Song 11 – They speak of their unquenchable love (Song of Solomon 8:5-7)Waiting for response for Song of Solomon 8:5-7
Virgins
Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?
Bridegroom
I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee.
Bride
Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.
Bridegroom
Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.
Song 12 – The fruit of the marriage (Song of Solomon 8:8-14)Waiting for response for Song of Solomon 8:8-14
Bride
We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?
Bridegroom
If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar.
Bride
I am a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in his eyes as one that found favour. Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver. My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred.
Bridegroom
Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it.
Bride
Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.
The second half of the tenth song opens in chapter 8 with the Bride imploring: “O THAT thou wert as my brother”. How are we to explain these words? Well, perhaps there are two thoughts:
1. The Bride feels inadequate before the royal Bridegroom and wishes that she and he were of common parentage / ancestry
2. In Eastern culture, public displays of romantic affection are “despised” whereas shows of affection between family members are considered acceptable. Hence, the Bride wishes she were as a sister [Note: the Bride, in actual fact, is considered by the Bridegroom to be a sister-spouse (e.g. 4:9)]
The Bride goes on to mention the Bridegroom drinking of “spiced wine”, the original Hebrew word translated “spiced” meaning ‘perfumery’ (Strong’s). Now, although the Heb. reqach only appears here, it comes from the root raqach, which is used in Exodus 30:25,33,35Waiting for response for Exodus 30:25,33,35 and Ezekiel 37:29Waiting for response for Ezekiel 37:29 to describe the compounding of incense like “the apothecary”. Once again, then, we have a connection with the ordinances of the Mosaic law and their deep symbology and significance.
The Bride thereafter expresses her desire for physical contact with her beloved “His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace me” (8:3) or as the Revised Standard Version has it “O that his left hand were under my head, and that his right hand embraced me!” We therefore conclude that we have here an expression of longing, not a presumptuous expectation.
Think what it might be like, through the grace and mercy of God, to be physically close to our Lord Jesus Christ; to feel his strong and supportive hand personally reach out to us!
Is there any present pain or suffering, trial or temptation that feels significant when we have this hope set forth right in front of us?
The opening of the short eleventh song uses the same imagery that is found at the beginning of song 5 (Song of Solomon 3:6);Waiting for response for Song of Solomon 3:6 namely a coming out of “the wilderness”. However, it is helpful to put these passages together to spot their differences, as well as their similarities.
What is noticeable is that in 8:5, the Bride herself now features and she is described to be “leaning upon her beloved”. Thus, we have pictured for us the uniting of the Bride and Bridegroom, following the resurrection and judgement in Sinai (see Deuteronomy 33:2Waiting for response for Deuteronomy 33:2 and Habakkuk 3:3-6).Waiting for response for Habakkuk 3:3-6
The words of the Bride here, emphasise the closeness of the relationship that exists between the two; for she urges “Set me as a seal upon thine heart... upon thine arm”. The word translated “seal” in this verse is the Heb. chowtham and according to Strong’s this means ‘a signature-ring’. This is a most personal item, as shown in the case of Judah and Tamar in Genesis 38:18Waiting for response for Genesis 38:18 (“signet” is the same original word). Furthermore, this is to be on the heart (governing the mental processes / emotions) and arm (the symbol for strength).
Across verses 6 and 7, we have described to us the supremacy of love and how its virtue surpasses all other things:
• “strong as death” (8:6) – it was love that led the Bridegroom to give up his own life (John 15:13)Waiting for response for John 15:13
• “many waters cannot quench” (8:7) – the Bridegroom continues the imagery of the “flame” (8:6), just mentioned by the Bride, explaining / emphasising that it can never be put out
• “if a man would give all the substance of his house” (8:7) – love cannot be purchased with money, but it must nevertheless be bought (see Isaiah 55:1-2)Waiting for response for Isaiah 55:1-2
It is for these reasons that we are told in the New Testament that ‘charity’, or ‘love’, is the greatest and most enduring of all virtues (1 Corinthians 13:13).Waiting for response for 1 Corinthians 13:13
Comparing the opening verse of this song in verse 8 with verse 10 we have a distinction drawn between two characters; the “little sister” with “no breasts” and the Bride who is “a wall” with “breasts like towers”. As we have already referred to, we have here two contrasting states of spiritual development. Taking these in turn:
• “We have a little sister... no breasts” – a state of spiritual immaturity. This describes those in the millennium who need to come to a full understanding of the truth, being taught by Bridegroom / Bride. In particular this will apply to God’s people, natural Israel. Hence “we have a little sister”, who will have the eyes of her (their) understanding opened.
