Song of Songs- Free Bible Commentary in easy English (2024)

The Bible’s Love Poem

An EasyEnglish BibleVersion and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on the Song of Songs

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Commentary: Keith Simons. Translation: Mark Kirkpatrick

This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

Words in boxes are from the Bible.

A word list at the end explains words with a *star by them.

The Song of Songs (also called the Song of Solomon) is a poemabout love between a man and a woman. They love each other deeply, and later,they marry.

The author of the Song probably lived about the same time as KingSolomon. It is possible that Solomon himself wrote the Song. But Solomon hadvery many wives. And this Song is about one man’s love for one woman. So it ishard to see how Solomon could be the author. Therefore, many people think thatsomeone else wrote it. If so, that person wanted to give honour to Solomon, whowas famous as Israel’s wisest king. So the author used Solomon’s name as thename of the man in the poem. And he also used the word *Shulamite, which is thefemale form of Solomon’s name, to refer to the woman.

There are many different opinions about the meaning and thepurpose of the Song. You can read more about these opinions in the separateBible Commentaries that our team members have written. But this Commentary is asimpler one. Its purpose is to explain the subjects that are clear in the Song.

Bible students disagree about the meaning of the Song:

·Some Bible Students think that the Song is simply apoem about love. That is, the love that a man and a woman have for each other.

·Other Bible Students think that the Song is about God’slove for his people. The man is a word picture for God. And the woman is a wordpicture for the person who loves God.

Bible students also disagree about the purpose of theSong:

·Some Bible Students think that the Song is simply abeautiful poem.

·Other Bible Students think that the Song’s purpose isto teach lessons about love.

We know that for about 2000 years, people have used the Song toteach about love for God. But we do not know how people used the Song beforethat.

Lessons in the Song of Songs

Because the Song of Songs is a poem, it does not contain clearinstructions like some other Bible books. If we want to learn from it, we mustlearn from the attitudes and actions of the people in the Song.

If the Song is about human love, then the main lessons are aboutthe ideal relationships between men and women:

·At the time of the Song, men often married many wives.But the Song shows love between one man and one woman.

·The Song emphasises greatly the importance of lovein a married couple’s relationship. It is wrong when husbands and wivescontinuously force each other to do things. They should respect each otherbecause they love each other.

·The Song shows how beautiful it is for a husband andwife to be loyal to each other. Elsewhere, the Bible teaches that sexshould only happen between a man and woman after their marriage. And aftermarriage, people must continue to be loyal to their husbands and wives. It isvery wrong when they have sex with other people.

·The Song emphasises that love is a decision. Itis not merely an emotion. A husband and wife should choose to love each other.And then their love for each other will grow and increase.

If the Song is about God’s relationship with people, then thelessons are similar:

·A person’s relationship with God should be a personalrelationship. Someone does not become a Christian because that person’s familyare Christians. It does not happen because someone is born in a Christiannation. It only happens when that person begins his or her own personalrelationship with God.

·Love is very important in a person’srelationship with God. In fact, Jesus taught that this was the most importantof all God’s commands. ‘Love the *Lord your God with all your heart…’ (Mark12:29-30).

·People must be completely loyal to God. And theymust trust God completely. Elsewhere, the Bible speaks about people who werenot completely loyal to God. Perhaps they wanted to serve false gods as well asthe real one. Or perhaps they were unwilling to trust God.

·A person’s relationship with God begins when thatperson decides to love God. It is a decision – the person’s emotions andfeelings are unimportant. Of course, afterwards, the person will discover thismost wonderful fact: God already chose that person (1 John 4:10)! It is God whomade it possible for that person to love him. Afterwards, the person’s love forGod does not remain the same. It grows and increases.

The change in the woman’s life

Of course marriage brings about a great change in the lives ofboth the man and the woman. The Song of Songs emphasises how much the marriagechanges the young woman’s life. At the beginning, the woman is working for herbrothers, who deal cruelly with her (1:6). They have power over her life, andthey use that power for their own advantage. She works hard in the hot sun. Soshe complains that her skin is dark. Probably, she is aware that other peopledo not respect her. Perhaps she is afraid that a young man will thereforeconsider her unattractive. However, the young man who truly loves her respectsher greatly. He can see that she will be a beautiful wife for him (1:8).

That young man’s love for her made it possible for a great changeto happen in this young woman’s life. It was the custom in ancient Israel thatmen had to pay a price for their brides (Genesis 29:15-27). That payment freedthem from the control of their family. So because of their marriage, this youngwoman becomes free from the control of her brothers.

Many men in the ancient world, as today, used their wivescruelly. However, that is not how God wants husbands and wives to live(Ephesians 5:22-33). In the Song of Songs, the young man marries the womanbecause he truly loves her. He does not marry her because of any desire tocontrol her. 1 Corinthians 13:4-6 describes well the kind of love that he showsto her. He truly cares about her; their wedding is just the beginning of theirlove.

The young man does not marry her for his own advantage. However,in the end, he gains much from their marriage (8:12; Proverbs 31:10-31). Thatis because the young woman uses her freedom to express her love to him. Beforeher marriage, she worked hard, but she gained no reward for her effort. Now herwork brings her great rewards (8:12). However, true love does not cause aperson to be selfish, but to be generous. Many people benefit from heractivities now – but her greatest love, and therefore her greatest reward, isfor her husband.

The start of the couple’s love

The title

v1 The most beautiful of songs. For Solomon.

The young woman

Friends

The young woman

The young man

The young woman

The young man

The young woman

Verses 2-3

From the beginning, the woman feels very strong desires for theman. And his desire for her is very strong too. Even his name seems special toher. But they do not yet have a real relationship. As the woman says in verse3, other women feel love for the man, too.

Verse 4

By the ‘king’, the poet means the young man. Sometimes the poetdescribes him as a king, but sometimes as a *shepherd. It is already clear thatthe young woman wants to marry him.

In the middle of verse 4, a group of people add to what the womanhas said. We do not know who they really were. We have called them the‘friends’ here. They praise the young man. It is clear that they agree with theyoung woman’s description of the man.

