2. It appears to me that the case supposed by Mr. H. does not give a just representation of this mystery: the case would have been more parallel had the former wife been divorced for infidelity to the marriage covenant; for this is evidently the condition of the Jews; though we are not without hope that, in a future day they may be recovered and forgiven'. 3. The Jewish church is represented as of foreign origin, by the prophets, and this circumstance is strongly pressed on her recollection. Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.'Thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an • Hittite',' It must be owned, indeed, that the Jewish church is not called an Egyptian; yet the circumstance of coming up from Egypt is very appropriate, and that of which she often was reminded. Remember the Lord thy God which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.' If the forty-fifth psalm be admitted to refer to the Jewish church, as I think it generally has been (though not by Mr. Harmer) we have additional evidence on this point; for there she is expressly exhorted to forget her own people and ⚫ her father's house,' which certainly implies her foreign extract, and properly comports with our explanation of the allegory in this song. 1 See Rom. xi. throughout. a Isa. li, 1. Ezek. xvi. 3, 45, 46, 4. I cannot here refer to all the passages produced by Mr. H. to countenance the idea of two wives of Solomon-they shall be considered, as far as my recollection serves, in the commentary: but I confess I see them with different eyes from Mr. H. For instance, when the spouse says, 'I am a rose of Sharon,' &c. it appears to me the language of modesty and self-diffidence: but I perceive nothing in it of jealousy, or reflection upon a foreign rival, as suggested by this ingenious writer. Had the jealousy been on the other side; i. c. had the Egyptian princess been provoked to jealousy by a Jewish rival, it might have received a much stronger countenance from her language in the first chapter: I am black, but 'comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem!' 5. The Gentile church appears to me more properly introduced in the last chapter, as a younger sister, not yet marriageable, as I shall endeavour to shew in the sequel; and this I believe is the unanimous opinion of Christian expositors, both ancient and modern, to the time of Mr. H. The last thing I shall notice is a suggestion of Mr. HENLEY, that this poem was probably composed on occasion of the dedication of the temple, and with a reference to that event. This conjecture appears to me very ingenious, and I confess that I do not, at present, see any material objecto it, as Solomon's marriage with Pharaoh's daughter preceded this event but a few years; and as this was the best period of his life for wisdom, piety, and happiness: at the same time I confess also that it appears to me to be a mere conjecture, unsupported by argument or authority. I shall not detain the reader any longer in these preliminary essays, which are already disproportioned to the size of the work; but I shall immediately present him with the proposed translation, unaccompanied with remarks, except to distinguish the speakers, and mark the divisions: then I shall repeat the whole in convenient portions, accompanied with a commentary, and subjoin critical notes in the margin. margin. The judicious reader, aware of the difficulty of the undertaking, will make candid allowances in an attempt wherein so many great men have failed: and the pious reader will avail himself of the hints offered rather to suggest subjects of meditation than to exhaust them. |