Song of Songs 4
The first 15 verses of this chapter are the Beloved extolling the beauty of his lover: her eyes, her hair, her teeth, her lips, … (I find the description of her teeth most amusing, but in a culture where there were no toothbrushes, I guess a newly shorn sheep was one of the best examples of white.) I won’t go on and make anyone blush!
Later in the chapter he compares her to a lush garden filled with choice fruit, fragrant plants, and flowing water. His devotion to and desire for her are deep and strong. Humanly speaking, a person would be completely blessed to be loved like this.
On a different level, can we believe that God Himself desires His bride, His church, this way? Does He see us this way? Yet He is preparing us to be the desirable bride of Christ. And through Jesus’ sacrifice for us, and only through that, He can say, “You are altogether beautiful, My darling; there is no flaw in you.” (Song 4:7 NIV).
Let’s live in that truth today.
So if we read about Solomon’s marriage at the end of the last chapter (Song 3:11) and today we see the words “my Bride” mentioned five times, I guess we have to conclude that the Beloved is Solomon and that the Lover is his Bride. Still I wonder about that young Shepherd lad…!
I have never considered poetry to be “my thing” in any sense. It often leaves me scratching my head and saying, “Huh?” So it may well be that I’m just dense, but I really don’t see the “shepherd vs. king” motif here in Song of Songs at all, or any sense of competition between one guy and another for the affections of the lady. I see one man and one woman passionately (in every sense of the word) in love, with no diversions by some young shepherd lad. Yes, the woman asks in Song 1:7 where her lover pastures his flocks, but that does not mean the he himself necessarily was the shepherd out in the field; it could just as well mean that he owns a flock managed by hired shepherds, and perhaps he occasionally visits that flock to ensure the sheep are being well tended — all of which sounds (to me) much more consistent with Song 1:8.
As I said, I may be just completely missing something in the poetry, so I don’t mean to be throwing cold water on what may lead to interesting insights. I’m just saying that I don’t see that line at all. But I do see a lot of “twitterpation” on the part of two lovers.
John, I’m with you on the poetry thing. I don’t get much of it. Probably haven’t read enough poetry!