Prologue

Commentary on the Song of Songs — Prologue

PROLOGUE

[opening (Migne coll. 61–62, absent from the PG 13 scan) supplied from Baehrens GCS 33]

This little book is an epithalamium, that is, a wedding-song, and it seems to me to have been written by Solomon in the manner of a drama, which he sang after the likeness of a bride about to be wed and burning with heavenly love toward her bridegroom, who is the Word of God. For she has fallen deeply in love with him — whether it be the soul, which was made after his image, or the Church. But what words this magnificent and perfect bridegroom himself has used toward the soul or the Church joined to him, this same Scripture teaches us. What the young maidens, the companions of the bride, have said as well, standing together with the bride herself, and likewise what the friends and companions of the bridegroom have said, we learn nonetheless from the same book, which is entitled the Song of Songs. For the opportunity was given even to the friends of the bridegroom themselves to say certain things — those things, at least, which they had heard from the bridegroom himself, rejoicing over his union with the bride. A discourse is therefore made by the bride herself, not only to the bridegroom but also to the maidens; and again the discourse of the bridegroom is directed not only to the bride, but also to the friends of the bridegroom. And this is what we said above, that the wedding-song was written in the manner of a drama. For a thing is called a drama when a story is enacted upon the stage, as it is wont to be, where different characters are introduced; and, as some come on and others in turn go off, the text of the narrative is completed by different persons speaking to different persons. Each of these things this Scripture contains in its own order, and its whole body is formed of mystical utterances. But first we ought to know that, just as a childish age is not moved to passible love, so neither is the little and infant age of the inner man admitted to grasp these words — the age, that is, of those who are nourished in Christ with milk, not with strong food, and who now for the first time long for the reasonable milk that is without guile. For in the words of the Song of Songs there is that food of which the Apostle speaks: "But solid food belongs to the perfect"; and it requires such hearers as, according to their capacity for receiving it, have their senses exercised for the discernment of good and evil. And indeed the little ones whom we have mentioned, if they should come to these passages, it may be that they will gain nothing from this Scripture, yet neither will they be greatly harmed, whether in reading the very things that are written, or in reviewing the things that are to be said for their explanation. But if anyone should approach who is a man only according to the flesh, to such a one no small danger and peril will arise from this Scripture. For, not knowing how to hear the names of love with pure and chaste ears, he will turn every hearing away from the inner man to the outer and carnal man, and will be turned from the spirit to the flesh, and will nourish carnal desires in himself, and by occasion of the divine Scripture he will seem to be stirred and incited to the lust of the flesh. For this reason, therefore, I give warning and counsel to everyone who is not yet free from the troubles of flesh and blood, and who does not withdraw from the affection of material nature, that he abstain wholly from the reading of this little book and of the things that are said in it. For they say that among the Hebrews this too is observed: that unless a man has arrived at a perfect and mature age, he is not even permitted to hold this little book in his hands. And we have received from them that this also is kept: since it is their custom that all the Scriptures be handed down to boys by their teachers and by their sages, together with those which they call deuteroseis, these four things are reserved to the last — that is, the beginning of Genesis, in which the creation of the world is described; and the beginnings of the prophet Ezekiel, in which the account of the cherubim is given, and the end, in which the building of the temple is contained; and this book of the Song of Songs. Therefore it seems necessary to me, before we come to examine the things written in this little book, first to discourse briefly about love itself, which is the chief cause of its writing; and after these things, about the order of Solomon's books, among which this book seems to be placed in the third position; then also about the title of the little book itself, why it is inscribed the Song of Songs; and further, how it seems to be composed in the manner of a drama and as a play upon the stage, of the kind that is wont to be enacted by the changing of characters.

Among the Greeks, indeed, very many learned men, wishing to track down the pursuit of truth, put forth many and varied writings concerning the nature of love, even in the style of dialogues, attempting to show that the power of love is nothing other than that which leads the soul up from the earth to the lofty heights of heaven, and that one cannot arrive at the highest blessedness except when the desire of love provides the impulse. Moreover, questions on this matter are reported to have been proposed as it were at banquets—among those, I suppose, among whom a banquet not of foods but of words was being held. Others, too, left behind writings on certain arts by which this love might seem able to be engendered or increased in the soul. But carnal men have dragged these arts down to vicious desires and to the mysteries of a blameworthy love. Let it be no wonder, then, if among us also—where the more numerous the simple appear, the more numerous also the unskilled—we have called a discussion on the nature of love difficult and close to danger; since even among the Greeks who seem learned and wise there have nevertheless been some who did not receive these things as they are written, but, taking occasion from what has been said about love, plunged into the lapses of the flesh and into the precipices of unchastity, either taking certain admonitions and incitements from those things that had been written, as we mentioned above, or setting forth the writings of the ancients as a cloak for their own incontinence. Therefore, lest we too fall into anything of this kind, perceiving in a vicious and carnal manner those things that were written well and spiritually by the ancients, let us stretch out to God the palms both of our body and of our soul, that the Lord who gave the word to those who preach the gospel with much power may grant to us also, in his power, the word by which we may be able to show, from those things that have been written, an understanding that is sound and fitted to the edification of chastity, whether regarding the very name or the nature of love.

