Song of Songs 5, Slipping Away into the Night

We continue the poetry of two lovers. At the end of the last chapter, the man has described the woman as a beautiful locked garden, with wonderful floral scents overwhelming him. The woman responds to his overtures by saying, "Yes, lover, come into this garden and taste it fruits!" That poem continues for one more verse.

Song of Songs 5:1a, Wine and milk

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 man answers his lover's invitation and says, "Yes!" He then excitedly responds with a declaration of possession with "my", "my garden, my sister, my bride, my myrrh, my spice, my honeycomb, my honey, my wine, my milk." The possessive "my" is not a separate Hebrew word but part of an ending that appears on each of the nouns.

Song of Songs 5:1b, Chorus

Eat, O friends, and drink; 

drink your fill, O lovers.

Closing out the mutual declaration of love-making, this act of the poem ends with the narrators stepping in, a chorus spoken by a third party. Drink your fills, O lovers, say the narrators, as the curtain comes down.

There is a natural break here.  In the next verses begin a new poem or a new act of the play, an act that probably ends at 6:3.

Song of Songs 5:2, Knocking at my door

I slept but my heart was awake. 

Listen! My lover is knocking: 

"Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. 

My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night."

The woman is sleeping but her heart responds to a knock at her door. Her lover pleads for her to let him in from the dampness of the night. (Davidson believes this portion, Song of Songs 5:2-6:3, is a dream sequence.)

Song of Songs 5:3, But I'm in bed

I have taken off my robe-- must I put it on again? 

I have washed my feet-- must I soil them again?  

The woman has retired for the night. She has taken off her robe and (typical in ANE culture) washed her feet. Must she get dressed again, and get her feet dirty? Some suggest that she may be being a little coy, deliberately responding slowly to his call.

Song of Songs 5:4-5, I reached out, too late

My lover thrust his hand through the latch-opening;

my heart began to pound for him.  

I arose to open for my lover, 

and my hands dripped with myrrh, 

my fingers with flowing myrrh, 

on the handles of the lock.  

Her lover reaches through the latch to open the door himself. The woman reports her heart pounding with rising excitement. She arises to answer the door, trying to undo the lock. Her hands are dripping with myrrh, a fragrant oil. 

Both Alter and Davidson see hints to sexual arousal in the description of the woman's hands and fingers "flowing with myrrh", in the man's desire to open the latch and her desire (next verse) to "open" to him. Davidson remarks on various attempts to hide the sexuality of this passage (and others) says

"It is strange how certain older commentators, aware of this meaning, tend to dismiss it as 'obscene'. This is to read our perverted sense of values into the biblical text, instead of allowing the text to speak to us frankly of sexuality as one of God's good gifts to man and woman."

I heartedly agree. As I mention in my introduction to this book, the attitude I absorbed in my youth (high school and college) was that sex was bad, promoted by Hugh Hefner and was to be ignored or suppressed. But since God created human sexuality, it should be Christians who are open and transparent about the beauty of sex and the strength of sexual desire!

Song of Songs 5:6, Gone!

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.

But by the time the woman gets to her door and unlocks it, her lover is gone. Now she is awake and eager to be in his arms but he has disappeared into the night. She calls for him and runs into the streets after him.

Song of Songs 5:7, Watchmen bruise me!

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!

In the dark city the night watchmen find her and mistreat her. They think that she is a prostitute and tear her cloak off of her. This time the watchmen mistreat the woman; in chapter 3 they leave her alone.

Song of Songs 5:8, Where is my lover?

O daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you--

 if you find my lover, what will you tell him? 

Tell him I am faint with love.

The woman begs for the daughters of Jerusalem to help her find her lover. (I imagine a narrator, or audience, being brought into this play.)

Song of Songs 5:9, Why?

How is your beloved better than others,

 most beautiful of women? 

How is your beloved better than others, 

that you charge us so?

The narrators/spectators challenge the woman:  "Is he really worth it? Tell us about him."

Song of Songs 5:10-12, He is wonderful!

My lover is radiant and ruddy,

 outstanding among ten thousand.

His head is purest gold; 

his hair is wavy and black as a raven.

His eyes are like doves by the water streams, 

washed in milk, 

mounted like jewels.

In response to the request from the daughters of Jerusalem, the woman gushes forth with descriptions of her lover's beauty. He is "radiant" and "ruddy."  His head (face?) is pure gold, although like most Israelites, his hair is dark and wavy.  And, oh, his wonderful eyes...

