February 28, 2024
Can there really be a flawless person?
Song of Solomon 4-5
Lori Romberg-McGregor
Big Book Idea
God's design for relationships is always best.
Key Verse | Song of Solomon 4:7
You are altogether beautiful, my love;
there is no flaw in you.
Song of Solomon 4-5
Solomon Admires His Bride's Beauty
He
1
Behold, you are beautiful, my love,
behold, you are beautiful!
Your eyes are doves
behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
2
Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear twins,
and not one among them has lost its young.
3
Your lips are like a scarlet thread,
and your mouth is lovely.
Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
behind your veil.
4
Your neck is like the tower of David,
built in rows of stone;
1
4:4
The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
on it hang a thousand shields,
all of them shields of warriors.
5
Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle,
that graze among the lilies.
6
Until the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
I will go away to the mountain of myrrh
and the hill of frankincense.
7
You are altogether beautiful, my love;
there is no flaw in you.
8
Come with me from Lebanon, my bride;
come with me from Lebanon.
Depart
2
4:8
Or Look
from the peak of Amana,
from the peak of Senir and Hermon,
from the dens of lions,
from the mountains of leopards.
9
You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride;
you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.
10
How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much better is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
11
Your lips drip nectar, my bride;
honey and milk are under your tongue;
the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12
A garden locked is my sister, my bride,
a spring locked, a fountain sealed.
13
Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates
with all choicest fruits,
henna with nard,
14
nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,
with all trees of frankincense,
myrrh and aloes,
with all choice spices—
15
a garden fountain, a well of living water,
and flowing streams from Lebanon.
16
Awake, O north wind,
and come, O south wind!
Blow upon my garden,
let its spices flow.
Together in the Garden of Love
She
Let my beloved come to his garden,
and eat its choicest fruits.
He
1
I came to my garden, my sister, my bride,
I gathered my myrrh with my spice,
I ate my honeycomb with my honey,
I drank my wine with my milk.
Others
Eat, friends, drink,
and be drunk with love!
The Bride Searches for Her Beloved
She
2
I slept, but my heart was awake.
A sound! My beloved is knocking.
“Open to me, my sister, my love,
my dove, my perfect one,
for my head is wet with dew,
my locks with the drops of the night.”
3
I had put off my garment;
how could I put it on?
I had bathed my feet;
how could I soil them?
4
My beloved put his hand to the latch,
and my heart was thrilled within me.
5
I arose to open to my beloved,
and my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with liquid myrrh,
on the handles of the bolt.
6
I opened to my beloved,
but my beloved had turned and gone.
My soul failed me when he spoke.
I sought him, but found him not;
I called him, but he gave no answer.
7
The watchmen found me
as they went about in the city;
they beat me, they bruised me,
they took away my veil,
those watchmen of the walls.
8
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
if you find my beloved,
that you tell him
I am sick with love.
Others
9
What is your beloved more than another beloved,
O most beautiful among women?
What is your beloved more than another beloved,
that you thus adjure us?
The Bride Praises Her Beloved
She
10
My beloved is radiant and ruddy,
distinguished among ten thousand.
11
His head is the finest gold;
his locks are wavy,
black as a raven.
12
His eyes are like doves
beside streams of water,
bathed in milk,
sitting beside a full pool.
3
5:12
The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
13
His cheeks are like beds of spices,
mounds of sweet-smelling herbs.
His lips are lilies,
dripping liquid myrrh.
14
His arms are rods of gold,
set with jewels.
His body is polished ivory,
4
5:14
The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
bedecked with sapphires.
5
5:14
Hebrew lapis lazuli
15
His legs are alabaster columns,
set on bases of gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,
choice as the cedars.
16
His mouth
6
5:16
Hebrew palate
is most sweet,
and he is altogether desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.
