:
1 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead. 2 Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them. 3 Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks. 4 Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men. 5 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies. 6 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense. 7 Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee. 8 Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards. 9 Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck. 10 How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices! 11 Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon. 12 A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. 13 Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, 14 Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices: 15 A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. 16 Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Song of Solomon 4:1
[The church] mourns in its eyes, that is in its faithful, because it is written, “Your eyes are as doves apart from your reticence,” because they see spiritually and know how to keep silent about the mysteries which they have seen.

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Song of Solomon 4:1
But Christ, beholding his church, for whom he himself, as you find in the book of the prophet Zechariah, had put on filthy garments, now clothed in white raiment, seeing, that is, a soul pure and washed in the laver of regeneration, says, “Behold, you are fair, my love, behold you are fair, your eyes are like a dove’s,” in the likeness of which the Holy Spirit descended from heaven. The eyes are beautiful like those of a dove, because in the likeness of a dove the Holy Spirit descended from heaven.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Song of Solomon 4:1
We are not to administer rebukes until we have removed from our eye the beam of envy or malice or pretense, so that we may have clear vision to cast out the speck from a brother’s eye. For we shall then see that speck with the eyes of the dove, the kind of eyes that are commended [as belonging to] the spouse of Christ, the glorious church which God has chosen for himself, the church which has neither spot nor wrinkle, that is, the church which is pure without guile.

[AD 500] Aponius on Song of Solomon 4:1
Having been cleansed from every habit of the vices of the flesh and converted to the one true God from the worship of a multitude of shameful gods, Christ the Lord praises the twin beauty of the church of the Gentiles, both body and soul. For the first beauty of the soul is that it would know its Creator, second that it would know itself, the kind of thing it is or the reason for which it was created.

[AD 585] Cassiodorus on Song of Solomon 4:1
So they say that these eyes have fainted after the Lord’s salvation, because of the holy coming of the incarnation, which they bore with such longing that it could allow them no rest. So they were right to faint, because they had no period of leisure.

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:1
For if goats and the hair or skins of goats always signified the foulness of sinners and never the humility of penitents, that animal would by no means have been reckoned among the clean [animals], nor would it have been said in praise of the bride: “Your hair is like a flock of goats.”

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:1
Your eyes are those of doves, etc. Your senses are lofty and venerable in the contemplation of spiritual matters, by which you also deserved to see and recognize my gifts, which you recently expounded; my diadem, which you preached. For, as we mentioned above, the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a dove, and thus the name of that spiritual grace is fittingly signified.

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:1
Without that which lies hidden within. Without the invisible reward in the heavens, which in your pilgrimage on earth you are not yet able to see. For this is the greater beauty of glory, which cannot be worthily evaluated at present. And beautifully, where he praises the simplicity of her eyes, that is, the knowledge of what is hidden in her, he also calls her a friend, according to the Lord's words: "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have heard from my Father I have made known to you" (John XV).

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:1
Your hair is like a flock of goats, etc. If the sharpness of the spiritual senses is rightly understood in the eyes of the bride, the purity of countless general thoughts can not inappropriately be recognized in the hair, which in the saints, even though sometimes undertaken for the administration of temporal things, are never separated from the intention of heavenly matters. For it is written that Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in Asia. He was hurrying, if possible, to be in Jerusalem for the day of Pentecost (Acts 20). Here, he was indeed occupied with such thoughts regarding the earthly journey; but he was undertaking the earthly journey with the intention of a heavenly reward. This must also be understood about the trade of tent-making, which he practiced with Aquila and Priscilla, for the thoughts with which they fulfilled it were indeed temporal, but the gaze was fixed on the eternal, so that by this earthly work they might support the ministry of the Gospel, which was heavenly. Thus, the hair of the bride is aptly compared to the flocks of goats that ascended from Mount Gilead. These are clean animals and are accustomed to climbing the heights of cliffs or trees for the sake of seeking food, because evidently, the thoughts of the elect, as we said, even though they engage in earthly matters, nonetheless aim at heavenly things, and even when they care for the needs of the flesh, they direct the sharpness of the mind rather towards the well-being of the soul and the heavenly nourishment. Moreover, in the eyes of the bride, the preachers of the Holy Church can also be understood, through whom the hidden secrets of heavenly mysteries, which the general multitude of believers does not see, are revealed. In the hair, the faithful people can also be understood, who, although they are less skilled in overseeing and governing the steps of the Church, nonetheless provide it with great honor through their numerous acts of obedience. Of these things, the Lord Himself, when preaching to the disciples sent to preach, said, "You will be hated by all because of my name;" he immediately added by consolation, "Not a hair from your head will perish" (Luke 12). This is to say plainly: although the hate of persecutors rages, they cannot even seize your slightest, namely your head, from among those who belong to me. Hair, in this context, is aptly compared to herds of goats; for sinners are customarily designated by goats; and since the entire Church truly acknowledges that it cannot be free from sin, how much more must those who are in a common life do this, because we all offend in many ways (James 3)! Therefore, the faithful have sin, but they nonetheless strive through daily advances of good works toward that life where they may be free from all sin. For this reason, it is aptly added about those same goats: "Which ascended from Mount Gilead:" for they dwell indeed on the mystical mount, all who are united to the body of their Redeemer. But the goats ascended the same mount, seeking the upper parts of the mount to graze, as they who are humble and conscious of their sins and frailty, fired by the very fear of their weakness, always strive to lift themselves up to the pastures of heavenly life in Christ. Indeed, we read in the Book of Numbers and Chronicles that Mount Gilead had very good and abundant pastures. This aptly fits that very high and very fruitful mountain from which the city itself, which is built on it, that is, the holy Church, is wont to say: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want; in a place of pasture, there he has placed me" (Psalm 22). The name of the mountain itself is also pertinent, being called "a heap of testimony." For the Lord is the heap of testimony, because in Him is gathered and united all the multitude of the saints, namely the living stones, who have been proved by the testimony of faith, as the Apostle says. Thus, the hair of the bride is compared to flocks of goats, which, grazing on this mount, always strive to ascend to higher places, because whether the temporal thoughts of the elect or the more fragile people of the Church, the less they find themselves to be free from fault, the higher they seek the help of Him from whom they understand themselves to be liberated.

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Song of Solomon 4:1
How beautiful art thou: Christ again praises the beauties of his church, which through the whole of this chapter are exemplified by a variety of metaphors, setting forth her purity, her simplicity, and her stability.
[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on Song of Solomon 4:2
“Your teeth are like a flock of ewes to be shorn.” A sincere confession is a spiritual shearing! And further: “all of them big with twins,” signifying the twofold grace, either that perfected by water and the Spirit, or that announced in the Old and in the New Testament.

[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Song of Solomon 4:2
Now is the time to examine the beauty attributed to the teeth of shorn sheep.… If we look at the literal meaning of this verse, I do not see how teeth can be compared with prolific sheep.… What then can we gather from these words? Persons reducing the divine mysteries into small fragments for a clearer interpretation of the text make spiritual food more easily acceptable for the body of the church. They perform the function of teeth by receiving the thick, dense bread of the text into their mouths. By a more subtle contemplation, they make the food delectable.

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Song of Solomon 4:2
[There is a] pleasing comparison to those that are shorn; for we know that goats both feed in high places without risk and securely find their food in rugged places, and then when shorn are freed from what is superfluous. The church is likened to a flock of these, having in itself the many virtues of those souls which through the laver lay aside the superfluity of sins and offer to Christ the mystic faith and the grace of good living, which speak of the cross of the Lord Jesus.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Song of Solomon 4:2
The teeth of the church are those through whom she speaks. Of what sort are your teeth? “Like a flock of sheep that are shorn.” Why “that are shorn”? Because they have laid aside the burdens of the world. Were not those sheep, of which I was a little before speaking, shorn, whom the bidding of God had shorn when he said, “Go and sell what you have, and give to the poor; and you shall find treasure in heaven: and come and follow me”? They performed this bidding: shorn they came. And because those who believe in Christ are baptized, what is there said “which come up from the washing” means they have come up from cleansing. “Whereof every one bears twins.” What twins? Those two commandments, whereupon hang all the law and the prophets.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Song of Solomon 4:2
“Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes.” What do shorn ewes mean? Those who lay aside secular burdens. What does shorn mean? Those who lay aside their fleeces, like the load of secular burdens. Those persons were your teeth, about whom it is written in the Acts of the Apostles that “they sold all their possessions and laid the proceeds at the feet of the apostles, so that distribution might be made to each, as there was need.” You have received the fleeces of your shorn ewes. That flock has come up from the washing of holy baptism. All have given birth, because they have fulfilled the two commandments.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Song of Solomon 4:2
He says to the church, his spouse, “Your teeth are like a flock of sheep that are shorn, which come up from the washing, all with twins, and there is none barren among them.” By this twin offspring the twofold object of love is meant, namely, God and the neighbor: “On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.”

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:2
Your teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep, etc. Just as in the hair of the Church, the people who are still dedicated to more fragile deeds are designated, in the teeth, the more perfect ones and those suited for governing the Church are denoted, because the former excel in number, the latter in firmness; the former inwardly refresh with the word, the latter, even if they grasp less of the internal mysteries, adorn the Church externally with good works. Is not he rightly called the shepherd of the Church, of whom it was said: "Rise, Peter, kill and eat" (Acts 10)? Kill, by teaching to anathematize what they worshipped in their evil ways, and graft them, having returned to the profession of true faith, into the unity of your body, which is the Church of Christ? Indeed, above, these same teachers were designated under the name of eyes; but they are eyes, because they sharply perceive the secrets of spiritual mysteries; they are teeth, because they rebuke the wicked with the word of truth and transfer those rebuked and purified into the holy members of the Church. They are the teeth of the Church, because they prepare the bread of the word of God for its little ones, to whom they themselves are not sufficient to be eaten. Pious nurses are accustomed to chew pieces of bread with their teeth and insert the small morsels into the mouths of infants while nursing, until they gradually lead them away from milk to the use of bread; thus the holy mother Church has teachers who, like breasts, minister the milk of milder doctrine to beginners; these same teachers also provide the bread of stronger word to those who are well progressing. But in order to rightly advance, it is necessary for them to gradually and by parts provoke to learn higher things, and first entrust more open things concerning spiritual secrets to them, and these discussed with careful and diligent exposition, as if already chewed beforehand by teeth, so that by doing this repeatedly, they gradually render them capable of the more interior secrets. These teeth are rightly compared to a flock of shorn sheep that have come up from the washing, because they are cleansed by the font of baptism and stripped of their possessions. And indeed, it is for all to be purified by the washing of Christ's life, because unless one is born of water and the Spirit, and the rest (John 3), it is for the perfect, and especially those to whom the care of feeding his sheep is entrusted, to renounce all that they possess. Which, both those first and foremost teeth of the Church, that is, the apostles, and a great crowd of the primitive Church, are recorded to have done.