This is an example of a wasf, says Alter, an ancient form of poetry where the loved one's physical beauty is described, beginning with his/her head and going down to the feet.

Song of Songs 5:13-16a, Sweetness itself

His cheeks are like beds of spice yielding perfume. 

His lips are like lilies dripping with myrrh.

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.

His mouth is sweetness itself; 

he is altogether lovely. 

The woman continues her praise, speaking of his cheeks and lips in sweet and fragrant terms. His arms are rock hard, as is all of his body. And yet, his mouth is the very essence of sweetness. Just as her lover has described her as perfect, she returns the description. The emotional infatuation of love is visible in the praise ushering from both of them.

Alter says there is a bit of a pun in the Hebrew word bachar, translated "choice" in verse 14. The word also often means "young man." So her bachar is bachar!

Song of Songs 5:16b, My lover, my friend

This is my lover, 

this my friend, 

O daughters of Jerusalem.

The woman's final statement to the daughters of Jerusalem is a statement of love and friendship. The implied question is "Does this satisfy you? Do you understand how wonderful he is?"

The poem continues into at least the first three verses of chapter 6, beginning with a response from the daughters of Jerusalem.

Songs of Songs 4, A Lover's Garden

Until now the woman has been showering her lover with praise, expressing her longing for him in various ways. In this chapter the man speaks up.

Song of Songs 4:1a, A beautiful woman

How beautiful you are, my darling!

Oh, how beautiful!

Your eyes behind your veil are doves.

Alter disagrees with the translation of lə·ṣam·mā·ṯêḵ as "veil" in verses 1 and 3 (and in 6:7.) He argues that the word could be translated "tresses" (of long hair.) The KJV agrees, translating that word as "locks" (of hair.) Alter argues that, as there are alternative meanings to the Hebrew word, a demure veil is not in keeping with the frank and intimate language of the passage. After all, the man mentions the woman's breasts in verse 5, so it is unlikely that she has been keeping her face covered.

Song of Songs 4:1b-3a, A flock of goats

Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead. 

Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, 

coming up from the washing. 

Each has its twin; not one of them is alone.  

Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon; 

your mouth is lovely.

Although modern readers find these metaphors strange, to the people of the ANE, they are strong images. If one look at flocks of black goats of Mount Gilead, one might think of his lover's long black tresses. The woman has a glorious smile, with teeth white and well-formed, not common in a culture long before the modern dentist. Even in the ANE, red lipstick was in fashion for women; archeologists have found make-up from ancient Persia that dates to 2000 BC. (See here.) Furthermore, not all metaphors are intended to give visual images; if I tell my wife, "You look like a million bucks," I am not comparing her to a stack of dollar bills. In the ANE, flocks of goats and flocks of sheep were signs of wealth.

Song of Songs 4:3b-4, A tower

Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate. 

Your neck is like the tower of David, built with elegance;

on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors.

The woman's face and neck are smooth and elegant, adorned with beautiful jewelry.

Song of Songs 4:5, Two breasts

Your two breasts are like two fawns, 

like twin fawns of a gazelle that browse among the lilies.  

And now, in a passage that is embarrassing to any who think Hugh Hefner invented sex, the man praises the woman's soft breasts, with tender images of gentle fawns. The Old Testament's approach to sexual attraction includes my favorite proverb, Proverbs 5:18-19.

Song of Songs 4:6-7, Mountain of myrrh

Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, 

I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of incense.

All beautiful you are, my darling;

there is no flaw in you.

After declaring that the woman's breasts are tender fawns, the man declares his intent to stay the night at the "mountain of myrrh and the hill of incense." Alter and Davidson disagree at the intent of this metaphor but both agree that the man's intent to stay the night with his lover is clear. Davidson thinks these are metaphors for the woman's breasts; Alter says the "mountain" is singular and may be a metaphor for the "mount of venus"; the author is probably deliberately vague, merely hinting at the arousal of the lovers.

The last verse provides an "envelope" (points out Alter) for the man's declaration of the woman's beauty. He begins and ends this passage with a simple statement of beauty.

Song of Songs 4:8, Come away with me

Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, 

come with me from Lebanon. 

Descend from the crest of Amana, 

from the top of Senir, 

the summit of Hermon,

 from the lions' dens 

and the mountain haunts of the leopards.  

