Since the Enlightenment, many different views on the explanation of the Song of Songs have arisen. Previously, it was almost universally accepted within the church and synagogue that the Song of Songs praises the love between Christ and His church or God and His people. In the sixteenth century, Sebastian Castellio was forced to leave Geneva, in part because he did not consider the Song of Songs to be an allegory. Since the Enlightenment, this view has been considered more and more outdated. It is commonly believed that the Song of Songs deals solely with the pure love between a man and a woman. Some exegetes take a middle position; in their opinion, love between a man and a woman as described in the Song of Songs points beyond itself and thus speaks about the love between Christ and His church. One advocate of this approach is L. H. Van der Meiden, who was Professor of Old Testament and Practical Theology at the Theological Seminary of the Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerken (the mother church of the Free Reformed Churches) in the Netherlands. [2] He characterizes his approach as “historical-Messianic-transparent.” Pure love between a man and a woman becomes transparent to reveal the love between Christ and His church. This is actually a kind of typological exegesis: the type points beyond itself. In Van der Meiden’s approach, the proper meaning of love between a man and a woman receives great emphasis. A similar approach is found in a volume about the Song of Songs written by Gerhard Maier, [3] although from the very beginning the reference to Christ and His church is more strongly emphasized than by Van der Meiden.
The Genre Of The Song Of Songs
The view that the Song of Songs solely describes the love between a man and a woman has been defended with an appeal to Egyptian love poetry dating from the eighteenth to the twentieth dynasty. However, there are just as many differences between the Song of Songs and Egyptian love poetry as there are similarities. Important differences include the fact that the Song of Songs, in contrast to Egyptian love poetry, is styled as a dialogue between the characters. [4]
Throughout the centuries, church and synagogue have understood the Song of Songs as a picture of the love between God and His people. This is the oldest known explanation of the book. That Rabbi Aqiba, who lived during the second half of the first century AD and the first half of the second century AD, assumed this explanation is clear. He says that those who sing the Song as though it were a secular song have no part in the world to come. Rabbi Aqiba also had a high opinion of marriage. This refutes the view that an allegorical understanding of the Song of Songs provides evidence of platonic influence. [5] We also find the Song of Songs as allegory in Midrash Rabba and the Targum to the Song of Songs. There it is assumed that Israel’s exodus from Egypt and the temple service are described in the Song of Songs. The medieval Jewish scholar Moses Maimonides believed that Solomon is singing about his love for wisdom.
In the Christian church, the allegorical explanation of the Song of Songs has been defended by Origen. Even before him, it is found in the writings of Hippolytus of Rome. This explanation was accepted into Reformed Protestantism via Bernard of Clairveaux. Within the Christian church, two emphases are found. One line of thought is that the bride in the Song of Songs is an image of the church as a whole; the other line applies it to individual Christians. Usually these lines cannot be strictly separated.
Thus church and synagogue have always read the Song of Songs as an allegory. No other love poetry has been included in the canon. Doesn’t this suggest that the Song itself gives indications that it should be read as an allegory? I take the position that the marriage between Solomon and Pharaoh’s daughter caused him to write the Song of Songs, but that it was intended to describe the love between God and His people.
An awareness of the difference between allegorizing and the genre of allegory is critical. In the case of allegorizing, a text without allegorical intentions is read as an allegory. For example, allegorizing of a history does not always mean that its historicity is denied, but that spiritual lessons are drawn from historical events—lessons that have no direct relation with the events.
The allegory is a figure of speech. Other allegories are found in Scripture; some parables of the Lord Jesus Christ can be characterized as allegories, such as the parable of the tares among the wheat. The Song of Songs is also intended to be read as an allegory. This does not add anything to its literal meaning but helps us understand to which genre the Song of Songs belongs.