At the beginning of the words of Moses, where the constitution of the world is recorded, we find that two men are said to have been created. The first was made according to the image and likeness of God, the second was formed from the mud of the earth. The apostle Paul, knowing this well and being clearly instructed in these matters, wrote in his letters more openly and evidently that there are two men in each and every person. For he said thus: "For though our man who is outside is corrupted, yet the one who is within is renewed day by day." And again: "For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man," and how many other things like these does he write? Hence I think that no one ought now to doubt that Moses wrote in the beginning of Genesis concerning the making or fashioning of two men, since he sees that Paul, who certainly understood better than we do the things written by Moses, says that there are two men in each and every person. Of these he records that one, that is the inner man, is renewed day by day; but the other, that is the outer man, he declares to be corrupted and weakened in certain saints and men such as Paul was. But if it should seem to anyone that something must still be doubted about this, it will be better explained in its proper places. Now, however, let us pursue the reason for which we have made mention of the inner and outer man. For from these things we wish to show that in the divine Scriptures, through homonyms — that is, through similar appellations, or rather through the very same terms — both the members of the outer man and the parts and affections of that inner man are named, and that these are compared with one another not only in terms but in the very realities themselves. For example, someone is a boy in age according to the outer man, who can grow and be brought to the age of a young man, and thence, by successive increases, arrive at the perfect man and become a father. But we have wished to use these names so that we might set down terms consonant with the divine Scripture, namely with that which was written by John. For he says: "I have written to you, boys, because you have known the Father; I have written to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning; I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one." It is certainly evident, and I think it is doubted by no one at all, that John here calls them boys or adolescents or young men, or even fathers, according to the age of the soul, not according to the age of the body. But Paul too says in a certain place: "I could not speak to you as to spiritual, but as to carnal; as to little ones in Christ I gave you milk to drink, not solid food." A little one in Christ is without doubt so named according to the soul, not according to the age of the flesh. Finally, this same Paul also says in another place: "When I was a little one, I spoke as a little one, I was wise as a little one, I thought as a little one. But when I became a man, I destroyed the things that were of a little one." And again elsewhere he says: "Until we all meet into the perfect man, into the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ." For he knows that all who believe will meet into the perfect man, and into the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ. Therefore, just as these names of ages which we have mentioned are ascribed by the same terms both to the outer man and to the inner, so also you will find that the names of the bodily members are transferred to the members of the soul — or rather, these are to be called the operations and affections of the soul. It is said, then, in Ecclesiastes: "The eyes of the wise man are in his head." Likewise in the Gospel: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Also in the prophets: "The word of the Lord which came by the hand of the prophet Jeremiah," or of any other. Similar too is that which he says: "But your foot did not stumble." And again: "But my feet were moved a little." Evidently also the belly of the soul is designated where it is said: "Lord, from fear of you we have conceived in the womb." For who would doubt of it, when it is said: "Their throat is an open sepulcher"? And again: "Cast down, O Lord, and divide their tongues." But also that which is written: "You have broken the teeth of sinners." And again: "Break the arm of the sinner and of the malignant one." And what need is there for me to gather more of these, since the divine Scriptures are filled with most abundant testimonies? From these it is evidently shown that these names of members can by no means be fitted to the visible body, but must be referred to the part and powers of the invisible soul; for although they indeed have similar terms, yet they openly and without any ambiguity carry the significations not of the outer but of the inner man. There is, therefore, for this material man, who is also called the outer, food and drink akin to his own nature — that corporeal and earthly food, namely. And likewise for the spiritual man himself, who is also called the inner, there is his own proper food, such as that living bread which came down from heaven. But there is also that drink from that water which Jesus promises, saying: "Whoever shall drink of this water which I give him shall not thirst forever." Thus, therefore, throughout all things a similarity of terms is set down according to each man, but the property of the realities is kept distinct for each, and to the corruptible corruptible things are furnished, but to the incorruptible incorruptible things are set forth. Hence it comes about that certain simpler people, not knowing how to distinguish and separate what things in the divine Scriptures are to be assigned to the inner man and what to the outer, deceived by the similarities of terms, have betaken themselves to certain foolish fables and empty fabrications; so that they even believed that after the resurrection corporeal foods must be used, and drink taken not only from the true vine that lives unto the ages, but also from these vines and the fruits of the wood. But of these things we shall see elsewhere.

Now therefore, as we distinguished in the preceding observation, there is indeed, according to the inner man, one kind of person without children and barren, but another abounding in children. In accordance with this we also note that saying: "The barren has borne seven, and she who was fruitful in children has grown weak." And as it is said among the blessings: "There shall not be among you one without children nor a barren woman." Therefore, if these things are so, just as there is said to be a certain carnal love, which the poets have also called Cupid, according to which he who loves sows in the flesh; so also there is a certain spiritual love, according to which that inner man who loves sows in the spirit. And to say it more plainly, if there is anyone who still bears the image of the earthly according to the outer man, he is driven by an earthly desire and love. But he who bears the image of the heavenly according to the inner man is driven by a heavenly desire and love. And the soul is driven by heavenly love and desire when, having beheld the beauty and comeliness of the Word of God, it has fallen in love with His splendor, and has received from Him a certain dart and wound of love. For this Word is the image, and the brightness of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, in whom were created all things that are in the heavens, and that are on the earth, whether visible or invisible. Therefore, if anyone can with a capacious mind conceive and consider the beauty and comeliness of all these things which were created in Him, being struck by the very loveliness of things and pierced by the magnificence of their splendor as by a chosen arrow, as the prophet says, he will receive from Him a saving wound, and will burn with the blessed fire of His love. It is fitting also for us to know this: that just as an unlawful love and one contrary to law can befall the outer man — for example, that he should love not a betrothed nor a wife, but either a harlot or an adulteress — so also there can befall the inner man, that is, the soul, a love directed not toward the lawful bridegroom whom we have said to be the Word of God, but toward some adulterer and corrupter. This the prophet Ezekiel plainly declares under this same figure, where he introduces Oholah and Oholibah under the guise of Samaria and Jerusalem, corrupted by an adulterous love, as the passage itself of the prophetic Scripture shows to those willing to know more fully. But this spiritual love of the soul is kindled sometimes indeed, as we have taught, toward certain spirits of wickedness, and sometimes toward the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, who is the faithful bridegroom and is called the husband of the learned soul, whose bride she herself is named especially in this Scripture which is here in hand, as we shall show more fully, the Lord granting it, when we begin to explain the words of the little book itself.

