Shir HaShirim, chapter 2

Beloved:

v. 1 A rose of Sharon, a lily among the valleys. One commentator says the beloved "modestly compares herself to the wild flowers of Sharon." I haven't seen the wild flowers of Sharon, but I hear tell that they are beautiful. I'm not sure how comparing oneself to those flowers is being modest, but hey. :)

Lover:

v. 2 Now here's a comparison! The beloved is a lily; the other maidens are thorns.

Beloved:

vv 3-13 The lover is compared to an apple tree among trees of the forest. What's the difference? He bears good fruit which is sweet to the taste. Food imagery is used in connection with love- apples, wine, raisins. How she longs for his embrace. And she charges the maidens of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and deer of the field (what? What does that mean?) do not rouse love, until it please. Meaning....? Her lover is compared to a gazelle leaping and bounding and standing at the wall gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice. His desire for her is so great he runs to her and waits by her window for her to get up. And he calls, come, get up, lecha dodi ("come, my beloved." Or, as I like to tell my wife, "move, baby.") Winter is past, the rains have come and gone. Look! It's spring! Flowers appear! The turtle-dove sings. The fig tree is ripening its early figs, the vines in blossom give forth their fragrance. Here's another reason for the Song of Songs to be read during Passover. Passover occurs in the spring. New birth, new life. Recall that God gave the Israelites new life by redeeming them from the bondage of Egypt. And as the lover calls to his beloved, so too, should we men call to our beloveds.

To be continued...

Shir Ha Shirim chp 1 (cont'd)

Beloved

v. ¹² A pleasant dinner date perhaps? She wears perfume.

^{vv. 13, 14 The lover is compared to fragrant herbs and henna blossoms. What is this "resting between my breasts" business? Pretty graphic stuff for the Bible that doesn't always delve into explicit details regarding sex.}

Lover

¹⁵ How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how beautiful! Here is a good place to stop.
But he continues... Your eyes are doves. Eh? This is flattering to his beloved, how? Not being on the receiving end of any 'compliment' such as this, I have no idea how this was supposed to be taken. Any ladies ever been told that your eyes are doves? How'd that make you feel? If you haven't suppose someobody did tell you this. What would you think?

Beloved

¹⁶ How handsome you are, my lover!
Oh, how charming! Nice, so far
And then we get this .... And our bed is verdant. Their bed is green with vegetation? So, they sleep outdoors? Or, he brings in plants and flowers and herbs and spices and litters the bed with them? Or perhaps the bed is 'green' as in 'inexperienced' or 'unsophisticated.' But that hardly makes sense as they don't shy from explicit talk about sex. So, yeah, other insights would be appreciated.

Lover

¹⁷ A well built, sturdy house. Firs and cedars. Good, strong wood. May have been expensive as well. Of course, Solomon could afford it. But this may have been an unidentified couple that Solomon was writing about. We're looking at an ideal. The man is strong, wealthy and virile. The woman is beautiful and certainly uninhibited. She's not shy about declaring her love for her lover to her friends. Nor does she refrain from talking about her body or her lover's body.

More Thoughts on Shir Ha Shirim

Chapter 1

v. 1 This tells us that Solomon is the author.

v 2. This could be where we get the phrase "kisses sweeter than wine."

v 3. The beloved speaks of her lover as wearing perfumes. Could be scented oils. But yeah, wearing of cologne has apparently been around since Solomon's time and probably before.

v. 4 And the beloved says, let's go to your room!

(Friends) Where'd they come from?

They rejoice and delight in the lover. The 'you' is masculine singular. Must be really good love to be praised more than wine. At least one would hope so and not that the wine was of poor quality. :)

(Beloved)

Agrees with the friends. And why not? :)

v. 5 Black is beautiful. At least the beloved can see that.

v. 6 But others stare so she says that her skin was darkened by working out in the vineyards. Apparently they were not her own but her mother's sons'. Interesting that she doesn't say 'brothers.'

v. 7 So, where does her lover graze his sheep? "veiled woman beside the flocks of his friends." This calls to mind the story of Tamar and Judah and how Tamar dressed herself as a prostitute and waited by the side of the road for Judah to come by on his way to the sheep festival. The beloved doesn't want to be seen as a prostitute.

(Friends)

v. 8 So they offer some advice. Go follow the sheep tracks and graze your goats by the shepherd's tents.

(Lover) He speaks!

v. 9 And the first thing he can think of to tell his beloved is that she's like a horse! Like a mare harnessed to one of Pharaoh's chariots! He probably imagines that Pharaoh would keep only the best and most beautiful of horses. So she's highly prized by him. Hmmmph. I dunno how many women would like to be compared to a horse, but maybe that's just me.

vv. 10, 11 A little better. Cheeks beautiful with earrings. Cheeks? Not ears? Perhaps these were dangly earrings or earrings with hoops and they hung down to her cheeks. Who is this "we" in verse 11? Earrings of gold studded with silver. Now this I think is a little better. Who wouldn't want jewelry?

(to be continued)