1 fathers, the illustrious martyrs and reformers ; still keeping before us that apostolic maxim-to follow them only so far as they follow Christ.' (3.) As we are to follow good examples, so should we be careful to keep good company. 'Feed thy kids among the tents of these shepherds.' The spouse is here considered as a shepherdess, and directed, in the absence of the chief shep'herd,' to associate with his companions; that is, in the spiritual sense, to attend and accompany with those faithful ministers, who, as under shepherds of our Lord, teach the same truths, and walk in the same precepts. Nothing is more important either to our character or morals than keeping with wise and good company; for he 'that walketh with wise men shall be wise; but a ' companion of fools shall be destroyed.' In morals this is universally admitted, for we have adopted the scripture proverb as our own, that ' evil communications corrupt good manners :' and no less true is it, that to associate with men of loose and sceptical principles is the way to grow first indifferent, and then adverse to the truth. But the subject leads us naturally to add a re. mark on the importance of attending a gospel ministry, where we possibly can, in preference to erroneous, or merely moral teachers. It is very true that morality is inseparable from the gospel, but it is equally true that it is not the gospel itself. They should be distinguished, though not divided. We have no reason to expect Christ's presence, but where his gospel is. SECTION II. Chap. I. Ver. 9-11. Bridegroom. To the horse in Pharaoh's chariots Virgins. HERE I think the spouse, attended by the virgins, goes into the garden of the palace, and there meets with her beloved, who compares her to the horses, or perhaps some favourite mare, in her father's chariot. This appears a very coarse compliment to a mere English reader, arising from the difference of our manners: but the horse is an animal of very high estimation in the east. The Arabians are extravagantly fond of their horses', and caress them as if they were their children, of which Mr. HARMER gives an extraordinary instance2. The horses of Egypt are so remarkable for stateliness and beauty as to be sent as presents of great value to the 'Sublime Porte, and it appears from sacred history, that they were in no less esteem formerly among the kings of A 1 This folly is not peculiar to the east. Julius Cæsar placed a marble effigy of his horse in the temple. Nero dressed his horse as a senator. Caligula would have made his horse consul; he invited his horse to supper, and himself waited on him. On Sol. Song, p. 174. Syria, and of the Hittites, as well as Solomon himself, who bought his horses at 150 shekels which (at Dean Prideaux's calculation of 3s. the shekel) is 22/. 10s. each, a very considerable price at which to purchase 12,000 horses together! The qualities which form the beauty of these horses, are tallness, proportionable corpulency, and stateliness of manner; the same qualities which they admire in their women; particularly corpulency, which is known to be one of the most esteemed characters of beauty in the east". Upon this principle is founded the compliment of Solomon; and it is remarkable that the elegant Theocritus, in his epithalamium for the celebrated Queen Helen, whom he describes as 'plump and large, uses exactly the same image, comparing her to the horse in the chariots ' of Thessaly. And the similarity of the com The fame of Solomon's horses is still preserved in Arabia, and the horses called Kochlani, whose pedigree is as carefully preserved as that of the first nobility, are said to be derived from Solomon's studs. The chief excellence of these horses is their strength, courage and swiftness. Niebuhr's Travels, vol. II. p. 301. 2 We find in the Travels of Egmont and Heyman, (vol. I, p. 93.) that corpulency is in high esteem, especially among the Turks, and that the supreme beauty in all these parts is a large fat body, and prominent breasts.-Niebuhr says, As plumpness is thought a beauty in the east, the women, ' in order to obtain this beauty, swallow, every morning ' and every evening, three of these insects (a species of Tenebriones) fried in butter.' Travels, vol. II. p. 339. Edinb. edition, 1792. 3 Πιειρη-μεγαλη. * Ἡάρματι Θεσσαλος ἱππος. Idyl, xviii. ver. 29. The ingenious editor of the new edition of Calmet's Dictionary is dissatisfied with this comparison, because, though it might be adopted by Theocritus, as a writer of rustic poetry,' yet he conceives it too inelegant for a royal Jewish bridegroom:'-he proposes therefore to render the text, To ' a company of horses among the riders of Pharaoh;' but then, by an unwarrantable figure, he converts these horses into men, and reads, ' to an officer commanding a company of Pharaoh's cavalry: i. e. to an officer of dragoons on horseback:--- noble as his horses, and graceful as his ' riders.' This, beside appearing to me extremely forced and laboured, only changes the chariot-horse of Pharaoh into the war-horse of a dragoon, which I should hardly. supposé more delicate; while the addition of the rider to his horse confuses and degrades the imagery. Besides, the Hebrews distinguished between Pharaoh's horses, charicts, and horsemen. Exod. xiv. 23. - See Calmet, Frag. No. CLVII. p. 147. pliment is so striking, as to persuade many of the learned that the Greek poet must have seen the Septuagint version of this book. Plato, however, and Horace, have both employed the same image, and it is observable that the Greek name for a horse is admitted into the composition of a great number of Greek names of women, as Hippe, Hippodamia, Mercippe, Alcippe, and many others. The easterns, so highly valuing their horses, spare no expence to ornament them with the most costly trappings of gold, enriched with pearls and precious stones: and it is very observable that the Arabian and Turkish ladies decorate themselves in a very similar manner, wearing rows of pearls or precious stones round the head-dress and descending over their checks: gold chains also upon their necks and bosoms. This agrees very exactly to the ornaments here mentioned, and which have a double reference to the dress of the ladies and of horses. When the virgins promise to make new ornaments for the spouse, it is commonly understood as the promise of a new dress; but I suspect they have a farther meaning, namely, to celebrate her praise in verses to her honour, which, in the language of the Arabian poets, are compared to pearls strung in rows'. Nor is this foreign to the stile of the Hebrew, since several of the psalms are called jewels of gold; and Solomon compares words fitly spoken, by which I understand a well-formed parable or verse, to citrons of gold 1 The ancient Arabian poems were of two sorts; [vid. Sale's Prelim. Disc. to the Koran] the one they compared to loose pearls, and the other to pearls strung. In the former the sentences or verses were without connexion; and their beauty arose from the elegance of the expression, and the acuteness of the sentiment. The moral doctrines of the Persians are generally comprehended in such independent proverbial apophthegms, formed into verse. In this respect they bear a considerable resemblance to the proverbs of Solomon; a great part of which book consists of unconnected poetry, like the poetry of the Arabians. Blair's Lectures, vol. III. Lect. XXXVIII. -It may be remarked that Hafiz seems to point out a third species of poetic composition when he compares his lyric compositions to pearls strung at random,' on account of the freedom of his measures. See Hindley's Persian Lyrics, p. 10.- So the author of Bahur Danush says, Though every single hair of mine were a tongue, I 'could not string the pearls of thy merited thanksgiving.' Mr. Scott, the translator, considers this as an allusion to the beads (or rosaries) of the Mahometans, but query. 2 See the titles of Psalms xvi. lvi. &c. in the margin. |