Pharaoh gave his daughter a portion which very well agrees with our supposition, and was probably the vineyard here referred to: for the Hebrews did not confine the term to plantations of the vine, but extended it to any kind of plantations, either of fruit-trees or odoriferous shrubs'. Now the inspired writer tells us that Pharaoh, king of Egypt, having gone up and taken Gezer, burnt "it with fire, slew the Canaanites that dwelt there,

' and gave it for a present unto his daughter, So'lomon's wife'2; and Solomon built Gezer. Now this Gezer is supposed by RELAND3, apparently with good reason, to have been the same as Gazara, in the neighbourhood of Joppa; and the latter is described by JOSEPHUS as a fruitful country, and abounding with springs of water. Mr. Wood, describing the valley of Bocat, in which stand the magnificent ruins of Balbec, compares it with the fertile plain of Rama, on the borders of which Gazara or Gadara is situated. Now as Gazara was probably the ancient Gaza, it is likely that Balbec might be in or near the ancient Baal-hammon. If so, there is the more propriety in the comparison between the two spots.

The bride's mother being supposed to have an apartment within the palace of Solomon is another circumstance that has been thought utterly

1 Harmer on Sol. Song. p. 34. See ch. i. 14. vii. 12. 21 Kings ix. 16, 17.

3 Palæst. p. 778.

4 Antiq. lib. viii. cap. vi. sect. 1.

5 Ch. iii. 4.

inconsistent with the supposition of the bride's being the daughter of the king of Egypt'; but if this be part of the relation of a dream, as I think, with Dr. DODERLEIN, there is good reason to conclude, this objection vanishes: or, even, without supposing this, I know not that we have sufficient proof from the modern etiquette of eastern princesses, but that the mother of Solomon's queen (especially if somewhat in years) might be suffered to accompany her daughter on the occasion of so grand an alliance; and if she were, there is no doubt but she would be honoured with apartments in the palace.

As to the supposed hint, that this lady was one of the daughters of Jerusalem, i. e. an inhabitant of that city; as it rests on a forced translation of no authority, it does not require a particular answer2. But the bride's coming up from the wilderness is another circumstance which merits observation; since when the sacred writers speak indefinitely of the wilderness, without specifying any wilderness in particular, it appears that they always intend the great wilderness between Judea

1 Notes to Dr. Percy's Trans. p. 86, and Dr. Hodgson on Sol. Song.

2 The middle thereof wrought [in needle work] by her whom he loveth [best] among the daughters of Jerusa 'lem. See chap. iii. 10. in the following translation, and Dr. Percy's notes, p. 67,

3 Chap. iii. 6. viii. 5.

8.

I

and Egypt'; and therefore intimates the bride's coming from that quarter: and the additional eircumstance of Solomon going out to meet her, strongly intimates that she was a princess of the first rank.

Bishop PERCY indeed insinuates, as a difficulty, that the bride is called a prince's, and not a king's daughter; whereas the kings of Egypt were certainly of the highest rank and greatest consequence. The original term, however, appears to be general; for all kings are princes, though all princes are not kings; and we certainly mean no disparagement to our sovereigns, when we call them princes of the house of Brunswick." It is not clear, however, but the passage alluded to may be a compliment to the lady's mental charms, since the Hebrew idiom has induced some respectable critics to render the expression, "O princely daughter'-O lady of a noble and excellent disposition, and character; and it may be worthy of remark that the corresponding Greek word, signifying benefactor, was assumed as a sirname of the highest honour by a later Egyptian monarch, Ptolomy Euergetes, and other princes.

Another objection to the bride's being an Egyptian princess has been drawn from her complaint, that her mother's children had been severe unto

1 See Deut. xi. 24.

See 1 Sam. ii. 8.-Prov. xxv. 7. compared with ver. &c.

• Evagyons.

her, and had made her keeper of the vineyards. If she were a younger sister, and distinguished by her wit and beauty, it is not wonderful that she should have been envied and hated by them: though by being made keeper of the vineyards, there is no reason to understand any thing more than sending her to a country seat, intended by the vineyards, as if she had been to look after them, and by this means exposing her to the fervour of the sun-beams, in which she had neglected her beauty, which is what I understand literally by her vineyard-a familiar metaphorical expression used for any kind of employment which required care and management.

Mr. HENLEY thinks it an important and unanswerable objection to the bride's being an Egyptian lady, that pastoral images are employed; for shepherds, we know, were an abomination to the Egyptians";" and that because, as Jonathan, in his Targum, observes, The Hebrews

ate what the Egyptians worshipped.' But, not to say that some revolution of sentiment might take place in the course of several centuries; as the same country had once a race of shepherd kings: Not to insist on this, it is to be observed, that the author of the poem is not supposed to be an Egyptian; and as to the lady herself, it is generally believed that she was a proselyte to the worship of JEHOVAH, before her marriage: and there is this apparent good reason for it, that she

1 In Lowth's Lect.

2 Gen. xlvi. 34.

is evidently distinguished from those wives which turned away Solomon's heart, to the idols of their respective nations, among whom those of Egypt are neither named nor hinted at: now admitting her to be a convert to Judaism, this objection is completely obviated.

On the other hand, I think, there are some images employed, beside those already named; that strongly favour our idea, that the bride was Pharaoh's daughter, and the allusions to Pharaoh's horses and his chariots appear to me clearly of that number.

SECTION III,

OF THE NATURE OF THE POEM.

LET us now examine the nature of the composition considered as poetic. The Jews allow this book to be so far poetic, as being of the parabolic kind, but not metrical: wherefore they have not distinguished it with their poetic accents; nor is it ever written by them in a versified form, as the psalms are2. This, however, is merely the effect of their ignorance, since the book carries with it every character (except in the points) belonging to Hebrew poesy, and is now fully admitted to be such by bishop Lowth, and the best He

11 Kings xi. 1—8.

2 Lowth's Prelect. Lect. XVIII.