Reflections on Song of Solomon 4

Song of Solomon 04 (Contemporary English Version)


1. My darling, you are lovely, so very lovely-- as you look through your veil, your eyes are those of a dove. Your hair tosses about as gracefully as goats coming down from Gilead.> <
2. Your teeth are whiter than sheep freshly washed; they match perfectly, not one is missing.> <
3. Your lips are crimson cords, your mouth is shapely; behind your veil are hidden beautiful rosy cheeks.> <
4. Your neck is more graceful than the tower of David, decorated with thousands of warriors' shields.> <
5. Your breasts are perfect; they are twin deer feeding among lilies.> <
6. I will hasten to those hills sprinkled with sweet perfume and stay there till sunrise.> <
7. My darling, you are lovely in every way.> <
8. My bride, together we will leave Lebanon! We will say good-by to the peaks of Mount Amana, Senir, and Hermon, where lions and leopards live in the caves.> <
9. My bride, my very own, you have stolen my heart! With one glance from your eyes and the glow of your necklace, you have stolen my heart.> <
10. Your love is sweeter than wine; the smell of your perfume is more fragrant than spices.> <
11. Your lips are a honeycomb; milk and honey flow from your tongue. Your dress has the aroma of cedar trees from Lebanon.> <
12. My bride, my very own, you are a garden, a fountain closed off to all others.> <
13. Your arms are vines, covered with delicious fruits and all sorts of spices-- henna, nard,> <
14. saffron, calamus, cinnamon, frankincense, myrrh, and aloes --all the finest spices.> <
15. You are a spring in the garden, a fountain of pure water, and a refreshing stream from Mount Lebanon.> <
16. Let the north wind blow, the south wind too! Let them spread the aroma of my garden, so the one I love may enter and taste its delicious fruits.
    

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Chapter 3 closed with the wedding procession, not to be compared with our present practice of a procession down an aisle. The procession in Solomon's day began with the groom rather than the bride. He and his entourage went to the home of the bride to get her and take her to their new residence. There, that night, they would consummate their marriage while family and friends prepared for a week-long feast. In chapter 3 the groom had already arrived at the home of the bride and now they are either on their way to their new home or are already there.

In verses 1-7 of chapter 4 the groom lavishes the bride with praise of her beauty. Though she was not greatly beautiful based on the standards of the day, primarily since she was not fair-skinned, in the eye's of her lover she was "absolutely beautiful . . . with no imperfection." As it is said, "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder," and so it should be between a man and wife. His descriptions of her beauty use pastoral metaphors which would likely have little meaning today but he used what was familiar to her. Later, when they lived in a royal setting, he used royal imagery. It should be noticed that on their wedding night the focus of the groom was on his bride, not on himself. Only once does he refer to himself in this description.

In verse 8 the groom invites his bride to "Come with me from Lebanon." This is likely his invitation for her to leave her home and go with him to their new home. This would lead us to believe his description of her beauty took place at her home as a prelude to this invitation. It is possible, also, that the sequence is not exact. Whatever the case, he next praises her love. She has accepted his invitation to come away with him and now has her eyes on him and he tells her, "You have captured my heart with one glance of your eyes." Her love, strong enough to give herself to him and to go away and make a home with him, is now focused in her eyes and captures his heart forming a bond of commitment to her. He finds her love to be more enticing than wine.

Now the words are becoming more intimate and we might imagine the couple are alone in their new home. The groom refers now to his bride as a garden whose exotic fruit is rare and valuable and desirable. Her garden is especially rare and valuable because it has remained locked until this time. "You are a locked garden," he says, valuing her virginity. She has saved her 'fruit' just for him. Those who view sex as a casual thing, something of more recreational value than of sacred value, miss the specialness and the commitment of giving oneself totally to one person. It is something that can contribute to the strength of a marriage rather than to cast doubts and contribute to weakening a marriage as can be the case when a person has shared this special part of themselves with others prior to marriage.

And then, in the last verse of the chapter, the bride unlocks her garden. "Let my love come to his garden and eat its choicest fruits," offering to him fruit that has never been picked over.