Song of Solomon 2:4

Son 2:4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me [was] love.

Ver. 4. He brought me to the banqueting house.] Heb., To the house of wine, where he giveth me that which is better than apple drink, as Son 2:3. As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. {2Co 1:5} The lower that ebb the higher this tide, as is to be seen in the martyrs, who went as merrily to die as ever they did to dine; sang in the flames, and felt no more pain than if they had lain upon beds of roses. This their persecutors counted stupidity and vainglory; but they knew not the power of the Spirit and the force of faith. As Mr Philpot told scoffing Morgan, who, coming to confer with him, asked him, "How know you that you have the Spirit of God?" Mr Philpot answered, "By the faith of Christ which is in me." "Ah! by faith," quoth Morgan: "do ye so? I think it is the spirit of the buttery which your fellows have had that have been burned before you, who were drunk the night before they went to their death, and I think went drunk unto it." Whereunto Philpot replied, "It appears, by your communication, that you are better acquainted with the spirit of the buttery than of God. Methinks you are liker a scoffer in a play than a reasonable doctor to instruct one. Thou hast the spirit of illusion and sophistry, which is not able to countervail the spirit of truth. Thou art but an ass in the things of God, &c. God shall surely rain fire and brimstone upon such scorners of his word and blasphemers of his people as thou art." {a} The like censure was passed upon Nicholas Burton, martyr, in Spain, who, because he went cheerfully to the stake, and embraced death with all gladness and patience, his tormentors and enemies said that the devil had his soul before he came to the fire, and therefore his sense of feeling was past. {b} These carnal creatures meddle not with the true Christian’s joy, neither know they the privy armour of proof, the joy of faith, that he hath as an aes triplex about his heart, making him insuperable, and "more than a conqueror." {Rom 8:37} True grace hath a fortifying, comforting virtue which the world knows not of; like as true gold comforts and strengthens the heart that alchemy gold doth not. And as a man that by good fare, and plenty of the best wines, hath his bones filled with marrow and his veins with good blood, and a fresh spring of spirits, can endure to go with less clothes than another, because he is well lined within, so it is with a heart that by oft feasting with Christ in his ordinances, and by much reading and ruminating upon the Scriptures, called here the banqueting house or wine cellar, as most are of the opinion, hath got a great deal of joy and peace, such a one will go through troubles and make nothing of them - yea, though outward comforts utterly fail. {Hab 3:17-18}

And his banner over me was love.] As a standard erected, as a banner displayed, so was the "love of Christ shed abroad in her heart by the Holy Ghost," {Rom 5:15} who had also, as a fruit of his love, set up a standard in her against strong temptations and corruptions, {Isa 59:19} and thereby assured her of his special presence; like as where the colours are, there is the captain - where the standard, there the king. The wicked also have their banners of lust, covetousness, ambition, malice, under which they fight, as the dragon and his viperous brood, {Rev 12:7} against Christ and his people; but they may read their destiny, Isa 8:9-10, "Associate yourselves, O ye people!" stand to your arms, repair to your colours, yet "ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces." "Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought, &c., for God is with us"; Immanuel is our general and how many do you reckon him for? as Antigonus once said to his soldiers that feared their enemy’s numbers. Surely "if Christ be for us," and he is never from us, {Mat 28:20} but as Xerxes was wont to do, he pitcheth his tent and sets up his standard in the midst of his people, as once in the wilderness, "who can be against us?" {Rom 8:31} And though many be, yet "no weapon that is formed against the Church shall prosper"; how should it, since she hath such a champion as Christ, who is in love with her, and will take her part, fight her quarrel? "and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn." {Isa 54:17} As the eclipsed moon, by keeping her motion, wades out of the shadow and recovers her splendour, so it shall be with the spouse - yea, she shall be able to answer those that reproach and cast dirt upon her for her keeping close to Christ’s colours and suffering hardship for him, as the Emperor Adrian did the poet Florus, who sat on an ale bench and sang,

“ Nolo ego Caesar esse

Ambulare per Britannos

Rigidas pati pruinas, &c. ”

I do not wish to be Caesar,

To walk through the Britians

To endure the rigours of hoar frost,

The witty emperor replied upon him, as soon as he heard of it -

“ Nolo ego Florus esse

Ambulate per tabernas;

Latitare per popinas,

Pulices pati rotundos. ”{ c}

I do not wish to be Florus

To walk through taverns;

To lie low through the bistro,

To endure round flees.

{a} Acts and Mon., fol. 1653.

{b} Ibid., 1866.

{c} Melanchthon in Chron. Carion.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Son_2:4

He brought me to the banqueting house, and His banner over me was love.

The Christians position of privilege

It is a great thing to be a Christian. It is a great thing in view of the personal change wrought in him who sustains this character. He was once lost, he now is found. It is a great thing, too, in view of the change which it brings over a mans relations to others, as well as that which it produces in his personal character. Once he lived for time, now he lives for eternity. Once he served Satan, now he serves God. Once, if his earthly possessions had been wrested from him he would have exclaimed, Ye have taken away my gods, and what is there more?--now, with St. Paul, he can endure the loss of all things, and account it a gain, that he may win Christ and be found in Him. Once the grave bounded all his prospects, and death was dreaded as the extinguisher of all his hopes; now he can look death calmly in the face, and go down to the grave with a hope full of immortality.