Verses 5-6

The woman emphasises the darkness of her skin. It is dark becauseshe has to work outside. She worries that the young man will not like this. Herskin is dark, like the tents of the Arabs who lived in Kedar. Their tents wereprobably very plain. But her skin is also beautiful. It is like the curtainsthat the king owned.

The woman’s brothers were strict with her. They did not allow herto look after her own possessions. They gave her many tasks.

Verse 7

The woman wants to be with the young man. The poet now describeshim as a *shepherd. A *shepherd has to wander to many places as he leads hissheep. So people will not know where to find him. But this woman wants to findhim.

Verse 8

The man replies that it is easy to find him. She should simplyfollow the route that his sheep have gone. There, she will find him. And shecan bring her own animals with her. It is his desire that she should be withhim.

Verse 9

Experts do not think that *mares actually pulled the *chariots ofPharaoh (the king of Egypt). But the fact is unimportant in the poem. Clearly,the young man does not think that the woman’s dark skin makes her unattractive.In fact, he thinks that she is impressive. Those royal horses were tall,beautiful and very strong.

Verses 10-11

The young man considers that she is very beautiful. But he wantsto make her even more beautiful. Gold and silver would make her seem so pretty!

Verse 12

The poet mentioned the idea of royal things in verse 9. Hereagain he describes the young man as a king. But the young woman seems presentall round him! The smell of her *perfume is everywhere. It is as if he cannotescape her! But of course, he does not want to escape her.

Verse 13

And she does not want to escape him either! She wants him to bepresent with her always. She wants him to be like a small quantity of precious*perfume that she carries about her body.

Verse 14

Engedi is a special place. It is a beautiful village with gardensthat is in the middle of a desert. So these flowers, which came all the wayfrom those gardens, would seem very special. That is how special this womanconsiders this man to be.

Verses 15-17

They express how attractive they consider each other to be. Andtogether, they start to describe a word picture of their love. They are like*doves. And like *doves, green leaves surround them. And like *doves, they willchoose a home in the forest. The trees become the beams and the ceiling oftheir house. People would use those trees to build a beautiful wooden house.

The man and woman are not actually building a house. This is justa word picture.

The right time for love

The young woman

The young man

The young woman

The young woman

The young man

The young woman

Verses 1-2

The man and woman seem to disagree with each other here. In verse1, she explains that she is like a common flower. That is, of course, verydifferent from her description of him in 1:14. She is saying that there aremany other women like her. She does not consider herself special.

But in verse 2, the young man does not agree with her. He agreesthat she is like such a flower. But only if one compares that flower with*thorns. Of course, *thorns are not attractive. But he considers her veryprecious and attractive.

Verses 3-6

She continues the conversation with a similar description of him.He is like an apple tree. But that tree is not in a garden where there are manyother similar trees. It is in the forest, where she is very pleased to find it.And that tree is wonderful. It provides shade from the hot sun. It provides ameal of fruit. That fruit will make her strong. She needs to be strong, becauseshe feels weak. Love seems so powerful an emotion that it has made her weak.And he seems to be the only remedy!

Verse 7

This is a very important verse in the Song. It appears here, in3:5, and in 8:4. The woman urges people to make a serious promise. There is aproper time to express love. It is so important not to do that before theproper time.

The woman speaks about wild *gazelles and *deer as she says this.That is because wild *gazelles and *deer know the proper season to mate. Thisfact is very clear from their behaviour. Nobody tells them when the right timeis. But they already know it.

However, people often find it much more difficult to work outwhen the right time is.

Verses 8-9

The young woman has spoken about the wild *gazelles and *deer.And now she sees one. Actually, she does not see an animal. She sees the youngman. But he seems like a wild *gazelle or a *deer to her.

That is because he seems to know the right time for theirmarriage! He is so pleased to come to her. But he comes gently. He does notforce his way into her home. He will not force her to do anything. But he willinvite her to marry him.

Verses 10-13

The young man’s invitation is very gentle. He is simply trying toprove that the right time for marriage has arrived. He describes a series ofevents in nature. These events happen between winter and spring. They happen inthe order that he describes. The birds are singing. The plants are flowering.They all know the right time. And so, he argues, now is the right time fortheir marriage, too.

Verse 14

At the end of the events in verses 10-13, the *doves build theirnests in the cliffs. So the man says that the woman is ‘like a *dove’. He hopesthat she will agree to marry. Then, like the *doves with their nests, the manand woman will be able to have a home together.

Verse 15

Love is not without danger. In verse 13, the man compared theirlove to the flowers in the *vineyard. Young *foxes will spoil the young fruitsthat grow in a *vineyard. Unless the farmer catches them, there will be noharvest from the *vines.

And unless the young woman acts now, their marriage cannot happenyet. So their love will not bring about any permanent result. It will just bean emotion that may disappear.

Verse 16-17

Verse 16 is another important verse. Similar words appear here,in 6:3 and 7:10. Each time, the words change slightly. They show how thewoman’s attitudes become more mature.

Here, she seems to respect the man only slightly. Yes, she loveshim. But his love is like her love, she says. She again speaks about theflowers in 2:1. There, she said that there were many women like her. Now, shesays that he is like a *gazelle. He is choosing a flower, and he has manyflowers to choose from. So the man speaks nice words. But she pretends that hewould speak those words to other women too.

Like the *gazelle, he must turn and go to the mountains. Theremay be a proper time for their love. But she is not ready. He must go away.

The right time

This man and woman cared very much about the right time for theirmarriage. They did not want to do anything too quickly. Instead, they waiteduntil they were both ready to become engaged.

During this period of history, people studied very much how to bewise. One of the things that they studied was the right time to do things(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). So, as the man and woman thought about the right time formarriage, they too were studying wisdom. Perhaps that is why the Song of Songsis among the Bible’s wisdom books.

Still today, young people care very much about the right time todo things. They ask when it is right to hug or to kiss. They ask whether theyshould be alone together. They want to know when they may have sex. Theyinquire when they ought to become engaged or to marry.

The Bible gives clear instructions about some of these matters.For example, it says that a man and a woman should not have sex before theirmarriage.