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:2
All bear twin offspring, etc. The sheep of Christ bear twin offspring, because all whom the holy teachers bring to God through preaching, they instruct in the twin love of the same God and neighbor. They bear twins, because they imbue the disciples whom they instruct with the knowledge of faith and good works. And there is none barren among them: there is no sheep of the supreme shepherd which does not produce offspring of good work; among whom there are many who rejoice in the offspring of both work and doctrine. But neither will those be counted among the barren who, washed by the fountain of salvation, are immediately taken from this life. For they have had the offspring of faith, which either they professed for themselves, or others professed for them; they have had the desire for good works, which they would have exercised among the sheep of Christ, if they had been granted more time. Concerning such it is written: "Being made perfect in a short time, he fulfilled long times" (Wis. 4:13). For his soul was pleasing to God; therefore He hastened to take him away from iniquity (Ibid.).

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:3
Like a scarlet ribbon, your lips, etc. The lips of the bride are compared to scarlet because the Church ceaselessly proclaims the price of the Lord's blood by which it was redeemed; but it continually sings: But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Galatians XIV). And it should be noted that her lips are compared not simply to scarlet, but to a scarlet ribbon: for a ribbon is typically used to bind the hair. If by the hair of the bride the faithful people are understood, the ribbon that binds them and fits them more properly to the head, what else is it understood to be but the doctrine of truth? With which it is necessary to confirm the immature minds of believers and diligently apply them to the love and worship of their Creator, lest the wicked roam freely through idle acts and flee from the embrace or adornment of the true head, lest they impede even the eyes, that is, those who ought to show them the light of justice, by undue relaxation. Just as the good deeds of disciples sometimes become an example of virtue for teachers, so more often their neglect causes harm to the teachers' good actions. Therefore, he says, like a scarlet ribbon, your lips, and your speech is sweet, because the Church customarily fortifies and as it were dyes its doctrine, which restrains the minds of the weak from licentiousness, with the memory of the Lord's passion. For nothing more effectively restrains the voluptuous from carnal desires than when they hear or recall that the Lord of glory was pleased to be incarnate and suffer for them. Hence rightly the Lord considers such speech sweet because he very gladly accepts it when he sees us recount and meditate on this to one another, for the sake of which he himself came down to us from heaven. If we say that thoughts are represented by hair and spiritual senses of the faithful by eyes, the end of the exposition is the same: because we restrain the unrestrained wandering of superfluous thoughts by no other order more easily than by the memory and frequent recollection of the Lord’s blood. But also, often when we entertain harmful thoughts with an incautious mind, and are suddenly checked by God, we imprint the sign of the holy cross on our breast and discard what we were contemplating wickedly, as if binding our hair with a scarlet ribbon, because we suppress the loose thoughts with the trophy of sacred blood. If this salutary binding is lacking, they sully the whole beauty of the head by drifting, because they disturb the tranquillity of the mind and cover the sharpness of the eyes, because they obscure the grace of spiritual senses with the improper meditation of carnal things.

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:3
Like a fragment of a pomegranate, etc. We have also previously taught that shame is designated by the cheeks, because surely a sudden blush usually spreads over these when we are embarrassed. However, the pomegranate, because it is of a rosy color, quite fittingly hints at the mystery of the Lord's Passion, just as does the scarlet. For it was fitting that the manner of our redemption is indicated frequently in sacred song by the repetition of figures, as also intimated in other prophetic Scriptures. Therefore, because the holy Church is not ashamed of the cross of Christ, but even rejoices in the reproaches and sufferings for Christ, and usually carries the banner of his cross on her face, it is fittingly remembered that her cheeks are like a pomegranate fragment. Nor is it inconsequential that they are compared not to an entire pomegranate but to a fragment; for in a broken pomegranate, both the part of the redness that was exposed is seen, and the part that lay hidden inside, whiteness, is revealed. Thus, the bride has the redness of a pomegranate on her cheeks when the Church confesses the sacrament of the Lord's cross in words. She also shows the whiteness of the broken pomegranate when she proves the chastity of a pure heart through being struck by pressures and deeds, just as the cross itself of her Redeemer reveals what it holds within of saving grace. Again, she shows the red color on her cheeks when the foremost and most eminent of her members, that is, the holy martyrs, shed their blood for Christ. She also adds the white when these same martyrs, during their suffering or after completing their passion, shine forth even with miracles. Nor should we overlook that the pomegranate encloses a great abundance of seeds within one outer peel, whence it is also called the apple of seeds, which indeed cannot be seen when the pomegranate is whole, but become clear how numerous they are when it is broken. So indeed the holy Church, the more she is broken by adversities, the more clearly she reveals how many grains of virtues she embraces under the covering of one faith. And rightly it is added: Besides that which lies hidden within, because indeed the confession of the life-giving cross in the Church can be heard by all, the pressures on the Church can be seen by all; also the brilliance of charisms, which heals the sick, raises the dead, cleanses lepers, drives out demons, and other such things can be viewed by both infidels and the faithful, they can also be marveled at. But she alone knows with what love of invisible life she is held, with what flame she burns in the vision of her Creator, with what love she ignites in the progress of her members.

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:4
As the tower of David, your neck, etc. And we have said above about the neck, which signifies the holy teachers who continuously enrich the Church by nourishing it with spiritual sustenance and strengthen it in faith through the words of holy exhortation. But also, the fact that the neck, positioned in the middle, connects the head to the body, aptly suits those through whose ministry the Church is united to Christ, who handed down the nourishment of life received from the Lord Himself. The Apostle, commending the grace of the Gospel, says about them: "Which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him" (Hebrews 2). Hence, it is written about Him: "And He gave to the disciples the loaves, and the disciples gave them to the crowds; and they all ate and were satisfied" (Matthew 14). This was done in such a corporal manner to signify also the spiritual acts of the Lord, because evidently, He entrusted the bread of heavenly doctrine to the first members of His Church, namely the apostles, who then served it to the body of the Church subjected to them, and thus succeeded by ministers of the word in order, the full nourishing of salvation was spread throughout the world. That neck is rightly said to be like the tower of David. If the city of David is the Church of Christ, the tower in that city is the unassailable constancy of the preachers who, to defend the edifices of faith and repel the weapons of enemies, were built with higher strength than other believers from the strong hand and beloved king, which the name David signifies. The bulwarks with which this tower is constructed are understood to be either the sacred Scriptures or the defenses of divine gifts. For He compared the neck of the bride to a tower, when the Lord made the first teachers of the Church, with the grace of the Holy Spirit given, invincible to their enemies. He added bulwarks to the tower when He opened their understanding to comprehend the Scriptures (Luke 24), and proved true the words of their preaching against the sayings of the preceding fathers. He added bulwarks to the tower when He also bestowed upon them the gifts of performing signs, so that by new works of miracles they might assert the divine nature of the new things they preached, and through the healing of bodily diseases, they might more easily attract those they taught to the salvation of the soul.

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:4
A thousand shields hang from it, etc. The thousand shields hanging from the tower of David are innumerable defenses of divine protection, by which the holy preachers are assisted by the Lord so that they cannot be overcome by enemies, and they also teach their listeners to be helped against the attacks of enemies, whether visible or invisible. All the armor of the mighty is every instruction or operation or heavenly doctrine, through which these same teachers not only evade but also overcome the ranks of evil spirits, when by preaching they rescue many of those whom they had held deceived from their dominion, and transfer them from vessels of wrath into vessels of mercy; and fittingly, where there is mention of spiritual war, there the tower of David, not the tower of Solomon, is set as an example, since the name and person of both kings often represents the figure of the eternal king: for David means strong in hand, or desirable to see, and rightly by this name is designated the Lord, where it is taught to fight against the enemies of the Church, so that it proceeds to the combat unafraid, reminded that it is aided by Him who cannot be overcome, and strives more urgently to conquer the more it knows His face to be desirable to see, to which it will come when the enemy is defeated.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Song of Solomon 4:5
And in the song of the bride, hair, teeth, lips, cheeks, the neck, and breasts, are praised by the bridegroom. The bride is either the soul of man, which enters into marriage with Christ, or the church. The parts of the body are interpreted figuratively: if they are said of the soul, then they apply to its powers.

[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Song of Solomon 4:5
In order to [gain knowledge of heavenly things], we study the examples of the saints who have gone before. They are said to feed among the lilies. For what is meant by lilies but the conduct of those who say with all truth, “We are unto God a sweet savor of Christ.”

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:5
Your two breasts, etc. The same mysteries of Christ and the Church are repeated in various ways and in many forms, but repeated they always bring something new, which either provides an explanation for the same mysteries or through the novelty itself, delights the minds of the listeners further. Therefore, the same teachers who were previously designated by the names of eyes or teeth or neck, are now expressed by the term breasts: indeed, they may rightly be called eyes, because they perceive the hidden mysteries; rightly called teeth, because by rebuking the wicked, they as it were chew, and pass them into the body of the Church softened and humbled; rightly called neck, because to the whole body of the Church, they minister eternal joys by preaching, as if they were providing vital breath, and prepare the food of doctrines by which it is refashioned for salvation. But they are most aptly called breasts now, because they pour out the milk of the saving word to those who are still infants in Christ. Nor does he say "your two breasts" without reason, with the addition of a number, since no woman usually has more or less than two breasts: he says two breasts, to suggest that the infants of the two peoples, namely the Jewish and the Gentile, are to be nourished in faith. Finally, Paul says: James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should go unto the Gentiles, and they unto the circumcision; and so forth (Gal. II). But see what Peter, who was sent to the circumcision, says: As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby; if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious (I Pet. II). By saying this, he also explains the mystery of the Church’s breasts, saying that it is reasonable to desire the milk of the Lord, because He is sweet. Again, let us see if Paul, who was sent to the uncircumcision, also performs the duty of the breasts; for he says: And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ, I have fed you with milk, and not with meat (I Cor. III). These two breasts are like two twins of a roe, because they are indeed offspring of the one to whom it is so often said in this song: Be thou like to a roe or to a young hart. Like twins of a roe, because with the pure eyes of their hearts, they discern what is to be done, what avoided, by which path of virtues to proceed, because with a sagacious mind they perceive the words' complexities to be avoided, and hasten in the swift course of good works from the valley of weeping to the place which God has appointed; so that walking from virtue to virtue they may deserve to see Him in Zion, that is, in the watchtower of eternal habitation. For roes excel in both the swiftness of their feet and the sharpness of their eyes; hence those who are ordered to show the way of knowledge and virtue to the unlearned are fittingly compared to these. As he says, like two twins of a roe; well twins, because imbued with the same faith, renewed by the same sacraments, the teachers of both peoples gather all whom they educate into the one Church of Christ. Thus, Peter says of those who believed from the uncircumcision: And God, who knows the hearts, bore them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as he did unto us; and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith (Acts XV).

