n of
the bride broken; in the former by backsliding into worldliness, and in
the latter through slothful ease and self-satisfaction. The present
section, like the third, is one of unbroken communion. It is opened by
the words of the bride:--

I went down into the garden of nuts,
To see the green plants of the valley,
To see whether the vine budded,
_And_ the pomegranates were in flower.
Or ever I was aware, my soul set me
_Among_ the chariots of my willing people.

As in the commencement of Section III., the bride, in unbroken
communion with her LORD, was present though unmentioned until she made
her presence evident by her address to the daughters of Zion; so in this
section the presence of the KING is unnoted until He Himself addresses
His bride. But she is one with her LORD as she engages in His service!
His promise, "Lo, I am with you alway," is ever fulfilled to her; and He
has no more to woo her to arise and come away; to tell her that His
"head is filled with dew," His "locks with the drops of the night"; or
to urge her if she love Him to feed His sheep and care for His lambs.
Herself His garden, she does not forget to tend it, nor keep the
vineyards of others while her own is neglected. _With_ Him as well as
_for_ Him, she goes to the garden of nuts. So thorough is the union
between them that many commentators have felt difficulty in deciding
whether the bride or the Bridegroom was the speaker, and really it is a
point of little moment; for, as we have said, both were there, and of
one mind; yet we believe we are right in attributing these words to the
bride, as she is the one addressed by the daughters of Jerusalem, and
the one who speaks to them in reply.

The bride and Bridegroom appear to have been discovered by their willing
people while thus engaged in the happy fellowship of fruitful service,
and the bride, or ever she was aware, found herself seated among the
chariots of her people--_her_ people as well as _His_.

The daughters of Jerusalem would fain call her back:--

Return, return, O Shulammite;
Return, return, that we may look upon thee.

There is no question now as to who she is, nor why her Beloved is more
than another beloved; He is recognized as King Solomon, and to her is
given the same name, only in its feminine form (Shulammite).

Some have seen in these words, "Return, return," an indication of the
raptu