Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Canons Which Shed Light on the Song of Songs
Canon One
In other books of the Old Testament God is called Jehovah, Adonai, Elohim, El, and by the other ten names that St. Jerome lists and explains in Epistle 136 to Marcella, because in them God deals with the Synagogue as with a handmaid, and therefore calls Himself God, Lord, Governor, Strong One, Avenger, Almighty, Terrible One. But in this Song no such name of God is to be found that might inspire terror, because in it He deals with the Church as with a most beloved bride; hence He calls Himself only Bridegroom, Father, Friend, Lover, and Beloved; because these names arouse, foster, sharpen, and increase the love of the bride. So says Bellarmine, Book I, On the Word of God, chapter 5.
Canon Two
There is here a frequent interchange of persons, such as is customary in dramatic works; for now the speaker addresses in the second person, and now (and immediately afterward) in the third person, even though it is one and the same person.
Canon Three
Since Solomon, the writer of this song, has disclosed the secrets of the divine love toward men, he strove to express the power of that divine love by means of natural love, which is well known to all souls, so that from it we might learn, through the feelings of our own love, to penetrate into the most august sanctuaries, as it were, of that divine love.
Canon Four
The Canticle, that is, a song, and therefore bound by meter, which accordingly some judge to be elegiac, composed of hexameter and pentameter verses. But the ancient poetry of the Hebrews has perished; hence the system and meter of their ancient song are unknown.
Canon Five
Just as in metaphors and parables there is a twofold sense: the literal, that is, the grammatical, which is the surface of the letter; and the metaphorical or parabolic, which is the sense of the thing signified by the metaphor or parable, which is the true and genuine sense of the parable, and therefore the literal sense, even though it is called allegorical by Honorius of Autun and some others, that is, metaphorical and parabolic.
Canon Six
The rites and customs of the Palestinians, differing greatly from the rites and customs of other nations, have caused some of these mysterious comparisons, drawn from the common people or from rural life, to seem not very elegant to foreigners; yet there is in them a wonderful effectiveness for expressing things, and a congruity with the nature of things.
Canon Seven
In this Song, as also in other parables, emblematic details are added here and there for the elegance of the parable, which therefore it is not necessary, and indeed sometimes impossible, to apply to the thing signified by the parable. For example, when Christ, in Matthew 25, says in the parable of the talents that the master gave more or fewer talents to each of his servants according to his own ability: for a master usually does this. But God, signified there by the master, does not do this: for He does not distribute grace according to the dignity and merits of nature, as Pelagius wished, but purely gratuitously.
Canon Eight
This Song is a drama, in which many things are represented not by words and voice, but by the gestures and actions of the actors, as when they represent a duel, a battle, or a banquet not by speaking but by dueling, fighting, and feasting on stage. Therefore action must be inserted here into the dialogue of the persons, which otherwise seems obscure and disjointed, so as to complete and explain it. Indeed, a drama is often a silent action in which mute characters act, representing the matter not by words but by gestures. Furthermore, a dramatic work or poem is one in which the characters alone act without the poet's interlocution. Therefore in the Song it is not expressed nor distinguished where the voice of the bridegroom is, where the voice of the bride is, where the voice of the maidens is; but all are mixed together indiscriminately. And this fact produces great obscurity, which the interpreter must skillfully elucidate from the very meaning of the words, and from what precedes and follows, so as to assign to each character his or her own voice and turn to speak.
Canon Nine
The bridegroom and the bride indulge in the feelings of love; hence they strive to speak not so much elegantly and in orderly fashion as affectionately; for they are carried by the flames of their fire wherever love sweeps them.
Canon Ten
The total and adequate literal sense here concerns the marriage, or union, of Christ and the Church through faith and love; the partial literal sense concerns the union of Christ with the holy soul, especially one that strives for perfection: for this soul is a part and member of the Church; the principal partial sense concerns Christ and the Blessed Virgin: for she is the chief part and the first member of the Church.
Canon Eleven
The Song is written as a dialogue, in which the interlocutors are: the bridegroom Christ, the bride the Church, the bridegroom's companions (namely the apostles and perfect souls), and the maidens who are the bride's attendants, that is, souls not yet mature in virtue but tender, yet growing and advancing in virtue.