But there are other matters where the Bible does not give clearanswers. For example, different societies have different ideas about when it isright to hug or to kiss. But the Bible does encourage us to study to be wise.And if we study to be wise, we shall learn good answers. So, it is never wiseto allow your emotions to become out of control. And you should never putyourself in danger with someone who may not be responsible.

Also, the Bible does not say at what age a person should marry.But it does teach that the married relationship should last. It should continuefor the whole life of the husband and wife. So you should not marry until youare ready to make such an important and permanent decision.

Many people teach that the Song of Songs is mainly about aperson’s relationship with God. And there is also a right time to begin arelationship with God. That time is called ‘today’ (Hebrews 4:7)! Also, therewill be a future time when Jesus will return. He will return like a bridegroomwho comes to marry his bride. Only God the Father knows that time (Mark 13:32).But it will happen – at the right time!

The young woman looks for the young man

The young woman

Verse 1

The Bible often uses darkness as a word picture for the state ofsomeone who has made a foolish decision. This woman refused when the manproposed marriage to her. Of course, it is not foolish to be cautious. One mustbe especially careful about such an important matter as the decision to marry.But it is foolish to act without proper thought.

This woman felt genuine love in her heart for the man. He showedher in chapter 2 that the time was right for their marriage. But she stillrefused his request to marry. She knew her decision was foolish. That is whyshe could not sleep.

Verse 2

It can be hard to make things right after you have made a foolishmistake. It would have been much easier for this woman if she agreed to marryat the right time. She had her opportunity when he asked her to marry inchapter 2.

But now she must deal with the matter.

Verse 3

Most people lived in ‘cities’. They were not particularly large –today we might consider them to be small towns. But even the small ones hadstrong walls round them. At nightfall, the city’s guards would lock the gates.Nobody could enter or leave the city until morning. During the night, theguards would walk about the streets or they would watch from the walls. Theywould suspect anyone who moved about the city during the night.

Verse 4

The woman was, of course, very pleased to find the man. And shewas desperate not to repeat her previous mistake. She urged him to come withher. She took him home, to meet her mother. It was the custom for mothers tomake arrangements for a marriage (see also verse 11).

The passage does not actually say why the man met the mother.That is probably because any reader would recognise the customs at that time.The man had to meet the mother in order to arrange his marriage to the woman.Together, they would work out the arrangements for the marriage.

So, the man and the woman would become engaged. In other words,they made a serious promise to marry each other.

Verse 5

When the woman spoke these words in 2:7, she seemed unsure aboutthe right time for marriage. Now she seems sure. And she is eagerly makingarrangements for her marriage.

The order of events

It is clear that 1:1 to 3:5 describe events before the marriage.And it is clear that 7:1 to 8:14 describe events afterwards. But the middlesection of the Song is less clear. It contains some events, and some passagesthat describe the couple’s love. It is clear that the man and woman becomeengaged and married during the middle section of the Song. But it is hard torecognise the series of events.

That is probably because people had complex traditions for theirweddings. And today, we do not know about all of these traditions. There issome useful information about marriage traditions in the Bible:

·Genesis chapters 24 and 29, Judges chapter 14 and theBook of Ruth contain information about more ancient traditions. It is hard toknow the dates of these passages. Those weddings in the Book of Genesis mayhave happened 900 years before Solomon’s rule. The other ones seem to bebetween 100 and 300 years before Solomon’s rule.

·John chapter 2 contains information about more recenttraditions. The wedding in that passage happened about 1000 years afterSolomon’s rule.

We do not know the date of the Song of Songs. If the poet wroteit during Solomon’s rule, then its date was about 950 B.C. (years beforeChrist). But some Bible students think that the book has a much later date.

These seem to be the traditions at the time of the Song of Songs:

(1) Before they became engaged, unmarried men and women would notnormally meet each other. They certainly would not meet in private. Possibly,they would not even speak to each other. (So, the conversation in the Song ofSongs may just be the poet’s way to describe their thoughts.)

(2) When a man and woman wanted to marry, they became engaged.This means that they made a serious promise to marry each other. There wereprobably happy parties at this time.

(3) After the man and woman became engaged, they would not livetogether. And they would not have sex until after their marriage. Often, theman left the woman during this period. He would go back to the town where hisfamily lived. He would prepare a home where he and his bride would live aftertheir marriage.

(4) Several months or even years might pass before the actualmarriage. But when the man was ready, he would come to collect his bride. Thisevent would be their wedding. The man’s friends would come with him for thisspecial occasion. And at the bride’s home, there would be a series of specialparties. It seems that those parties usually lasted for several days.

The procession

The young woman

Verse 6

The poet begins to describe a wonderful procession. People inIsrael loved processions. They arranged them for many reasons. This one mightseem to be a military procession. But we read about wonderful smells in verse6. Those smells show us that this procession has a different purpose. In theSong, the poet often links those smells with the idea of love. So, clearly,this procession is a happy occasion because of the love that the man and womanhave. Perhaps this is their wedding. Or perhaps this happens because they arebecoming engaged.

Verses 7-8

This seems like a military procession again, because of thesoldiers. But as we have seen, it is not a military procession. It was theman’s friends who would come with him. And they seem so noble and strong thatthey are like soldiers!

And they seem to bring the king. But again, the poet describesthe young man as if he were the king. He is so noble and magnificent that heseems like the king!

Verses 9-10

King Solomon was famous for the things that he made. He used thebest materials for everything that he built. He built great palaces, and thesplendid temple (house of God) in Jerusalem.

This young man has behaved like King Solomon. He has madeeverything splendid in order to give pleasure and honour to the young woman.

Verse 11

The poet calls the people to come to the party! They will see howthis young man is like a king. They will see how his mother approves of themarriage. They will see how happy this occasion is.

About the beautiful young woman

The young man

The young woman

The young man

Friends

Chapter 4; Verses 1 and 2

For the first time, the man gives a description of the youngwoman. Sometimes he uses word pictures that may seem unusual to us today. Butthe meaning of the whole chapter is that she is beautiful. He appreciates hercompletely. He is very pleased that she loves him.

He looks at her carefully. Probably it was not proper for him tostare at her before they became engaged. But now he can look at her properly.And he can tell her how beautiful she is.