What are the main arguments that support reading the Song of Songs as an allegory? One important argument is that the book references the bride’s sin but says nothing about any imperfection in the Bridegroom, even though the book is written predominantly from the bride’s perspective. We read about the bride’s blackness, but not the Bridegroom’s. Those who reject an allegorical explanation cannot but assume that chapters 3 and 5, where we read about the bride’s search for the Bridegroom in the city, are dreams. Song 8:6 says that the love between bride and Bridegroom is as strong as death, meaning that it cannot be ended by death. This is only true for the love between God and His people, or Christ and His church. [6]
Elsewhere, the Scriptures are rather reserved about the physical relationship between husband and wife. If the Song of Songs was no allegory, this would be an exception. The Scriptures clearly teach that drunkenness is a severe sin (1 Cor. 6:10), yet the Bridegroom says to his friends, “Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved” (5:1). This appeal presents problems if we do not allow for allegory. If we do, there is no problem at all. Wine or other alcoholic drinks must never be used abundantly, but no one can ever be too full of the love of God in Christ.
Without doubt, God’s relationship with His people is compared to the relationship between husband and wife or bride and bridegroom elsewhere in the Old Testament. For example, Hosea 2:19-20 says, “And I will betroth thee unto me forever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.” Isaiah 54:5-6 similarly says, “For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall He be called. For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.”
The fact that the bride is called Shulamite in the Song of Songs is not without meaning with respect to the understanding of the Song of Songs (see 6:13). Just like Solomon, which means “prince of peace,” the name Shulamite is derived from the Hebrew root sh-l-m—a root that means complete, whole, or perfect. This name is actually a title. It may have been given to the bride because of her beauty. Her beauty, however, cannot be separated from her relationship with the Bridegroom. It seems that it is a kind of passive participium of the pu’al. Solomon means “prince of peace” or “he who gives peace.” That makes it likely that Shulamite means “she who receives peace.” Her name intends to raise associations with Jerusalem as the city of peace and the bride of the Lord, the God of Israel (cf. Isa. 54). If Solomon is the prince of peace, Shulamite is one who has received peace, which is why she can offer peace and safety (cf. Isa. 14:32)—a function expressly attributed to Jerusalem in the Old Testament. In Song 8:10, we hear the Shulamite herself say that she is in Solomon’s eyes as one that has found peace or that brings peace. The former is no less than the latter. The bride becomes a messenger and bringer of peace because she has received peace herself (cf. Isa. 40:9).
The Details In The Song Of Songs
The general theme of the Song of Songs is clear. It sings the praises of the love between Christ and His church. Guidelines can also be given to explain the details of the Song of Songs. The phrases in the prophetic books in which the Lord addresses His people, especially when He affirms His love and faithfulness, can clarify the protestations of the love of the Bridegroom and the bride. What the bride professes is reminiscent of the Psalms. In the Psalms, we look into the hearts of God’s children; in the Song of Songs, the bride professes her love for her Bridegroom. The psalmists sang about their love for God and their longing for God. The bride fell into sin more than once. The psalmists confessed to the Lord that they were ready to halt and that they had gone astray like lost sheep.
It remains necessary, though, to be careful when interpreting details. It is certainly not permitted to draw far-reaching doctrinal conclusions from allegorically interpreted details from the Song of Songs. However, it is permissible to explain images from the Song of Songs—especially the passages that speak in non-allegorical terms about the love between God and His people—starting from the Scriptures as a whole.
Who Wrote The Song Of Songs?
The question of who wrote the Song of Songs is not decisive for interpreting the book. Nevertheless, this question deserves brief attention here. The first verse reads, “The song of songs, which is Solomon’s.” In other words, “…which is from or for Solomon.” These words show that the Song of Songs was either dedicated to Solomon or written by him or under his supervision. The book contains comparatively many Aramaisms, wrongfully considered indications for dating it after the captivity. Aramaisms are found in all phases of biblical Hebrew. The dialect in which the Song of Songs was written may have been spoken somewhere in northern Israel. Undoubtedly, images from all of Israel are found in the Song of Songs—consider Tirzah in the mountains of Ephraim, En-gedi in the south of Judah, Hermon in the north, and Gilead on the other side of the Jordan River. This seems to indicate a time when the kingdom was still undivided. Moreover, the references to Egypt are striking: “I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots” (1:9). The bride comes from the Negev Desert between Egypt and Israel. Nothing hinders the view that the Song of Songs must be traced back to Solomon.
