Refresh me with apples,
For I am sick with love!
6 Let his left hand be under my head,
And his right hand support me!
7 I adjure you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem,
By the gazelles, or the hinds of the field,
the parallel passage, 1 Chron. xvi. 3, [GR: a)mori/tês], a sweet cake; in Hos. iii. 1, [GR: pe/mma], a baked cake; and [GR: a)mo/rais], sweet cakes, in the passage before us. This meaning is supported by the Chald. on Exod. xvi. 31, where [HE: 'a:OSiyS/^eyon/] is used for the Hebrew [HE: xap.iyhiyt], and Mishna Nedarim, vi. 10. Gesenius, Hitzig, Henderson, Fürst, &c., derive it from [HE: 'oS/aS/], to press, to compress, whence, they say, [HE: 'a:S/iyS/oh], a cake made of dried grapes pressed together, and [HE: 'a:S/iyS/], a foundation (Isa. xvi. 7), which is pressed down by treading on it. But as the transition from cake to foundation is not so easily conceived, and especially as the meaning to press, attached to [HE: 'oS/S/], is nowhere to be found in Hebrew (the word in Isa. xvi. 7 is to be translated cake, see Hengstenberg, Christ, i. p. 315), it is far better to derive this word as above from [HE: 'oS/aS/], to burn. The Rabbinical explanation, [HE: nir^ebo' d^eHam^ero'], flagons of wine, which the Authorized Version follows, is not borne out by the etymology, nor does it suit the passages in which this word occurs, and is therefore rightly abandoned by modern lexicographers. The rendering of Hodgson, "Support me with cups, around me strew apples;" and that of Michaelis, "Support me with verdant herbs, spread fragrant fruits under me," are contrary to the meaning of the words.
6. Let his right hand, &c. The pressure of the attempts to alienate her affections from him whom her soul loveth, and the burning desire to be re-united with him, though well sustained by her noble mind, yet overcame her body; and whilst momentarily sinking beneath the weight, the Shulamite desires that no other hand should raise her drooping head, no other arm support her exhausted frame than that of her beloved. This verse is to be taken in the optative mood. Comp. Ps. vii. 9; xlv. 2; Ewald, § 329 a.
7. I adjure you, &c. Having evinced her warm and undiminished attachment to her beloved shepherd, the Shulamite adjures the court ladies, who, as we have seen, tried to gain her affections for the king, by everything dear and lovely, not to excite her love for anyone else till her own ([HE: 'hbh]) affections wish ([HE: dvd 'Hr]) for another object. The gazelle, [HE: x^ebiy], so called from the beauty of its form, is an animal of the antelope kind, of very graceful and elegant figure, has very slender limbs, large and soft eyes. The great admiration in which this animal was held in the East, made the Hebrews use it as an emblem of everything beautiful (Prov. v. 19); and from its being charming and lovely, it also became an object by which to swear. Such adjurations are frequently used in the East. Comp. Reland, de Religio Mah. ii. p. 164: Rosenmüller, Orient. i. 146; v. 22. Dio, in the Æneid, lib. iv. 314; Bochart, Hieroz. i. p. 899. [HE: 'et^ekem/], mas, for [HE: 'et^eken/], fem. Both masculine pronouns and verbs are sometimes used in reference to objects which are feminine. See Gesenius, § 121, Rem. i. § 137, 1; Ewald, § 184 c. [HE: 'im/], after formulæ of swearing, has the effect of a negative particle (Isa. xxii. 14; Prov. xxvii. 14). This is owing to a part of the oath being omitted. Comp. 2 Sam. iii. 35; Gesen. § 155, 2 f.; Ewald, § 356 a. [HE: `v.r], here, is not to arouse, to wake from sleep (Gesen.), but to rouse, to excite the passions, affections; thus [HE: hE`iyr qan^e'oh], he will arouse his zeal, Isa. xlii. 13; Prov. x. 12. The repetition of the same verb in the Hiphil and Piel expresses intensity,
