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...