Commentaries:
Barnes' Notes
Some time may be supposed to have elapsed since the bride' s solemn espousals with the king Cant. 4:7-5:1. A transient cloud of doubt or estrangement is now passing over her soul, as by the relation of this dream she intimates to her friends. Ancient allegorical interpreters find here a symbol of the condition and feelings of Israel during the Babylonian captivity, when the glories and privileges of Solomon' s Temple were no more, and the manifested presence of the Holy One had been withdrawn. Israel in exile seeks the Lord Song of Songs 5:8, and will find Him again in the second temple Song of Songs 6:3-9.
I sleep, but my heart waketh - A poetical periphrasis for "I dream." Compare the ancient saying: "Dreams are the vigils of those who slumber, hopes are waking dreams."
The voice - Or, "sound." Compare Song of Songs 2:8, note. She hears him knocking before he speaks.
My undefiled - literally, "my perfect one." Vulgate "immaculata mea." Compare Song of Songs 4:7.
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