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:5
Those who are fed among the lilies, etc. The holy teachers are nourished by the pure and resplendent flowers of the divine Scriptures, and lest the milk of salvific doctrine, with which they feed the little ones, should lack, they always read in the writings of the Fathers what they ought to achieve, how they should teach, and they satisfy their hearts as though with vital sap, and this until the end of the world. For after that day shall dawn which the Psalmist desiringly spoke of: For one day in your courts is better than a thousand (Psalm 83), there will be neither a time for teaching nor a time for learning. The prophecy will be fulfilled which says: And they shall not teach each other, saying: Know the Lord, for they shall all know me (Jeremiah 31); but with all the shadows of this world entirely inclined and consumed, the saints will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father (Matthew 13), each receiving rewards according to what they have learned, done, and taught. Beautiful, indeed, as far as the natural order is concerned, is the vanishing of the night, the inclination of the shadows, because the darkness of the night, as philosophers say, is nothing other than the shadow of the earth. For the sun, circling the earth, brings with it light and day; on the other hand, from the side where it is absent, it leaves the shadow of the earth. And this is the primordial division whereby God divided between the light and the darkness. These shadows, with the sun setting, and now and then rising again, gradually begin to lift, and as much as the sun descends under the earth, these shadows grow and rise, until, at the midpoint of the night, the sun being set under the middle of the earth, the shadows themselves, now raised, occupy the middle of the earth, and then, with the sun gradually proceeding, they also gradually bend towards their setting, until, with the dawn appearing, they entirely inclining vanish away. Therefore, the shadows of the earth do not reach the stars because the sun, created larger than the earth, makes a pointed shadow which, before it reaches the stars, dissipates, and the splendor of the sun spread all around the earth freely illuminates the stars that look upon it. Hence, the present life is night; the sun of justice, Christ. Whose light is often concealed from us by the heavy mass of earthly desires, so that it is not seen. And as strictly as He recedes from us, we are darkened; as graciously as He returns, we are illuminated. Truly, however, we will enjoy His light when, all darkness of present affliction and blindness being now inclined and dispersed, we will see Him as He is (1 John 3). Yet, being mindful of our salvation in all things, He did not leave the night of this life entirely in darkness, but like planting stars in the sky, He proposed to us the examples of the saints, through which we might walk the path of our deeds unfalteringly.

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Song of Solomon 4:5
Thy two breasts: Mystically to be understood: the love of God and the love of our neighbour, which are so united as twins which feed among the lilies: that is, the love of God and our neighbour, feeds on the divine mysteries and the holy sacraments, left by Christ to his spouse to feed and nourish her children.
[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:6
I will go to the mountain of myrrh, etc. In myrrh is represented the mortification of the flesh, or the endurance of sufferings for the sake of piety; in incense, the high devotion of prayer is expressed. But the mountain of myrrh, and the hill of incense, represent the very loftiness of the mind of those who effectively overcome the struggle of the flesh, and fervently lift themselves to the love of heavenly things. Indeed, to this mountain and this hill the Lord goes, because He will often deign to visit and dwell in the hearts of those who strive for virtues. Hence, He says: I will dwell in them, and walk among them (II Cor. VI). Praising the Church, therefore, and enumerating each member of its virtues, He suddenly adds: I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of incense, which is openly saying: I will frequent them and glorify them with benevolent enlightenment, whom I observe to be exalted in the virtue of suffering or prayer. I will come often and make my abode with them; whom I regard as purifying from the pollution of the body and perfecting sanctification in the fear of God. Not that He proposes to desert it, which He praised, and to go to others, but because He intends to daily add new peoples to the same Church and to extend it throughout the entire world. Nor is it incongruous that these things, since the speech is about the Church from the nations, might be understood regarding the calling of the Synagogue, which is to occur at the end. For He returns an answer to her desire, in which, having found Him previously, she said: I held Him and would not let Him go until I brought Him into my mother's house. And in the next verse, He taught that the Church of the Gentiles would never let Him go, as He said: Your two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies, until the day breathes and the shadows flee away; that is, teachers will be in you, who will instruct two peoples, concordant in humble and chaste love until the end of the age, when the day of eternal retribution will appear. Then, because He is also going to call Judea, He more manifestly insinuates, adding: I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of incense; not because on coming, He will find it in the height of virtues, which having given a bill of divorce has long since departed from His faith, but because by coming, He will make it worthy of His fellowship. Hence, He well immediately subjoins about the very ample beauty of the one and the same Church, which is to be gathered either from Judea or from all nations throughout the world.

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Song of Solomon 4:7-8
God the Word says to [the church], “You are all fair, my love, and there is no blemish in you,” for guilt has been washed away. “Come here from Lebanon, my spouse, come here from Lebanon, from the beginning of faith you will pass through and pass on,” because, renouncing the world, she passed through things temporal and passed on to Christ.

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Song of Solomon 4:7-8
This is indeed true beauty, to which nothing is wanting, which alone is worthy to hear the Lord saying, “You are all fair, my love, and no blemish is in you. Come hither from Lebanon, my spouse, come hither from Lebanon. You shall pass and pass through from the beginning of faith, from the top of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of the leopards.” By which references is set forth the perfect and irreproachable beauty of a virgin soul, consecrated to the altars of God, not moved by perishable things amidst the haunts and dens of spiritual wild beasts but intent, by the mysteries of God, on being found worthy of the beloved, whose breasts are full of joy.

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Song of Solomon 4:7-8
You pass through and penetrate from the beginning of faith. That is, you will pass through to fight the world and you will penetrate to Christ to triumph over the world. You have heard that he removes you from the incursions of lions and leopards, that is, of spiritual evils. You have heard that the beauty of your virtues pleases him; you have heard that he prefers the fragrance of your garments, that is, the sweet perfume of integrity, to all other perfumes. You have heard that you are an enclosed garden, full of the products of delightful fruit trees. Ask, therefore, for the Holy Spirit to breathe on you on your couch and to gather the fragrances of a holy mind and spiritual gifts.

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Song of Solomon 4:7-8
“Come hither from Lebanon. You shall pass and pass through.” This verse must be often repeated by us, that at least being called by the words of the Lord, she may follow if there be any who will not trust the words of man. We have not formed this power for ourselves, but have received it; this is the heavenly teaching of the mystic song.

[AD 420] Jerome on Song of Solomon 4:7-8
“Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, with me from Lebanon. You shall come and pass on from the beginning of faith, from the top of Senir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards.” Lebanon is, being interpreted, “whiteness.” Come then, fairest bride, concerning whom it is elsewhere said, “Who is she that comes up, all in white?” Pass on by way of this world, from the beginning of faith, and from Senir, which is by interpretation, “God of light,” as we read in the psalm: “Your word is a lantern unto my feet, and light unto my path,” and “from Hermon,” that is, “consecration,” and “flee from the lions’ dens, and the mountains of the leopards who cannot change their spots.”

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Song of Solomon 4:7-8
This teaches us the bride’s place of origin, that she comes from the worship of idols. For Mount Lebanon is full of idols, whence you come, it says, hastening past through the law. Without knowing the law, you were taught the mystery of Christ.

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Song of Solomon 4:7-8
We require prayer, in fact—attentive and earnest prayer—for our eyes to become like doves with the gift of spiritual sight, getting beyond the veil of the letter and distinguishing clearly the hidden mysteries. It is not possible by any other way, you see, to come to know the meaning of the divine Scripture, especially the Song of Songs, than having the very one who inspired those composers illuminate our vision by sending rays of grace and give a glimpse of the hidden sense.

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:7
You are entirely beautiful, my friend, etc. You are beautiful not only in the distinguished members of the elect, which I have specifically enumerated, but also in those who seem small and fragile, and you shine with the beauty of virtues, and you are free from the stain of vices. For He has blessed all those who fear the Lord, small and great alike (Psalm 113). Hence, in his Apocalypse, John speaks of the heavenly homeland of the same Church: "Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life" (Revelation 13). These things are said not because in this life any of the saints can be entirely free from all faults or perfect in virtues; since it is written truly, "There is no one on earth who is righteous, who does what is right and never sins" (Ecclesiastes 7); but because the holy Church, as the Church of Christ, is pure in faith and conduct; if any defilement or depravity touches it, it does not belong to it, but must be quickly purged away with all effort, as something foreign. Similarly, Blessed John says, "Everyone born of God does not commit sin" (1 John 3); because His seed remains in him, and he cannot sin, as he is born of God. For in as much as the seed of God's grace, through which they are reborn, remains, they cannot sin; but in as much as they do sin, grace has temporarily left them, so that they may recognize what they are of themselves, who lived righteously through grace. This same grace, having cleansed them from all evil after this life, and shining with perfect beauty, will lead them into that city where, as it is said, nothing impure can enter; and then in the friend of the bridegroom, this will truly be fulfilled, for which she now strives with all the effort of virtue, that she may be entirely beautiful, without any stain.

