The Song claims authorship by Solomon in its title, “The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.” The church has long accepted this at face value, but modern critics raise objections to Solomon as author.
First, critics claim that the title did not originate with the Song but was added later by someone who wanted to attribute the work to the famous Solomon. However, no evidence supports this claim. Moreover, the structure of the book suggests that the title is integral to the book’s composition and is thus original. Like other biblical writers, the writer often structured content with attention to certain numbers—three, seven, and ten being some of the most common. Within the Song, for example, the author designed seven sections (see below), a sevenfold praise (4:1-5), twice a tenfold praise (5:10-16; 7:1-5), and a tenfold occurrence of the abstract word for love (2:4-5,7; 3:5; 5:8; 7:6; 8:4,6-7). Apart from the title (1:1), he wove Solomon’s name into six other places (1:5; 3:7,9,11; 8:11-12): two in the last section, three in the central, and one in the first. With the inclusion of “Solomon” in the title, the name appears a perfect seven times and is symmetrically balanced within the Song: twice in the first section balanced by twice in the last one, with three in the central. The title is thus as cleverly integrated with the lyrics as possible. It not only conforms to their melodic alliteration and meter, but it completes the sevenfold occurrence of “Solomon” and in a manner that artistically balances it throughout the Song. In fact, the tenfold occurrence of “love” joins the sevenfold appearance of “Solomon” to show the Song’s subject and author. Hardly a later addition, the title seems to have been original, constituting its first verse.
Another common objection to Solomon’s authorship is the king’s well-known possession of seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines (1Kg 11:3). How could a man who lived like that write a song about devotion to one woman? It appears he could do so only because grace touched his heart. In this respect he foreshadowed other biblical writers who, except for God’s grace and calling, were the least qualified to write Scripture. For example, Paul, the great apostle, wrote most eloquently of grace and his unworthiness (see 1Tm 1:12-16). Solomon was a man immersed in power and pleasure, but God opened his eyes to true love. Solomon also authored much of the book of Proverbs. Just as he did not always follow the precepts he recorded there, so too he evidently composed a great love song despite his failure to live in accordance with its ideals.
A compelling historical reason to date the Song as coming from the time of Solomon is its nearest literary parallel—the Egyptian love songs. No one doubts their origin prior to or contemporaneous with the time of Solomon, and the Egyptian love songs are indisputably the Song’s closest literary parallels.
A beautiful love song inspires us like grace, creating within us a desire for its beauty. Like such an enchanting love song, Solomon’s Song inspires a pursuit of the love it portrays. This romantic delight is not a modern fairytale or fantasy from the past, but reflects God’s desire to form within us a pure and devoted love. We discover that there is a bliss in married love that is reflective of the greater love believers experience as the bride of Christ. As this book’s imagery informs us of romantic love, it also helps us anticipate the full consummation of our relationship with Christ when he returns for his bride.
The Song of Songs is a poem whose components form a chiastic structure. A chiasm takes the form:
A
B
C
B´
A´
where A and A´ mirror each other and where the central element, C, conveys the main point of the poem. The author intended to emphasize the central elements of the structure, which are the day and night of the wedding (3:6–5:1). When God inspired Solomon to write this song, he gave divine approval to romantic love.
The Hebrew text makes a distinction between the various speakers through a change in gender and number. The CSB text has added subheadings to clarify when the speakers change.
We believe that this song, also known as Canticles, sets forth the mutual love of Christ and his believing people. It is a book of deep mystery, not to be understood except by the initiated. This book stands like the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and no one will ever be able to pluck its fruit and eat of it until he has been brought by Christ past the sword of the cherubim and led to rejoice in the love that has delivered him from death.
1The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.
QUOTE 1:1
This book stands like the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and no one will ever be able to pluck its fruit and eat of it until he has been brought by Christ past the sword of the cherubim and led to rejoice in the love that has delivered him from death.
2Oh, that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your caresses A are more delightful than wine.
3The fragrance of your perfume is intoxicating;
your name is perfume poured out.
No wonder young women B adore you.
4Take me with you — let’s hurry.
Oh, that the king would bring C me to his chambers.
We will rejoice and be glad in you;
we will celebrate your caresses more than wine.
It is only right that they adore you.
5Daughters of Jerusalem,
I am dark like the tents of Kedar,
yet lovely like the curtains of Solomon.
QUOTE 1:1
It stands in the middle of the Bible. It is the holy of holies—the central point of all.
6Do not stare at me because I am dark,
for the sun has gazed on me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
they made me take care of the vineyards.
I have not taken care of my own vineyard.
7Tell me, you whom I love:
Where do you pasture your sheep?
Where do you let them rest at noon?
Why should I be like one who veils herself A
beside the flocks of your companions?