Now it seems to me that divine Scripture, wishing to guard against any stumbling arising among its readers under the name of love, has for the sake of the weaker sort designated by the more respectable term "charity" or "affection" (dilectio) that which among the wise of this world is called desire (cupido) or love (amor). For example, when it says of Isaac: "And he took Rebecca, and she became his wife, and he loved her." And again of Jacob and Rachel Scripture likewise says: "Now Rachel was fair in her eyes and beautiful in appearance, and Jacob loved Rachel, and said: I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter." But this changed use of the word appears more evidently in the case of Amnon, who fell in love with his sister Tamar. For it is written: "And it came to pass after these things, that Absalom the son of David had a sister very beautiful of countenance, and her name was Tamar, and Amnon the son of David loved her." Here "loved" is put for "fell in love with." "And Amnon was so troubled," it says, "that he fell sick on account of Tamar his sister: for she was a virgin, and it seemed hard in the eyes of Amnon to do anything to her." And a little later, concerning the violence which Amnon inflicted upon Tamar his sister, Scripture speaks thus: "And Amnon would not hearken to her voice, but prevailed over her, and humbled her, and lay with her, and Amnon hated her with an exceeding great hatred: for the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her." And so both in these passages, and in many other places, you will find that divine Scripture has shunned the word "love" (amor) and has put "charity" and "affection" (dilectio) instead. Sometimes, though rarely, it does name love by its proper word, and it invites and incites souls toward it, as when it says in Proverbs concerning wisdom: "Love her, and she will keep you; surround her, and she will exalt you; honor her, and she will embrace you." But also in that little book which is called the Wisdom of Solomon, it is written thus concerning wisdom itself: "I became a lover of her beauty." And I think that only where no occasion of stumbling seemed to appear did it insert the very name of love. For what passion, or what unseemliness, could anyone discern in the love of wisdom, or in one who professes himself to be a lover of wisdom? For if it had said that Isaac fell in love with Rebecca, or Jacob with Rachel, some unseemly passion might well have been understood through these words with regard to the holy men of God, especially among those who do not know how to ascend from the letter to the spirit. But most plainly, in this very little book which is now in hand, the name of love has been exchanged for the word "charity," in the place where it says: "I have adjured you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my kinsman, that you tell him that I am wounded with charity"; whereas it might indeed have said: "I am struck by the dart of his love." Therefore it makes no difference in the divine Scriptures whether it be called charity, or love, or affection, except that the name of charity is exalted to such a degree that even God himself is called charity, as John said: "Beloved, let us love one another, for charity is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God, and knows God; but he who does not love does not know God, for God is charity." And although it belongs to another occasion to say something about those things which we have brought forward from John's Epistle by way of example, nevertheless it has not seemed absurd to touch briefly upon a few points. "Let us love one another," he says, "for charity is of God"; and a little later: "God is charity." In this he shows both that God himself is charity, and again that he who is of God is charity. But who is of God, except that one who says: "I came forth from God, and came into this world"? But if God the Father is charity, and the Son is charity; and the charity of the Father and the charity of the Son are one thing, not one person; then consequently the Father and the Son are rightly said to be one. And therefore Christ is fittingly called charity, just as he is called wisdom, and power, and justice, and word, and truth. And therefore Scripture says that if charity remains in us, God remains in us. And God, that is, the Father and the Son, who also come to him who is perfect in charity, according to the word of the Lord and Savior who says: "I and the Father will come to him, and will make our abode with him." It must therefore be understood that this charity which is God, when it has been in anyone, loves nothing earthly, nothing material, nothing corruptible. For it is contrary to its nature to love anything corruptible, since it is itself the fount of incorruption. For it alone is that which has immortality: seeing that God is charity, who alone has immortality, dwelling in light inaccessible. But what else is immortality but eternal life, which God promises he will give to those who believe in him, the only true God, and in Jesus Christ his Son whom he sent? For this reason therefore, first of all and before all things, this is said to be lovable and pleasing to God: that one should love the Lord his God with his whole heart, and with his whole soul, and with all his strength. And because God is charity, and the Son who is of God is charity, he requires something like himself in us: so that through this charity which is in Christ Jesus, who is charity, we may be joined as it were by a certain kindred affinity through the name of charity; just as that man too, who was already joined to him, said: "Who shall separate us from the charity of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord?" Now this charity loves every man as a neighbor. For it was on this account that the Savior rebuked a certain man who supposed that a just soul does not keep the laws of kinship toward that soul which is entangled in iniquities: and for this reason he wove that parable which says that a certain man fell among robbers while he was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and he indeed blames the priest and the Levite, who, seeing the half-dead man, had passed by; but he embraces the Samaritan who showed mercy, and by his response he confirmed that this man had been neighbor to the very one who had posed the question, and said to him: "Go, and do you likewise." For indeed by nature we are all neighbors to one another. But by the works of charity that one becomes a neighbor who is able to do good to him who is not able. Whence also our Savior became a neighbor to us, and did not pass us by when we lay half-dead from the wounds of the robbers. Therefore it must be understood that the charity of God always tends toward God, from whom it drew its origin, and looks toward the neighbor, with whom it has entered into partnership, inasmuch as he too was created alike in incorruption. So then, whatever things have been written concerning charity, receive them as though said concerning love, caring nothing for the names. For the same power is displayed in both. But if anyone should say that we are also called to love money, a harlot, and other evil things likewise, by the same word which seems to be derived from charity: it must be understood that in these cases charity is named not properly but by abuse. Just as, for example, the name "God" is principally in him from whom are all things, and through whom are all things, and in whom are all things: which of course openly proclaims the power and nature of the threefold singularity. But in the second place, and, so to speak, by abuse, Scripture also calls "gods" those to whom the word of God comes, as the Savior confirms in the Gospels. But the heavenly powers too seem to be called by this name, when it is said: "God stood in the assembly of the gods, and in the midst he judges the gods." But in the third place, now not by abuse but falsely, the gods of the nations, the demons, are so called, when Scripture says: "All the gods of the nations are demons." And so the name of charity is first in God, on account of which we are commanded to love God with our whole heart, with our whole soul, and with all our strength, inasmuch as he is the one from whom we have this very thing, that we are able to love. In him without doubt it is already contained that we should love wisdom, and justice, and piety, and truth and all the virtues equally. For to love God and to love good things is one and the same. In the second place, by a name as it were derived from that one by abuse, we are also commanded to love our neighbor as ourselves. But the third is that which is falsely named under the title of charity: to love either money, or pleasures, or whatever pertains to corruption and error. It therefore makes no difference whether God be said to be loved (amari) or loved (diligi). Nor do I think that anyone can be blamed if, just as John names God charity, he himself should name him love. In short, I remember that a certain one of the saints, Ignatius by name, said concerning Christ: "But my love is crucified"; nor do I judge him worthy of reproach for this.

