8:1 O a that thou [wert] as my brother, that was nourished at
the breasts of my mother! [when] I should find thee outside,
I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised.
(a) The Church called of the Gentiles speaks thus to the
Church of Jerusalem.
8:3b His left hand [should be] under my head, and his right
hand should embrace me.
8:6d Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm:
for love [is] strong as death; jealousy [is] cruel as the
grave: the coals of it [are] coals of fire, [which hath a]
most vehement flame.
(d) The spouse desires Christ to be joined in perpetual love
with him.
8:8e We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what
shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be
spoken for?
(e) The Jewish Church speaks this of the Church of the
Gentiles.
8:9f If she [is] a wall, we will build upon her a palace of
silver: and if she [is] a door, we will inclose her with
boards of cedar.
(f) If she is sure and fast, she is fit for her husband to
dwell in.
8:10g I [am] a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I
in his eyes as one that found favour.
(g) The Church promises fidelity and constancy.
8:11h Solomon had a vineyard at Baalhamon; he let out the
vineyard to keepers; every one for the fruit of it was to
bring a thousand [pieces] of silver.
(h) This is the vineyard of the Lord hired out,
(Mt 21:33).
8:13 Thou that dwellest in the i gardens, the companions
hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear [it].
(i) Christ dwells in his Church, whose voice the faithful
hear.
8:14k Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a
young hart upon the mountains of spices.
(k) The Church desires Christ that if he depart from them,
yet he would haste to help them in their troubles.