I. The action, of which all the Christians experience of his privilege is raised. He brought me. The agent referred to is God our Saviour. Salvation, in all its effectual influences, be longs to Him. Each truly converted soul, when telling how it was led to Christ, will feel constrained to look up to God with adoring gratitude and say, He brought me. He brought me, by Divine foreknowledge and sovereign choice, before the foundations of the world were laid. He brought me through His Spirit, working with me in due season, to make His own call effectual. He brought me by ordering and controlling all the outward circumstances of my condition so as to favour this blessed result of His purpose. He brought me by His preventing grace so working in my soul, that I should have a desire to know and love Him, and then, co-operating with that desire, in such a way as to bring it to good effect. He brought me by sweetly subduing my stubborn will,--taking away all the natural enmity of my heart to Him, and sending the sprat of adoption into my soul whereby I cry Abba Father.

II. The position in which this experience is realized. He brought me into the banqueting house. There are two ideas which we seem naturally to associate with the thought of a monarchs banqueting house.

1. It is a place where choice delicacies may be expected. It is not common fare, which the ,guests admitted to such a place look for. The richest and the rarest things that wealth can purchase, or skill prepare, are provided for such a banqueting hall. The products of every clime, the luxuries of every land are put in requisition there. And these are but faint figures of those spiritual good things with which Jesus regales the souls of His people in the banquet house of salvation.

2. It is a place where special favours are dispensed, and confidential communications made; and, on this account too, the language of the text applies to the believers condition of privilege in Christ. The treasury of heaven is put at the disposal of the believer in Jesus. He is fully assured that God will supply all his need from the riches of His grace in Christ.

III. The circumstances of the believer in occupying this position. His banner over me was love.

1. When a prince, a governor, or monarch unfurls his banner over a fortress or citadel, he means thereby to declare his determination to protect that place. As that flag waves in the breeze, it proclaims significantly, that all the power and resources of him whom it represents are pledged for the defence and safeguard of that fortress. And this is what Jesus means when He unfurls His banner of love over the believing soul. All the resources of omnipotence--all the perfections of an infinite God are enlisted for the safety of that soul.

2. The material of a banner, and the mottoes, or emblems upon it, are expressive of the thoughts and intentions of Him whom the banner represents. A white banner bespeaks a desire for peace. A red flag shows a determination to shed blood; a black flag is the signal that no quarter is to be expected. And then the military nations of the earth, whose lust has been for war and conquest, have generally adopted emblems expressive of their character. Thus the eagle was the emblem Imperial Rome bore on her conquering standards. But the Captain of our salvation has a banner woven out of the precious fabric of love, and the dove is the symbol which that banner bears. His thoughts towards His people are thoughts of peace; and love, unspeakable, everlasting, and past finding out, runs through all His purposes concerning them.

3. The banner of his country is to the true patriot an object of honourable regard, and of intense affection. And so, while the wise man glories in his wisdom, the rich man in his riches, and the mighty man in his might, the language of the Christian is: God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. (R. Newton, D. D.)

Christs banqueting house for His spouse

1. Jesus Christ hath from the beginning of the world entertained His Church with various dispensations of providence, and doth so entertain every true believing soul.

2. Though all these dispensations be proper means in relation to the great end of the souls salvation, and profitable to the Church and the soul in reference to that end; yet, some are more sweet and pleasant than others, and so more fitly compared to Christs banquet.

3. The dispensation of the Gospel to the Church in general, and the enlightening, quickening, strengthening, consolatory influences of the Spirit of grace to patient souls, may be fitly compared to a banqueting, house or to a house of wine.

4. As Christ did of old entertain some of His people s souls, under the darker dispensations of the covenant of grace, with these refreshing dispensations, which were like a banquet of wine to them; so under the latter and more full dispensation of the Gospel, He doth still entertain some of His peoples souls with these gladdening dispensations.

5. It is Christ, and Christ alone, that can bring the soul into the house of wine. (John Collinges, D. D.)

His banner over me was love.

How Christs banner over a believing soul is love

1. The love of Christ is that which distinguishes the soul of a believer front another soul, and the Church of God from other companies.

(1) Let this be rooted in your hearts, that you may not glory in any other differences and distinctions.

(2) Let Christ have all the praise, and let it be our business to labour to be thus distinguished from others.

2. The exalting of Christs love directs and invites every soul whither to go (Joh_3:14-15; Joh_12:32).

3. The Church of God and the believing soul should move as the love of God doth guide them. All our actions are of no worth that flow not from this principle.

4. The love of Christ is that which unites the Churches of God and particular believers both unto Christ and unto one another.

5. The love of Christ is a sign of His protection to His people.

6. The love of Christ displayed to the world signifies His victory over His enemies, yea and the Churchs, and every true believing souls victory.

7. The love of Christ to His people is that which should make His Church and true believers terrible to all His and their enemies. (John Collinges, D. D.)

Christs banner over His Church

1. The use of banners, standards, or ensigns, is to gather and keep persons together: thus Christ Himself was lifted up on the cross, and is now lifted up in the Gospel, as an ensign to gather souls unto Him: and so His love, being displayed in the preaching of the Gospel, has a power and efficacy in it to draw souls after Him; for as a fruit and effect of everlasting love, with loving kindness He draws them: and in the same way and manner Christ here drew the Church unto Himself and held her fast; and constrained her to keep close to Him, and follow hard after Him; see 2Co_5:14.

2. A banner displayed, or a standard set up, is an indication of war; it is to prepare for it and to animate to it (Jer_51:12; Jer_51:27), the Church of Christ here on earth is militant, and therefore in Son_6:4, is represented as formidable and terrible as an army with banners: she has many enemies to engage with, as sin, Satan, and the world, and yet has the greatest encouragement to fight, for she is bannered under the Lord of hosts.

3. A banner displayed is also a sign of victory; sometimes when a town, city, or castle is taken, the flag is hung out as an indication of it; see Jer_50:2. Christ has gotten the victory over all His and our enemies.