But it should be understood that everyone who loves either money, or the things in the world that belong to corruptible matter, drags down the power of charity which is from God to earthly and perishable things, and abuses the things of God for the ends that God does not will. For God did not give to human beings the love of these things, but the use of them. We have discussed these matters at somewhat greater length, wishing to distinguish more openly and more attentively concerning the nature of charity and love, lest perhaps — since Scripture says that God is charity — everything that is loved, even if it be corruptible, should be thought to be from God, and this be reckoned as charity and love. But it is shown that charity is indeed a thing of God, and his gift, yet it is not always taken up by human beings for those things which are God's, and which God wills to be his work. But this too must be understood, that it is impossible for human nature not always to love something. For everyone who has reached that age which they call puberty loves something, either less rightly, when he loves what he ought not, or rightly and usefully, when he loves what he ought. But some drag this affection of love, which is implanted in the rational soul by the Creator's benefaction, either toward the love of money and the pursuit of avarice, or toward the securing of glory, and they become greedy for empty glory; or toward the pursuit of harlots, and they are found captives of shamelessness and lust; or toward other things similar to these they pour out the power of so great a good. But even when this love is directed toward the various arts that are ministered by the hand, or is applied through the pursuits of the present life — not only the necessary ones, as, for example, to say, toward the art of wrestling, or the exercises of running, or indeed even toward geometry, or music, or arithmetic, and toward other disciplines of this kind — not even so does its use seem to me to be taken in a commendable way. For if that which is good is also commendable, and good in the proper sense is understood not in relation to bodily uses, but first in God and in the virtues of the soul, then it follows that the love is commendable which is fitted to God and to the virtues of the soul. And that this is so is shown by the very definition of the Savior, where, being asked by someone what was the greatest commandment of all, and the first in the law, he answered: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength." "And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." And he added: "On these two commandments the whole law hangs, and the prophets"; showing through these two that just and lawful love consists, and that on these the entire law and the prophets hang. But also that which he says: "You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness"; and if there be any other commandment, it is summed up anew in this word, in which he says: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" — which will be explained more easily in this manner.

Let us suppose, for the sake of argument, a woman burning with love for some man and longing to be received into partnership with him: will she not do everything in such a way, and so govern all her movements, that she may know how to please him whom she loves — lest perhaps, if she should do anything contrary to his will, that most excellent man should reject and spurn partnership with her? Will this woman, who is aflame toward the love of that man with her whole heart, her whole soul, and all her strength, be able to commit adultery, when she knows that he loves chastity? or murder, when she knows him to be gentle? or theft, when she knows that generosity pleases him? or will she covet what belongs to another, she who has all her own desires occupied with the love of that man? Thus, therefore, in the perfection of charity, every commandment is said to be renewed, and the force of the Law and the Prophets to hang. On account of this good of charity or of love, the saints are neither straitened in tribulation, nor in perplexity driven to despair, nor cast down and destroyed; but that which is present, momentary, and light in their tribulation works for them beyond measure an eternal weight of glory. For this present, momentary, and light tribulation is not spoken of for all, but for Paul and for those who are like him: because they have the perfect charity of God in Christ Jesus poured out in their heart through the Holy Spirit. So too, in the end, love of Rachel did not allow the patriarch Jacob, placed for seven continuous years amid labors, to feel the burning of the daytime heat and the nighttime cold. So I hear Paul himself, kindled in this love, saying: "Charity suffers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, charity never falls." There is nothing, therefore, which he who loves perfectly does not endure. But when we do not endure many things, it is certain that this is because we do not have the charity which endures all things. And if we do not bear certain things patiently, it is for this reason: that charity is lacking to us, which suffers all things. In the wrestling too which is ours against the devil, that we frequently fall, there is no doubt that this happens because there is not in us that charity which never falls. This love, therefore, the present Scripture speaks of, by which the blessed soul makes use of and is inflamed toward the Word of God; and it sings this wedding song through the spirit, by which the Church is joined and united to her heavenly bridegroom Christ, desiring to be mingled with him through the Word, that she may conceive from him, and may be able to be saved through this chaste generation of children, when they shall have remained in faith and holiness with sobriety: inasmuch as they are conceived from the seed indeed of the Word of God, but brought forth and begotten either by the immaculate Church, or by the soul that requires nothing corporeal, nothing material, but burns with the love of the Word of God alone. These things, for the present, could occur to us concerning love, or charity, which is treated of in this wedding song of the Song of Songs. But it must be known that there are as many things which ought to be said about this charity as about God: since he himself is charity. For just as no one knows the Father except the Son, and him to whom the Son shall will to reveal him, so no one knows his charity except the Son. And likewise the Son himself also — since he too is charity, and this charity is from God the Father — no one knows except the Father. Yet according to this, that God the Father himself is called charity, so also is the Son, who proceeds from the Father, and therefore knows the things that are in God, just as the spirit of man knows the things that are in man. But now the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, goes about seeking whether he may find any souls worthy and capable, to whom he may reveal the greatness of this charity which is from God. Now therefore, invoking God the Father himself, who is charity, let us through that charity which is from him come also to the discussion of what remains.