Frequently in the Song mention is made of vineyards, because in them the bridegroom is portrayed as a vinedresser, shepherd, and farmer. Our Sanchez plausibly takes the vineyard and vines in the Song to mean shrubs that produce balsam, which he judges the henna plants and other aromatic vine-trees to be. First, because these, when flowering in the Song, breathe out a sweet fragrance, unlike grapevines, except for a few. Second, because St. Jerome, in the epitaph of St. Paula, says: "She contemplated the balsam vineyards in Engedi." Third, because the Septuagint, when they say the vineyards are flowering, use the verb kyprizo, which is derived from cyprus (henna). Fourth, because the Hebrew kerem, that is, vineyard, signifies any field or garden. And in Song of Songs 5, for "I have gathered," the Septuagint translates, "I have vintaged my myrrh." This view is true, but only partially. For this vineyard contained both henna plants and grapevines and trees, especially aromatic ones. For Solomon had both vineyards of grapevines near Jerusalem and vineyards of henna and balsam in Engedi, as is evident from chapter 1, verse 13: "A cluster of henna, he says, is my beloved to me in the vineyards of Engedi."
Canon Twelve
In the Song, a member of the body sometimes signifies the garment by which it is covered or adorned. For example, when in chapter 5 the bridegroom's head is called finest gold, "head" is taken for the crown of the head, for this was made of finest gold. Likewise in the same chapter, when the belly of the bride is called ivory, "belly" is taken for the belt that covered and girded the belly, for this was made of ivory. Decency demands this interpretation. For who would believe that the most chaste bride displayed her bare belly for viewing or description? In Song of Songs 7, where our text has: "The hair of your head is like purple," St. Ambrose reads: "The ornament of your head is like purple," where by "hair" he understands the adornment of the hair, namely a crown set in the hair. Song of Songs 8: "Set me as a seal upon your heart," that is, upon the locket by which your heart is covered and adorned: for upon this the pagans used to engrave the thing most loved.
Canon Thirteen
Actions, gestures, and modes of dress that were formerly considered decent and proper among the Hebrews were esteemed indecent and improper among other nations, and vice versa. For each nation has its own customs, different from those of others; and what pleased in ancient times displeased in later ages. Hence the clothing, bearing, manner of contracting marriage, of sacrificing, of worshipping, of eating, etc., among the Hebrews was entirely different from that of the Greeks and Romans. So too Homer, in Iliad III, writes that Thetis stroked the chin and beard of Jupiter, grasping them in her hand, in order to win his favor -- something that would now be considered rustic and barbarous.
Canon Fourteen
The Hebrews, when they give names, allude to the etymology of the name, and signify, or wish, that it belongs to the person or thing to which they give the name. Thus Adam was so named because he was formed from adamah, that is, earth. Jacob means supplanter, because he supplanted Esau, Genesis 27. Nabal means fool, because he answered the soldiers of David proudly and foolishly, 1 Samuel chapter 25:25. By a similar allusion the bride is here called Sulamitis, that is, the Solomoness, or the wife of Solomon, as if "the peaceful one" from "the peacemaker." And in chapter 1: "Your name, she says, is oil poured out" -- this name is Messiah, or Christ, that is, anointed with oil, so abundantly that He pours it out upon others. Such allusions will occur frequently here.
Canon Fifteen
Often in Scripture a thing is called such as it appears outwardly, even though in reality it is not such. Thus in Genesis 1, the moon is called "the greater luminary," because it appears greater to people who are its neighbors near the earth, even though in reality it is far smaller than all the stars. Thus here in chapter 5, the bridegroom's head is said to be like gold, his locks like palm branches, his eyes like doves, his cheeks like aromatic herbs, his lips like lilies, his hands like a lathe's work, his belly like ivory. And the bride's nose, in chapter 7, is said to be like a tower of Lebanon, her thighs like jewels, her navel like a round goblet, her breasts like fawns, her belly like a heap of wheat, her eyes like pools -- because they appeared similar to these things, even though they were not really such.
Canon Sixteen
Formerly wives received their name from their husbands, so that the wife of Caius was called Caia, of Cornelius Cornelia, of Dionysius Dionysia, just as here Solomon's bride is called by him Sulamitis. Moreover, in Scripture different names are given to the same person and thing, according to various languages. Thus St. Thomas the Apostle is called Thomas in Hebrew, Didymus in Greek, and Gemellus (twin) in Latin. St. Simon is surnamed Chanannaeus in Hebrew, Zelotes in Greek. Judas is called Thaddaeus in Chaldaic, Lebbaeus in Hebrew. Tabitha in Hebrew is called Dorcas in Greek, Caprea (gazelle) in Latin. Thus in Hebrew Solomon and Sulamitis are designated in Latin as pacificus and pacifica (peacemaker and peacemaking woman).
