Song of Songs 8 The last chapter of Song of Songs ends in several different sections. Song 8:1-4 begins with her longing to have her Lover to herself, commenting that she could be with him without social disgrace if he were her brother. She desires to give him all the delights of her love, but …
Author Archives: Carol
November 29 / Song of Songs 7
Song of Songs 7 We are on the penultimate chapter of the Song, and things are getting “steamy”: if we hadn’t read anything we considered erotic yet, this chapter can definitely break that illusion. In previous chapters, the Lover’s descriptions have started with her facial features, and mostly stayed there. Here we start in Song …
November 28 / Song of Songs 6
Song of Songs 6 Chapter 6 begins with a group of friends asking the woman, “Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? …” They offer to help seek him. She answers that he has gone to his garden, to “graze” and gather lilies. If you have ever been in a really beautiful, …
November 27 / Song of Songs 5
Song of Songs 5 At the end of Song 4, the Beloved has invited her Lover into her garden to “taste its choice fruit”, and he is extolling her spices, honey, and wine as Song 5 begins. And at this point Friends chime in, urging them to “Eat, O friends, and drink; drink your fill, …
November 26 / Song of Songs 4
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 …
November 25 / Song of Songs 3
Song of Songs 3 Today’s chapter has two parts. In Song 3:1-5 the woman, the Lover, is alone and longs for her Beloved. She searches all night through the streets of the town, finally finding him and bringing him back to home. Then she watches over him, making sure he is safely sleeping and not …
November 24 / Song of Songs 2:8-17
Song of Songs 2:8-17 I am enchanted by the beauty of the scene described in Song 2:8-14. The Beloved comes and calls for her: “Come away! … The winter is past … Come away!” Spring has come and the birds are singing. It is time to delight in each other. Exclusively. Relationships can be difficult …
November 23 / Song of Songs 2:1-7
Song of Songs 2:1-7 The first two verses of this chapter are poetic descriptions of the Lover using flowers. She is like a Rose of Sharon and a Lily of the Valley, an especially fragrant flower. He exclaims she is like a lily. But more importantly, he describes her as a lily among thorns. And …
November 22 / Song of Songs 1:8-17
Song of Songs 1:8-17 Not being a person who uses perfume much (and rarely chooses perfumed products), I can still imagine the fully sensual delights of fragrances described in Song 1:12-14. How attracted these two lovers are to each other through sight and scent and even the sound of their voices (Song 1:3)! What a …
November 21 / Song of Songs 1:1-7
Song of Songs 1:1-7 The Beloved (or She) begins our trip through this book in Song 1:1-4 speaking to her Lover—his love is intoxicating, like wine, like perfume. Here he is a king, a typical trope in wedding songs of Semitic cultures, which will be woven through the rest of the Song. The friends or …