4. A banner is for protection and defence; hence Moses built an altar, and called it Jehovah nissi, that is, The Lord is my banner; because the Lord had been on the side of him and the people of Israel, and defended them from the Amalekites.

5. It is to direct soldiers where to stand, when to march, and whom to follow; see Num_1:52; Num_2:2, which may teach us, who are enlisted in Christs service, not to fly from our colours, but adhere closely to Christ and His Gospel, His cause and interest, His Church and people, and to follow Him, the Standard-bearer, wherever He goes; and nothing can more strongly engage us to do so than love, which is the motto of His banner; this first drew us to Him, this animates us in His service, and keeps us close to His person and interest.

6. It is to distinguish one band from another (Num_2:2). As one band has one motto upon its banner or ensign, by which it is distinguished from another, so the motto on Christs banner is love, by which His band or company is distinguished from all others. The allusion may be to the names of generals being inscribed on the banners of their armies; so Vespasians name was inscribed on the banners throughout his armies. (John Gill, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Son 2:4-6. He brought me to the banqueting-house — The places in which believers received the graces and blessings of Christ. His banner over me — By the lifting up whereof I was invited to come to him, and to list myself under him; was love — The love of Christ crucified, which, like a banner, is displayed in the gospel. Stay me — Or, support me, keep me from fainting. The spouse speaks this to her bride-maids, the daughters of Jerusalem: or to the bridegroom himself: with flagons — With wine, which is a good cordial: with apples — With odoriferous apples, the smell whereof was grateful to persons ready to faint. By these metaphors understand the application of the promises, and the quickening influences of the Spirit. His left hand — No sooner did I cry out for help, but he was at hand to succour me.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Notes

Son_2:4 : His banner over me was love.

‘His banner,’ דִּגְלוֹ (diglo), from דֶּגֶל (degel), a military standard. The SEPTUAGINT and VULGATE read the word as a verb; the former in the imperative: ‘Marshal (τάξατε), love against me;’ the latter in the indicative: ‘He marshalled (ordinavit) love against me.’ WICKLIFE: He ordained me in charity. LUTHER: Love is his banner over me. DIODATI: The banner which he lifts up to me. MARTIN: Which I carry. THEODORET, expounding from the Septuagint: Teach me the manner of love. RASHI: My band who guide me to him is love. MUNSTER, MONTANUS, and PAGNINUS: His banner over me or about me. The expression, according to MENOCHIUS, equivalent to—‘He drew me with the cords of love.’ MERCER: He held love before me as a banner to attract me to himself. GROTIUS: ‘He carries his love as an ensign before me,’—I serve under his banner, which is love. Similarly GESENIUS: ‘I follow the banner of love which my Beloved presents to me, as soldiers follow a military standard and never desert it.’ TIRINUS: ‘Love,’ that is, his love to me, by which he might subdue me to himself; and mine to him, that he might take me and all I have for his own. PISCATOR, JUNIUS, and MERCER: ‘Having love towards me for a standard,—by which to call or draw me to himself.’ SANCTIUS, expounding from the Vulgate: ‘By his numerous kindnesses and sweetest blandishments he drew up all the array of his love against me.’ So Du VEIL: He subdued me entirely to himself under the banner of love: he caused that I should cleave to him alone in love, as soldiers follow their standard. PATRICK: I am enlisted under his banner whose motto is love: he has overcome my heart so as to submit entirely to his wonderful love. MICHAELIS: He attacked me under the banner of love. ROSENMÜLLER: His banner for me is love,—his love to me is conspicuous as a banner in an army. EWALD: Love was as a protecting banner over my head. ZÖCKLER: Love waves as a protecting and comforting banner over my head when I am near him. So DÖPKE, WORDSWORTH, and BURROUGHS. PERCY, and BOOTHROYD, reading the word as a verb in the imperative: ‘Spread the banner of love over me.’ FRY, following one of Dr Kennicot’s manuscripts: ‘They have set up their banner over me. FAUSSET: The banner inscribed with the name of the Captain who rescued us, Love. Some view the word as denoting the luminous standard carried before marriage processions. So PARKHURST; also HARMER: A cresset, or portable fiery standard. Others, perhaps still more correctly, as a ‘flag or pendant, probably displayed on festive occasions.’ So WILLIAMS. A banner usually displayed on the festive tent or banqueting house; perhaps having on nuptial occasions the word ‘Love’ inscribed on it. PERCY. A canopy, such as is carried over a Bride in the East. HUG.

SHULAMITE’S HAPPY EXERCISE

(Son_2:4-6)

‘He brought me to the banqueting-house,

And his banner over me was love.

‘Stay me with flagons;

Comfort me with apples;

For I am sick of love.

‘His left hand is under my head,

And his right hand doth embrace me.’

Shulamite describes her happy enjoyment of her Beloved’s fellowship and love. Represents it under the figure of a banquet of wine. ‘He brought (or hath brought) me into the banquet-house’ (or house of wine). Such a banquet among the highest of earthly enjoyments. Hence queen Esther’s invitation to the king (Est_5:4-6). The king’s love already declared by Shulamite to be ‘better than wine.’ She now realizes this to the full. Her longing desires after the enjoyment of his fellowship and love now fully gratified. She has found him whom her soul loved, and experienced intense delight in his presence. Observe—

(1) The soul that earnestly seeks Jesus, and the enjoyment of His fellowship and love, will not seek in vain. ‘Said I to the house of Jacob, seek ye me in vain?’ ‘Then shall ye seek me and shall find me, when ye search for me with all your heart.’

