13  The  fig-tree  sweetens  her  green  figs,
The  vines  blossom,
They  diflfuse  fragrance ;
Arise,  mj'  love,  my  fair  one,  and  come  !


exclaims  :  "  Nature  has  prepared  a
rich  banquet;  come,  let  us  go  and
enjoy  it ! "  The  Sept.,  Aquila,
Sym.,  Vulg.,  Chald.,  Rashbam,  render
Tpin  n»,  by  (he  seaaonfor  the  jwuning
of  vines  :  Gesenius  defends  this  render-
ing, but  against  the  usage  of  the  word
Toj,  and  the  connexion.  "Whei'ever
T>pi  occurs,  either  in  the  singular  (Isa.
XXV.  5),  or  plural  (2  Sam.  xxiii.  1  ;
Isa.  xxiv.  16),  it  invariably  means
sonc/  or  singinrj.  ^Moreover,  the  paral-
lelism, and  the  whole  of  the  descrip-
tion, demand  that  it  should  be  rendered
so  here.  All  the  pleasures  and  charms
here  depicted  are  gratifications  for  the
senses,  and  are  adduced  by  the  beloved
as  the  invitation  of  nature  to  enjoy  her
banquet;  whereas  the  pruning  of  the
vines  ^^•ould  be  a  summons  to  engage
in  toil.  Besides,  the  vine  is  mentioned
afterwards  in  its  rotation  (v.  13),
and  it  would  mar  the  gradual  pro-
gression of  this  minute  description  to
suppose  that  it  has  been  uselessly  re-
peated. Hence  it  has  been  rightly
rendered  singing  by  Raslii,  Kimchi,
Ibn  Ezra,  Anonymous  Oxford  Manu-
script, Mendelssohn,  Kleuker,  E^^•ald,
Dopke,  Kosenmiiiler,  ])c  "W'ette,  Mag-
nus, Hengstenbcrg,  Philippson,  Fiirst,
Meier,  Hitzig,  Sec  The  objection  that
Tpi,  singing,  means  the  song  of  inen,
is  obviated  by  referring  it  here  to  the
season  when  both  man  and  bird  begin
to  sing,  i^pj,  like  other  words  of  the
.  form  V'4i^,  expresses  the  time  of  the
action  ;  comp.  ^''^^,  harvest ;  properly
the  time  when  tlie  fruit  is  gathered,
cnn,  t]te  time  of  ploiifjhing.  Gesen.
§  84,5;  Kwald,"*;  ll'J  e.