The man calls the woman away, to go with him to foreign places. The places named in this passage are not completely clear. Does the man invite her to go to Lebanon or from Lebanon. Lebanon would be a far away wild and romantic place, and Mount Hermon is also far to the north, on the border of Lebanon and Syria. Apparently Senir is an Ammonite name for Hermon. Amana does not appear in the Old Testament and is presumably part of the Mount Hermon range. The lions' dens and haunts of the leopards also allude to wild mysterious places.

Song of Songs 4:9-10, You have stolen my heart!

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.

How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! 

How much more pleasing is your love than wine, 

and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice!  

With one glance of her eyes, with one jewel of her necklace, he is enraptured, says her lover. He rejoices in her love, declaring it better than wine, her perfume greater than any spice! These strong words of worship and love are addressed to "sister" and "bride." Most commentators agree that those words are also exaggerated, ANE terms of endearment. The couple may be promised to each other but sister simply means a dear female friend and bride would mean a lover. To read either incest or marriage into this couple is to ignore the poetry of the passage.

Song of Songs 4:11, Lips drip honey

Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride; 

milk and honey are under your tongue. 

The fragrance of your garments is like that of Lebanon.  

There is Hebrew alliteration in verse 11, nō·p̄eṯ tiṭ·ṭō·p̄ə·nāh śip̄·ṯō·ṯa·yiḵ (literally "as the honey drip your lips") and many English translations pass on the alliteration with "lips drip honey." A very similar line occurs in Proverbs 5:3 where it is the lips of the stranger that drip honey. Here the sweet taste of his lover's lip is extolled.

I recall, long ago when Jan and I were dating, that on a beautiful spring day in western Illinois, we went out to Spring Lake park. (We both enjoyed hikes in the outdoors.) There we rented a rowboat and rowed out into the center of Spring Lake... and suddenly discovered how wonderful it was to just sit in the boat, nuzzled against each other and kiss. And kiss. The sweetness of her lips is still vivid fifty years later. (We no longer can sit and kiss sweetly for an hour -- after all, we now have a verdant bed in a private home!)

Song of Songs 4:12-15, Locked garden

You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride; 

you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.

Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates 

with choice fruits, with henna and nard, 

nard and saffron, 

calamus and cinnamon, 

with every kind of incense tree, 

with myrrh and aloes and all the finest spices.  

You are a garden fountain, 

a well of flowing water streaming down from Lebanon.

The woman is described as a locked garden; her body a private place of hidden and reserved beauty. The man elegantly describes the perfumes and images of nature that she provides. The final verse describes her as a garden fountain, of bubbling fresh water. We may see this as a beautiful description but in the dry climate of Israel, the woman is being described as a wonderful oasis. May the man always find the woman as a safe oasis.

The adjective translated "incense" in verse 14 is lebonah, punning with Lebanon. It is often translated "frankincense."

Song of Songs 4:16, It is your garden

Awake, north wind, and come, south wind! 

Blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread abroad. 

Let my lover come into his garden 

and taste its choice fruits.

So far in this chapter, the man has voiced all the praise, describing the woman's body as a beautiful locked garden, with many wonderful scents and attrations. At the end of his praise, the woman responds. Yes, lover, come into your garden and taste! The invitation is clear; this is both beautiful and erotic.

This poem continues into the first verse of chapter 5, where the man accepts her invitation.

Song of Songs 3, Night Wandering; Solomon's Caravan

We continue the poetry of two young lovers. The woman continues to speak. This chapter may start a second or third poem in our poetry collection.

Song of Songs 3:13, Where is he?

All night long on my bed I looked for the one my heart loves; 

I looked for him but did not find him.  

I will get up now and go about the city, 

through its streets and squares; 

I will search for the one my heart loves. 

So I looked for him but did not find him.  

The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. 

"Have you seen the one my heart loves?"  

This poem (or portion of the poem) begins with the woman on her bed at night. For this reason, many suggest that this portion is a dream.  An alternative (suggests Alter) is that she is awake because her lover is not next to her. There is no explanation for why the two are separated? 

The watchmen seem to treat her well -- compare this with chapter 5 where they assume a woman walking in the city at night is a prostitute. (See Ruth 3:13-14 where Boaz prevents Ruth from returning home through the fields at night.) Her fair treatment by the watchmen supports the suggestion by some that she is dreaming.

