Chapter 2

2:2  As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

so is

How poor are the similes of the bride as compared with those of the Bridegroom. To Him she is a "lily among thorns; she can only say that He is "as the apple tree among the trees of the wood."

2:9  My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.

our wall

"Our wall." The bride had returned to her own home: the Bridegroom seeks her.

2:14  O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.

dove

There is beautiful order here. First we have what the bride is as seen in Christ, "My dove." In herself most faulty; in Him "blameless and harmless" Philippians 2:15 the very character of the dove. The bride's place of safety, "in the clefts of the rock"--hidden, so to speak, in the wounds of Christ. Thirdly, her privilege. "Stairs" speaks of access. It is not "secret places," as in A.V., but "the secret of the stairs"--the way and privilege of access to His presence ; Ephesians 2:18 ; Colossians 3:1 ; Hebrews 10:19-22 . Fourthly, the order of approach: she is to come near before she speaks, "Let me see thy countenance," then "Let me hear thy voice." Lastly, now that she is near and has spoken, He speaks a tender word of admonition: "Take us the foxes," etc.