CHAPTER VI. (Chap. VI.—Verse 1.) My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the bed of spices, that he may feed in the gardens, and gather lilies.
1. The Beloved descends into his garden to the bed of spices, because in visiting the Church, he comes with greater grace to those whom he knows to send forth from themselves to their neighbors the fragrance of good reputation through holy works and examples of virtues. He feeds in the gardens when he delights in the virtues of many souls. He gathers lilies when he cuts down each of the perfect from this life. But because the holy Church in her children is so joined to Christ by faith, sustained by hope, and bound together by charity, that she loves nothing apart from Christ, and holds him inseparably close to herself through faith and love, she therefore adds: (Verse 2.) "I am my Beloved's, and my Beloved is mine, who feeds among the lilies."
2. It should be noted, indeed, that the Synagogue will one day be converted to the faith through the preaching of the Church, so that, denying itself, it will follow Christ alone, and will love Christ with the same desire with which the Church loves him, whom she loves alone above all others. The Bridegroom now addresses her, already made his friend, already joined to himself as his bride, rejoicing and saying: (Verse 3.) You are beautiful, my friend, sweet and comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army set in battle array.
3. Beautiful and beloved, sweet and comely like Jerusalem, is said to be the Synagogue; because, once converted, she will follow the four holy Gospels just as the Church does. Jerusalem indeed is interpreted as "vision of peace." By which the holy Church is well figured; because while she always suffers tribulation in the world, scorning the way, she contemplates by running what the peace of the heavenly homeland may be, trusting in him who said to his disciples: "In the world you will have tribulation; but be confident, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Worthily then the converted Synagogue is called beautiful and beloved and sweet and comely like Jerusalem; because while she imitates the holy Church, she practices the precepts of the four Gospels, from which she receives beauty of character so as to please, gathers the exercise of holy work so as to cling to friendship, learns the sweetness of meekness so as to endure, and displays the appearance of comely conduct, so as to draw others by example. Concerning which it is consequently said: "Terrible as an army set in array." It is known to those with experience that when soldiers go forth in battle array against enemies, if they advance in close and united formation, they are feared by the enemies coming against them; because while they see no entrance through a gap in them, they do not find, hesitating, how to penetrate them. And this becomes an impenetrable defense for them, that being arranged in harmony they protect themselves by means of themselves. For while they make a rampart for themselves from themselves, they leave no entrance for enemies to get through to them, and when attacked to be killed, they themselves more easily kill. So it happens among the multitude of the faithful, which while it does not cease to fight against malignant spirits, must be bound together by the peace of charity in order to be safe. For if it holds peace, it appears terrible to enemies. If it is divided through discord, it is easily penetrated on all sides by enemies. Therefore let it fortify itself with peace, bind itself with unity, unite itself with charity; so that while it suffers no damage within itself through division, it may always follow its leader rejoicing without confusion. In peace indeed the eye of the mind is cleansed, so that it may be directed toward the very vision of blessedness. Which no one beholds as it is in this life; because it is impossible to possess the homeland while each one of us groans in exile. Therefore to the holy soul burning with desire, yearning, drawing near, the Bridegroom responds, saying: (Verse 4) "Turn your eyes away from me, for they have made me fly away."
4. We direct our eyes toward the Bridegroom when we open the gaze of the mind even a little to see the blessedness of Christ. But we are commanded to turn our eyes away, lest we suppose that, however much we see, we behold it as it truly is. For the very eyes have made him fly away; because the more he is seen, the more he is recognized to be invisible. And he flies away from us; because however slightly grasped by a flash of the mind, he reveals himself to be incomprehensibly exalted above every effort of ours. Indeed, the eyes of the mind bring it about, as it were, that he flies away; because through that small measure that is seen, he appears very far off and flying away from us, as has been said. There follows: (Verses 4–6.) 'Your hair is like flocks of goats that have ascended from Mount Gilead. Your teeth are like flocks of shorn sheep that have come up from the washing; all bearing twins, and there is no barren one among them. Like the rind of a pomegranate, so are your cheeks, apart from what is hidden.'
5. All these things said above about the Church, we have explained as best we could; therefore we now avoid repeating the same things about the Synagogue. There is one thing, however, that is not repeated in the same way: because there it says "like the pieces of a pomegranate," but here it says "like the rind of a pomegranate." I think nothing else is signified by this except the blood of the martyrs who will die under the Antichrist, and the unity of the faith under which many of the Jews will be bound together. While they endure the shedding of blood in their steadfastness, they will be adorned by the tribulation of faith as if by the redness of the rind. There follows: (Verse 7.) "There are sixty queens, and eighty concubines; and of young maidens there is no number."
