name.”

Benson Commentary

Song of Solomon 1:4. Draw me — By thy grace and Holy Spirit. We will — Both I, thy spouse, and the virgins, my companions. And this change of numbers teaches us, that the spouse is one great body, consisting of many members; run after thee — Will follow thee readily, cheerfully, and swiftly. The king hath brought me, &c. — Christ, the king of his church, hath answered my prayer; into his chambers — Where I may freely converse with him, and enjoy him. He hath taken me into intimate communion with himself. We will remember thy love, &c. — This shall be the matter of our thoughts and discourses.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

1:2-6 The church, or rather the believer, speaks here in the character of the spouse of the King, the Messiah. The kisses of his mouth mean those assurances of pardon with which believers are favoured, filling them with peace and joy in believing, and causing them to abound in hope by the power of the Holy Ghost. Gracious souls take most pleasure in loving Christ, and being loved of him. Christ's love is more valuable and desirable than the best this world can give. The name of Christ is not now like ointment sealed up, but like ointment poured forth; which denotes the freeness and fulness of the setting forth of his grace by the gospel. Those whom he has redeemed and sanctified, are here the virgins that love Jesus Christ, and follow him whithersoever he goes, Re 14:4. They entreat him to draw them by the quickening influences of his Spirit. The more clearly we discern Christ's glory, the more sensible shall we be that we are unable to follow him suitably, and at the same time be more desirous of doing it. Observe the speedy answer given to this prayer. Those who wait at Wisdom's gate, shall be led into truth and comfort. And being brought into this chamber, our griefs will vanish. We have no joy but in Christ, and for this we are indebted to him. We will remember to give thanks for thy love; it shall make more lasting impressions upon us than any thing in this world. Nor is any love acceptable to Christ but love in sincerity, Eph 6:24. The daughters of Jerusalem may mean professors not yet established in the faith. The spouse was black as the tents of the wandering Arabs, but comely as the magnificent curtains in the palaces of Solomon. The believer is black, as being defiled and sinful by nature, but comely, as renewed by Divine grace to the holy image of God. He is still deformed with remains of sin, but comely as accepted in Christ. He is often base and contemptible in the esteem of men, but excellent in the sight of God. The blackness was owing to the hard usage that had been suffered. The children of the church, her mother, but not of God, her Father, were angry with her. They had made her suffer hardships, which caused her to neglect the care of her soul. Thus, under the emblem of a poor female, made the chosen partner of a prince, we are led to consider the circumstances in which the love of Christ is accustomed to find its objects. They were wretched slaves of sin, in toil, or in sorrow, weary and heavy laden, but how great the change when the love of Christ is manifested to their souls!

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The king hath brought me - Made me a member of his household. This is true of every member of the chorus as well as of the bride.

The upright love thee - Better as in the margin: uprightly do they (i. e., "the virgins" of Sol 1:3) love thee. Compare the use of the same word in Psalm 58:1; Proverbs 23:31.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

4. (1) The cry of ancient Israel for Messiah, for example, Simeon, Anna, &c. (2) The cry of an awakened soul for the drawing of the Spirit, after it has got a glimpse of Christ's loveliness and its own helplessness.

Draw me—The Father draws (Joh 6:44). The Son draws (Jer 31:3; Ho 11:4; Joh 12:32). "Draw" here, and "Tell" (So 1:7), reverently qualify the word "kiss" (So 1:2).

me, we—No believer desires to go to heaven alone. We are converted as individuals; we follow Christ as joined in a communion of saints (Joh 1:41, 45). Individuality and community meet in the bride.

run—Her earnestness kindles as she prays (Isa 40:31; Ps 119:32, 60).

after thee—not before (Joh 10:4).

king … brought me into—(Ps 45:14, 15; Joh 10:16). He is the anointed Priest (So 1:3); King (So 1:4).

chambers—Her prayer is answered even beyond her desires. Not only is she permitted to run after Him, but is brought into the inmost pavilion, where Eastern kings admitted none but the most intimate friends (Es 4:11; 5:2; Ps 27:5). The erection of the temple of Solomon was the first bringing of the bride into permanent, instead of migratory, chambers of the King. Christ's body on earth was the next (Joh 2:21), whereby believers are brought within the veil (Eph 2:6; Heb 10:19, 20). Entrance into the closet for prayer is the first step. The earnest of the future bringing into heaven (Joh 14:3). His chambers are the bride's also (Isa 26:20). There are various chambers, plural (Joh 14:2).

be glad and rejoice—inward and outward rejoicing.

in thee—(Isa 61:10; Php 4:1, 4). Not in our spiritual frames (Ps 30:6, 7).

remember—rather, "commemorate with praises" (Isa 63:7). The mere remembrance of spiritual joys is better than the present enjoyment of carnal ones (Ps 4:6, 7).

upright—rather, "uprightly," "sincerely" (Ps 58:1; Ro 12:9); so Nathanael (Joh 1:47); Peter (Joh 21:17); or "deservedly" [Maurer].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Draw me; by thy grace and Holy Spirit effectually inclining my heart to come unto thee, as this phrase implies, Jeremiah 31:3 Hosea 11:4 John 6:44,45. As thou hast outwardly called and invited me, so do thou inwardly move me, who am naturally averse and backward to follow thee.