Song of Songs 3:4, Where is he?

Scarcely had I passed them when I found the one my heart loves. 

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.

The woman apparently finds her lover shortly after speaking to the watchmen.  She clings to him and brings in to her mother's home. The room to which she brings her lover has very definite sexual implications -- she brings her lover into the very bedroom where her mother and father conceived her.

Song of Songs 3:5, Do not arouse love!

Daughters of Jerusalem,

 I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: 

Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.

Once again, as in verse 2:7, the woman tells the daughter of Jerusalem to not awaken love (or her lover) before its time. Alter suggests that this instruction, lying here as it does after she had taken her lover into her mother's bedroom, is a hint that there love is indeed awake.

Song of Songs 3:6-8, See Solomon!

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?  

Look! It is Solomon's carriage, 

escorted by sixty warriors, the noblest of Israel,  

all of them wearing the sword, 

all experienced in battle, 

each with his sword at his side, 

prepared for the terrors of the night.  

There is a sudden transition to our poem. Solomon appears!  Outside this passages, in the other references to Solomon (Song of Songs 1:1,5,  8:11,12), he is a distant figure and not involved with the two lovers. Here he is suddenly thrust into the story. Some has used this passage that the book is about a woman who is a concubine of Solomon who has a boyfriend whom she really loves. But I think it is easier to interpret this portion as a public event (possibly a royal wedding) which the two lovers watch. A modern version of this story might have two English lovebirds watching a procession approaching St. Paul's Cathedral for the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981.

Song of Songs 3:9-10a, A regal carriage

King Solomon made for himself the carriage; 

he made it of wood from Lebanon.  

Its posts he made of silver, its base of gold. 

Its seat was upholstered with purple, 

its interior lovingly inlaid by the daughters of Jerusalem.

The carriage of Solomon is rich and elegant, indeed extravagant, with the rarest wood and prescious metals. It seats use the very expensive purple colors and the interior is made by -- who else -- the mysterious daughters of Jerusalem!

Alter points out a twist in the treasures described here: expensive wood, silver, gold, ... then love.

One would wish that the many young English couples who watched  the wedding of Charles and Diana had long and loving marriages, unlike the royal pair. A reader recalling a wedding of Solomon and one of his many queens might be aware that those royal weddings were not happy; a young rural couple, who compare their love to flowers and wild animals, certainly have a better chance. My lover and I, like my parents before me, lived in married student housing at a university, pinching pennies and struggling to make ends meet. Looking back through rose-colored glasses, I would not have it any other way.

Song of Songs 3:10b-11, See Solomon!

Come out, you daughters of Zion, 

and look at King Solomon wearing the crown,

 the crown with which his mother crowned him 

on the day of his wedding, 

the day his heart rejoiced.

This address to the daughters of Jerusalem is different than the previous ones. I see the young woman waving her friends over, to take a look at the glorious king in his parade.  Davidson (p. 123) speaks to the impressions such a wedding might have made on a young Israelite peasant couple, looking towards their own wedding. It was not just kings and queens that wore crowns at  weddings. "There is indeed references from some rabbinic sources which suggest that ... the [peasant] bride and groom both wore crowns at Jewish weddings."

Both Alter and Davidson link this royal wedding image to Psalm 45, a psalm which does indeed describe a wedding of the king.

Song of Songs 2, Love Blossoms Like Spring

We continue a dialogue of praise between the two lovers.

Song of Songs 2:1, Woman, a rose

I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.

The woman confidently tells her lover that she is a pretty woman, like a rose.

Song of Songs 2:2, A lily among thorns

Like a lily among thorns is my darling among the maidens.

The man agrees. Indeed, in comparison with the other young women, she stands out as a lily among the thorns. 

Davidson suggests that the first poem, begun in chapter 1, ends here. If so, we have a second short poem of declarations by the woman. (I think it is reasonable to see one poem running from 1:2 through 2:7, below.)

Song of Songs 2:3-4, The king's banqueting table

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.  

He has taken me to the banquet hall, and his banner over me is love.

The woman expresses her delight for her lover. He is a king who takes her into his banquet hall and declares his love for her. As the term "king" was one of endearment, the banquet hall is a metaphor, a special place of ("shade") of safety and security where she receives the attention of her lover and he looks after her.