Table of Contents
Introduction to The Song of Solomon
Timeline
Author and Date
The wording of the first verse in Song of Solomon (or Song of Songs; 1:1) does not necessarily mean that Solomon wrote the book. It may have been written by Solomon himself, or it could have been written in his honor. When he is mentioned (1:5; 3:7, 9, 11; 8:11–12), it is generally as a distant, even idealized figure. What is known about Solomon suggests that he probably was not the writer himself (1 Kings 3:1; 11:1–8). However, the book was probably composed during Solomon’s time, perhaps under his oversight, between c. 960 and 931 B.C.
Theme
The Song of Solomon contains beautiful poetry expressing romantic love between a young man and a young woman in ancient Israel. He is a shepherd (1:7) and she is a shepherdess (1:8). They are looking forward to their marriage and the pleasure it will bring.
Interpreting Literary Images
The Song of Solomon includes several extravagant comparisons. For example, the woman is compared to a horse in Pharaoh’s court (1:9), and her hair is compared to a flock of goats (4:1). It is helpful to remember that (1) the comparisons are figurative rather than literal, and (2) what the person has in common with what he or she is compared with is a certain quality, usually the quality of excellence, or of being the best of its kind.
Structure
The author has presented the Song of Solomon as a series of exchanges, mostly between the shepherdess and the shepherd, with the chorus-like “others” sprinkled in. These others usually pick up items from the lovers’ speeches and urge the two forward in love. There is also a refrain, “I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, . . . that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases” (2:7; 3:5; 8:4; variation in 5:8), spoken by the shepherdess. This is understood as her urging the other women not to push this love too fast, in order to let it reach its consummation at the right time (the marriage bed, which seems to begin in 8:5).
Key Themes
- God’s law commands sexual purity. Marriage provides the right framework within which his people may properly enjoy the gift of sexual intimacy (see Gen. 2:23–24). Thus God’s people honor him and commend him to the world when they demonstrate with their lives that obedience in such matters brings genuine delight.
- Marriage is a gift of God, and is to be founded on loyalty and commitment (see Gen. 2:24, “hold fast”), which allows delight to flourish. As such, it is a fitting image for God’s relationship with his people.
Outline
Fact: Song of Deliverance
David’s Song of Deliverance is nearly identical to Psalm 18. Perhaps 2 Samuel 22 was meant to be read aloud for instruction and Psalm 18 was meant to be sung or prayed as part of worship.
Fact: Vineyards, fields, and palm trees
Vineyards, fields, and palm trees. The Song of Solomon takes place in a rural setting, and the lovers describe each other using images drawn from this context. The man is a shepherd, and the woman works in her family’s vineyard.
Fact: Daughters of Jerusalem
The woman addresses the daughters of Jerusalem four times throughout this book, creating a refrain that ties her “songs” together (2:7; 3:5; 5:8; 8:4). She urges them not to “stir up or awaken love until it pleases.” In other words, they should wait until the appropriate time to enjoy romantic love.
Song. 4:2 twins . . . not one . . . has lost its young. Her teeth are white, straight, and even.
Song. 4:4 tower of David. The association with David increases the sense of dignity already implied in the image of a tower. The woman’s dignity is being compared to the dignity of the tower (see Introduction: Interpreting Literary Images).
Song. 4:5 Fawns (young deer) refers to the youthful appearance of her two breasts. Gazelle probably refers to her appealingly sleek form.
Song. 4:6 Mountain and hill could be continuing the theme of the previous verse and refer to the woman’s breasts, or it may be a more general reference to her beauty. The point is that being with her is like inhaling an intoxicating fragrance.
Song. 4:1–7 The first part of v. 1 is repeated in v. 7, creating a section that describes the woman’s physical beauty. The description starts at the eyes and works downward. Although the word pictures are vivid, they may be hard for modern readers to understand.
Song. 4:8 Amana . . . Senir . . . Hermon. The man is calling to the woman from isolated, dangerous places. The term my bride (six times in 4:8–5:1) would seem appropriate only after the wedding. This probably means that this scene (4:1–5:1) also takes place in the woman’s dream, as she looks forward to what the wedding day will bring.
Song. 4:9 The heart is the center of one’s inner life, the place of thinking, feeling, and choosing (see Prov. 4:23).