(2) The happiness in the enjoyment of Christ’s presence and love, such as infinitely to compensate for all the labour and pains in seeking Him. What it cost Shulamite to find her Beloved, forgotten in her happiness now that he is found. ‘In Christ, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory’ (1Pe_1:8). Notice, in regard to the

Banqueting House—

I. The EXPERIENCE itself. The nature of the ‘banqueting house’ or ‘house of wine,’ indicated in the words that follow: ‘His banner over me was love.’ Perhaps in allusion to some practice of suspending bannerets with suitable mottoes or devices over the heads of honoured guests at entertainments; or to the burning cressets carried at the head of a marriage procession, to light the party to the banquet-house. The happy experience of the banqueting-house is the enjoyment of the King’s presence, and of that love which is ‘better than wine.’ The greatest earthly happiness experienced in the fellowship and love of one whom we ourselves greatly love. The poetry of every country full of this sentiment. Love, the poetry of life; the wine and cream of existence. Jacob’s hard service of seven years for Rachael seemed to him but a few days, ‘for the love he bare unto her.’ The banner that floats over the head of believers’ in the fellowship of Jesus, a banner of ‘love.’ Its emblem ‘a Lamb as it had been slain;’ and its mottoes: ‘He loved the Church, and gave Himself for it;’ ‘He loved me, and gave Himself for me.’ This love-banner manifestly suspended over the disciples at the Last Supper. The same banner waving over every Communion Table. Love, the ground of all the Lord’s dealings with His people. His love—

(1) An electing love;

(2) A redeeming love;

(3) A covenanting or bridal love. The manifestation of Christ’s love, the believer’s feast. His loving presence a banquet of wine. The assurance of His love the believer’s strength and joy in the battle of life.

‘With Thee conversing, I forget

All time, and toil, and care;

Labour is rest, and pain is sweet,

If Thou, my Lord, art there.’

Heaven but the full bloom of this enjoyment. Christ’s enjoyed presence and love the great attraction of Christian ordinances, especially of the Lord’s Supper. The keynote in the Song of Solomon. The Song, like Psalms 45, a ‘Song of Loves.’ The happiness in the enjoyment of Christ’s love, and the language of the Song in describing it, perfectly natural. The naturalness of such language in the case of mere earthly love unquestioned. Why in the case of a Divine and spiritual one? Infinitely more in the God-man to fill the soul with delight in the enjoyment of His fellowship and love than in the loveliest, most loving, and most beloved creature. Mere creature love and creature loveliness, beside Christ’s, a taper beside the sun. The love of the Man that is Jehovah’s fellow, revealed in His thorn-rent brow, His nail-pierced hands, and His spear-wounded side. The language of each scar in His sacred body, love—love unspeakable, inconceivable; love of the most worthy to the most worthless; love of the Prince of the kings of the earth to a beggar on the dunghill; love of the all-glorious Creator to the degraded creature; love of God to a contemptible worm, though a worm originally made after His own image, and capable of loving Him with the ardour of the loftiest seraph. This love and loveliness able to be apprehended, realized, and felt by the human soul, made at the same time deeply conscious of its utter unworthiness of it. The soul capable both of enjoying that amazing love and of reciprocating it: and of experiencing, while so doing, a joy superior to that connected with any mere earthly love—a joy characterized by one who knew it as ‘unspeakable and full of glory.’ Such joy in Divine fellowship and love, man’s normal experience as a rational creature in an un-fallen state. The object of Redemption to restore man to its enjoyment; with the superadded element, that the Creator has, for man’s sake, assumed his nature, and in that nature endured for his deliverance the awful curse incurred by his sin. Delight in the love and fellowship of a Divine Redeemer the experience even of Old Testement saints before that Redeemer became incarnate. Hence the impassioned language and longing of the ‘sweet Psalmist of Israel’: ‘In His favour is life.’ ‘My soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee, in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; Thy loving kindness is better than life; my soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips, when I remember Thee upon my bed, and meditate upon Thee in the night watches. ‘As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee. O God.’ ‘My soul longeth, yea, even faintech, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God’ (Psa_30:5; Psa_63:1; Psa_63:3; Psa_63:5-6; Psa_42:1; Psa_84:2). Isaiah sings: ‘I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall be joyful in my God’ (Isa_61:10). Zephaniah exhibits the joy on both sides: ‘Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord in the midst of thee is mighty: He will save; He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love; He will joy over Thee with singing’ (Zep_3:14; Zep_3:17). This joy in the Divine Redeemer and His love the experience of the early Christians. Raised them above the smiles and the frowns of the world, above the fear of torture and of death, of the lions and the stake. The experience of the Church in its times of greatest and spiritual prosperity, and of believers in their first-love and highest attainments in grace. Often specially realized by the Church and believers in times of suffering and persecution. The experience which gives such life, sweetness, and power to the hymns of Charles Wesley, the Moravian Brethren, and others. The ‘banqueting-house’ not confined to time or place; but especially found in the ordinances of God’s house, and most of all in that of the Lord’s Supper.

II. The AUTHOR of the experience. ‘He brought (or, hath brought) me,’ &c. The king recognized by Shulamite as not only preparing the banquet of love, but also bringing her to it. Her language that of amazement, admiration, gratitude, and joy. Our experience of the love and fellowship of Christ as our Bridegroom-Redeemer due entirely to Himself. Himself not only the Author of the bridal relation between Him and His people, but of their knowledge, acceptance, and enjoyment of it. The relation itself, with all the blessings connected with it, freely offered to men in the Gospel; but, apart from the grace of Christ, neither apprehended nor cared for. ‘Who hath believed our report?’ Wisdom hath mingled her wine, and furnished her table, and sent out her maidens with the invitation to the feast; but men reject the counsel of God against themselves, and begin to make excuse (Pro_9:1-3; Mat_22:2-6; Luk_7:30). Blindness, carnality, pride and unbelief, only overcome by the same royal grace that spreads the feast. ‘Why was I made to hear Thy voice?’ &c. Christ brings to the banqueting-house—

1. By His electing love. ‘Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.’ His love an everlasting love, which in time lays hold of its object (Jer_31:3).