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:8
Come from Lebanon, etc. Lebanon, if we follow the Hebrew etymology, is interpreted as whiteness; if the Greek, incense. Finally, above, where we read, To the hill of frankincense, some codices have, To the hill of Lebanon. However, both names evidently sound out the industry of virtue. The bride of the Lord, that is, the Church or a holy soul, comes to Him, not only when called out of the body and receiving the reward of eternal recompense but also while living in this age, she progresses to better things with each increase of good works as if by so many steps she approaches Him who is singularly good. She reaches there when, freed from bodily bonds, she deserves to see His face. He thus sees the bride placed in Lebanon and advises her to come to Him because when the Lord observes a faithful soul, adorned with good deeds, offering the incense of pure prayer to Him, He delights in her pious endeavors and encourages her to persist in what she has begun. He does this either through the secret admonition of His inspiration, through the meditation of the divine Scriptures, through the exhortations of other faithful, or even through the beneficial provision of her circumstances, whether laborious or pleasant, acting kindly toward her so that, either worn by the troubles of the present exile, she may more ardently desire the homeland of everlasting rest, or elevated by the current achievements of good deeds, she may more sweetly covet the unfailing joys of the heavenly city. Thirdly, He commands the bride to come from Lebanon because He requires progress in His chosen ones of good operation, salutary speech, and pure thought. Or certainly, He says, Come from Lebanon, my bride, come from Lebanon, come: come through the best life you may exercise while living in the body; come freed from the body, to receive the perpetual life of the soul; come thirdly with the body received again, to witness the perfect joys of the resurrection. And because many of the chosen, not only for the purity of their lives but also for the correction of others whom they educated, attain the eternal reward, it aptly follows:

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:8
You will be crowned from the head of Amana, etc. Amana, Sanir, and Hermon are mountains of Cilicia or Judea, providing dens for lions and leopards and likewise other wild beasts; which clearly designate the proud hearts of the unbelievers, in which unclean spirits have their seat. On the contrary, concerning the elect, the Lord says through the prophet, "Upon whom will my Spirit rest, but upon the humble and quiet, and the one who trembles at my words" (Isaiah 7)? For the demons are indeed lions, because of their pride; leopards, because of their cruelty or the variety of their malicious arts. Therefore, when the holy Church has rescued such souls from the power of darkness through its preachers and has converted them to the knowledge of true light, it happens that these preachers receive the crown of life not only for themselves but also for those whom they have acquired for the Lord, according to that saying from Proverbs, "The crown of the aged is their children's children; and the glory of children is their fathers" (Prov. 17). And the Apostle concerning those whom he taught: "What is our glory, our hope, or joy, or crown of glory, if not you before our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?" (1 Thess. 2). And it is to be noted that he does not say, “You will be crowned from Amana, Sanir, and Hermon; but from the head of Amana, and from the power of Sanir and Hermon.” Therefore, when the church converts the humble common people to the Lord, it gains a crown from the sides of the mountains, where the beasts had lurked, because it receives a reward for the salvation of the contradictory people. But when it has led the very princes of malice and the public persecutors to the way of life, it is crowned evidently from the head and the summit of the mountains, because the reward grows with the labor of the struggle. Similar to what is added, "From the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards": for the dens of lions are like the mountains of leopards, for those who, driven by a more fierce fury of the malign spirits, prevail in harming the flock of Christ by force and deceit: whom, when the Church has subdued and recalled to the grace of humility and piety, will itself be crowned from these, because it will rejoice in their eternal salvation. For those who, having nothing of contrary virtue, only pursue the good through deceit, are not named dens of lions, but more aptly dens of foxes: hence the Lord said to the scribe offering service deceitfully to Him but not prevailing against the church, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head" (Matt. 8). In the name of the foxes, He designated lightness and deceit; in the appellation of the birds, the loftiness of that mind. But when the Church has also saved these, it becomes so that the Son of Man rests by merit of humility and sincerity, where previously the wicked spirits had usurped homes for themselves in boasting and lightness.

[AD 420] Jerome on Song of Solomon 4:9
Flee, he says, from the lions’ dens, flee from the pride of devils, that when you have been consecrated to me, I may be able to say unto you, “You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride, you have ravished my heart with one of your eyes, with one chain of your neck.” What he says is something like this—I do not reject marriage: you have a second eye, the left, which I have given to you on account of the weakness of those who cannot see the right. But I am pleased with the right eye of virginity, and if it is blinded, the whole body is in darkness. And that we might not think he had in view carnal love and bodily marriage, he at once excludes this meaning by saying, “You have ravished my heart, my bride, my sister.” The name sister excludes all suspicion of unhallowed love. “How fair are your breasts with wine,” those breasts concerning which he had said above, my beloved is mine, and I am his: “between my breasts shall he lie,” that is, in the princely portion of the heart where the Word of God has its lodging.

[AD 420] Jerome on Song of Solomon 4:9
You should not grieve that you are destitute of those bodily eyes which ants, flies and creeping things have as well as do people. Rather you should rejoice that you possess that eye of which it is said in the Song of Songs, “You have ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; you have ravished my heart with one of your eyes.” This is the eye with which God is seen and to which Moses refers when he says, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight.”

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Song of Solomon 4:9
Truly you inflamed us with desire for you by one word of confession, which you rightly possessed, seeing with your interior eyes. For you made a confession by your necklace. These things were said to the bride by friends of the bridegroom, that is, by angelic powers. For, since the power of the visual faculty is twofold, one sees the truth and another wanders astray after vanity. Because the pure eye of the bride is opened only toward the nature of the good but the other is idle, therefore the friends give praise only to one eye, calling her “sister” on account of their kinship with respect to freedom from passion but calling her “bride” on account of her marriage to the Word. Because he says that your eye is one, therefore, insofar as it beholds one thing, likewise is your soul one, insofar as it is not divided into many dispositions. And your necklace is perfect, given that you imposed the divine yoke upon yourself, for this necklace is surely the yoke of the Lord. For this reason, we confess that you created a heart for us by your wondrous dowry, which is to say that our souls and minds were brought to the contemplation of the light through you. For in you we contemplate the sun of justice as though in a mirror.

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:9
You have wounded my heart, my sister, etc. This statement can be understood simply, as he might have wished to express the greatness of the love he has toward the Church through the remembrance of the wounded heart. He rightly calls her his sister and bride, because he has joined her to himself with the bond of the heavenly bedchamber, and because he himself deigned to become a man and naturally exist as her brother. It can also be according to what Isaiah said: But he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our transgressions (Isaiah 53). He then subsequently explains what is the chief cause of receiving this wound, saying:

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:9
In one of your eyes, etc. We have already said that in the eyes of the Church, either her spiritual senses or those who are able to see and demonstrate her spiritualities, the teachers are understood: furthermore, in the hair, the multitude of people, who, although they cannot reach the height of that discourse in which the Lord says: If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me (Matthew 19), nonetheless they tend towards heavenly things by the way of good actions, of which He previously said: If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments. You shall not murder; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself (Ibid.). But there, while the eyes and the hairs are described in the plural number, indicating a multitude either of leaders or listeners; here, in one of the eyes, the unity of the teachers or of the spiritual knowledge, which they teach, is commended, of which it is written: One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all (Ephesians 4). Also, in one strand of the neck, the unity of those who are accustomed to adhere to spiritual teachers with pious devotion is praised, covering them with reverential services, just as hairs cover the neck: for even in the neck of the Church the same teachers were shown above. Luke designates this unity of hair when he says: The multitude of believers were of one heart and one soul (Acts 4); nor did any say that anything of what they possessed was their own, but they had all things in common (Ibid.). What the neck, to which this same hair was attached, might do, he subsequently intimates, saying: With great power, the apostles gave testimony of the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord (Acts 6). He says, therefore: You have wounded my heart, my sister, my bride, you have wounded my heart in one of your eyes and in one strand of your neck. As if to say plainly, Indeed the whole form of your body, which spreads far and wide throughout the world, O Catholic Church, appears beautiful and spotless to me; but this is what remarkably arouses me above others to love you, because you are proven to have the unity of the same faith and love, both in your illustrious faithful and in your subjects. This is what led me to endure the wound of death in your behalf. Because I desired you to strive for unity in all your members, both in the greater and lesser, and the stronger and the more moderate, so that with one and undivided mind you may strive for that life in which the unity of true peace and glory reigns.

[AD 391] Pacian of Barcelona on Song of Solomon 4:10-12
We know, too, that since it is “the well of living water” and “a fountain enclosed,” it is defiled with no filth from a heretical abyss; that it is also a garden and filled with herbs great and small alike, some of little value, some precious; and that it is also the eight souls from the ark.

[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Song of Solomon 4:10-12
Because a seal protects the inviolability of whatever it guards, it scares off thieves; everything not stolen remains unharmed for the master. Praise of the bride in the Song would then testify to her excellence in virtue because her mind remains safe from enemies and is guarded for her Lord in purity and tranquility. Purity seals this fountain while the radiance and transparency of the bride’s heart is unclouded by no mire of evil thoughts.

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Song of Solomon 4:10-12
Christ, then, feeds his church with these sacraments, by means of which the substance of the soul is strengthened, and seeing the continual progress of her grace, he rightly says to her, “How comely are your breasts, my sister, my spouse, how comely they are made by wine, and the smell of your garments is above all spices. A dropping honeycomb are your lips, my spouse, honey and milk are under your tongue, and the smell of your garments is as the smell of Lebanon. A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed.” By which he signifies that the mystery ought to remain sealed up with you, that it be not violated by the deeds of an evil life, and pollution of chastity, that it be not made known to you, for whom it is not fitting, nor by garrulous talkativeness it be spread abroad among unbelievers. Your guardianship of the faith ought therefore to be good, that integrity of life and silence may endure unblemished.

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Song of Solomon 4:10-12
“A garden enclosed” [is virginity] because it is shut in on all sides by the wall of chastity. “A fountain sealed up” is virginity, for it is the fount and wellspring of modesty that keeps the seal of purity inviolate, in whose source there may shine the image of God, since the pureness of simplicity coincides with the chastity of the body.

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Song of Solomon 4:10-12
Watch out that the firmness of your mind not be bent and softened by the bodily pleasure of intercourse and thus dissolve into all her embraces and open up her fountain, that ought to have been shut and closed in by zealous intent and reasoned consideration. “You are an enclosed garden, a fountain sealed.” For once the firmness of the mind is dissolved, thoughts of bodily pleasure pour forth; they are very harmful and flare up into an unrestrained longing for grave danger. But if careful attention had been devoted to guarding the lively mind, it would have checked them.