We; both I thy spouse, and the virgins my companions. And this change of numbers teaches us that the spouse in this book is one great body, consisting of many members, of whom therefore he speaks sometimes in the singular, and sometimes in the plural number.

Will run after thee; will follow thee readily, and cheerfully, and swiftly; which is opposed to her former sluggishness and listlessness. We will not receive thy grace in vain, but will improve it, and co-operate with it, and stir up all our strength to serve and obey thee.

The king; Christ, my Husband and Lord, the King of his church, as he is oft called, the King of kings, &c.

Hath brought me, Heb. hath caused me to come, by drawing me as I desired. He hath answered my prayer.

Into his chambers, where I may most freely and familiarly converse with him, and enjoy him. He hath taken me into intimate communion with himself. These

chambers seem to note either,

1. Those heavenly mansions into which believers are sometimes said to be brought, even in this life, as Ephesians 2:6, because they have a lively faith, and a well-grounded hope and assurance, and some comfortable foretastes of that blessed state. Or rather,

2. Those places and conditions upon earth in which they enjoy the special favour and fellowship of God in Christ, as the public assemblies, in which Christ is in a peculiar manner present, Matthew 18:20, where his word and ordinances are dispensed, and where he poureth forth his Spirit and blessings, and speaks great peace, and gives forth his loves unto his people. Yea, even the private closets wherein believers enjoy much of Christ, by prayer, and praise, and reading, and meditation, are such chambers also; for it is not the place, but the state, or privilege, which is here signified, and which is considerable.

In thee; or, for thee; in or for thy love and favour to us, which is the principal cause of our joy.

Remember, or commemorate, or celebrate. This shall be the matter of our thoughts and discourses.

The upright; those chaste and sincere virgins mentioned Song of Solomon 1:3, who are here opposed to hypocritical professors.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Draw me,.... With the cords of love, for what draw lovers to each other more strongly? under the influence of that they cannot bear to be without each other's company. Aben Ezra takes these words to be spoken by the virgins, who everyone of them said this, promising upon it to follow after the drawer; but they are rather the request of the church, desirous of nearer and more intimate communion with Christ; for this is not to be understood of drawing at first conversion, as the fruit of love, and under the influence of grace, Jeremiah 31:3; but of being brought nearer to Christ, and to enjoy more of him;

we will run after thee; the church and the virgins, she and her companions, or particular believers; everyone of them in their respective stations would act with more rigour upon such drawings; would run in a way of duty, follow Christ, and walk in his steps; and as they had him for an example, and according to his word, and in the ways of his commandments: or "that we may run after thee" (s); intimating that there is no running without drawing; no following Christ, at least no running after him with alacrity and cheerfulness, without being drawn by his love, and influenced by his grace;

the King hath brought me into his chambers: the blessing she sought after, and was so solicitous for in the preceding verses; namely, to have the marriage consummated, to be owned by Christ as his spouse and bride, by taking her home, and introducing her into the nuptial chamber; by putting her into the enjoyment of himself, and the possession of his substance: and this being done by him as King of saints, yea, of the world, showed great condescension on his part, and great honour bestowed on her; since by this act, as he was King, she was declared queen!

we will be glad and rejoice in thee: she and her bridesmaids, the virgins that attended her; that is, "when he should introduce" her into his chambers, as some (t) render the words; then they should express their joy and gladness on that occasion; and that in the greatness, glory, and fitness of his person; in the fulness of grace in him; in the blessings of grace from him; in what he has done for, and is to his church and people; in the offices he bears, and in the relations he stands in to them; and particularly that of a husband, now declared;

we will remember thy love more than wine: which, upon the introduction of the bride to the bridegroom, might be plentifully drank; of the preferableness of Christ's love to wine; see Gill on Sol 1:2; it may design more particularly the love of Christ, expressed at this time of solemnizing the marriage between him and his church in an open manner, Hosea 2:19; and which would never be forgotten: Christ's love is remembered when thought of and meditated upon; when faith is exercised on it, and the desires of the soul are drawn after it, and the affections set upon it; and when it is often spoken of to others, being uppermost in the mind; saints under the Gospel dispensation have an ordinance for this purpose, to, commemorate the love of Christ;

the upright love thee; or "uprightnesses" (u); men of upright hearts and conversations, who have right spirits renewed in them; or Israelites indeed, in whom there is no guile; who have the truth of grace in them, walk uprightly according to the rule of God's word, and the Gospel of Christ; and do all they do sincerely, from a principle of love, and with a view to the glory of God; such love Christ superlatively, sincerely, fervently, and constantly; and "love him rightly", or "most uprightly", as some (w) render the phrase.

