The struggle the girl dreams about is much deeper than she realizes. Her dream reflects her fear that she may lose the one who is her happiness. That fear is not without ground. Lovers do lose each other, either through death or other forms of separation. That is why there are traces of death in her dream. The dew on the head of her lover is a form of death. Living people don't collect dew, only dead bodies that are left in the open do. The hands that are dripping with myrrh speak of death. Life on earth is fenced in by death. In her dream the fear of death has come to break up her happiness. She dreams that he is gone. Vs. 6 says: "I opened for my lover, but my lover had left; he was gone. My heart sank at his departure. I looked for him but did not find him. I called him but he did not answer." Her eventual reunion comes when she wakes up. There is the resurrection from the dead. "Love is as strong as death."[ 1 ] If this were not so, would there be a struggle? The thing that bothered me more than anything else in Irian Jaya was that the people never fought with death. They simply accepted it as inevitable.
Bach, in the Saint Matthew Passion uses the theme of the departure of the beloved, borrowed from the song of Songs in connection with the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is through this death that the fear of death is conquered in us, according to Heb. 2:14,15.
In vs. 3 the girl offers some excuses for not getting up that sound rather trivial to us. "I have taken off my robe-- must I put it on again? I have washed my feet-- must I soil them again?" The gist of what she says is: "I don't feel like getting up." The strength of a love relationship lies in the willingness to sacrifice. John says: "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers."[ 2 ] Getting up from bed to let her lover in doesn't seem like a sacrifice; yet, she feels too comfortable to bring herself to do this for the one she loves.
Our comfort is often our greatest enemy, both in our human relationships as well as in our fellowship with God. The girl's brush with death puts things in the right perspective. When, in her dream, she loses her beloved she is willing to suffer for him, as is expressed in the beatings by the watchmen and in her being robbed. Vs. 7 says: "The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. They beat me, they bruised me; they took away my cloak, those watchmen of the walls!" We don't have to fear death anymore, but death can help us to understand the present and make sound judgments for the future. That is why Ecclesiastics says: "A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth. It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure."[ 3 ] It is only when we have settled in our minds the issue of death that we can live as we should. If the girl had decided that she would give her life for the one she loved, getting out of bed for him would not have been an issue. This is what Jesus meant when He said that we would hate our lives and lose it in order to find it. "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters-- yes, even his own life-- he cannot be my disciple."[ 4 ]
Of course, as becomes clear from the rest of the story, the girl loves the boy much more than she knows. We know ourselves very little. That is why the enemy can deceive us so easily. The devil thought he knew Job and that his tactics would make Job fall. God knew better. God knows us better too than we know ourselves. That is why John can say in I John 3:19,20, "This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence. Whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything."
The girl's dream about her lover's departure corresponds to the believer's experience of not feeling the Lord's presence. The Lord is, of course, always with us but sometimes we do not feel Him near. Often we find ourselves in the same emotional condition as the girl during her bad dream. The heavens are closed like a brass door. The Lord seems to have left us, as David felt in Ps. 42:9,10 and Ps. 43:2. "I say to God my Rock, 'Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?' My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, 'Where is your God?'" "You are God my stronghold. Why have you rejected me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?" It is an experience of being out of touch with reality. Sin has a tendency to pull us out of reality into a dreamlike state. God doesn't lie when He assures us: "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."[ 5 ] Yet, even Jesus Christ felt Himself forsaken by God when He carried the sin of the world on the cross. Such is the effect of sin. There is, of course, a deeper mystery to Jesus' "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"[ 6 ] than we will be able to fathom, but we understand that the presence of sin can close our eyes for the reality of God's presence. I do not mean to say that a lack of awareness of God's presence is always due to a particular sinful act. Sometimes the polluted atmosphere of sin will do this to us.
Although God is always present (as Paul states in Acts 17:27,28 - "God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'") He may hide Himself from our consciousness to draw us out of ourselves. After all, the girl did get up and out into the street. Jesus tells us to find God in our inner room,[ 7 ] but sometimes we have to go out to find Him. Dr. Simpson relates his experience of seeking God in prayer and not finding Him. But when he went out to visit some needy people, the Lord was there.
The experience of suffering is a sure guarantee to bring us closer to God, once we have set out on the path of seeking Him. The girl may have dreamed this: "The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. They beat me, they bruised me; they took away my cloak, those watchmen of the walls!" But this dream made her realize that fellowship with the one she loved was worth the price. People who have suffered physical or emotional abuse because of the Lord have had the experience of being drawn closer to Him. David says: "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word."[ 8 ] And there are countless examples of people who have been drawn closer to God through suffering and persecution. The growth of the church in Communist China is a clear example and so is the fact the a large number of Negro slaves accepted the faith of their masters, who called themselves Christian. There is no human explanation for this fact apart from the love of God, that touches man's heart and comforts him. Comfort and ease are detrimental to spiritual growth. But, as the church found out centuries ago, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.
- Bridegroom's Handsomeness Is Praised 5:8-6:3
8 O daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you-- if you find my lover, what will you tell him? Tell him I am faint with love.
9 How is your beloved better than others, most beautiful of women? How is your beloved better than others, that you charge us so?
10 My lover is radiant and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand.
11 His head is purest gold; his hair is wavy and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves by the water streams, washed in milk, mounted like jewels.
13 His cheeks are like beds of spice yielding perfume. His lips are like lilies dripping with myrrh.
14 His arms are rods of gold set with chrysolite. His body is like polished ivory decorated with sapphires.
15 His legs are pillars of marble set on bases of pure gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as its cedars.
16 His mouth is sweetness itself; he is altogether lovely. This is my lover, this my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
6:1 Where has your lover gone, most beautiful of women? Which way did your lover turn, that we may look for him with you?
2 My lover has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to browse in the gardens and to gather lilies.
3 I am my lover's and my lover is mine; he browses among the lilies.
In vs. 8 the girl gives her second charge to the daughters of Jerusalem. This time the charge is not a warning to wait until marriage before entering into an intimate relationship, as we found in the preceding warnings, but to find this person she loves and convey a message to Him. "Tell him I love him to the point of fainting," she says. In answering this charge the daughters of Jerusalem want to know what is so special about this person. What does he have that other boys don't? This gives the opportunity to the girl to testify about the person she loves and in doing so she realizes what she would miss is she would lose him. In the verses 10-16 she gives the most beautiful and poetical description of a person that can be given. Beginning with: "My lover is radiant and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand," to "His mouth is sweetness itself; he is altogether lovely. This is my lover, this my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem." With the exception, maybe, of the first and last statements, "My lover is radiant ..... he is altogether lovely," the whole description of the boy is given in terms of physical beauty. It is, of course, on the basis of his physical qualities that he will be recognizable. This doesn't mean that the girl does not see any spiritual beauty in him. It will be true though that she doesn't know him yet fully at this point, having just been married to him.
This brings us to the question of how much we know of the One we love. Peter says to his disciples: "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy."[ 9 ]
When the apostle John sees the Master he loves in his vision in Patmos, he describes Him in terms that are a beautiful mixture of physical and spiritual attributes: We read in Rev. 1:10-17, "Among the lampstands was someone 'like a son of man,' dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance." His reaction to this vision was: "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead."
There is something deeply moving about the girl's testimony. This is what all testimonies should be: a declaration about the beauty of Christ. This beauty should be seen in us and not just transmitted by word of mouth. Our lives should be such that people see something in us that puzzles them and make them ask questions. The apostle Peter puts this beautifully in I Pet. 3:15, where he says: "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to every one who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." The ASV puts it this way: "But sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord." And TLB says it beautifully also: "Quietly trust yourself to Christ your Lord, and if anybody asks why you believe as you do, be ready to tell him, and do it in a gentle and respectful way."
We can, of course, only give testimony about the beauty of our Lord Jesus Christ in the measure in which we know Him ourselves. Our love for Him will largely depend upon how much we have understood of His love for us. That is why knowing Him should be the top priority of our lives. After a life full of experiences with the Lord, Paul says: "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."[ 10 ]
When we place the girl's testimony about her lover side by side with John's testimony about Christ in Rev. 1:10-18 we see that, although John describes Him in terms of awesome physical beauty he conveys a pictures of spiritual qualities. We may assume that, maybe unwittingly, the girl does not just describe the boy's body but his soul. After all, she does not just love his body she loves him. In this light we should read her words.
The boy is described as a living statue: "His head is purest gold; his hair is wavy and black as a raven. ..... His arms are rods of gold set with chrysolite. His body is like polished ivory decorated with sapphires. His legs are pillars of marble set on bases of pure gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as its cedars." This is the most beautiful poetry one can image. The girl sees her husband as a wife should see him, as the one who gives her protection and security as well as tenderness and love. This kind of beauty in a man is uplifting for the woman. Just as the love and beauty of Christ make us what we are supposed to be. We will be what we should be once we see Him as He is. As the apostle John puts it: "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."[ 11 ]
When the girl describes her lover in physical terms she does not leave out his inner beauty. It is only since sin entered the world that a dichotomy between soul and body has crept in. A beautiful body can be the home of an ugly soul and visa versa. In God's original creation the body reflected the soul's qualities. The perfect man Jesus Christ, of course, is perfect in this respect also. We can safely say about Him: "He is altogether lovely."
Finally, the fact that the girl shares the most intimate picture of her lover with other girls would be rather unusual in our culture. We would regard is as a intrusion of privacy. After all, the girl's relationship with this boy was unique and it was certainly not to be shared with others. In the spiritual realm, however, it is most fitting to share the beauty of Christ with others. We could answer the question: "How is your beloved better than others, most beautiful of women? How is your beloved better than others, that you charge us so?" with the words that the essence of the Christian faith is a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ and that the fullest satisfaction a human being can experience, is to share in His love.
In the last three verses of this section, that is the first three of the new chapter, the daughters of Jerusalem ask the question: "Where has your lover gone, most beautiful of women? Which way did your lover turn, that we may look for him with you?" and the girl answers in an enigmatic way, that he has gone to "his garden." According to the Tyndale Commentary the words "where" and "which way" are two different words in Hebrew and the latter one is only used here in the Old Testament.
The first surprising element in the question of the daughters of Jerusalem is that they recognize the beauty of the bride after she has given her description of the beauty of the groom in the previous verses. Her loving and emotional description made his beauty reflect on her. We often see this marvelous thing happen with people who have lived together for years in loving fellowship, that they start to look alike. Inner beauty is transferable between persons and it expresses itself in physical characteristics.
What is true on an earthly level is true in the spiritual realms also. We shall be like Him as we become enthralled by His beauty, love and majesty.
The girl's answer in vs. 2 and 3: "My lover has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to browse in the gardens and to gather lilies; he browses among the lilies," makes little sense if it were taken literally. If she knew where he had gone there would have been no reason for her anxious search and the involvement of others. The garden and the lilies are a returning theme in the song and they refer, in every instance, to the intimacy of love. The girl's words should be taken as an indication that she has woken up from her dream and that she experiences the presence of her husband in the most intimate way. The clause, "I am my lover's and my lover is mine," which is also a re-occurring statement in the song, fits the suggestion that the lovers are together and that the girl is conscious of this fact.
As we have seen before, awareness of the presence of the One who loves us and acceptance of the fact of being loved, does not come natural to most people. It has to be learned. The best formula for the experience of God's love is the little chorus: "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so!"
The surprising part in this section is, again, the involvement of the third party, the daughters of Jerusalem. Like in 5:1, it seems strange to us that others would be drawn into what, in our opinion, should be a strictly private and intimate affair. But here, again, we may have the difference in cultural background, in which intimacy between lovers was openly discussed without vulgarity and, if we keep the spiritual dimension in focus, we can say that the love between our Lord and us is a common experience. In this sense does the presence of the others widen the horizon of this Song. And that may be the intent.
3. Bride's Beauty Is Praised 6:4-7:10
4 You are beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, majestic as troops with banners.
5 Turn your eyes from me; they overwhelm me. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing. Each has its twin, not one of them is alone.
7 Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate.
8 Sixty queens there may be, and eighty concubines, and virgins beyond number;
9 but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the only daughter of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her. The maidens saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines praised her.
10 Who is this that appears like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, majestic as the stars in procession?
11 I went down to the grove of nut trees to look at the new growth in the valley, to see if the vines had budded or the pomegranates were in bloom.
12 Before I realized it, my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people.
13 Come back, come back, O Shulammite; come back, come back, that we may gaze on you! Why would you gaze on the Shulammite as on the dance of Mahanaim?
7:1 How beautiful your sandaled feet, O prince's daughter! Your graceful legs are like jewels, the work of a craftsman's hands.
2 Your navel is a rounded goblet that never lacks blended wine. Your waist is a mound of wheat encircled by lilies.
3 Your breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle.
4 Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are the pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath Rabbim. Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon looking toward Damascus.
5 Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel. Your hair is like royal tapestry; the king is held captive by its tresses.
6 How beautiful you are and how pleasing, O love, with your delights!
7 Your stature is like that of the palm, and your breasts like clusters of fruit.
8 I said, "I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of its fruit." May your breasts be like the clusters of the vine, the fragrance of your breath like apples,
9 and your mouth like the best wine. May the wine go straight to my lover, flowing gently over lips and teeth.
10 I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me.
There is no doubt but that these words, through 7:9a, should be ascribed to the boy. The words: "May the wine go straight to my lover, flowing gently over lips and teeth. I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me," are, obviously, the girl's response.
The groom opens this poem in which his sings the bride's beauty by comparing her, respectively, to Tizrah, Jerusalem and "troops with banners." About Tizrah, the Tyndale Commentary says: "Tizrah was an ancient Canaanite city in Samaria which served as the capital of the secessionist Northern Kingdom for some fifty years during the reigns of Jeroboam and his successors until Omri established Samaria as the capital about 879 BC (1 Ki. 14:1-20; 16:8-26). The exact location of the city has not yet been established, but most authorities identity it with Sechem on the main road toward Beth-Shean. The site is one of great natural beauty with extensive gardens and groves encouraged by its abundant water supply (one of the best in Israel)."
The picture of Jerusalem as a symbol of beauty is obvious. The psalmist praises the architecture of the city when he says: "Jerusalem is built like a city that is closely compacted together."[ 12 ]
More puzzling is the mention of the army. "Terrible as an army with banners," as the KJV renders it, is repeated in vs. 10. TLB paraphrases it with, "how you capture my heart." The NIV says in vs. 4, "majestic as troops with banners." In vs. 10 the translation is accommodated to the context. We read: "Who is this that appears like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, majestic as the stars in procession?" The word "terrible" or "majestic" is the translation of the Hebrew "ayumma" which, according to the Tyndale Commentary, is related to the noun "terror, dread, awe." It could be rendered as "awe inspiring" or "terrific." The same word is found in Hab. 1:7, where the Chaldean army is described with the words, "They are a feared and dreaded people." About "Terrible as an army with banners," the Commentary says: "(Heb. kannidgalot) is more difficult [to translate]. The Hebrew text does not contain the word for 'army', but simply reads 'as bannered'. The context suggests that it is the cities which are thus bedecked, and the introduction of 'armies' here is superfluous. In the light of the discussion of dgl, meaning 'to look upon' (cf. 2:4), this colon is rendered simply 'splendid to look upon'. The expression is repeated in 6:10. Cf. 5:10."
This comparison of the girl with the cities of Tizra and Jerusalem evokes the picture John paints of the bride of Christ, as the New Jerusalem. In Rev 21:9-27. In vs. 9-11 we read: "One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, 'Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.' And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal." If Tizra pictures the beauty of the countryside in which the city is located, Jerusalem shows us the awe-inspiring sight of the city itself.
Cities in the Bible are mainly pictures of what man built for himself. They are often shown as symbols of evil. We read about Nimrod, "Cush was the father of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; that is why it is said, 'Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD.' The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh, in Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city."[ 13 ] And in the New Testament the city of Babylon stands for all that is evil in the world.[ 14 ] But the girl in the Song of Songs is like the city God built. She is identified, not with the works of men who broke of their relationship with God, but with the beauty of what God has done in restoring man to the position He had in mind for him when He created Adam and Eve.
In vs. 5 the boys speaks again about the eyes of his beloved, as he did in 1:15 ("How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes are doves.") and 4:1,9. ("How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are doves." "You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.") And now here, "Turn your eyes from me; they overwhelm me."
The Hebrew verb which is translated with "overwhelm" is "rahab." It is variously rendered as "disturb, overcome, dazzle, hold captive." According to the Tyndale Commentary the verb occurs only four times in the Old Testament. Three times here and once in Ps. 138:3 which says: "You made me bold and stouthearted." The LXX translates "rahab" with the Greek verb "anapteroo," which, literally means to raise the feathers (of a bird), or metaphorically "to put on tiptoe of expectation" or "to excite" and bring to a state of eager expectation. The Tyndale Commentary says: "This is clearly the intent here - her glance 'turns him' and makes him bold in his intentions." A footnote is added to this which says: "Pope translates 'drive me wild', following Waldman's rendering 'sexually aroused.'" This all sounds very plausible, but for the fact that the boys says, "Turn your eyes from me," which gives the impression that he doesn't want to be aroused. In the language of lovers, however, words often convey a meaning opposite of what is being said. This may very well be the case here.
The following images describing her hair, her teeth and her temples are a repetition of what was said in ch. 4:1-3.
The mention of "sixty queens .... and eighty concubines, and virgins beyond number," in vs. 8 strikes us as strange. The intent is, obviously, to bring out the fact that this girl is superior to the large number of wives, concubines and aspiring concubines that Solomon had at that time. The numbers would indicate that the poem was written during the early period of Solomon's reign. The harem of the king had not yet grown to seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, as is mentioned in I Kings 11:3. We tend to think that, in this case at least, bigger is not better. The fact that Solomon shared his love with so many made him, in our opinion, not a better lover but a lesser one. This was, probably, not the philosophy shared by the people in Solomon's time. They must have considered Solomon to be the great lover. I take it, therefore, that the boy is saying here that he is actually richer than Solomon because the quality of his love surpasses Solomon's quantity.
Twice in the New Testament Jesus uses Solomon as a measure to determine values. In Matt. 6:28-30 He, actually, says that those who put their faith in God are richer than Solomon. "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?" And in Matt. 12:42 He declares Himself to be the source of wisdom from which Solomon received his insight. "The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here." These quotes give depth to the utterance of the boy, who considers himself richer than Solomon. He had, of course, not yet read the words of Jesus in the New Testament, but the Holy Spirit, sometimes, runs ahead of people and gives them prophetic insight beyond the scope of the own vision.
We could object that, if the above interpretation is correct, Solomon could hardly have written this poem. But I believe it is clear from the other books in the Bible, that are attributed to Solomon, that the king had the wisdom to be able to look at himself from a distance and evaluate himself, sometimes even not without irony.
In vs. 9 the uniqueness of the girl is expressed, first of all by calling her "my perfect one," and "the only daughter of her mother." This may not necessarily mean that she was the only female child in the family. It is probably a poetical expression. The virgins, queens and concubines of the previous verse are drawn into the picture again and are made to bow down before this simple shepherd girl from Shulam, much in the way in which Joseph in his dreams saw his brothers, his father and mother bow down before him.[ 15 ] The following verse even strengthens the link between the boy's praise of his bride and Joseph's dreams. We read, "Who is this that appears like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, majestic as the stars in procession?" As we have seen, the last clause of the verse is, actually, the same as in vs. 4, "majestic as troops with banners." The NIV is, probably, correct in linking the image to the heavenly constellations.
The comparison between the girl and the galaxies makes us think of what David says in Ps. 8. In vs. 3 and 4 we read: "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" Seeing himself against the background of the night sky, David realizes how small and insignificant he is. But then he discovers the miracle of God's creation, that the smallness of man is endued with the greatness of God. In vs. 5 and 6 he says: "You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet." The bridegroom has made the same discovery about his bride. He sees her clothed with the brightness of the sun and the beauty of the moon and stars.
So must God see us from above. In God's eyes we surpass the radiance of the heavenly bodies. The elders of the churches are, in Jesus' hands, represented as seven stars.[ 16 ] And in Dan. 12:3 we read, "Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever." But of the New Jerusalem, which is the bride of the Lamb, we read, not only, that it shone with the glory of God but that the city doesn't need any sun or moon because of the glory of God within it.[ 17 ] We have more eternal value for our Creator than the rest of creation.
Vs. 11 and 12 are probably another poetical description of sexual intimacy between the newly weds. The bridegroom says: "I went down to the grove of nut trees to look at the new growth in the valley, to see if the vines had budded or the pomegranates were in bloom. Before I realized it, my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people." It appears, however, that vs. 12 throws translators and interpreters for a loop. The Tyndale Commentary says: "Commentators are unanimous that this verse is the most difficult in the Song and one of the most difficult in the Old Testament to make sense of." A footnote at this point quotes Roland Murphy who says that this verse is the most obscure in the Song and has resisted all attempts at translation. The section in the Tyndale Commentary ends by saying: "The precise meaning of the verse is not clear. Perhaps there is some merit in Fuerst's suggestion that there is some idiomatic meaning we cannot recover." The Hebrew word which is translated in the NIV as "Before I realized it" is "lo' yadati" which, literally, means "I did not know." "My desire" is the translation of the Hebrew "napsi." The RSV translates this with "my fancy." The biggest obstacle is, of course, the appearance of the royal chariots. It seems to me, though, that if we keep in mind the fact that we are reading poetry, the description of the experience of supreme joy as a ride in a royal chariot is not too hard to grasp. We have seen the same image used before in 1:9 and 3:6-10. TLB's paraphrase gives this verse an interesting twist and, in doing so, links it to the following verse where the girl seems to be called back. We read, "Before I realized it, I was stricken with terrible homesickness and wanted to be back among my own people." This puts the words in the mouth of the girl.
The easiest way to interpret the last verse of this chapter seems to be to ascribe the words again to the daughters of Jerusalem. "Come back, come back, O Shulammite; come back, come back, that we may gaze on you! Why would you gaze on the Shulammite as on the dance of Mahanaim?" "Come back" does not, necessarily, imply that the girl has left. It is more probable that, at this point, she has withdrawn to a private place to be with her husband. Again, confusion reigns among the commentators as to the meaning of this verse. The NIV translation of the Hebrew word "w[ e ]n[ e ]h[ e ]z[ e ]h" with "gaze on" seems better than merely "look upon" as some of the other translations have. According to the Tyndale Commentary it means "to see with insight and understanding." Dr. Carr says, "The verb is used frequently of the prophetic visions." So the daughters of Jerusalem do not merely want to see the Shulammite dance, but the want to understand the meaning of the exuberant joy which is part of the wedding celebration. The Holy Spirit seems to indicate with the choice of words that we have to look beyond the expression of love between husband and wife to the real meaning of love, as God reveals it to His church in His Son Jesus Christ.
In chapter 7:1-9a the boy loses himself in ecstasy over the girl's beauty. The Tyndale Commentary takes this passage as comments by the onlookers while the girl is dancing. This is, probably, due to the fact that the description of her body begins with her "sandaled feet" and goes from there upwards. But I take it that, at this point, the boy is alone with his new bride. Some of the images are repeats from previous monologues, but some new features are introduced. The detailed description of her body indicates an intimacy greater than before, such as should only be found between married couples. The tone is the same as in Prov. 5:18-19, "May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer-- may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love." The couple is, obviously, at this point deeply engaged in an intimate experience of one another's' love.
It remains hard for us to grasp that a Scripture passage, such as this one, could have spiritual significance. The description of the girl's body by her loving husband is so specifically sexual that we have a hard time crossing the line we have drawn between "eros" and "agape." We seldom realize that God did not draw this line; we did. God draws a line, where we don't, between erotic love in a marriage relation and adulterous lusts. It is precisely because we, almost automatically, jump from erotic feelings to sinful sensations, that we have trouble to identify with Paul's statement: "'The two will become one flesh.' This is a profound mystery-- but I am talking about Christ and the church."[ 18 ]
The loving description of the girl's body begins at her feet and moves up to her head. "How beautiful your sandaled feet, O prince's daughter!" (vs. 1). "Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel. Your hair is like royal tapestry; the king is held captive by its tresses." (vs. 5). The title "prince's daughter" refers to the nobility of her character not, necessarily, to her physical descent. The insertion of those words indicate that, for the boy, the beauty of her body is an expression of the beauty of her soul. She is God's masterpiece Who, as a Master artist, formed her body to express a spiritual reality. If man can take a piece of wood, or a block of marble and cut away at it till it expresses thoughts and emotions, how much more can God express beauty beyond description in the realities of flesh and blood!
The glance of the boy moves up from her feet to her thighs. What the NIV calls "graceful legs" is better translated as "rounded thighs," like in the RSV and most other translations. The Hebrew word "sarr," which most translators render as "navel" means, according to the Tyndale Commentary "private parts." It would be inconceivable that such comments would be made by onlookers, instead of by the lawful husband of the bride. Also the description of the waist as surrounded by lilies has a clear erotic connotation. The comparison of her breasts with a pair of fawns is a repeat of 4:5. In 4:4 her neck was also compared to a tower, there the tower of David, here an ivory tower. The reference is probably to color and smoothness rather than to the shape. Previously, her eyes were compared to doves, as in 1:15; 4:1, here, in the groom's mind, they evoke the pools of "Heshbon by the gates of Bath-Rabbim." The Tyndale Commentary says here: "Recent excavations in Jordan, not far from modern Amman, have revealed the remains of large reservoirs near the city." The name Bath-Rabbim is further unknown in the Bible. It could be the name of one of the city gates. The meaning of the image is clear, though. The girl's eyes reflects the tranquillity and peace of her beautiful soul. A Dutch proverb says: "Quiet waters have depth."[ 19 ]
The comparison of the nose with "the tower of Lebanon looking toward Damascus," is even harder to grasp for us. There may be a play of words in this image. The name Lebanon is, according to the Tyndale Commentary, derived from the Hebrew word "laben" which means white. The comparison may be more concerning the color of her nose than the shape of it. Obviously, a compliment is intended.
Also the head, compared to Mount Carmel, speaks of beauty, grandeur and majesty. The image has nothing to do with shape or size but with the feeling of awe one gets by seeing the beauty of a mountain range. I have made turns on a road and ,all of sudden, seen the high mountains of Switzerland or Irian Jaya in front of me, which sight took my breath away. Looking at the girl's would stop the boy in his tracks and make him pause to admire.
Comparing her hair with royal tapestry does not seem to be a correct translation. The RSV is more correct when it says, "your flowing locks are like purple." From 4:4 and 6:5, we learn that the color of the girl's hair was black. So the word "purple" cannot refer to the color of her hair. It has been suggested that her hair had lustrous highlights which shimmered and rippled as she moved. Purple being the color of royalty, though, it could mean that she looked like a queen. The reference, in one breath to the king, makes this interpretation quite plausible. Again, this does not, necessarily, imply that the lovers belong to the royalty. But they feel like king and queen.
Vs. 6 sums it all up in the words: "How beautiful you are and how pleasing, O love, with your delights!" If "beautiful" stands for her physical appearance, "delights" must refer to her inner beauty, her character.
The last part of the lover's ode speaks again of the moment of greatest intimacy. The climbing of a palm tree to pick its fruit is a real conquest. Those who have seen people climb palm trees will agree. The boy is ready to conquer his bride and enjoy the moment of full intimacy with her, which is expressed in the eating of the fruit. The intoxication of that moment is emphasized by the use of the wine image. To which the girl responds with surrender in the giving of herself. This moment of sexual unity is described in terms of greater excitement than in 5:1, where the boy says in the most delicate way: "I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; I have drunk my wine and my milk." The climbing of the palm tree and the drinking of the wine speak of an increase of passionate emotions. Intimacy is greater here than before and the experience is more intoxicating.
The girl responds to her lover's passion by letting her love flow toward him. She picks up his use of the image of wine and says: "May the wine go straight to my lover, flowing gently over lips and teeth." The expression, probably, stands for the exchange of passionate kisses. The Hebrew word, which is translated here with "teeth" is "w[ e ]senim." According to the interpretation of the "we" part of the word, it is variously translated as "sleep" or "teeth." The KJV, for instance, renders the verse with, "And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved, that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak."
Vs. 10 repeats the girl's declaration 2:16 and 6:3. We have seen, though, that there is a subtle progression in each of the repeats. In 2:16 she says: "My lover is mine and I am his; he browses among the lilies;" in 6:3 the accents shifts from the balanced "I am his and he is mine" to the girl, with, "I am my lover's and my lover is mine; he browses among the lilies." And now her she loses herself completely in her husband's love by saying, "I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me." The change in stress expresses beautifully the progression of surrender to her husband the bride manifests.
Love is not a static condition. It grows between two individuals. Surrender and sacrifice of oneself is a basic feature of love. It is proof of love's divine origin. The surrender of love does not entail a loss of identity, but a loss of independence. In a marriage, becoming "one flesh" does not diminish the individuality of the partners. To the contrary, it tends to enhance personality. But, when the two become one, they cease to act independently.
The spiritual implications of the above are clear. Jesus did not become less God or less Man when He gave Himself for us. As a matter of fact, His death on the cross opened the gates of glory for the Man Jesus Christ. Our surrender to Him and the denial of ourselves draws us into this glory. We will only keep what we give away. We will only live as we die.
B. Growing in Love 7:11-8:14
1. Bride's Desire to Visit Her Home 7:11-8:4
7:11 Come, my lover, let us go to the countryside, let us spend the night in the villages.
12 Let us go early to the vineyards to see if the vines have budded, if their blossoms have opened, and if the pomegranates are in bloom-- there I will give you my love.
13 The mandrakes send out their fragrance, and at our door is every delicacy, both new and old, that I have stored up for you, my lover.
8:1 If only you were to me like a brother, who was nursed at my mother's breasts! Then, if I found you outside, I would kiss you, and no one would despise me.
2 I would lead you and bring you to my mother's house-- she who has taught me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the nectar of my pomegranates.
3 His left arm is under my head and his right arm embraces me.
4 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
These verses, obviously, belong to the girl. She seems to refer to the first encounter mentioned in 1:4-17, where the couple, at that time still unmarried, stretched out in the grass under the trees. Whether she wants to visit her home, as our outline suggests, is not clear. The Hebrew word "koper" which is translated "in the villages" in the NIV is rendered as "among the henna bushes" by the NEB. The Tyndale Commentary says here: "The lexicons list at least four different nouns with this form and spelling. The verbal root means to cover or seal something (e.g. Gn. 6:14), and is used most frequently of 'atonement', i.e. 'covering' sin. The nouns, however, vary considerably. I 1 Samuel 6:18; 1 Chronicles 27:25; and Nehemiah 6:2, koper is translated village, i.e. 'unwalled village' in contrast to 'walled' cities. But twice before in the Song (1:14; 4:13), koper is used of the copper-coloured cosmetic dye extracted from henna- plant. This shrub, which grows wild in Palestine, is covered in spring with fragrant whitish flowers growing in clusters like grapes. In view of the parallel in vv. 11f. with the perfume/vineyard/field motifs from earlier in the Song (e.g. 1:13f.; 2:11-27; 4:12-16, etc.), NEB henna bushes is preferred over the other versions."
It could be that a word-play is intended here. In marriage, the husband becomes the protection of the wife. He is like to wall around the city. It is possible that the girl refers to the sense of security she receives from her relationship with her husband. For us, the use of the word "koper" or "kafar" suggests strongly the Old Testament picture of atonement for sin by substitution. Our security is in our relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ, Who took our sins upon Himself and not only covers us but washes us in His blood.
The images in vs. 12 and 13 evoke a word picture of youth, vitality, freshness, color and fragrance. It does not, necessarily, means that the lovers would take an early walk in the vineyard. The blooms and blossoms describe their romantic feelings and the intense enjoyment of one another. Where in 1:9-17 the couple may have been stretched out in the open field and fancied themselves in the king's palace, it could be that here they are, actually, in bed in their own home and see themselves as strolling through the vineyard in the early morning, inhaling love and beauty.
The mandrakes emphasize the intensity of their passion for each other. The Tyndale Commentary remarks here: "The mandrake or 'love apple' is a pungently fragrant plant that has long been considered an aphrodisiac - not that these lovers needed any additional stimulation, but the use of such items has long been a part of the lore of love-making. The word occurs only here, and four times in Genesis 30:14-16." The fact that the girl mentions this fruit, together with "every delicacy, both new and old" that she has stored up for her lover, simply means that she gives him the fullness of her love.
Isn't this what the Lord expects from us? When God commands His children, "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength,"[ 20 ] He means that we should love Him passionately! God gives us and example in erotic love that often escapes us when we transfer it to the spiritual realm.
The phrase, "At our door is every delicacy, both new and old, that I have stored up for you, my lover," seems to say that the life of the girl, up to this point, has been a preparation for this moment. When she falls in love and marries her lover, she realizes that she has been made for this experience. This again, has its counterpart in our spiritual lives. When we are found by God we, immediately, understand that we were made for a relationship with the living God. When we experience God's love we feel like a fish in the water; we have found the element in which we are supposed to live.
The girl's exclamation in 8:1 sounds strange to our Western ears. For us, a display of affection in public is not offensive, as it is in many Eastern cultures. The tribal people in Irian Jaya, Indonesia, for instance, would indicate their relationship as husband and wife in public by walking at a certain distance from one another. But relatives would hold hands in public without embarrassment. TLB renders this verse with: "Oh, if only you were my brother; then I could kiss you no matter who was watching, and no one would laugh at me."
The following verse sounds even stranger to us. "I would lead you and bring you to my mother's house-- she who has taught me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the nectar of my pomegranates." It is obvious that the girl does not want to live with her lover in a brother-sister relationship. The RSV and some other translations add the phrase, "into the chamber of her that conceived me." This clause is found in the LXX. The passage is parallel to the one in 3:4, where we read: "I held him and would not let him go till I had brought him to my mother's house, to the room of the one who conceived me." We remarked there: "The reference to the place establishes in a poetical way, a chain of life. The sexual reference is not to her own experience, but to that of her parents. It is the place where she was created, the place where she came into the world. The suggestion is that the fruit of the marriage she anticipates will be the birth of their own children. She sees herself as a link in the miracle chain of life. The picture she paints is more than one of mere enjoyment of intimacy with her lover; it is a picture of life." Some of this thought is repeated here, although the context is different. Here she is married. The consummation which was still wished for in the previous situation has taken place here. She wants to place her experience with her husband in the larger framework of the chain of life. However great and intoxicating the experience of love may be, it is not a goal in itself. It has a purpose that lies beyond the joy of the moment. It leads to the future when they will have children, like their parents did. It points to eternity.
There is some difference of opinion between commentators and translators of the words "she who has taught me." The form of the Hebrew verb can be taken as either masculine or feminine. The context seems to require the feminine interpretation. Her mother taught her the facts of life, not her new husband. The girl doesn't only want to have sex, she wants to have children with her lover. This attitude lifts up the whole poem to a higher level.
Verse 3 and 4 repeat what was said in 2;6,7. But there the words were spoken in anticipation of the marriage. Here the goal is reached; the two are married and live together. The charge to the daughters of Jerusalem is not anymore a warning against an illegitimate and premature relationship. It is a demonstration of the fact that patience is rewarded. The gazelles and the does of the field that were mentioned in 2:7 are absent in vs. 4. But the solemn oath, translated as "I charge you ...." is the same. These words carry the same weight as Jesus' words which He introduces with "Amen, amen."[ 21 ]
2. Journey and Homecoming 8:5-14
5 Who is this coming up from the desert leaning on her lover? Under the apple tree I roused you; there your mother conceived you, there she who was in labor gave you birth.
6 Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.
7 Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.
8 We have a young sister, and her breasts are not yet grown. What shall we do for our sister for the day she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall, we will build towers of silver on her. If she is a door, we will enclose her with panels of cedar.
10 I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers. Thus I have become in his eyes like one bringing contentment.
11 Solomon had a vineyard in Baal Hamon; he let out his vineyard to tenants. Each was to bring for its fruit a thousand shekels of silver.
12 But my own vineyard is mine to give; the thousand shekels are for you, O Solomon, and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit.
13 You who dwell in the gardens with friends in attendance, let me hear your voice!
14 Come away, my lover, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the spice-laden mountains.
We enter into the last section of the Song of Song, this Poem of Poems. Many of the images are repeats of previous sections but all are placed in a different context. The opening phrase: "Who is this coming up from the desert leaning on her lover?" is the same as in 3:6. But there it was the boy who came from the desert. Here it is, obviously the girl.
The apple tree was used as an image to describe the excellency of the boy above all the other men. Here the boy uses the image and connects it to the mother of his new bride.
Vs. 6 and 7 contain a profound vow of commitment to one another, expressed supremely in beautiful language.
In vs. 8-10 a young sister, supposedly the bride's sister, is introduced. The intention is, probably, to show the bride's maturity in comparing her with a girl who has not yet reached marriageable age.
In vs. 11 and 12 the boy compares his newly acquired wealth with the riches of king Solomon, suggesting that he has the better deal.
Vs. 13 and 14 contain the final love call; the first one uttered by the boy, the second by the girl.
All this seems rather complicated and it is not amazing that some commentators believe that these last verses are a series of unconnected poets added by editors and copyists. I do not share this concept. It is true that these last ten verses can be divided into five sections, but that doesn't mean that there is not connection.
It is hard to determine who speaks the words: "Who is this coming up from the desert leaning on her lover?" It can hardly be either the girl or the boy, since they are the ones who are coming up from the desert. So, again, a third party is introduced.
The image of the desert was used also in 3:6. In connection with that verse we made the following remarks: "The girl seems to add a divine element to her love relationship with the words: 'Who is this coming up from the desert like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and incense made from all the spices of the merchant?' In the history of Israel the column of smoke and fire was the visible demonstration of the presence of God. It was the Shekina glory. We have seen before that love on a human level portrays the character of God. God is love and all human love is derived from Him. .... It was God's glorious presence that kept people alive in a place of death. We could hardly imagine a more beautiful description of the girl's experience than this: in the dreadful desert of her life appears the column of smoke and fire that lights up her soul with love. It is like light that shines in the darkness." In 8:5 the column of smoke and the perfume is not mentioned. Here the girl leans on her lover. Yet, we can say that the two pictures do not differ. The divine glory is personified. Like Israel was surrounded and covered by the cloud which, in Moses' words meant, "The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms,"[ 22 ] so, here the girl is leaning on the arms of the person she loves and who loves her.
It is the boy who says: "Under the apple tree I roused you; there your mother conceived you, there she who was in labor gave you birth." If we take the apple tree to mean a certain place under a certain tree, the words would make very little sense. In 2:3 the girl had compared the boy to an apple tree. She said: "Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my lover among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste." It is probably to this image that the boy refers here. Their romance started, so to speak, under an apple tree. In using the image again and in linking it to the love life of his mother-in-law the bridegroom makes the same profound reference to the larger context of their love as the bride did before in 3:4. They both see their exhilarating experience of love in the context of the chain of life in which they are a link. This means that they have not lost their heads, although they may have lost their hearts. They understand the meaning of their relationship. Not many people ever come that far in their marriage relationships.
The bride was conceived and born under the apple tree. Poetically speaking, this means that her father loved her mother and she herself is the fruit of this lover relationship. Now she experiences the same relationship with her husband which will result in the birth of new life.
A rather unusual feature in this verse it the mention of her mother's labor. Her mother suffered for her to be born. This suffering is the result of sin. As a result of the fall of Adam and Eve God said to the woman: "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children."[ 23 ] The reference to this pain seems strange in this idyll. Jesus uses the same image in connection with His death and resurrection. He said: "A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy."[ 24 ] The love between this boy and girl is played out in an imperfect world; a world stained by sin. The poem describes life in the midst of death.
Vs. 6 says: "Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm." The NEB uses the words "wear me." The Tyndale Commentary remarks here, "NEB catches the ancient Near Eastern custom of wearing signet rings or cylinder seals on cords around the neck, but the force of the Hebrew verse here is more correctly rendered by the other version." (NIV "place me.")
Beside other, secondary, meanings of this image, such as ownership, the obvious intent seems to be that the girl wants the boy's heart to be sealed or closed for other girls and she wants to be that seal. One of the features that gives depth to a marriage relationship is exclusiveness. A married man should only pay attention to the girl who is his wife.
In 4:15 the boy had said to the girl: "You are a sealed fountain." This seal was broken in the bond of their marriage. Now the boys becomes sealed. When the physical seal of the girl's virginity was broken by the boy, the seal of spiritual and emotional exclusiveness was placed on the boy's heart. The heart is, of course, the seat of emotions. Prov. 4:23 says: "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." The arm is the tool that expresses affection. The girl leans on the boy's arm for support, for protection and for affection.
In our relationship with God the seal stands for the Holy Spirit. "Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."[ 25 ] In the spiritual realm the seal of the bridegroom is placed on the bride. We belong exclusively to God as the object of His love. If we are placed as a seal upon His heart that is the only our response to our being sealed by Him first.
The main idea conveyed by the image of the seal is, of course, that the relationship is legal and binding. The seal takes love out of the sphere of emotions and places upon a level of a binding and irrevocable union. Our relationship with God is sealed by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. God binds Himself to us in Him and we enter into a relationship with Him that is eternal.
The second part of the verse indicates the strength of the seal in the comparison with death. The introduction of death in the poem is amazing and it has a dramatic effect. We associate love with life, and rightfully so. By casting the deep shadow of death upon love, the light of love shines more brightly. Death is the inescapable issue for man. No one escapes death. Death is the ultimate enemy. "Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment."[ 26 ] In love death meets its match. We learn in the Gospels that love, ultimately, conquered death. Jesus died for us because He loved us and thus he overcame the stranglehold death held upon mankind. "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death-- that is, the devil-- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death."[ 27 ] Death makes all relationships temporal, love makes them eternal. In using the image of the seal the girl expresses the thought that their relationship should never end, although she knows that it will on earth. Obviously, she says more than she can, possibly, know. But the Spirit in her knows what He is saying to us.
The parallel phrase to "love is strong as death," is "its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame." The ASV renders the last clause as "A very flame of Jehovah." The Tyndale Commentary says about the word "jealousy", "Jealousy (NEB passion) is not to be understood in a negative sense ('the green-eyed monster'), but rather as an assertion of the rightful claims of possession. Cf. the cognate adjective in Exodus 20:5; 34:14. etc."[ 28 ] Regarding the word "unyielding" the Commentary says: "Cruel (NIV unyielding; JB relentless; Heb. qaseh) occurs some thirty-four times in the Old Testament, but only this once in the Song. The meaning 'hard' or 'obstinate' (vs. 'soft' or 'weak', 2 Sa. 3:39), i.e. 'inflexible', is best rendered with the NIV or JB rather than the negative sense of other versions."
Jealousy does have a negative connotation in our modern use of the language. But since the word is used of God there is, obviously, a positive and good kind of jealousy without which love is not genuine. Jealousy guards the exclusiveness of love. A man who truly loves his wife ought to be jealous when she gives up her undivided devotion to her husband and starts to pay attention to other men. The reverse is, of course, true also; a woman should be jealous for her husband. Jealousy may not always be active and on the service in a marriage relationship, but it should not be absent. Vs. 6 treats the concept of jealousy as a fiery protection.
The Tyndale commentary says here: "A most vehement flame (NIV mighty flame; NEB fiercer than any flame; JB a flame of Yahweh himself; ASV a very flame of Jehovah; Heb. salhebetya). JB and ASV take the last syllable of the Hebrew as the divine name Yahweh, the Lord. The meaning could be 'love is a flame which has its origin in God'; while this is technically true, the fact that this is the only place in the Song a possible use of the divine name appears militates against this understanding of the final syllable. More likely, this is simply a use of a standard idiom for the superlative, as the RSV translates." It seems to me that the Jewish tendency to avoid any direct mention of God's name would preclude the use of the letters ya as a mere superlative. I would rather settle for the fact that the poet literally considers jealousy to be a flame which has its origin in God.
Like the apostle Paul in I Cor. 13, Solomon extols love above all the other qualities God has bestowed upon man. Without love life is not worth living. Love gives a glow of eternity to our transient existence on earth. "Love never ends."[ 29 ]
Vs. 7 says: "Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away." Where in the previous verse jealousy was compared to fire, here love itself is the unquenchable. Water, which is the arch enemy of fire, finds itself powerless in the face of this opponent. Often water is stronger than fire, but if fire is hot enough it vanquishes water, as Elijah demonstrated. When Elijah rebuilt the altar of God and brought the sacrifice saturated with water, we read: "Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.[ 30 ] Water may put out fires on earth, it is powerless against "the fire of the LORD."
Love is also the greatest treasure one can find. The remainder of the verse says: "If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned." It cannot be bought. Not many people understand this profound truth. Wealth, in any form or shape, is considered a valid substitute for happiness. It is not. Wealth is the least of all things a person can possess. It does not provide for our deepest needs of happiness and protection. But love does. Sacrificial love on a human level, in which one is willing to give himself or herself completely for the other, even to the point of death, provides perfect happiness. Wealth makes the owner the focus of all attention; love focuses on the other. Wealth imprisons people; love liberates. John's definition of love is: "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers."[ 31 ] Love is not for sale. It can only be obtained by the sacrifice of oneself.
The verses 8-10 seem rather obscure and out of context. The most logical explanation seems to be that the bride compares herself to a younger sister in order to demonstrate her own maturity. It could even be that she speaks about herself and her condition when she was young and immature. All this to relish the fact that she is now ready for married life.
Many commentators believe that the poem ends with verse 7 and that the last seven verses are an appendix from the hand of a later editor. The main problem lies in the details of the plan what to do with the younger sister "for the day she is spoken for." In vs. 9 we read: "If she is a wall, we will build towers of silver on her. If she is a door, we will enclose her with panels of cedar." The images of the wall and the door are, probably, poetical pictures of the girl's character. According to the Tyndale Commentary, "Delitzsch suggests that wall signifies 'firmness of character', which will be enhanced by strong silver-covered towers (NIV; RSV battlement), and door signifies one accessible to seduction and therefore in need of 'strong cedar' (cf. 1:17; 5:15), reinforcing to safeguard her sanctity." The idea then would be that the younger sister be kept pure till the day of her marriage. If this is true the comparison between the bride and her younger sister serves a double purpose. Not only contrasts the bride her own maturity with the immaturity of her sister, but she also emphasizes the fact that she, herself, remained a virgin till the day of her wedding. The mention of the wall brings, at the same time, out her own strength of character also. The use of these images, however, remains difficult to grasp.
In the next verse the girl applies the images to herself. She says: "I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers. Thus I have become in his eyes like one bringing contentment." The word translated "contentment" is "salom" in Hebrew. The Dutch translation says here: "Then I became in his eyes as one who surrenders."[ 32 ] The underlying thought for this translation is that a wall and towers are symbols of resistance and defense. Their use is to keep the enemy out. The phrase "Then I was in his eyes as one who brings peace." as the RSV translates it, could very well be taken as "one who asks for peace." That is, probably, what the Dutch translators had in mind. I like the thought very much. After all, in a love relationship the partners surrender to each other. They give up their independence and that is the essence of "shalom." The Tyndale Commentary says here: "The central concept of the Hebrew term is one of unimpeded relationships with others and fulfillment in one's own undertakings."
The spiritual implication of these images is not hard to find. God's created us in such a way that we could come into this world as a small entity that would grow to full maturity. He wants us to grow and become mature. We often use our coming of age, however, to assert ourselves. "Shalom" is the fruit of a mature surrender to our Creator. Like the Peace Offering in Leviticus 2, where the fruit of the harvest is sacrificed to God, so our Peace Offering consists of the recognition that He made us, and that we owe our being to Him. This is expressed in the adoration of the twenty-four elders in Rev. 4:11, "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." We do well to understand against whom we should defend ourselves. The young girl's wall and door were meant to keep the enemy out, so that when the time of maturity would come the lord of her life could come in. Many people misunderstand the purpose of their lives by surrendering to the enemy and defending themselves against the Lord.
Surrender may not be the root significance of the word "shalom." But the elements of contentment, fulfillment and peace will only become active through surrender. We find life by losing it, as Jesus says in Matt. 10:39 and other verses: "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
In the verses 10 and 11 the image of the garden, or vineyard comes up again. The first time it was used by the girl in ch. 1:6 as a symbol of her own life. The equivalent, the garden, is mentioned in 4:12, 15, 16; 5:1; 6:2. Every time the private life of the girl is intended. We may presume that the use of the image is consistent and that, here too, the reference is not to a particular plantation that belonged to Solomon, and another one that belonged to the bride or groom, but to the love life of each of them. Several commentators identify the vineyard with Solomon's large harem.
This raises again the question as to whether Solomon could be the author of this poem. I still believe he could. A man with Solomon's intelligence and skill could write about himself, taking a distance from the subject and give an accurate analysis. He certainly did so in Ecclesiastes, so why not here.
Another question is who is speaking, the boy or the girl. In the poem both have used the image as referring to the girl. TLB assigns these words to the girl, but I believe it to be more logical if we put the words in the boy's mouth. He is the one who compares his riches to those of Solomon and draws the conclusion that he is the richer of the two. "One greater than Solomon is here."[ 33 ] The Tyndale Commentary believes that the issue in the use of the image is not the comparison of riches, but of rights. We read: "The contrast here is with the rights of the king to administer his own possessions and the right of the girl to her own person." I still believe that the point of the comparison is the difference in riches. The NIV is, may be, less clear than the RSV. The first reads: "The thousand shekels are for you, O Solomon, and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit." The latter says: "You, O Solomon, may have the thousand, and the keepers of the fruit two hundred," the intent being, "keep your money, I have something better!"
The name Baal-haamon may be translated as "Lord of a crowd." But, according to the Tyndale Commentary, the Vulgate is the only translation that gives this rendering. All the other translations consider the words to be the name of a place. The problem, however, is that the place has not been identified. For the meaning of the image this is of no importance. It could even be that a pun is used and that an existing name was purposely changed, so Solomon could be called "Lord of a crowd," that is one possessing a large harem.
The word "shekel" is not in the original, but most translations use it as it was and is the common currency. "The thousand" and "the two hundred" as the RSV and KJV read, is, literally, more correct.
This brings us to the last two verses of the poem. Again, the garden is mentioned, this time in the plural. If the use of the word is consistent, as an image of intimate life, it is not an indication of a place but of a condition. The question is, again, who is speaking? If the girl speaks to the boy, the plural, gardens, may suggest that he should turn from a divided attention to several person, to his one and only love. If the girl is addressed, we could hardly see in the word gardens a meaning of multiple relations. That would disqualify the girl completely for the kind of love described here.
It could also be that the girl is pictured here as an important lady, as a queen, who has ladies in attendance. And, finally, we have seen before that the presence of others puts the poem into the right perspective. This particular love affair may be highly personal and private, but love is a common phenomenon among human beings. And since this relationship is a picture of the relationship of Christ to the church, it is important to realize that, however personal the experience may be, it is not unique; there are others who are part of the same fellowship.
The Song of Songs ends with the words: "Come away, my lover, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the spice-laden mountains." Other translations have the words "make haste." (RSV, ASV, KJV). The Hebrew word is "barah" which is only used here in the poem. The NEB translates it with "come into the open." These closing words remind us of the closing words of the book Revelation: "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let him who hears say, 'Come!' .... He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus."[ 34 ] In the light of these verses the translation, "come into the open," seems very appropriate. We are awaiting the revelation of our Lord, our Bridegroom, the One who loves us and gave Himself for us.
The gazelle, the stag, the spices and the mountain are all images that have been used before. Here the mountain is "spice-laden." The whole picture is one of intense and abundant enjoyment of love in all its aspects: physical, emotional and spiritual. It involves the whole man. It is the ultimate relationship between two persons who become one in spirit, soul and body.
The invitation "come" or "make haste" supposes that the best is still to come. Amen! Come Lord Jesus!
Conclusion:
The theme of this Song of Songs is, undoubtedly, the perfect love affair. It is an idyll, an ideal that cannot be achieved in an imperfect world. All conjugal love should be like this, but none measures up completely. We should use the Song as the sailor uses the stars. He knows he cannot reach them but he sets his course by them.
Above all, though, the Song reminds us of the love of God. The theme is not about sexual love only. Sexual intercourse is mentioned delicately and explicitly, but the Song goes well beyond that. It offers no excuse for the sexual aspect of a relationship, but it is made clear that love demands the whole man: body, soul and spirit. When God created man He invented sex as an integrate part of human life. The fact that the devil has caused more havoc in that aspect of human behavior than anywhere else, does not make the devil the author of man's sex life. We belong to the Lord, body, soul and spirit.
The apostle Paul puts is very precisely when he says: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."[ 35 ] We will come closest to the core of all relationships, both with God and our fellowmen, if we glorify God in our bodies.
[ 1 ]
8:6
[ 2 ]
I John 3:16
[ 3 ]
Eccl. 7:1-4
[ 4 ]
Luke 14:26
[ 5 ]
Heb. 13:5b
[ 6 ]
Matt. 27:46
[ 7 ]
Matt. 6:6
[ 8 ]
Ps. 119:67
[ 9 ]
I Pet. 1:8
[ 10 ]
Phil. 3:10-11
[ 11 ]
I John 3:2
[ 12 ]
Ps. 122:3
[ 13 ]
Gen. 10:8-12
[ 14 ]
See Rev. 17-19 and I Pet. 5:13
[ 15 ]
Gen. 37:5-11
[ 16 ]
Rev. 1:16,20
[ 17 ]
Rev. 21:11,23
[ 18 ]
Eph. 5:31-32
[ 19 ]
"Stille wateren hebben diepe gronden."
[ 20 ]
Deut. 6:5
[ 21 ]
for example John 1:51
[ 22 ]
Deut. 33:27
[ 23 ]
Gen. 3:16
[ 24 ]
John 16:21-22
[ 25 ]
II Cor. 1:21-22
[ 26 ]
Heb. 9:27
[ 27 ]
Heb. 2:14,15
[ 28 ]
Ex. 20:5, "You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me." Ex. 34:14, "Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God."
[ 29 ]
I Cor. 13:8 (RSV)
[ 30 ]
I Kings 18:38
[ 31 ]
I John 3:16
[ 32 ]
"Toen werd ik in zijn ogen als een, die overgave aanbiedt."
[ 33 ]
cf. Matt. 12:42
[ 34 ]
Rev. 22:17,20
[ 35 ]
RSV
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