“Behold, thou art fair, my beloved!” The maiden loved and respected the character of her beloved yet she was also attracted to his appearance. This was no doubt because the beloved was and made himself handsome; but also because she saw him through a woman's eyes of love, which undeniably make a man better looking.
“The beams of our houses are cedar, and our rafters of fir.” The image is as if they are on a walk in the country, and the use the plants and scenes around them as pictures of their love and relationship.
Christian brothers and sisters, if your beloved is a gift from God, please treat him or her that way!
-God bless!
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Song of Solomon 2 King James Version (KJV) "MY BELOVED IS MINE AND I AM HIS"
“I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me. I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please. The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice. My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes. My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies. Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.
-Solomon 2 (KJV)
“I am the rose of Sharon.” Her view of herself has remarkably changed. In the first visits at the palace, she was self-conscious and unsure of her appearance and worth. Now she says, "I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys."
This is a line that commonly is attributed to the beloved, and then allegorically applied to Jesus Christ. Therefore, "Rose of Sharon" or "Lily of the Valley" is in many writings, songs, and minds a poetic title for Jesus Christ, reflecting His great beauty and glory.
Spurgeon was one who took this mistaken approach to the text, and considered the idea of Jesus proclaiming His own beauty and greatness to us: "If a man praises his wares, it is that he may sell them. If a doctor advertises his cures, it is that other sick folk may be induced to try his medicine; and when our Lord Jesus Christ praises himself, it is a kind of holy advertisement by which he would tempt us to 'come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.' If he praises himself, it is that we may fall in love with him; and we need not be afraid to come and lay our poor hearts at his feet, and ask him to accept us." We might say that this is a wonderful point made from a misapplied text.
“The rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys:.”She describes herself not as two flowers; yet they are two fairly commonplace wildflowers. She regarded herself as a flower (definitely having beauty), but as rather plain flowers (not remarkable compared to others).
“The rose of Sharon” describes not a proper rose, but a flower found in the Sharon, the low coastal plain stretching south from Mount Carmel in the northern part of Israel. Some think it refers to the bulb-like fruit produced by a rose bush, the rose hips. Yet according to Carr, "The general consensus is that the plant described here is one of the bulb family. Crocus, narcissus, iris, daffodil are the usual candidates."
According to biblical scholars, Sharon was a very fruitful place, where David's cattle were fed. It is also mentioned as a place of excellence, and as a place of flocks, as we see in the following scripture:
“It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God.”
-Isaiah 35:2 (KJV)
“And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me.”
-Isaiah 65:10 (KJV)
"The lily of the valleys is not our common white, bell-shaped plant of that name. Some commentators argue for a red or reddish-purple colour for the flower, but no identification is certain."
-T. Carr
"Thus the Bride's description of herself was really self-depreciatory, rather than otherwise. It was as if she saw that there was nothing in her beauty extraordinary or out of the common."
-K. Morgan
“As the lily.” The beloved heard the maiden's almost confident self-description, and responded with affirmation. Perhaps she said it with a touch of doubt, and he erased any doubt with his response.
“Whatever the maiden might feel, he had no doubt about her beauty.To the man, the wonder of his beloved is ever that she is full of beauty."
-K. Morgan
“As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.” The beloved added that the maiden was not only beautiful, but that she was also among those who didn't appreciate (or match) her beauty. The beloved gave his maiden a precious gift: the gift of feeling preferred. In his estimation, she was the flower and the other girls were just thorns.
"She is a lily indeed, but her beauty far surpasses the thorny weeds all around her." -T. Carr
"The bridegroom had just before called her fair; she with a becoming modesty, represents her beauty as nothing extraordinary, and compares herself to a common flower of the field. This, in the warmth of his affection, he denies, insisting that she as much surpasses all other maidens as the flower of the lily does the bramble."
-A.C. Clarke
“As the apple tree among the trees of the wood.” The language of trees and plants continues, now with the maiden describing her beloved as being like a large, healthy, life-giving apple tree.