2. By His renewing grace. The carnal mind enmity against God, and so without any inclination to the banquet of His love. Its taste the swine-trough. Its enjoyment the creature, not the Creator.

3. By His gift of faith. Such amazing love to the worthless and undeserving not readily believed. Unbelief as to the freeness of the Gospel offer and the reality of Christ’s love, to be removed by divine grace. This done by Christ Himself through His Spirit. Christ the Author as well as Finisher of our faith. His to give as well as ‘increase’ it. Exalted to give repentance, which includes it.

4. By His conquest of the heart. His people willing in the day of His power (Psa_110:3). Loved with an everlasting love, and, therefore, drawn with lovingkindness (Jer_31:3). Drawn with cords of a man, and with bands of love (Hos_11:4). His free, forgiving love, apprehended by faith, breaks and conquers the heart. The case of the woman in Simon’s house. Her many sins freely forgiven. Hence she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little (Luk_7:47, &c.)

5. By helping the soul over every discouragement in the way of its full enjoyment of Christ’s fellowship and love, and preparing it, both by His providence and grace, for such enjoyment. So the woman ‘that was a sinner’ enabled to enjoy the banquet of love at Christ’s feet even in the Pharisee’s house.

6. By pouring His love into the heart, and affording the rich realization of it through His Holy Spirit (Rom_5:5). Christ able to speak comfortably (margin, ‘to the heart’) even in the wilderness. ‘I will love them freely’ (Hos_14:4; Hos_2:14). So with the woman in Simon’s house: ‘Thy sins are forgiven thee.’ Christ able to tell the soul, ‘I have loved thee with an everlasting love;’ ‘I have redeemed thee; thou art mine’ (Jer_31:3; Isa_43:1).

III. The EFFECT of the experience. ‘Stay (or support) me with flagons (or cordials—perhaps raisin-cakes); comfort me (or surround me—strew my couch) with apples (or citrons—fruits of reviving fragrance): for I am sick of (or faint with) love. His left hand is (or, let His left hand be) under my head, and His right hand embrace me.’ Shulamite, overpowered by a sense of the king’s love, and the happiness she enjoyed in his fellowship, calls as if for aid in her fainting state, to the ‘daughters of Jerusalem,’ or ladies of the Court, perhaps waiting at some distance; though probably intending only the king himself, as indicated in her concluding words: ‘Let his left hand be under my head,’ &c. The effect of her present rapturous enjoyment a sense of fainting, which requires the application of reviving ordials and odours, and the support of the king’s own loving arms. ‘I am sick of (or faint with) love,’ implying—

(1) Overpowering sense of present enjoyment in the king’s love;

(2) Inability to sustain more of it in present circumstances;

(3) Need of support under it. The sense of Christ’s love sometimes attended with similar effects on the physical system. The human frame often unable to endure unusually powerful emotions without sensible weakness and derangement as the result. The language of one under the sense of Christ’s love: ‘Stay Thy hand or the vessel will burst.’ Mr. Flaved, under a similar enjoyment while riding on horseback, felt himself at length so weak as scarcely to be able to retain his seat, and discovered that the blood had been oozing from his limbs, and flowing into his boots. Two of the writer’s own friends the subjects of a similar experience. Observe—

(1) That love must be precious, and the experience of it desirable, which can cause the soul to faint under the sense of it.

(2) Such Divine love-sickness only relieved by more of that which is its cause. The fruit of the Apple-tree alone able to cure the sickness it makes. The Bridegroom’s own arms must support the soul fainting under a sense of His love. Such sickness followed by a blessed healing, both here and in a better world.

(3) Sense of Christ’s love the highest enjoyment to be experienced on earth. Such sense, enjoyed in a high degree, next door to the felicity of heaven.

(4) The soul filled with, and fainting under, Christ’s love, languishes for the fuller enjoyment of His presence in heaven. Full satisfaction only found where Christ is seen face to face. Love-sickness only on earth. Sense of Christ’s love the most effectual means of weaning the affections from the world. The ‘expulsive power of a new affection.’ The love-sick soul only longs the more for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

‘O Christ, He is the fountain,

That deep, sweet well of love;

On earth the streams I’ve tasted:

More deep I’ll drink above.’

(5) Affecting contrast between sickness from Christ’s love and surfeit from the pleasures of the world. The former followed with a still richer manifestation of that love, but with an enlarged capacity for its enjoyment. The latter succeeded by an eternal thirst, with nothing to allay it (Luk_16:19-25).

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

2:4 He escorts me to the banquet hall: Dropping the image of the apple tree, the woman now speaks of the man as her provider at a feast. • it’s obvious how much he loves me: Literally His banner over me is Love. He likes to tell others how much he loves her.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 4. He brought me to the banqueting house] Literally, the house of wine. The ancients preserved their wine, not in barrels or dark cellars under ground, as we do, but in large pitchers, ranged against the wall in some upper apartment in the house, the place where they kept their most precious effects. We have a proof of this in HOMER: -

Ως φαν· ὁ δ' ὑψοραφον θαλομον κατεβησατο πατρος

Ευρυν, ὁθι νητος χρυσος και χαλκος εκειτο,

Εσθης τ' εν χηλοισιν, ἁλις τ' ευωδες ελαιον.