The People In The Song Of Songs
The Song of Songs mentions several individuals: the Bridegroom, the bride, the daughters of Jerusalem, the bride’s brothers (who are only mentioned once), the watchmen of the city (Jerusalem), and the friends of the Bridegroom.
In the nineteenth century, the shepherd hypothesis was introduced. In this view, the Song of Songs describes the sincere love between a shepherd and a shepherdess, while Solomon is presented as a rival of the shepherd. Today this hypothesis is generally rejected as it cannot be based on the text.
Although we have to reject the shepherd hypothesis, it is clear that the Song of Songs is full of imagery from a shepherd’s life. Moreover, images are present from city life and court life. The events in the Song of Songs take place in springtime. The bride and Bridegroom are at the center, with the daughters of Jerusalem and the bride’s brothers in the background. The book is predominantly from the bride’s perspective.
The Bridegroom is presented as a king (1:12), a shepherd (1:7), a brother (8:1), a gardener (6:2), a prince (6:12), a hart (2:9), and an apple tree (2:3). The bride is presented as a keeper of the vineyard (1:6), a shepherdess (1:8), a woman seeking her lover (3:1-2), a semi-divine being (4:8), a flower (2:1), a garden (4:12), and a city (6:4). [7] The Bridegroom calls the bride “my love” (1:9, 15; 2:2, 10, 13; 4:1, 7; 5:2; 6:4), “dove” (1:15; 2:14; 4:1; 5:2, 12; 6:9), “fair one” (2:10, 13), “spouse” (4:8-12; 5:1), “sister” (4:9-10, 12; 5:1-2), “undefiled” (5:2; 6:9), “prince’s daughter” (7:1), and “one that dwells in the gardens” (8:13).
The fact that we do not read the word “bride” (KJV: spouse) after Song 5:1 possibly indicates that they are now married. However, Song 8:4 contains the call, “I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please,” which gives a different indication. Perhaps 4:16-5:1 describes the arrival of the Bridegroom at the bride’s home. The word “bride” supports the image of two young people who intend to marry. There is some development in how the Bridegroom addresses the bride. The bride addresses the Bridegroom as a “brother” (8:1), “thou whom my soul loveth” (1:7), “my well-beloved” (1:13) and “my beloved” (29 times). The daughters of Jerusalem address the bride as the “fairest among women” (1:8; 5:9; 6:1).
The bride is also called a “fountain sealed” and a “garden inclosed” (4:12). This means that she has not had contact with other men. She is only there for her Bridegroom. This is confirmed by her own words at the end of the Song of Songs, when she says that she is not a door, but a wall.
The Unity Of The Book
The Song of Songs is a collection of individual songs with a clear and particular structure. Song of Songs has a concentric structure, [8] with 4:16-5:1 as the center:
1:1
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Title
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A 1:2-2:7
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The lovers come together
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B 2:8-3:5
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The lovers unite and then again separate
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C 3:6-4:15
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The wedding procession and description of the bride
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D 4:16-5:1
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The Bridegroom meets the bride
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C’ 5:2-6:10
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The bride allows the Bridegroom to depart with a description of the Bridegroom and the bride
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B’ 6:11-8:4
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Springtime and description of the bride
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A’ 8:5-14
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The power of love with finally a repeated desire expressed for the coming of the Bridegroom
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Preaching On The Song Of Songs
The Love Between God And His People As The Major Theme
He who preaches from the Song of Songs must do justice to its central theme: the love between God and His people, between Christ and His church. This is why, throughout the ages, the Song of Songs has often been preached with the administration of the Lord’s Supper. As a demonstration of Christ’s love for His church (a declaration of love that testifies of His death as the only ground of salvation) the Lord’s Supper harmonizes beautifully with the Song of Songs as the song of divine love.