"A humble wildflower herself, she recognizes her Bridegroom as a noble tree, alike ornamental and fruitful."
-T. Taylor
Yet it is unlikely that Solomon had what we know as an apple tree in mind.
"By the apple tree would probably be intended by the oriental writer either the citron, or the pomegranate, or the orange. I suppose he did not refer to the apple tree of our gardens, for it would scarcely be known to him."
-C.S. Spurgeon
We sense the couple is busy complimenting each other. "I'm a simple wildflower." "No, you are a wildflower among the thorns." "You are like a beautiful apple tree" and so on.
“I sat down under his shadow with great delight.” The maiden found a great sense of security and peace under the protective covering of her beloved. She felt sheltered and shaded; that she was no longer at the mercy of others, but now under his care.
Her feeling of security is direction connected to his openly proclaimed preference of her in the previous verse. She is not at the mercy of a man who might choose another woman at the slightest whim; she can feel secure in the love of a man who genuinely prefers her.
"Whereas before she came to him she worked long hours in the sun, now she rests under the protective shade that he brings. And although formerly she was so exhausted by her work she could not properly care for herself, now she finds time for refreshment with him."
-R. Glickman
"Straightway she sat down under its shadow, with great delight, and its fruit was sweet unto her taste. She looked up at it; that was the first thing she did, and she perceived that it met her double want. The sun was hot, there was the shadow: she was faint, there was the fruit. Now, see how Jesus meets all the wants of all who come to him."
-C.S. Spurgeon
“He brought me to the banqueting house.” The maiden dreamily thinks of her beloved bringing her to a special place, the banqueting house. It seems to be a secluded, outdoorsy place where the maiden and her beloved can be together and eventually intimate.
“The frequent use of the outdoor motifs in the Song, particularly of the garden as a place for the lover's rendezvous, suggests that the vineyard itself is what is intended here."
-T. Carr
“His banner over me was love:” Taken more literally, this is a strange statement. Taken more poetically, the maiden rejoices that her beloved and publicly and openly proclaimed his love for her, as if he had set up a banner or flag to say it.
"She is proclaiming that the love which the king has for her is evident to everyone. He does not say one thing to her in private and contradict that in public. He is not ashamed of his love for her, so he is glad for all to see it."
-R. Glickman
" 'His banner over me was love' suggests that the hoisting of this banner by her focuses the whole attention on love. It is a love relationship."
-T. Nee
"He is not ashamed to acknowledge her publicly. The house of wine is now as appropriate as the King's chambers were. Fearlessly and without shame she can sit as His side, His acknowledged spouse, the bride of His choice."
-T. Taylor
“Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples.” She thinks of them eating together in their outdoor rendezvous. Some commentators associate these foods with pagan fertility rites or aphrodisiac qualities, but this seems unwarranted and unnecessary.
“For I am sick of love.” The maiden described a feeling familiar to many who have known the thrill of romantic love. She feels physically weak and perhaps even somewhat disoriented because of the strength of attraction and infatuation she has towards her beloved.
According to Dr. Jeffrey Schloss, there is a brain hormone that mediates the feeling of being in love or infatuation. One of these neurotransmitters is known as phenethylamine, and it floods our brain when we fall in love (it is also in fairly high quantities in chocolate). This chemical gives us feelings of exhilaration and thrill and well-being, and in high amounts can lead to a loss of appetite. This chemical works somewhat in a cycle, at least in a relationship. At the beginning of the relationship it spikes up; after four or five years it begins to decline. Across cultures there is spike in the rate of divorce at about 4.5 years of marriage.
This leads some scientists to say that we are made for monogamy, but only in the sense of one partner at a time, and then changing partners every five years or so. Yet Dr. Schloss says that we know this is not true. In the brain there are completely different pathways, with completely different chemical mediators. These begin to form at about the four-year point in a relationship, and they contribute to different feelings. Instead of feelings of thrill and "I can't eat," they are feelings of deep contentment and gratitude. One of the chemicals that mediates these feeling is oxytocin, which is the same chemical related to the bonding of a mother together with her infant.