He uses many agricultural pictures. Her long hair reminds himabout a long procession of goats that come down from the mountains. Her teethremind him about how clean and white the sheep seem. And like the pairs ofsheep, her teeth match each other perfectly.

Verse 3

He describes her face. He cannot see it perfectly, because she iswearing a *veil. Even now, she is not ready to remove it. (It seems that Leahdid not remove her *veil until after the wedding night – Genesis 29:23-25.)This woman is still wearing her *veil in 6:7. But it seems that she removes itat the start of chapter 7.

Verse 4

Her neck is tall and impressive. Soldiers would hang their*shields on the walls when they did not use them. And sometimes kings madesplendid gold *shields just to hang them on walls.

Verse 5

He repeats the same word picture that she used about him in 2:16.But this time, he is describing her breasts. It may hardly seem proper to dothat today!

People today often link breasts with the idea of sex. But at thetime of the Bible, people were very aware of the real purpose for a woman’sbreasts. Of course, it is to provide milk for babies. If a woman was unable toproduce milk, the baby was in great danger. If another mother could not help,the baby would certainly die.

So the man would link the breasts with the idea of whether theirbabies would live. It was very important to him that her breasts were healthy.

The female *gazelle’s breasts in the passage were healthy: shehad *twins. And she was strong and healthy enough to provide milk for themboth.

Verse 6

He continues to repeat her word picture from 2:17. But this time,he will go to a mountain where there are beautiful smells. The couple often usebeautiful smells as a word picture for their love. So, he has chosen to be withher. And together, they will be able to express their love for each other.

Verse 7

The man has now completed his description of the woman’s body. Itis as if he has examined it. And he has made his decision: it is perfect. Sheis completely beautiful! She is completely perfect!

Verse 8

The man now describes the adventure of his love with this woman.He must be brave – but his reward will be very special!

Lebanon

On several occasions, the poet mentions the country calledLebanon. This country is to the north of Israel, where the couple lived. Thepoet seems to use Lebanon as a word picture for the woman. It is interesting tocompare the two countries:

So the woman was beautiful. And her beauty was natural beauty. Itwas beauty that God had given to her. It was not the product of human effort.

The man felt as if he was going to another country to take awayits best products! To him, this felt a dangerous thing to do. But it was a veryexciting adventure!

Verses 9-11

He has many words to describe this beautiful young woman. Now, hechooses to describe her as a ‘sister’ or a ‘bride’. Of course, she is notactually his sister. These are just his fond words to describe her.

And he has words to describe her love. It is like wine, likemilk, or like honey. People considered these to be very special foods anddrinks. They are sweet, and they make people strong.

Again, he refers to the beautiful smells. It is not the smellsthat matter. It is the picture that they give to us of this couple’s love.

Verse 11 mentions ‘the smell of Lebanon’. That may seem a littlestrange; forests do not always have beautiful smells. Perhaps he refers to thesmell of wood from Lebanon. One of the best trees there is called the cedar.Its wood is one of the most precious woods; and it has a good smell.

Verses 12-16

This is a splendid description of a beautiful garden. We canlearn much about gardens in the Bible from this short passage.

This garden has a wall round it. That wall was important toprotect the plants from wild animals, like *foxes. And it also protected theplants from thieves. But walls in gardens are useful for other purposes too.Because of the walls, some plants can benefit from the shade or from the light.The walls can protect plants against cold. And they can also provide a warmerarea for plants that need it. The most skilled gardeners know how to use thewalls for these purposes.

There is a long list of the plants in the garden. Some of theseplants yield fruits. Most are plants that people have selected for theirbeautiful smells or for medicine. Some do not usually grow in Israel. It seemsthat, even then, people were importing plants for their own gardens.

Water is essential for every garden. In a dry country, likeIsrael, it is very important. Nothing will grow without a good supply of water.Here, the supply of water is so good that it seems to flow from Lebanon! Butthis garden does not depend on a supply from elsewhere. It has its own suppliesof water! It has wells and fountains! It has plentiful water, and that water isfresh!

So this is a description of a woman who has great skills. Shewill provide well for her family. She will work carefully to make their lifetogether successful. All these things seem to be a secret, like a garden behinda wall. But there is a surprise for us. The woman does not want this garden tobe secret! She wants the young man to enter the garden. In other words, shewants them to share married life together. And she wants the benefits of theirlove to be like a beautiful *perfume that everyone can smell. Everyone shouldenjoy such a beautiful place!

Chapter 5; Verse 1

Of course, the man is very pleased that the young woman hasinvited him into her life. And he is very pleased with everything that her lovebrings. He was right in 4:10-11. There is honey, wine and milk for him. Andthere are many beautiful smells, too!

The group of other people speak now. This is the first time thatthey have spoken since 1:4. Perhaps they have smelt the beautiful smells, asthe woman requested in 4:16. And they are pleased. They tell the man and womanto enjoy the love that they have for each other.

The second occasion when the young woman had to look for the young man

The young woman

The women in Jerusalem

The young woman

Verse 2

Although this passage is similar to 3:1-4, people consider itdifficult to understand. There are very many different ideas about its meaning.Some people say that these events happened on the night after the wedding, orsoon after that. Some people say that this was just a dream. So they think thatthese events never happened. And other people say that the woman is simplyremembering the events in chapter 3.

But the poet considered that his poem was complete without anyfurther explanation. So we are unwise to add any ideas that are not in theoriginal passage. In this commentary, we shall simply study the events that thepoet describes.

Again, these sad events happened by night. She was sleepinginside, and she had locked the door. He arrived at the closed door, and hespoke loving words to her.

In the past, she described how he spoke to her through the window(2:9). And on this occasion too, he tried to speak to her. He asked her to openthe door; probably because he wanted actually to see her. And now they wereengaged (or perhaps married). So, the customs of their society allowed him tosee her.

This event may have happened when they were engaged, but not yetmarried. If so, his visits to her might be very rare. It may have been severalmonths or even years since they became engaged. And this might be their firstopportunity to meet during all that time.

Verse 3

However, on this occasion, she refused to meet with him. Herreason was simply that it was not convenient. She did not want to make her feetdirty. She did not want to put her dress on again. (Notice that she would notsee him without her dress on. It mattered very much to this couple that theydid everything in a proper manner.)

