Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/4_600.lzh/4_662.TXT

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the heat of a fiery law in the conscience; and for the
recovery and restoration of souls by them, in a de-
clining condition; see 1 Pet. iS. 2. these may be said
to be under the tongue, when they have a place in the.
heart, are the subject of constant meditation, a sweet-
ness is tasted in them; and they are had in readiness
to speak of them upon all occasions. And the smell of
thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon; the ancients
formerly scented their garments; Calypso gave to
Ulysses sweet-smelling garments {c}: such are Christ's
robe of righteousness, and garments of salvation,
which are said to smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia;
with which the saints being arrayed, the smell of their
raiment is as the smell of afield the Lord has blessed
and so like the smell of Lebanon, a mountain abound-
ing with odoriferous trees and plants; see Psal. xlv. 8.
Gen. xxvii. °,7. Hos. xiv. 6. Or the outward conver-
sation-garments of the saints may be designed, the
mention of which fitly follows the lips and tongue;
for when works go along with words, and practice
with profession; when to lips dropping the doctrines
of the Gospel, like the honeycomb, are joined the
sweet-smelling garments of an agreeable life and con-
versation; the Christian is very much ornamented,
and becomes lovely and amiable.
Vet. 12. A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse,
&c.] At a little distance from Beth-lehem are pools of
water, and below these runs a narrow rocky valley,
enclosed on both sides with high mountains which the
friars, as Mr. Maundrell says a, will have to be the en-
closed garden here alluded to; but it is more likely that
the allusion is to a garden near Jerusalem, called the
king's garden, Adrichomius {e} makes mention of, which
was shut up, and only for the king's use and pleasure:
to which the church may be compared; for its being
disti.nguished fi'om the world's wide waste, by the so-
vereign grace of God; and for the smallness of it in
comparison of that; and for its pleasantness and fruit-
fulness, having pleasant and precious plants of great
renown; or consisting of persons of different gifts and
graces; in whose hearts these are not naturally, or do
not grow there of themselves; but are sown or planted
and raised up by the spirit of God, for which the fal-
low ground of their hearts is thrown up: and that
every thing may be kept in good order, as in a garden,
the plants are watered with the grace of God; the
trees of righteousness are pruned by Christ's father,
the vine-dresser; the fences are kept up, and the
whole is watched over night and day; and here Christ,
the owner of it, takes his delightful walks, and grants
his presence with his people. And the church is like
an enclosed garden; for distinction, being separated by
the grace of God, in election, redemption, effectual
vocation, &c. and for protection, being encompassed
with the power of God, as a wall about it; and for se-
crecy, being so closely surrounded, that it is not to be
seen nor known by the world; and indeed is not accessi-
ble to any but to believers in Christ; and is peculiarly
for his use, who is the proprietor of it; see ver. 16.
and v. 1. A spring shut up, a fountain sealed; the
allusion may be to the sealed fountains great person-
ages reserved for their own use; such as the kings of
Persia had, of which the king and his eldest son only
thighs drink f; and King Solomon might have such a
spring and tbuntain in his garden, either at Jerusalem
or at Ethan, where he had pleasant gardens, in which
he took great delight, as Josephus {g} relates: and near
the pcols, at some distance from Bcth-lehem, supposed
to be his, is a fountain, which the friars will have to
be the sealed fountain here alluded to; and, to confirm
which, they pretend a tradition, that Solomon shut
up these springs, and kept the door of them sealed
with his signet, to preserve the waters for his own
drinking; and Mr. Mauudrell{h}, who saw them, says
it was not difficult so to secure them, they rising under
ground, and having no avenue to them, but by a little
hole, like to the mouth of a narrow well. Now the
church may be thus compared, because of the abun-
dance of grace in her, and in her several members,
which is as a well of living water, springing up unto
everlasting life, John iv. 14..and because of the doc-
trines of the Gospel, called a fountain, Joel iii. 18. with
which Gospel ministers water the plants in Christ's
garden, the members of the church; whereby they
are revived, refreshed, and flourish; and their souls
become as a watered garden, whose springs fail not.
Though some read this clause in connexion with the
former; a garden enclosed art thou, with a spring or
flow of water shut up, and with a fountain sealed {i};
.meaning Christ and his fulness; from whence all grace
is received by the church and its members; and with
which they are supplied, and their souls are watered:
and the phrases, shut up and sealed, which, whether
applied to the doctrines of grace and truth, in and
from Christ, may denote the secrecy and safety of them
from the men of the world; or to the grace of Christ,
communicated by him to the saints, may denote the
security of it, the invisible operations of it, and the
sole exercise of it on him: for these phrases denote
the inviolable chastity of the church to Christ, in her
faith, love, service, and worship; see Prov. v. 15---18.
and are used in the Jewish writings {k}, to express the
chastity of the bride. A robrose affirms {l}, that what
Plato"{m} says concerning Jove's garden, elsewhere called
by him the garden of the mind, is taken out of Solo-
monl'S Sotig;.
Ver. 13. Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates,
&c.] These plants are the members of the church,
true converts, believers in Christ; pleasant plants,
plants of renown, planted in the church by Christ's
heavenly Father, and shall never be plucked up.' or,
Shy gardens, as it may be rendered "; particular
churches, well taken care of and watered; these make
an orchard, or are like one, even a paradise, as the


{c} \~eimata yuwdea\~, Homer. Odyss. 5. v. 264. & 21. v. 52.
{d} Journey from Aleppo, &c. p. 89. Edit. 7.
{e} Theatrum Terrae Sanctae, p. 170.
{f} Athenaei Deipnosoph. l. 12. c. 2. p. 515.
{g} Antiqu. l. 8. c. 7. s. 3. Vid. Adrichom. p. 170.
{h} Journey from Aleppo, &c. p. 88, 89.
{i} Cum fluctu obserato, cum fonte obsignato, Marckius, so some in
Michaelis.
{k} T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 75. Apud Wagenseil. Sota, p. 240. Seder Te-
phillot, fol. 203. 1. Ed. Basil. vid. Targum, Jarchi & Aben Ezra in loc.
{l} De Bono Mortis, c. 5.
{m} In Sympos. p. 1194.
{n} Vid. Guisium in Misn. Sheviith, c. 2. s. 2.