The Song of Solomon
This book is unique among the books of holy writ. It is a story of love, in tender, romantic language, which Hebrews recognize as a story of love between God and Israel, and Christians recognize as a story of love between Christ and his Church. It is frequently read at Passover season by the Jews, in commemoration of God’s loving favor at the Exodus, and it is a good time for the saints to consider it also, in commemoration of Christ’s loving gift, through which his bride is born (Genesis 2:21, 22, John 19:33, 34).
Verse one contains a title, “The song of songs, which is Solomon’s.” This form of speech, “song of songs,” is used to indicate a superlative, something like Deuteronomy 10:14, “the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee,” or Exodus 26:33, where “most holy” is literally “holy of holies.” 1 Kings 4:32 says Solomon spake “three thousand proverbs, and his songs were a thousand and five,” and among them all the “song of songs” is this book in scripture.
WHO IS SPEAKING?
One of the difficulties in studying this book is defining who is speaking to whom in the drama. This problem is largely solved by recognizing the gender, in Hebrew, of the nouns used as terms of endearment. For example, in the King James version, the word “love” as referring to one of the parties usually comes from rayah, Strong’s number 7474, which means “feminine of 7453; a female associate.” This is the word used in 1:9,1:15, 2:2, 2:10, 2:13, 4:1, 4:7, 5:2 and 6:4. The exceptions are 2:7, 3:5, 7:6, 8:4, where the word love is ahabah, Strong’s number 160, which means “feminine of 158 and meaning the same,” namely affection, and always translated “love.” Therefore, whenever the word “love” is used of a person, it refers to the woman. (The New American Standard Bible changes the “he” of 2:7,3:5,8:4 to “she” to accord with this.)
When the word “beloved” is used, it always refers to the man. In every case but one this word is from the Hebrew dowd, Strong’s number 1730, “by implication a love-token, lover, friend,” always used of the masculine, rendered variously “beloved, father’s brother, love, uncle.” The lone exception in this book is Song of Solomon 1:16. In this case the Hebrew word is ahab, Strong’s number 157, the masculine version of ahabah referred to above.
This simple rule – “love” means the woman and “beloved” the man – is very useful in understanding the flow of the book.
THE TWO MAIN CHARACTERS
The two main characters are, of course, the man and woman lovers of the story. The man is referred to by name as “King Solomon” in Song of Solomon 3:7,9,11, 8:11,12. The woman is once termed “the Shulamite,” which is a feminine term for “peace” as Solomon is a masculine name for “peace.” The woman is evidently Solomon’s idealized companion, and probably does not identify any particular real woman.
Some have wondered if this term referred to one of the women close to David, “Abishag the Shunammite,” but the two words are different, “Shunam” is not “Shulam,” and it would probably be against acceptable custom for Solomon to write as he does of his father’s consort. Some have wondered if the woman was the Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10:1), supposing possibly she was dark skinned, and fit the description of Song of Solomon 1:5, “I am black, but comely, 0 ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.” But it is highly unlikely Solomon would thus have idealized a woman of foreign nationality. The reference to color is not intended as a racial designation, but as symbolic of the distress and affliction of this cherished woman, as for example in Job 30:30, Psalms 119:83, Lamentations 4:8 and Lamentations 5:10. This woman is a picture of the Church, and the affliction she suffered represents the trials which purify the bride of Christ.
“Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept” (Song of Solomon 1:6). By the end of the book, however, this bride to be comes into her own possession, the fruits of which she willingly yields to Solomon. “My very own vineyard is at my disposal; the thousand shekels [the value of its produce, verse 11] are for you, Solomon.”
In Song of Solomon 1:7 the woman asks how to locate the affection of her heart. “Tell me, 0 thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?” So we long to be with our beloved, and as we search the way, we are told “If thou know not, 0 thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents” (Song of Solomon 1:8). So we are advised, if we wish to find our Heavenly Bridegroom, to follow the path of the flocks of the Lord’s people. Fellowship and associate with them, and you will be led to the Master at the end of the way.
