faith and knowledge; and yet these are not overlooked,
much less despised, by Christ and his church, but are
delighted with the promising appearanc they make.
And the pomegranates bud forth; stronger believers,
taller and more fruitful than the. former; See ch. iv.
13. the actings and exercise of whose grace are signi-
fied by budding Jbrth, in an open and visible manner:
the church is concerned tbr the good and welthre of
the saints of all ranks and sizes; of vines and pomegra-
nates, as well as tender grapes; and of the budding
of the one, as well as of the opening and flowering
of the other. And seeing these ends proposed by her
are the same with Christ's, ch. vi. 11. she might con-
clude they would prevail upon him to go with her, par-
ticularly what follows: there will I give thee my loves; m
the fields, villages, and vineyards, when alone, and ob-
serving the state and condition of particular ch urchesand
saints; and having communion with Christ, the church
might hope and expect to have her heart enlarged, and
drawn forth in love to Christ more abundantly; and
that she should be able to manifest it more largely to
him, and give clearer and fuller proofs of it: and this
she observes in order to gain her point, and get him to
go along with her; knowing that her love, in the actlags
and exercise of it, was very acceptable to him, ch. iv.
10. I see not why the word for loves may not be rendered
my lovely flowers; as a word nearly the same, in the fol-
lowing verse, is by some rendered, these lovely flowers
give a good smell, which seems to refer to the flowers
here; such as were to be met with in plenty, in fields
and vineyards, among vines and pomegranates, as
lilies, violets, &c.; and may be an allusion to lovers,
who used to give to those they loved sweet-smelling
flowers f; and here may signify the graces of the spirit,
and the actings of them, which are fragrant, and ac-
ceptable to Christ.
Vet. 13. The mandrakes give a smell, &c.] Or, those
lovely fiowers, as Junius and Tremellius, and Piscator,
translate the words; even those the church propo,ed
to give to her beloved, when. in the fields. Some
take them to be violets; others, jessStain; others,
more probably, lilies {g}; as the circumstances of time
and place, when and where they flourished, and their
fragrant smell, and figure like cups, shew. Ravius{h}
contends, that the word signifies, and should be ren-
dered, the branches put f orth their sweet-smelling fiotoers ;
and thinks branches of figs are meant, which give a
good smell, agreeably to ch. it. 13. and which he sup-
poses to be the use of the word in Jer. xxiv. 1. and to
his sense Heidegger {i} agrees; only he thinks the word
branches is not to be restrained to a particular species,
but may signify branches of sweet-smelling flowers,
and fruits in generai. Ludolphus{k} would have the
fruit the Arabians, call mauz, ormuza, intended; which,
in the Abyssine country, is as big as a. cucumber, and
of the same 'form and shape, fifty of which grow upon
one and the same stalk, and are of a very sweet taste
and smell; from which cognation of a great many on
the rime stalk he thinks it took the. name ofdudaim,
the word here used, and in Gen. xxx. 1t--16. But
the generality of interpreters and commentators under-
stand by it the mandrakes; and so it is rendered by
the Septuagint, and in both the Targums of Onkelos
and Jonathan, on Gen. xxx. 14. but it is questionable
whether the same plant that is known among us by
that name is meant, since it is of a strong ill-scented
and offensive. smell; and so Pliny says{l} of it: though
Dioscorides, Levinus, Leanins {m}, and Augustine{n} {who
says he saw the plant and examined it}, say it is of a
very sweet smell; which though it does not agree with
the plant that now bears the name, yet it does with that
here intended; for though it is only said to give a
smell, no doubt a good one is meant, and such Reuben's
mandrakes gave. And by them here may be intended,
either the saints and people of God, compared to them
for their fi'agrancy, being clad with the garments of
Christ, which smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia, and are
anointed with the savoury ointments of the grace of the
spirit; whose prayers are sweet odours; and their works,
with their persons, accepted with God in Christ: or
rather the graces of the spirit in lively exercise may be
meant; such as those lovely flowers of faith, hope,
love, repentance, patience, self-denial, humility, thank-
fulness, and others. And at our gates are all manner of
pleasant fruits; in distinction from the mandrakes and
flowers in the fields. Gen. xxx. 14. and in allusion to
a custom, in many countries, to garnish the posts of
the door of new-married persons with branches of
trees, and fruits, and flowers; and at other festivals,
besides nuptial ones๘, which made it inviting to enter
in: and these all manner of pleasant fruits may de-
note the plenty, variety, and excellency of the bless-
ings of grace, and of the graces of the spirit, believers
have from Christ; and of the doctrines and ordi-
nances of the Gospel, which are for their use; and
may be said to be at our gates, as being ready at
hand, in the hearts of saints, and in the mouths of
Gospel ministers; and open and visible, held forth to
public view in the word and ordinances; and which
are administered at Wisdom's gates, the gates of Zion,
where they are to be met with and had. And which
are new and old; denoting the plenty of grace and
blessings of it, of old laid up in Christ, and from
whom there are fresh supplies continually: or ra-
ther the doctrines of the Old and New Testament;
which, for matter and substance, are the same; and
with which the church, and particularly her faithful
ministers, being furnished, bring forth out of their
treasure things new and old, Matt. xiii. 52. Which I
have laid up for thee, 0 my beloved; Christ, whom her
soul loved; for though the above fruits, the blessings,
promises, and doctrines of grace, which she laid up in
her heart, mind, and memory, to bring forth and make
use of at proper times and seasons, were for h, er own

{f} Naias amat Thyrsin. Glauce Almona, Nisa Theonem; Nisa rosas,
Glauce violas, dat lilia Nais. Cytherens Sidonius apud Auson.
{g} Pfeiffer. Dubia Vexata, cent. 1. loc. 59. p. 79.
{h} Dissert. de Dudaim.
{i} Hist. Patriarch. tom. 2. exercit. 19. s. 9, 15.
{k} Hist. Ethiop. l. 1. c. 9.
{l} Nat. Hist. l. 25. c. 13.
{m} Herb. Bibl. Explic. l. 2.
{n} Contr. Faustum, l. 22. c. 56.
{o} Vid. Plutarch. Amator. vol. 2. p. 75. & Barthium ad Claudian. de
Nupt. Honor. v. 208. Longos erexit janua ramos, Juvenal. Satyr. 12.
v. 91. Necte coronam postibus, Satyr. 6. v. 51, 52. Ornantur postes,
v. 79. Ornatas paulo ante fores, &c. v. 226, 227. Janua lanreata,
Tertull. ad Uxor. l. 2. c. 6.