Some suggest that relationships have two major phases: attraction and attachment. The attraction phase is powerful, and the kind of condition that makes one say, "I am lovesick." Yet the key to a long-term fulfilling relationship is staying with it past the attraction phase into the attachment phase. There are some counselors who devote almost their entire counseling practice trying to help what they call "love junkies"; people who are so addicted to the phenethylamine phase that they bounce from relationship rush to relationship rush without ever really coming into a greater, longer lasting relationship fulfillment.
One could say that we are engineered for the longer lasting attachment phase, and the attraction phase is meant to be a portal into the attachment phase, and not something unto itself. The good news is that as a relationship moves into the attachment phase, the attraction phase recycles, and long-married couples often experience the sense of falling in love all over again - several times through their marriage.
This is why it is sometimes, or often, unwise to rush ahead in a relationship when it is still in the "I am lovesick," attraction and phenethylamine phase. Adam Clarke observed of the lovesick person: "But while we admit such a person's sincerity, who can help questioning his judgment?"
Watchman Nee applied this idea to the believer's relationship with God: " 'Sick with love' is lovesickness, and is the equivalent of being exhausted with happiness. Such was the experience of the saints of all ages when they came into a full realization of the Lord's special presence."
“His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.” The maiden imagines herself and her beloved lying together and her beloved touching her with “his right hand” (perhaps intimately).
"The position of the left hand under her head would suggest that the two are lying down and that with the right hand he is enfolding and caressing her."
-T. Carr
“I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem.” This exhortation to the “daughters of Jerusalem” is another reminder that this section of Song of Solomon is to be understood as a dream or daydream of the maiden. We are not to imagine the couple together in the intimacy described in the previous lines with the “daughters of Jerusalem” standing around and taking note.
Yet here in her dream-like state, the maiden speaks to these imagined on looking “daughters of Jerusalem” and pleads with them, “I charge you,” vowing, or perhaps swearing, “by the roes, and by the hinds of the field.” This poetic phrasing surely sounded more natural and meaningful to the first readers of the Song of Solomon than it does to us.
"The adjuration which she used is a choice specimen of oriental poetry: she charges them, not as we should prosaically do, by everything that is sacred and true, but 'by the roes, and by the hinds of the field.'"
-C.S. Spurgeon
“That ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.” There are two meanings to the phrase in general. It could be, "Don't interrupt the sweet dream of love the maiden enjoys, drawing her back to the reality of daily life." Or it could be, "Don't start the process of loving exchange until the opportunity and appropriate occasion is present; don't start something unless we can complete it."
The idea is both plain and powerful. The maiden wants none of the onlookers to hinder or interrupt their love until it is fulfilled and consummated. We may say this is true both in the sense of their relationship and in the sense of their passion.
In terms of relationship it means, "Let our love progress and grow until it is matured and fruitful, making a genuinely pleasing relationship. Don't let us go too fast."
"From her wish, an excellent principle can be drawn for courtship. A strong desire to express love physically should be present, but not until marriage should it be fulfilled. This restraint is healthy and beneficial to the couple."
-R. Glickman
It is like letting a flower grow until it naturally blooms, instead of trying to force a flower to grow and blossom. This isn't repression, the rejection and denial of the feelings, often in shame; this is suppression, the conscious restraint of natural impulses and desires.
In terms of passion it means, "Let our love making continue without interruption until we are both fulfilled. Don't let us start until we can go all the way."
“The voice of my beloved!” Here the maiden moved to another scene in her dream or daydream. Before she imagined herself and her beloved at an outdoor rendezvous. Now she imagines a visit from her beloved, beginning with the idea that she is awakened or alerted by the sound of his voice.
“Behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains.” The maiden imagined her beloved bounding to come meet her, full of energy and excitement, as if he were “a roe or a young hart.”
“Behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows.” The maiden imagined her beloved peering through the windows to see if his maiden was home.
"He was seen first behind the wall, and then in the court; and lastly came to the window of his bride's chamber."