She did not love him enough to do something that she consideredunpleasant.

Verses 4-5

The man very much wanted to see the woman. He tried to open thedoor from outside. However, she had locked the door, so he was not successful.

He remained outside. She had promised to love him. But when itwas not convenient, she was not willing to see him.

Verse 6

She quickly changed her mind. She saw that he wanted to be withher. And she decided to open the door. But it took time for her to put on herdress again. And when, at last, she had opened the door for him, she was toolate.

Again, she had made a wrong, foolish decision. She had delayedfor much too long. And the result was that she had lost her opportunity to bewith him.

It is interesting to compare this story with Jesus’ story inMatthew 25:1-13. Jesus’ message was that people must always be ready for hisreturn.

This woman was not ready for the man’s return, and that causedher many troubles. But there will be much, much worse troubles for those peoplewho are not ready for Jesus’ return. In time, this woman managed to deal withher troubles. But if people are not ready for Jesus’ return, they will never beable to deal with their troubles.

Verse 7

The city’s guards behaved in a very cruel manner to the woman.They probably did not believe that she was outside by night for a properreason. Thieves went out by night. Women who were not loyal to their husbandswould visit other men by night. There were murderers on the streets by night.And some women offered their bodies for sex by night. They all would use thedarkness to hide. And the guards did not want any of them to be about the city.

Verse 8

The woman’s situation felt hopeless. The man she loved hadreturned to her. But she sent him away. And she felt as if he would neverreturn. So, she asked the other women to help her. Perhaps they would showkindness to her. Perhaps they could speak to the man on her behalf. She askedthem to take a message to him. They should tell him that she is desperate forhis love.

Verse 9

The women in Jerusalem reply here and in 6:1 to the woman’srequest for help. There are two things that they want to know.

·Why is this man better than other men? (They ask thisin 5:9.)

·Where did he go? (They ask this in 6:1.)

Many people, like me, believe that the man in the Song is a wordpicture for God. The first question is an important one for us. Her reply to it(verses 10-16) describes how wonderful God is. But other people do not agree.They say that she is simply describing a wonderful man. And that man seems verywonderful to her because she loves him deeply.

Verse 10

He is so beautiful that his face seems to glow. It is a healthyred colour, like the colour of a man’s face after he has been working hard.

Verse 11

His head is so precious to her that she compares it with gold.His hair is the darkest black.

Verse 12

His eyes are so beautiful that they seem like precious stones.

Verse 13

Beautiful smells in the Song always seem to refer to love. Shedescribes many beautiful smells that remind her of him.

Verses 14-15

These substances are all strong and beautiful. His whole bodyseems so strong and powerful; but it is also very beautiful. Especially, thisis so about his arms and legs.

And he is tall, like the beautiful *cedar trees in Lebanon.

Verse 16

He speaks such beautiful words with his mouth.

This is the woman’s only complete description of the man. But theman describes the woman in three places: 4:1-7; 6:4-7 and 7:1-9. There areother astonishing descriptions of God, Jesus, or God’s glory (the beauty ofGod’s splendid greatness) in the Bible. See, for example, Ezekiel 1:26-28;Daniel 10:6 and Revelation 1:13-16. Those descriptions are rather similar tothis one.

The meeting between the young man and the young woman

The women in Jerusalem

The young woman

The young man

The women in Jerusalem

The young woman

The women in Jerusalem

The young man

Verse 1

In chapter 5, the woman refused to open her door when the manvisited her. The man went away, and then she changed her mind. She opened thedoor, but he had left. So she began to search desperately for him. She askedthe women in Jerusalem to help her. First, they asked her to describe the man.And then they asked her which way he went.

Verses 2-3

The woman knows where the man went. In fact, it was she who toldhim to go there (4:16)!

He has gone to the garden where there are many plants withbeautiful smells. Those beautiful smells are a word picture for their love. Shehas lost him, but he has found love! That is, he knows constant love for her.But for a short time, she seemed to forget her love for him.

She repeats phrases from 2:16-17. She spoke those phrases when hefirst proposed marriage to her. At that time, she was not ready for him or forhis love. But now she speaks these phrases because she is ready. She wantstheir love to be complete. She wants him to find the beautiful things thattheir love will provide.

When she expresses these thoughts, something wonderful happens.She discovers that he is very near to her. She worried so much that she hadlost him. But his love for her is as strong as it ever was. When, at last, shewas ready to love him, he was ready for her.

That is like God’s love. Elsewhere, the Bible compares God to ahusband whose wife has left him. (See especially the Book of Hosea.) Such ahusband may eagerly wait for his wife to return. And God eagerly waits forpeople to return to him. When people are ready to return to God, God is pleasedto receive them. (See also Luke chapter 15.)

Verse 4

The man begins another wonderful description of the woman. She islike the city called Jerusalem. Jerusalem was well-known for its beauty. Or sheis like the city called Tirzah. We do not know much about that city. Forseveral years, it was the capital city of the northern part of Israel. Probablytherefore, it had great houses and palaces.

Verses 5-7

For the second time, the man describes the woman’s body. On thisoccasion, he only describes her face. It is interesting that she is stillwearing her *veil. So he still cannot see her face clearly. This description islike the one in 4:1-3.

Verses 8-9

Since the beginning of chapter 3, the poet has been describinghow the couple became engaged and married. But often, we have not been surewhat events he is describing. That is because we do not know all thetraditions. Those traditions were, of course, very familiar to the firstreaders of the Song.

However, the poet is now describing traditions that seem morefamiliar.

At the end of the wedding parties, the bridegroom would take hisnew wife home. This seems to be the event that 6:8-13 describes. It isimportant to realise that those parties would usually last for several days. Sothe man and the woman were already married. And this was a final opportunityfor the woman’s friends and relatives to say goodbye to her.

It was the tradition that the wife’s family would try to delaythis occasion. They would urge the woman (and her new husband) to remain withthem. They would continue to arrange more parties that the couple would have toattend! They would give many excuses why the couple could not leave yet. Thestrongest example of this is perhaps Jacob. He had to remain with his wives’parents for another 14 years after the marriage. And still they did not wanthim to return home! (See Genesis chapters 29 to 31.)