The remainder of chapter 1, and the first six verses of chapter 2, are filled with expressions of affection, each for the other, symbolically representing the spiritual pleasantries each sees in the other. “While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof” (verse 12). This reminds us of the fragrant spikenard Mary poured upon her King Jesus, a loving devotion whose fragrance has permeated the ages (Mark 14:3). The other symbols, doves eyes (peace), cedar, fir, green (life), and others, represent various qualities of their relationship.
THE MAIN CHALLENGE OF THE BOOK
Song of Solomon 2:7 is a refrain which appears three times in the book, and expresses the whole point and lesson of the book. It is about how the bride to be responds to the impulses of affection which she feels for her beloved. “I adjure you, 0 daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the hinds of the field, that you will not arouse or awaken my love, until she pleases” (NASB).
The Lord is looking to see how his love will rouse his bride to devoted reaction. In other words, how our love for the Lord will motivate us to stir ourselves to consecrated action in response to our longing for our Lord. As gazelles are easily frightened by the least commotion, so the Lord urges that the test on his loved one will be her self motivation, rather than any fearful commotion brought about to stimulate a frenzied response.
In general this would apply to all of our consecrated living. In specific, however, the story intertwines this test with the advent of Christ at his return to receive his bride. In this respect it is something like Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” There is a principle here applicable to all the saints to open the door of their hearts to the Lord, and respond to his fellowship, and his tender care through life’s experiences. Thus “him that hath an ear to hear,” no matter where during the age they may live, “let him hear what the spirit saith to the Churches.”
We can gain a principle of devoted conduct from each of the messages, even if the specific circumstances of one or another stage have passed with history. But to those living during the Laodicean stage of the Church this admonition is rife with meaning about the parousia of Christ, and the attendant blessings of harvest truth served by our returned Lord. “I will… sup with him, and he with me.”
So with the Song of Solomon. All the saints, whenever they have lived, were to be responsive to the loving impulses of the spirit’s call, and rouse themselves from any spirit of lethargy. But specially does this apply to our eagerness to embrace the advent of our master, the end of the age, the fruition of our hopes, and the establishment of the Kingdom. We should have “an absorbing interest in the fact, the time and the manner” of these issues (C19).
THE HARVEST
The remainder of chapter 2 is about the approach of the beloved for his love, emblematic of the return of Christ in the Harvest to take his bride. “The voice of my beloved!” exclaims the bride, “behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills” (verse 8). What majestic language. So do we see the influence of our bridegroom in the affairs of the kingdoms of this earth, touching here and there, an evidence that the harvest of the ages is upon us.
“My beloved is like a roe or a young hart” with boundless energy, animated, as it were, ever the more with the prospects of the coming union with his love. “Behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice” (verse 9). We see his glory, not directly, but incidentally, as he shows himself through the lattice of fulfilled prophecy.
He calls to us with enthusiasm. “My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away” (verse 10). What thrilling words! The time of our union with Christ has come! In preparation we rise up from any lingering stupor to embrace the loveliness of faith’s vision, and prepare ourselves through the adornment of character for the encounter.
“For, lo, the winter [of loneliness and affliction during the Gospel age] is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle[dove] is heard in our land” (verses 11, 12). It is spring time … harvest time! Signs of life and vitality are everywhere. “The fig tree forms its early fruit [Israel is growing again], the blossoming vines spread their fragrance [the aromatic influence of the Lord’s saints springing forth in praise and thanks]. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me” our Lord invites! (verse 13, NIV).
He encourages us, “My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside [wherever we may be scattered among the nations], show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely” (verse 14, NIV). Let us then respond with understanding, and the loveliness of thanksgiving and devotion, and speak of the blessings at hand.
“Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom” (verse 15, Íéí). So the governments of Christendom, the remnants of the old Roman empire, these agents of the adversary, “foxes” (Luke 13:31,32), come to the end of their power during this time.
“My lover is mine, and I am his; he browses among the lilies” (verse 16), enjoying the fragrance of his lover in the happy union. We could almost close the book here, with this lovely picture. In fact the remaining verse of the chapter is almost the way the book does close, in 8:14, “Come away, my lover, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the spiceladen mountains” (NIV, compare 2:17). But there are more lessons to come, in the next two episodes.