8If you do not know,
most beautiful of women,
follow C the tracks of the flock,
and pasture your young goats
near the shepherds’ tents.
9I compare you, my darling,
to a D mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
10Your cheeks are beautiful with jewelry,
your neck with its necklace.
11We will make gold jewelry for you,
accented with silver.
12While the king is on his couch, E
my perfume F releases its fragrance.
13The one I love is a sachet of myrrh to me,
spending the night between my breasts.
14The one I love is a cluster of henna blossoms to me,
in the vineyards of En-gedi.
15How beautiful you are, my darling.
How very beautiful!
Your eyes are doves.
16How handsome you are, my love.
How delightful!
Our bed is verdant;
17the beams of our house are cedars,
and our rafters are cypresses. G
1:1 “The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.” We believe that this song, also known as Canticles, sets forth the mutual love of Christ and his believing people. It is a book of deep mystery, not to be understood except by the initiated. This book stands like the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and no one will ever be able to pluck its fruit and eat of it until he has been brought by Christ past the sword of the cherubim and led to rejoice in the love that has delivered him from death. The Song of Solomon is only to be comprehended by those standing within the veil. The outer-court worshipers and even those who only enter the court of the priests think the book a strange one. But those who have learned a life of sacred fellowship with Jesus will bear witness that when they desire to express what they feel, they are compelled to borrow expressions from this matchless song. It stands in the middle of the Bible. It is the holy of holies—the central point of all. Thus he speaks—the glorious “greater than Solomon.”
1:2 “Oh, that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your caresses are more delightful than wine.” The person here alluded to is not named. This omission is very common and usual to all-absorbing love. The spouse is thinking so much of Christ Jesus her Lord that it is not necessary for her to name him. She cannot make a mistake, and she is so oblivious of all else that she does not think of them, nor of those who would ask, “Who is this of whom you speak?” The communion is so close between herself and her Lord that his name is left out. By the kiss is to be understood that strange and blessed manifestation of love that Christ gives to his children. Inasmuch as the word, “kisses,” is in the plural, the spouse asks that she may have the favor multiplied. And inasmuch as she mentions the “mouth” of her bridegroom, it is because she wishes to receive the kisses fresh and warm from his sacred person. “For your caresses are more delightful than wine.” They are better, for they are more costly. Did they not flow out in streams of blood from a better winepress than earth’s best wine has ever known? It is better, too, in its effects—more exhilarating, more strengthening—and it leaves no ill results.
1:3 “The fragrance of your perfume is intoxicating; your name is perfume poured out.” The spouse surveys all the attributes of Christ and compares them to precious perfume. Christ is anointed as Prophet, Priest and King, and in each of these anointings he is a source of sweetness and fragrance to his people. But as if jealous for having talked of the “perfume” when she should have spoken of him, she seems to say, “Your very name is as an alabaster box when it is opened, and the odor of the precious spikenard fills the room.” As Bernard of Clairvaux wrote, “Jesus, the very thought of Thee, with sweetness fills the breast.”
1:8 “If you do not know, most beautiful of women, follow the tracks of the flock, and pasture your young goats near the shepherds’ tents.” There are two ways of finding Christ. First, we may follow after true believers—follow their footsteps and so find our God. Or else we may go to the shepherds’ tents—wait on the ministry of the Word—the Lord is often pleased to manifest himself to his people when they are willing to hear what messages he sends through his ambassadors.
1:13 “The one I love is a sachet of myrrh to me, spending the night between my breasts.” Christ, as a bundle of myrrh, will always be near our hearts, so that every life-pulse will come from him.
B 1:8 Some understand the young women to be the speakers in this verse.
2I am a wildflower H of Sharon,
a lily I of the valleys.
2Like a lily among thorns,
so is my darling among the young women.
3Like an apricot J tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my love among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
QUOTE 2:3
Jesus values his people. He paid his heart’s blood for their redemption, and to those who believe, he is precious.
4He brought me to the banquet hall, K
and he looked on me with love. A
5Sustain me with raisins;
refresh me with apricots, B
for I am lovesick.
6May his left hand be under my head,
and his right arm embrace me.
7Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and the wild does of the field,
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time. C
8Listen! My love is approaching.
Look! Here he comes,
leaping over the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9My love is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
See, he is standing behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice.
10My love calls to me:
Arise, my darling.
Come away, my beautiful one.
11For now the winter is past;
the rain has ended and gone away.
12The blossoms appear in the countryside.
The time of singing D has come,
and the turtledove’s cooing is heard in our land.
13The fig tree ripens its figs;
the blossoming vines give off their fragrance.
Arise, my darling.
Come away, my beautiful one.
14My dove, in the clefts of the rock,
in the crevices of the cliff,
let me see your face, E
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.
