Throughout the Song of Solomon, the language between the two lovers is elaborate, maybe overstated, maybe even exaggerated, yet they are each using positive, affirming and encouraging words. They are expressing their love for each other and there is no other as in Song of Solomon 1:15, 16 “Look! You are beautiful, my beloved …”. They are anticipating their next encounter and even seeking to find each other as in Song of Solomon 3:4 “when I found him whom my heart loves. I held him and I would not let him go”. It seems in their love for each other there is some positive idealistic distortion, they see each other as being perfect. And isn’t this the way the Lord sees us in 2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made the one who did not know sin to be sin on our behalf, in order that we could become the righteousness of God in him” and in Romans 8:1–2 “Consequently, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death”. Nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:39). He only asks us to walk in that love and forgive as offense come.
The Teacher Wrote What Is Upright—Truthful Words
Ecclesiastes 12:9–14
Let Us Be Joyful And Let Us Rejoice
Look! You Are Beautiful
Song of Solomon 1:9–17
We don’t understand the comparisons made as complements of beauty to “my beloved” in Song of Solomon 1:9. I think few women would receive being called “a mare among the chariots” as a compliment but “In the ancient Near East, only stallions were used to pull chariots. Releasing a mare among chariots would excite and distract the stallions. With this comparison, the man tells the woman that she is desirable to all men”1. But it is this ongoing string of positive affirmations that are so important in appreciating our spouse and he promises gifts in
Song of Solomon 1:11 We will make ornaments of gold for you with studs of silver.
then describes how he feels beginning with the phrase “My beloved is to me …” in Song of Solomon 1:13 and again in 14. And he continues describing her eyes and her demeanor repeating the phrase “Look! You are beautiful, my beloved …” in Song of Solomon 1:15, 16.
I Am A Rose of Sharon
Catch The Little Foxes
Song of Solomon 2:8–17
She also responds with anticipation, “The voice of my beloved! Look! Here he comes” in Song of Solomon 2:8 “Look! He is … gazing through the window” in Song of Solomon 2:9. He is calling her to come with him in
Song of Solomon 2:10 My beloved answered and said to me, “Arise, my beloved! Come, my beauty!
It is springtime and the time for an outing, it is time for them to be together “in the secluded place in the mountain” in Song of Solomon 2:14. But even as they express their love and desire for each other, there is a recognition that trouble, offense, discontent can creep in so they must also be aware and in
Song of Solomon 2:15 Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes destroying vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom!
I Sought Him Whom My Heart Loves
Song of Solomon 3:1–11
When we are married, and in love, we are also lonely when we are separated. It is normal and good to want to be together as in
Song of Solomon 3:2 Now I will arise, and I will go about in the city, in the streets and in the squares; I will seek him whom my heart loves. I sought him, but I did not find him.
but she didn’t stop looking until she did find him and in
Song of Solomon 3:4 Scarcely had I passed by them when I found him whom my heart loves. I held him and I would not let him go until I brought him to the house of my mother, into the bedroom chamber of she who conceived me.
While this may seem odd, it “Indicates the woman’s intention to enjoy intimacy in a secure, private place (compare Song 8:2) … the woman actively pursues her beloved, bringing him back to her mother’s house.”2 and it is right that a woman continues this close relationship with her mother. It is the man that leaves his parents in
Matthew 19:5 and said, ‘On account of this a man will leave his father and his mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’
Study Verses
- Song of Solomon 1:9–17 Look! You Are Beautiful
- Song of Solomon 2:8–17 Catch The Little Foxes
- Song of Solomon 3:1–11 I Sought Him Whom My Heart Loves
Today’s Reading
- Ecclesiastes 12:9–14
- Song of Solomon 1:1–17
- Song of Solomon 2:1–17
- Song of Solomon 3:1–11
References
- 1. Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (So 1:9). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
- 2. Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (So 3:4). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.