English · KJV

Richard Challoner

Reformation and later · AD 1500 onward · 799 passages across 38 books

Commentary

701–720 of 799
Proverbs 30:15

The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough:

The horseleech: Concupiscence, which hath two daughters that are never satisfied, viz., lust and avarice.

Proverbs 30:28

The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces.

The stellio: A kind of house lizard marked with spots like stars, from whence it has its name.

Proverbs 31:1

The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him.

Lamuel: This name signifies God with him, and is supposed to have been one of the names of Solomon.

Proverbs 31:24

She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.

The Chanaanite: The merchant, for Chanaanite, in Hebrew, signifies a merchant.

Ruth 1:15

And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.

To her gods: Noemi did not mean to persuade Ruth to return to the false gods she had formerly worshipped: but by this manner of speech, insinuated to her, that if she would go with her, she must renounce her false gods and return to the Lord the God of Israel.

Ruth 1:17

Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.

The Lord do so and so: A form of swearing usual in the history of the Old Testament, by which the person wished such and such evils to fall upon them, if they did not do what they said.

Ruth 3:10

And he said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my daughter: for thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich.

Thy latter kindness: to thy husband deceased in seeking to keep up his name and family by marrying his relation according to the law, and not following after young men. For Booz, it seems, was then in years.

Ruth 4:11

And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem:

Ephrata: Another name of Bethlehem.

Song of Solomon 1:1 · 2 passages

The song of songs, which is Solomon's.

This Book is called the Canticle of Canticles, that is to say, the most excellent of all canticles: because it is full of high mysteries, relating to the happy union of Christ and his spouse: which is here begun by love; and is to be eternal in heaven. The spouse of Christ is the church: more especially as to the happiest part of it, viz., perfect souls, every one of which is his beloved, but, above all others, the immaculate and ever blessed virgin mother.

Let him kiss me: The church, the spouse of Christ, prays that he may love and have peace with her, which the spouse prefers to every thing delicious: and therefore expresses (ver. 2) that young maidens, that is the souls of the faithful, have loved thee.

Song of Solomon 1:3

Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.

Draw me: That is, with thy grace: otherwise I should not be able to come to thee. This metaphor shows that we cannot of ourselves come to Christ our Lord, unless he draws us by his grace, which is laid up in his storerooms: that is, in the mysteries of Faith, which God in his goodness and love for mankind hath revealed, first by his servant Moses in the Old Law in figure only, and afterwards in reality by his only begotten Son Jesus Christ.

Song of Solomon 1:4

Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.

I am black but beautiful: That is, the church of Christ founded in humility appearing outwardly afflicted, and as it were black and contemptible; but inwardly, that is, in its doctrine and morality, fair and beautiful.

Song of Solomon 1:7

Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?

If thou know not thyself: Christ encourages his spouse to follow and watch her flock: and though she know not entirely the power at hand to assist her, he tells her, ver. 8, my company of horsemen, that is, his angels, are always watching and protecting her. And in the following verses he reminds her of the virtues and gifts with which he has endowed her.

Song of Solomon 2:1

I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.

I am the flower of the field: Christ professes himself the flower of mankind, yea, the Lord of all creatures: and, ver. 2, declares the excellence of his spouse, the true church above all other societies, which are to be considered as thorns.

Song of Solomon 2:8

The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.

The voice of my beloved: that is, the preaching of the gospel surmounting difficulties figuratively here expressed by mountains and little hills.

Song of Solomon 2:15

Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

Catch us the little foxes: Christ commands his priests to catch false teachers, by holding forth their fallacy and erroneous doctrine, which like foxes would bite and destroy the vines.

Song of Solomon 3:1

By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

In my bed by night: The Gentiles as in the dark, and seeking in heathen delusion what they could not find, the true God, until Christ revealed his doctrine to them by his watchmen, (ver. 3,) that is, by the apostles, and teachers by whom they were converted to the true faith; and holding that faith firmly, the spouse (the Catholic Church) declares, ver. 4, That she will not let him go, till she bring him into her mother's house, etc., that is, till at last, the Jews also shall find him.

Song of Solomon 4:1

Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.

How beautiful art thou: Christ again praises the beauties of his church, which through the whole of this chapter are exemplified by a variety of metaphors, setting forth her purity, her simplicity, and her stability.

Song of Solomon 4:5

Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies.

Thy two breasts: Mystically to be understood: the love of God and the love of our neighbour, which are so united as twins which feed among the lilies: that is, the love of God and our neighbour, feeds on the divine mysteries and the holy sacraments, left by Christ to his spouse to feed and nourish her children.

Song of Solomon 4:12

A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.

A garden enclosed: Figuratively the church is enclosed, containing only the faithful.
A fountain sealed up: That none can drink of its waters, that is, the graces and spiritual benefits of the holy sacraments, but those who are within its walls.

All writers