15Catch the foxes for us —
the little foxes that ruin the vineyards —
for our vineyards are in bloom.
QUOTE 2:4
How delightful it is to feel that it is not now the banner of war, but the banner of love that waves above our heads, for all is peace between us and our God!
16My love is mine and I am his;
he feeds among the lilies.
17Until the day breaks A
and the shadows flee,
turn around, my love, and be like a gazelle
or a young stag on the divided mountains. B
2:3 “Like an apricot tree among the trees of the forest, so is my love among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade and his fruit is sweet to my taste.” To him there is none like her—to her there is none like him. Jesus values his people. He paid his heart’s blood for their redemption, and to those who believe, he is precious. No mention is made of coral or of rubies in comparison with him. Nothing can equal him. There are other trees in the woods, but he is the only one bearing fruit, whose apricots are delicious to our taste. Let us come up and pluck from his loaded branches!
2:4 “He brought me to the banquet hall, and he looked on me with love.” [ED: An alternative translation of the second clause is “his banner over me is love.”] We know what this means. How delightful it is to feel that it is not now the banner of war, but the banner of love that waves above our heads, for all is peace between us and our God! And now we are not brought to the prison or to the place of labor, but to the banqueting house. We must act worthily of the position we occupy. If we are in a banqueting house, we should feast.
2:16-17 “My love is mine and I am his; he feeds among the lilies. Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, turn around, my love, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the divided mountains.” Every year of my life has had a winter as well as a summer, and every day its night. I have thus far seen bright days and heavy rains, and felt warm breezes and fierce winds. Speaking for the many of my brothers and sisters, I confess that though the substance is in us, as in the olive tree and the oak, yet we do lose our leaves, and the sap within us does not flow with equal vigor at all seasons. We have our downs as well as our ups, our valleys as well as our hills. We are not always rejoicing—we are sometimes in heaviness through many trials. Alas, we are grieved to confess that our fellowship with the beloved is not always that of rapturous delight, but we have at times to seek him and cry, “Oh, that I knew where I might find him!” This appears to me to have been in a measure the condition of the spouse when she cried, “Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, turn around, my love.”
A 2:4 Or and his banner over me is love
F 2:15 The speaker could be the woman, the man, or both.
B 2:17 Or the Bether mountains, or the mountains of spices ; Hb obscure
3In my bed at night C
I sought the one I love;
I sought him, but did not find him. D
2I will arise now and go about the city,
through the streets and the plazas.
I will seek the one I love.
I sought him, but did not find him.
3The guards who go about the city found me.
I asked them, “Have you seen the one I love? ”
QUOTE 3:4
I can at this moment think of many reasons why I should love the Christ of Calvary, but I cannot think of one reason why I should not love him.
QUOTE 3:4
I am inclined to say to my heart, “Never beat again if you do not beat true to him.”
4I had just passed them
when I found the one I love.
I held on to him and would not let him go
until I brought him to my mother’s house —
to the chamber of the one who conceived me.
5Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and the wild does of the field,
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time. E
6Who is this coming up from the wilderness
like columns of smoke,
scented with myrrh and frankincense
from every fragrant powder of the merchant?
7Look! Solomon’s bed
surrounded by sixty warriors
from the mighty men of Israel.
8All of them are skilled with swords
and trained in warfare.
Each has his sword at his side
to guard against the terror of the night.
9King Solomon made a carriage for himself
with wood from Lebanon.
10He made its posts of silver,
its back A of gold,
and its seat of purple.
Its interior is inlaid with love B
by the young women of Jerusalem.
11Go out, young women of Zion,
and gaze at King Solomon,
wearing the crown his mother placed on him
on the day of his wedding —
the day of his heart’s rejoicing.
3:4 “I had just passed them when I found the one I love. I held on to him and would not let him go until I brought him to my mother’s house—to the chamber of the one who conceived me.” I can at this moment think of many reasons why I should love the Christ of Calvary, but I cannot think of one reason why I should not love him. If I turn to what I read about him in this blessed book, it all makes me love him. If I recall what I have experienced of his grace in my heart, it all makes me love him. When I think of what he is, what he did and what he is doing, and what he will yet do—it all makes me love him! I am inclined to say to my heart, “Never beat again if you do not beat true to him.” It would be better for me that I had never been born than that I should not love one who is so inconceivably lovely—who is, indeed, perfection’s self.
