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Selected Verse: Song of solomon 8:1 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
So 8:1	Strong Concordance	O that [05414] thou wert as my brother [0251], that sucked [03243] the breasts [07699] of my mother [0517]! when I should find [04672] thee without [02351], I would kiss [05401] thee; yea, I should not be despised [0936].
	King James	O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
He had been a brother already. Why, then, this prayer here? It refers to the time after His resurrection, when the previous outward intimacy with Him was no longer allowed, but it was implied it should be renewed at the second coming (Joh 20:17). For this the Church here prays; meanwhile she enjoys inward spiritual communion with Him. The last who ever "kissed" Jesus Christ on earth was the traitor Judas. The bride's return with the King to her mother's house answers to Act 8:25, after the mission to Samaria. The rest spoken of (Sol 8:4) answers to Act 9:31. that sucked . . . mother--a brother born of the same mother; the closest tie.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

He had been a brother already. Why, then, this prayer here? It refers to the time after His resurrection, when the previous outward intimacy with Him was no longer allowed, but it was implied it should be renewed at the second coming (Joh 20:17). For this the Church here prays; meanwhile she enjoys inward spiritual communion with Him. The last who ever "kissed" Jesus Christ on earth was the traitor Judas. The bride's return with the King to her mother's house answers to Act 8:25, after the mission to Samaria. The rest spoken of (Sol 8:4) answers to Act 9:31.

that sucked . . . mother--a brother born of the same mother; the closest tie.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
Royal rank and splendor are grown wearisome. The king once called her "sister" and "sister-bride." Would he were indeed as a "brother," her mother's own child whom she might meet, embrace, and welcome everywhere without restraint or shame. Her love for him is simple, sacred, pure, free from the unrest and the stains of mere earthly passion.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
If Solomon now complies with her request, yields to her invitation, then she will again see her parental home, where, in the days of her first love, she laid up for him that which was most precious, that she might thereby give him joy. Since she thus places herself with her whole soul back again in her home and amid its associations, the wish expressed in these words that follow rises up within her in the childlike purity of her love: 1 O that thou wert like a brother to me, Who sucked my mother's breasts! If I found thee without, I would kiss thee; They also could not despise me. 2 I would lead thee, bring thee into my mother's house; Thou wouldest instruct me - I would give thee to drink spiced wine, The must of my pomegranates. Solomon is not her brother, who, with her, hung upon the same mother's breast; but she wishes, carried away in her dream into the reality of that she wished for, that she had him as her brother, or rather, since she says, not אח, but כּאח (with כּ, which here has not, as at Psa 35:14, the meaning of tanquam, but of instar, as at Job 24:14), that she had in him what a brother is to a sister. In that case, if she found him without, she would kiss him (hypoth. fut. in the protasis, and fut. without Vav in the apodosis, as at Job 20:24; Hos 8:12; Psa 139:18) - she could do this without putting any restraint on herself for the sake of propriety (cf. the kiss of the wanton harlot, Pro 7:13), and also (גּם) without needing to fear that they who saw it would treat it scornfully (ל בּוּז, as in the reminiscence, Pro 6:30). The close union which lies in the sisterly relationship thus appeared to her to be higher than the near connection established by the marriage relationship, and her childlike feeling deceived her not: the sisterly relationship is certainly purer, firmer, more enduring than that of marriage, so far as this does not deepen itself into an equality with the sisterly, and attain to friendship, yea, brotherhood (Pro 17:17), within. That Shulamith thus feels herself happy in the thought that Solomon was to her as a brother, shows, in a characteristic manner, that "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life," were foreign to her. If he were her brother, she would take him by the hand, (Note: Ben-Asher punctuates אנהגך. Thus also P. rightly. Ben-Naphtali, on the contrary, punctuates אנהגך. Cf. Genesis (1869), p. 85, note 3.) and bring him into her mother's house, and he would then, under the eye of their common mother, become her teacher, and she would become his scholar. The lxx adds, after the words "into my mother's house," the phrase, καὶ εἰς ταμεῖον τῆς συλλαβούσης με, cf. Sol 3:4. In the same manner also the Syr., which has not read the words διδάξεις με following, which are found in some Codd. of the lxx. Regarding the word telammedēne (thou wouldest instruct me) as incongruous, Hitzig asks: What should he then teach her? He refers it to her mother: "who would teach me," namely, from her own earlier experience, how I might do everything rightly for him. "Were the meaning," he adds, "he should do it, then also it is she who ought to be represented as led home by him into his house, the bride by the bridegroom." But, correctly, Jerome, the Venet., and Luther: "Thou wouldest (shouldest) instruct me;" also the Targ.: "I would conduct thee, O King Messiah, and bring Thee into the house of my sanctuary; and Thou wouldest teach me (וּתאלּף יתי) to fear God and to walk in His ways." Not her mother, but Solomon, is in possession of the wisdom which she covets; and if he were her brother, as she wishes, then she would constrain him to devote himself to her as her teacher. The view, favoured by Leo Hebraeus (Dialog. de amore, c. III), John Pordage (Metaphysik, III 617 ff.), and Rosenmller, and which commends itself, after the analogy of the Gtagovinda, Boethius, and Dante, and appears also to show itself in the Syr. title of the book, "Wisdom of the Wise," that Shulamith is wisdom personified (cf. also Sol 8:2 with Pro 9:2, and Pro 8:3; Pro 2:6 with Pro 4:8), shatters itself against this תלמדני; the fact is rather the reverse: Solomon is wisdom in person, and Shulamith is the wisdom-loving soul, (Note: Cf. my Das Hohelied unter. u. ausg. (1851), pp. 65-73.) - for Shulamith wishes to participate in Solomon's wisdom. What a deep view the "Thou wouldest teach me" affords into Shulamith's heart! She knew how much she yet came short of being to him all that a wife should be. But in Jerusalem the bustle of court life and the burden of his regal duties did not permit him to devote himself to her; but in her mother's house, if he were once there, he would instruct her, and she would requite him with her spiced wine and with the juice of the pomegranates. הרקח יין, vinum conditura, is appos. = genitiv. יין הרקח, vinum conditurae (ἀρωματίτης in Dioscorides and Pliny), like יין תּר, Psa 6:5, לחץ מים Kg1 22:27, etc., vid., Philippi's Stat. Const. p. 86. אשׁקך carries forward אשּׁקך in a beautiful play upon words. עסיס designates the juice as pressed out: the Chald. עסּי corresponds to the Heb. דּרך, used of treading the grapes. It is unnecessary to render רמּני as apoc. plur., like מנּי, Psa 45:9 (Ewald, 177a); rimmoni is the name she gives to the pomegranate trees belonging to her, - for it is true that this word, rimmon, can be used in a collective sense (Deu 8:8); but the connection with the possessive suff. excludes this; or by 'asis rimmoni she means the pomegranate must (cf. ῥοΐ́της = vinum e punicis, in Dioscorides and Pliny) belonging to her. Pomegranates are not to be thought of as an erotic symbol; (Note: Vid., Porphyrius, de Abstin. iv. 16, and Inman in his smutty book, Ancient Faiths, vol. I 1868, according to which the pomegranate is an emblem of "a full womb.") they are named as something beautiful and precious. "O Ali," says a proverb of Sunna, "eat eagerly only pomegranates (Pers. anâr), for their grains are from Paradise." (Note: Vid., Fleischer's Catal. Codd. Lips. p. 428.)