6. What is designated by the queens, if not the souls of the saints, who, while they prudently govern their bodies and preside over others, acquire for themselves an eternal kingdom? For there are some in the holy Church who mortify their flesh and afflict it for the sake of God, conquer vices, subject demons to themselves as though tyrants, wisely govern all their impulses so that they run in an orderly manner, preach to others what they themselves do, and fighting with the sword of the word, snatch many from the jaws of demons. What are such souls if not queens, who, while they greatly love Christ the King, their spouse, through the mingling of love and the abhorrence of lust, beget royal children, that is, faithful peoples? To all of whom the blessed apostle Peter said: "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own" (1 Peter 2:9). But the queens are said to be sixty. For indeed the number ten multiplied by six is completed in sixty. And what is signified by ten, if not the ten precepts of the Law; and what by six, if not the labor of this life? For in six days we work what is necessary, and on the seventh we are commanded by the Law to rest (Exodus 23 and 31). Rightly therefore the queens are said to be sixty; because while the ten precepts are practiced in this age, and this age unfolds in six working days, in them the number ten is, as it were, multiplied by the number six. For each one preaches the ten precepts of the Law, in the practice of which they exercise themselves in the temporal condition of this corruption. Therefore they multiply six by ten, or ten by six; because they demonstrate by their works and proclaim by their word that this entire time must be spent spiritually in fulfilling the ten precepts of the Law. The reprobate sometimes behold their praise in this world; and so that they may be similarly praised, or so that they may somehow obtain some advantage in this life, they too become preachers on their own. Concerning whom it is rightly added: "And eighty concubines."
7. For concubines do not truly but feignedly love their masters, and they seek from them not the posterity of children but present advantage, nor do they exercise themselves in continence but desire to fulfill their lust. So false preachers exist in the Church: because while they love not Christ but gain or praise, they join themselves to Christ not spiritually and chastely but carnally and lustfully. Rightly therefore they are called concubines, because they follow Christ whom they preach not in spirit but in the flesh. Of whom the apostle Paul said: "Many indeed walk according to the flesh, but not according to Christ" (Phil. 3:18). Of whom he himself also says: "Whom I often told you of, but now tell you even weeping, the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly." Of whom he himself likewise says: "Such as these do not serve the Lord Jesus, but their own belly" (Rom. 16:18). Yet these concubines are rightly said to be eighty in number, because even though they love earthly things with their whole heart, they nevertheless speak of heavenly things. For we multiply the number eight by ten and arrive at eighty. By ten, as has been said, the Decalogue is signified; by eight, the resurrection, because our Redeemer is shown to have risen on the eighth day. And preachers, even if they are false, nevertheless through desire manifest both the divine Scripture and the resurrection in which we believe through their word. For if preachers were to preach something else, they would not be among Christians; of whom Truth says in the Gospel: "The Scribes and Pharisees sit upon the seat of Moses: what they say, do; but what they do, do not wish to do" (Matt. 23:2).
8. But because by the preaching of both false and true preachers very many come to the faith, and with the elect many enter who do not attain to the lot of the elect, therefore it is added: "And of the young maidens there is no number." For since it is written: "Adolescence and youth are vanity" (Eccles. 11:10, from the Hebrew), what do we understand by these young maidens except souls which, while they pursue the vain things of this world that they love, exceed the number of the elect? Of whom it is said through the Psalmist: "I have declared and spoken; they are multiplied beyond number" (Ps. 39:6). For the Apostle Paul makes clear that the number of the elect has been established with God, when he says: "The Lord knows who are his" (2 Tim. 2:19). And through himself the Lord says: "I know whom I have chosen" (John 13:18). Because he knows them not imperfectly but knows them perfectly, without doubt he also knows the number in which they are chosen. Of whom it is said through Paul: "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son" (Rom. 8:29). Rightly, therefore, "of the young maidens there is no number," because while through the vanity they love they do not run toward the number of the elect, remaining outside they do not, as it were, come into the divine knowledge. To whom the Truth itself will say at the future judgment: "I do not know you" (Matt. 25:12); and: "Depart from me, all you who work iniquity" (Ps. 6:9). But while the reprobate seek worldly things and divide their mind through manifold desires, every holy soul draws itself into the number of the elect, despising the many things it sees, ardently desiring the one thing it does not see; and as long as it does not possess it, it nourishes itself in faith and unites itself in love. And while it follows that which is one and the selfsame, from many such souls one Church is formed, of which it is said through the Bridegroom: (v. 8) "My dove is one, my perfect one is one, she is the only one of her mother, the chosen one of her who bore her."
