Song of Solomon 5:7

7 The keepers that compassed the city found me; they smote me, and wounded me; the keepers of [the] walls took away my mantle. (But the guards, who went around the city, found me; and they struck me, and wounded me; yea, the guards on the walls took away my cloak.)

Song of Solomon 5:7 Meaning and Commentary

Song of Solomon 5:7

The watchmen that went about the city, found me
Of the city and the watchmen in it, and of their finding the church, (See Gill on Song of Solomon 3:2); (See Gill on Song of Solomon 3:3);

they smote me, they wounded me;
taking her for a night walker, they gave her ill words and hard blows this was not very becoming watchmen to use those of the city in this manner; for, as Plato ^F12 says, keepers of cities should be mild and gentle towards their own, but to enemies rough and severe: if these were true ministers of Christ, this they did by reproaching her for and upbraiding her with her lukewarmness and unkindness to Christ, sharply reproving her for them; and, instead of comforting her with the doctrines of grace, cut and wounded her with the terrors of the law; or else hearing some sweet discourses from them concerning the person and grace of Christ, her heart was smitten and wounded therewith; and hence she charges the daughters of Jerusalem, in ( Song of Solomon 5:8 ) , that if they found her beloved, that they would tell him, that she was "sick of" or "wounded with love": but as they rather appear to be false teachers, since the church would have shunned them, nor did she make any application to them, nor any inquiry of them about her beloved, and met with cruel and unkind usage from them, they may be said to smite and wounded her by their false doctrines and scandalous lives, by the divisions they made, and by the censures and reproaches they cast upon her, the odious names they gave her, and by stirring up the civil magistrates against her; all which agree with antichristian ministers;

the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me;
there were two sorts of watchmen in a city, one that went about to see that all was right and safe within; and others placed on the walls of it, who kept their stand, and whose business it was to give notice of an enemy approaching, and to defend the city from outward attacks upon it; and such are the ministers of the word, ( Isaiah 62:6 ) ; but here false teachers are meant as before, as appears from their abuse of the church, taking away her veil from her, such as women wore for ornament, or as a sign of modesty or as a token of subjection to their husbands, ( Isaiah 3:23 ) ( Genesis 24:65 ) ( 1 Corinthians 11:6-10 ) ; and may here design either their falsely accusing her good conduct, which was her outward covering; or their attempt to take away from her the doctrine of Christ's imputed righteousness, which is her covering, the wedding garment, the nuptial robe, as Gregory Nyssene ^F13 calls the veil here: and such a veil was given by the bridegroom with the Romans, and was called "flammeum", from its being of a flame colour ^F14, either yellow or red, expressive of the blushing modesty of the newly married bride ^F15; and the like custom might obtain with the Jews.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 De Legibus, l. 2. p. 602.
F13 Homil. 12. in Cant. p. 651.
F14 "Non timidum nuptae leviter tinctura padorem, lutea demissos velarunt flammea vultus", Lucan. Pharsal. l. 2. v. 360, 361. Vid. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 21. c. 8. "Uti tibi corycio glomerarem flammea luto", Virgil. Cyris. Vid. Barthii ad Claudian. Fescen. Ode 4. v. 4.
F15 Vid. Chartarium de Imag. Deorurn, p. 84, 89. & Kipping. Antiqu. Roman. l. 4. c. 2. p. 693, 694.

Song of Solomon 5:7 In-Context

5 I rose, for to open to my darling; mine hands dropped myrrh, and my fingers were full of myrrh most proved. (I rose, to open the door for my darling; my hands dripped with myrrh, yea, my fingers were covered with the best myrrh.)

6 I opened the wicket of my door to my darling; and he had bowed away, and had passed forth. My soul was melted, as the darling spake; I sought, and I found not him; I called, and he answered not to me. (And I opened my door for my darling; but he had turned away, yea, he had gone forth. My soul had melted, as my darling had spoken; and now I sought him, but I could not find him; I called to him, but he did not answer me.)

7 The keepers that compassed the city found me; they smote me, and wounded me; the keepers of [the] walls took away my mantle. (But the guards, who went around the city, found me; and they struck me, and wounded me; yea, the guards on the walls took away my cloak.)

8 Ye daughters of Jerusalem, I beseech you by an holy thing, (that) if ye have found my darling, that ye tell to him, that I am sick for love. (Ye daughters of Jerusalem, I plead with you by a thing most holy, that if ye find my darling, that ye tell him, that I am weak, or that I faint, because of love.)

9 A! thou fairest of women, of what manner condition is thy darling of the beloved? of what manner condition is thy darling of a darling? for thou hast so besought us by an holy thing. (O! thou most beautiful of women, of what manner condition is thy darling more than any other beloved? of what manner condition is thy darling more than any other darling? for thou hast so besought us by such a holy thing.)