Song of Solomon 2

Dialogue between Maiden and Her Beloved

1 I [am] a rose^[a] of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.

2 Like a lily among the thorns,^[b] so [is] my love among the maidens.

3 As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so [is] my beloved among the young men. In his shade {I sat down with delight},^[c] and his fruit [was] sweet to my palate.

Banquet Hall of Love

4 He brought me to the house of the wine, and his intention [was] love toward me.

5 Sustain me with the raisins, refresh me with the apples, {for I [am] lovesick}.^[d]

Double Refrain: Embrace and Adjuration

6 His left [hand] [is] under my head, and his right [hand] embraces^[e] me.

7 I adjure you, {O maidens of Jerusalem},^[f] by the gazelles or by the does of the field, do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases!^[g]

Rendezvous in the Countryside

8 The voice of my beloved! Look! Here {he} comes leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills!

9 My beloved is like a gazelle or {a young stag}. Look! {He is} standing behind our wall, gazing {through} the window, looking {through} the lattice.

10 My beloved answered and said to me, "{Arise}, my beloved! {Come, my beauty}!

11 For look! The winter is over; {the rainy season} {has turned and gone away}.

12 The blossoms {appear} {in the land}; {the time of singing has arrived}; the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

13 The fig tree puts forth her figs, and the vines [are in] blossom; they give fragrance. {Arise}, my beloved! {Come, my beauty}!"

14 My dove, in the clefts of the rock, {in the secluded place} {in the mountain}, Let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice [is] sweet and your face [is] lovely.

15 Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes destroying vineyards, for our vineyards [are in] blossom!

Poetic Refrain(s)

16 {My beloved belongs to me and I belong to him}; he pastures his flock among the lilies.

17 Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved! {Be like} a gazelle or {young stag} on the cleft mountains.

Song of Solomon 2 Commentary

Chapter 2

The mutual love of Christ and his church. (1-7) The hope and calling of the church. (8-13) Christ's care of the church, Her faith and hope. (14-17)

Verses 1-7 Believers are beautiful, as clothed in the righteousness of Christ; and fragrant, as adorned with the graces of his Spirit; and they thrive under the refreshing beams of the Sun of righteousness. The lily is a very noble plant in the East; it grows to a considerable height, but has a weak stem. The church is weak in herself, yet is strong in Him that supports her. The wicked, the daughters of this world, who have no love to Christ, are as thorns, worthless and useless, noxious and hurtful. Corruptions are thorns in the flesh; but the lily now among thorns, shall be transplanted into that paradise where there is no brier or thorn. The world is a barren tree to the soul; but Christ is a fruitful one. And when poor souls are parched with convictions of sin, with the terrors of the law, or the troubles of this world, weary and heavy laden, they may find rest in Christ. It is not enough to pass by this shadow, but we must sit down under it. Believers have tasted that the Lord Jesus is gracious; his fruits are all the precious privileges of the new covenant, purchased by his blood, and communicated by his Spirit; promises are sweet to a believer, and precepts also. Pardons are sweet, and peace of conscience sweet. If our mouths are out of taste for the pleasures of sin, Divine consolations will be sweet to us. Christ brings the soul to seek and to find comforts through his ordinances, which are as a banqueting-house where his saints feast with him. The love of Christ, manifested by his death, and by his word, is the banner he displays, and believers resort to it. How much better is it with the soul when sick from love to Christ, than when surfeited with the love of this world! And though Christ seemed to have withdrawn, yet he was even then a very present help. All his saints are in his hand, which tenderly holds their aching heads. Finding Christ thus nigh to her, the soul is in great care that her communion with him is not interrupted. We easily grieve the Spirit by wrong tempers. Let those who have comfort, fear sinning it away.

Verses 8-13 The church pleases herself with thoughts of further communion with Christ. None besides can speak to the heart. She sees him come. This may be applied to the prospect the Old Testament saints had of Christ's coming in the flesh. He comes as pleased with his own undertaking. He comes speedily. Even when Christ seems to forsake, it is but for a moment; he will soon return with everlasting loving-kindness. The saints of old saw him, appearing through the sacrifices and ceremonial institutions. We see him through a glass darkly, as he manifests himself through the lattices. Christ invites the new convert to arise from sloth and despondency, and to leave sin and worldly vanities, for union and communion with him. The winter may mean years passed in ignorance and sin, unfruitful and miserable, or storms and tempests that accompanied his conviction of guilt and danger. Even the unripe fruits of holiness are pleasant unto Him whose grace has produced them. All these encouraging tokens and evidences of Divine favour, are motives to the soul to follow Christ more fully. Arise then, and come away from the world and the flesh, come into fellowship with Christ. This blessed change is owing wholly to the approaches and influences of the Sun of righteousness.