In verse 8, the poet describes the many wives of different ranksthat kings often had. King Solomon was well-known for all his wives! He marriedthem for political reasons. When he wanted to make peace with another king, hemarried that king’s daughter. In the end, he had 700 wives and 300 women oflower rank. He built palaces for them in Jerusalem.

There were all these beautiful women in Jerusalem. But if thisman could choose any of the women in the palace, he would still choose thiswoman. In fact, if he could choose any of the beautiful young women in Israel,he would not select another woman. That is how special he considers her. Thatis how much he loves her.

And it was not just the man who praised her. Everyone inJerusalem could see her beautiful character. Even the queens and the otherwomen in the palace praised her.

Verse 10

Some translations consider that verses 10-12 are the words of theman. We cannot be sure.

But in our translation, the women in Jerusalem speak the words inverse 10. As the man said in verse 9, they praise her. They compare her withfour different things that give light.

Previously the man has compared her with things that givebeautiful smells. And now the people compare her with things that give light.The meaning of these word pictures is probably similar. She impresses people.Her beauty, her wisdom and her kindness seem so wonderful. Everyone benefitswhen she is with them.

Verse 11

When the woman wanted to know the right time for love, the manadvised her to look at nature (2:10-15). The plants and animals seem to knowthe right time for love. And now the young woman followed this advice. Sheexamined the plants, as a farmer would examine them. She saw that, in Spring,they were beginning to grow. And this was like a promise that there would befruit and nuts in the Autumn.

Verse 12

This is a difficult verse to understand. It seems to mean that,at once, it was time for her to enter her husband’s *chariot. That may be thecarriage in 3:7. But she uses a different word for it in the original language.

It was time for her to leave with her husband. Again, she usesroyal words to describe him. On this occasion, he seems like a king or aprince. And she is like the queen who rides next to him.

Verse 13

The woman’s friends and family do not want her to leave. Sheseems so wonderful that they want her to stay! They want to look at this womanwho seems to give light (verse 10)! They urge her not to leave them.

They use the word *Shulamite to describe her. That may mean thatshe is from the town called Shulem. But the word is also the female form of thename Solomon. And Solomon is the name that the poet uses for the young man.

So when the people call her the ‘*Shulamite’, perhaps they meanthis. They know that she belongs to her husband. She does not still belong tothem. They have no right to order her to remain with them. They realise thatshe must leave. But they feel desperate for her to stay.

She does not reply. Her new husband replies on her behalf. Theywant to look at her as they look at a dancer. He says that her dance has aname: ‘Mahanaim’.

Mahanaim was the name of a town in Israel. The Bible mentions itin a few places. But it seems that the dance has this name because of theword’s meaning. Mahanaim means ‘two armies’ or ‘two camps’. There are manydifferent translations of this phrase. Here are some of them:

So she was moving between one side and the other side. Perhapsshe was actually doing this as she danced. Or perhaps this was just a wordpicture. She was moving from her friends and family towards her new husband.And soon she would leave them permanently to be with him.

The description of the young woman

The young man

The young woman

Verse 1

This passage seems to continue from 6:13. The man may be describingher as she dances. But this description is different from the two previous ones(4:1-7 and 6:4-7). It is different because:

·He describes the lower part of her body for the firsttime. On the previous occasions, he only mentioned her head and her breasts. Onthis occasion, he also mentions her legs, her feet and her stomach.

·Again for the first time, he does not mention a *veilin the description.

There is probably the same reason for both of these. The man andwoman are now married. They are husband and wife.

Before this chapter, the man did not consider it proper to stareat her lower body. But when they became married, he had the right to do so.

Before this chapter, she wore the *veil so that he would not seeher face clearly. But after their marriage, she allowed him to see her withouta *veil.

These facts are important for young men and women today. Theyshould not just look at each other’s bodies. And they should not just undresstogether. They should ask themselves what is right to do. It is not right to dothese things just because of your emotions. And it is not right to do them justbecause you love someone. This man and woman would not do these things untilafter their marriage. They were always very careful to behave in a propermanner.

It is clear that this is not a description of sex. She is wearing*sandals. That fact shows that it may be a description of her dance (7:1).People would often lift their clothes as they danced (2 Samuel 6:20).

Everything that he sees is beautiful. Her feet and legs seemperfect. He would not guess that she had to work outside (1:6). Her feet arelike a princess’s feet!

Verse 2

Wine and wheat were among the most important and valuableagricultural products in Israel.

Verse 3

We have already seen this description in 4:5.

Verse 4

He said that her neck was like a *tower in 4:4. But now heimproves his description. It is like the precious substance called *ivory.*Ivory is white. So perhaps the *shields in 4:4 refer to a high collar. Andwhen she removed the collar, the skin of her neck was white. It was whitealthough her other skin was dark because of the sun (1:6).

Heshbon is in high hills above a valley. It was at one time aroyal city. There are pools in the valley near the steep path that goes intothe city.

Verse 5

On previous occasions, the description of her hair is like agroup of goats (4:1; 6:5). That seems to be a description of its length and itsquality. But now he considers her to be like a queen. So he selects royal wordsto describe her head and her hair. Our translation says that her hair is ‘longand smooth’, like ‘silk’. But the original language says that it is ‘likesomething purple’. Purple was the royal colour.

The man compares her head to a crown. Or, he says, it is like themountain called Carmel. Carmel is the richest place in its entire region.People can see it across much of Israel. Its soil is the best quality. Andpeople produce much wine and oil there.

Verse 6

He completes this last description of his wife. She is verybeautiful. She pleases him completely.

Verses 7-8

Next, he speaks about his desires for his wife. He says that sheseems as tall as a *palm tree.

Of course, she was not really as tall as a tree! The *palm is anespecially tall tree. And near the top, it carries its fruits. The fruits growin huge groups. They hang down in the same shape as a woman’s breasts.

The *palm tree produces very much fruit. And the man wants hiswife to have many, good results from her life. He wants her to have children.And of course, he wants her breasts to provide plentiful milk for them.

