Fathers

Song of Solomon 7

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How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince's daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman. Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor: thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies. Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins. Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim: thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus. Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king is held in the galleries. How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights! This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes. I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples; And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved, that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak. I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me. Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves. The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.

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What the Fathers say

Song of Solomon 7:8

Western Saints

Ambrose of Milan

The laurel and the palm are the symbols of victory. The heads of the victors are crowned with laurel, and the hand of the conqueror is adorned with a palm. Hence the Church says: "I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of its branches." Seeing the excellence of the Word and hoping that she can ascend to His height and the summit of knowledge, she says: "I will go up to the palm tree," so that she may leave behind all lower things and strive for higher things, for the reward of Christ, so that she may enjoy and taste …

The Six Days of Creation ↗

Bede

And the smell of your breath is like apples, etc. Indeed, in the smell of the mouth is the fame of good speech, and in the throat, however, is the very duty of voice dedicated to God. Both are worthy of praise in the Catholic Church, and both in every elected soul, because the voice itself, which teaches those present, and the fame of speech, which reaches the absent, whether through letters or through those who have heard, is proven to be full of virtue and grace. …

Commentary on the Song of Songs ↗

Robert of Tombelaine

He spoke truly, and ascended: because just as before the ages he determined to die for our death, so at the end of the world, merciful and faithful, he fulfilled it. Therefore he ascended the palm tree and took hold of its fruits: because, suspended on the cross, he found fruit, took hold of it, and bestowed it upon us. …

Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 7 ↗