The Hebrew word tappuach, tranlated "apple" here is unclear. It is alternately translated as "apricot" or "quince", a fruit more common to the ancient near east. Davidson suggests that the word stands for some citrus fruit; Alter prefers "quince", claiming that the hard fruit was often used in the Mediterranean culture to perfume bedsheets. 

Song of Songs 2:5, Faint with love

Strengthen me with raisins, 

refresh me with apples, 

for I am faint with love.  

In the banquet hall of love, the woman is faint, overwhelmed, dizzy with love. She begs for small treats to refresh her.

Song of Songs 2:6, Left hand under my hand

His left arm is under my head, 

and his right arm embraces me.

The man, right handed, puts his left hand under her head and caresses her with his right. (Jan and I are both left-handed, so our embraces are a mirror reflection of this.) This verse appears again in 8:3.

Song of Songs 2:7. Do not arouse love!

Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: 

Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.

Both here, and in chapter 8, the statement about their embrace is followed by the same instruction to the Daughters of Jerusalem.  This seems to end a poem with a summary statement. Either the woman says "Do not arouse Love", because it is so powerful, so overwhelming, or she is saying, "Now that my lover has fallen asleep, do not awake him."

Throughout this book love and joy is associated with scenes from wild nature. Here the woman recalls the gazelles and does in her admonition to the Daughters. 

Song of Songs 2:8-9, My lover is a young stag, racing my way

Listen! My lover! Look! 

Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, 

bounding over the hills.  

My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. 

Look! 

There he stands behind our wall, 

gazing through the windows, 

peering through the lattice.

In what is possibly a new poem, the woman is excited by the eager approach of her lover. Davidson suggests that this passage describes the woman's dream.

Song of Songs 2:10-13a, Our spring is here

My lover spoke and said to me, 

"Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me.  

See! 

The winter is past; 

the rains are over and gone.  

Flowers appear on the earth; 

the season of singing has come, 

the cooing of doves is heard in our land.  

The fig tree forms its early fruit;

the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. 

Spring is universally a sign of romantic love for humans, as the deer and sheep lay fawns and lambs and the plants bloom and reproduce. The two lovers are "blooming" in the same way, with strong desire for each other. For those who wished to make this poem allegorical, spring was also the time of Passover, celebrating YHWH's embrace of Israel.

Song of Songs 2:13b, Come away!

Arise, come, my darling;

 my beautiful one, 

come with me."

The man calls his sweetheart to come away with him; he seeks a private place with her alone.

Song of Songs 2:14-15, Show yourself!

My dove in the clefts of the rock, 

in the hiding places on the mountainside, 

show me your face, let me hear your voice;

 for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.

The man describes his lover as a coy dove, hiding, flitting among the rocks. Is she flirting with him, hiding from him after his call to her? As he looks for her, he wants to hear her voice, see her face.

Song of Songs 2:15, Annoying foxes

Catch for us the foxes, 

the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, 

our vineyards that are in bloom.

The foxes are annoying pests that harm the vineyards. But the couple, in love, have "vineyards in bloom", and they do not want pests to destroy there love. (There is considerable debate as to the meaning of these fox pests.)

Song of Songs 2:16-17, My lover browses

My lover is mine and I am his; 

he browses among the lilies.  

Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, 

turn, my lover, and be like a gazelle 

or like a young stag on the rugged hills.

The woman enjoys the tight bond of love that wraps the two in their commitment to each other. The chapter began with the woman describing herself as a lily of the valleys and later describing her lover as an energetic young stag. The outer/inner, poetic play with nature suggests that her lover "browses" her body, enjoying the "lilies" (her lips?) until dawn, when he hurries away with the energy of a gazelle or a stag. If one follows the body/nature metaphors it is possible (says Alter) to imagine the stag at home on the "rugged hills", the woman's breasts. If that if interpretation seems fanciful, the metaphor will become more explicit in chapters 4 and 7.

"Lover, Take Me Away," An Introduction to the Song of Songs

The Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon) is a beautiful collection of love poems, describing a man and a woman seeking to get away together, into a garden of their own. (I first led a Bible Study on this book in January 2001 at Mt. Pleasant Community Church in Mt. Pleasant, MI, USA.)

This book is, at times, mildly erotic, with hints of sexual contact. It promotes the beauty of sexual commitment and love. The honest conversation between the man and woman, as they express their desire for each other, has led both Jews and Christians to view this book as an allegory of love between God and His people. Sadly, this has, at times, replaced the beautiful raw desire of the two lovers for each other.

