Theodoret of Cyrus, on Song 2:7

“I adjure you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and the harts of the, fields, that you stir not up, nor make the beloved to awake, till she please.”

“"I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the powers and forces of the field to stir up and awaken love for as long as he wishes," that is, "Do not allow love for God in us to slumber: stir it up and inflame it, and pour the memory of kindnesses like oil on it lest it be said of us also, 'They fell into a deep sleep, and found nothing.' " In other words, if you do not proclaim day in day out his salvation and recall the marvels he worked, and instead you forget his kindnesses, love will be extinguished and die, as it were. We must, on the contrary, continually rekindle it, stir it up and lift the flame itself on high.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.