But what does it mean to bring Christ to “my mother’s house— to the chamber of the one who conceived me”? I do not believe in any reverence for mere material buildings, but I have great reverence for the true church of the living God. The church is the house of God and the mother of our souls. It was under the ministry of the Word that most of us were born to God. But how can we bring Christ to his church? Partly, we can bring him by our spirit. I know people of whom I can truly say that it is always pleasant to me to shake their hands and to have a look from their eyes. I know that they have been with Jesus, for there is the very air of saintliness about them. If we have really found Christ and bring him with us into the assembly, we will not be the ones who will criticize and find fault and quarrel with our neighbor because he does not give us enough room in the pew. But we will be considerate of others. It will also be a happy thing if we are able to talk about our Lord, for then we can bring him to the church with our words. Each one of us, as we are able, can talk to our brother and sister and say, “I have found him whom my soul loves.”
3:9 “King Solomon made a carriage for himself with wood from Lebanon.” Great princes in the East are in the habit of traveling in splendid palanquins, which are at the same time chariots and beds. The person reclines within, screened by curtains from public view; a bodyguard protects it from robbers, and blazing torches light up the path along which the travelers proceed. King Solomon, in this song, describes the church of Christ and Christ himself as travailing through the world in such a palanquin. The day is coming when both our divine Lord and his chosen bride will be revealed in glory before the eyes of all men. The glory of the progress of Christ through the world is spoken of in the sixth verse; then the security of Christ’s cause in the seventh and eighth; thirdly, the superlative excellence of it in the ninth and tenth verses; and lastly, our joyful duties with regard to it in the eleventh verse.
4How beautiful you are, my darling.
How very beautiful!
Behind your veil,
your eyes are doves.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down Mount Gilead.
2Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep
coming up from washing,
each one bearing twins,
and none has lost its young. C
3Your lips are like a scarlet cord,
and your mouth D is lovely.
Behind your veil,
your brow E is like a slice of pomegranate.
QUOTE 4:3A
What is there for the believer to talk about but the scarlet of the Savior’s blood—that matchless bath in which we are washed whiter than snow?
QUOTE 4:3B
Doctrines in the head, without holiness in the life, are of no service.
4Your neck is like the tower of David,
A thousand shields are hung on it —
all of them shields of warriors.
5Your breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle, that feed among the lilies.
6Until the day breaks A
and the shadows flee,
I will make my way to the mountain of myrrh
and the hill of frankincense.
7You are absolutely beautiful, my darling;
there is no imperfection in you.
QUOTE 4:7
Though in ourselves we are defiled, yet in the eyes of Jesus, looked on as covered with his righteousness, we are “absolutely beautiful.”
8Come with me from Lebanon, B my bride;
come with me from Lebanon!
Descend from the peak of Amana,
from the summit of Senir and Hermon,
from the dens of the lions,
from the mountains of the leopards.
9You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride.
You have captured my heart with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.
10How delightful your caresses are, my sister, my bride.
Your caresses are much better than wine,
and the fragrance of your perfume than any balsam.
11Your lips drip sweetness like the honeycomb, my bride.
Honey and milk are under your tongue.
The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12My sister, my bride, you are a locked garden —
a locked garden C and a sealed spring.
13Your branches are a paradise D of pomegranates
with choicest fruits;
henna with nard,
14nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,
with all the trees of frankincense,
myrrh and aloes,
with all the best spices.
QUOTE 4:12
But infinite mercy has made the church of God an enclosure into which no invader may dare come.
15You are a garden spring,
a well of flowing water
streaming from Lebanon.
16Awaken, north wind;
come, south wind.
Blow on my garden,
and spread the fragrance of its spices.
Let my love come to his garden
and eat its choicest fruits.
4:1 “How beautiful you are, my darling. How very beautiful! Behind your veil, your eyes are doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead.” This is a chapter that is, perhaps, more adapted for private meditation than for reading in public. Nevertheless, it is a love song, the song of the loves of Jesus. As he sets forth the beauties and charms of his church, may the same beauties and charms be found in every one of us through the grace he imparts to us by his Spirit. May we, as parts of his mystical body, be fair and lovely in his esteem because he has bestowed on us so much of his own loveliness. Let us walk so carefully with God that there may be nothing to put even a spot on our garments.
In this verse, Jesus prizes the love of his people that flashes forth from their eyes as they look on him. The good works of his people, like the locks of hair that are the beauty and glory of the female form, are the beauty of the church and of every individual believer. It is a beautiful thing to have the eyes of faith glistening between the locks of our good works to the praise and glory of God.
4:2 “Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep coming up from washing, each one bearing twins, and none has lost its young.” Our “teeth” are those parts of our spiritual being with which we feed on Christ and masticate and assimilate the Word. We should seek so to feed on the Word of God as to become fruitful by it. If we spiritually feed on the flesh of Christ, we will afterwards be the means of bringing forth an abundant harvest of holiness to his praise and honor.