Canon Seventeen
The bridegroom here is Christ, and the bride is the Church and the faithful soul -- not just any soul, nor a sinful one, but a holy one, indeed one striving for perfection and burning with love for Christ. For only such a soul deserves the name of bride of Christ, whose spiritual loves and divine ardors are described here. That this is so is evident from the very words of the Song, as when it says in chapter 4:7: "You are all beautiful, my love, and there is no blemish in you;" and when in chapter 2:4 the bride says: "My beloved brought me into the wine cellar; He set love in order within me. Sustain me with flowers, surround me with apples, for I am sick with love." Again, throughout, the bridegroom calls the bride His friend, His beloved, beautiful as the moon, chosen as the sun. And in chapter 2:16 He says: "My beloved is mine, and I am His; He feeds among the lilies." And chapter 4:9: "You have wounded my heart, my sister, my bride." And chapter 6:8: "My dove is one, my perfect one."
Now there are four degrees and states of this perfect love, which are described in order in this book of the Song. The first state of love is that of the active life, in which the soul, with its affections not yet subdued, indeed catches the scent of God and, as it were, tastes Him, running after the fragrance of His ointments, yet does not enjoy Him at its pleasure and delight. This state of love is described in chapters 1 and 2 of the Song.
The second degree and state of love of the soul loving God is the contemplative life. In this state the soul is established, having made its way to Him by the demolition of vicious habits, the suppression of its own passions, and the perfect denial of all things and of itself. And once established in it, the soul not only sometimes embraces God by an act of contemplation and love, but by continuing the same act for some time, contemplating and loving Him, it nearly possesses Him, with great tranquility of mind, and becomes the most sweet bed of the peaceful Solomon. This degree of love is described in chapters 3 and 4 of the Song.
The third state of love and of the loving soul is composed of action and contemplation combined. In it the soul, at the bidding of the bridegroom, is torn away from contemplation and casts itself into the crowd and flock of that Shepherd who, because of the exceeding love with which He loved us, descended from the bosom of the Father to earth, to seek with great labors and to redeem with His own blood the little sheep that had perished. This state of love is described in chapters 5, 6, and 7 of the Song.
The fourth state is when the soul, desiring a life above the human and almost divine, far superior to those mentioned above, with insatiable longing, burns with so great a fire of divine love and seethes with such jealous ardor, as it were, that to remain in the flesh is death to it, and to be a pilgrim from the Lord seems to it like a second hell, and it consoles itself in its exile and endures it solely through the zeal and labor of winning souls for its most beloved bridegroom. This state of love is described in Song of Songs chapter 8. Hence there, after the third sleep, it is said of her: "Who is she that comes up from the desert, abounding in delights, leaning upon her beloved? Set me as a seal upon your heart. Love is strong as death, jealousy is hard as hell: its lamps are lamps of fire and flames."
Commentators on the Song of Songs
Hebrews.
The first is the Chaldean Paraphrast, who for the Song of Songs was Rabbi Joseph the Blind, just as for the Pentateuch it was Rabbi Aquila, who in Chaldaic is called Onkelos, and for the Prophets Rabbi Jonathan son of Uzziel. All of these, being Jews, judaize, and especially Rabbi Joseph, who did not so much translate the Song as explain it, so that he seems to be not so much an interpreter as a paraphrast or commentator. Therefore he interprets the Song as referring to the Synagogue, the Law of Moses, the tabernacle, the manna, and the other benefits conferred upon Israel. Yet it has its use and is subservient to the true interpretation, just as the Synagogue served the Church, and the Law served the Gospel, and Moses served Christ.
Rabbi Solomon, Aben-Ezra, and Rabbi David Kimchi also wrote on the Song of Songs.
Greeks.
The first is Origen, who wrote six homilies on the Song of Songs, in which "Origen surpassed himself," says St. Jerome, who translated them from Greek into Latin. He ends at chapter 2, verse 14, of the Song. He flourished in the year of the Lord 226.
St. Gregory of Nyssa, brother of St. Basil, published 15 homilies on the Song. He ends at chapter 6, verse 9. He flourished in the year of the Lord 380.
Philo, Bishop of the Carpathians, appointed by St. Epiphanius. He is extant in Volume I of the Library of the Holy Fathers; but many things have been inserted by some sciolist from St. Gregory. He flourished in the year of the Lord 374.
