Song 3 - The Bridegroom’s Call (Song of Solomon 2:8-17)Waiting for response for Song of Solomon 2:8-17
Bride
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,
Bridegroom
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.
Bride
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.
In 2:1 the Bride goes on, again in the spirit of humility, to describe herself as common-place – a “rose of Sharon... the lily of the valleys”, both of which are frequently encountered in the Holy Land and surrounding area. However, the Bridegroom responds to this modesty by marking her out in verse 2 as “the lily among thorns”. In other words, she is distinct, she does stand out and she can be differentiated. It is down to each of us to consider whether such can be said of us, or are we just as those around us, are we common-place?
Before we conclude our consideration of Solomon’s second song we would also like to draw together another important strand that it develops, namely the Bridegroom’s role as protector. This is illustrated (with its various aspects) below:
1:16
“our bed is green”
A place of resting (YLT: “couch”; NET: “canopied bed”) cp. “booths” in feast of tabernacles (Nehemiah 8:14-17)Waiting for response for Nehemiah 8:14-17
1:17
“beams… are cedar” “rafters of fir”
A strong / secure house = the spiritual house / ecclesia (see 1 Peter 2:5Waiting for response for 1 Peter 2:5 & Ephesians 2:20-22)Waiting for response for Ephesians 2:20-22
2:3
“sat down under his shadow”
A comforting shade, away from burning sun i.e. trial (note: 1:5 cp. Revelation 7:16)Waiting for response for Revelation 7:16
2:3-5
“fruit… sweet to my taste” “banqueting house” “stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples”
Sustenance provided through sweet fruit (“apples” = YLT: “citrons”) and “flagons” (NET: “raisin cakes”) in “banqueting house” (Heb. ‘house of wine’)
2:4
“banner… was love”
A banner (or ‘standard’, same Hebrew word as in Numbers 2 / 10) of love
2:6
“left hand… under my head” “right hand… embrace me”
Supportive / caring hands hold up the head and embrace the body
Once again, we cannot but be comforted by these words, which demonstrate how our beloved takes complete care of us; and surely the (we pray imminent) prospect of being physically together on this earth only strengthens this feeling of gratefulness.
The second song then concludes (2:4) by speaking of the “banqueting house” (that is, ‘a house of wine’) and the “banner”, which is customarily found at Eastern weddings. Quite literally, says the Bride, she is “sick of love”; or as this is better rendered in the New English Translation and New Revised Standard Version: “I am faint with love”.
This is the effect that the love of our Bridegroom should have on us; we should have butterflies in our stomachs, we should go weak at our knees and our heads should be spinning. After all, think of all that our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us – out of the profoundest love he died for us. How can we every possibly repay such an enormous debt (as is powerfully portrayed in Jesus’s parable of the unforgiving servant, Matthew 18:23-35)?Waiting for response for Matthew 18:23-35
The third song opens by describing the Bridegroom as “a roe or a young hart”. (Note: these two animals also appear together in Song of Solomon 2:17Waiting for response for Song of Solomon 2:17 and Song of Solomon 8:14Waiting for response for Song of Solomon 8:14 and in the New International Version, New King James Version and New English Translation are translated “gazelle or a young stag”).
These two creatures, we will remember, were both classified as clean animals in the law (Deuteronomy 14:5).Waiting for response for Deuteronomy 14:5 Additionally, they are both marked out by being fleet and sure of foot, alongside being characterised by grace, beauty and gentleness. The spiritual lesson for our individual walks is clear, so that we might be more like our beloved.
Verse 9 then describes a gradual revelation of the Bridegroom to the Bride; he goes from being “behind our wall” to “shewing himself through the lattice”, with the latter state still being partly obscured. So it is for us presently, we see an outline, but do not yet enjoy the actual presence of our Lord and Master.
Verses 10-13, which switch to the words of the Bridegroom, immediately evoke the language of resurrection and revival – “rise up... the winter is past... flowers appear... arise”. This is the wonderful hope that we each hold. Indeed, the exhortation to the Bride is made even stronger by the description of her as a “dove” in verse 14. Interestingly the dove appears 31 times in scripture, 6 of which are in the Song of Songs. As with the roe and young hart, the dove is a clean animal in the law (Leviticus 5:7,Waiting for response for Leviticus 5:7 “pigeon” = dove).
This bird is particularly notable for a number of reasons – firstly, it is a symbol of purity and innocence (e.g. Psalm 55:6-8);Waiting for response for Psalm 55:6-8 secondly, and of real significance in the context of the Song of Songs, it is known for having a single mate for life. Thinking about the Bridegroom there is only one help meet (or suitable) for him and that is the Bride, just as with the original Eden pairing of Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:18,20).Waiting for response for Genesis 2:18,20
The picture of the innocent dove is a marked contrast to the foxes that spoil Israel’s vine (v.15),Waiting for response for Song Of Solomon 2:15 a symbol associated in Ezekiel 13:4Waiting for response for Ezekiel 13:4 with false prophets.
“My beloved is mine, and I am his” (v.16)Waiting for response for Song Of Solomon 2:16 is a fitting reminder that the Bridegroom’s absence, during their betrothal period, has only made the Bride’s heart grow fonder (rather, we might say, than going yonder). Further evidence of this utter devotion, as soul mates, is provided in passages such as Song of Solomon 3:1-2;Waiting for response for Song of Solomon 3:1-2 Song of Solomon 5:2,4-6.Waiting for response for Song of Solomon 5:2,4-6
Finally, the third song speaks again of the longed-for new beginning for which we, even now, wait. Verse 17 evocatively describes “Until the day break, and the shadows flee away...” The word “break” in the original Hebrew literally means ‘breathes’ and describes the breathing into life of a new day. The New English Translation translates this as “Until the dawn arrives...”. How much we long for this time when there will be no more shadows, just the reality of a fresh beginning!
However, even this verse also draws our minds back to the way in which all of this has been made possible. After all, there is the mention of “the mountains of Bether” and bether, Strong’s Lexicon tells us, means ‘section’, ‘part’ or ‘piece’. This is not a literal mountain (like Carmel or Sinai), but as we are informed by various commentators, it denotes the dividing of an animal for ‘cutting a covenant’.
In fact, the only other appearances of this original word are both in this context (see Genesis 15:10Waiting for response for Genesis 15:10 and Jeremiah 34:18-19).Waiting for response for Jeremiah 34:18-19 Without the new covenant in the Bridegroom’s blood, the Bride would be without hope, she (we) would be lost. As the prospective Bride we should never forget this. Rather, may we always think of love – firstly the love shown to us by our beloved one (and his father) and secondly our individual duty to return that love in our daily obedient service.
Song 2 - The Bride in his garden retreat (Song of Solomon 1:9-17Waiting for response for Song of Solomon 1:9-17 to Song of Solomon 2:1-7)Waiting for response for Song of Solomon 2:1-7
Bride
Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green. The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir. I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
Bridegroom
As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
Bride
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.