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.
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George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
I. Christ permits not his Church to be persecuted, till she be able to bear it. (Worthington)
Roes. Septuagint, "armies and power "the angels and apostles, who have spread the gospel through the world. It would seem that the Jewish women loved hunting, (Calmet) like those of Phoenicia and Lacedæmon. (Virgil, Æneid i.) They were going to sing, (Calmet) the morning epithalamium, (Theocrit. xviii.) after the first night of the marriage. The second meeting takes place, ver. 8, 17. (Haydock)
An oath works in two ways. In the present text, the soul is progressing toward great heights, as we have seen. At the same time she is instructing less advanced souls in the way of perfection. She uses the oath not to assure them of the progress she herself has made but to lead them through their oath to a life of virtue. She adjures them to keep their love alert and watchful until his good will come to fulfillment, that is, until all are saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. - "Homilies on the Song of Songs 4"
“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 ...
