I charge you, O you daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the hinds of the field, that you stir not up, nor awake love, till it pleases.
All Commentaries on Song of Songs 2:7 Go To Song of Songs 2
Nilus of Sinai
AD 430
“I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the powers and the forces of the field, that you arouse and waken love as far as it pleases.” This verse is of great difficulty. However, it is often necessary to let the understanding run towards the point of the text, in imitation of those who in the practice of archery release many arrows at the target but can hardly reach it even one time. Indeed, there is a resemblance to archers on the part of those who apply their craft to the divine Scripture as if aiming an arrow directly at the point of a passage. It is not easy to say to which of the characters should be applied the expression “to awaken love.” To express this in a better way, the act of wakening love is clearly assigned to the “daughters of Jerusalem,” but in whom is love to be awakened? In themselves, in the bridegroom, or in the one who is speaking? This is uncertain. For this reason it is necessary to try to fit the meaning of the passage to each example and whatever one finds in the way of a target that has been hit, whether close to “love” or to “truth,” that must be accepted as a successful explanation.
