Commentary on the Song of Songs, Prologus
Epithalamium as drama; the four speaking persons§1
1This little book is an epithalamium — that is, a wedding song — and seems to me written by Solomon in the manner of a drama. He sang it in the likeness of a bride who is marrying and who burns with heavenly love toward her Bridegroom, who is the Word of God. For she has loved him — whether the soul made in his image, or the church. And this same Scripture also teaches us with what words this magnificent and perfect Bridegroom himself has spoken to the soul or church joined to him. We likewise learn from this same little book titled the Song of Songs what the Bride’s companions — the young women set with the Bride — have said, and also what the Bridegroom’s friends and companions have said. For leave is given even to the Bridegroom’s friends to say some things — at least those things they had heard from the Bridegroom himself — rejoicing at the Bride’s union. So speech comes from the Bride not only to the Bridegroom but also to the young women; and again the Bridegroom’s speech is directed not only to the Bride but also to the Bridegroom’s friends. And this is what we said above: the wedding song is written in the manner of a drama. For a drama is so called as a story is usually acted on stages, where diverse persons are introduced, and as some enter and others even depart, the fabric of the narrative is filled out from different speakers and toward different hearers. This Scripture contains each of these in its own order, and its whole body is shaped by mystical utterances.
Latin · §1
Epithalamium libellus hic, id est nuptiale carmen, dramatis in modum mihi videtur a Salomone conscriptus, quem cecinit instar nubentis sponsae et erga sponsum suum, qui est sermo Dei, caelesti amore flagrantis. Adamavit enim eum sive anima, quae ad imaginem eius facta est, sive ecclesia. Sed et magnificus hic ipse ac perfectus sponsus quibus verbis usus sit ad coniunctam sibi animam vel ecclesiam, haec ipsa scriptura nos edocet. Sodales quoque sponsae adulescentulae cum sponsa positae quae dixerint, quaeque etiam amici ac sodales sponsi, ex eodem nihilominus libello, quod Canticum Canticorum attitulatur, agnoscimus. Possibilitas enim data est etiam ipsis amicis sponsi aliqua dicere, ea dumtaxat quae ab ipso audierant sponso, laetantes de coniunctione sponsae. Fit ergo sermo a sponsa non solum ad sponsum, sed etiam ad adulescentulas, et rursum sponsi sermo non tantummodo ad sponsam, sed etiam ad amicos dirigitur sponsi. Et hoc est quod supra diximus, carmen nuptiale in modum dramatis esse conscriptum. Drama enim dicitur ut in scaenis agi fabula solet, ubi diversae personae introducuntur et aliis accedentibus, aliis etiam discedentibus a diversis et ad diversos textus narrationis expletur. Quae singula suo ordine scriptura haec continet totumque eius corpus mysticis formatur eloquiis.
Not for infants; purify passions before this book§2
2But first we ought to know that, just as childhood is not moved toward passionate love, so neither is the little and infant age of the inner human admitted even to grasping these words — namely of those who are nourished with milk in Christ and not yet with solid food. For unless someone has been purified from the affections of the flesh and from the passions of the soul, and unless more perfectly instructed, that person cannot know these words healthfully. Whoever therefore is not such as to come to this book should neither hear nor read it; otherwise it will give occasion for blasphemy to Jews and Gentiles and heretics.
Latin · §2
Sed primo scire nos oportet quoniam, sicut puerilis aetas non movetur ad amorem passibilem, ita nec ad capienda quidem verba haec parvula et infantilis interioris hominis aetas admittitur, illorum scilicet qui lacte in Christo aluntur et nondum solido cibo. Nisi enim quis purificatus fuerit ab affectibus carnis et a passionibus animae, et nisi perfectius eruditus, non potest salubriter haec verba cognoscere. Quicumque igitur non est talis ut ad hunc librum veniat, neque audiat neque legat; alioquin et Iudaeis et gentilibus et haereticis occasionem dabit blasphemandi.
