me how thoufeedest f; the manner of it, and with what;
which he does by Iris ministers, word, and ordinances;
with himself, the bread of life; with the doctrines and
promises of the Gospel, and with the discoveries of his
love. Where thou makest thy flocks to rest at noon.
either at the noon of temptation, when Satan's fiery
darts fly thick and fast; when Christ is a shadow and
shelter in his person, grace, blood, righteousness, and
sacrifice, Isa. xxv. 4, 5. or the noon of affliction, when
he makes their bed in it, and gives them rest from ad-
versity; or the noon of persecution, when Christ leads
his flocks to cooling' shades, and gives them rest in
himself, when troubled by others: the allusio, is to
shepherds, in hot countries, leading their flocks to
some shady place, where they may be sheltered from
the scorching heat of the sun; which, as Virgil says g,
was at the fourth hour, or ten o'clock, two hours be-
fore noon; we read of \~probatia meshmbriazonta\~ {h}, sheep
noonlag themselves, or lying down at noon, under a
shade, by a tbuntaih, asleep. For why should I be as
one that turneth aside by the fioclcs of thy companions ?
not real associates with Christ, that keep company
with him, and are attached to Iris word and ordinances;
but false friends, hypocrites and heretics {i}, rivals with
him, who set up schemes of worship and doctrine in
opposition to his; such as Papists, Socinians, &c. now
such false teachers have had their flocks_.ih all ages,
such as have followed them, and have formed separate
societies; and therefore the church, sensible of their
craftiness, and her own weakness, and liableness to go
astray, desires she might not be under, and left to such
a temptation, as to apostatize from Christ, and join to
such persons and their flocks, or seem to do so: or, be
as one that covereth herself, or is covered {k}; as a harlot;
so Tamar, Gen. xxxviii. 14. or as a widow in mourn-
ing; she chose not to be, or to be thought to be, either
as one that left her husband, an unchaste woman; or
had lost her husband, or as if she had none, when nei-
ther was the case: or, as One that spreads the tent{l} ; by
the flocks of such; as if in communion with them, and
joining with them in feeding their flocks; and there-
-fore desires she might speedily know where Christ was,
and repair to him, that such an aspersion or suspicion
might at once be wiped from her.
Ver. 8. If thou know not, &c.] Or, seeing thou knotvest
not{m}; the saints in this imperfect state know but in
part, are ignorant of many things, and in some measure
of themselves; for though they know much of the
sinfulness and deceitfulness of their hearts, yet they
know not all; and of.their imperfection and weakness,
yet not the whole of it; and some render the words, if
thou know not to thee, or, for thyself, as Ainsworth; or
know not thyself", as others; hence Ambrose* observes,
that nosce teipsum was not originally from the Pythian
oracle; Solomon had it before that, and he from Moses,
Dour. iv. 9. Saints have not a perfect knowledge of Christ
andhistruths, and are sometimes at a loss to know where
he is, his word is purely preached, and his ordinances
faithfully administered. 0 thou fairest among' women;
these are not the words of the daughters of Jerusalem,
as some think, who were not capable of giving her the
following advice and directions; but of Christ himself,
to whom the church applied for it; who, though black
in her own eyes, and in the eyes of others, yet was fair,
surpassingly fair, thirer than all others in his eye, even
notwithstanding her late sinfulness and negligence;
which shows the invariablehess and unalterablehess
                  of his love; who directs her as follows                Go thy wd..
                  orth b the ootste s o the ock not'                     
                 3
steps {p}; as if it was an exhortation to depart from false
teachers, their doctrine and worship, and the abettors
of them, she was tempted to turn aside to; but the
.footsteps are the rule and mark by which she was to
go, and on which she was to keep her eye, and steer
her course by, in seeking after Christ: for by theJtock
is meant the flock of Christ; and by the footsteps of it
the ways and ordinances in which saints walk in obedi-
ence to Christ; and who are to be followed so far as
they follow him; their steps are to be trod in; and this
is the readiest and most likely way to find Christ, even
where saints meet together, the word is preached, and
ordinance, s administered. And feed thy kids beside the
shepherds tents; the faithful ministers of the word, who
are Christ's under-shepherds, have their mission and
commission from him, and are qualified by him to
feed his flocks, and do feed them by the pure admini-
stration of the word and ordinances; and by the tents
are meant the places of public worship, where they
usually preach the Gospel, and administer ordinances.
The allusion is to the tents of shepherds pitched for
the convenience of feeding their flocks; and by or near{q}
these the church is directed to feed her kids, young
converts weak in the faith; men of little faith, as Aben
Ezra interprets it; called kids or young goats, lasci-
vious {r}, and of an ill smell; because of sin in them, of
an ill smell to themselves and others; and of whom
the world have an ill opinion; and such on all ac-
counts need encouragement from the church and mi-
nisters. It was cornmort in the eastern countries, as
Philo says{s} of the Arabs, not for men only to keep
flocks, but women also, and young virgins; and not
the common people only, but nobles; of women keep-
ing flocks see Gen. xxix. 9. Exod. ii. 16. This and the
preceding verse show this song to be a pastoral; since
the bridegroom and bride, the principal persons in it.,
are represented in it as a shepherd and shepherdess.
Ver. 9. I have compared thee, 0 my love, &c.] The
church having taken the direction of Christ, had now
found him, and was with him; and when for her
encouragement and comfort he salutes her as his love,
an appellation very usual among lovers; and in the
chastest sense between husband and wife; the church
was Christ's love, being both the object and subject of
it; to whom he had showed love, and whose love was

{f} \^hert hbya\^ quomodo pascas? Tigurine version; so the Syriac
version and Jarchi; see Ainsworth.
{g} Inde, ubi quarta sitim coeli collegerit hora, Virgil. Georgic, l. 3.
v. 327.
{h} Platonis Phaedrus, p. 1230.
{i} So Stockius, p. 302.
{k} \^hyjek\^ quasi operiens se, Piscator; ut obnubens, Cocceius; sicut
obvelans se, Marckus; velut operta, Michaelis.
{l} So Junius & Tremellius.
{m} \^Ma\^ quandoquidem, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
{n} So the Septuagint, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions.
{o} Hexaemeron. l. 6. c. 6. & in Psal. cxviii. octon. 2. p. 883.
{p} So Junius & Tremellius.
{q} Juxta, V. L. Piscator, Michaelis; apud, Mercerus, Cocceius.
{r} Hoedi petulci, Virgil. Georgic. l. 4. v. 10. Lasciva capella, Bucol.
Eclog. 2. v. 64. Horat. Camin. l. 2. Ode 15. v. 12.
{s} De Vita Mosis, l. 1. p. 610. Vid. Joseph. Antiqu. l. 2. c. 11. s. 2.