It is very difficult to climb a *palm tree. The person who climbsit must be brave! This man will be like the person who harvests fruit. He willachieve the best things that his relationship with his wife can bring. He knowsthat they will have problems and difficulties. But such matters do not frightenhim. He considers his wife to be so wonderful that these problems seemunimportant to him.

Verse 9

She adds that her desire is to provide the best things for herhusband.

Verse 10

This is the final form of the phrase that she used at 2:16 and6:3. This time, she shows a mature attitude. She has made a decision to giveher life to her husband. And she is very pleased that he wants her.

That is the right attitude for a wife. It is the right attitudefor a husband, too. A husband should give himself completely to his wife (Ephesians5:33).

Verses 11-12

The woman requests that she may go with her husband into thecountry. They need to examine the plants. This is a word picture that she usedbefore, in 6:11. Then, she was explaining how she understood about the righttime for marriage.

This time, she seems to speak about the right time to expresslove to her husband. The right time matters very much to a married couple whowant to have children. The Bible says not to have sex during the period in themonth when the woman bleeds (Leviticus 15:24). And it is wise for a woman toimprove her health before she tries to have a baby. If she is too weak, thebaby may not be strong enough.

Verse 13

Women would sometimes use the plants called mandrakes when theywanted a baby (Genesis 30:14). They were, perhaps, a type of medicine thatwould help the woman’s body.

The woman adds that she has many precious things for her husband.These gifts are things that are both old and new. She has saved themespecially. And they are all for him.

The power of love

The young woman

The women in Jerusalem

The young woman

Friends

The young woman

The young man

The young woman

Verse 1

Love is not just about the relationship between a bride and herbridegroom. It is much more wonderful even than that. In this chapter, the poetmentions some new subjects, like love between brothers and sisters. And thepoet shows how love continues after marriage and even to death. Love is, hesays, ‘as strong as death’ (verse 6). It seems that he wants to emphasise thegreatness and the power of love.

When this chapter begins, the man and woman are already married.Some people think that they may already have children. Certainly, the woman isthinking about how children behave. She imagines herself as a little girl. Shewishes that she knew her husband then! Her love for him is so wonderful. So shewishes that she had always known that love.

For a long time before their marriage, this man and woman lovedeach other. But they had to be very careful about their behaviour. They wereanxious only to do those things that were proper. In their society, a youngwoman would not kiss a young man whom she liked. But a little girl can kiss heryoung brother. Nobody thinks that such an act is wrong. So this woman imaginesthat the man was her brother. Then she could have always shown love to him,even in public.

Verse 2

Such a little girl can show love to her brother in many differentways. She can stay with him, and she can lead him about. She can take him intoher home. She can make a special drink for him.

That drink is wine. Its juice comes from *pomegranates. Itcontains *spices. Elsewhere in the Song, those things are all word pictures forlove. So, the girl is showing love to her brother. She is showing it by herdesire to look after him well. She wants him to be content and happy. So sheworks hard for him, and she gives him precious things. All of these things areexpressions of love. And this is real love.

We must not imagine that sex is the only way to express love. Andwe must not imagine that we can only have real love for our husbands and wives.Sex is only for husbands and their wives. But love for brothers and sisters canbe real love. Love for friends can be real love. Love for children and parentscan be real love. The Bible tells us that Christians should love each other,too. We express such love when we use our lives to help other people (see verse7).

Verses 3-4

The woman repeats her words from 2:6-7. If she were still alittle girl, she could show love for her brother. But at that time, she couldnot show love to the man who would become her husband. Even when she became ayoung woman, she could not express love to him until the right time. There is aproper time for love. And she knew that she had to wait for that time. As shewaited, she had to be careful about her behaviour with him. She could onlymarry him when the right time arrived. And only then did she have theopportunity to express her love to him completely.

Verse 5

As she walked, she leaned on him. She walked close to him. Andshe depended on his strength.

The passage that follows is difficult to understand. But it is abeautiful passage.

At its start, the passage mentions an apple tree. In 2:2-5, thewoman used an apple tree as a word picture for the man. She described how sheloved to sit in its shade and to eat its fruit.

Here, she links the tree with the idea of birth. The poet isshowing a relationship between love and birth. The poet’s style is impressive,because in the next verse he will write about death. He is making his poem muchmore serious. And he achieves this very suddenly. This makes the effect evenmore impressive.

Verse 6

A *seal is a mark. Its purpose is often to show that someone ownssomething. The mark is permanent. The woman mentions the *seal to say thattheir love is permanent. It will last for their whole lives. It is so powerfulthat they must never end it.

Love is as strong as death. This husband and wife will love eachother for as long as they both live. When one of them dies, the marriedrelationship will end. But the love will not end. The other one might remarry.But that person’s life will always be different because of the love that theoriginal married couple knew.

Death is powerful. It overcomes a person completely. But love isalso powerful. Love also overcomes a person completely. In fact, God’s love isso powerful that in the end, it will even defeat death (John 3:16; 1Corinthians 15:54; Revelation 21:2-4). When Jesus became alive again after hisdeath, he overcame the power of death (Romans 6:8-9).

Love is like fire. This is so for the same reason that love islike death. Fire too overcomes people completely. The Bible sometimes comparesdeath to a terrible animal that eats people alive! Fire is like that too;nobody can control it. And love is like that, but of course in an oppositemanner. It is powerful, but real love is always good. It always benefitspeople. It always helps people. It always is kind to people. Read 1 Corinthianschapter 13.

Verse 7

Plentiful water can put out a fire. But nothing can put out love.Nothing can destroy real love.

Love is not something that a person can buy. It is a gift. Oneperson gives it, without price, to another person. Or God gives it, withoutprice, to us.

Love does cost something. It costs the person who gives it. Itcosts that person’s life. That is so, because the person gives his or her lifeto another person. When a person marries, that person does not still havecomplete freedom. That person cannot still do whatever he or she wants to do.If a husband and wife genuinely love each other, that will affect their wholelives.

And God’s love too was not without cost. It cost the life of hisson, Jesus. He gave his life for us, because he loved us. And now he wants usto invite him into our lives. He wants to have the relationship with us thatonly his love could provide. We cannot earn that relationship and we cannot payfor it. But we can receive it, because he offers it to us as a free gift.

Verse 8

After such serious matters, the poet returns to the subject ofchildren.

