Song of Songs 4:9

9 My sister, spouse, thou hast ravished my heart; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck.

Song of Songs 4:9 Meaning and Commentary

Song of Solomon 4:9

Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, [my] spouse
Here another new title is given to the church, "my sister", with the repetition of the former, my "spouse": for one and the same person, with the Hebrews, might be sister and spouse; see ( 1 Corinthians 9:5 ) . And this may be used in a love strain, and so not improper in a love poem, as this was ^F7; see ( Song of Solomon 8:8 ) ; likewise the church may be called Christ's sister, because of his incarnation, in virtue of which he is not ashamed to call his people his brethren, and so his sisters, ( Hebrews 2:11 ) ; and on account of their adoption; in which respect, he that is Christ's Father is theirs; and which is evidenced in regeneration; when they, through grace, do the will of his Father, and so are his brother, and sister, and mother, ( Matthew 12:50 ) . And, upon the whole, it is used to express the great affection of Christ for the church, and his high esteem of her; and which appears by his saying, "thou hast ravished my heart"; which is but one word in the Hebrew text, and nowhere else used, and is variously rendered: the Vulgate Latin version is, "thou hast wounded my heart" ^F8: with one of love's darts, ( Song of Solomon 2:5 ) ; "thou hast drawn my heart unto thee", so some Jewish writers ^F9; which is surprising, since no love nor loveliness are in her of herself; this shows how free and unmerited the love of Christ is; according to the use of the word with the Talmudists ^F11, the sense is, "thou hast coupled mine heart with thine"; the heart of Christ and his church are so closely knit and joined together in love, that they are but one heart, and can never be separated: others, "thou hast seized my heart"; or, "claimed it for thyself" ^F12; thou art master over it; it is no more mine, but thine The Septuagint version is, "thou hast unhearted us"; Father, Son, and Spirit; particularly the second Person: or thou hast stolen away my heart; I have no heart left in me; which, as it is the case through fear, is sometimes through love: this sense is approved by Aben Ezra. Some render it just the reverse, "thou hast heartened me" ^F13; put heart into me, animated me, made me of good cheer; so the word is used in the Syriac version of ( Matthew 9:2 ) ( 1 Thessalonians 5:14 ) . The sense may be, that such was the love of Christ to his church, and so much was he charmed by her, that the thought of his having her company in heaven to all eternity animated him to endure all sufferings he did for her sake, ( Hebrews 12:2 ) ; The Targum is,

``thy love is fixed upon the table of my heart;''

where the church herself was fixed, ( Song of Solomon 8:6 ) ; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes;
the allusion may be to the custom of the eastern women; who, when they walked abroad or spoke to any, showed but one eye, the other, with the rest of the face, being covered with a veil ^F14: the eyes of women are ensnaring to lovers ^F15; the church has more eyes than one. Mention is made of the eyes of the understanding, ( Ephesians 1:18 ) ; faith is one of them, and may he here chiefly intended; by which a soul looks on Christ, the glories of his person, and the fulness of his grace; and looks so him for the blessings of grace now, and eternal glory hereafter: and with this Christ's heart is ravished; even with "one look" from it, or "glance" of it, as some ^F16 render it; with one chain of thy neck;
with the several graces of the Spirit, linked together as in a chain; which were about the neck of the church, and as ornamental to her as a pearl necklace, ( Song of Solomon 1:10 ) ; and with every link in this chain Christ's heart is ravished and delighted. The Vulgate Latin version is, "with one lock of hair of thy neck": which hung down in it, and looked very beautiful; and with which lovers are sometimes taken ^F17.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 "Sive tibi conjux, sive futura soror", Tibullus.
F8 (yntbbl) "vulnerasti cor meum", V. L. so Ben Melech; and Kimchi Sepher Shorash. rad. (bbl) .
F9 Jarchi, David de Pomis, Lexic fol. 69. 3.
F11 "Cor copulasti mihi", Buxtorf. Hottinger. Smegma, p. 164. Vid. Misn. Sabbat, c. 5. s. 2.
F12 "Occupasti", Lutherus, Marckius; "vendicasti", Tigurine version.
F13 "Animasti me", Cocceius, Schmidt.
F14 Tertuilian. de. Virg. Veland. c. 17. Le Bruyn's Voyage to the Levant, ch. 40. p. 157.
F15 See Prov. vi. 25. So the poet says of Helena, (tav pantev ep') (ommasin imeroi enti) , Theocrit. Idyll. 18. "Perque tuos oculos qui rapuere meos", Ovid. Amor. l. 3, Eleg. 10. Vid. Barthii ad Claudian. Nupt. Honor. v. 6.
F16 (Kynyem dxab) "uno aspecto oculorum tuorum", Junius & Tremellius, so Ainsworth.
F17 (lipara par' aucena seiet' eyeira) , Theocrit. Idyll. 5.

Song of Songs 4:9 In-Context

7 Thou art all fair, my companion, and there is no spot in thee.

8 Come from Libanus, bride, come from Libanus: thou shalt come and pass from the top of Faith, from the top of Sanir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards.

9 My sister, spouse, thou hast ravished my heart; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck.

10 How beautiful are thy breasts, my sister, my spouse! how much more beautiful are thy breasts than wine, and the smell of thy garments than all spices!

11 Thy lips drop honeycomb, my spouse: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is as the smell of Libanus.