John Trapp on Song of Solomon 1:14

Verſ. 14. My beloved is unto mee as a cluſter of Camphire] My Beloved, and unto Mee. This particular application is the very quinteſſence and pith of Faith. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. It is the property of true Faith to individuate Chriſt, to appropriate him to her ſelf, as if hee were wholly and ſolely hers: Shee adjudgeth him in ſpecial to her ſelf, with My Beloved, my Strength, and my Redeemer, my Lord, and my God. This when Thomas did, Now thou beleeveſt, ſaid our Saviour, John 20.29. Were it not for this word of Poſſeſſion (Mine) the Devil might ſay the Creed to as good purpoſe as any of us. Hee beleeves there is a God, and a Chriſt: but that which torments him is, hee can ſay (My) to never an article of Faith. Wicked men likewiſe may Credere Deum, & Deo, ſed non in Deum, they may hear with joy, and have a taſte, yea and apply the promiſes, but they do it preſumptuouſly and ſacrilegiouſly; becauſe they accept not of Chriſt upon Chriſts tearms, take not whole Chriſt in all his Offices and Efficacies, would have him as a Saviour, but not as a Soveraign, they make not a total reſignation of themſelves to Chriſt as Paul did, Ga[illegible: 1 letter]. 2.19, 20.

As a cluſter of Camphire] Or, As the Cypreſs-berry, within his white flower ſweet,Plin. lib. 12. cap. 14. pleaſant, and very fragrant. They tha[illegible: 1 letter] talk here of the Iſland Cyprus, are as far from the ſenſe, as that Iſland is from Engedi, which was a place in the Land of Canaan, in the tribe of Judah near unto the Dead Sea. Hither fled David one time, when Saul purſued him. And here Jehoſaphat had that notable victory over his enemies by the power of prayer, 2 Chron. 20. This was a fruitful ſoil for Gardens and Vineyards, Ezek. 47.10. Now the Cypreſs-tree, as alſo other Aromatical-trees, grow beſt in Vineyards. And the Church forgetting her ſelf, as it were, and tranſported with love to Chriſt, heaps up thus one ſimilitude upon another. Amor Chriſti eſt ecſtaticus, neque juris ſe ſinit eſſe ſui. R. Solomon Jarchi doth out of their Agada note,Rev. 22.2. that this Cophir in the text, is a tree that bringeth fruit four or five times yearly. Chriſt is that tree of life, that yeelds fruit every month, being more fruitful than the Lemmon-tree,Sol. cap. 45. or the Egyptian Fig-tree▪ that bears ſeven times a year, as Solinus reporteth. Our Engliſh Bibles call it Camphire, which being ſmelled unto, doth naturally keep under or weaken carnal luſt, ſaith one. Now if that ſhould bee here intended, how fitly is it here placed among the Vines of Engedi, that is a medicine for bridling luſt, over-ſoon ſtirred up by Wine, which one well calls lac Veneris, the milk of Venus.

Et Venus in vinis, ignis ut igne, furit.