And let us first attempt to inquire concerning this: what is the reason that, whereas the Church of God has received three books written by Solomon, the first of them set down is the book of Proverbs, the second the one called Ecclesiastes, and in the third place is held the volume of the Song of Songs. The considerations, then, that can occur to us in this matter are these. The general branches of learning by which one arrives at the knowledge of things are three, which the Greeks called ethics, physics, and theoretics; these we may call moral, natural, and inspective (contemplative). Some among the Greeks, indeed, also placed logic in the fourth number, which we may call rational. Others said that it is not something external, but is woven and joined throughout the whole body by means of these three disciplines which we mentioned above. For logic — or, as we say, the rational — is that which seems to contain the principles of words and sayings, and their proprieties and improprieties, and to teach the genera and species and figures of each of the several sayings; and this discipline it is fitting not so much to separate as to insert and interweave with the others. But that is called moral through which an upright manner of living is fitted, and habits tending toward virtue are prepared. That is called natural in which the nature of each single thing is examined, so that nothing may be done in life contrary to nature, but each single thing may be assigned to those uses for which it was brought forth by the Creator. That is called inspective, by which, going beyond visible things, we contemplate something of divine and heavenly things, and behold these with the mind alone, since they surpass bodily sight. These, then, as it seems to me, the wise men among the Greeks, having taken them from Solomon — inasmuch as he, being far prior to them in age and time, had learned these things earlier through the Spirit of God — put forward as though they were their own discoveries, and, having comprised them in the volumes of their teachings, left them to be handed down to posterity. But these things, as we have said, Solomon discovered before all others, and taught them through the wisdom which he received from God, as it is written: "And God gave prudence to Solomon, and wisdom exceeding much, and breadth of heart like the sand which is on the shore of the sea; and wisdom was multiplied in him above all the ancient sons of men, and above all the wise men of Egypt." Solomon, therefore, wishing to distinguish and separate from one another these three which we have said above to be general disciplines — that is, the moral, the natural, and the inspective — set them forth in three little books, each of them also fitted in its own order consequently. First, then, in Proverbs he taught the moral part, composing the rules of life, as was fitting, in concise and brief maxims. But the second, which is called natural, he comprised in Ecclesiastes: in which, discoursing much concerning natural things, and separating the empty and vain from the useful and necessary, he admonishes that vanity is to be abandoned, and that the useful and right things are to be pursued. The inspective part also he handed down in this little book which is in our hands, that is, in the Song of Songs, in which he instills into the soul the love of heavenly and divine things under the figure of the bride and bridegroom, teaching that one must come to fellowship with God by the ways of charity and love. And that, in laying the foundations of true philosophy and in establishing the order of disciplines and instructions, the rational part was not hidden from him, nor cast aside by him, he evidently shows at the very beginning of his Proverbs. First of all, by this very fact, that he entitled his little book "Proverbs" — which name, of course, signifies that one thing is said openly, but another is indicated inwardly. For this both the common usage of proverbs teaches, and John in the Gospel writes that the Savior spoke thus, saying: "These things I have spoken to you in proverbs; the hour will come when I shall no longer speak to you in proverbs, but shall announce to you plainly concerning the Father." So much, then, in the very inscription of the title. But in what immediately follows he adds a discrimination of speech, distinguishes knowledge from wisdom, and instruction from wisdom, and sets down the understanding of words as something distinct, and says that prudence consists in this, that one may be able to detect the subtlety of words. He also distinguishes true justice from the direction of judgment; and he even names a certain shrewdness as necessary for those whom he instructs — that, I believe, through which the craftiness of sophisms may be understood and avoided. And therefore he says that to the innocent shrewdness is given through wisdom, doubtless lest they be deceived in the word of God by sophistic fraud. But in this he seems to me to make mention of the rational discipline, through which the significations of words and sayings are discerned, and the proper meaning of each utterance is distinguished with sure reasoning. In which it is especially fitting that boys be trained. For this he urges, when he says: "That he may give to the younger boy sense and reflection." And because he who is trained in these things necessarily governs himself rationally through what he has learned, and balances his life more moderately, therefore he says: "But the understanding one will acquire the means of guidance (helms)." After this, moreover, recognizing that in the divine words — by which through the prophets the order of living was delivered to the human race — there are diverse figures of speech and various species of expression; knowing that among them there is held a certain figure which is called a parable, and another which is called an obscure saying, and others which are named enigmas, and others which are called sayings of the wise, he writes: "You will understand also a parable and an obscure discourse, and the sayings of the wise, and enigmas." Through these several things, then, he manifestly and evidently sets forth the rational part, unfolding, after the manner of the ancients, great and perfect meanings in concise and brief maxims. And these, if anyone should meditate upon them in the law of the Lord day and night, and if anyone, like the just man whose mouth meditates the wisdom of the Lord, shall be able to investigate them more diligently, he will also be able to find them — provided nevertheless that he has sought rightly, and, seeking, has knocked at the door of wisdom, asking of God that it may be opened to him, and that he may be worthy to receive through the Holy Spirit the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge, and to be made a partaker of that wisdom which was saying: "For I was extending my words, and you were not hearing." And rightly did she say that she extends her words in the heart of him to whom God has given, as we said above, breadth of heart. For the heart of that man is enlarged who is able to explain, with a broader teaching, those things which have been briefly said in mysteries, by means of assertions taken from the divine volumes. It is fitting, therefore, according to this same teaching of the most wise Solomon, that he who desires to know wisdom should begin from moral instruction, and understand that which is written: "You have desired wisdom; keep the commandments, and the Lord will give it to you." For this reason, then, this master, who first teaches men divine philosophy, set the little book of Proverbs as the beginning of his work, in which, as we have said, the moral part is handed down: so that when one has advanced in understanding and in morals, he may come also to the discipline of natural understanding, and there, distinguishing the causes and natures of things, may recognize that vanity is to be abandoned, but that one must hasten toward the eternal and everlasting; and therefore, after Proverbs, one comes to Ecclesiastes, which teaches, as we have said, that all visible and corporeal things are transient and fragile — which, of course, when he who is devoted to wisdom has discerned to be so, he will without doubt despise and disdain them, and, renouncing (so to speak) the whole