We must look for parallels of the demonstrations of the love of God to His people and of the Lord’s people to their God, not only from the Old Testament, but also from the entire Scriptures. With respect to the descriptions of the Bridegroom and the bride that we find in the Song of Songs, we must be sure not to give individual meaning to each detail, and a meaning given to a certain detail must never distract from the central theme.
The relationship between the bride and the Bridegroom cannot be broken even by death. The bride says, “My beloved is mine, and I am his” (2:16; comp. 6:3; 7:10). Looking for a parallel elsewhere in the Old Testament, we find the words, “I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Ezek. 37:27)—words that characterize the Old Testament covenantal relationship between God and Israel. Think too of the moving words of Hosea 2:22: “And I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.” The love between God and His people is part of God’s unchangeable covenant faithfulness. The bride says that the Bridegroom has shown her His love, and still does.
With respect to the bringing into the chambers (1:4), Jewish scholars think of the journey to the temple where the service of atonement takes place. Israel was brought out of Egypt to serve the Lord in Canaan with the temple services at the center. Scholars believe that chapter 3 refers to the Exodus. They connect the words of chapter 8, about the bride who comes up from the wilderness, leaning on her Beloved, to the second Exodus—the return from Babylon.
Truly, Israel was not brought out of Egypt because Israel deserved it, but because the LORD loved His people. A remnant of Israel was allowed to return from captivity because God did not break His covenant with Abraham. In Jeremiah 31:3 we read, “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” In the service of atonement that took place in the tabernacle and later in the temple, Israel beheld God’s favor. When the bride says that she is brought into the chamber or the banqueting house, we think of the psalmists who declared, “My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD,” and “…that I may…behold the beauty of the LORD, and…enquire in his temple.” [9]
In the New Testament, we find the deepest expression of God’s love in the coming of His Son into this world, and especially His death on the cross. In due time, when we were enemies, Christ reconciled us to God by His death. When we preach about the Bridegroom’s love to the bride, we must preach about Christ who loved His church and gave Himself for it. Paul’s epistles particularly show that the accomplishing of salvation is the foundation of its application. Therefore, when speaking about the Bridegroom’s love, we must not restrict the Song of Songs to the accomplishing of salvation but also consider it with respect to the application of salvation. In His love, Christ draws His people from darkness to light. He leads them through the wilderness to the New Jerusalem.
Interpreting Certain Expressions Repeated Throughout The Song
“His Left Hand Is Under My Head, And His Right Hand Doth Embrace Me”
We read this expression twice in the Song of Songs (2:6; 8:3). We should not read these words only as a petition but also as a confession. God’s children beg Him to take care of them. “Forsake me not, O LORD: O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.” God’s child declares that he can fearlessly sing under the shadow of God’s wings. If the Lord embraces us, even afflictions will not hurt (Rom. 8:35-39).
“Stir Not Up My Love”
The words “His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me” are followed by, “I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please” (2:7). These words are also found in Song 3:5 and 8:4. In the last instance, they are again preceded by, “His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace me.” True love can wait. Very literally, it means that the couple did not live together during their engagement.
Applied to the relationship between Christ and His people, it means that we must never forget to live by faith in this dispensation. A Christian’s longing for God should not be at the expense of his calling here on earth. We must learn to live by faith. Moreover, the Spirit of God has been pledged to believers. Sometimes they receive foretastes of eternal joy; faith can sometimes be accompanied by joy unspeakable. Theologians of the Dutch Further Reformation called it the sensible presence of Christ. This sensible presence of Christ must not and cannot be enforced. “Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God” (Isa. 50:10). We may long for the sensible presence of Christ, but we must leave it to the Lord. Undoubtedly we will never fully experience the joy of salvation here on earth. We need a glorified body for that.
