John Trapp on Song of Solomon 2:15

Verſ. 15. Take us the Foxes, the little Foxes] i. e. The Hereticks and Schiſmaticks. For as Fox-cubbs will bee Foxes one day, and of little will become great: ſo Schiſmaticks, if not timely taken, will turn Hereticks. Whence it is that the Apoſtle 1 Cor. 11.18, 19. having ſaid, I hear that there bee diviſions or Schiſms among you, hee preſently ſubjoyns, For there muſt bee alſo Hereſies among you (God having ſo fore-appointed and foretold it) that they which are approved may bee made manifeſt among you. Now theſe Hereticks and Schiſmaticks are fitly called Foxes, both here, and Ezek. 13.4. (Herod is alſo called a Fox, Luk. 13.32. as being a Sect-Maſter, Mat. 22.16. and as it is thought, to ſtill the noiſe of his conſcience, a Sadducee) firſt for their craft, ſecondly, for their cruelty. Foxes are famous for their craftineſs even to a Proverb (As ſubtle as a Fox, Perſius.Aſtutam vapido ſervans ſub pectore vulpem.)

They are paſſing cunning to deceive thoſe that hunt them; feigning themſelves ſimple, when there is nothing more ſubtle, and looking pittifully, when taken in a ſnare, but it is onely that they may get out: there is no truſting to their looks, for Vulpes pellem mutat, non naturam, ſaith the Proverb, the Fox may alter his countenance, but not his condition. And for cruelty, beſides the hurt Foxes do among Lambs and Fowls (for, lacking meat, they feign themſelves dead: and ſo the birds haſting down as to a carkaſe, volucres rapiunt & devorant, Iſidor. Etym. lib. 12.1. ſaith Iſidore, they ſeize upon the birds, and devour them) they are noted here to mar the Vineyards, Vulpes vitibus maximè nocivae, ſaith one. And for Grapes, the Fox loves them exceedingly, yea though they bee but tender, and unripe. Hence the Latines call him Legulus, a Gatherer, namely, of Grapes; and wee ironically ſay of a man, The Fox loves no Grapes, hee will not eat them, but it is becauſe hee cannot get them: howbeit, by his leering one may know hee loves them. Hereticks and Schiſmaticks are therefore to bee taken by the Vine-dreſſers, that is, detected, refuted,1 Tim. 1.20. and if need bee, delivered up to Satan by the Miniſters, chaſed out of the Vineyard, and purſued to death, if incorrigible, by the Magiſtrate, as Jehu dealt by the Baalites, and after him Joſiah. The ſword is put into their hands for ſuch a purpoſe, Rom. 13.4. and our Saviour with a civil whip expelled thoſe Church-Foxes, the Mony-merchants, giving therein a taſte of that civil authority which hee naturally derived from David, as one obſerveth. The Apoſtles being convented before civil authority about matters of Religion, never pleaded, You have no power to meddle with us in theſe things that belong to Jeſus Chriſt. No: their plea was only the juſtneſs of their cauſe, their obedience to God, &c. This, Hereticks can never make good. Well they may pretend that they ſuffer for righteouſneſs ſake, and ſtile themſelves, as the Swenck feldians did, The confeſſours of the glory of Chriſt. Well they may cry out as that Heretick Dioſcorus did in the Council of Chalcedon, I am caſt out with the Fathers, I defend the doctrine of the Fathers, I tranſgreſs them not in any point. Well they may ſeem to bee ambitious of wearing a Tiburn-tippe[illegible: 1 letter] (as Campian) and cry out with Gentilis the Antitrinitarian,Se pro gloria Altiſſimi Dei pati. that hee ſuffered death for the glory of the moſt High God. Hee that hateth, diſſembleth with his lips (ſaith Solomon of ſuch ſubtle Foxes) and layeth up deceit within him: When hee ſpeaketh fair, beleeve him not; for there are ſeven abominations in his heart, Prov. 26.24, 25. Hereticks are notably cunning, and no leſs cruel, as the Arians and Donaetiſts were of old, the Papiſts, Matth. 8. Socinians, and others of the ſame bran at this day. Theſe Foxes have holes; they cunningly creep, or ſhoot themſelves into houſes by their pithanology and counterfeit humility, they lead captive ſilly women, and, by them,2 Tim. 3.6 their husbands: they take them priſoners (as the word ſignifies) and then make prize of them, 2 Pet. 2.3. they bring them into bondage, and devour them, as St. Paul ſaith of thoſe deceitful workers, the Foxes of his time, 2 Cor. 11.13, 20. they fraudulently foiſt in falſe doctrines, 2 Pet. 2.1. Hereſies of perdition, and ſo corrupt the Vineyard, as the Maſter of the Vineyard complains, Jer. 12.10. ſhipwrack the Faith, 1 Tim. 1.19. ſubvert whole houſes, Tit. 1.11. and are therefore to bee taken, or clubd down as Peſts, and common miſchiefs to mankind; to the younger ſort eſpecially, thoſe tender Grapes, which they chiefly covet, and catch at. And here in hunting of theſe cruel crafties, that counſel would bee taken that Saul gave the Ziphites concerning an innocent man, that deſerved it not: Go, I pray you, prepare yee, and know, 1 Sam. 23.22, 23 and ſee his place where his haunt is, and who hath ſeen him there: for it is told mee, that hee dealeth very ſubtilly. See therefore and take knowledge of all the lurking places where hee hideth himſelf, &c.