(s) "ut carramus", so some in Marekius. (t) "Quum introduxerit me", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, so Schmidt. (u) Sept. "rectitudines", Montanus, Vatablus, Marekius, Michaeilis, so some in Vatablus. (w) Junius & Tremellius; so Cocceius and Jarchi.

Geneva Study Bible

{d} Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his {e} chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.

(d) The faithful confess that they cannot come to Christ, unless they are drawn.

(e) Meaning the secret joy that is not known to the world.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

4. Draw me, we will run after thee] Better, Draw me after thee, that we may run. This rendering is contrary to the Heb. accents, which connect after thee with run, but in that case it is difficult to see who are meant by we. By taking the words as suggested we get the maiden and her deliverer as subjects, and the next clause then does not require to be taken as a hypothetical clause, as it must be if after thee is connected with run. It is simply a statement of the dangerous position from which she calls upon her lover to deliver her.

we will be glad and rejoice in thee] These are the words of the court ladies, continuing the speech of Song of Solomon 1:3.

we will remember thy love more than wine] Rather, we will celebrate thy caresses more than wine. Nazkîrâh means literally ‘to commemorate,’ ‘to keep in memory,’ but this easily passes over into the signification of praising or celebrating. Cp. Psalm 20:7, “we will make mention of the name of Jehovah.” In 1 Chronicles 16:4 the word is used absolutely, in the meaning ‘to celebrate’ (R.V.), and this is perhaps the best rendering here.

the upright] Rather, in uprightness, R.V. margin, or rightly, R.V. Rightly do they, viz. the maidens, Song of Solomon 1:3, love thee.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 4. - Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will make mention of thy love more than of wine: rightly do they love thee. This is best taken as all spoken by the bride. It is the language of the purest affection and adoring admiration. "I drew them," God says (Hosea 11:4), "with cords of a man, with bands of love." "The Lord appeared of old unto me," says Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:3), "saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee." In the same sense the Greek word ἐλκυεῖν is used by our Lord himself of the Father drawing to the Son, and of the Son, uplifted on the cross, "drawing" all men unto him (cf. John 6:44; John 12:32). If the spiritual meaning of the whole poem is admitted, such language is quite natural. The king's chambers are the king's own rooms in the palace, i.e. his sleeping, rooms and sitting rooms - the penetralia regis. We may take the preterite as equivalent to the present; i.e. "The king is bringing me into closest fellowship with himself, not merely as a member of his household, but as his chosen bride." The concluding words have caused much discussion. The meaning, however, is the same whether we say, "The upright love thee," or "Thou art rightly loved." The intention is to set forth the object of love as perfect. The plural, מֵישָׁרִים, is used to signify the abstract of the word, thought, or act; i.e. "righteous," for "rightly" (cf. Psalm 58:2; Psalm 75:3); but the best critics think it could not be the abstract for the concrete plural, as in the Vulgate, Recti diligunt re. The same use of the word is seen in eh. 7:9, "The best wine that teeth down smoothly for my beloved" (cf. Proverbs 23:31). Before going further in the song, it is well to observe how chaste, pure, and delicate is the language of love; and yet, as Delitzsch has pointed out, there is a mystical, cloudy brightness. We seem to be in the region of the ideal. It is not a mere love song, though it may have been the commemoration of an actual past. The Eastern form of the words may be less suited to our taste than it would be to those who first embraced Christianity, and to the nineteenth century than to the first; but the loving rapture of the Church in fellowship with the Saviour is certainly seeking a more vivid expression in song, and there are many of the most simple-minded and devoted Christians whose joy in Christ pours itself out freely in strains not much less fervid and almost as sensuous as anything to be found in Solomon's Song. Some are beginning to remonstrate against this freedom of devotional language, but the instinct of the Church seems to justify it as the demand of the heart under the influence of the Word of God itself. Perhaps there is a state of religious feeling coming into the experience of Christians which will remove the veil from such a book as the Song of Songs, and we shall yet find that its language is needful and is not extravagant. Song of Solomon 1:4

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The second pentastich also begins with a solo:

4 Draw me, so will we run after thee.

All recent interpreters (except Bttcher) translate, like Luther, "Draw me after thee, so we run." Thus also the Targ., but doubtfully: Trahe nos post te et curremus post viam bonitatis tuae. But the accentuation which gives Tiphcha to משׁ requires the punctuation to be that adopted by the Peshito and the Vulg., and according to which the passage is construed by the Greeks (except, perhaps, by the Quinta): Draw me, so will we, following thee, run (vid., Dachselt, Biblia Accentuata, p. 983 s.). In reality, this word needs no complement: of itself it already means, one drawing towards, or to himself; the corresponding (Arab.) masak signifies, prehendere prehensumque tenere; the root is מש, palpare, contrectare. It occurs also elsewhere, in a spiritual connection, as the expression of the gentle drawing of love towards itself (Hosea 11:4; Jeremiah 31:3); cf. ἑλκύειν, John 6:44; John 12:32. If one connects "after thee" with "draw me," then the expression seems to denote that a certain violence is needed to bring the one who is drawn from her place; but if it is connected with "we will run," then it defines the desire to run expressed by the cohortative, more nearly than a willing obedience or following. The whole chorus, continuing the solo, confesses that there needs only an indication of his wish, a direction given, to make those who here speak eager followers of him whom they celebrate.

In what follows, this interchange of the solo and the unisono is repeated:

4b If the king has brought me into his chambers,

     So will we exult and rejoice in thee.

     We will praise thy love more than wine!

     Uprightly have they loved thee.

The cohortative נרוּצה (we will run) was the apodosis imperativi; the cohortatives here are the apodosis perfecti hypothetici. "Suppose that this has happened," is oftener expressed by the perf. (Psalm 57:7; Proverbs 22:29; Proverbs 25:16); "suppose that this happens," by the fut. (Job 20:24; Ewald, 357b). חדרי are the interiora domus; the root word hhādǎr, as the Arab. khadar shows, signifies to draw oneself back, to hide; the hhěděr of the tent is the back part, shut off by a curtain from the front space. Those who are singing are not at present in this innermost chamber. But if the king brings one of them in (הביא, from בּוא, introire, with acc. loci), then - they all say - we will rejoice and be glad in thee. The cohortatives are better translated by the fut. than by the conjunctive (exultemus); they express as frequently not what they then desire to do, but what they then are about to do, from inward impulse, with heart delight. The sequence of ideas, "exult" and "rejoice," is not a climax descendens, but, as Psalm 118:24, etc., an advance from the external to the internal, - from jubilation which can be feigned, to joy of heart which gives it truth; for שׂמח - according to its root signification: to be smoothed, unwrinkled, to be glad

(Note: Vid., Friedr. Delitzsch's Indo-german.-sem. Studien (1873), p. 99f.)

- means to be of a joyful, bright, complaisant disposition; and גּיל, cogn. חיל, to turn (wind) oneself, to revolve, means conduct betokening delight. The prep. ב in verbs of rejoicing, denotes the object on account of which, and in which, one has joy. Then, if admitted into the closest neighbourhood of the king, they will praise his love more than wine. זכר denotes to fix, viz., in the memory; Hiph.: to bring to remembrance, frequently in the way of praise, and thus directly equivalent to celebrare, e.g., Psalm 45:18. The wine represents the gifts of the king, in contradistinction to his person. That in inward love he gives himself to them, excels in their esteem all else he gives. For, as the closing line expresses, "uprightly they love thee," - viz. they love thee, i.e., from a right heart, which seeks nothing besides, and nothing with thee; and a right mind, which is pleased with thee, and with nothing but thee. Heiligstedt, Zckler, and others translate: with right they love thee. But the pluralet. מישׁרים (from מישׁר, for which the sing. מישׁור occurs) is an ethical conception (Proverbs 1:3), and signifies, not: the right of the motive, but: the rightness of the word, thought, and act (Proverbs 23:16; Psalm 17:2; Psalm 58:2); thus, not: jure; but: recte, sincere, candide. Hengst., Thrupp, and others, falsely render this word like the lxx, Aquil., Symm., Theod., Targ., Jerome, Venet., and Luther, as subject: rectitudes abstr. for concr. equals those who have rectitude, the upright. Hengstenberg's assertion, that the word never occurs as in adv., is set aside by a glance at Psalm 58:2; Psalm 75:3; and, on the other hand, there is no passage in which it is sued as abstr. pro concr. It is here, as elsewhere, an adv. acc. for which the word בּמישׁרים might also be used.

The second pentastich closes similarly with the first, which ended with "love thee." What is there said of this king, that the virgins love him, is here more generalized; for diligunt te is equivalent to diligeris (cf. Sol 8:1, Sol 8:7). With these words the table-song ends. It is erotic, and yet so chaste and delicate, - it is sensuous, and yet so ethical, that here, on the threshold, we are at once surrounded as by a mystical cloudy brightness. But how is it to be explained that Solomon, who says (Proverbs 27:2), "Let another praise thee, and not thine own mouth," begins this his Song of Songs with a song in praise of himself? It is explained from this, that here he celebrates an incident belonging to the happy beginning of his reign; and for him so far fallen into the past, although not to be forgotten, that what he was and what he now is are almost as two separate persons.