-A.C. Clarke
“Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.” The maiden thought of her beloved inviting her out to enjoy the glory of spring, with the “rain … over and gone” and beautiful flowers and birds singing.
"The season of spring reflects the experience of the young lovers. Everything is fresh; new life flows through the world; happiness and color triumph over winter's boring grays. Whenever any couple falls in love, it is spring for them."
-R. Glickman
“‘Voice of the turtle.” The turtledove is primarily a migratory spring/summer resident of Palestine whose distinctive cooing call is one of the signs of spring."
-T. Carr
The fig tree putteth forth her green figs”
"The fig tree in Judea bears double crops; the first of which is ripe in spring. But the tree, as I have elsewhere observed, bears figs all the year through, in the climes congenial to it. That is, the fig tree has always ripe or unripe fruit on it. I never saw a healthy tree naked."
-A.C. Clark
“Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.” The maiden dreamt of her beloved insisting that they enjoy the beauty of spring together. It was important for her to know that he really wanted to do this with her and did not do it reluctantly, as if he were simply willing to make himself miserable if it could please her. It was important for her to know that he really did simply want to be with her.
“O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance.” The maiden imagined these sweet, impassioned words from her beloved (though it is also possible that she expressed them towards him). She dreamt that her special man would seek her out, “in the secret places,” and would embrace her as someone lovely and beautiful.
“Let me see thy countenance.”
"He wants to feast his eyes on the loveliness of her whole person, and fill his ears with the pleasing sweetness of her voice."
-T. Carr
“For sweet is thy voice.” The maiden considered how sweet and meaningful the sound of one's voice is between two lovers. She imagined her beloved longing to hear her voice, and remembering how sweet the sound of it is.
The human voice has the amazing ability to communicate and connect.
"The voice can invite or discourage intimacy, without ever having to be verbally explicit, or even conscious of what it is doing. We use our voices to repel and attract, encourage or undermine. As animals with smell, so are humans with voices."
-Anne Karpf, The Human Voice
Just hearing a human voice can give us information about a person's height, weight, shape, sex, age, occupation, sexual orientation, health, sobriety, tiredness, social class, race, education, financial status, and truthfulness. With all this power wrapped up in the voice, no wonder the maiden imagined her beloved saying to her, “For sweet is thy voice.”
“Take us the foxes.” It is somewhat difficult to understand who says these words, but many believe these words come from the maiden herself and are spoken to her beloved. The plural nature of the statement is clear; the idea is that the foxes will be caught together with another person (the brothers or the beloved), and not by one person working alone.
"This verse is a problem. The verb form is imperative, masculine plural, but there is no indication whether the speaker is male or female. All that is clear is that 'for us' is plural." -T. Carr
“The little foxes that spoil the vines.” Clearly the maiden speaks poetically here, using the little foxes as emblems of that which would damage the love relationship she shares with her beloved. The idea is that their relationship is like a fruitful vineyard and the “little foxes” will damage the vineyard unless they are stopped and caught.
i. Glickman lists several "little foxes" that may trouble couples:
- Uncontrolled desire that drives a wedge of guilt and mistrust between the couple.
- Mistrust and jealousy that strains or breaks the bond of love.
- Selfishness and pride that refuses to acknowledge wrong and fault to one another.
- An unforgiving attitude that will not accept an apology.
It is helpful to remember the wording of the verse; “take us the foxes.” The job of catching foxes is teamwork. One partner in the relationship can't expect the other do it all.
Hudson Taylor thought of the "little foxes" that may ruin our relationship with Jesus Christ. "The enemies may be small, but the mischief done great … And how numerous the little foxes are! Little compromises with the world; disobedience to the still small voice in little things; little indulgences of the flesh to the neglect of duty; little strokes of policy; doing evil in little things that good may come; and the beauty, and the fruitfulness of the vine are sacrificed!"
“For our vines have tender grapes.” The maiden's idea is that their relationship is both specially precious (tender grapes are best) and vulnerable, needing protection (tender grapes need to be guarded).