world, he will stretch out toward the invisible and eternal things, which indeed are taught by spiritual senses, but under certain veiled figures of love, in the Song of Songs. For this book holds the last place for this reason, that one may then come to it when one has both been cleansed in morals, and has learned the knowledge and distinction of corruptible and incorruptible things, through which he may in no way be able to take offense at these figures by which the love of the bride toward the heavenly bridegroom — that is, of the perfect soul toward the Word of God — is described and formed. For when those things have been premised by which the soul is purified through acts and morals, and is led into the discernment of natural things, then one comes fittingly to matters of doctrine and to the mystical things, and ascends to the contemplation of the divinity by a sincere and spiritual love. This threefold form, then, of divine philosophy I think was also prefigured in those holy and blessed men, on account of whose most holy institutions the most high God willed to be called the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. Abraham sets forth, as it were, moral philosophy, through obedience. For so great was his obedience and observance of the commandments that, when he heard: "Go forth from your land, and from your kindred, and from the house of your father," he did not delay, but did it at once — nay rather, he did something even greater. For hearing that he should sacrifice his son, not even then does he doubt, but he obeys the precept: and, to give to posterity an example of the obedience which is moral philosophy, he did not spare even his only son. Isaac also holds to natural philosophy, since he both digs wells and searches out the depths of things. But Jacob too holds the inspective place, inasmuch as he was named Israel on account of the contemplation of divine things, and saw the camps of heaven, and beheld the house of God and the ways of the angels — that is, the ladder stretched out from earth to heaven. Whence also with good reason we find that these three blessed men set up altars to God, that is, consecrated the advances of their philosophy, namely that they might teach that these things are to be referred not to human arts, but to the grace of God. But they also dwell in tents, so that through these they may show that neither on earth is anything of one's own to be possessed by him who is devoted to divine philosophy, but that he must always be advancing, not so much from place to place as from the knowledge of inferior things to the knowledge of perfect things. But you will find also many other things in the divine Scriptures which designate this order — which we have said is contained in the little books of Solomon — according to this same form: but to pursue these now would be long, since we have another matter in hand. If anyone, then, has fulfilled the first part in the amending of morals and the keeping of commandments, which is designated through Proverbs; and after this, when the vanity of the world has been detected, and the fragility of transient things perceived, has come to this — that he renounces the world and all that is in the world: he will consequently come also to the contemplation and the desiring of those things which are not seen and are eternal. Yet, that we may be able to attain to these, we have need of divine mercy, if perchance we may be strong enough, having perceived the beauty of the Word of God, to be kindled in a saving love for Him, so that He also may deign to love such a soul as He has perceived to have a desire for Him.

After these things, the logical order of our discourse requires us to speak also about the very title, the Song of Songs. For this is similar to those things which in the tabernacle of the testimony are called the Holy of Holies, and to those things which in the book of Numbers are mentioned as the works of works, and to those things which in Paul are called the ages of ages. But in what way the Holy of Holies differs from the holy things in Exodus, and in what way the works of works differ from the works in the book of Numbers, we have stated, as far as we were able, in our treatises. And concerning the age of ages too, in the places where it occurs, it has not been passed over; and, so that we may not repeat the same things, let those suffice. Now, therefore, let us first inquire what the songs are, of which songs this is said to be the Song. I think, then, that the songs are those which of old were sung through the prophets or through the angels. For the Law is said to have been ministered through angels by the hand of a mediator. All those things, therefore, which were announced through them, were songs going before, sung by the friends of the bridegroom. But this is a single song, which was now to be sung, in the manner of an epithalamium, by the bridegroom himself as he was about to receive his bride to himself: in which the bride no longer wishes to have it sung to her through the friends of the bridegroom, but now desires to hear the words of the bridegroom himself present, saying: "Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth." Whence also it is rightly preferred to all songs; for the other songs which the Law and the prophets sang seem to have been chanted to a bride still small, and to one who has not yet entered the vestibules of mature age; but this song is chanted to one grown up, and now very strong, and who is now capable of the manly power and the perfect mystery. According to which it is said of her that she is one, a perfect dove. As a perfect bride, therefore, of a perfect man, she has received the words of perfect doctrine. The first song, then, Moses and the children of Israel sang to God when they saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore, and when they saw the strong hand and the exalted arm of the Lord, and they believed God and his servant Moses. Then they sang, saying: "Let us sing to the Lord, for he is gloriously glorified." But I judge that no one can come to that perfect and mystical song, and to that perfection of the bride which is contained in this Scripture, unless he first walk through the dry ground in the midst of the sea, and the water become for him a wall on the right hand and on the left, and thus he escape from the hands of the Egyptians; so that he may see them dead on the seashore, and, gazing upon the strong hand of the Lord, because he slew the Egyptians, may believe the Lord and his servant Moses. And by Moses I mean the Law and the Gospels and all the divine Scriptures; for then he will rightly sing and say: "Let us sing to the Lord, for he is gloriously glorified." But this Song one will sing when first he has been freed from the servitude of the Egyptians. And after these things, when he has passed through all these things which are written in Exodus and in Leviticus, and has come to this, that he is taken up into the divine numbers, then again he will sing the second Song, when he has gone out from the valley of Zared, which is interpreted "an alien descent," and has come to the well concerning which it is written: "And the Lord said to Moses: Gather the people together, and I will give them water from the well to drink." For there he will sing and say: "Consecrate the well to it. The princes dug it, the kings of the nations hewed it out in their kingdom, when they ruled over them." But concerning these things it has been said more fully in the book of Numbers, according as the Lord granted us. It behooves one, therefore, to come to the well which was dug by the princes and hewn out by the kings, in which work no common person labors, but all the princes, all the kings — that is, royal and princely souls, which seek out the depth of the well that contains the living water. After that song one comes to the song of Deuteronomy, concerning which the Lord says: "And now write for yourselves the words of this song, and teach it to the children of Israel, and put it into their mouth, that this song may be to me for a testimony among the children of Israel." And see how great and of what sort this song is, for whose hearing the earth does not suffice, but heaven too is called together. For he says: "Give heed, O heaven, to the things I shall speak, and let the