John Trapp on Song of Solomon 4:2

Verſ. 2. Thy teeth are like a flock of ſheep, &c.] Handſome teeth ſet forth a woman very well: and they are then held handſome, when they are 1. Even and well matcht; 2. Fair and white; 3. Thick and full. All this wee have here daintily ſet forth in an allegory. And by teeth the Chaldee Paraphraſt will have meant (and I diſſent not) the Prieſts and Levites of the Law, the Paſtours and Preachers, think I, of the Church: who as they muſt bee eyes to ſee, ſo they muſt bee teeth in another regard, viz. 1. To chew, 2. To bite. Firſt, they muſt champ and chew the childrens meat for them as good Nurſes: ſuch as Paul was, 1 Theſ. 2.7. and before him, Iſaiah, chap. 28.9. Whom ſhall hee teach knowledge, and whom ſhall hee make to underſtand? Not the wiſe and prudent, not conceited perſons, that make Divinity onely a matter of diſcourſe, or come to hear, onely to exerciſe their Criticks, and to ſit as Judges, on their Miniſters gifts: But ſuch as are weaned from the Milk, and drawn from the Breaſts. And how will hee do to deal with ſuch, and to divide the word aright to them? Hee will praemanſum cibum in os indere, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. 2 Tim. 2.25 mollifie their harder meat for them, that it hurt not the tender toothleſs gumms of theſe weanlings, weaklings. Precept, ſaith hee, ſhall bee upon Precept, Precept upon Precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, and there a little. They ſhall have it as they can take it, neither will hee put that upon them, that is not fit for them. They ſhall have Milk, and not ſtrong meat, or if they have, it ſhall bee ready chewed for them. Our Saviour ſpake, as the people could hear, and not as hee could have ſpoken.Mark 4.33 If wee have ſpoken to you (ſaith hee) of earthly things, (that is, of ſpiritual matters under earthly ſimilitudes borrowed from wind, water, &c.) and yee beleeve not, how ſhall yee beleeve, John 3.12. if I tell you of heavenly things? that is, of more ſublime matters and myſteries of eternal life: Miniſters muſt ſtoop to their hearers capacities, and not bee up in their Altitudes; or deliver their diſcourſes in an high language, in a Roman Engliſh, &c. For what is that but to beat the air, to loſe their labour, and to bee as Barbarians to their hearers, &c? Non oratorum filii ſumus, ſed piſcatorum: nec verborum [non-Latin text not transcribed], ſed Spiritus [non-Latin text not transcribed], ſaid that great Divine to Libanius the Rhetorician. Wee are not Oratours, but Preachers: neither come wee with excellency of words, but with evidence of the Spirit, and of power, and by manifeſtation of the Truth, commending our ſelves to every mans conſcience in the ſight of God, 1 Cor. 2.4. 2 Cor. 4.2. This is preaching: the Art whereof plus operis habet quam oſtentationis (as Quintillian ſaith of the Art of Grammar) is not a matter of ſhew, but of ſervice: And to the ears of that which St. Peter calls the hidden-man of the heart, the plain ſong alwaies makes the beſt muſick.

But (ſecondly) As Miniſters muſt maſticate the childrens meat, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Cuttingly. and make it fit for their eating, ſo they are bound to bite, that is, to rebuke ſharply thoſe that are unſound in their Faith, or enormous in their practice, Tit. 1.13. to gore their very ſouls with ſmarting pain, and to ſting their conſciences to the quick, with the forked arrows of biting reproofs, and unqueſtionable convictions. Thine arrows art ſharp in the hearts of the Kings enemies, whereby the people fall under thee, Pſal. 45.5. Miniſters muſt not onely whet their teeth againſt the wicked (as Boars do their tusks when provoked) but ſet their teeth in the ſides of thoſe Boars that root up the Vineyard, and thoſe Foxes that deſtroy the Grapes. Thus the antient Prophets prickt and peirced the hearts of their hearers: ſo did the holy Apoſtles, St. Peter for inſtance, Act. 2. hee ſo handled the matter, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. that they were punctually prickt at heart, Act. 2.37. they felt the nails wherewith they had crucified Chriſt, ſticking faſt in their own ſpirits, and driven home to the head by that Maſter of the Aſſembly, Eccleſ. 12.11. Penitency and pain are words of one derivation, and are very near of kin. Hardly will men bee made to repent, till toucht to the quick, till the Preacher do mordaci radere vero, Horat. deal plainly and roundly with them, ſtab them to the heart with the menaces of the Law, and lay them for dead at Chriſts feet, that hee may revive them, as the Pellican doth her young ones with her blood.O[illegible: 1 letter]iand. hiſt. Eccleſ. Cent. 5. l. 1. c. 6. It is ſaid of Chryſoſtome, that hee took the ſame liberty to cry down ſin, that men did to commit it. Of Mr. Bradford, that as hee did earneſtly perſwade to a godly life, and ſweetly preach Chriſt crucified, ſo hee did ſharply reprove ſin, and zealouſly impugn errours. Of Mr. Perkins, that [illegible: 1 letter]ee came ſo cloſe in his Applications, that hee was able almoſt to make his hearers hearts fall down, and their hairs to ſtand upright. This was preaching indeed, preaching in the life of it. I know well, that moſt men are ſick of a Noli me tangere, and are apt to hate him that reproveth in the gate. As loth they are to bee ſearched, as Rachel, when ſhee ſate upon the Idols; to have their luſts mortified, as David was to have Abſalom executed: Handle him gently, for my ſake, &c. Cannot Preachers meddle onely with toothleſs truths, ſay they, as Balak bade Balaam neither curſe, nor bleſs at all. But why hath Chriſt given his Miniſters teeth, but to bite and bee bitter againſt ſin and wickedneſs? perſonal invectives indeed proceeding from private grudge hee allows not. Spiritus Chriſti nec mendax, noc mordax. The Rule here is, Parcere nominibus, dicere de vitiis.

Of Eraſmus it is ſaid, that hee was Mente & dente potens, ſharp with diſcretion. Every Miniſter ſhould bee ſo: and his Doctrine ſhould diſtill as hony, as the property whereof is to purge wounds, but to bite Ulcers, it cauſeth pain to exulcerate parts, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Alex. Aphrod. Probl. though of it ſelf ſweet and medicinable.

That are even ſhorn] The commendations of a ſet of teeth, whereof before. 1. Even they muſt bee and well matcht: ſo ſhould Miniſters bee like-minded, having the ſame love, being of one accord, and of one mind, Phil. 2.2. ſerving the Lord with one ſhoulder, Zeph. 3.9. not ſhouldering one another, and ſtriving for precedency, but content with a parity, and in giving honour going one before another. The ſix branches in the golden Candleſtick joyned all in one; and the Cherubims in the Temple looked one toward another: which ſome think ſignified the agreement and oneneſs that ſhould bee between the Miniſters of the Goſpel.

Which came up from the waſhing] 2. Fair and white: waſhed in the Kings Bath of Chriſts blood, famous and eximious for their extraordinary and exemplary holineſs. It is their office to bee fullones animarum, to make and keep white the fleeces of their flocks, the peoples ſouls. And therefore themſelvs had need bee as Jeruſalems Nazarites were, Lam. 4.7. Purer than Snow, whiter than Milk, &c.

Whereof every one bears Twins] Gemelliparae. It muſt bee Miniſters care to bring many to God, whom they may one day preſent with, Here am I, and the children whom thou haſt given mee. Aarons ſonnes by generation, are ſaid to bee Moſes his ſonnes by inſtitution and inſtruction, Numb. 3.1. See Gal. 4.19. 1 Cor. 4.15. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them.