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 warns, “… Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires” (v. 4), a repeat of Song 2:7 and Song 3:5, which caution against arousing love/sexual desire artificially, but rather letting it be spontaneous and genuine.

The Beloved’s speech in Song 8:6-7 is perhaps the greatest affirmation of true love ever written:

… love is as strong as death, its jealousy (also translated “ardor”) unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If one were to give all the wealth of one’s house for love, it would be utterly scorned.

Song of Songs 8:6-7

Great description!

Song 8:8-9 shifts focus; her brothers, responsible for her until marriage, speak of guarding her until the proper time.

The last speeches of the Beloved and the Lover conclude the book. She affirms her intention, her choice, to give herself to him: “But my own vineyard is mine to give…” (v. 11). He cries out for her, “… let me hear your voice” (v. 13). Finally, she calls to him, “Come away, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the spice-laden mountains” (Song 8:14‬ ‭NIV‬‬), to delight her with his physical beauty and strength.

They are together, happily married. We wish them well.

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 7:1 with descriptions of the beauty and allure of her feet, then thighs, navel, belly, breasts, and finally facial features. There is beauty and delight in all of the body God has given us, and in enjoying its delights, as has been amply demonstrated in the Song, especially verses Song 7:6-9 here.

In her response, Song 7:10-13, she invites him to enjoy her “wine” and “every delicacy, both new and old, that I have stored up for you, my beloved.”

That said, there is evidence throughout the Song that the desire they have for each other has been tempered with restraint until the time is right. Here they go to “see if the vines have budded, if their blossoms have opened, …” before she will “give you my love” (v. 12).

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On another note, after John mentioned that he didn’t see the references to the shepherd that Fred had seen, we realized Fred’s bible often gives different translations of certain words. For example, in Song 6:2,3, both verses mention the Lover going to “pasture his flock.”

And so it goes, giving more weight to the alternate interpretation mentioned in my study notes about the shepherd vs. king motif. (Of course, we can make all kinds of connections to David as a shepherd/king, as well as Jesus as the Good Shepherd/King of Heaven, etc. etc. …)

Happy reading!

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, well planted garden, you may be able to close your eyes and envision the metaphors that appeal to our senses in these chapters: glorious colors delight our eyes; soft petals brush our hands; fragrant, sometimes spicy flowers waft on a breeze; even different fruits are ripe for tasting. In other words, we are invited to enjoy love in every way we can experience it. And I suggest we are invited to enjoy God’s presence in these same ways, as best as we can in our hearts.

The intimacy and exclusivity of the relationship is once again affirmed in verse 3: “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine; he grazes among the lilies.”

Song 6:4-10 offers more descriptions of the beloved, but interestingly, they include comparisons to great cities and armies with banners (vv. 4, 10), giving her honor that is not simply physical beauty, but dignity and strength as well.

And among all women (“sixty queens and eighty concubines and virgins without number” —v. 8), to him “my dove, my perfect one, is the only one, the only one …” (v. 9). Wow.

Verse 13 ends the chapter with an interesting exchange between other men and him:

The Others:
“Return, return, O Shulammite, return, return, that we may look upon you.”
He:
“Why should you look upon the Shulammite, as upon a dance before two armies?”

Song of Songs 6:13

We see the other men desiring to look at her beauty—what good can come of that? But her Lover protects her and admonishes them. Can this verse be likened to our protection from evil in Christ? I’d like to think so.

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, O lovers.”

So let’s pause. What do you think? Are you enjoying reading through Song of Songs? Because as two of us were discussing it at church today, someone else exclaimed it was the “least favorite book of the Bible.” I wonder why. Does it make us uncomfortable, perhaps because it can be very erotic? Do we feel it is not a serious or useful book? I have the feeling that this person would gladly dig through Romans…

What then? I will make a case for embracing the Song, embracing it in all its beauty and glorious imagery, thankful for the permission it gives us to enjoy LIFE, to submit to the rapture and blessings of love between one another, and in our relationship to our Lord. And thankful for what it teaches us about what these relationships should be like: intimate, intense, delightful, exclusive, powerful—what a gift!