Verses 14-17 The church is Christ's dove; she returns to him, as her Noah. Christ is the Rock, in whom alone she can think herself safe, and find herself easy, as a dove in the hole of a rock, when struck at by the birds of prey. Christ calls her to come boldly to the throne of grace, having a great High Priest there, to tell what her request is. Speak freely, fear not a slight or a repulse. The voice of prayer is sweet and acceptable to God; those who are sanctified have the best comeliness. The first risings of sinful thoughts and desires, the beginnings of trifling pursuits which waste the time, trifling visits, small departures from truth, whatever would admit some conformity to the world; all these, and many more, are little foxes which must be removed. This is a charge to believers to mortify their sinful appetites and passions, which are as little foxes, that destroy their graces and comforts, and crush good beginnings. Whatever we find a hinderance to us in that which is good, we must put away. He feedeth among the lilies; this shows Christ's gracious presence among believers. He is kind to all his people. It becomes them to believe this, when under desertion and absence, and so to ward off temptations. The shadows of the Jewish dispensation were dispelled by the dawning of the gospel day. And a day of comfort will come after a night of desertion. Come over the mountains of Bether, "the mountains that divide," looking forward to that day of light and love. Christ will come over every separating mountain to take us home to himself.

Footnotes

• [a]. More likely "meadow saffron" or "crocus." Hebrew scholars and botanists suggest the term refers to Ashodelos (lily family), Narcissus tazetta (narcissus or daffodil), or Colchicum autumnale (meadow saffron or crocus) (e.g., Isa 35:1). The location of this flower in Sharon suggests a common wild flower rather than a rose. The maiden compares herself to a simple, common flower of the field
• [b]. Or "brambles"
• [c]. Literally "I sat down and I delighted"
• [d]. Literally "for I myself [am] sick with love"
• [e]. Or "would embrace me"
• [f]. Literally "O daughters of Jerusalem"
• [g]. Or "Do not stir up or awaken the love until it is willing," or "Do not disturb or interrupt [our] lovemaking until it is satisfied"
• [h]. Literally "this one"
• [i]. Literally "the fawn of the stag"
• [j]. Literally "This [is he]"
• [k]. Literally "from"
• [l]. Literally "from"
• [m]. Literally "Arise, you"
• [n]. Literally "And come, you"
• [o]. Literally "the rain"
• [p]. Literally "is over; it is gone"
• [q]. Literally "is seen"
• [r]. Literally "on the earth"
• [s]. Most likely, a subtle word play occurs here since there are two different words in Hebrew spelled the same way: "pruning" and "singing." The former plays upon the first line and the latter upon the third line
• [t]. Literally "the time of the song arrived"
• [u]. Literally "Arise, to you!"
• [v]. Literally "My beauty, come, you"
• [w]. Literally "in the secret place"
• [x]. Or "in the covering"
• [y]. Literally "foothold in the rock"
• [z]. Or "cliff"
• [aa]. Or "while"
• [ab]. Literally "My beloved for me and I for him"
• [ac]. Literally "Be like for you"
• [ad]. Or "a buck gazelle"
• [ae]. Literally "the fawn of the stag"
• [af]. Or "the mountains of Bether"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO SONG OF SOLOMON 2

Here begins a new colloquy between Christ and his church; in which they alternately set forth the excellencies of each other; and express their mutual affection for, and delight and pleasure they take in, each other's company. Christ seems to begin, in an account of himself and his own excellencies, and of the church in her present state, So 2:1,2; then she, in her turn, praises him, and commends him above all others relates some choice proofs she had had of his love to her, and of communion with him in his house and ordinances, to such a degree as to overcome her, So 2:3-6; and then either he or she gives a charge to the daughters of Jerusalem, not to disturb either the one or the other in their sweet repose, So 2:7. Next the church relates how she heard the voice of Christ, and had a sight of him on the hills and mountains, at some distance; then more nearly, behind her wall, and through the lattices, So 2:8,9; and expresses the very words in which he spake to her, and gave her a call to come away with him; making use of arguments from the season of the year, the signs of which are beautifully described, So 2:10-13; and requests that she would come out of her solitude, that he might enjoy her company, whose countenance and voice are so delightful to him; and gives a charge to her and her friends, to seize on such as were harmful and prejudicial to their mutual property, So 2:14,15. And she closes the chapter with expressing her faith of interest in Christ; and with a petition for his speedy approach to her, and continued presence with her, So 2:16,17.