THE ZEALOUS RESPONSE OF THE BRIDE
Song of Solomon 3:1-4 shows the earnestness of the church for the return of Christ. “By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not” (verse 1). She decides to wait no further; but go in search of her beloved. “I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.”
Prophetically this fits the Miller Movement, an awakening among Christians to anticipate the near return of Christ. But some disappointment followed, and they “found him not.” The watchmen of the city found her, and an exchange followed. “Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?” she asks (verse 3). So the saints asked of the leaders of Christendom, the watchmen of the city, but found no satisfactory response.
She passed from them, continuing her search rather than giving up. “It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth” (verse 4). What wonderful news! Passing by the disappointments of the Miller Movement, and finding the leaders of Christendom had no helpful information, the Lord’s people soon find the announcement of present Truth, the Lord has returned, and they fasten their hold upon their precious find. “I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me,” just as Rebekah joined Isaac in the tent of Sarah, who represents the spiritual mother of the saints, the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 24:67).
In verse 5 we have an appropriate reminder of the “test” on the bride – the refrain of 2:7, 3:5, 8:4, “that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till she please” (NASB). The bride is gloriously triumphant in this test.
Verses 6-11 show the matter from the other point of view, from her beloved Solomon’s view, he coming out of the wilderness “like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant,” as though fulfilling the words of Revelation 3:11, “Behold, I come quickly,” and Ésaiah 40:10, “his reward is with him.” He is ready for the union with his love (verse 10), and for the crown of further glory, majesty and authority he receives “in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart” (verse 11).
The “threescore valiant men” in his entourage, who “hold swords, being expert in war,” every one with “his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night,” may be another representation of the saints preceding the harvest, the sword of the spirit being their protection against the terrors of the night of the gospel age. The symbolism of the number 60 shows they are still in the imperfect, though redeemed, flesh.
Chapter four is a lovely description of the beauties Solomon sees in his bride to be. “Behold, thïu art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes within thy locks [veil, NIV]: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.” The doves’ eyes speak of the peaceful influence of the holy spirit. The veil perhaps represents the veil of flesh which temporarily intervenes between Christ and the church. The hair, an emblem of devotion to one’s vows, as in the law of the Nazarite vow, is here lush and full, “as a flock of goats,” perhaps mingling the thought of faithfulness with sacrifice, as goats were sacrificed on the Day of Atonement.
“Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them” (verse 2). This speaks of the loveliness of her smile, and perhaps also, symbolically, of the bride’s readiness to appropriate spiritual nourishment to be built up in all the graces of the spirit.
“Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks” (verse 3). Red lip coloring, and a touch of rouge, are still used today to beautify the ladies, but here the coloring was delightfully natural. The red which is so lovely on a woman probably represents her appreciation for Christ’s sacrifice – like the scarlet “thread” Rahab displayed out her window, and the pomegranates on the hem of the high priest’s garments. Her thoughts are focused on this, and it is reflected in her speech.
“Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men” (verse 4:4). The symbol of tower and shields may refer to her faith (cf. Isaiah 21:5), which lend such an upright air of confidence to her appearance. Verse 5 shows she is fully developed in the lovely graces attractive to the Master, inviting as a bed of lilies for repose.
“Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense” (verse 6). Meanwhile, until the consummation comes, the sweet aroma of sacrifice (myrrh) and priestly ministering of the faith to others (frankincense), continues. “Thou art all fair, my love, there is no spot in thee” (verse 7), as we should be, “not having spot, or wrinkle … be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27).
The beloved continues to address his love in verses 8-15, in lovely terms of endearment representing her spiritual bounties, and in verse 16 she invites his affections. “Awake, 0 north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.” He accepts the offer. “I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse,” and likens the delights to the fragrance of myrrh, sweetness of honey, softness of milk, and tang of wine (5:1).