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Song of Solomon 4:10-12
In gardens of this kind the water of the pure fountain shines, reflecting the features of the image of God, lest its streams mingled with mud from the wallowing places of spiritual wild beasts should be polluted. For this reason, too, that modesty of virgins fenced in by the wall of the Spirit is enclosed lest it should lie open to be plundered. And so as a garden inaccessible from without smells of the violet, is scented with the olive and is resplendent with the rose, that religion may increase in the vine, peace in the olive and the modesty of consecrated virginity in the rose.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Song of Solomon 4:10-12
This account can be even better read as an allegory of the church, prophetical of what was to happen in the future. Thus the garden is the church itself, as we can see from the Canticle of Canticles; the four rivers are the four Gospels; the fruit-bearing trees are the saints, as the fruits are their works; and the tree of life is, of course, the Saint of saints, Christ.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Song of Solomon 4:10-12
Taking all these things, therefore, into consideration, I think that I am not rash in saying that there are some in the house of God after such a fashion as not to be themselves the very house of God, which is said to be built upon a rock. [The church] is called the one dove, which is styled the beauteous bride without spot or wrinkle, and a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed, a well of living water, an orchard of pomegranates with pleasant fruits. [This] house also received the keys, and the power of binding and loosing.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Song of Solomon 4:10-12
I think that we have sufficiently shown, both from the canon of Scripture and from the letters of Cyprian himself. [Thus] bad people, while by no means converted to a better mind, can have, and confer, and receive baptism, of whom it is most clear that they do not belong to the holy church of God, though they seem to be within it. [But] they are covetous, robbers, usurers, envious, evil thinkers, and the like; while [the church] is one dove, modest and chaste, a bride without spot or wrinkle, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed, an orchard of pomegranates with pleasant fruits, with all similar properties that are attributed to her.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Song of Solomon 4:10-12
[This garden] is closed to the world but opened to the heavenly bridegroom. And the fountain where we are anointed after baptism was sealed by the Holy Spirit.

[AD 450] Peter Chrysologus on Song of Solomon 4:10-12
He so departed from the abode of the womb that the virginal door did not open, and what is sung in the Canticle of Canticles was fulfilled: “My sister, my spouse, is a garden enclosed, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up.”

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Song of Solomon 4:10-12
He calls her “a garden,” not as though bearing a single fruit of piety and virtue, but as one producing many and varied fruits; and “locked” as though sealed off and proof against intrigue.… She is also “a fountain sealed.” She is not available to everyone but to those thought worthy of these streams; the Lord in the sacred Gospels also says of this fountain, “Whoever drinks of the water I shall give will not thirst forever, and instead there will be in them a spring of living water gushing up to life eternal.” Properly, then, he refers to her as “a fountain sealed” for not being available to everyone but to those thought worthy. The divine sacraments, after all, are available not to the uninitiated but to the initiated, not to those wallowing in iniquity after initiation but to those living an exact life or purified through repentance.

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Song of Solomon 4:10-12
“Your lips distill a honeycomb, bride; honey and milk are under your tongue.” Here it refers to the teachers of the church, offering religious teaching and, as it were, carrying honeycomb of bees on its lips, and distilling drops of honey, containing not only honey but also milk, and providing to each the appropriate nourishment, both suited to the infants and adapted to the mature. Now, honeycombs borne on the lips of the teachers are the divine Scriptures, which contain bees that make honeycombs and produce honey, the sacred prophets and apostles. These latter fly about the meadows of the Holy Spirit, as it were constructing the honeycombs of the divine Scriptures, filling them with the honey of doctrine and dispatching them to us for our benefit. The letter resembles the honeycomb, while the sense hidden in it resembles the honey; the lips of pious teachers release the drops of this honey. Also, milk flowing from their tongue reaches those in need of milk.

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Song of Solomon 4:10-12
“Fragrance of your garments like the fragrance of frankincense.” We said before that the bridegroom himself became her garment, and blessed Paul confirms it in the words, “All of you who were baptized into Christ put on Christ.” Now, the bridegroom is both God eternal and was born a man from the holy Virgin in the last days. While remaining what he was, he took as well what is ours, and clothed the bride who was formerly left naked—hence his saying to her, “fragrance of your garments like the fragrance of frankincense.” She is clothed with Christ, who is both God and man. Now, “frankincense” is a symbol of the true doctrine of God, since under the norms of the old law it was offered to God.

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:10
How beautiful are your breasts! etc. Just as in the neck, eyes, and teeth, so too in the breasts are understood the teachers of the Church; but this is different in that they are to be regarded with these names either when they speak wisdom among the perfect or when they refute those who contradict; indeed, when they become weak for the weak in order to gain the weak, they are rightly said to have the office of breasts, because they impart the milk of milder doctrine to those of small understanding, namely to those who cannot yet comprehend the bread of a higher word. For they are teeth when they rebuke the restless; they are breasts when they comfort the faint-hearted and support the weak. And rightly does he praise and marvel at the beauty of the breasts in his sister and bride, for it is a work great before God and of wondrous virtue, when one who is capable of revealing the higher secrets of truth to the more perfect does not disdain to instruct the weak in the rudiments of faith. Rightly does the Lord testify that such a soul is his sister and bride, because he considers her most worthy of his love and union, as he sees her become an imitator of his work. For he himself, to make us strong from the weak, did not refuse to be weak for a time, even to die so that we might live. Though he was the bread of angels in divinity, he willed to hide himself in the assumption of flesh, so as to nourish human faint-heartedness and make them capable of the same heavenly bread. For since an infant is less fit to feed on bread, by thus consuming the bread the mother in a way incarnates herself, and through the humility of the breast and milk’s juice feeds the child on that same bread. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1). This is the eternal food by which the angels are refreshed, for they are satisfied by seeing His glory. But the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (Ibid.), so that thus also the wisdom of God, which consoles us as a mother, might refresh us with that same bread, and through the sacrament of the incarnation lead us to the knowledge and vision of divine love. But the holy teachers also transform the bread by which they are themselves sublimely nourished into milk by which they nourish the little ones, while the higher they contemplate eternal joys in God, the more humbly they sympathize with the weakness of their neighbors.

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:10
Your breasts are more beautiful than wine. At the beginning of this song, this verse has already been explained, where it was said: "Because your breasts are better than wine," and it was understood that these words also demonstrate the beginnings of the evangelical faith surpassing all the virtue of the Mosaic law, because it led no one to perfection, since it could not bring its worshippers, even the distinguished ones, into the kingdom of heavenly life; but the grace of faith leads those reborn in the font of baptism, even infants and those who die at a very young age, to heavenly joys. For many documents prove that the ceremonies of the law should be compared to wine, but most especially that which happens when the wine runs out at the mystical wedding of the Church, so that, with the Lord miraculously working, water is made into far better wine: where it is indicated typically that the literal observation of the law would come to an end, and what was veiled in the letter would be revealed by the grace of the Gospel, the spiritual love of water would intoxicate the house of heavenly marriage, that is, the holy Church, which Christ deemed worthy to consecrate as His bride. Therefore, the breasts of the bride are more beautiful than wine, because the beginnings of evangelical faith surpass the legal decrees, even those that have proven to be fragrant with no little taste and sweetness of virtues. But it should be noted more carefully in these words that the beloved praises the breasts of his beloved bride above, but here the same beloved praises the breasts of his sister and bride, and testifies that they are to be preferred to wine: for this reciprocal insertion in the sacred song is not to be thought of as in vain, but so that the unity of Christ and the Church may be more deeply recommended. For He is the head of the body of the Church, and she is the body of this head. Hence the Apostle also said: "The two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery. But I speak concerning Christ and the Church" (Eph. 5). Therefore, by a similar example, the breasts of the bridegroom and the bride are praised as if they were the same, because the same teachers of the Church are the teachers of Christ: of the Church, obviously, because they teach it; of Christ, however, because they teach at His command, because they teach His precepts to it, because by teaching they advance it to His companionship. Finally, the Apostle, who said: "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ" (Rom. 1), also said again; "We are your servants for Jesus' sake" (2 Cor. 4). And in another place: "All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas" (1 Cor. 3).

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:10
And the scent of your ointments, etc. The scent of the Church's spiritual ointments is the fame of the gifts; of which it is written: Their voice has gone out unto all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world (Psalm XVIII). And when Mary Magdalene anointed the Lord with nard as a type of the holy Church, it is written: And the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment (Matthew XXVI); where it is mystically signified that with the devout services of the Church, which are performed in honor of her Redeemer, the whole world would be filled. If, by the name of wine, the legal observance is rightly expressed, as was proven above by evangelical authority, what prevents the sweet rumor of the saints of that time from being indicated by the name of aromatic spices? Therefore, he says, the scent of your ointments is above all spices, because there is no doubt that the fame of the Christian faith, widespread throughout the world, has far surpassed the fame of the righteous who were among the earlier people. Therefore, because it has brought a public conflict to the world, having renounced the worship of the gods, it has endured public persecution from the world until it conquered: for it is not fitting for the Bride of Christ to be compared to base and vile things, either to wine, which taste consumes, or to spices, which the air customarily disperses, since even to the legal observance, it is of very little praise if it is said to surpass the cups or the spices that are suited to the senses of the flesh.

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:11
A dripping honeycomb, your lips, bride. A honeycomb is honey in the wax; but honey in the wax is the spiritual sense of divine words in the letter, which is rightly called a dripping honeycomb: for a honeycomb drips when it has more honey than those wax cells can hold, because thus indeed is the fertility of the holy Scriptures, that a verse which is usually written in a short line, if carefully examined and expressed, is found to fill many pages with how much inner sweetness of spiritual understanding it contains. To give one example, the Psalmist says: Praise the Lord, Jerusalem (Psalm 147); which according to the letter indeed exhorts the citizens of that city, in which was God's temple, to offer praises to Him. But according to allegory, Jerusalem is the Church of Christ spread throughout the world; again according to tropology, that is, the moral sense, any holy soul is rightly called Jerusalem; also according to anagoge, that is, the understanding leading to higher things, Jerusalem is the habitation of the heavenly homeland, which consists of holy angels and men. It fits all appropriately, though many distinctions, that Jerusalem means vision of peace, which is commanded to praise the Lord: for no single holy soul can offer as many praises to God as the Church throughout the world; nor is the universal Church itself as perfect while wandering on earth away from the Lord, as it reigns blessed in the presence of its Lord in heaven; nor can the peace of the saints, which is meanwhile in the hope of seeing God and being delivered from evil, be equated to the vision of that peace which they have in reality, who, delivered from all evils, enjoy the highest good. Therefore, a honeycomb, not only full of honey but also dripping, are the lips of the bride, when the teachers of the Church, either in legal figures, or in prophetic sayings, or in the very words of the Lord, or in mystical deeds, demonstrate the manifold abundance of interior sweetness that exists, and prepare from them the sweetest and most wholesome mental feasts for His faithful members, that is, good listeners. Nor is it contradictory that the lips of the bride are earlier compared to ribbons and now to a honeycomb, since the latter delights by satisfying the throat, the former constrains by binding the hair; the latter refreshes inside, the former ties outside. For the same teachers are both ribbons in their salutary precepts and honeycomb in their heavenly promises: ribbons, when they restrain us from the flow of carnal pleasures; honeycomb, when they promise us the gifts of heavenly joys. Likewise, they are ribbons in those things which openly teach what must be done or avoided; honeycomb in those things that, having been done or spoken typically, reveal what mystery of salvation they hold within.