4:3a “Your lips are like a scarlet cord, and your mouth is lovely.” What is there for the believer to talk about but the scarlet of the Savior’s blood—that matchless bath in which we are washed whiter than snow? May my mouth be filled with the praises of the Lord, that my lips may be like a cord of scarlet. There is always an attractiveness in that conversation that is full of Christ. Let our conversation always be such as becomes the gospel of Christ. But that cannot be the case unless there is much of Christ in it.
4:3b “Behind your veil, your brow is like a slice of pomegranate.” Doctrines in the head, without holiness in the life, are of no service. But when the temples are covered with the locks of righteousness, then they are like a piece of a pomegranate, acceptable both to God and men.
4:6 “Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, I will make my way to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense.” Our beloved has gone away from us until the day of his reappearing—until the night of his church’s anxiety is over and “the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings” (Mal 4:2). Jesus has gone from earth, but where is he? He has gone to intercede for us before the throne of his Father. He has gone to where there are mountains of myrrh, the sweet perfume that always rises from his one great sacrifice for sins. Well may he compare it to a mountain of myrrh and to a hill of frankincense.
4:7 “You are absolutely beautiful, my darling; there is no imperfection in you.” Drink that truth in, Christian. If ever there was a honeycomb full of virgin honey, it is here. Though in ourselves we are defiled, yet in the eyes of Jesus, looked on as covered with his righteousness, we are “absolutely beautiful.” We are as dear to him as though we had never sinned.
4:12 “My sister, my bride, you are a locked garden—a locked garden and a sealed spring.” We are not only like a garden, but a garden enclosed. If the garden were not enclosed, the wild boar out of the woods would destroy the vines and uproot the flowers, but infinite mercy has made the church of God an enclosure into which no invader may dare come. “I myself will be a wall of fire around it, and I will be the glory within it” (Zch 2:5). Is she a spring? Are her secret thoughts and loves and desires like cool streams of water? Then the Bridegroom calls her “a sealed spring.” Otherwise, every beast that passed by might foul her waters, and every stranger might drink heartily from her streams. She is a fountain sealed, like some choice cool spring in Solomon’s private garden around the house of the forest of Lebanon—a fountain that he reserved for his own drinking by placing the royal seal on it and locking it up by secret means, known only to himself. So the Lord has taken measures to preserve all his chosen ones from all those who would defile and destroy them.
4:16 “Awaken, north wind; come, south wind. Blow on my garden, and spread the fragrance of its spices. Let my love come to his garden and eat its choicest fruits.” What a difference there is between what the believer was by nature and what God’s grace has made him! Naturally, we were like the howling wilderness, like the desert that yields no healthy plant. It seemed as if we were given over to be like a salt land that is not inhabited—no good thing was in us, or could spring out of us. But now, as many of us as have known the Lord are transformed into gardens—our wilderness is made like Eden, our desert is changed into the garden of the Lord.
C 4:2 Lit and no one bereaved among them
E 4:3 Or temple, or cheek, or lips
B 4:8 In Hb, the word for Lebanon is similar to “frankincense” in Sg 4:6,14,15.
5I have come to my garden — my sister, my bride.
I gather A my myrrh with my spices.
I eat my honeycomb with my honey.
I drink my wine with my milk.
Eat, friends!
Drink, be intoxicated with caresses! B
2I was sleeping, but my heart was awake.
A sound! My love was knocking!
Open to me, my sister, my darling,
my dove, my perfect one.
For my head is drenched with dew,
my hair with droplets of the night.
3I have taken off my clothing.
How can I put it back on?
I have washed my feet.
How can I get them dirty?
4My love thrust his hand through the opening,
and my feelings were stirred for him.
5I rose to open for my love.
My hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with flowing myrrh
on the handles of the bolt.
6I opened to my love,
but my love had turned and gone away.
My heart sank C because he had left. D
I sought him, but did not find him.
I called him, but he did not answer.
7The guards who go about the city found me.
they took my cloak A from me —
the guardians of the walls.
8Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you,
if you find my love,
tell him that I am lovesick.
9What makes the one you love better than another,
most beautiful of women?
What makes him better
than another,
that you would give us this charge?
10My love is fit and strong, B
notable among ten thousand.
11His head is purest gold.
His hair is wavy C
and black as a raven.
12His eyes are like doves
beside flowing streams,
washed in milk
and set like jewels. D
13His cheeks are like beds of spice,
mounds of E perfume.
His lips are lilies,
dripping with flowing myrrh.
14His arms F are rods of gold
set G with beryl.
His body H is an ivory panel
covered with lapis lazuli.
QUOTE 5:16
The love of his heart is excelled by the heart that gave forth that love, and the wonders of his hand are outdone by the hand itself, which worked those godlike miracles of grace.
15His legs are alabaster pillars
set on pedestals of pure gold.
His presence is like Lebanon,
as majestic as the cedars.