THE RETICENT LOVER
In Chapter 5 (except verse 1, which really belongs with chapter 4), we find another scenario, reminiscent of chapter 3, but with quite a different attitude by the woman. This chapter shows the kind of response to the Lord we could manifest, if we allow a spirit of ease to replace our zeal. It reflects the disposition of the Great Company.
“I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night” (verse 2). The zealous lover in chapter 3 was meditating “on thee in the night watches” (Psalms 63:6), but this one was sleeping. In chapter 3 she arose before the advent of her beloved, and went out searching for him. But here she wakes only at the knock of the master. The Lord has returned, and calls his people out of the house (cf. Luke 12:36, Revelation 3:20, 18:4).
But even then this lover does not respond willingly, but with excuses. “I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?” (verse 3). She is more concerned with her discomfort than with meeting her beloved. She fails to respond even to his gentle entreaty. So many Christians are comfortable in their beds of faith, ruminating on the beliefs of the past, and do not heed the knock of prophecy, nor rise to meet him, nor make any effort to light a lamp for their path, or as Revelation 3:18 expresses it, anoint their eyes “with eyesalve” that they may see.
Her beloved makes another endeavor to rouse her, and then withdraws. She seems to sense her peril, and finally rouses, but tragically, too late. “My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him. I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with … sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock. I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer” (verses 5, 6).
As she sallies forth in search, she too encounters “the watchmen that went about the city,” but at this late stage they treat her roughly. “They smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me” (verse 7). After some affliction, the veil of flesh is removed, and this experience of the Great Company ends. This seems to occur when the city of Christendom is still intact, before the great earthquake of plague 7 divides the city, and it falls (Revelation 16:19).
Verses 8 through 6:3 record a discussion between this lover and the “daughters of Jerusalem” about her beloved. This interchange may picture an interchange between the Great Company, in their last experiences, with the nation of Israel, who is just beginning to learn about this one so beloved of the woman. “What is thy beloved more than another beloved, 0 thou fairest among women?” (verse 9). This leads to an exquisite description of the beloved, masculine, firm, stately, “the chiefest among ten thousand,” fragrant and delightful. He is “white” (pure), “ruddy” (brings redemption), and his head is of gold (divine authority). Like his love, he also has lush dark locks of hair, but described as a raven rather than a goat. He also has doves’ eyes (the peaceful influence of the holy spirit), and his words and counsel are delightful. “His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, 0 daughters of Jerusalem.”
This description seems to impress the daughters of Jerusalem. If this has an antitype in the prophetic drama, perhaps it is that Israel will begin to respond, in their hour of desperation, to the advantages of such a Messiah. “Whither is thy beloved gone, 0 thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee” (Song of Solomon 6:1).
Surprisingly, this lover seems to know where he is. “My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies” – all terms associated with his bride in chapter 4. Christ has joined with the zealous ones beyond the vail, and is already appreciating their delights. The Great Company has missed the privilege of being among the bride, though they still recognize a privileged relationship (Song of Solomon 6:3).
ANOTHER DESCRIPTION OF THE BRIDE
Song of Solomon 6:4 begins another description of the bride, repeating some of the elements of her previous description, and adding others. “Thou art beautiful, 0 my love, as Tirzah [regional capital of the northern tribes of Israel], comely as Jerusalem [the main capital of the nation],” “majestic as troops with banners” (NIV). Her hair, teeth and temples are described as before.
“There are threescore queens” – perhaps those called to queenly station, the number matching the armed associates of Solomon mentioned earlier – “and fourscore concubines” – this number elsewhere identifies the Ancient Worthies (2 Samuel 19:32, 35 cf. also Micah 5:5) – “and virgins without number” – the Great Company class. “But my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the only daughter of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her” and she received the adulation of the maidens, queens and concubines (verse 9, NIV).
In verse 10 (NIV) an undisclosed questioner interjects, “Who is this that appears like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, majestic as the stars in procession?” Could a more grand description be given of this bride in all her glory? A similar rhetorical question introduced her beloved in Song of Solomon 3:6, “Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed …,” and another follows in Song of Solomon 8:5, “Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?” In each case this style of question introduces one of the lovers as they approach the rendezvous.