Theodoret explains the Song learnedly and faithfully, and appends the explanation of three other Fathers whom he does not name. He flourished in the year 430. Hortolanus judges these three Fathers to be St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Nilus the monk, and St. Maximus.
Michael Psellus is an abridger of St. Gregory of Nyssa.
Latins.
The first is Aurelius Cassiodorus, Roman consul and chancellor of Theodoric, king of the Goths; hence he wrote in the king's name many letters worthy of so great a man. Afterward, weary of the court, bidding farewell to the world, and practicing the monastic life in a monastery he himself had built, he devoted himself entirely to piety and Sacred Letters, and growing old in them, died a holy death near the age of a hundred, says Baronius, in the year of the Lord 562. He therefore wrote on the Song briefly but clearly, and often hits the nail on the head regarding the difficulty of the meanings. He flourished in the year of the Lord 539.
Justus, Bishop of Urgel, wrote on the Song of Songs. He is extant in Volume I of the Library of the Holy Fathers. He flourished in the year 540, under the Emperor Justinian.
The Venerable Bede published an extensive Commentary in the year 700, to which he also appends another, which he himself compiled from various passages of St. Gregory.
Albinus, or Alcuin Flaccus, a disciple of Bede and the teacher of Charlemagne, in the year 750.
Aponius wrote learnedly and weightily on the Song in the year 500. He ends at chapter 4, verse 7; and afterward Abbot Luke of St. Cornelius continued the Commentary of Aponius, using Aponius's own words but abridged and compressed.
Angelomus the monk is an abridger of Aponius. He flourished in the year 850, in the time of the Emperor Lothaire.
Haymo reduces Bede nearly to a compendium, and transcribes Cassiodorus almost word for word. He died in the year 853.
St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, in the year 1081.
Rupert, Abbot of Deutz, explained the Song as referring to the Blessed Virgin, in the year 1119.
St. Bernard explains the Song piously and elegantly; but, overtaken by death, he did not finish it; hence Abbot Gilbert succeeded him and continued the work. He flourished in the year 1150.
Richard of St. Victor, a contemporary and close friend of St. Bernard, expounds a few passages of the Song.
Among the works of St. Thomas Aquinas there exists a commentary on the Song. However, learned men doubt whether this commentary is really his, because it does not have the flavor of his style, and seems to be taken from Cassiodorus and Bede. The same text is found word for word in Haymo, who preceded St. Thomas by 450 years. Therefore the Commentary of St. Thomas, which he dictated on his deathbed to the monks of Fossanova, near Rome, seems to have been a different one from this.
William the Short, Abbot of Bec, in the year 1170.
Honorius, priest of Autun, in the year 1220.
Hailgrinus, Cardinal of Sabina, in the year 1233.
From various passages of St. Ambrose, Antoine de Mouchy compiled a complete Commentary on the Song of Songs. It is extant at the end of Volume V of St. Ambrose.
More Recent Authors.
Nicholas of Lyra, Hugo the Cardinal, Denis the Carthusian, James Jansonius, John Picus the Carthusian, Placidus Nigidius, Alfonse of Orozco, Tuccius, Jerome Almonacirius, and many others whom I found in Rome. Among all these, the most eminent are Francis Titelmann, Luis de Leon, Cosmas Damian Hortolanus, theologian of Philip II King of Spain, who has a clear and rich paraphrase; John of Jesus the Carmelite; our own Gaspar Sanchez and Luis de la Puente. Most recently and most thoroughly, our own Martin Delrio, Michael Ghislerius, and Luis de Sotomayor; and finally, most recently of all, John Malderus, Bishop of Antwerp, and our own Luis de Alcazar in his allusions to the Apocalypse throughout Book III: both succinctly, but learnedly and forcefully.
From all of these I shall press out the juice, and pluck the pollen and the flower. I shall distinguish the literal from the mystical, arrange the disordered, sort out the confused, and assign to each in an orderly fashion what belongs to it; and I shall add many things of my own, always mindful of my customary brevity and method.
Furthermore, John Gerson, Chancellor of Paris, expounded the Song as treating of the seraphic love with which a pious soul burns toward Christ, in the year of the Lord 1429, and completed it on July 9, and like St. Thomas, three days later, namely on July 12, he ended his life together with his Commentary, in the 66th year of his age, so that he might enjoy the loves of Christ in heaven; hence, continually repeating that verse of Song of Songs 8: "Love is strong as death," he died devoted to it.