The woman’s brothers were cruel to her. They forced her to workhard (1:6). But that is not a proper way for brothers to behave towards theiryounger sisters. It is clear from the Song that a woman’s purpose is not tolive like a slave. A young woman deserves proper honour. People should respecther.

So, the people discuss the proper way to look after a girl. Theytry to work out how they should prepare other girls to marry well.

This sister’s breasts are still small because she is just achild. She is not old enough to marry yet. But if her family want her to marrya good husband, they should start to prepare now.

Verse 9

The people answer their own question.

If people want a wall to be stronger, they build a *parapet overit. If people want a door to be stronger, they put boards round it. So, theanswer is clear. The family must look after the girl well. Then she will becomestronger.

But the family do not just want her to be stronger. They alsowant her to be more beautiful. And they want her to have a more pleasantcharacter.

If people use silver instead of stone, a wall would be verybeautiful and pleasant. If people use the best wood, their door would be verybeautiful and pleasant. So the family must train the girl well. And then shewill become a graceful and pleasant young woman.

Verse 10

The young woman seems pleased with the answer that the peoplehave given. She compares herself to a wall with strong *towers. By the *towers,she means her breasts. This is not how the man described her breasts earlier(7:3). He compared her breasts to small animals. But now she refers tosomething that everyone considered large.

A woman’s breasts become much larger when she produces milk for ababy. So it is possible that this verse shows that she has a baby. Noteverybody agrees about that. But clearly, she is saying that her breasts arestrong. And that they will make her family strong. When she does have a baby,that baby will have a good supply of milk. And, as a wall defends a city, sothis woman will defend her family well.

The result of this is that she has made her husband content. Heis content, and he is safe. The word ‘content’ here is the same as the word for‘safety’ or ‘peace’. She defends her family well – they are like a peacefulcity!

Verses 11-12

The woman returns to the subject of her *vineyard. She mentionedthat *vineyard in 1:6.

It was not usual for women to own their own land in ancientIsrael. Sometimes they might receive land after their fathers’ deaths, if theyhad no brothers. So we cannot really say how she began to own this land. Wecould guess that her father gave her the property to help her to find ahusband. But that is just a guess. Ruth had rights because of her family’sproperty in Ruth 4:3-5.

However, the Song says that this woman had her own *vineyard.Before her marriage, she neglected it. She did not want to neglect it. But herbrothers forced her to work hard for them. So she did not have any time to lookafter her own *vineyard.

But now, after her marriage, she can manage her *vineyard. She isnot working there herself. But she has employed workmen. However, this is notjust a commercial arrangement, like the royal *vineyards in verse 11. Instead,the profits are her gift to her husband (whom she calls by the king’s name,Solomon). She gives him these rich profits because she wants to give a generousgift to her husband. She loves him, and this gift shows her love.

Verse 13

The gift in verse 12 is very precious. But the man does not justappreciate his wife’s gifts! He genuinely loves her. He loves to hear hervoice. He respects her, and he gives her honour. He asks her to end the Song.

Verse 14

Other people are present (verse 13), but the woman does not speakto them. Instead, she speaks only to her husband. She wants to show her love tohim alone. She invites him to join her. Like the *gazelles and the *deer, heknows the right time for love. And she does too. The right time is now. And theright place is the mountains, where beautiful smells fill the air.

With that lovely picture in words, the Song ends.

bee ~ a type of insect.

cedar ~ a type of tall tree, or wood from the cedar tree.

chariot ~ a vehicle with two wheels. A horse pulls it.

dear, dearest ~ someone that you love in a special way.

deer ~ an animal.

dew ~ small amounts of water that appear on the groundduring the night.

dove ~ a bird.

fig ~ a fruit.

flock ~ a group of sheep, goats or other animals.

fox ~ a wild animal that is like a small dog.

gazelle ~ an animal.

grape ~ a small soft fruit.

incense ~ a *spice that produces a sweet smell.

ivory ~ part of an elephant (called the ‘tusk’). It ishard and white. People use ivory to make beautiful things.

jewel ~ a precious stone.

leopard ~ a dangerous animal.

Lord ~ God.

lotus ~ a flower.

mandrake ~ a plant with white flowers; part of the plantcan look like a person. Women used this plant when they wanted to have babies.

marble ~ a very hard material; it is a type of stone; itcan have colours.

mare ~ a female horse.

myrrh ~ a substance that comes from trees; people use itin *incense.

necklace ~ precious stones that people wear on a chain orstring round their neck.

palm ~ a tree.

parapet ~ a low wall at the edge of a roof.

perfume ~ a sweet smell.

pomegranate ~ a fruit which is the size of an orange.

raven ~ a black bird.

sandal ~ a shoe that is open at the top.

seal ~ a design that marks something. People use it tomake an envelope, or something similar, safe.

shepherd ~ someone who looks after sheep.

shield ~ a board or a piece of metal that a soldier usesto protect himself.

Shulamite ~ the woman may be called the Shulamite becauseshe comes from a town called Shulem. But this word is also the female form ofthe name, Solomon.

spice ~ a special plant that has a strong smell and taste.People use spices to make *incense and *perfume.

thorns ~ plants with sharp points that can hurt.

tower ~ a tall building.

twin ~ one of a pair - both come from one mother in onebirth.

veil ~ a piece of cloth that a woman wears over her face.It is possible to see through it.

vine ~ a plant with fruit; grapes (a small, soft fruit)grow on them.

vineyards ~ a place where *vines grow.

virgin ~ a woman who has never had sex.

waist ~ the middle part of the body.

Various writings and sermons by C.H. Spurgeon, J. Wesley, G.Whitefield, H. Bonar and other important writers

Various articles from: The Temple Bible Dictionary editedby Ewing & Thomson; New International Bible Dictionary edited by D.Tenney; and the International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia edited by J.Orr

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible byJamieson, Fausset and Brown

Young’s Analytical Concordance

W.E. Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and NewTestament Words

The New Strong’s Expanded Dictionary of Bible Words

Bibles - NIV, KJV, NKJV, TEV, LITV, RSV, occasional use of Hebrewtext, and other translations

© 2016, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

April 2016

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