16His mouth is sweetness.
He is absolutely desirable.
This is my love, and this is my friend,
young women of Jerusalem.
QUOTE 5:16
The best thing about Christ is Christ himself.
5:2 “I was sleeping, but my heart was awake. A sound! My love was knocking! Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my perfect one. For my head is drenched with dew, my hair with droplets of the night.” We find, at one moment, that the spouse is so happy that she cries out, “Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apricots, for I am lovesick” (2:5), and at another moment she is searching for her beloved and cannot find him, and mourning because of the darkness and the cruelty of “the guards who go about the city” (3:3). The text very readily suggests three subjects for meditation—first, a lamentable state—“I was sleeping.” Secondly, a hopeful sign—“but my heart was awake.” And thirdly, a potent remedy—“A sound! My love was knocking!” Nothing can wake a believer out of his sleep like the sound of his beloved.
5:6 “I opened to my love, but my love had turned and gone away. My heart sank because he had left. I sought him, but did not find him. I called him, but he did not answer.” The Christian is unhappy to the utmost degree whenever he loses the sense of his Lord’s presence. Then the pillars of his house are made to tremble, his fresh springs are dried up, the sun is hidden from his eyes, and the sky is so dark overhead that he walks, rather wanders, about a world that cannot render to his soul any substantial comfort. Were he of the world, he could live on the world, but having been taught by divine grace to aspire after something nobler and better, the loss is exceedingly grievous to his spirit. I question whether most Christians do not sometimes lose the enjoyment of the Lord’s company. I question yet further whether there are not many professing Christians who live contentedly under that loss—nor can I account for this, except on the supposition that they can have known but little of that presence in their best estate.
5:16 “He is absolutely desirable.” No words can ever express the gratitude we owe him who loved us even when we were dead in trespasses and sins. The love of Jesus is unutterably precious and worthy of daily praise. No songs can ever fitly celebrate the triumphs of that salvation that he worked single-handedly on our behalf. The work of Jesus is glorious beyond comparison, and all the harps of angels fall short of its worthy honor. Yet I do believe, and my heart prompts me to say, that the highest praise of every ransomed soul and of the entire Christian church should be offered to the blessed person of Jesus Christ, our adorable Lord. The love of his heart is excelled by the heart that gave forth that love, and the wonders of his hand are outdone by the hand itself, which worked those godlike miracles of grace. We ought to bless him for what he has done for us as mediator in the place of humble service under the law, for what he suffered for us as substitute on the altar of sacrifice from before the foundation of the world, and for what he is doing for us as advocate in the place of highest honor at the right hand of the Majesty on high. But still, the best thing about Christ is Christ himself.
B 5:1 Or Drink your fill, lovers
B 5:10 Or is radiant and ruddy
C 5:11 Or is like palm leaves ; Hb obscure
D 5:12 Lit milk sitting in fullness
6Where has your love gone,
most beautiful of women?
Which way has he I turned?
We will seek him with you.
2My love has gone down to his garden,
to beds of spice,
to feed in the gardens
and gather lilies.
3I am my love’s and my love is mine;
he feeds among the lilies.
4You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,
lovely as Jerusalem,
awe-inspiring as an army with banners.
5Turn your eyes away from me,
for they captivate me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down from Gilead.
6Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
coming up from washing,
each one having a twin,
and not one missing. A
7Behind your veil,
your brow B is like a slice of pomegranate.
8There are sixty queens
and eighty concubines
and young women C without number.
9But my dove, my virtuous one, is unique;
she is the favorite of her mother,
perfect to the one who gave her birth.
Women see her and declare her fortunate;
queens and concubines also, and they sing her praises:
10Who is this who shines like the dawn,
as beautiful as the moon,
bright as the sun,
awe-inspiring as an army with banners?
11I came down to the walnut grove
to see the blossoms of the valley,
to see if the vines were budding
and the pomegranates blooming.
12I didn’t know what was happening to me.
I felt like I was
in a chariot with a nobleman. D
13Come back, come back, Shulammite! E
Come back, come back, that we may look at you!
How you gaze at the Shulammite,
as you look at the dance of the two camps! F
6:4 “You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling, lovely as Jerusalem, awe-inspiring as an army with banners.” The most accurate judgment we are likely to get of a woman is that of her husband. The author of Proverbs 31 says concerning the virtuous woman, “Her husband also praises her” (Pr 31:28). Of that fairest among women, the church of Christ, the same observation may be made. It is to her of small consequence to be judged by human judgment, but it is her honor and joy to stand well in the love and esteem of her royal spouse, the Prince Emmanuel. Though the words before us are allegorical, and the whole song is crowded with metaphor and parable, yet the teaching is plain enough in this instance; it is evident that the divine Bridegroom gives his bride a high place in his heart, and to him, whatever she may be to others, she is fair, lovely, comely, beautiful, and in the eyes of his love without a spot.