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:11
Honey and milk are under your tongue. In milk is the instruction of the little ones, in honey the doctrine suited for those who are more advanced is signified. The Apostle teaches about milk, when, reproaching some who had fallen from the faith, he says: And you have become such as need milk, not solid food. He teaches about wisdom with honey, when he says: Just as one who eats much honey, it is not good for him, so he who is a seeker of majesty will be overwhelmed by it (Prov. XXV). He does not forbid eating honey, but eating too much, because we are not altogether forbidden from searching the majesty of God, especially since it is sung in the praise of the righteous themselves: They will speak of the glory of your majesty and of your wondrous works (Psalm CXLIV); but we are called back from attempting those things which exceed our measure. Hence, he also says elsewhere about lovers of heavenly wisdom: If you have found honey, eat what is sufficient for you, lest being filled you vomit it up (Prov. XXV). It is fitting, however, that honey and milk are recalled under the tongue: for he has the word of God on his tongue when he speaks it; he has it under his tongue when he meditates diligently in his heart on what ought to be spoken; he has honey and milk under his tongue when he rightly knows to discern what should be spoken to beginners, what to those who are advancing; and also to those who are perfect in knowledge and charity. And these things themselves, when the appropriate time comes, he dispenses through the ministry of his tongue according to the capacity of the listeners.

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:11
And the scent of your garments, etc. The garments of the Church are its works, as attested by John, who speaking of her future blessedness, says: "The marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready, and it was granted to her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure" (Rev. XIX). For the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And blessed Job: "I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a diadem" (Job XXIX). Moreover, as often stated, in incense are signified the supernal desires of the just and the soaring fervor of frequent prayers. Hence rightly the scent of the bride's garments is compared to the scent of incense, because all that the holy Church works for the Lord, render the office of prayers for her; nor otherwise could that apostolic dictum, "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. V), be fulfilled, unless all that we devoutly do, commends us devoutly like intercession to our Creator. For neither the Apostle himself nor any of the saints could always devote time to prayer to the exclusion of sleep, food, or other necessities of this life; but because the just continually perform what is just, through this the just pray without ceasing, and never cease from prayer unless they fall into sin. Therefore, the scent of their garments smells like the scent of incense, because the fame of the good works they do ascends in the divine judgement like prayers. This verse harmonizes with what was said above: "And the scent of your ointments surpasses all aromatics"; for in that instance, by the name of ointments is shown the infusion of the Holy Spirit, which enlightens the hearts of the faithful and prepares them for spiritual battle; here, by the term garments, are shown the outward deeds of the just. Hence, with a beautiful distinction, the works done through humans are compared to the scent of incense; but the gifts bestowed by divine largesse exceed the mode of comparison, as the scent of the Church's ointments is said to transcend all aromatics. Since mention of incense is often made in this song, and what it typologically signifies is known, it is fitting to instruct the ignorant a little about the nature of this aromatic. It is a tree of Arabia, similar in bark and leaf to the laurel, emitting sap like that of almonds, which is collected twice a year, in autumn and spring. But in the autumnal collection, the trees are prepared by cutting their bark in the intense heat of summer, and the rich foam that springs forth solidifies when collected on the smooth surface of palm bark, and what remains on the tree is scraped off with iron, thus it appears bark-like. This is the purest and whitest incense. The second harvest truly, the same winter, with bark incised. This exits red, nor is it considered comparable to the former, and of the young tree it is whiter, but of the old more fragrant. That which depends on the roundness of the droplet, we call male; but the drop beaten out by a blow, we call manna. The region producing incense is called Sarvia, which the Greeks say signifies mystery, impassable everywhere by rocks, and from the right carried up by inaccessible sea cliffs; a single narrow path extends the length of the forests for one hundred thousand paces, or, as others say, eighty; the width is half. High hills rise, and trees spontaneously grow and descend into the plains. It is agreed that the land is clayey, with rare and nitrous springs. These things, as we have found in ancient books, have been briefly said about the nature and location of incense. Almost all of these, if anyone diligently attends, suitably align with the virtues of the saints, especially because the region in which it is born is called mystery: for the trees spontaneously grow, appropriately fitting those whose supreme virtue is not compelled by laws or edicts, but is usually wonderful due to voluntary offering, as the Lord says: If you wish to be perfect, go, sell all that you have; and the rest (Matt. XIX). When the trees are incised, the tear of the incense flows, what does it indicate but the compunction of the humble heart, from which pure prayer, sweetened with tears, is usually generated? That it has rare but nitrous springs, it suits those from whose belly, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water flow, that is, the gifts of spiritual doctrine emanate (John. VII), also suitable for cleansing the minds of neighbors. For nitre is usually very suitable for healing infirmities and for washing away impurities. That the region is surrounded on all sides by the fortification of cliffs and rocks, agrees with the merits of those about whom the Lord speaks through a parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, and surrounded it with a hedge (Matt. XXI). For the Lord planted the Church, establishing it with the precepts of life, and surrounded it with the hedge of His protection, safeguarding it everywhere so that it cannot be exterminated by evil spirits or men. Moreover, after the Lord individually praised each member of the Church in detail, he likewise lastly commended with worthy praise the ointments with which it was entirely anointed. For none of its members, whether small or great, are not consecrated by the spiritual infusion of this anointment; for whoever lacks this, is not in the body of the Church. He also praised its garments, that is, its works of justice, for with these its entire body is adorned. For no one in it merits eternal life unless clothed in just works, which either he did; or, if he was an infant, others did in him and for him. But because it seemed slow to the supreme lover to praise the members of his spouse individually, it seemed little to liken each precious thing to each of her parts, he praises her entirely, and simultaneously compares her to many great things, subjoining:

[AD 532] Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite on Song of Solomon 4:12
The divine and conceptual Scriptures are compared with dew, with water, with milk, with wine, and with honey, for they have the power like water to produce life, like milk to give growth, like wine to revive, like honey both to purify and preserve. - "Letter 9.4"
[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:12
A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse, etc. The garden is the Church, which produces various sprouts of spiritual works, which are subsequently listed under various names of spices. It is a fountain that overflows with saving doctrine, by which it waters the minds of its faithful, as if they were herb beds of spices, which it had prepared spread out. Hence it is written: A deep water, words from the mouth of a man, and an overflowing torrent, the fountain of wisdom (Prov. XX). Therefore, the Apostle says: I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase (I Cor. III). I planted, as if in the Lord's garden, the spices of virtues; Apollos watered, as if from the sealed fountain of heavenly doctrine; but the Lord, as his workers, helped, lest they labor in vain. But this garden is enclosed, because the Church, fortified with the protection of its Lord and Redeemer, persists lest it should ever be violated by the invasion of impious ones, either of unbelieving men or unclean spirits, and delayed in the bearing of heavenly fruits by being trampled upon in all directions. This fountain is sealed, because the word of faith, which is in the Gospel, protected by seals, can never be disturbed by any attack of the erring. For there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all (Ephes. IV). Whoever attempts to break this seal of the living fountain errs, and cannot profane the fountain of life; but rather kills himself in this, while the impious thrust themselves forward; like the example of the Egyptian army, which was drowned in the mystical Red Sea baptism, whereby the people of God were saved, when they presumptuously entered into sacred things not by believing, but by pursuing. And because the same holy Church, which is designated by the name of the sacred irrigated garden, was first indeed located in the small sod of Judea, but was soon greatly amplified throughout the whole world, it is rightly added:

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Song of Solomon 4:12
A garden enclosed: Figuratively the church is enclosed, containing only the faithful.
A fountain sealed up: That none can drink of its waters, that is, the graces and spiritual benefits of the holy sacraments, but those who are within its walls.
[AD 258] Cyprian on Song of Solomon 4:13-15
But that the Church is one, the Holy Spirit declares in the Song of Songs, saying, in the person of Christ, "My dove, my undefiled, is one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her." Concerning which also He says again, "A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring sealed up, a well of living water." But if the spouse of Christ, which is the Church, is a garden enclosed; a thing that is closed up cannot lie open to strangers and profane persons. And if it is a fountain sealed, he who, being placed without has no access to the spring, can neither drink thence nor be sealed. And the well also of living water, if it is one and the same within, he who is placed without cannot be quickened and sanctified from that water of which it is only granted to those who are within to make any use, or to drink.

[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on Song of Solomon 4:13-15
The place of his burial was a garden.… What is he going to say who was buried in the garden? “I gather my myrrh, and my spices”; and again, “Myrrh and aloes with all the finest spices.” These were the tokens of his burial, and in the Gospels it is said, “The women came to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared,” and “there also came Nicodemus, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes.”

[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on Song of Solomon 4:13-15
Now who is the “fountain sealed,” or who is signified by the “wellspring of living water”? It is the Savior himself, of whom it is written: “For with you is the fountain of life.”

[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Song of Solomon 4:13-15
When the Word raises his bride to such a point through her ascents, he leads her even further, saying that her garments have the scent of frankincense. Scripture testifies that Christ is clothed with this frankincense. The end of a virtuous life is participation in God, for frankincense manifests the divinity. The soul is not always led by the Word to what is higher by means of honey and milk, but after having been compared with the scent of frankincense, the garden becomes an image of paradise. It is not loosely guarded as with our first parents, but protected from every side by recollection of the bridegroom’s command.