9. Our mother is the regenerating grace, in which one dove is chosen, because she chooses only those who remain in simplicity and are not torn from unity. For indeed many of the faithful, while they focus on the same thing, while they nourish one another with one desire for Christ, while having one heart and one soul they bind themselves together in charity, form one body from many members. And all living in the simplicity of unity, they constitute one dove. She alone is called perfect and chosen by her mother, because outside this Church of which we speak, no one is nurtured to perfection, no one to life, except through this one alone by the fostering of grace. Of which it is well added: (Verse 9.) The daughters of Zion saw her, and declared her most blessed: the queens and the concubines praised her.
10. The daughters of Sion are the daughters of the Church, who, while they contemplate eternal life in this flesh, are raised up from the pilgrim Church to the reigning Church. The daughters of Sion see the dove and proclaim her most blessed: because holy souls, when they behold the virtues of the Church, burst forth in praise and yearn for her blessedness. For the holy Church is nourished by grace as its mother, while she is instructed by faith, fed on the flesh of her Bridegroom, washed by his blood, and fattened on divine Scripture. Strengthened by such nourishments, she conquers demons, suffocates vices, tames the flesh, fortifies the spirit, and awaits life. Whoever beholds all these things rightly rises at once into admiration and pronounces her most blessed, because he sees to what great glory she rises through so many virtues. The concubines also praise her along with the queens; because even if false preachers contradict by their works, nevertheless in their words they set forth to the people the same things as the true ones do. Of such the Truth himself says: "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me" (Matt. 15, from Isa. 27). This he openly reveals when he says again: "For they say, and do not do" (Matt. 23:3). Of whom it is also said through the apostle Paul: "They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny him" (Tit. 1:16). But holy men confess God by both words and deeds; because what they believe they do, and to the good things they do, they also draw others by their words and examples. By their virtues adversaries are stirred to faith, while they admire in them both the devotion of faith and the constancy of works. Whence also the Synagogue is raised to faith, when she contemplates with admiration what the merits of faith are in the Church, saying: (Verse 9.) "Who is she that comes forth like the rising dawn, fair as the moon, chosen as the sun, terrible as an army set in battle array?"
11. The holy Church advances like the rising dawn in the last judgment, because, having left behind the darkness of corruption, she is renewed by the brightness of incorruption. She is rightly called chosen as the sun, because she is brought to the same glory to which her head, Christ, who is declared to be the sun of justice, has attained. Whence it is that the same sun says: "I will, Father, that where I am, there also my servant may be" (John 19:26; 17:24). Yet this can also be understood of the members of the same Church still living in this flesh. For there are some who with great attention consider what the torments of the reprobate are, and who strive to examine their own deeds without self-flattery. And when they recognize that they have sinned, and through this fear going to the torments of the reprobate, they suddenly abandon the darkness of iniquity and desire to be kindled by the light of justice. Soon they rise to holy work, and through the good works they do, they begin to shine before their neighbors. These without doubt advance like the rising dawn, because, suddenly dispelling the night of sin, they are expanded more and more toward the light. Thus the soul that was previously in darkness now appears shining, and the soul that was even darkened within itself now shines for others with the light of holy work. Of which it is rightly added: "Beautiful as the moon, chosen as the sun." For the moon, while it illuminates the night, shows to dim eyes the path by which a person may walk. So indeed every soul that leaves behind darkness and stretches itself toward holy work, while it gives its neighbors an example of working well, as it were scatters light upon darkening eyes. For when sinners behold a good work and turn themselves to doing the same, they return to the path like those wandering in the night who return by the light of the moon. This holy soul therefore, while it offers examples to sinners, shines like the moon in the night. But when it grows more and more, and from day to day through the habit of work receives the light of justice so perfectly that it even provides examples of imitation to the good—it which previously appeared worthy of imitation only to sinners—then indeed the moon becomes the sun, because she who was shining for those wandering in the night now manifests the light of truth to those walking in the day. Hence what follows: "Chosen as the sun." Of which it is rightly added: "Terrible as an army set in array." Because this has already been said, it is not necessary to explain it again, lest it seem to produce tedium. The Bridegroom therefore follows, and states the reason whence such great virtue can grow in the Church. For she is renewed by his visitation, and what is dark in her is illuminated by his gaze. And hence it is that he adds, saying: (Verse 10) "I went down into the garden of nuts, to see the fruits of the valleys, and to look whether the vines had flourished and the pomegranates had budded."