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

If Solomon now complies with her request, yields to her invitation, then she will again see her parental home, where, in the days of her first love, she laid up for him that which was most precious, that she might thereby give him joy. Since she thus places herself with her whole soul back again in her home and amid its associations, the wish expressed in these words that follow rises up within her in the childlike purity of her love:

1 O that thou wert like a brother to me,

Who sucked my mother's breasts!

If I found thee without, I would kiss thee;

They also could not despise me.

2 I would lead thee, bring thee into my mother's house;

Thou wouldest instruct me -

I would give thee to drink spiced wine,

The must of my pomegranates.

Solomon is not her brother, who, with her, hung upon the same mother's breast; but she wishes, carried away in her dream into the reality of that she wished for, that she had him as her brother, or rather, since she says, not אח, but כּאח (with כּ, which here has not, as at Psa 35:14, the meaning of tanquam, but of instar, as at Job 24:14), that she had in him what a brother is to a sister. In that case, if she found him without, she would kiss him (hypoth. fut. in the protasis, and fut. without Vav in the apodosis, as at Job 20:24; Hos 8:12; Psa 139:18) - she could do this without putting any restraint on herself for the sake of propriety (cf. the kiss of the wanton harlot, Pro 7:13), and also (גּם) without needing to fear that they who saw it would treat it scornfully (ל בּוּז, as in the reminiscence, Pro 6:30). The close union which lies in the sisterly relationship thus appeared to her to be higher than the near connection established by the marriage relationship, and her childlike feeling deceived her not: the sisterly relationship is certainly purer, firmer, more enduring than that of marriage, so far as this does not deepen itself into an equality with the sisterly, and attain to friendship, yea, brotherhood (Pro 17:17), within. That Shulamith thus feels herself happy in the thought that Solomon was to her as a brother, shows, in a characteristic manner, that "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life," were foreign to her. If he were her brother, she would take him by the hand,

