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Song of Solomon 2

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The Shulamite's Declaration of Love 1–2

1
I am a rose of Sharon, A lily of the valleys. ​
2
As a lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters. ​

The Beloved's Excellence 3–7

3
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. ​
4
He brought me to the banqueting-house, And his banner over me was love. ​
5
Stay ye me with raisins, refresh me with apples; For I am sick from love. ​
6
His left handisunder my head, And his right hand doth embrace me. ​
7
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the roes, or by the hinds of the field, That ye stir not up, nor awake my love, Until he please. ​

The Arrival of the Beloved 8–9

8
The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh, Leaping upon the mountains, Skipping upon the hills. ​
9
My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: Behold, he standeth behind our wall; He looketh in at the windows; He glanceth through the lattice. ​

A Summons to Love 10–13

10
My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. ​
11
For, lo, the winter is past; The rain is over and gone; ​
12
The flowers appear on the earth; The time of the singing of birds is come, And the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land; ​
13
The fig-tree ripeneth her green figs, And the vines are in blossom; They give forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. ​

The Dove in the Rock and the Little Foxes 14–17

14
O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, In the covert of the steep place, Let me see thy countenance, Let me hear thy voice; For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. ​
15
Take us the foxes, the little foxes, That spoil the vineyards; For our vineyards are in blossom. ​
16
My beloved is mine, and I am his: He feedeth his flock among the lilies. ​
17
Until the day be cool, and the shadows flee away, Turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart Upon the mountains of Bether. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Song of Solomon 2

Verse 1

the rose of Sharon — Chabatstseleth occurs only here and in Isa 35:1, ‘the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose’, where ‘the excellency of Carmel and Sharon’ is given to the wilderness (Isa 35:2). ‘Lily’ is shoshan, the flower named again in vv.2 and 16.

Verse 2

the lily among thorns — ‘Love’ is ra’yah, companion, the word of address again in vv.10 and 13. The lily (shoshan) stands among choach, thorns. Christ points to its kind: ‘Consider the lilies of the field’ and ‘even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these’ (Matt 6:28–29).

Verse 3

the apple tree among the trees of the wood — Tappuach, the fruit of v.5 and 8:5. ‘Shadow’ (tsel) is the word of Ps 91:1, ‘abide under the shadow of the Almighty’. ‘Delight’ is chamad, to desire, and ‘sweet’ is mathoq, the sweetness of honey in Ps 19:10.

Verse 4

the banqueting house — Literally ‘house of wine’ (beth ha-yayin). The ‘banner’ (degel) is the standard under which each tribe camped, ‘his own standard’ (Num 2:2); the standard here is ahavah, love, the word of 8:6–7: ‘love is strong as death… Many waters cannot quench love’.

Verse 5

Stay me with flagons — Ashishah is a cake of pressed raisins, rendered ‘flagon of wine’ in 2 Sam 6:19 and Hos 3:1. ‘Stay’ (samak) is to hold up, ‘comfort’ (rapad) to spread a bed beneath. ‘I am sick of love’ comes again in 5:8, in the same words.

Verse 6

his right hand doth embrace me — Chabaq, to embrace, the verb of Laban’s greeting of Jacob in Gen 29:13: ‘embraced him, and kissed him’. The verse is repeated in 8:3. Scripture speaks of the LORD’s love for his people as a marriage: ‘as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee’ (Isa 62:5).

Verse 7

stir not up, nor awake my love — The word is ahavah, love itself. The same charge closes 3:5 and 8:4. The oath ‘by the roes, and by the hinds of the field’ (tsebaim, ayyeloth) is by gentle animals, those of Prov 5:19, ‘the loving hind and pleasant roe’. The ‘daughters of Jerusalem’ are the women addressed in 1:5.

Verse 8

leaping upon the mountains — Dalag and qaphats are two verbs of springing; dalag is also the ‘leap as an hart’ of Isa 35:6. ‘Beloved’ (dod) is the word of address through the book. John the Baptist speaks of the bridegroom’s voice: the friend ‘rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice’ (John 3:29).

Verse 9

behind our wall — The beloved is seen in stages: behind the wall (kotel), at the windows, through the lattice (charakkim). Kotel and charakkim each occur only here. The roe and young hart of this verse return in v.17 and at the close of the book (8:14).

Verse 10

Rise up, my love, my fair one — The invitation is repeated word for word in v.13. ‘Come away’ is halak, the verb of Gen 12:1, ‘Get thee out of thy country’. ‘Fair one’ is yafah, fair, the word of 1:15 and 4:1, ‘thou art fair’.

Verse 11

the winter is past — Sethav occurs only here. In Israel the rains fall in winter: Ezra 10:13 says ‘it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without’. ‘Past’ (abar), ‘over’ (chalaf) and ‘gone’ (halak) are three verbs for one season ending.

Verse 12

the voice of the turtle — Tor is the turtledove, the ‘turtledoves’ of Lev 1:14 and of the offering made for Christ, ‘A pair of turtledoves’ (Luke 2:24). It keeps the season: ‘the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming’ (Jer 8:7). ‘Time’ (eth) is the word of Eccl 3:1.

Verse 13

putteth forth her green figs — Chanat is to ripen or spice, the verb of embalming in Gen 50:2. ‘Green figs’ (paggim) occurs only here. ‘Tender grape’ (semadar) is found only in this chapter and 7:12. The call of v.10 is repeated at the end of the verse.

Verse 14

O my dove — Yonah, the dove of Gen 8:8–12, here a term of address as in 5:2 and 6:9. The ‘clefts of the rock’ (chagvei hasela) are the high rock refuges of Jer 49:16 and Obad 1:3. Arev, ‘sweet’, is said of her voice, and ‘comely’ (naveh) of her face.

Verse 15

the little foxes — Shual is a fox or jackal, and chabal, ‘spoil’, is to ruin. The vines with ‘tender grapes’ (semadar, v.13) are what they damage. Scripture uses the fox of false teachers: ‘O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts’ (Ezek 13:4).

Verse 16

he feedeth among the lilies — Ra’ah is the shepherd’s verb, to pasture a flock, the word of ‘The LORD is my shepherd’ (Ps 23:1). The mutual claim, ‘My beloved is mine, and I am his’, is turned round in 6:3, ‘I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine’, and again in 7:10.

Verse 17

the mountains of Bether — Bether means a cleft or division, from the verb for the pieces ‘divided… in the midst’ in Gen 15:10, and is named nowhere else. ‘Until the day break, and the shadows flee away’ returns in 4:6. ‘Break’ is puach, to breathe, so the day ‘breathes’.