[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Song of Solomon 4:13-15
In order that we may know the plants that the Word cultivates in believers, the Song calls the trees he planted “pomegranates.” These issue from the bride’s mouth. The pomegranate is difficult for a thief to grasp because of its thorny branches, and its fruit is surrounded and protected by a rind bitter and harsh to the taste. Once the pomegranate ripens in its own good time, and once the rind is peeled off and the inside revealed, it is sweet and appealing to the sight much like honey to the taste; its juice tastes like wine and affords much pleasure to the palate. I think that the issues from the bride’s mouth [are] a “garden of pomegranates” present in the souls of those listening to her. We must heed her words and not become soft by indulgence and enjoyment of this present life. Rather we should choose a life that has become toughened by continence. Thus virtue’s fruit is inaccessible to thieves and is protected by the bitter covering of self-control. Surrounded by a solemn, austere way of life, it wards off as though by spiny thorns those who approach the fruit with evil intent.

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Song of Solomon 4:13-15
We find the well in the mystical sense in the Canticle of Canticles, where the Scripture says, “the fountain of gardens, the well of living water which runs with a strong stream from Lebanon.” Indeed if you pursue the depth of the mysteries, the well appears to you to be mystical wisdom set in the deep, as it were. But if you wish to drink the abundance of love, which is greater and richer than faith and hope, then you have your fountain. For love abounds, so that you can drink it in close at hand and water your garden with its abundance, so that the latter overflows with spiritual fruits.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Song of Solomon 4:13-15
Virtues are signified by the perfumes and the trees of Lebanon are the prophets. Myrrh and aloes, finally, demonstrate that the buried Christ communed with the saints who preceded him, for, descending to hades, he led them out.

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Song of Solomon 4:13-15
“Pomegranate” is to be taken figuratively as love, since countless seeds are contained together within the one skin, pressed together without squeezing or ruining one another, remaining fresh unless one of the seeds in the middle goes bad. You can also gain a different insight from the sections in the middle: we see many ranks also among the saved, one of virgins, one of ascetics, one of those drawing the yoke of marriage, and of the affluent, one of those living a life of poverty, one of slaves in love with godliness, one of masters exercising lordship lawfully. The pomegranate, too, then, has walled off compartments, as it were, separating its seeds into certain divisions. This is the reason he compares the presents of the bride to “an orchard of pomegranates.”

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Song of Solomon 4:13-15
[This garden] also contains “a spring” and “a well of water alive and babbling from Lebanon.” It contains not only the gospel teaching that flows openly but also the “well” of the law, which is “a well of water alive” that also holds hidden streams that babble, emit a sound and flow from Lebanon. The way of life according to the law blossomed in Jerusalem, which is figuratively called Lebanon, but this well changed direction toward the Lord’s bride, the church, and though hidden, it flows with a babble and irrigates the orchard of the church.

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:13
Your branches are a paradise of pomegranates, etc. Because the early Church, which was at Jerusalem, produced many people for God from water and the Spirit, it is rightly said that the sacred garden, assisted by the irrigation of the divine fountain, emitted a paradise, not of any kind of trees, but of pomegranates with the fruits of apples. The pomegranates, which bloom with a blood-red color, signify the triumphs of those in the Church who, after the general washing of the sealing fountain, are also baptized with their own blood. However, the fruits of the apples indicate the works of general virtues, or those who perform the works of virtues: although among the pomegranates, which this garden is first said to emit from itself, the whole assembly of the baptized can rightly be accepted, because undoubtedly the regenerating fountain is dedicated to the mystery of the Lord's passion. For as many of us as were baptized in Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death. For we were buried with Him by baptism into death, so that just as Christ rose from the dead by the glory of God, we also might walk in newness of life (Rom. VI). However, after the many pomegranates, follow the fruits of apples and spices, worthy of such a beginning, because after the ascent of the fountain sprinkled with His precious blood, through which we become the children of God, it necessarily follows that the fragrant fertility of virtues, with which the grace of our regeneration is adorned and always grows, comes.

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:14
Cyprus with nard, nard and saffron. Cyprus in Egypt is an aromatic tree, with leaves like those of the jujube, and a seed whiter than coriander. This is cooked in oil and then pressed; this called Cyprus, a royal ointment is prepared from it. The best is in Egypt, the second in Ascalon of Judea, the third on the island of Cyprus. Some say this is the tree called privet in Italy. We read about manna, which was like white coriander seed; and since the seed of Cyprus is claimed to be of the same quality, rightly by the same as itself, it designates heavenly blessing. This seed is sent into oil and cooked, which is the gift of heavenly grace received by hearts illuminated with the fat of charity, and when the flames of temptations are brought, its power is shown to all more clearly. Nard, however, which holds the type of the Lord's burial, testifies the work of Mary, who anointed Him with this aroma at the impending passion; as He Himself explained, saying: For in pouring this ointment on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial (Matt. XXVI). And the garden, or the fountain of the Lord, buys cyprus, when the Church teaches its children to seek above all the grace of heavenly refreshment, to hold the light and anointing of love in the heart, to not be overcome by the fire of tribulations, but with these very opportunities, to show how much and what kind of divine grace seed they have received. He joins cyprus and nard, when he instructs them with the faith of the Lord’s passion more eagerly in time or he teaches them to imitate this to be suffered by themselves, with saffron, having almost a gold-colored flower; he shows them those who shine with greater grace of love; which, as gold to other metals, so it surpasses all virtues. Now, he says, faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love (I Cor. XIII). Against this, Jeremiah lamenting the destruction of his people says: Those brought up in scarlet embrace dung (Lam. IV). Indeed, they embrace dung who are brought up in scarlet, when those, who once seemed to shine brightly with the flowers of most pleasing charity, afterwards begin to immerse themselves in the foul wallows of vices. But also the fact that saffron is said to confer the relief of refreshment to the burning limbs of the languid fits the acts of the highest virtue, which are accustomed to temper minds from the heat of carnal pleasures, and to kindle towards the joy of desiring the heavenly fatherland. Indeed, that nard is said to scatter the cold of the faint-hearted and warm the limbs, it is evident that the memory of the Lord's passion drives away the sluggish fear of dying from the hearts of the faithful, and inflames and makes them eager, not only by mortifying their vices, but also by laying down their lives for Him.

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:14
Pipe and cinnamon, etc. The pipe, which is also called cassia, is counted among aromatic trees. It has a robust and purple bark, which is said to be very beneficial for curing internal ailments. Due to its brevity, some consider it among fragrant herbs; these rightly signify those humble in spirit, for whom is the kingdom of heaven; who, as if clothed in purple, always remember the passion of the Lord, always prepared to suffer for the Lord, like the one who said: "For your sake we are killed all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered” (Psalm 43). For this virtue, which more than any other, has the habit of subduing and removing internal troubles and lusts when we recall what God suffered for us, recognizing that we suffer less than we deserve. Cinnamon holds the same significance: for this tree is short in trunk but strong and fragrant, and very useful in medicine, excelling double the pipe. Hence it may aptly be understood that Scripture intended to express the progress of humility, placing cinnamon after the pipe: for since it is said to be of a dark or ashen color, it suits the minds of the humble, who, conscious of their own frailty, know to say to God in daily prayers: "I speak to my Lord, though I am but dust and ashes” (Gen. 18). And again: "I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42). And well does it place cinnamon, an ash-colored tree, after the purple-colored pipe, because our thoughts of the Lord's wound give rise to contempt for our own virtue. The bark of it is valued, and since it is round like a reed and slender, it takes the name cinnamon. For in Greek, ammomum is said to mean ‘spotless.’ He says, "Pipe and cinnamon with all the trees of Lebanon." Just as the pipe and cinnamon signify the humble thoughts of the just, so do the trees of Lebanon show their lofty actions, because these not only excel in fragrance and healing like the pipe and cinnamon, and boast the glory of their bark, but also rise to great height and strength. Hence, they are suitable for larger buildings, as also attested by this song, in which it is said: "The beams of our houses are cedar.” And again: "King Solomon made himself a carriage of the wood of Lebanon." Therefore, the pipe and cinnamon come forth in the garden of the Lord with all the trees of Lebanon, because those who are admirable in humility and patience in the holy Church, together with those who firmly support the Church by preaching or performing virtues, await the palm of heavenly reward. Myrrh and aloe express the restraint of the flesh, because it is the nature of these aromatics that bodies anointed with them after death do not decay, as evidenced by the burial of the Lord. For just as the corruption of dead flesh indicates the rottenness of luxury, so the preservation of it, where it is typically received in a good sense, aptly demonstrates the virtue of continence and chastity, which restrain our members from vices. Indeed, the first of those ointments are those about which the Apostle says: "But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal" (1 Cor. 12), and the rest he wonderfully discusses regarding those great virtues in which charity holds the summit, the great master of eloquence. A truly beautiful conjunction, that myrrh and aloes with all the chief ointments may arise in the Lord's garden, for as we restrain the flesh from lasciviousness, it follows that we may receive the greater gifts of the Spirit. It has been contradicted, for wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul, nor dwell in a body subject to sins (Wisdom 1). For the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee deceit (Ibid.). Now myrrh is a tree of Arabia, reaching a height of five cubits, similar to a thorn, which the Greeks call acanthus, whose gum is green and bitter, whence it also took the name myrrh. All this aptly relates to the mortification of the flesh, which feels bitter for a time but is most willingly accepted in the hope of an ever-blooming homeland, of which Peter says: "He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven" (1 Peter 1). It is rightly compared to thorns because, to save the mind perpetually, it temporarily afflicts the body with the pricks of labors. But that its spontaneously flowing gum is more precious, while that obtained by wounding the bark is cheaper, who would not see that it is a greater virtue before God when someone with a healthy and vigorous body, even with an abundance of external things smiling upon them, strives to discipline and subject it to servitude rather than when, pressed by illness or other adversities of the world, they unwillingly restrain the flesh from lasciviousness and are coerced into the remedy of abstinence? Although this too should rightly be numbered among great virtues, when someone, patiently, humbly, and gladly accepting the lashes of paternal correction, reaches the gifts of the promised inheritance through these means. Aloe too, if considered more closely, is aptly likened to the continent: for it is a tree of very pleasant and superior odor, whose wood the ancients used as a substitute for incense on altars. Yet its juice is extremely bitter, but suitable for many medicines. Thus indeed the restraint of bodily pleasures through continence is bitter in the act itself but glorious by the merit of virtue and most pleasing to the inner judge.

