Song of Solomon 2:12

“The flowers appear on the earth, etc.] One of the first signs of the spring being comef140; and make the season delightful and pleasant; the sun returning with its warming influences, herbs and plants are quickened and spring up; fields and meadows, as well as gardens, are covered with a variety of beautiful flowers, which make walking abroad very delightful. By these “flowers” may be meant either the graces of the spirit in the saints, which, when a wintertime with them, seem to be dead, at least are hid; but, upon a return of the sun of righteousness, revive and are seen again: or the saints themselves, when in a flourishing condition, and in the exercise of grace; who may be compared to…”

“The bride relates to the chorus a visit which the beloved had paid her some time previously in her native home. He on a fair spring morning solicits her company. The bride, immersed in rustic toils, refuses for the present, but confessing her love, bids him return at the cool of day. It is a spring-time of affection which is here described, still earlier than that of the former chapter, a day of pure first-love, in which, on either side, all royal state and circumstance is forgotten or concealed. Hence, perhaps, the annual recitation of the Song of Songs by the synagogue with each return of spring, at the Feast of Passover, and special interpretations of this passage by Hebrew doctors, as…”

“The flowers - The communications of God's grace, the gifts, and graces, and comforts of the Holy Spirit, are vouchsafed unto, and appear in believers, as buds and blossoms do in the spring. The turtle - This seems particularly to be mentioned because it not only gives notice of the spring, but aptly represents the Spirit of God, which even the Chaldee paraphrast understands by this turtle, which appeared in the shape of a dove, and which worketh a dove - like meekness, and chastity, and faithfulness, in believers. Song of Solomon (Canticles) 2:13”

“flowers: Sol 6:2, Sol 6:11; Isa 35:1, Isa 35:2; Hos 14:5-7 time: Psa 40:1-3, Psa 89:15, Psa 148:7-13; Isa 42:10-12, Isa 55:12; Eph 5:18-20; Col 3:16 of the turtle: Rom 15:9-13; Eph 1:13, Eph 1:14 Song of Solomon (Canticles) 2:13”