Reflections on Song of Solomon 7

 Song of Solomon 07 (Contemporary English Version)

1. You are a princess, and your feet are graceful in their sandals. Your thighs are works of art, each one a jewel;
   
2. your navel is a wine glass filled to overflowing. Your body is full and slender like a bundle of wheat bound together by lilies.
   
3. Your breasts are like twins of a deer.
   
4. Your neck is like ivory, and your eyes sparkle like the pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath-Rabbim. Your nose is beautiful like Mount Lebanon above the city of Damascus.
   
5. Your head is held high like Mount Carmel; your hair is so lovely it holds a king prisoner.
   
6. You are beautiful, so very desirable!
   
7. You are tall and slender like a palm tree, and your breasts are full.
   
8. I will climb that tree and cling to its branches. I will discover that your breasts are clusters of grapes, and that your breath is the aroma of apples.
   
9. Kissing you is more delicious than drinking the finest wine. How wonderful and tasty!
   
10. My darling, I am yours, and you desire me.
    
11. Let's stroll through the fields and sleep in the villages.
    
12. At dawn let's slip out and see if grapevines and fruit trees are covered with blossoms. When we are there, I will give you my love.
    
13. Perfume from the magic flower fills the air, my darling. Right at our doorstep I have stored up for you all kinds of tasty fruits.

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The husband (the lover) now speaks with more boldness and intimacy as he praises his wife's (the beloved) physical attributes. Her feet are beautiful, her legs like the work of a master. Her navel is a filled wine glass and her waist or body is full and slender as bundled wheat bound by lilies. He goes on to praise her breasts (like twin fawns), neck (like ivory), eyes (like pools), and nose (like Mount Lebanon). Next is her head (crowns her like Mount Carmel) and hair (capable of holding a king prisoner). He concludes saying how beautiful, pleasant, and delightful she is.

The lover then expresses his desire for intimacy with his beloved. She is like a palm tree, he says, her breasts are clusters of fruit, and he wants to climb the palm tree and claim its fruit.

The beloved speaks up to say that she belongs to her love and his desire is for her alone. Then she invites him to come with her to spend the night in lovemaking. In the countryside she will give him her love and they will explore its possibilities. She had treasured all its delicacies, new and old, just for him.

The intent of this Old Testament book seems to be to express the beauty of sex within the marriage relationship. It is a gift from God that is to be enjoyed within the bonds of marriage which is also a gift from God. There is an evil side of sex which is like much that is evil, a misuse or abuse of something that is good. Such abuse of a gift denotes a disdain or lack of consideration for its giver.