Fathers

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What the Fathers say

Song of Solomon 4:11

Western Saints

Bede

A dripping honeycomb, your lips, bride. A honeycomb is honey in the wax; but honey in the wax is the spiritual sense of divine words in the letter, which is rightly called a dripping honeycomb: for a honeycomb drips when it has more honey than those wax cells can hold, because thus indeed is the fertility of the holy Scriptures, that a verse which is usually written in a short line, if carefully examined and expressed, is found to fill many pages with how much inner sweetness of spiritual understanding it contains. …

Commentary on the Song of Songs ↗

Bonaventure

Sacred Scripture is a tongue, hence: "Sweetmeats and milk are under your tongue." This tongue enjoys the taste of food, wherefore these same Scriptures are compared to loaves of bread that nourish and are pleasant to the taste.

Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 12 ↗

Robert of Tombelaine

The preachers of the Church are rightly said to be the lips of the bride, because through them she speaks to the peoples, and through them the little ones are instructed in the faith, since through them the hidden things of divine Scripture, as if secrets of the heart, are made manifest. Now in a honeycomb, the honey lies hidden and the wax is seen. Rightly, therefore, the lips of the bride are called a honeycomb, because when great wisdom is held in the frailty of the flesh, honey is, as it were, hidden in wax. …

Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4 ↗