Solomon’s three books: moral, natural, contemplative§3
3I think Solomon handed down a threefold philosophy in these books: moral in Proverbs, natural in Ecclesiastes, contemplative in the Song of Songs. For in Proverbs he corrects morals and cuts back vices; in Ecclesiastes he discusses the nature of things and shows the vanity of temporal things; in the Song of Songs he leads on to contemplation and joins the Bride to the Bridegroom — that is, the church to Christ, or the soul to the Word. The Greeks also name these three kinds of wisdom ethics, physics, and epoptics. But Solomon handed down first ethics, then physics, and last epoptics, so that through correction of morals and knowledge of creatures one may arrive at the contemplation of God.
Latin · §3
Triplicem in his Salomonem libris tradidisse philosophiam puto: moralem in Proverbiis, naturalem in Ecclesiasten, contemplativam in Cantico Canticorum. In Proverbiis enim mores corrigit et vitia resecat; in Ecclesiasten de natura rerum disputat et vanitatem temporalium monstrat; in Cantico Canticorum ad contemplationem perducit et sponsam sponso, id est ecclesiam Christo vel animam Verbo, coniungit. Haec tria genera sapientiae Graeci quoque ethicam, physicam, epopticen nominant. Sed Salomon prius ethica, deinde physica, ad ultimum epoptica tradidit, ut per correctionem morum et scientiam creaturarum ad contemplationem Dei perveniatur.
Solomon the Peaceful; peace and charity§4
4Solomon is interpreted peaceful. And truly this book is peaceful, in which Bridegroom and Bride come together into one covenant of peace and charity. For how can peace come about except where charity reigns? And how charity, except where Christ, who is our peace, dwells? Therefore Solomon the Peaceful writes the Song of Songs, that he may bring peaceful people into the peace of Christ.
Latin · §4
Salomon interpretatur pacificus. Et vere pacificus hic liber est, in quo sponsus et sponsa in unum foedus pacis et caritatis conveniunt. Quomodo enim pax fieri potest nisi ubi caritas regnat? Et quomodo caritas nisi ubi Christus, qui est pax nostra, habitat? Ideo Salomon pacificus scribit Canticum Canticorum, ut pacificos ad pacem Christi introducat.
Amor, caritas, dilectio — one spiritual love§5
5It should also be known that divine Scripture seems to have avoided the word amor and to have used caritas and dilectio more often. Yet it has not altogether shut out the name amor. For where it did not see occasion of falling, there it also inserted the name amor. And it makes no difference in the Scriptures whether amor or caritas or dilectio is said, so long as the same force of affection is designated. Paul too: Who will separate us from the charity of Christ? and again: You shall love the Lord your God. This love, therefore, of which the Song treats is not carnal but spiritual; not cupidity, but charity.
Latin · §5
Sciendum quoque est quod divina Scriptura refugisse videatur amoris vocabulum et caritatis ac dilectionis frequentius usam. Non tamen omnimodis nomen amoris exclusit. Ubi enim occasionem lapsus non videbat, ibi etiam nomen amoris inseruit. Et nihil interest in Scripturis utrum amor an caritas an dilectio dicatur, dum eadem vis affectus designetur. Paulus quoque: Quis nos separabit a caritate Christi? et rursum: Diliges Dominum Deum tuum. Amor ergo iste de quo in Cantico agitur non carnalis, sed spiritalis est; non cupiditas, sed caritas.
Wounded by love — the arrow of Christ§6
6I am wounded by charity. This wound is not of death but of life. Christ is the chosen arrow who strikes the heart of the soul and inflicts the wound of love, so that the soul seeks nothing else but the Bridegroom. If someone has not been wounded by this wound, that person has not yet arrived at the Song of Songs. Blessed the soul that is wounded by the love of God, because by this wound it is healed.
Latin · §6
Vulnerata caritate ego sum. Hoc vulnus non mortis, sed vitae est. Sagitta electa Christus est, qui cor animae percutit et amoris vulnus infligit, ut anima non aliud quaerat nisi sponsum. Si quis hoc vulnere non fuerit sauciatus, nondum ad Canticum Canticorum pervenit. Beata anima quae amore Dei vulneratur, quia hoc vulnere sanatur.
