I would lead you and bring you into the house of my mother — she who used to teach me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the juice of my pomegranate.
The bride wants to bring her Beloved home, into her mother's house, and there to learn and to pour Him her own best wine. Commentators read the wish as a longing for closeness that nothing can hinder, and they differ over one phrase: who does the teaching?
Where the Verse Stands in the Song
Chapter 8 circles back instead of moving the story on. At the end of chapter 7 the bride was already happy with her Beloved, yet here she speaks again as one still wishing.
Andrew MillerThese verses clearly take us back, not forward, in the bride's position and experience. At the close of chapter 7 we left her among the ripening scenes of the glory of the last days, happy in her Beloved's company. They were together… But here these verses take us back to the very foundation of everything she went through to reach this point. It is the deep desire of her heart for unhindered, unrestrained communion with Messiah, the King.
The House She Leads Him Into
Whose house is this? Read as prophecy, it is Jerusalem, where the faithful part of Israel welcomes Messiah; read for Christians today, it points to a life under grace instead of law.
The Emmaus Course on CanticlesShe would bring Him into her mother's house. The remnant will receive Christ at Jerusalem. Our mother is Jerusalem above: "But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother" (Gal. 4:26). Jerusalem above stands for that system of free grace. It is set against that system of law that Israel came under at Mount Sinai, which "bears children for slavery."
What kind of freedom does that grace give?
The Emmaus Course on CanticlesAs born from above we are children of pure grace… This alone sets the heart free and gives true liberty: not liberty to sin or do as one pleases… but deliverance from sin's harsh yoke, so that we can walk free from its power.
Who Teaches Whom
Translations split here. Some make the mother the teacher; others read the line as the Bridegroom teaching her. One writer says the outcome is the same either way.
The Emmaus Course on Canticles"Who would instruct me," or, as some translate it, "He would instruct me." But whether it is the mother (grace) or Christ who instructs, the results are the same. "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age" (Titus 2:11-12).
The Cup She Pours
What is spiced wine? One writer points to an older view that the word here means real wine, made stronger by what is mixed into it.
William KellyLowth, in his Notes on Isaiah, gives it as his opinion that even Song 8:2 means wine, made intoxicating by the mixture of more powerful ingredients.
The pomegranate stands for something. What she pours out is what has grown in her own life.
The Emmaus Course on CanticlesTaught by His grace, she would serve His pleasure and rest in His love… The pomegranate is the symbol of the fruit of the Spirit. When someone is truly taught by grace, the fruit of the Spirit shows itself in the life. This is a spiced wine that gives joy to the Lord. But the works of the flesh, when seen in His redeemed ones, are a great grief to His heart.
The Cup He Already Drank
Before she could pour Him anything sweet, He had drunk something bitter for her.
Andrew MillerNow she knows that He once drank the bitter cup of God's wrath for her sins. So she longs to present to Him a cup of choice wine, which her gratitude and devotedness have mixed for Him alone. Like the prodigal son coming home, her Beloved embraces her at once, and she rests in His arms.
Her Wish Answered
Her wish does not stay a wish. A few lines later she walks out in the open on His arm.
Hamilton SmithThe previous song closed with the bride's desire to show her love for the Bridegroom before all the world, with no one despising her. In this song she gets her desire. She comes out of the wilderness leaning on the arm of her Beloved, and the daughters of Jerusalem ask, "Who is this?"… Her wilderness wanderings are behind her, and the glory shines before her.
Summary
- Desire — The verse takes us back to the root of the whole book: her longing for communion with her Beloved that nothing holds back.
- House — She leads Him into her mother's house. For Israel that is Jerusalem welcoming Messiah; for believers now it is the Jerusalem above, where grace rules and not law.
- Teaching — Commentators differ on whether the mother or Christ teaches her. Either way, grace does the training.
- Cup — Her spiced wine is fruit grown in her own life. The fruit of the Spirit is what gives the Lord joy.
- Answer — He drank the bitter cup of wrath, and now He takes her cup of gratitude. He embraces her at once, and she walks out of the wilderness leaning on Him.