Song of Songs 5:9Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Thus, they questioned, "How shall we identify Him who cannot be recognized through any distinctive trait, when He who is called does not respond, and He who is searched for remains unobtainable?" Therefore, may you also lift the veil from our eyes, just as the city guards did for you, so that we might have some direction towards the One we seek. Reveal to us the nature of your brother to the extent that it may be comprehended. Through some familiar signs, guide us to recognize Him, you who are filled with goodness and thus excel among wives. Make us familiar with the Seeker, teaching us by what signs the Invisible One is pursued, to enlighten us about the arrow of love that pierces your heart and by which you are intensified by sweet suffering. It is fitting to reiterate this inquiry literally: "What makes your brother more remarkable than your brother, good among wives? What does it mean that your Brother is from your brother, given that you have thus spoken against us?" Let us therefore listen to her from whom the outer garment has been entirely removed, who gazes at truth with the eye of her spirit. How does she articulate the sought-after attributes? How does she vividly describe the features of the Beloved One? How does she reveal the Unknown to the gazes of the maidens? In Christ, there exists both the created and the uncreated: we refer to the uncreated as the eternal, the pre-eternal, and the Creator of all creation, while the created pertains to the formation of our body "of our humility" (Phil. 3:21). To clarify further, we call the uncreated that which was "in the beginning the Word, and by Him all things came into being, and without Him nothing was made" (John 1:1-3). Conversely, we refer to the created as the Word who became flesh and dwelt "among us" (John 1:14), whose glory—made evident even post-incarnation—proclaims that "God was manifested in the flesh" (1 Tim. 3:16), indeed "the only-begotten God, who is close to the Father’s heart" (John 1:18). For as John declared, "we have seen His glory," which, while visible in humanity, is recognized as glory within that visibility, "as the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). Since that which is uncreated in Christ is eternal and transcends comprehension and expression for every nature, while that which is revealed in the flesh can be slightly grasped, the teacher focuses on this reality, speaking of all that can be rendered understandable to those who listen. I refer to "the great mystery of godliness," which states that "God was manifested in the flesh, He who was in the form of God" (Phil. 2:6). Having lived among humanity in fleshly form, He embraced mortal nature through virgin birth, forever sanctifying the shared fabric of our existence through those who unite with Him in the Sacrament, nourishing His body, the Church, and fittingly connecting the members born through faith in Him. Thus, He brings glory to all things in a manner that is proper and fitting, endowing believers with eyes, mouths, hands, and other faculties. For Paul proclaims: "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body" (1 Cor. 12:12), not all members hold identical ranks, yet an eye within the body does not disregard the hands; nor does the head dismiss the feet. Rather, the entire body of its members, through the diversity of its functions, blends into unity, ensuring they do not oppose the whole. Having presented these thoughts in a somewhat cryptic manner, the Apostle elucidates by stating: "And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: until we all come in the unity of faith" (Eph. 4:11-13). He continues: "From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love" (Eph. 4:15-16). Thus, anyone who centers their thoughts on the Church inherently considers Christ Himself, who builds and renews Himself through the growth of the redeemed. Consequently, she who has removed the veil from her eyes gazes upon the ineffable beauty of the Bridegroom, and in doing so, she is pierced by a spiritual, igniting arrow of fervent love; for this heightened form of love is referred to as fiery love—a love devoid of shame when its intensity is non-carnal, rather, it inspires admiration beyond measure when one in their heart receives the point of an immaterial longing. This resonates with what the bride expressed, saying to the young maidens: "I am wounded with love."