Εν δε πιθοι οινοιο παλαιου ἡδυποτοιο

Εστασαν, ακρητον θειον ποτον εντος εχοντες,

Ἑξειης ποτε τοιχον αρηροτες· ειποτ' Οδυσσευς

Οικαδε νοστησειε, και αλγεα πολλα μογησας.

Κληΐσται δ' επεσαν σανιδες πυκινως αραρυιαι,

Δικλιδες· εν δε γυνη ταμιη νυκτας τε και ημαρ

Εσχ', κ. τ. λ.. Od. lib. ii., ver. 337.

Meantime the lofty rooms the prince surveys,

Where lay the treasures of th' Ithacian race.

Here, ruddy brass and gold refulgent blazed;

There, polished chests embroider'd vestures graced.

Here, pots of oil breathed forth a rich perfume;

There, jars of wine in rows adorn'd the dome.

(Pure flavorous wine, by gods in bounty given,

And worthy to exalt the feasts of heaven.)

Untouch'd they stood, till, his long labours o'er,

The great Ulysses reach'd his native shore.

A double strength of bars secured the gates;

Fast by the door wise Euryclea waits, &c.

POPE.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(4) Banqueting house.—Marg., house of wine; not the cellar of the palace, nor the banqueting hall of Solomon, nor the vineyard, but simply the place of the delights of love. The comparison of love with wine Is still in the thought. (Comp. Tennyson’s “The new strong wine of love.”)

And his banner . . .—i.e., “and there I felt the sweet sense of a tender protecting love.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love] Such expressions as ‘banqueting house’ and ‘his banner’ suggest a regal magnificence which could not belong to any kindness or hospitality which a rustic lover could shew to his loved one. But the first expression is simply house of wine, which has no such necessary association with splendour as ‘banqueting house.’ The name might, as far as we know, be applied to any place where wine was hospitably set forth for guests, and some plausibly suggest that it means here some tent in the vineyard where the watchers refreshed and rested themselves. On the other hand, it is quite possible that Beth-hayyayin may be a proper name (cp. Beth-hakkerem, ‘house of the vineyard,’ Jer_6:1). Bruston renders it so, and suggests that it is the name of the village, near the Shulammite’s village, where the shepherd lover dwelt. Others think that it is to be taken figuratively, as meaning that his love intoxicates her. The word translated ‘banner’ is deghel, and it was supposed to be used of the banner which preceded the tribes in their march through the wilderness. But this has been disputed on plausible grounds by Gray in The Jewish Quarterly Review, Oct. 1898, who thinks the word means ‘company’ in Num_2:3; Num_10:14. Cheyne, however, Jew. Quart. Rev., Jan. 1899, would retain ‘banner’ as a possible meaning of the word, and if we do so the meaning of the phrase may be, as Gesen. Thes. suggests, “I follow the banner of love which my friend bears before me as soldiers follow the military standard and never desert it.” If the ‘house of wine’ be taken figuratively, as the tree with its shadow and its fruit in the previous verse must be, this gives quite a satisfactory meaning. The Shulammite was brought by her lover to the place where the wine of love was dispensed, and the standard he bore aloft was love. The best parallel to our passage is given in Lane’s Arabic Dictionary s.v. ‘uqab, where a saying of Abu Dhu-eyb describing wine is quoted. “It has a banner which guides the generous, like as the military banner guides and attracts warriors.” This gives an exact parallel and makes the simile clear. The lover is the possessor of the only wine she cares for. Cp. Ben Jonson’s Song to Celia,

“Drink to me only with thine eyes,

And I will pledge with mine,

Or leave a kiss but in the cup

And I’ll not look for wine.”

She comes to him for the ‘drink divine’ which she desires, and the flag which draws her and is a sign that it is there is his love. It was the custom in Arabia for the wine seller to hoist a flag and keep it flying so long as he had any wine to sell, but it may be doubted whether there is any reference to such a custom here.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Cellar. This was not under ground. Homer (Odyssey b. 237.) places the wine near the nuptial bed. (Calmet) --- In me. Hebrew, "he brought me to the banquetting-house, and his banner over me was love." (Protestants) (Haydock) --- He has shewn me the greatest tenderness. Only the religion of Christ lays before us our duties to God, to ourselves, and neighbours. (Calmet) (St. Thomas Aquinas, [Summa Theologiae] ii. 2. q. 26.) (Haydock) --- The holy Spirit came on the assembled disciples, who were deemed to be drunk, and Christ nourishes the pious soul with the wine of his own blood. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Banqueting-house, Heb. house of wine, or, by a common synecdoche, of feasting. By which he understands the places in which, or the means and instruments by which, believers receive the graces and blessings of Christ, to wit, the Holy Scriptures, ministers, and public assemblies, and all Christ’s institutions.

His banner over me; or, to or towards me; by the lifting up or displaying whereof I was invited and encouraged to come in to him, and to list myself under him, as soldiers are by the lifting up of a banner or ensign, of which see Isa 11:10; 49:22.

Was love; the love of Christ crucified, which, like a banner, is displayed in the gospel, whereby sinners are drawn and engaged to come to Christ: see Joh 3:14; 12:32; 2Co 5:14. The motto or device of Christ’s banner was not like those of other great generals, a lion, or leopard, or eagle, but love, by which alone Christ made all his conquests.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. He brought me — Hebrew, He used to lead me to that home of gladness, that is, the shady bower where gladness dwelt. And his banner, etc. — Better, and shaded me with love.