12. What do we understand by nuts, if not all the perfect, who while they retain divine wisdom within their bodies, carry as it were a kernel in a fragile shell? For there are very many in the Church who attend constantly to divine Scripture, and tasting how sweet the Lord is, desire to taste yet more; they ruminate on holy joys in their heart, and ruminating they grow stronger more and more. And yet outwardly, to those who do not know them, they appear worthless, because it is unknown what sweet food they carry within their interior. What are these if not nuts, who carry the sweetness of the kernel within, but outwardly display the worthlessness of the flesh? Of their number was the Apostle, who said: "We have this treasure in earthen vessels" (2 Cor. 4:7). The garden of nuts, therefore, is the hearts of the saints, who while they love, carry heavenly sweetness in their inmost depths. Whence it is written in the Psalm: "How great is the multitude of your sweetness, O Lord, which you have hidden for those who fear you!" (Ps. 30:20). But what does it mean that the Bridegroom descends into the garden of nuts to see the fruits, when he ought rather to see the nuts? Nevertheless, it should be known that he frequently visits the hearts of the perfect and manifests to them the sweetness of his kindness, so that through them he may afterward come to the weaker ones, and through them may know how much they have advanced in the increase of righteousness. Whence it is written: "The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there is any who understands or seeks God" (Ps. 13:2). For when divine goodness illumines the hearts of the perfect and urges them to the care of their neighbors through the solicitude of charity, what is this other than that, coming to the garden, he surveys the fruits of the valley through those over whom he presides? For the Lord is said to see or to know when he exhorts his saints whom he illumines to see. But what does it mean that he descends to see not the fruits of the mountain but the fruits of the valley, unless that he grants the regard of his mercy to those whom he knows to persist in humility? Of whom it is said through the Psalmist: "For the Lord is exalted, and he regards the lowly, and the lofty he knows from afar" (Ps. 137:6). And the Lord himself says through his own voice from the prophet: "Upon whom shall my spirit rest, if not upon the humble and quiet one, who trembles at my words?" (Isa. 66:2). The Bridegroom then continues and says: "And I would see whether the vineyards had flourished and the pomegranates had budded." The vineyards flourish when in the Church children are newly begotten in the faith and are prepared for holy conduct, as it were for the solidity of fruit. The pomegranates bud when all the perfect build up their neighbors by their examples and transform them into the newness of holy conduct through preaching and the display of good works. That pomegranate, namely the apostle Paul, had budded, who said: "My little children, whom I again bring forth in labor until Christ be formed in you" (Gal. 4:19). For thus it is done in the holy Church, that through the good the wicked are converted, through the perfect the imperfect are nourished, until they themselves also come to perfection and lead the weak, just as they themselves were led, to better things. This Christ the Bridegroom of the Church perceives by visiting, and by regarding joins together the holy body — he who is known to have assumed a body of weakness so that the whole Church together might be transformed into the body of his glory. Whence blessed Paul says: "Who will transform the body of our lowliness, made conformable to the body of his glory" (Phil. 3:21). All these things the Synagogue, at last awakened at the end of the world, will perceive, and will reproach itself for having been ignorant of these things for so long, saying: (Verse 11) "I did not know: my soul troubled me, because of the chariots of Aminadab."
13. As if she were saying: Seeing so many miracles taking place in the holy Church, why did I not perceive them in so great a time? Why did I remain unbelieving? Why did I persist so long through my unbelief in the darkness of ignorance? But she is disturbed on account of the chariots of Aminadab, because at a certain point she is stirred up through the preaching of Christ to receive the faith. For Aminadab is interpreted as "the willing one of my people." And rightly, without doubt, Christ Jesus is called by the Father "the willing one of my people," because He truly descended with willing love to save the people, and in order to raise us from death, He accepted death on the cross with pious will and gracious kindness. Whence He Himself also says to the Father: "I will sacrifice to You willingly" (Psalm 53:8). And one of the redeemed, speaking to Christ, said: "Hear me, O Lord, for Your mercy is kind" (Psalm 68:17). Therefore the Synagogue is disturbed on account of the chariots of Aminadab, because when at last she contemplates the four Gospels of Christ running through the world, burning in the hearts of men through faith, she is soon confounded by the darkness of her own unbelief, and when a salutary confusion arises, she is moved to repentance. To whom the Church speaks kindly, saying: (Verse 12) "Return, return, O Shulamite, return, return, that we may gaze upon you."
14. For "Sunamite" is interpreted as "captive." The Sunamite, therefore, is called to return; because the faith of the Synagogue will be offered by the Church at the end of the world, so that she who is held captive by demons under the yoke of unbelief may recover her former dignity. And rightly she is urged to return four times; because the Jews are now dispersed into the four parts of the world, and wherever they may be, as has been said, they will be converted at the end of the world, as was foretold through the prophet: "If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved" (Isaiah 10:22). Let the Sunamite return, therefore, so that we may gaze upon her, that is, let the Synagogue be converted to the faith, and in her repentance let her show to all how great an evil she was committing when she was nailing her God to the cross. But immediately, when the Church desires to gaze upon the faith of the Synagogue, the Bridegroom responds as if asking in congratulation, and says: