1Behold, you are beautiful, my love,
behold, you are beautiful!
Your eyes are doves
behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
leaping down the slopes of Gilead. 2 Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear twins,
and not one among them has lost its young. 3 Your lips are like a scarlet thread,
and your mouth is lovely.
Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
behind your veil. 4 Your neck is like the tower of David,
built in rows of stone;
on it hang a thousand shields,
all of them shields of warriors. 5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle,
that graze among the lilies. 6 Until the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
I will go away to the mountain of myrrh
and the hill of frankincense. 7 You are altogether beautiful, my love;
there is no flaw in you. 8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride;
come with me from Lebanon.
Depart from the peak of Amana,
from the peak of Senir and Hermon,
from the dens of lions,
from the mountains of leopards.
9 You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride;
you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace. 10 How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much better is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your oils than any spice! 11 Your lips drip nectar, my bride;
honey and milk are under your tongue;
the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. 12 A garden locked is my sister, my bride,
a spring locked, a fountain sealed. 13 Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates
with all choicest fruits,
henna with nard, 14 nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,
with all trees of frankincense,
myrrh and aloes,
with all choice spices— 15 a garden fountain, a well of living water,
and flowing streams from Lebanon.
16 Awake, O north wind,
and come, O south wind!
Blow upon my garden,
let its spices flow.
Together in the Garden of Love
She
Let my beloved come to his garden,
and eat its choicest fruits.
REFLECTION:
What do the lover’s explicit words describing his beloved’s physical beauty (vv1-7) reveal about their relationship? What words and phrases help you understand how Solomon feels about his beloved (vv9-15)?
How does the woman respond to the praise and adoration that is lavished upon her? What does their dialogue reveal about their attitude about themselves as sexual beings?
If God’s view of sex in marriage is conveyed here, then why do so many couples experience nothing like it? What does it say to you in your relationship with your spouse?
God pursues you like the lover pursues the beloved in this passage. Praise God and thank Him for His love that never lets us go.
PRAYER:
Stay with God for a little longer. Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you. Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.
1 On my bed by night
I sought him whom my soul loves;
I sought him, but found him not. 2 I will rise now and go about the city,
in the streets and in the squares;
I will seek him whom my soul loves.
I sought him, but found him not. 3 The watchmen found me
as they went about in the city.
“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?” 4 Scarcely had I passed them
when I found him whom my soul loves.
I held him, and would not let him go
until I had brought him into my mother’s house,
and into the chamber of her who conceived me. 5 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.
Solomon Arrives for the Wedding
6 What is that coming up from the wilderness
like columns of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
with all the fragrant powders of a merchant? 7 Behold, it is the litter of Solomon!
Around it are sixty mighty men,
some of the mighty men of Israel, 8 all of them wearing swords
and expert in war,
each with his sword at his thigh,
against terror by night. 9 King Solomon made himself a carriage
from the wood of Lebanon. 10 He made its posts of silver,
its back of gold, its seat of purple;
its interior was inlaid with love
by the daughters of Jerusalem. 11 Go out, O daughters of Zion,
and look upon King Solomon,
with the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
on the day of the gladness of his heart.
REFLECTION:
True love requires time—and hard work. It may even include times of searching and insecurity. Verses 1-3 describe some of the insecurities that love can bring. Why would love make us feel this way?
Do not “stir up or awaken love until it pleases” (v5) is repeated from 2:7. What wisdom do you see in this saying? When are you likely to feel insecure about those you love?
The wedding procession (vv6-11) in this passage is a time of publicly declaring love before others. What experience in your life confirmed the love someone (that is, the romantic love of a spouse or the love of a friend or family member) has for you? How should you better show your love to those you care about?
What factors enter into an engaged couple’s decision about how BIG to make their wedding? What was (or would be) the determinative factor in your case?
On your Big Day, what made your heart skip? Do you still feel that way? Why?
PRAYER:
Stay with God for a little longer. Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you. Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.
2 As a lily among brambles,
so is my love among the young women.
She
3 As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my beloved among the young men.
With great delight I sat in his shadow,
and his fruit was sweet to my taste. 4 He brought me to the banqueting house,
and his banner over me was love. 5 Sustain me with raisins;
refresh me with apples,
for I am sick with love. 6 His left hand is under my head,
and his right hand embraces me! 7 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.
The Bride Adores Her Beloved
8 The voice of my beloved!
Behold, he comes,
leaping over the mountains,
bounding over the hills. 9 My beloved is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
Behold, there he stands
behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
looking through the lattice. 10 My beloved speaks and says to me:
“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away, 11 for behold, the winter is past;
the rain is over and gone. 12 The flowers appear on the earth,
the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtledove
is heard in our land. 13 The fig tree ripens its figs,
and the vines are in blossom;
they give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away. 14 O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
in the crannies of the cliff,
let me see your face,
let me hear your voice,
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely. 15 Catch the foxes for us,
the little foxes
that spoil the vineyards,
for our vineyards are in blossom.”
16 My beloved is mine, and I am his;
he grazes among the lilies. 17 Until the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle
or a young stag on cleft mountains.
REFLECTION:
“His left hand is under my head” (v6). Throughout the Song, the woman does not hesitate to express her hope for physical intimacy with the man, and vice versa. The whole book of Song of Solomon acknowledges human yearning for intimacy—in community with others. After all, God created Eve to dispel Adam’s loneliness. And this Song illustrates this yearning at its deepest and most intimate level.
Verses 10-13 talk about the coming of spring: “the winter is past; the rain is over and gone”. Springtime is the time for love. It’s a time to be outdoors in a private garden. It is a time of new growth and fertility, as well as fragrant smells. Again, the desire to be with the beloved is expressed.
How does knowing that the Song of Songs is included in Scripture affect your view of married relationships?
If this lover’s song were an allegory, what image of God and Israel, or Christ and the Church, do you see here? Are you camped under his banner of love (v4)?
PRAYER:
Stay with God for a little longer. Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you. Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.