The commentators I read object to this diversion. Davidson, p.95, writes 

"To treat such language as an allegory of God and Israel, or of Christ and the Church, is to rob it of its poetry and passion." 

He adds (p. 96)

"[I]t is always a dangerous game to give an allegorical interpreyation to something that is not intended as an allegory." 

The attitude I saw in churches as a college student in the 1970s tended to suggest that sex was bad, invented by Hugh Hefner and that one should feel guilty for sexual thoughts. This has done a disservice both to dating and married Christians. The church pendulum seems to vibrate back and forth between fear of the power of sex and attempts to push it aside. Davidson would agree (p. 99): 

"The distinction that we tend to make between the sacred and the secular, the religious and the non-religious, would have been quite meaningless to the wise men of Israel."

and (p.119):

"[I]t is sad to destroy such a delightful poem in the interests of such false and forced interpretations of scripture. Does our faith really need this kind of support?"

But since God created human sexuality, it should be Christians who are open and transparent about the beauty of sex and the strength of sexual desire!

Unlike the attitude of the ancient Near East (ANE), the emphasis in this book is not on sex and fertility, on the importance of the couple (possibly in an arranged marriage) producing children, but is on intimacy (including private sexual intimacy.) The poem promotes the friendship and mutual worship of the couple, as they make vows to each other. Their bonding is not arranged by parents (as was customary in the ANE) but is indeed true romantic (and ultimately erotic) love. This break from the ANE culture is really quite remarkable.

Throughout the book there is play between an outer (literal) world of nature and an inner, metaphorical world, where the the body is described in nature images. The most explicit example occurs in Songs of Songs 7:7-9, where the man tells his lover,

Your stature is like that of the palm, and your breasts like clusters of fruit.  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 and your mouth like the best wine.

There are many other places where these allusions occur, gentle hints of sexual arousal without being as explicit.

Throughout these poems, the lovers appear to be common people. She is tanned from working in the sun; he is described as a shepherd. Yet they playfully describe each other as royalty, happy with their own banquets of love.

The book does not state that the couple are married. Indeed, there are suggestions that the couple slip away to meet in secret and at one point the girl looks forward to the day their relationship can be made public. At one point the man addresses his lover as "my sister, my bride", but (as Davidson points out), neither "sister" nor "bride" comes across as literal. She is his "sister" (ie., close companion) and "bride" (committed lover) but both are terms of endearment.

Resources and References

My practice is to read through the text from the New International Version (NIV), copied into the blog and italicized in blue.  At the head of each blue paragraph of text I place a short title; after the text I place my thoughts or comments in black.  I begin this process with my own reactions and thoughts and then supplement these comments with gleanings from a commentary or two.

The real goal of this blog is to force me to read every verse thoughtfully. I hope that you, too, read the passages thoughtfully!   Feel free to disagree -- or to react in other ways! (I place hyperlinks in pink, created so that one can click on a link and see the linked site open in another window... and go down a rabbit hole if you wish!)

My main sources are Robert Davidson (Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon, The Daily Bible Study Series, published by Westminster John Knox Press, 1986 and Robert Alter's translation in Strong as Death is Love, The Song of Songs, Ruth, Esther, Jonah, and Daniel, A Translation with Commentary, W. W. Norton & Co., 2016.

In 2024 I acquired Song of Songs and Lamentations, Volume 23B (Word Biblical Commentary) by Duane Garrett and Dr. Paul R. House and will look more carefully at the commentary by Garrett at a future date.

There are other resources online.

• Amongst the online commentaries provided by EasyEnglishBible, is an online commentary on the Song. (The Easy English Bible commentaries are easy to read, with deliberately simple language intended for those for whom English is a second language. The Old Testament text is included in the commentary.) 
• The Gospel Coalition now has a set of online commentaries. Here is their commentary on the Song of Songs.
• I highly recommend the Bible Project video on Song of Songs. This is part of a larger guide to the book.

Motivation

To quote Davidson (p. 157):

"The book is... from beginning to end, a liberating celebration of human sexuality as something which is good and holy, something not merely functional, but to be enjoyed, something not merely casual, but totally self-giving and demanding, something thas makes of two people 'one flesh' (Gen. 2:24) and joins them together in a relations which colours all that they do and are."

 

Are you ready for some beautiful love poetry, poetry that is almost three thousand years old? Let's dive in to this greatest Song of Songs.