John Trapp on Song of Solomon 4:12

Verſ. 12. A Garden incloſed is my Siſter, my Spouſe] Fair and ſweet hee had before affirmed her: Now (becauſe Lis eſt cum forma magna pudicitiae)

Fair women have many that wiſh them, and lye in wait for them,Aul. Gell. [non-Latin text not transcribed], ſaid hee to his friend, diſſwading him from marriage. If ſhee bee fair, ſhee will lightly be common; Chriſt therefore here commends her for her purity and chaſtity, and ſhews that hee was ſo hedged and defenſed by Diſcipline and Government, that none could come at her to hazard her Virginity, no more than they could enter into a well-walled Garden. Shee openeth the gates, that the righteous Nation, which keepeth the truth, may enter in, Iſa. 26.2. thoſe which ſubſcribe with their hands, unto the Lord, Iſa. 44.5. that (when hee ſhall ſay, Who is on my ſide? Who?) do heartily avouch him for their God, Deut. 26.17. that fly to her as a cloud,Iſa. 60.8. and flock to her as a flight of Doves. As for the unclean, or any thing that defileth ſhee hath her Porters on purpoſe to keep them out, 2 Chron. 23.19. Rev. 21.27. no dirty dogg ſhall trample on her golden pavement. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Plut. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. See Iſa. 5.2. & 35.8, 9, 10. & 62.8. 1 Cor. 5.11, 12, 13. It was not permitted to a dogg to enter into the Acropolis, or Tower at Athens, for his heat in Venery, and for his ill favour, ſaith Plutarch. Goats likewiſe, ſaith Varro, come not there, leſt they ſhould hurt the Olive. Iriſh Air will ſooner brook a Toad or Snake to live therein, than the true Church (if ſhee may freely exerciſe her power) ſcandalous and heretical perſons. Papiſts teach,Bell. lib. 3. cap. 2. de Eccleſ. Militan. that the Catholick Church conſiſteth of good and bad; and that a man may bee a true member thereof, though hee have no inward virtues. Wee confeſs that in all particular Congregations there are hypocrites, as appears in the parable of the Tares, of the Net, &c. But yet wee deny, that the holy Catholick Church mentioned in the Creed hath a mixture of good and bad: ſith ſhee is the chaſte Spouſe of Jeſus Chriſt, who owneth no wicked man or hypocrite in her: for how ſhould hee love ſuch, unleſs it bee with a common (not with a conjugal) love, ſo as hee loved that tame young man, Mark 10.21. whom hee pittied as a ſelf-deceiver, like as wee pitty moderate and devout Papiſts. In Chriſts Garden, as there is no ground but what is ſpecial good, ſet apart for the purpoſe, fit for him to ſit and walk in for his recreation,Iſa. [illegible: 1 letter].1. (My Well-Beloved hath his Orchard in a very fruitful hill, in a cornu-copia Country) ſo it is furniſhed and filled with the choiceſt fruits and flowers, plants of renown, and pleaſant trees, yeelding fruit according to their kind; and though all cannot bear Cinnamon and Balſam, yet (as in Spain there is ſaid to bee nihil infructuoſum, nihil ſterile, nothing barren or unfruitful, ſo) all that are planted in the houſe of the Lord, do flouriſh in the Courts of our God, they do ſtill bring forth fruit in old age, they are fat and flouriſhing, Pſal. 92.13, 14. they are both actuoſi, and fructuoſi, 2 Pet. 1.8. neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt. And indeed how can it bee otherwiſe with Gods Garden, when as hee himſelf keeps it, and watereth it every moment, leſt any hurt it, hee keepeth it night and day, Iſa 27.3. God fenceth it with his Omnipotent arm, keepeth it from the wilde Boar, and other devoratory evils (as Tertullian phraſeth it) better than the Garden of Eden was kept with the flaming Sword. And whereas the Church may ſeem to lye open to all incurſions, this verſe ſhews that it hath a Well within it, and a Wall without it: Yea himſelf is a Wall of fire round about Jeruſalem, Zach. 2.5. in alluſion to the cuſtome of thoſe Eaſt-countries, where, by reaſon of the great number of wilde-beaſts, ſhepherds and travellers guard themſelves by making great fires round about their night-lodgings to keep oft their approach.

A ſpring ſhut up, a fountain ſealed] A preciouſly-purling current of grace, a ſpring of water, whoſe waters fail not, Iſa. 58.11. and whereof whoſoever drinketh ſhall never thirſt, John 4.14. For which end it is carefully ſhut up, nay ſealed, that the ſtranger meddle not with his joy, and that the envious man ſtop not up this well-ſpring with earth, as the Philiſtims ſerved Iſaac: or caſt baggs of poiſon into it, as the ſpightful Jews did once in this Kingdome; and were therefore baniſhed hence for ever. It was wittily ſaid of Polydor Virgil, Regnum Angliae, Regnum Dei, the Kingdome of England, is the Kingdome of God. Hee meant, becauſe God ſeemed to take ſpecial care of it, as having walled it about with the Ocean, and watered it with the upper and nether ſprings; like that Land which Caleb gave his daughter: Hence it was called Albion quaſi Olbion, the happy Country: whoſe vallies are like Eden, (ſaith our Engliſh Chronicler) whoſe hills are as Lebanon, Speed. whoſe ſprings are as Piſgah, whoſe Rivers are as Jordan, whoſe walls is the Ocean, and whoſe defence is the Lord Jehovah: Forraign writers have tearmed our Country the Granary of the Western world, the fortunate Iſland, the Paradiſe of pleaſure, and Garden of God. All this may much more fitly bee applied to the Catholick Church. If Judea were called the glorious Land, becauſe of Gods preſence there, Dan. 11. and an Iſland (though part of the continent) becauſe ſurrounded with Gods powerful protection, Iſa. 20.6. and the Common-wealth of Iſrael, [non-Latin text not transcribed], by Joſephus, a Godlike polity, what ſhall wee think of that Jeruſalem above, that is the Mother of us all? of thoſe ſealed Saints, Rev. 7.3, 4. this ſealed fountain, ſealed up, as to keep it filth-free, that no Camels ſtir up the mud, nor great Hee-goats foul it with their feet, Ezek 34.18. ſo to denote an excellency (as Iſa. 28.25. hordeum ſignatum, is put for excellent Barly) and a propriety, 2 Cor. 1.22. who hath alſo ſealed us, and given the earneſt of the Spirit in our hearts. Like as the Merchant ſets his ſeal upon his goods, and marks them for his own.