"The appeal is made here to outsiders to prevent 'the foxes,' those forces that could destroy the purity of their love, from defiling their vineyards, which are blossoming. So they plead for protection for the love that blossoms between them that nothing will spoil it."
-J. Kinlaw
Thinking allegorically, Spurgeon considered aspects in the life of the believer that were like tender grapes that were in danger of being spoiled by the little foxes. He considered these to be tender grapes in the life of the believer:
- A secret mourning for sin.
- A humble faith in Jesus Christ.
- A genuine change of life.
- A life of secret devotion.
- An eager desire for more grace.
- A simple love to Jesus.
"If you have any sign of spiritual life, if you have any tender grapes upon your branches, the devil and his foxes will be sure to be at you; therefore, endeavor to get as close as ever you can to two persons who are mentioned hard by my text, namely, the King and his spouse. First, keep close to Christ for this is your life; and next, keep close to his Church, for this is your comfort."
-C.S. Spurgeon)
“My beloved is mine, and I am his.” The maiden concludes this dreamy section confident in the bond that joins her and her beloved. He belongs to her, and she belongs to him. In this sense they are one, joined together with mutual bonds of affection, and not one partner clinging to another more reluctant partner.
It is also a statement of exclusivity and preference. They are not saying, "My beloved is mine, and I belong to him and a few other guys," nor "I am my beloved's and he is mine and he also belongs to 999 other women."
Many people think the key to love is finding the perfect person; it is more a matter of finding the person who belongs to you, and you belong to them.
"You don't look at the other person as a status symbol who will raise your prestige … you look at that one as your counterpart, the one who completes you, the one with whom you can joyfully affirm your belongingness."
-R. Glickman
These lines have been repeatedly allegorically applied to the relationship between Jesus and His people. Charles Spurgeon preached eight sermons on the final two verses of Song of Solomon, and in one of them titled The Interest of Christ and His People in Each Other, he meditated on the meaning of each aspect.
Ways that I belong to Jesus; ways that "I am my beloved's":
- I am His by the gift of His Father.
- I am His by purchase, paid for by His own life.
- I am His by conquest, He fought for me and won me.
- I am His by surrender, because I gave myself to Him.
"Blessed be God, this is true evermore - 'I am his,' his to-day, in the house of worship, and his to-morrow in the house of business; his as a singer in the sanctuary, and his as a toiler in the workshop; his when I am preaching, and equally his when I am walking the streets; his while I live, his when I die; his when my soul ascends and my body lies mouldering in the grave; the whole personality of my manhood is altogether his for ever and for ever."
-C.S. Spurgeon
Ways that Jesus belongs to me; ways that "He is mine":
- He is mine by connection in the same body; He is the head and I am part of His body.
- He is mine by affectionate relationship; He has given me His love.
- He is mine by the connection of birth; I am born again of Him.
- He is mine by choice; He gave Himself for me.
- He is mine by indwelling; He has decided to live inside me.
- He is mine personally, He is mine eternally.
"It certainly does seem a great thing to call him mine; to think that he should ever be mine, and that all he is, and all he has, and all he says, and all he does, and all he ever will be, is all mine. When a wife takes a husband to be hers, he becomes all hers, and she reckons that she has no divided possession in him; and it certainly is so with thee, dear heart, if Christ be thine."
-C.S. Spurgeon)
"Which is the greater miracle; that He should be mine, or that I should be His?"
-C.S. Spurgeon
“Turn, my beloved and be thou like a roe or a young hart.”The maiden dreamt of her beloved full of energy and virility, “like a roe or a young hart.”
"The spouse speaks of 'mountains' dividing her from her Beloved: she means that the difficulties were great. They were not little hills, but mountains, that closed up her way … It is plain, from this sacred Canticle, that the spouse may love and be loved, may be confident in her Lord, and be fully assured of her possession of him, and yet, there may for the present be mountains between her and him."
-C.S. Spurgeon
Christian brother or sister, what mountain keeps you from fully embracing the love of Our Lord and Savior?
Get mountain moving!
-God bless!
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