“Sick Of Love”
Both in 2:5 and 5:8, the bride declares that she is “sick of love.” The first describes a situation in which the bride is overwhelmed by her Bridegroom’s love. In Song 2:4 we read, “He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.” It is possible to be filled with so much joy and peace in believing that it becomes too much to comprehend. We would almost die from the experience of God’s love. An elderly Christian lady told me once that she had experienced this when she was young. “I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.”
You can be sick with love because you are overwhelmed by love and by the presence of your beloved, but also by the painful experience of His absence. This is also true for the relationship between believers and Christ. “Lord, Thee my God, I’ll early seek: my soul doth thirst for Thee; My flesh longs in a dry parch’d land, wherein no waters be.” A Christian can be burdened by the lack of God’s loving presence in Christ. William Cowper wrote, “Where is the blessedness I knew, When first I saw the Lord? Where is the soul-refreshing view, Of Jesus and his word?” I also think of David’s words in Psalm 51:8: “Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.”
The Description of the Bridegroom
When the bride swears that she is sick of love, the daughters of Jerusalem ask the question, “What is thy Beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy Beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?” The bride responds with an extensive description of her Bridegroom. While Song of Songs contains three extensive descriptions of the bride, there is only one extensive description of the Bridegroom; this one attracts all the attention.
The heart of preaching on the Song of Songs—indeed, on the whole Scripture—is to show Christ in His beauty to comfort God’s children and convert the unbeliever. We cannot simply connect every image that is used with a certain part of Christ’s work, but when it says that He is the chiefest among ten thousand, it is not difficult to draw a line to Christ, the Prince of the kings of the earth who protects and preserves His church. He is the Victor who bestows His blessing upon His people. Whether we are considering His death upon the cross, His resurrection from the dead, His intercession with the Father, His prophetic instruction, or His kingly protection, all of Christ’s work is altogether lovely. Looking unto Jesus satisfies the soul. How appropriate are the bride’s words, “His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend, O daughters of Jerusalem” (5:16). Christ is incomparable. Therefore the bride already says in Song 2:3, “As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my Beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.” It is not difficult to apply the image to Christ’s work. Christ has quenched the wrath of God. A Christian joyfully hides himself in Christ’s wounds.
The deep love of the bride for her Bridegroom is already apparent at the beginning of the Song of Songs. The title is immediately followed by, “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.” John Newton wrote a hymn based on Song 1:3: “Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee”:
How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
in a believer’s ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
and drives away his fear.
Especially moving are the last two stanzas:
Weak is the effort of my heart,
and cold my warmest thought;
But when I see Thee as Thou art
I’ll praise Thee as I ought.
Till then I would Thy love proclaim
with every fleeting breath.
And may the music of Thy name
Refresh my soul in death.
The Bride’s Confession Of Her Failure
In the Song of Songs we find several descriptions of the bride’s failure. In Christ, a Christian is fully righteous before God, and yet even the holiest believer, while in this life, has only a small beginning of this new obedience. The bride’s failure is most painfully seen in Song 5. When the Bridegroom calls her to open the door, she answers, “I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?” The psalmist felt similarly when he confessed, “My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word” (Ps. 119:25), and even more so in the moving close to the same Psalm: “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments” (v. 176).
The bride confesses her own sinfulness. The Bridegroom, however, does not blame her at all. This is not necessary because she has already confessed. The law must be preached to them that keep, minimize, or justify their sins, but the gospel must be preached to those who have broken and contrite hearts.