Outer and inner human; the Song speaks of the inner§7
7But the human being is twofold: outer and inner. The outer human was made from the mud of the earth; the inner according to the image of God. The loves of the outer are carnal; the loves of the inner spiritual. The Song of Songs speaks not of the outer but of the inner — of the soul that loves the Word and is loved by him. Unless someone knows himself or herself as inner, that person does not know what to seek in this book.
Latin · §7
Est autem duplex homo: exterior et interior. Exterior homo de terrae limo factus est; interior ad imaginem Dei. Exterioris amores carnales sunt; interioris amores spiritales. Canticum Canticorum non de exteriore, sed de interiore loquitur — de anima quae Verbum amat et ab eo amatur. Nisi quis se noverit interiorem, nescit quid in hoc libro quaerat.
Bride as church or perfect soul; Bridegroom as Word§8
8The Bride in this song is understood either as the church or as the perfect soul. The church indeed is the gathering of the saints; the soul is she who already cleaves to Christ alone. And what is said of the church can be transferred to the soul; what of the soul, to the church. But the Bridegroom is Christ, the Word of God, wisdom, peace, justice — all that he himself is.
Latin · §8
Sponsa in hoc carmine vel ecclesia intellegitur vel anima perfecta. Ecclesia quidem collectio sanctorum; anima vero quae iam Christo sola adhaeret. Et quae de ecclesia dicuntur, ad animam transferri possunt; quae de anima, ad ecclesiam. Sponsus autem Christus est, Verbum Dei, sapientia, pax, iustitia — omnia quae ipse est.
Purify the heart; bridal words are spiritual§9
9Before we come to the text itself, the reader must be warned to approach with purged senses and a purified heart. For it is not of carnal marriages that this book treats, though the words are bridal, but of the union of the Word and the soul. If anyone understands otherwise, that person errs and suffers scandal. Therefore Moses and the prophets and the Gospels must be put first, so that by steps of ascent one may arrive at this Song.
Latin · §9
Antequam ad textum ipsum veniamus, admonendum est lectorem ut purgatis sensibus et purificato corde accedat. Non enim de nuptiis carnalibus hic agitur, licet verba nuptialia sint, sed de coniunctione Verbi et animae. Si quis aliter intellexerit, errat et scandalum patitur. Ideo Moyses et prophetae et Evangelia praemittenda sunt, ut per gradus ascensionis ad hoc Canticum perveniatur.
Prayer to open the Song; transition to the text§10
10With these things thus set first, let us now attempt to explain the very words of the Song of Songs, as far as the Lord has given, praying that the Bridegroom himself, who sang these things through Solomon, may even now speak in us and open our sense to understand the mysteries of the Scriptures. The book therefore begins: Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. But of this and of what follows fuller treatment will be given in the order of the Books themselves.
Latin · §10
His ita praemissis, iam ipsa verba Cantici Canticorum, quantum Dominus dederit, explanare temptemus, orantes ut sponsus ipse, qui haec per Salomonem cecinit, etiam nunc in nobis loquatur et aperiat sensum nostrum ad intellegenda scripturarum mysteria. Incipit ergo liber: Osculetur me ab osculis oris sui. Sed de hoc et sequentibus in ipso Librorum ordine plenius disseretur.
God is charity; love of God and neighbor§11
11God is charity, and whoever abides in charity abides in God. This charity loves nothing earthly, nothing material, nothing corruptible; for it is against its nature to love anything corruptible, since it is itself the fount of incorruption. It alone has immortality, if indeed God is charity who alone has immortality. Therefore it is pleasing to God first of all that one love the Lord his God with the whole heart. And because God is charity and the Son who is from God is charity, he seeks something like himself in us, that through this charity we may be joined to God. This charity also counts every human being a neighbor, as the parable of the Samaritan teaches: by nature we are all neighbors to one another; but by works of charity that one becomes a neighbor who can do good to the one who cannot.