6:13 “Come back, come back, Shulammite! Come back, come back, that we may look at you!” The translation into the word “Shulammite” is unhappy; it is unmusical and misses the meaning. The Hebrew word is a feminine of “Solomon.” “Solomon” may stand for the bridegroom’s name, and then the well-beloved bride takes her husband’s name in a feminine form of it, which is Shulamith, Salome, or perhaps better “Solyma.” The King has given his name to her. He is the Prince of Peace, and she is the daughter of peace.
A soul redeemed by blood and brought by the Holy Spirit into a loving, living, lasting union with the beloved cannot remain unnoticed. Solomon is known all over the world; he is sought after for his wisdom. Therefore, Solyma will shine with something of his brightness, and she will be inquired after too. In the church of God no one lives to himself or travels through the world unwatched. If we are interested in Christ, heaven and earth and hell will be interested in us. A pilgrim bound for the celestial city cannot go through the world, even through the worst part of it, such as Vanity Fair, without being noticed and questioned and sought after—and, if possible, ensnared. We who have been made a living soul by the quickening of the Holy Spirit should not think we can just glide through this world as the spiritually dead can do. They may be quietly borne along to the place of corruption, but the life within us is too strange, too operative to be overlooked. We are a wonder to many, and we may well be so, for God has worked great marvels in us and for us. We are the Lord’s witnesses, and witnesses must not sulk away in the background or remain mute.
A 6:6 Lit and no one bereaved among them
B 6:7 Or temple, or cheek, or lips
7How beautiful are your sandaled feet, princess! A
The curves of your thighs are like jewelry,
the handiwork of a master.
2Your navel is a rounded bowl;
it never lacks mixed wine.
Your belly is a mound of wheat
surrounded by lilies.
3Your breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.
4Your neck is like a tower of ivory,
your eyes like pools in Heshbon
by Bath-rabbim’s gate.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon
looking toward Damascus.
5Your head crowns you B like Mount Carmel,
the hair of your head like purple cloth —
a king could be held captive in your tresses.
6How beautiful you are and how pleasant,
my love, with such delights!
7Your stature is like a palm tree;
your breasts are clusters of fruit.
8I said, “I will climb the palm tree
and take hold of its fruit.”
May your breasts be like clusters of grapes,
and the fragrance of your breath like apricots.
9Your mouth C is like fine wine —
flowing smoothly for my love,
gliding past my lips and teeth! D
10I am my love’s,
and his desire is for me.
11Come, my love,
let’s go to the field;
let’s spend the night among the henna blossoms. E
12Let’s go early to the vineyards;
let’s see if the vine has budded,
if the blossom has opened,
if the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I will give you my caresses.
13The mandrakes give off a fragrance,
and at our doors is every delicacy,
both new and old.
I have treasured them up for you, my love.
7:11-12 “Come, my love, let’s go to the field; let’s spend the night among the henna blossoms. Let’s go early to the vineyards; let’s see if the vine has budded, if the blossom has opened, if the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my caresses.” Notice first that love is the great motive for action in the cause of Christ. All through these verses the spouse acts with reference to her beloved. It is for him that she goes into the field; for the sake of his company and the quiet enjoyment of his love she would lodge in the villages, and all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which are stored within her gates, she declares to be laid up for her beloved. Love, then, is the fittest and most powerful motive to holy service. “The love of Christ compels us” (2Co 5:14).
Notice next that love leads us to go afield in the service of Jesus. A loving church spontaneously puts herself in widened service; she has a large heart toward her Lord and longs to see him reign over all mankind. She does not wait to hear, again and again, the Macedonian’s cry, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us!” (Ac 16:9), but she is prompt in mission enterprise. She does not tarry until she is forced by persecution to go abroad everywhere preaching the Word of God (Ac 8:1), but she sends out her champions far and wide. As sure as she loves her Lord, she asks herself the question, “What more can I do for him?
8If only I could treat you like my brother, F
one who nursed at my mother’s breasts,
I would find you in public and kiss you,
and no one would scorn me.
2I would lead you, I would take you,
to the house of my mother who taught me. A
I would give you spiced wine to drink
from the juice of my pomegranate.
3May his left hand be under my head,
and his right arm embrace me.
4Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you,
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.
5Who is this coming up from the wilderness,
leaning on the one she loves?
I awakened you under the apricot tree.
There your mother conceived you;
there she conceived and gave you birth.
6Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal on your arm.
For love is as strong as death;
jealousy is as unrelenting as Sheol.
Love’s flames are fiery flames —
an almighty flame! B
7A huge torrent cannot extinguish love;
rivers cannot sweep it away.