earth hear the words from my mouth." See how great, how immense are the things that are said. "Let my utterance be awaited," he says, "like rain, and let it descend like dew, like snow upon the grass, and upon the hay, because I have invoked the name of the Lord," and the rest. The fourth song is in the book of Judges, concerning which it is written: "And Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying: When the leaders in Israel began, in the purpose of the people, bless ye the Lord. Hear, O kings, and give ear," and the rest. But she who sings these things ought to be a bee, whose work is such that both kings and ordinary folk use it for health. For Deborah, who sings this song, is interpreted "a bee," and Barak too along with her: and Barak is interpreted "lightning-flash." And this song is sung after victory, because no one can sing what is perfect until he has conquered his adversaries. So, finally, in the song itself it is said: "Arise, arise, Deborah, rouse up the thousands of the people. Arise, arise, sing a song, arise, Barak." But concerning these things too you will find matters more fully discussed in those little discourses which we have published on the book of Judges. The fifth song after these is in the second book of Kingdoms, when David spoke to the Lord the words of this song in the day in which the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul, and he said: "The Lord is my rock and my fortress, the Lord my deliverer, my God shall be my keeper." If, then, you too can consider who are the enemies of David whom he overcomes and lays low in the first and second book of Kingdoms, and how he was made worthy to merit the help of the Lord and to be delivered from enemies of this kind: then you too will be able to sing that fifth song. The sixth is the song in the first book of Chronicles, where David appointed Asaph and his brothers at the beginning to praise the Lord, and the beginning of this song is such: "Praise the Lord and give thanks and call upon him in his name, make known his wishes among the peoples, sing to him, and speak a hymn, recount all his devisings which the Lord has made," etc. It must be known, however, that the song which is in the second book of Kingdoms is very like the sixteenth psalm. But that which is in the first book of Chronicles, in its beginnings indeed, up to that place where it says: "And among the prophets do not deal maliciously," is like the one hundred and fourth psalm. But the latter portions, from this place on, bear a likeness to the first parts of the ninety-fifth psalm, where it is said: "Sing to the Lord, all the earth," up to that place where it says: "For he comes to judge the earth." Therefore, if the number of songs is to be concluded within these, this book of the Song of Songs will seem to be placed in the seventh position. But if anyone should think that the song of Isaiah also is to be numbered with the rest — although it does not seem very fitting that the song of Isaiah should be thought to have preceded, since Isaiah wrote in far later times — nevertheless, if anyone should think that prophetic sayings are to be weighed not by their times but by their meaning, he will add that song also; and he will say that this which Solomon sang is the Song of Songs not only of those which were to be sung before, but also of those which seemed to be sung afterward. But if anyone should think that some should be taken also from the book of Psalms — wherever in it either "a song" is written or "a song of a psalm" — he will gather together a multitude of preceding songs. For he will join to the rest also the fifteen songs of the steps together: and inquiring into the virtues of the individual songs, and from these gathering the steps of the advancing soul and again composing the order and sequence of the spiritual progress, he will be able to show with how magnificent strides the bride, advancing through all these things, comes at last to the chamber of the bridegroom, going forth into the place of the wondrous tabernacle, even to the house of God, with the voice of exultation and confession, the sound of one feasting; and coming, as we have said, even to the very chamber of the bridegroom, that she may hear and speak all these things which are contained in the Song of Songs.

But before we come to the body of the little book itself, we can also inquire into these matters: why is it that Solomon, who in these three little books seems to comply with the will of the Holy Spirit, is in Proverbs indeed called "Solomon the son of David, who reigned in Israel"; whereas in the second book he is not written down as Solomon, but it says, "the words of the Preacher (Ecclesiastes), the son of David, king of Israel in Jerusalem"; and he writes himself to be the son of David, just as in the first, and king of Israel, but there he sets down "proverbs," here "words"; and himself, whom there he named Solomon, here he calls Ecclesiastes. And whereas there he had set down only the nation over which he had reigned, here he set down both the nation and designates the place of his reign, Jerusalem. But in the Song of Songs he writes neither the name of the nation, nor the place in which he reigns, nor at all that he is king, nor that he has David for his father, but only says, "The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's own." And although it seems difficult to me either to examine, or to be able to attain, the differences among these, or in any way to bring forth openly what has been investigated and to entrust it to these pages: nevertheless, insofar as either our own understanding or the hearing of those who read can grasp it, we shall attempt to open up a few things. That in very many places Solomon bears the type of Christ, whether according to the fact that he is called "peaceable," or according to the fact that "the queen of the south came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon," I think there is no room for doubt. He therefore, both according to the fact that he is called the son of David, reigns in Israel, and according to the fact that he reigns over those kings, on account of which he himself is called King of kings, reigns. And again he is himself the true Ecclesiastes, who, when he was in the form of God, emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, that he might gather together the Church; for from gathering together the Church he is called Ecclesiastes. And then, who is so Solomon, that is, peaceable, as our Lord Jesus Christ, who was made for us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and peace? Therefore in the first book, that of Proverbs, when he instructs us in moral disciplines, he is said to be king in Israel, but not yet in Jerusalem: because although we are called Israel on account of faith, nevertheless it has not yet been attained that we should seem to have arrived at the heavenly Jerusalem. But when we shall have made progress, and it shall have come to this, that we are joined to the Church of the firstborn which is in heaven, and, with the ancient and natural causes more diligently examined, come to know that the heavenly Jerusalem is our mother: then already Christ himself becomes for us also Ecclesiastes, and is said to reign not only in Israel, but also in Jerusalem. But when it shall have come to the perfection of all things, and there shall be joined to him as a perfect bride the whole rational creation without exception—because he made peace through his blood not only for the things that are on earth, but also for those that are in heaven—then he shall be called Solomon only, when he shall have handed over the kingdom to God the Father, when he shall have made void all rule and authority. For he must reign until he puts his enemies under his feet, and the last enemy, death, shall be destroyed. And thus, when all things have been made peaceable and made subject to the Father, when God shall now be all in all, he shall be named Solomon only, that is, the peaceable one alone. Fittingly, therefore, in this little book, which was to be written concerning the love of the bride and the bridegroom, for this reason also he is written down neither as son of David, nor as king, nor as anything else of these that could pertain to a bodily understanding, so that with good reason the