Latin · §11
Deus caritas est, et qui manet in caritate in Deo manet. Haec caritas nihil terrenum, nihil materiale, nihil corruptibile diligit; contra naturam namque est ei corruptibile aliquid diligere, cum ipsa sit incorruptionis fons. Ipsa est enim sola quae habet immortalitatem, siquidem Deus est caritas qui solus habet immortalitatem. Propterea in primis placitum est Deo ut diligat quis Dominum Deum suum ex toto corde. Et quia Deus caritas est et Filius qui ex Deo est caritas est, sui simile aliquid requirit in nobis, ut per hanc caritatem Deo socieMur. Haec autem caritas omnem hominem proximum ducit, sicut in parabola Samaritani docetur: natura omnes nobis invicem proximi sumus; operibus vero caritatis fit proximus ille qui potest benefacere ei qui non potest.
Proper vs abusive use of love’s name§12
12If someone says that we are also said to “love” money or a prostitute by the same word, it must be known that in these cases charity is named not properly but abusively. Charity properly tends toward God and toward the neighbor; other things are said to be loved only by misuse of the word. So it makes no difference in the Scriptures whether amor or caritas or dilectio is said, so long as the same force of affection is meant; but where there is occasion of falling, Scripture usually avoids the name amor and uses caritas.
Latin · §12
Si quis dicat quia et pecuniam et meretricem eodem vocabulo diligere appellamur, sciendum est in his non proprie sed abusive caritatem nominari. Principaliter caritas ad Deum tendit et ad proximum; cetera abusive dicuntur amari. Nihil ergo interest in Scripturis utrum amor an caritas an dilectio dicatur, dum eadem vis affectus designetur; ubi vero occasio lapsus est, Scriptura nomen amoris vitare solet et caritatis uti.
Outer and inner human; bridal words are inner§13
13There is an outer human and an inner. The members of the outer are plain; the members of the inner are also described in the Scriptures — eyes of the heart, inner ears, hands of the soul. The Song of Songs does not speak of outer carnal love, but of the inner love by which the soul loves the Word. Unless someone knows himself or herself as inner, that person does not know what to seek in this book; otherwise the bridal words become a scandal.
Latin · §13
Est exterior homo et interior. Exterioris membra manifesta sunt; interioris quoque membra describuntur in Scripturis: oculos cordis, aures interiores, manus animae. Canticum Canticorum non de exteriore carnali amore loquitur, sed de interiore, quo anima Verbum amat. Nisi quis se noverit interiorem, nescit quid in hoc libro quaerat; alioquin verba nuptialia scandalum faciunt.
Solomon’s three books = ethics, physics, epoptics§14
14Solomon is to be thought to have handed down a threefold philosophy in three books: ethics in Proverbs, physics in Ecclesiastes, epoptics or contemplation in the Song of Songs. In Proverbs morals are corrected; in Ecclesiastes the vanity of creatures is shown; in the Song of Songs contemplation leads to the union of the Word and the Bride. The same order among the Greeks: first ethics, then physics, and last epoptics.
Latin · §14
Triplicem philosophiam Salomon in tribus libris tradidisse putandus est: ethicam in Proverbiis, physicam in Ecclesiasten, epopticen sive contemplativam in Cantico Canticorum. In Proverbiis mores corriguntur; in Ecclesiasten vanitas creaturarum ostenditur; in Cantico Canticorum ad unionem Verbi et sponsae contemplatio perducit. Idem ordo apud Graecos: prius ethica, deinde physica, ad ultimum epoptica.
Why that order: morals, then nature, then contemplation§15
15This order is not kept by chance. First life must be corrected, then the nature of things learned, so that at last a purged mind may contemplate God. Whoever rushes at contemplation without correction of morals falls into error. Therefore Solomon dispensed Proverbs to children and beginners, Ecclesiastes to those making progress, and the Song of Songs to the perfect.
Latin · §15
Non temere hic ordo servatur. Prius enim corrigenda est vita, deinde discenda natura rerum, ut tandem mens purgata Deum contempletur. Qui sine morum correctione ad contemplationem irruit, in errorem cadit. Ideo Salomon pueris et incipientibus Proverbia, proficientibus Ecclesiasten, perfectis Canticum Canticorum dispensavit.
Solomon the Peaceful; Christ our peace§16
16Solomon is interpreted peaceful. But the Peaceful One is Christ, who made both one. Rightly, then, the Peaceful One writes the Song of peace and charity, in which Bridegroom and Bride meet in one covenant. Where Christ our peace dwells, there the Song of Songs is truly sung.