(Note: Ben-Asher punctuates אנהגך. Thus also P. rightly. Ben-Naphtali, on the contrary, punctuates אנהגך. Cf. Genesis (1869), p. 85, note 3.)

and bring him into her mother's house, and he would then, under the eye of their common mother, become her teacher, and she would become his scholar. The lxx adds, after the words "into my mother's house," the phrase, καὶ εἰς ταμεῖον τῆς συλλαβούσης με, cf. Sol 3:4. In the same manner also the Syr., which has not read the words διδάξεις με following, which are found in some Codd. of the lxx. Regarding the word telammedēne (thou wouldest instruct me) as incongruous, Hitzig asks: What should he then teach her? He refers it to her mother: "who would teach me," namely, from her own earlier experience, how I might do everything rightly for him. "Were the meaning," he adds, "he should do it, then also it is she who ought to be represented as led home by him into his house, the bride by the bridegroom." But, correctly, Jerome, the Venet., and Luther: "Thou wouldest (shouldest) instruct me;" also the Targ.: "I would conduct thee, O King Messiah, and bring Thee into the house of my sanctuary; and Thou wouldest teach me (וּתאלּף יתי) to fear God and to walk in His ways." Not her mother, but Solomon, is in possession of the wisdom which she covets; and if he were her brother, as she wishes, then she would constrain him to devote himself to her as her teacher. The view, favoured by Leo Hebraeus (Dialog. de amore, c. III), John Pordage (Metaphysik, III 617 ff.), and Rosenmller, and which commends itself, after the analogy of the Gtagovinda, Boethius, and Dante, and appears also to show itself in the Syr. title of the book, "Wisdom of the Wise," that Shulamith is wisdom personified (cf. also Sol 8:2 with Pro 9:2, and Pro 8:3; Pro 2:6 with Pro 4:8), shatters itself against this תלמדני; the fact is rather the reverse: Solomon is wisdom in person, and Shulamith is the wisdom-loving soul,

(Note: Cf. my Das Hohelied unter. u. ausg. (1851), pp. 65-73.)

- for Shulamith wishes to participate in Solomon's wisdom. What a deep view the "Thou wouldest teach me" affords into Shulamith's heart! She knew how much she yet came short of being to him all that a wife should be. But in Jerusalem the bustle of court life and the burden of his regal duties did not permit him to devote himself to her; but in her mother's house, if he were once there, he would instruct her, and she would requite him with her spiced wine and with the juice of the pomegranates.

הרקח יין, vinum conditura, is appos. = genitiv. יין הרקח, vinum conditurae (ἀρωματίτης in Dioscorides and Pliny), like יין תּר, Psa 6:5, לחץ מים Kg1 22:27, etc., vid., Philippi's Stat. Const. p. 86. אשׁקך carries forward אשּׁקך in a beautiful play upon words. עסיס designates the juice as pressed out: the Chald. עסּי corresponds to the Heb. דּרך, used of treading the grapes. It is unnecessary to render רמּני as apoc. plur., like מנּי, Psa 45:9 (Ewald, 177a); rimmoni is the name she gives to the pomegranate trees belonging to her, - for it is true that this word, rimmon, can be used in a collective sense (Deu 8:8); but the connection with the possessive suff. excludes this; or by 'asis rimmoni she means the pomegranate must (cf. ῥοΐ́της = vinum e punicis, in Dioscorides and Pliny) belonging to her. Pomegranates are not to be thought of as an erotic symbol;

(Note: Vid., Porphyrius, de Abstin. iv. 16, and Inman in his smutty book, Ancient Faiths, vol. I 1868, according to which the pomegranate is an emblem of "a full womb.")

they are named as something beautiful and precious. "O Ali," says a proverb of Sunna, "eat eagerly only pomegranates (Pers. anâr), for their grains are from Paradise."

(Note: Vid., Fleischer's Catal. Codd. Lips. p. 428.)

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
O that - The church here expresses her desire of a stricter union, and closer communion with Christ. Without - In the open streets.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
O that thou wert as my brother - The bride, fearing that her fondness for her spouse might be construed into too great a familiarity, wishes that he were her little brother; and then she might treat him in the most affectionate manner, and kiss him even in the streets without suspicion, and without giving offense to any one.