Song. 4:12 A garden is a welcoming place for lovers. In ancient Near Eastern cultures, the term often described a woman’s sexuality. A spring or fountain reflects a similar concept (see Prov. 5:15–19). Notice that her garden and spring are locked, indicating that she reserves herself for the man who will be her husband.
Song. 4:15 The comparison to a garden fountain is extended to indicate the refreshing quality of the woman’s sexuality.
Song. 4:16 Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind. The reference to the winds may reflect the man’s desire for the woman to offer an invitation to him. This is granted in the second half of the verse.
Song. 5:2 The knocking she hears is in her dream. The man’s request is clear: he wants to enter the house to be with the woman. Note the urgency in his command to open, and the flood of endearing names that follows.
Song. 5:4–7 She decides to let him in, but he has already left. She pursues him. The watchmen find her and beat her (contrast 3:3), leaving her bruised (5:7). If this were an actual event, it would be unclear why the watchmen did this. As part of a dream, though, it would simply be a nightmarish episode.
Song. 5:8 In 2:5 the man was present when the woman uttered the words sick with love. Now he is absent, so she is probably referring to her desire to be with him.
Fact: Daughters of Jerusalem
The woman addresses the daughters of Jerusalem four times throughout this book, creating a refrain that ties her “songs” together (2:7; 3:5; 5:8; 8:4). She urges them not to “stir up or awaken love until it pleases.” In other words, they should wait until the appropriate time to enjoy romantic love.
Song. 5:13 Men in ancient Israel almost always had beards. The description of his cheeks as beds of spices would apply more appropriately to a beard than to skin.
Song. 5:14–16 The man is clearly the object of great praise in this section. The woman considers him to be altogether desirable.
S3:043 Song of Solomon 4-5
Listen NowDive Deeper | Song of Solomon 4-5
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but what may be attractive to one person may not to another. As I write this, the Barbie movie is out in theaters. To some, she represented the perfect female when first released. But there is no perfect person here on this earth. Only Christ was perfect.
This passage is full of beautiful imagery, comparing lovers' attributes to the beauty of God's nature and design. It is a return to the Garden of Eden by way of intimacy found only in the marital bond. Throughout the passage, you sense the lovers only have eyes, hearts, and minds for each other. God instructs us: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church . . . ." (Ephesians 5:25)
During my first marriage, I was far from God. After my divorce, God pulled me back, met me in my sin, and reminded me of the truth: "[B]ut God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) After marrying Kirk, I see God's design for marriage in how Kirk loves and cherishes me.
I'm drawn to more than my husband's sense of humor and good looks, but to his reflection of Christ in actions and words. We will never attain the perfection that is Christ on this side of heaven, but focusing on Him in all that we say and do transforms our hearts and minds. (2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 12:2) We love and serve a God of second chances. I am blessed to have a beautiful Christ-centered marriage now. We have our ups and downs as a blended family, but we are grounded in the truth of God's Word and quick to ask each other's forgiveness.
Our union is a daily opportunity to glorify God, be sanctified, and show that God loves blended families, too. Serving together in Watermark's Blended Families ministry allows us to meet step-couples where they are and help them reflect Christ in their marriages. When people can see Christ in you, there is nothing more beautiful.
This month's memory verse
Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
– Exodus 34:6b
Discussion Questions
1. If you are married, how does your spouse model Christ in your marriage? Have you overlooked any Christlike attributes your spouse possesses?
2. If you are single, has reading this passage changed what you envision as your "perfect" spouse? What are some attractive characteristics in a partner from an eternal perspective?
3. As time goes on, spouses may drift in closeness. What can you do to resist the drift and deepen intimacy in your marriage?
4. You must "first take the log out of your own eye" (Matthew 7:5). What sin struggle do you have that might negatively impact intimacy? What steps can you take to acknowledge and face it head on?
As we gear up to release even more features for Join The Journey in 2025, our staff team, unfortunately, no longer has the margin to continue to support the comment functionality. We have big things in store for Join The Journey 2025. Stay tuned!
Michael Scaman
greg jones
Michael Sisson
Kathy Hempel Cox
Sue Bohlin
Amy Lowther