All sorts of bucklers of the mighty.
5 Thy bosom like two young fawns,
Twins of a gazelle, feeding among lilies.
THE SHULAMITE.
6 When the day cools
And the shadows flee away,
I will go to the mount of myrrh,
To the hill of frankincense.
THE SHEPHERD.
7 Thou art all beautiful, my loved one,
It is therefore better, with Rashi and Rashbam, to take [HE: t.al^ep.iy.vOt] as a contraction for [HE: t.^e'al^ep.iy.vOt] from the root [HE: 'olap/], to teach. The radical [HE: '] in the feeble verbs [HE: p"'], does not unfrequently fall away: thus [HE: vat.az^erEniy], 2 Sam. xxii. 40, for [HE: vat.^e'az.^erEniy], and in the same verb, [HE: mal.^epEnv.] for [HE: m^e'al.^epEnv.], Job xxxv. 11; Gesen. § 68, 2; Ewald, § 54. [HE: t.al^ep.iyOvt] (plur. of [HE: tlpyt], according to the analogy of [HE: t.ab^eniyvOt], from [HE: t.ab^eniyt], [HE: t.ar^emiyvOt], from [HE: t.ar^emiyt]), would therefore signify instruction; the plural being here used for the abstract, see supra, i. 2. This derivation is confirmed by the Chald., which periphrases [HE: t.al^ep.iy.vOt] by [HE: 'v.l^epan/ d.^e'Ovray^eto'], instruction of the low, and bears out the figure, and yields a beautiful sense. The Shulamite's neck is not compared to some common turret, but to that splendid tower which was built for a model, that, as Rashbam rightly remarks, [HE: kl 'vmnyn/ bn'ym/ mtlmdym/ mmnv], all architects might learn their designs from it.
A thousand shields, &c. It was customary to adorn the walls of towers and castles with all sorts of splendid arms, Ezek. xxvii. 11. The castles of the maritime people, whose conquest is recorded by the Kouyunjik bas-reliefs, and distinguished by the shields hung round the walls. Layard's Nineveh, ii. 296. [HE: 'elep/], thousand stands for a round, large member, Isa. xxx. 17; lx. 22; Ps. cv. 8; Eccl. vi. 6. [HE: k.Ol], all kinds, all sorts, see supra, iii. 6.
5. Thy bosom, &c. The point of comparison is the lovely sight which these objects present. The gazelles, as we have seen (ii. 7), are the symbol of beauty. To add however to their native charms, they are represented here as browzing in pasture-ground abounding with lilies. To this lovely spectacle, than which nothing could be more beautiful to an Oriental, her breasts are compared. The explanation which Bochart, Patrick, Henley, Percy, Good, give of this comparison, viz. "The two paps rise upon the breast like lilies from the ground; among which, if we conceive two red kids feeding, that were twins and perfectly alike, they appeared like the nipples or teats upon the paps, to those that behold them afar off," is extravagant.
6. When the day cools, &c. Transported with joy at the sight of her beloved shepherd, the Shulamite interrupts the praises of her personal charms, which, on seeing her again, he began to pour forth, by exclaiming: When the day cools, that is, "this very evening, as soon as it gets dark, I will quit the royal abode, and go to our beautiful and open country, to the flowery meads, where are found aromatic plants growing in abundance." For an explanation of the first part of this verse, see ii. 17, also spoken by the Shulamite. That such mountains of myrrh and hills of frankincense actually existed, is evident from Florus, Epitome Rerum Rom., lib. iii. c. 6., where Pompey the Great is said to have passed over Lebanon, and by Damascus, "per nemora illa odorata, per thuris et balsami sylvas."
7, 8. Thou art all beautiful, &c. Glad-