If a man were to give all his wealth C for love,
it would be utterly scorned.
8Our sister is young;
she has no breasts.
What will we do for our sister
on the day she is spoken for?
9If she is a wall,
we will build a silver barricade on her.
If she is a door,
we will enclose her with cedar planks.
10I am D a wall
and my breasts like towers.
So in his eyes I have become
11Solomon owned a vineyard in Baal-hamon.
He leased the vineyard to tenants.
Each was to bring for his fruit
one thousand pieces of silver.
12I have my own vineyard. A
The one thousand are for you, Solomon,
but two hundred for those who take care of its fruits.
13You B who dwell in the gardens,
companions are listening for your voice;
let me hear you!
14Run away with me, C my love,
and be like a gazelle
or a young stag
on the mountains of spices.
8:6 “Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death; jealousy is as unrelenting as Sheol. Love’s flames are fiery flames—an almighty flame!” This is certainly true of creature love. It is a mighty, all-constraining, irresistible passion. Even the love of friendship occasionally has proved itself to be “strong as death.” “No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13). There have been those who were willing to sacrifice their lives for their friends. Filial affection has sometimes proven to be more than a match for the terrors of the grave. Nor do we lack painful proofs of the converse proposition as it is stated in the next clause of our text. Jealousy has often proved itself “as unrelenting as Sheol.”
The Song of Songs, however, is spiritual, or else it has no claim on our attention—its very inspiration was incredible. We cannot imagine the Holy Spirit giving us this song merely for the purpose of entertaining us with the figures and metaphors of eastern allegory. There must be a deep and hidden meaning in it. It will be fair to say that there are two high spiritual forms of love and jealousy and that our text is lucid in its description of both: first, the love and jealousy of the saints with regard to Christ; and secondly, the love and jealousy of Christ with regard to his saints. The saints have received, by the Holy Spirit, a love of Christ that is “strong as death.” How strong is death? So strong is he, that he has up to now reigned as a universal monarch. Nor will he ever resign his scepter until he comes whose kingdom will have no end. Behold the love of our Lord Jesus Christ! It is as strong as death! It can and it does overcome all adversaries—yes, even death itself.
8:7 “If a man were to give all his wealth for love, it would be utterly scorned.” You cannot purchase love. If it is true love, it will not run on rails of gold. Many a marriage would have been a very happy one if there had been a tenth as much love as there was wealth. And sometimes love will come in at the cottage door and make the home bright and blest, when it refuses to recline on the downy pillows of the palace. Rest assured that this is pre-eminently true when we get into higher regions—when we come to think of the love of Jesus, and when we think of that love that springs up in the human heart towards Jesus when the Spirit of God has renewed the heart and shed abroad the love of God within the soul. Neither Christ’s love to us nor our love to him can be purchased. Neither of those could be bartered for gold or rubies or diamonds or the most precious crystal. If someone should offer to give all the substance of his house for either of these forms of love, it would be utterly despised.
8:11-12 “Solomon owned a vineyard in Baal-hamon. He leased the vineyard to tenants. Each was to bring for his fruit one thousand pieces of silver. I have my own vineyard. The one thousand are for you, Solomon, but two hundred for those who take care of its fruits.” The great husbandman has graciously leased his vineyard out to me, that I may keep it and dress it. He has made it mine for the time being. I have some ground to till, some plants to tend, some vines to prune. It may not be a very large vineyard, but still, it is mine, and I am accountable for it and must look well to it. It is before me. I am thinking of it. I am caring for it, I am praying about it. This is our resolve—that our greater Solomon should have the profits and proceeds of his own vineyard. It is ours on lease, but the title is his. He must have a thousand, and we are content with our share of the vintage—joyful and glad that we may have “two hundred.”
8:14 “Run away with me, my love, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.” The Song of Songs describes the love of Jesus Christ to his people, and it ends with an intense desire on the part of the church that the Lord Jesus should come back to her. The last word of the lover to the beloved is, in effect, “Speed your return; make haste and come back for me.” Is it not somewhat singular that, as the last verse of the book of love has this note in it, so the last verses of the whole book of God, which I may also call the book of love, have that same thought in them? At the twentieth verse of the last chapter of Revelation, we read, “He who testifies about these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!” The song of love and the book of love end in almost the same way—with a strong desire for Christ’s speedy return.
F 8:1 Lit Would that you were like a brother to me
A 8:2 LXX adds and into the chamber of the one who bore me
B 8:6 Or the blaze of the LORD
C 8:7 Lit all the wealth of his house
F 8:10 In Hb, the word for peace sounds similar to Solomon and Shulammite.
A 8:12 Lit My vineyard, which is mine, is before me ; Sg 1:6