Okay, back to Song 5:

Song 5:2-8 gives us an odd episode: one night the Lover knocks at the door, but she is reluctant at first to rouse and open up. When she does, he’s gone. She goes out into the streets to look for him, but doesn’t find him, and is beaten by the city watchmen. As a metaphor for our relationships, it is a cautionary tale—don’t wait when your lover comes knocking (second chances don’t always come).

Song 5:10-16 finishes the chapter with our only lengthy description of the Lover: his radiance, his hair, his face, his body—all are described using gold and precious gems, cedar trees, and lilies. You get the picture…

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.

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 disturbed.

This is a picture of devotion, perhaps our devotion to our spouses, or perhaps to our Lord. It is a sustained search, a longing for the presence of the One who is our heart’s longing.

The second half of the chapter (Song 3:6-11) changes entirely. It is a picture of the King, specifically King Solomon, coming in splendor, surrounded by sixty warriors. The use of comparisons to the wedding of a king is a typical trope of marriage songs in the Middle East.

There is again a feast for the senses: perfumes of rare spices, the beautiful carriage made of gold, silver, and purple cloth, “… its interior inlaid with love. …King Solomon wearing a crown, the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, the day his heart rejoiced” (Song 3:10-11‬ ‭NIV‬‬).

Again we read of the joy of love in marriage, God’s special gift to us, and it is good, very good.

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 sometimes as we all know. It is healthy to take time away, to enjoy each other, to renew and rejoice in our love.

In addition, one could again apply these metaphors to our relationship to God. He certainly calls us to separate ourselves from distractions to spend time in his presence. I believe that enjoying God for himself alone is perhaps lost on us sometimes. And he wants us to love him in an exclusive way.

Just as the Lover says, “My beloved is mine, and I am his …” (Song 2:16).

That is a reason to rejoice!

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 she describes her Beloved as an apple tree in the midst of the woods (v. 3). In short, those who truly love see each other as special and unique. This is how love changes how we see each other. How wonderful!

The feasting and celebration of their love is totally satisfying and restoring.

The last verse today admonishes us to wait on love, let it “stir up … awaken” when the time is right. Patience. How many relationships could benefit from a bit of that … ?

Happy Thanksgiving, y’all!

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 gift our five senses are!

God has surely granted us pure enjoyment through beauty, especially His beauty. One of my favorite verses expresses this desire:

One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple.

Psalm 27:4 RSV

His beauty, of course, as well as the gifts and grace He bestows to us, surpass anything we can experience or imagine. Paul says,

… “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love Him, …”

I Corinthians 2:9 RSV

Chapter one ends with the couple extolling each other’s beauty. This is certainly a parallel to our relationship with God: to praise Him, to love Him, to be in love with Him.

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 maidens who attend her chime in with praises for her lover.

In Song 1:5-6 she describes herself as “dark,” which is not considered as desirable, because she was forced to work out in the sun by her family. What do we know of her then? Is it a metaphor for our own shortcomings before our King? (How appropriate that yesterday was Christ the King Sunday!)

In Song 1:7 she begins searching for her King, wanting to find him, and asks, “Why should I be like a veiled woman (a prostitute) …?,” walking the streets looking for a lover. She asks that he reveal himself to her.

Personally, I see this section as a metaphor for my own search for God, my own sense of unworthiness inhibiting me at times, my prayer that he make himself known to me, especially in those times when I say, “Where are you, Lord?”

Note: The Song is certainly a celebration of God’s gift of human love, but one NIV introduction to it mentions that, while it has sometimes been seen as an “allegory of the love relationship between God and Israel, … or between Christ and the soul” this is not nearly the only way to interpret it and is not even encouraged as such.

Sorry this got so long! I’ll be more brief next time.