Verses 11 and 12 are evidently an expression from the beloved “I went down to the grove of nut trees to look at the new growth in the valley, to see if the vines had budded or the pomegranates were in bloom. Before I realized it, my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people” (NIV). As our lord approaches to see if the harvest is ripe, it seems but a brief time before the fruition is come, and he is acknowledged the leader of the people.
Verse 13 – then the onlookers seek another glance of the peaceful bride, “Return, return, 0 Shulamite … that we may gaze on you!” Perhaps these are the “daughters of Jerusalem” (Israel), or perhaps others (the world) who wait in “eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed” (Romans 8:19, NIV). And what will they see? “As it were the company of two armies” in magnificence (cf. Revelation 19:14).
YET ANOTHER DESCRIPTION
Song of Solomon 7:1-9 is another lovely description of the bride, but this one differs from the others. Now we see the bride as she appears beyond the veil, in glory. Read over this poetic passage in the NW, and note the different variety of lovely remarks. Her hair is no longer as a flock of goats, but now in glory her hair is “purple” (King James), or “like royal tapestry” (NIV), in either case symbolic of her royal office. Now her feet, legs, navel and waist are described, all neglected before, so that now her entire person is described. These regions were included in the description of her beloved who has always, in context of this book, been in his spirit glory. In verse 4 her neck, before symbolic of her faith, is still stately, but now described as ivory, a term also used of Christ (Song of Solomon 5:14). Before her neck was as a tower, now this grandeur is shown even in the smaller member, her nose. Verse 7 describes her as robustly fruitful, not merely for pleasant repose as before, as she prepares to nourish others (cf. Ezekiel 47:12).
Verse 10, “I am my beloved’s” – this refrain also appears in 2:16 and 6:3, but now he is not otherwise occupied, “feeding in the lilies,” waiting for her, but “his desire is toward me.” The time has come, and verses 11-13 speak of the consummation.
THE CLOSING CHAPTER
The narrative is now complete, and some closing lessons follow in chapter 8. Verses 1 and 2 mention some of the mild embarrassment the woman has experienced, longing after one who she was not close to naturally (just as most of the church, gentiles, were not naturally identified with the Jewish Messiah). But now all is well (verse 3). Verse four repeats the “challenge” of the book, which the bride has passed successfully. In verse 5 the bride “cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved,” no longer separated as in Song of Solomon 3:6. She has been raised under the apple tree, a symbol of her beloved, her protector and nourisher. She formerly “sat down under his shadow” (Song of Solomon 2:3), but now her upbringing is complete.
Verses 6, 7 are an exultant praise of the strength of divine love which has bonded these two. “Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy [fervor, zeal, earnestness] unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like the very flame of Jehovah [Margin]. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned” – it being too precious for merely mundane values (NIV).
Verses 8, 9 remember the less responsive lover of chapter 5, the Great Company. “We have a young sister,” not so well developed. “What shall we do for our sister for the day she is spoken for? She will have a place proportionate to her faith. Has she been like a wall, stable in her faith? Then on her will be built “towers of silver.” Has she been like a door, through which others accessed the realms of faith? Then, as with the temple doors, “we will enclose her with panels of cedar.” The two symbols combine to represent life (cedar) in the spirit (silver) realm, but she does not become the bride of the great beloved. But as for the triumphant bride, “I am a wall” of faith and devotion, beautifully developed “like towers. Thus I have become in his eyes like one bringing contentment” (verse 10).
“Solomon had a vineyard in Âaal Hamon [wealth, abundance]; he let out his vineyard to tenants. Each was to bring for its fruit a thousand shekels of silver. But my own vineyard is mine to give,” and she gladly yields its value to her beloved Solomon, with due payment for those who have labored for her. “The thousand shekels are for you, 0 Solomon (cf. Genesis 20:16), and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit” (Song of Solomon 8:12).
The woman’s closing words echo the longing of the saints through the ages. “You [Jesus] who dwell in the gardens with friends in attendance, let me hear your voice! Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices” (Verses 13 NIV, 14).
-David Rice