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commentary entry

x.xxii.vi-p41.6

x.xxii.vi-p41.6109 words

13. cheeks—the seat of beauty, according to the Hebrew meaning [Gesenius]. Yet men smote and spat on them (Isa 50:6).

bed—full, like the raised surface of the garden bed; fragrant with ointments, as beds with aromatic plants (literally, "balsam").

sweet flowers—rather, "terraces of aromatic herbs"—"high-raised parterres of sweet plants," in parallelism to "bed," which comes from a Hebrew root, meaning "elevation."

lips—(Ps 45:2; Joh 7:46).

lilies—red lilies. Soft and gentle (1Pe 2:22, 23). How different lips were man's (Ps 22:7)!

dropping … myrrh—namely, His lips, just as the sweet dewdrops which hang in the calyx of the lily.