Latin · §16
Salomon interpretatur pacificus. Pacificus vero Christus est, qui fecit utraque unum. Merito ergo pacificus scribit Canticum pacis et caritatis, in quo sponsus et sponsa in unum foedus conveniunt. Ubi Christus pax nostra habitat, ibi vere Canticum Canticorum canitur.
Why called Song of Songs among songs§17
17It is asked why it is called the Song of Songs. As the Holy of Holies surpasses holy things, so this song surpasses other songs. Songs of Moses, Deborah, David, Isaiah and others came before; this is placed last, to which the advancing soul arrives by steps of songs. Some also bring the songs of ascents and other songs of the Psalms into the number of those that precede, to show by how magnificent steps the Bride comes to the Bridegroom’s chamber.
Latin · §17
Quaeritur cur Canticum Canticorum appelletur. Sicut Sancta Sanctorum praecellunt sanctis, sic hoc canticum ceteris canticis. Praecesserunt cantica Moysi, Debborae, David, Isaiae et alia; ad ultimum ponitur hoc, ad quod per gradus canticorum anima proficiens pervenit. Quidam etiam cantica graduum et alia psalmorum cantica in numerum praecedentium adsciscunt, ut ostendant quam magnificis gressibus sponsa ad thalamum sponsi perveniat.
Solomon / Ecclesiastes / Song — shifting titles§18
18Note also how in the three books Solomon writes himself under different names. In Proverbs: Solomon son of David who reigned in Israel. In Ecclesiastes: the words of Ecclesiastes son of David king of Israel in Jerusalem — the name Solomon is changed to Ecclesiastes and the place of the kingdom is marked. In the Song of Songs he sets neither the nation’s name nor place nor that he is king, but simply the Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s, because here the matter is no longer earthly reign but the peace of Bridegroom and Bride.
Latin · §18
Notandum quoque quomodo in tribus libris Salomon se ipsum diversis nominibus scribat. In Proverbiis: Salomon filius David qui regnavit in Israel. In Ecclesiasten: verba Ecclesiastae filii David regis Israel in Hierusalem — nomen Salomonis in Ecclesiasten mutatur et locus regni designatur. In Cantico Canticorum neque gentis nomen neque locum neque quod rex sit ponit, sed simpliciter Canticum Canticorum quod est Salomoni, quia hic iam non de regno terreno sed de pace sponsi et sponsae agitur.
Apocrypha named but not canonical authority§19
19Some ask about books named in the Scriptures yet not read in the church’s canon. Apostles and evangelists sometimes brought forward examples found in apocrypha; yet not for that reason is a place of authority to be given to apocrypha. The eternal boundaries are not to be moved, which our fathers set. For us it is not without danger to presume such a thing. For the present title we hold the reading: the Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.
Latin · §19
Nonnulli quaerunt de libris qui in Scripturis nominantur nec tamen in canone ecclesiae leguntur. Apostoli et evangelistae nonnumquam exempla protulerunt quae in apocryphis inveniuntur; nec tamen ideo locus apocryphis ad auctoritatem dandus est. Non transferendi sunt termini aeterni quos statuerunt patres. Nobis non est absque periculo tale quid praesumere. De praesenti titulo tenemus editionem: Canticum Canticorum quod est Salomoni.
Prologus CLOSEOUT — on to Osculetur me§20
20With the prologue thus set out, let us now look also at what follows in the body of the little book itself. It begins: Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. We must remember what we warned in the preface: this little book, having the appearance of an epithalamium, is written in the manner of a drama. According to that form a historical exposition will be fitted by us; but the spiritual understanding will, the Lord granting, be opened in the Books that follow.
Latin · §20
His ita de prologo digestis, videamus iam etiam quae sequuntur in ipso corpore libelli. Incipit: Osculetur me ab osculis oris sui. Meminisse oportet quod in praefatione praemonuimus, quia libellus hic epithalamii habens speciem dramatis in modum conscribitur. Secundum hanc speciem historica a nobis aptabitur expositio; spiritalis vero intelligentia in sequentibus Libris, Domino praestante, pandetur.