Banqueting house — Better, house of wine; a Hebrew phrase for house of joy, or gladness. Such was the place of his companionship.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love; literally, to the house of the wine. Not, as some, "the house of the vines that is, the vineyard. The Hebrew word yayin corresponds with the Aethiopic wain, and has run through the Indo-European languages. The meaning is To the place where he royally entertains his friends. Hence the reference which immediately follows to the protection with which the king overshadows his beloved. He covers me there with his fear-inspiring, awful banner, love, which, because of its being love, is terrible to all enemies. The word which is used for "banner" (lgD) is from a root "to cover," that which covers the shaft or standard; the pannus, "the cloth," which is fastened to a shaft (cf. pennon). Her natural fear and bashfulness is overcome by the loving presence of the king, which covers her weakness like a banner. Some versions render it as an imperative. There can be no doubt of the meaning that the banner is the military banner, as the word is always so used. (see Psa_20:6 Num_1:52 Num_2:2) Perhaps there is a reference to the grandeur and military strength in which the young bride felt delight as she looked up at her young husband in his youthful beauty and manly vigour. The typical significance is very easily discovered. It would be straining it too much to see any allusion to the ritual of the Christian sacraments; but whether we think of the individual soul or of the people of God regarded collectively, such delight in the rich provisions of Divine love, and in the tender guardianship of the Saviour over those whom he has called to himself, belong to the simplest facts of believing experience.

Royal generosity.

The testimony of personal experience is specially valuable. We may argue from a priori data what generous love must reside in God, in order to harmonize with his perfection; and such a line of reasoning has its value. Or we may argue from analogy, that since fervent love stirs in the human breast, purer love and mightier glows an uncreated flame in the heart of God; and this form of argument leaves a comforting impression on the mind. But personal testimony has a tender force all its own. If God has dealt generously and graciously to one member of the human family, no more deserving than I am, it is evident that he will deal with equal generosity of love toward me. For he is impervious to change. If it brought him joy and renown to show practical love to fallen men centuries ago, it will contribute to his renown and to his joy of heart now. If it added to his glory to save a lost soul in Palestine, it will add to his glory to save me. One deed of the heavenly King is a sample of all his deeds. Ex uno, omnia disce.

I THE ROYAL GRACE OF CHRIST PROVIDES A BANQUET OF GOOD. It is everywhere a mark of friendship if a king invites a man to a banquet; and, through every part of Scripture, God represents himself as providing for penitent men a "feast of fat things." Resentment and vindictiveness towards his frail creatures are things not to be thought of; they are sentiments familiar in hell, but unknown in heaven.

1. Here is the idea that hunger is satisfied. At a banquet the primal want of the body is met. And there is no hunger of the soul so widespread, so deep, as the craving for reconciliation with God the craving for pardon. What bread is to the bodily appetite, God"s mercy is to the convicted soul; it is "the one thing needful." Well, God has provided this gift in no stinted fashion. It does not come to us as a bare measure, just enough to meet the case. It is a banquet; it is supplied in sumptuous abundance. Nor is it pardon alone that the heavenly King supplies. It is a banquet of all kinds of substantial good; luxuries gathered from far and near. Wisdom, mercy, righteousness, sonship, hope, victory, eternal life, are some of the viands spread. The Son of God "has given himself for us." And ever and anon we hear the voice of the King himself, "He that cometh to me shall never hunger; he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

2. Here is also the idea of renewed friendship. To eat together is an act of friendship. It is a seal impressed in public that a covenant of friendship exists. To have our several bodies nourished from the same meal, from the same loaf, is a beautiful bond of attachment. It was an aggravation of Iscariot"s sin, that "he who had eaten bread with Jesus had lifted up the heel against him." If the king invites us to a banquet, it means that he finds a pleasure in our society; he wishes to draw closer the ties of sacred intimacy. Thus Jesus acts. He wants to come into closer fellowship with us. He calls us, not servants, but friends. He undertakes to be our Surety, our Advocate with the Father. He will keep nothing from us, not even his throne. Other friendships may languish; the friendship of Jesus shall eternally abide. From his love nothing shall separate us.

3. Here is the idea of exuberant joy. A banquet is not spread, and lavishly embellished with beauty, simply to allay bodily hunger. It is a royal device for promoting joy. And he, who has given to us a great capacity for joy, intends to fill that capacity to the very brim. If there are occasions on earth when joy flows in upon us like a rising tide, these are only prophetic moments of the ineffable and eternal joy of heaven. Desire gratified this is joy; effort successful this is joy; hope realized this is joy; development complete this is joy. To be with God, to be like God, this is noontide gladness; this is the "fulness of joy.

II THE ROYAL GRACE OF CHRIST USES GENTLE CONSTRAINTS. "He brought me into his banquet house." A man"s worst enemy is usually himself. He cannot persuade himself that such generous love is intended for him. Others may perhaps be invited, but not he. Nor does he see that this unbelief is a fresh act of sin. If I discredit a person"s word, I may do him a great injustice. If I doubt the promise of a friend, it is an insult. And if I question the faithfulness of my King, I give him pain.

1. He sometimes uses the rough messenger of affliction to bring us to his banquet hall. Many a pardoned man will say with David, "Before I was afflicted I went astray." Saul"s blindness made him sensible of Christ"s nearness. The peril of Jonah taught him to say, "Salvation is of the Lord." When Manasseh was in affliction he sought unto Jehovah. In times of earthly prosperity men are often self-sufficient; they have all that heart can wish; they have no sense of soul hunger. But when argosies are wrecked, or harvests fail, or death sweeps, with black pinions, through the house, then they discover their impotence, and long for the heavenly supply. Often has a pitiless storm driven despairing men to the Refuge on Calvary; often has affliction, in some form, been the messenger employed to bring men to the gospel feast.