• “I am a wall... my breasts like towers” – a state of full spiritual maturity. The Bride is therefore ideally placed to teach the subjects of the Kingdom, as we read in Daniel 12:3Waiting for response for Daniel 12:3 (from The Amplified Bible): “And the teachers and those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness (to uprightness and right standing with God) [shall give forth light] like the stars forever and ever.”
However, as the words of the Bridegroom in verse 9 imply, there is still evidently hope for the “little sister”. Thus, there is the hope of redemption (8:9 “silver”: Exodus 30:12-13)Waiting for response for Exodus 30:12-13 and the prospect of future immortality / incorruptibility (8:9 “cedar”). The clear implication is, however, that this prospect is only made possible through a close association with both the Bridegroom and Bride; indeed a family, that is a sisterly, relationship must be nurtured.
The final and twelfth song understandably transports us forwards to the kingdom age. No longer do we read in this song of disappointment, fretfulness or persecution but rather we have the mention of “a palace of silver” (8:9) and a fruitful “vineyard” (8:11, 12).
Verse 11 opens by mentioning Solomon and his possession of a vineyard at “Baal-hamon”. This is an extremely instructive cognate word, if we pause for a moment to consider it. Most importantly we note that it contains the Hebrew letter that was added to both the names of Abra[ha]m and Sara[h] in Genesis 17, indicating future fruitfulness / seed. It is also a letter that features in Ezekiel 39:11Waiting for response for Ezekiel 39:11 “bury Gog and all his multitude... call it The valley of Hamon-gog.” It is in this vein that Strong interprets “Baal-hamon” as ‘possessor of a multitude’.
So we have here a clear depiction of the future multitudinous Bride, the Lord’s own peculiar possession; that is the redeemed who are: “a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues” (Revelation 7:9).Waiting for response for Revelation 7:9
However, whilst the saints are from diverse backgrounds, they are in truth spiritual Israelites, hence the use of the “vineyard” as a symbol, so often linked with God’s people Israel (e.g. in Isaiah 5:1-7Waiting for response for Isaiah 5:1-7 and Matthew 21:33-41).Waiting for response for Matthew 21:33-41
We note at the end of verse 11 that there is mention of “a thousand pieces of silver” for the fruit of the vineyard and further in verse 12 “thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand”. Perhaps here we have an oblique reference to the millennial period, just as with the offering of a thousand burnt offerings at the commencement of Solomon’s reign of peace (1 Kings 3:4).Waiting for response for 1 Kings 3:4
Additionally, there is also an interesting link with a prophecy of the Messiah in Isaiah 7, which refers to the desolation that would come before his reign (Isaiah 7:14,16-17,23).Waiting for response for Isaiah 7:14,16-17,23 This situation of desolation, explains the Song of Songs, will be gloriously reversed!
The last verse of the 12th song, and therefore the final verse of the book itself, is fittingly spoken by the Bride. Surely there is a clear parallel between this verse and the penultimate verse of the last book of the Bible (Revelation 22:20).Waiting for response for Revelation 22:20 “Make haste” says the Bride, “Even so, come” says John.
Song 10 – Her joy in his companionship (Song of Solomon 7:10-13Waiting for response for Song of Solomon 7:10-13 to Song of Solomon 8:1-4)Waiting for response for Song of Solomon 8:1-4
Bride
I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me. Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves. The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved. O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised. I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother's house, who would instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate. His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace me. I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please.