John Trapp on Song of Solomon 7:5

Verſ. 5. Thine head upon thee is like Carmel] This head is Chriſt himſelf: for hee is the ſole head of his Church. God hath put all things under his feet (hence hee is here compared to Carmel, becauſe hee is high over all) and given him to bee head over all things, (that is, over all perſons) in the Church, Epheſ. 1.18, 22. Angels are under Chriſt as an head of government, of influence, of confirmation, not of redemption, as the Saints are. The Angels are great friends to the Church, but not members of it, Heb. 2.16. The Church, Chriſt ſanctified and waſhed with his blood, Epheſ. 5.26. Not ſo the Angels: He was but a poor patron of the Popes Head-ſhip, that ſaid, (and as he thought, very wiſely too) that hee had read in ſome Vocabulary that Cephas ſignified an head; therefore Peter was head of the Church. But if that ſhould have been granted him, yet it would not follow, that the Pope is therefore ſo too: For Belarmine (a better ſcholar by far) is forced to ſay, Forte non eſt de jure divino Rom: Pontificem Petro ſuccedere, Perhaps it is not by any divine right,Lib. 2. de Rom. Pontif. c. 12. that the Pope ſucceedeth Peter. And again, Rom: Pontificem Petro ſuccedere non habetur expreſſe in Scripturis, It is not expreſly ſet down in the Scriptures, that the Pope ſucceedeth Peter.

And the hairs of thine head like purple] Which was the colour of Kings and Princes. The Saints (called here the hair of the Churches head, for their number or multitude) are Princes in all lands, Pſal. 45.16. yea, they are Kings in righteouſneſs, as Melchiſedech was a King, but ſomewhat obſcure. Compare Mat. 13.17. with Luke 10.24. Many righteous (ſaith one) Many Kings (ſaith the other) have deſired to ſee thoſe things that yee ſee, &c.

The King is held in the galleries] i. e. There is no King in the world ſo great and glorious, but might finde in his heart to bee tied to theſe walks, and to bee held priſoner in the ſight of thee and thy bravery: Like as King James (comming firſt into the publique Library at Oxford, and viewing the little chains wherewith each book there is tied to its place) wiſhed,Rex Platon. pag. 123. that if ever it were his deſtiny to bee a priſoner, that Library might bee his priſon, thoſe books his fellow-priſoners, thoſe chains his fetters. Pſal. 138.4, 5. & 119. 72. The Pſalmiſt ſhews by prophecying, that even Kings, comming to taſte the excellency of the comforts of godlineſs, and to feel the power of Gods Word, ſhould ſing for joy of heart, and greatly acknowledge the excelling glory of Chriſts Spouſe the Church. See Davids deſire, Pſal. 27.4. & 84. throughout. Conſtantine and Valentinian (two Emperours) called themſelves Vaſallos Chriſti (as Socrates reports) the Vaſſals of Chriſt: and Theodoſius, another Emperour, profeſſed, that it was more honour and comfort to him to be membrum Eccleſiae, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Plutarch quam caput Imperit, a member of the Church, than head of the Empire. Nay, Numa, ſecond King of Rome (though but a Heathen) held it an higher honour to ſerve God, than to reign over men. Some Interpreters by the King here, underſtand Chriſt, coveting the Churches beauty, Pſal. 45.12. and held faſt bound unto her in the bands of pure affection, of ſpiritual wedlock.