14 My dove in the clefts of the rock,
In the hiding-place of the cliff,
Let me see thy countenance,
Let me hear thy voice,
For sweet is thy voice,
And thy countenance lovely."
THE BROTHERS OF THE SHULAMITE.
15 Catch us the foxes, the little foxes
Which destroy the vineyards,
For our vineyards are in bloom.
the case, see Job xix. 29; Eccl. viii. 17; Prov. viii. 35; Mich. i. 8. The Sept. has here again [HE: l^ekiy] for [HE: lok/o], and [HE: yOvnotiy] after [HE: yopoyotiy].
14. My dove in the clefts, &c. Having described the charming aspect of nature, he repeated his invitation to her to go with him into the fields. Impatient at her apparent delay, the beloved, whilst calling her by the endearing epithet "dove," delicately ascribed to her the timorous character of that bird. Doves in the East make their nests in the clefts of elevated rocks and cliffs (Jer. xxviii. 28), which they are exceedingly afraid to leave when once frightened. Thus Homer, Iliad, xxi. 493:
[GR: Dakruo/essa d' u(/paitha thea\ fu/gen, ô(/ste pe/leia, P(\ r(a/ th' u(p' i)/rêkos koilên ei)se/ptato pe/trên, Chêramo\n, ou) d' a)/ra tê|= ge a(lô/menai ai)/simon ê)=en.]
"As when the falcon wings her way above,
To the cleft cavern speeds the frighten'd dove,
Straight to her shelter thus the goddess flew."
See also Virg. Æn. v. 213. [HE: Ha:g^evEy] is the
plural construct. of [HE: ha:gov^e]?] (from the root
[HE: Hogoh], to make incisions in, to split or
perforate rocks); according to the
analogy of [HE: qax^evEy], plural const. of [HE: q^exov] and
[HE: mad^evEy] from [HE: m^edov], vide sup. ii. 11. [HE: mad^erEgoh],
(from [HE: d.orog], cognate with [HE: d.orak/^e], to ascend,)
a place reached by climbing or ascending,
a steep, a precipice. The Mazora
marks the [HE: y] in [HE: mar^e'Eyk/^e] as superflous,
evidently to avoid the apparent incongruity
between the adjective [HE: no'a:voh],
which is in the singular, and the noun
[HE: mar^e'Eyk/^e], apparently plural. But the [HE: y]
here may be retained, and the word
may still be singular. For many
nouns from roots [HE: l"h] preserve in the
singular before a suffix the original [HE: y]
of the root, and thus have the appearance
of the plural: e.g. [HE: miq^eneyk/o], thy castle
(Isa. xxx. 23), from [HE: miq^eneh], [HE: mar^e'oyv], the same
expression, Job xli. 1; Gesen. § 93, 9;
Ewald, § 256 b.
15. Catch us the foxes, &c. The Shulamite here quotes the words of her brothers, who had overheard the invitation. To prevent the meeting of the lovers, the brothers gave the damsel employment in the vineyard, to catch and keep out the foxes. To this she refers in i. 6, when, repelling the disdainful looks of the court ladies, and accounting for her brown complexion, she mentions the severe treatment of her brothers. [HE: S/v.`oliym/], foxes, as well as jackals, were very numerous in Palestine (Judg. xv. 4; Lam. v. 18; Ps. lxiii. 11; Neh. iv. 3). There was a district actually called [HE: 'erex/ S/v.`ol], from the abundance of these creatures, 1 Sam. xiii. 17. These animals are gregarious, found in packs of two or three hundred (Boch. Hieroz. lib. iii. 12), and are described, both by sacred and profane writers, as destructive to vineyards, Sam. i. 17, 18; and Theocritus, Idyl. v. 112:
[GR: Mise/ô ta\s dasuke/rkos a)lô/pekas, ai(/ ta\ Mi/kônos Ai)ei\ fuitô=sai ta\ pothe/spera r(agi/zonti.]
"I hate those brush-tail'd foxes, that each night
Spoil Micon's vineyards with their deadly bite:"
also Idyl. i. 47-50. The young
foxes are especially injurious to the
vineyards, because they burrow in
holes in the ground, Neh. iv. 3. The
brothers, in the last clause, assign a
reason for their proposal; the [HE: v] in