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³¹ Then [3303] [3767] had [2192] the churches [1577] rest [1515] throughout [2596] all [3650] Judaea [2449] and [2532] Galilee [1056] and [2532] Samaria [4540], and were edified [3618]; and [2532] walking in [4198] the fear [5401] of the Lord [2962], and [2532] in the comfort [3874] of the Holy [40] Ghost [4151], were multiplied [4129].

⁴ I charge [07650] you, O daughters [01323] of Jerusalem [03389], that ye stir not up [05782], nor awake [05782] my love [0160], until he please [02654].

²⁵ And they, when [3303] [3767] they had testified [1263] and [2532] preached [2980] the word [3056] of the Lord [2962], returned [5290] to [1519] Jerusalem [2419], and [5037] preached the gospel [2097] in many [4183] villages [2968] of the Samaritans [4541].

¹⁷ Jesus [2424] saith [3004] unto her [846], Touch [680] me [3450] not [3361]; for [1063] I am [305] not yet [3768] ascended [305] to [4314] my [3450] Father [3962]: but [1161] go [4198] to [4314] my [3450] brethren [80], and [2532] say [2036] unto them [846], I ascend [305] unto [4314] my [3450] Father [3962], and [2532] your [5216] Father [3962]; and [2532] to my [3450] God [2316], and [2532] your [5216] God [2316].

⁸ A land [0776] of wheat [02406], and barley [08184], and vines [01612], and fig trees [08384], and pomegranates [07416]; a land [0776] of oil [08081] olive [02132], and honey [01706];

⁹ Kings [04428]' daughters [01323] were among thy honourable women [03368]: upon thy right hand [03225] did stand [05324] the queen [07694] in gold [03800] of Ophir [0211].

²⁷ And say [0559], Thus saith [0559] the king [04428], Put [07760] this fellow in the prison [01004] [03608], and feed [0398] him with bread [03899] of affliction [03906] and with water [04325] of affliction [03906], until I come [0935] in peace [07965].

⁵ For in death [04194] there is no remembrance [02143] of thee: in the grave [07585] who shall give thee thanks [03034]?

⁸ Exalt [05549] her, and she shall promote [07311] thee: she shall bring thee to honour [03513], when thou dost embrace [02263] her.

⁶ For the LORD [03068] giveth [05414] wisdom [02451]: out of his mouth [06310] cometh knowledge [01847] and understanding [08394].

³ She crieth [07442] at [03027] the gates [08179], at the entry [06310] of the city [07176], at the coming [03996] in at the doors [06607].

² She hath killed [02873] her beasts [02874]; she hath mingled [04537] her wine [03196]; she hath also furnished [06186] her table [07979].

² I would lead [05090] thee, and bring [0935] thee into my mother's [0517] house [01004], who would instruct [03925] me: I would cause thee to drink [08248] of spiced [07544] wine [03196] of the juice [06071] of my pomegranate [07416].

⁴ It was but a little [04592] that I passed [05674] from them, but I found [04672] him whom my soul [05315] loveth [0157]: I held [0270] him, and would not let him go [07503], until I had brought [0935] him into my mother's [0517] house [01004], and into the chamber [02315] of her that conceived [02029] me.

¹⁷ A friend [07453] loveth [0157] at all times [06256], and a brother [0251] is born [03205] for adversity [06869].

³⁰ Men do not despise [0936] a thief [01590], if he steal [01589] to satisfy [04390] his soul [05315] when he is hungry [07456];

¹³ So she caught [02388] him, and kissed [05401] him, and with an impudent [05810] face [06440] said [0559] unto him,

¹⁸ If I should count [05608] them, they are more in number [07235] than the sand [02344]: when I awake [06974], I am still [05750] with thee.

¹² I have written [03789] to him the great things [07230] [07239] of my law [08451], but they were counted [02803] as a strange thing [02114].

²⁴ He shall flee [01272] from the iron [01270] weapon [05402], and the bow [07198] of steel [05154] shall strike him through [02498].

¹⁴ The murderer [07523] rising [06965] with the light [0216] killeth [06991] the poor [06041] and needy [034], and in the night [03915] is as a thief [01590].

¹⁴ I behaved [01980] myself as though he had been my friend [07453] or brother [0251]: I bowed down [07817] heavily [06937], as one that mourneth [057] for his mother [0517].