The Bridegroom sings the praises of His bride’s beauty. Christ loves His bride. Her beauty is that He has cleansed her by His blood and was made her wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. The bride is aware of her failure, but she also knows that the Bridegroom loves her. The words “I am black, but comely” must also be read in this light. The bride knows she is black with sin when she considers her own failure, but she also knows she is beautiful because of how she is cleansed by Christ’s blood. Her “black” state is not restricted only to her sins, however, but also applies to the oppression that she experiences. Here the words of Psalm 68 are appropriate: “Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold” (v. 13). Despite all the earthly afflictions and trouble, the Christian’s reward is great. The King’s daughter is all glorious within (Ps. 45:13).
Lessons From The Daughters Of Jerusalem, The Watchmen And The Brothers
The bride and the Bridegroom are two important people in the Song of Songs. But whom do the daughters of Jerusalem depict? They accompany the bride like bridesmaids. From the parable of the wise and foolish virgins we know that the church cannot only be presented as a bride, but also as a group of bridesmaids. Christ is her only foundation. God’s church is one in faith, hope, and love, but there are different degrees of faith, hope, and love. The bride herself does not always have much of these graces, but she serves as a pattern for those who have been more exercised in grace, while the daughters of Jerusalem are those who must be fed milk and cannot tolerate solid food. Thus, the Song of Songs gives opportunity to address the differences between God’s children, giving guidance to their spiritual lives. The description of the beauty of the Bridegroom is intended to create certainty in the life of faith.
The watchmen of the city remind us of ministers serving as watchmen on Zion’s walls. In chapter 5, we read that the watchmen of the city wound the bride. Ministers do not always behave very tactfully; spiritual leaders may be a great comfort, but also a great disappointment. The friends of the Bridegroom also remind us of the ministers of the gospel. A true minister may consider himself a friend of the Bridegroom and desire that people follow the Bridegroom rather than remain with him, the friend.
In Song 8:6, the brothers of the bride are speaking in a flashback. We go back to the time when the bride was a girl. The brothers are like keepers of a vineyard. While the relatives are portrayed in a negative light in chapter 1 (“my mother’s children were angry with me”), the brothers are described positively. Likewise, God’s children have negative as well as positive experiences in the church. One may find his own family against him in his seeking of the Lord, even though they belong to the church. However, others desire that sinners become living members of the church, which will be presented to Christ like a pure virgin to her husband. The keepers of the vineyard especially refer to church officers, but the image is not restricted to them. It refers to all men and women who, under God’s blessing, help the church to flourish.
“Until The Day Break” And “Make Haste, My Beloved”
The Song of Songs twice speaks of the break of day and the fleeing away of the shadows (2:17; 3:6). The break of day refers to a soft morning breeze, and the shadows fleeing away makes clear that this is about the morning. Birds are singing (comp. 2:12). The bride asks her Beloved to come: “Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.”
We also find this prayer slightly modified at the close of the Song: “Make haste, my Beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices” (8:14). The prayer has become even more urgent. Make haste! The bride longs for the wedding. After the wedding, the prayer “that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please” will not be necessary anymore. Thus the end of the Song of Songs invites us to speak of the Second Coming as the end of the journey through the desert for God’s church. “He which testifieth of these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20).
Notes
- Thanks to A. P. Meeuse for translating this article from Dutch.
- L. H. van der Meiden, Het Hooglied (Baarn, The Netherlands: Bosch and Keuning, 1955).
- Gerhard Maier, Das Hohelied (Wuppertal, The Netherlands, 1991).
- Hector Patmore, “‘The Plain and Literal Sense’: On Contemporary Assumptions about the Song of Songs,” Vetus Testamentum, 56, no. 2 (2006), 249-50.
- Duane Garret, Song of Songs/Lamentations, WBC 23b (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2004), 118.
- Richard S. Hess, Song of Songs, Baker Commentary on Old Testament: Wisdom and Psalms (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005), 31; Robert W. Jenson, Song of Songs, Interpretation (Louisville, Ky.: John Knox Press, 2005), 90.
- Garret, Song of Songs, 35.
- Garret, Song of Songs, 32.
- Psalm 84:2 and 27:4.
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