2. Sometimes Christ uses his gospel heralds to bring men in. Our heavenly Friend has seen fit to employ renewed men, though imperfect, to persuade the prodigals to return. He does not so employ the angel bands. Pardoned men know what are the burdens of sin, and what are the seductions of the tempter. Pardoned men have tender sympathies for their fallen fellows. And pardoned men know by experience the joy of acceptance; the blessedness of God"s friendship contrasted with his frown. Cleansed and consecrated men are specially fitted to bring sinners to Christ"s banquet. Thus Jesus has brought many.

3. His own Spirit, the Comforter, is the great Agent in filling the banquet hall. Said Jesus, prior to his crucifixion, "He shall testify of me;" "He shall take of mine, and show it unto you." To him belongs the prerogative of enlightening the mind, arousing the torpid conscience, convicting of sin, and quickening into life dead souls. He "strives" with the opposition of a rebellious will. By his Divine anointing, men are empowered to use the arts of heavenly Persuasiveness. Jesus, the soul"s Bridegroom, has furnished the sumptuous banquet; now it is the mission of the Holy Spirit to persuade the perishing to come. Have we not heard his "still small voice within us, imploring us to accept the generous offers of a Saviour"s grace? Have we not put off his pleadings again and again with the promise that we would before long come? And has not our promise been as often violated? Thrice happy is the man who can say, "He has conquered." "He brought me into his banquet house.

III THE ROYAL GRACE OF CHRIST VOUCHSAFES NEW TOKENS OF AFFECTION. "The device on his banner is love." The beginning and middle and end of the banquet is love. This is the solution of every problem. Whence originated the feast? In love. Why are the guests rebellious and fallen men? Love! What methods are employed to induce them to come? Love? What end is contemplated in the feast? Love? On every banneret the symbol is love.

1. This banner implies triumph. It was the banner which, our great Champion carried in the war. If we are at the banquet table, we have been captivated by Immanuel"s love. This love pursued us in our wanderings, convinced us of our folly, bore with us patiently, sweetly induced us to lay down our arms and to submit. We were softened and subdued by love. Now "we love him, because he first loved us.

2. This banner means devotement. We adopt it as our own. We have sworn to serve our Master under this peaceful banner. At the banquet we enlist ourselves on the side of the righteous King. Constrained by love, we freely devote to him all we have, all we are. We must be trained and disciplined for this noble warfare in the school of love. The love that has conquered us shall, through us, conquer others. Love is the heavenly steel from which we fashion all our weapons. Love moulds and inspires our life. "The banner over us is love.

3. This banner means security. If I am the object of Immanuel"s love, I am safe; no harm can befall me. The brood under the wing of the parent hen cannot be pierced by foeman"s arrow, unless that arrow pierce the parent"s wing; so the blow which falls on me must strike my Protector first. Whatever apparent evil fall upon me, it is by the permission of infinite love; therefore is only apparent. It is simply disguised blessing; a sweet kernel in a rough shell. If over me floats the banner of Immanuel"s love, I have charmed life. Every foe, visible and invisible, is disarmed. "And so, beside the silent sea, I wait the muffled oar; Assured no harm can come to me, On ocean or on shore. D.

The banquet of love.

Both in the Old Testament and in the New the blessings of the gospel are set forth, by anticipation or in reality, under the image of a feast. The composite nature of man gives point and effectiveness to this metaphorical language. The soul is led by the Saviour into his banqueting house, where hunger is satisfied, and where the provisions of bounty and of love are partaken and enjoyed.

I IT IS CHRIST WHO BRINGS THE SOUL TO HIMSELF. He does not wait for the needy and poverty-stricken spirit to find him and to come to him. He came in pity to seek and to save. And as when he was upon earth Jesus sought out many a sinner, many a sufferer, so does he still and ever, in the exercise of his Divine compassion, lay his hand upon needy outcasts, and lead them into his banqueting house.

II IT IS CHRIST WHO PROVIDES FOR THE SOUL A BOUNTIFUL ENTERTAINMENT. It is not merely bread for the hungry that the gospel offers; it is, in the language of Scripture, a "feast of fat things." Salvation means something more than deliverance from destitution. God comes to us in Christ, saying, "All things are yours." The beggar may be relieved at the gate; but the guest is welcomed to the banquet hall, and has his place assigned him at the board of the Divine and blessed Host himself, he whom Christ leads to his own fellowship shall not want any good thing; wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, all are assured to him.

III IT IS CHRIST WHO REVEALS TO THE SOUL THE MYSTERY OF DIVINE LOVE. The banner or standard is the sign of the presence of the king or the commander. Even over the "house of wine" there floated the symbol of the royal bridegroom. Thus for the soul that Christ finds and leads, that Christ supplies from the stores of his spiritual bounty, is there an assurance that the King himself keeps guard over its safety. There is the pledge, not only of the king"s faithfulness, but of the bridegroom"s love. The soul may feast in security and peace, may enjoy the companionship of Christ"s friends; for high over the banqueting house floats the banner, which is the emblem of a Divine presence, and the earnest of an unchanging, an eternal love. T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Banquetting house - The places in which believers receive the graces and blessings of Christ. His banner - By the lifting up whereof I was invited to come to him, and to list myself under him. Love - The love of Christ crucified, which, like a banner, is displayed in the gospel.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

He brought me to the banquet hall The Tent of Meeting, where the details and the explanations of the Torah were given.

and his attraction to me [was symbolic of his] love And his gathering, that he gathered me to him, that was love to me. I still remember his love. וְדִגְלוֹ is attrait in French.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.