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:15
Fountain of gardens, well of living waters, etc. The fountain of gardens is born among others in the enclosed garden of the Lord, because the heavenly doctrine has proceeded into the world from the primitive Church, which would generate many churches for the Lord, that is, spiritual gardens. To which fountain it is rightly inferred, the well of living waters which is a fountain, except that a well is always at a height, whereas a fountain, being always submerged in height, can also be at the highest peak of the land. Therefore, one and the same doctrine of the Church is the fountain of gardens, because it produces spiritual fruits in those whom it instructs, and it is the well of living waters: indeed a well, because it is not open to everyone; not placed conspicuously, but stored uniquely in the heart of the saints through the revelation of the Holy Spirit. Hence no one from the beginning of this age knew it. For if they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory. But to us, he says, God has revealed it through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God (1 Cor. 2). However, of living waters, because of the divine and heavenly words, which always proceed unfailingly from the hidden treasures of divine grace and lead to life, whoever they wash and irrigate. For living waters are usually called those that eternally flow from a spring source, in contrast to those which are either collected in cisterns by the abundance of rains, or in ponds or which, by the melting of snow, flow temporarily with great force in torrents, but dry up when clear weather returns. To these, rightly, is compared the brief and swollen boastfulness of worldly doctrine, which often seems to pour out infinite and profound rivers of eloquence and learning in various ways; but all these soon dry up as if they had never been when the Sun of righteousness and the summer of evangelical clarity shine. Of these, the Lord Himself complains through the prophet, saying: They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and hewed out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water (Jer. 2). And Isaiah: Behold, the Lord will ascend on a light cloud and will enter Egypt; and a little later: And the water will dry up from the sea, and the river will be desolate and dry up (Is. 19). He says, a well of living waters, which flow swiftly from Lebanon. He speaks of Lebanon, of the very Church, which is both white and high through life. For Lebanon is interpreted as whiteness; and it pours out to its listeners, as if beneath its fields, the streams of saving wisdom: as the Lord also says in the Gospel: Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from his belly; and the evangelist adds as an explanation: Now he said this about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive (John 7). For rivers of living water flow from the belly of him who believes, when from the heart of the faithful flow the streams of holy preaching. Which flow, he says, swiftly from Lebanon: he rightly added swiftly, to not only signify the descent to us of living waters but also to show the unassailable power of the things coming. For as no one can restrain the outpouring rivers from a high mountain, so the flow of the apostolic word, because it proceeded from a heavenly source, because it was divinely urged to run, could be overcome by no struggle of opposing powers and could not be deflected from its path; rather souls would first give way than cease from the irrigation of vital doctrine. What is that in the Psalm, "The stream of the river makes glad the city of God" (Psalm 45). Rightly does it gladden the Church, which not only receives from the Lord a stream of living waters, but also the same stream comes with such force of heavenly grace that it cannot be obstructed by any obstacle of contrary power. The well of living waters can also not inappropriately be taken as a sign for those who, whatever earthly thought they find in their heart, customarily draw it out, and strive to bring it forth with devout confession and cast it away: that by the merit of chastity and humility, they may prepare within their hearts a dwelling-place fit for God, and make a path for the living waters, that is, heavenly gifts, through the veins of hidden inspiration by their diligent cleansing: following the example of the blessed patriarch Isaac, who, when hindered by the Philistines, was accustomed to dig wells useful to himself and his own, which they, out of jealousy, tried to obstruct. He diligently purified these wells by his diligent labor and persisted in digging until the living water responded to him from the depths. Such indeed is our contest with evil spirits, as they strive to cloud the water of wisdom in us or, if they can, to completely exclude it, by casting the rubble of vices into our senses. But we, on the other hand, with diligent industry and frequent prayers and watchings, should strive to expel these temptations they have injected into us in order that we may be capable of invisible gifts. But since the Lord called His garden enclosed, watered by a living fountain, planted with fragrant scents and trees, since He declared it to be irrigated with the waters of wisdom, and to have wells for the hidden mysteries, and living waters for the eternity of goods to which they lead for drinking, since He asserted that these waters flow with a persistent and absolutely invincible force, it remained that once everything was firmly and orderly arranged, the adversaries were by no means denied some access for tempting, but rather it was shown that they could in no way be hurt by torrents coming from here and there; indeed, the more it was tested by the blasts of adversities, the more the internal sweetness of its fruits would be revealed. Hence, now, from the voice of the Lord Himself it is added:

[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on Song of Solomon 4:16
Arise, O north wind, and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out (Canticles iv. 16). As Joseph was delighted with these spices, he is designated the King's son by God; as the Virgin Mary was anointed with them, she conceived the Word: then new secrets, and new truth, and a new kingdom, and also great and inexplicable mysteries, are made manifest.

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Song of Solomon 4:16
For this reason, too, the church, guarding the depth of the heavenly mysteries, repels the furious storms of wind, and calls to it the sweetness of the grace of spring, and knowing that its garden cannot displease Christ, invites the bridegroom, saying, “Arise, O north wind, and come, you south; blow upon my garden, and let my ointments flow down. Let my brother come down to his garden and eat the fruit of his trees.” For it has good trees and fruitful, which have dipped their roots in the water of the sacred spring, and with fresh growth have shot forth into good fruits, so as now not to be cut with the axe of the prophet, but to abound with the fruitfulness of the gospel.

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Song of Solomon 4:16
Recognize also the voice of the church inviting us when it says, “Arise, O north wind, and come, O south wind, blow through my garden and let my ointments flow forth. Let my brother come down into his garden and eat the fruit of his apple trees.” For knowing even then, O holy church, that from these also you would have fruitful works, you promised to your anointed one the fruit from such as these. It was you who first said that you were brought into the king’s chamber, loving [Christ’s] breasts above wine. For you loved him who loved you, you sought him who nourished you, and you despised dangers for religion’s sake.

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Song of Solomon 4:16
Having thus learned where to seek out Christ, learn now how to merit that he may be seeking you. Arouse the Holy Spirit by saying, “Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden, and let its fragrance be wafted abroad. Let my beloved come to his garden and eat its choicest fruits.” The garden of the Word is the affection of a flourishing soul, and its fruit is the produce of virtue.

[AD 500] Aponius on Song of Solomon 4:16
By exalting the kingdom of the north above all kingdoms of the world, therefore, Almighty God commands what is [now] the kingdom of the Romans to arise. By inspiring prophets from the south, by revealing his Christ through a Virgin, whom the prophets of the south had celebrated as proceeding from a dense and intact body (as the prophet Habakkuk said, “God will come from the south,” that is, the Word of the Father, and “the holy one from a mountain shadowy and dense,” which refers to the assumed humanity), paradise begins to be redolent with fragrances of the deaths of the martyrs, precious and wonderful aromas, and to give great praise to the Lord, the King of heaven, and to all the heavenly host, as the prophet predicted: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:16
"Arise, O north wind, and come, O south wind," etc. For in the north or south, He signifies the tempests of frequent temptations with which the Church was to be buffeted, so that it might become known how much spiritual grace and internal strength it possessed. If we consider any difference between the names of the north and south, one being cold and the other a warm wind, it can not unreasonably be taken as the severity of the intimidating world in the north and the blandishments of deception in the south: for by this twofold assault the garden of the Lord is proved to be tempted, as He Himself shows when explaining the parable of the good seed: "But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that hears the word, and anon with joy receives it; yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while: for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that hears the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful" (Luke 8). Now, when the Lord seems to say in an imperative tone: "Arise, O north wind, and come, O south wind, blow upon my garden," He does not command the wicked to do evil, but allows them to use their free will as they wish. He can also make good things from their evil actions as He wills and render them, with unbiased judgment, the torments they have deserved for their evil deeds. The Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart to afflict His people (Exodus X); but shortly after, having freed those who were afflicted, He punished eternally the one who had afflicted them. Concerning the head of all sinful men, He says of the blessed Job: "Behold, he is in your hand" (Job I); and when he went out and struck him with the greatest blow, does it not seem to you that he said to the very turbulent and harsh winds: "Blow upon my garden, and let its spices flow out"? For the spices flowed out from the garden shaken by the winds, when the holy man was struck by adversities and scattered the wonderful fragrance of his virtue far and wide. Hearing that the Church must be tested by the blasts of temptations, it in no way contradicts the providence and arrangement of its Beloved; rather, so that it may not be overcome by adversities and not corrupted by prosperity, it seeks His help in all things, who brings forth the winds from His treasuries; and as the blessed Job says: "Who made weight for the winds" (Job XXVIII): which in other words means: "Who does not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear" (I Cor. X). XVII.

[AD 735] Bede on Song of Solomon 4:16
"Let my beloved come into his garden," etc. Let the Lord come into His Church, so that He may keep it spotless and always fruitful with the crop of faith. He who promised to remain with me until the end of the world, then more graciously shows me the presence of His coming when He sees me being assailed by greater temptations from enemies, and may He kindly grant that He Himself is my beloved above all. For I trust that as long as I can truly say: "I will love You, O Lord, my strength" (Psalm XVII); and: "He will deliver me from my mighty enemies, and will set me on high above the heights of the heavenly kingdom" (ibid.). And let Him eat the fruit of His apples; and let Him gladly look upon and gratefully accept the works of His saints, according to what He Himself said to His disciples about the Samaritans who would believe in Him: "I have food to eat that you do not know of" (John IV); which He made clear when He said about the calling of the Gentiles: "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work" (John VI). "Lift up your eyes and see the fields, for they are already white for harvest. And he who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life" (John IV). On the contrary, when He was hungry and sought fruit on the Jewish fig tree and did not find any, He condemned it to perpetual barrenness. For He made this figuratively, signifying that although He desired the salvation of the Synagogue, since it despised the fruit of salvation, it deserved to be punished with the vengeance of eternal faithlessness. It can be specially taken as the voice of the perfect members of the Church, that is, those who remember to serve God with sincere and fixed intention. "Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat the fruit of his apples"; as if they were openly saying, "O that the Lord would come quickly, that He, being gracious, may repay us the reward for our pious devotion!" And as we have always cared to love Him and to render the fruit of righteousness which He has given, so may He show us the happiest recompense of His love by receiving us unto Himself. While it is fitting for all saints to say this at all times, how much more when they see the state of the present Church shaken by the storms of temptations! To their desire, He Himself gratefully responding at once by His voice, testifies that He has already done what was asked.