bride, now already perfect, may say of him, "even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh, yet now we no longer know him thus"—lest anyone suppose that she loves something bodily, or set in the flesh, and lest some blemish be believed to be brought into her love. On this account the Song of Songs is Solomon's only, neither the son of David's, nor the king of Israel's, nor is there mingled in these at all any understanding of a carnal name. And do not wonder that, although our Lord and Savior is one and the same, we speak of him as, so to say, lesser in the first place in Proverbs, and then making progress in Ecclesiastes, and after these having perfection in the Song of Songs, since you may see these things written also in the Gospels, where for our sake he too is said to make progress in us. For thus it is reported, that "Jesus made progress in age and wisdom with God and men." I think, therefore, that for all these reasons he is written down neither as son of David, nor as king of Israel: but also for this reason still, that in the Song of Songs the bride had already made progress so far that it was something greater than the kingdom of Jerusalem is. For the Apostle says that there is a heavenly Jerusalem, and he records that believers draw near to it. This Bridegroom, then, to whom the bride now hastens, the same Paul, when he calls him the great high priest, writes of him as one who is not in the heavens, but has passed through all the heavens, and thither too this his perfect bride follows him—nay rather, cleaving to him and joined with him, thither she has ascended, for she has been made one spirit with him. Whence it seems to me that he said also to Peter, who could not follow him at first, when he said, "Where I go, you cannot come now," that he said: "But you shall follow afterward." And that there is something greater even than Israel, we gather from this: that in the book of Numbers all Israel indeed is numbered, and the twelve tribes of Israel are reckoned under a fixed number; but the tribe of Levi, as being more eminent than the rest, is held to be above this number, and is by no means counted in the number of Israel. For it says thus: "This is the visitation in which the children of Israel were reckoned according to the houses of their families. All their visitation, with its host, was six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. But the Levites were not numbered among them, as the Lord commanded Moses." You see how the Levites are set apart from the children of Israel as more eminent, and are not associated in their number. And again, the priests are written down as more eminent than the Levites. For thus it is contained in the same Scripture: "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Take the sum of the Levites, and set them in the sight of Aaron the priest, and let them minister to him." You see in this too how it names the priests as superior to the Levites, and again sets the Levites as more eminent than the children of Israel? These things we have seen fit to discuss a little more carefully, wishing through them also to show the reason why, in the very titles of his books, Solomon has employed necessary distinctions, and from the very inscription of the title has designated one thing in Proverbs, another in Ecclesiastes, and yet another in the Song of Songs. And still, as to why in the Song of Songs, where perfection is now shown, he is written down neither as son of David nor as king, this too can be said: because when he was made a servant like his lord, and a disciple like his master, he now seems neither to be a servant a servant—having been made, that is, like his lord—nor a disciple a disciple, inasmuch as he has been made like his master; but to have been indeed at one time a disciple, yet now to be like the master; and to have been indeed at one time a servant, yet now to be like the Lord. By a similar reasoning, therefore, it will seem that this can be observed also concerning the king and concerning those over whom he reigns, when the kingdom shall now be handed over to God the Father. But let this too not be hidden, that some write the title of this little book as "Songs of Songs," which is not rightly written. For it is called here not in the plural, but in the singular, "the Song of Songs." These things have been said by us as if in a preface concerning the superscription itself, or the title of the little book. Now then, with our Lord aiding us, let us set about the beginnings of the work itself, lest even that remain omitted by us which some have thought still to require concerning the very title and superscription of the book, which reads: "The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's own." For they take it as though this were "the Song of Songs of Solomon," so that out of his many songs he has marked this to be one. But how shall we accept an understanding of this kind, when neither has the Church of God taken up any songs of Solomon from outside to be read, nor is there held among the Hebrews—from whom the oracles of God seem to have been handed down to us—anything more in the canon beyond these three little books of Solomon which are also among us? Those who assert this, however, wish to confirm their opinion from this, that in the third book of Kingdoms it is written that there were almost many songs of Solomon, so that they may confirm this to be one out of many. This, then, is reported there: "And God gave prudence to Solomon, and wisdom exceeding much, and breadth of heart like the sand which is on the seashore, and Solomon became exceeding wise beyond the wisdom of all the ancients, and beyond all the wise men of Egypt, and beyond Ethan the Ezrahite and Heman, and Chalcal and Dorda the sons of Maol, and he was renowned among all the nations round about: and Solomon spoke three thousand parables, and his songs were five thousand." Out of these five thousand songs, then, they wish it to seem that this one song which we have is one: but until when, or where, they were sung, has come not only not to the use, but not even to the knowledge, of the Churches of God. But it is laborious, and far from the work we have set before us, if we should now wish to inquire how many books there are of which mention is made in the divine Scriptures, of which no reading at all has been handed down to us. But neither do we find that among the Jews there was any use of readings of this kind—which, whether because they contained certain things above human understanding, it pleased the Holy Spirit to take out of the midst, or because they were of those scriptures which are called apocryphal, on account of the fact that many things are found in them corrupted and against the true faith, handed down by the elders, it did not please them to give a place, nor to admit them to authority. It is above us to pronounce concerning such things. This, however, is plain, that many examples have been brought forth either by the apostles or by the evangelists, and inserted into the New Testament, which we have never read in these Scriptures that we hold as canonical, but which are nevertheless found in the apocrypha, and are evidently shown to have been taken from them. But not even so is a place to be given to the apocrypha; for the bounds which our fathers set are not to be crossed. For it may have come about that the apostles or evangelists, being filled with the Holy Spirit, knew what was to be taken from those Scriptures and what was to be rejected; but for us it is not without danger to presume anything of the kind, for us who have not so great an abundance of the Spirit. And therefore, concerning the present little verse, we hold that edition which we have expounded above, especially since there is contained in it an evident distinction, where it says: "The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's own." For if he had wished it to be understood that this was "of the songs of Solomon," he would surely have said, "The Song of Songs which are Solomon's," or "The Song from the songs of Solomon": but now, because he said "which is Solomon's," it is shown that this Song which is in our hands, and which was to be sung by him, is Solomon's. And let this suffice concerning the title which he set forth. Let us therefore now see also what follows.