Song Of Songs 8

CHAPTER 8

True Love (8:1–14)

1–4 The lovers have gone out into the countryside. According to social custom, they are not free to demonstrate their love in public, and so the bride wishes she was her husband’s sister so that she could express her affection openly; that way, no one would despise her (verse 1). The bride looks forward to bringing her husband to her mother’s house (verse 2). She thinks of his embrace (verse 3). Their sexual love is pure and can be enjoyed fully in the privacy of her mother’s house. But that enjoyment of sexual love is only for a husband and his wife—in private. The bride thinks of her friends, the daughters of Jerusalem; she would advise them not to awaken such love until it so desires (verse 4)—that is, until they are married (see Song of Songs 2:7).

5 The lovers are now returning from their time in the countryside; some friends see them as they walk along. They have apparently not been to her mother’s house; rather, they have been out under an apple tree where the husband himself had been conceived.

6–7 The bride pays no attention to the friends. She is thinking of the renewed love between herself and her husband. She asks him to place her like a seal over his heart and on his arm (verse 6). A seal symbolizes ownership and authority; she wants it to be known by all that she belongs to her husband as long as they both live. Her seal is to be on his heart, the symbol of his love; it is also to be on his arm, the symbol of his strength. Thus she wants him to be her owner, her lover, and her protector.

Such a total love—true love—is more powerful than anything else in life. It is a jealous love, just as God’s love is a jealous love (Exodus 20:5). It is as unyielding as the grave; just as the grave does not “yield up” the dead, so true love does not yield up a loved one (verse 6). Such love is a gift of God; it is a mighty flame kindled by God Himself.¹⁸ Such love is more valuable than anything on earth (verse 7).

8–9 The final verses of the Song serve as an epilogue. In verses 8–9, some brothers speak about their young sister; the sister could be the bride herself at an early age, or it could be a younger sister of the bride or of someone else. The brothers feel responsible for guarding their sister until she is properly married. If the sister is a wall—that is, if she resists the advances of false love, the brothers will provide towers of silver for her. If she is a door and lets men violate her, the brothers will further protect their sister by enclosing her with panels of cedar.

10 Now the bride, the beloved, speaks. She is mature; she has been a wall. She has remained pure and has saved herself for her husband. Thus she is able to bring contentment to her husband—peace, security, well-being. Sexual love within marriage is free of guilt and anxiety and selfishness; it is an expression of mutual self-giving. It leads to lasting “contentment.”

11–12 In these verses, the bride speaks of a vineyard of Solomon, which he had let out to tenants. Each tenant was required to pay Solomon a thousand shekels (about twelve kilograms) of silver annually; the rest of the proceeds (two hundred shekels) the tenant could keep. The thousand shekels, then, made up the owner’s share of each tenant’s portion.

The bride then mentions her own vine yard—her body; she has given it to Solomon. The “owner’s share” belongs to him.

13–14 The Song ends with the lovers expressing their desire to be together; the bride invites her husband to come away and make love to her. In the end, the things that threatened their love—the little foxes (Song of Songs 2:15)—have been overcome. Their love endures.

It is often said that Christians take all the “fun” out of sexual love by their rules and restraints. They build “walls” around unmarried people; they tell them: Do not arouse or awaken love (verse 4). And yes, it is possible to overdo the restraints and cause young people to feel inhibited and guilty in regard to their sexual urges. However, the far greater danger is to have too little restraint. Countless Christians can testify that premarital sex has, in fact, diminished their later enjoyment of married life. Sexual love is more thrilling, satisfying and lasting when it is expressed in the way God intended. There is no earthly pleasure that exceeds the pure, untarnished love between a husband and his bride. Let no one think that Christians take the enjoyment out of sex; they are the ones who have preserved the enjoyment, a true and lasting enjoyment—“until death do us part.”

¹ In the Hebrew text, the title of this book is Solomon’s Song of Songs (Song of Songs 1:1). This means the song was written by, for, or about Solomon—or a combination thereof.

² In the comments that follow, spiritual applications will be made where appropriate.

³ A fifth difficulty in interpretation is that it is often hard to tell who is speaking. In the New International Version, headings have been added to indicate who the speaker is; the headings are based on the gender of the pronouns in the original Hebrew text.

⁴ In biblical times, there was less difference between a shepherd and a king than we might suppose. King David was a shepherd; and kings of Israel were considered to be “shepherds” of their people. There was nothing demeaning about being a shepherd.

⁵ Myrrh is the fragrant gum of the balsam tree; among other things, it was used by women as a perfume.

⁶ Of greater importance than physical attractiveness is spiritual attractiveness. Such attractiveness comes from the Spirit of Christ within us (see 2 Corinthians 2:14–16; Galatians 5:22–23).

⁷ In Hebrew, the words for banquet hall mean “house of wine.”

⁸ Some Bible scholars believe that the beloved is only imagining the visit described in verses 8–13. Whether the visit is real or imaginary, the feelings of love are beautifully expressed.

⁹ In a relationship of true love, the partners give themselves to each other (1 Corinthians 7:4). In spiritual terms, Christ gave His body for us, and we are called to give our bodies for Him (see Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19; Romans 12:1).

¹⁰ There is debate among scholars as to whether the carriage is carrying Solomon, his bride, or both; the gender of the Hebrew words used in verses 6–11 suggests it is the bride. Furthermore, the bride is from northern Israel, from Lebanon (Song of Songs 4:8); this suggests that Solomon has sent his carriage to bring her to his palace in Jerusalem.

¹¹ In verse 8, Solomon says to his bride: Come with me. But she is already with him. In Hebrew, the words “Come with me” literally say, “With me, with me.” All of Solomon’s desire for his bride is summed up in the words, “With me.”

¹² It is not clear whether the husband has physically come back to his garden (his bride) or whether he has gone down to an actual garden to gather flowers for her. Or perhaps the bride is still dreaming of his love.

¹³ This entire chapter is difficult to follow, and scholars offer different interpretations. It seems as if the lovers remain physically separated, but yet are longing for each other.

¹⁴ In verse 4, the husband compares his bride to Tirzah, a city in central Israel; the name Tirzah means “pleasure” or “beauty.”

¹⁵ The queens, concubines and virgins (verse 8) may be a poetic way of saying “all the women in the kingdom”; or it may be a literal reference to Solomon’s harem (see 1 Kings 11:3). If the latter is true, Solomon is here expressing his preference for the bride of Song of Songs over all the other women in his harem.

¹⁶ In verse 13, the bride is called the Shulammite. The meaning of the name is uncertain. It may be the feminine form of the name Solomon, in which case it would mean “Solomon’s girl.”

¹⁷ The Hebrew word for desire used in verse 10 is also found in Genesis 3:16, where the writer describes Eve’s desire for her husband. (The word is used in only one other place in the Old Testament, Genesis 4:7.) Here it clearly refers to an overpowering attraction between a man and his wife, an attraction that involves body, mind, and emotions. Such a desire for one’s spouse is God given, and is meant to be fulfilled.

¹⁸ The love between husband and wife is a human counterpart of divine love; it reflects divine love. Indeed, it is nurtured, inflamed, by divine love. This divine love has been poured out . . . into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). This divine love was supremely manifested when God sent His only Son into the world to save us (John 3:16). And it is this same divine love that holds us fast; even Satan and all the wickedness of mankind cannot overcome it (Romans 8:35–39).