The call is to the elect to open to the Messiah. The term for he who knocks at the door is rendered in the Arabic form as Al Tarikh which is the name for the Morning Star. The Surah Al Tarikh is thus rendered in different forms. It is rendered as the Morning Star in Pickthall’s translation while it is rendered the Nightly Visitant by Darwood. It also means He who knocks at the door. The sense of the text is thus identified with Messiah from here and also from Revelation 3:20. Here the Messiah comes in and eats with those who open to him. The comment that his head is drenched with dew is again a reference to the Nightly Visitant which contains, in the Arabic, a connection with the Morning Star (see also Pickthall). The Morning Star or Day Star, the Light Bearer or Lucifer is the rank of the elohim of this earth, which was held by Satan as anointed guardian cherub, as we know from Ezekiel 28:14 and Isaiah 14:12. This rank is given to Chris, which he shares with the elect (2Pet. 1:19; Rev. 3:27-28; 22:16). The dew also has reference to Judges 6:38 as is noted also from the Soncino. The commentaries note that he may have come from his mother’s house in the night. It also notes he awaited all evening after his resurrection until the Sunday morning (Jn. 20:1,8-10,16-17) when he ascended into heaven as the wave sheaf offering and then returned that evening (Jn. 20:19). Song of Songs 5:3 I had put off my garment, how could I put it on? I had bathed my feet, how could I soil them? The text is applied exactly in the Gospels at the last supper. Christ laid aside (tithenai) his garment. This symbolised the laying aside of his life. The term, how could I put it on? shows the miracle of the resurrection through the power of God. Only God could put it on again. The term I had bathed my feet how could I soil them? is a reference to the symbolism of the footwashing of the Lord’s supper done first for Messiah in spikenard. The first instance of the event shows that it is directly related to the forgiveness of sins (Lk. 7:38-50). John 11:2 shows that it was Mary who did this. The incident at John 12:3 was also done by Mary. She anointed his feet with nard in anticipation of his crucifixion. He arrived there six days before the Passover (i.e. 9 Nisan) and on 10 Nisan they gave him a supper and he was anointed. He was thus set aside as the Passover Lamb. He did not defile his feet. He died without blemish as the Passover. The same sense of being without blemish is applied to all who have their feet washed at the Lord’s Supper, through the blood of Messiah. The word for how in this text is a word found only in Esther 8:6. This text has the connotation of how can I let it happen. The word is SHD 346 ’ayeh meaning where? seemingly derived from SHD 335 ‘ay where how or why. The sense is how can it be and the sense of the ongoing impossibility of being placed in that position. 4 My beloved put his hand to the latch, and my heart was thrilled within me. The text shows the return of Messiah from the resurrection. The Soncino gives the meaning as: Hearing her lame excuses for not answering his knock, he departs, and his action causes her anxiety (Rashi). The translation here differs from that of the Soncino which applies the text as My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door. The explanation is given so it would appear that an unbolted door could be opened by inserting the hand in the hole (Isaiah da Trani, Daath Mikra). Others hold that the hole was also used to view and speak to the visitor. The term hear,t is literally my bowels, which to the ancients were the seat of the emotions (cf. Jer. 31:19; Ps. 40:9). 5 I arose to open to my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with liquid myrrh, upon the handles of the bolt. The commentaries note that when the knocking ceased she became anxious. Rushing to the door her hands touched the liquid scent with which her beloved had sprinkled the door, [perhaps as a gesture of love, or in pursuance of a custom to anoint the door of a beloved with fragrant spices] (Isaiah da Trani). Some commentators are of the view that she anointed herself with myrrh before retiring for the night (Rashi, Metsudath David). The real position here is that the beloved was not trying to enter here. He was trying to give the beloved the means of escape from the world system. From the very act of his opening, the beloved was anointed with the spices of the Spirit and freed from her environment. However, she could not yet be united with the lover. He had gone away for an extended period. The search of the beloved commences because she has contact with him only through the Spirit. 6 I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned and gone. My soul failed me when he spoke. I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer. This is the period of the Church in the wilderness. The commentaries say [Imagine her grief at not finding him there! The verbs chamak abar (had turned away, was gone) are most expressive, and the omission of the particle ‘and’ reflects her disturbed mind.] (Soncino). Her soul failed her meant she felt faint (Metsudath David). The qualification when he spoke is significant. Rashi comments: ‘Because he said, "I will not now enter, since thou didst at first refuse to open to me"’. Metsudath David, Isaiah da Trani and Malbim follow this explanation. Akedath Yitschak, however, explains it as past perfect, ‘my soul had failed me when he spoke,’ i.e., when he said, ‘Open to me, my sister, my love’. I did not give his words the proper attention. I did not take them seriously. This is exactly the situation with Judah, the blood sister of Messiah. They did not heed him and thus he went away for the forty Jubilee period, to end the times of the Gentiles and the period of Satan’s rule. There was no answer from this period. There was no sign given his ministry save the sign of Jonah (see the paper Sign of Jonah and the History of the Reconstruction of the Temple (No. 13)). 7 The watchmen found me, as they went about in the city; they beat me, they wounded me, they took away my mantle, those watchmen of the walls. Metsudath David says that those who patrol the city at night, mistaking her for a wanton, attempt to stop her, and when she refuses, they have recourse to violence. This is exactly what happened to the Church not only in Judah but elsewhere. They took her mantle. The Soncino says, "The word (redid) occurs again only in Isaiah 3:23 (veil)". It was worn by Oriental ladies out of doors, and may have been a fine lawn garment thrown over the whole dress. Kimchi thinks it was a silk veil. The concept from Isaiah 3:16-26 is that the finery of Judah and the daughters of Zion is removed because of their wanton arrogance. Isaiah 4:1 ff. goes on to show how seven women shall seize a man to remove their shame. That is the time of Messiah when those who remain in Zion will be called holy, every one who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem. These are they written in the book of life of the Lamb. The filth of the daughters of Zion will be washed away by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning. At that time there will be a cloud by day and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies. Over all the glory there will be a canopy and a pavilion as a shade, a refuge and a shelter (Isa. 4:5-6). 8 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him I am sick with love. The text here shows that the ladies of Jerusalem are asked to take part in the search. Conversion is thus extended to them. The Soncino says that Jewish commentators apply this verse to the intense love of Israel for God despite prolonged suffering. The text in verse 8 is however a question: What will you tell him? That I am lovesick. The question appears to be rhetorical. In that the lover is hardly likely to accept such an excuse for their behaviour. The Soncino notes: She urges them to tell her lover, on finding him, that all the wounds inflicted upon her by the watchmen were nothing compared to her love-sickness for him (Akedath Yitschak, Metsudath David).
Posted on: Sun, 21 Jul 2013 10:53:54 +0000
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