The Song of Songs is also called the Song of Solomon. How else could it be there? And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land. We share in their joy and their feelings, but we are not assaulted with graphic images. and our couch is verdant. There your mother conceived you. Rather let it give you the freedom to explore your own ideas. 3 Your lips are like scarlet thread. Let my beloved come into his garden, on the handles of the lock. 229 Greg W. Parsons, “Guidelines for Understanding and Utilizing the Song of Songs,” Bibleotheca Sacra, October-December 1999. 11 Your lips, my bride, drip like the honeycomb. like Solomon’s curtains. 5 I am dark, but lovely, with the crown with which his mother has crowned him, Its place in the Scriptures must be understood in light of its message, as it is, and not as we would hope or expect it to be. The Song of Songs is not western literature, which has a strong sense of sequential flow, time, and logic. 231 Richard Woods, “Your Kiss is My Desire,” Copyright 2000, Unpublished. awesome as an army with banners. Behold, he comes, The fragrance of your perfumes than all kinds of spices! Although it attempts to explain how disconnected the book seems, paradoxically (dare I say, enigmatically), it does not explain how connected the book seems to be. to the beds of spices, Solomon wrote 1,005 songs in his lifetime (1 Ki 4:32), but this is the “song of songs” (So 1:1). Song of Songs. Chapter 1. Does the girl leave Solomon and escape to her shepherd lover? Your waist is like a heap of wheat, He browses among the lilies, He said, ‘I forgive you, My friend, for you are lovely in deed and lovely in resolve. The righteous among you are loyal as a dove.’. Though I am black with sin, I am comely with virtue, O nations who are destined to ascend to Jerusalem; though sullied as the tents of Kedar, I will be immaculate as the draperies of Him to Whom peace belongs. Besides being an elder at Cobb Vineyard Church in Kennesaw, GA, he conducts an Alpha Course, teaches Sunday School, shows videos of interests, and directs a chorale. A very high-powered editor of a Christian magazine told me two weeks ago that he knows of only one exceptional Christian fiction writer. 14 Come away, my beloved! from the vineyards of En Gedi. We can surmise, therefore, that the two sections tell the same childhood events from different points of view. If a man were to give all the riches of his house for love, “Lightning Crashes” was not released as a single, … And your land, “Married”; 2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth--for thy love is better than wine. The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's. 14 His hands are like rings of gold set with beryl. that are twins of a roe. 12 His eyes are like doves beside the water brooks, The brothers speak: We have a little sister, and she has no breasts; what shall we do for our sister on the day when she is spoken for? This will set the stage for a similar arrangement in Songs. But phileo love between friends, that which finds value in the other, is also important. It is You Who are lovely, my Beloved, so pleasant that you pardoned my sin enabling our Temple to make me ever fresh, 17. Her speech and thoughts include both physical and emotional aspects of their relationship, but he talks primarily of her beauty. 3 Your two breasts are like two fawns, follow the tracks of the sheep. Go there slowly close your eyes. What is the seal in this refrain? 16 Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, yes, pleasant; They are right to love you. What I submit for your consideration is that the Song of Songs provides us with the love language that we need to express our relationship with our heavenly Bridegroom. The flowers have already appeared in the land; 1:3 . Note the references to “vineyard” in the two sections. 14. in the streets and in the squares I will seek him whom my soul loves. Perhaps the frankness of the Song of Songs could bring it back. It is in our movies, our books, and our advertisements. The Song of Songs is told from the bride’s point of view. Why, for example, would the young woman want to know, “where do you pasture your flocks, where do you lie down at noon?” (Songs 1:7). The thousand are for you, Solomon; 13 You who dwell in the gardens, with friends in attendance, Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, He glances through the lattice. 9 How is your beloved better than another beloved, 13 Return, return, Shulammite! Behold, you are beautiful. She is her mother’s only daughter. Then you can graze your tender kids even among the dwellings of foreign shepherds. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, with all spices of the merchant? of the wood of Lebanon. (Editors note: this is no longer available on that link. that you not stir up, nor awaken love, The first story line is, in fact, not a story line at all. 2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth--for thy love is better than wine. Nor to your land will it any longer be said, “Desolate”; 13 The fig tree ripens her green figs. His banner – Over me – Is love. His body is like ivory work overlaid with sapphires. Let us note, for example, that modern sexuality is primarily about entertainment and marketing. 2 I will get up now, and go about the city; 12 Without realizing it, Honey and milk are under your tongue. The Song of Songs is enigmatic because there is no consensus about many of the book’s elements. In their mutual admiration and young love, they refer to each other using royal terms. For your b love is better than wine; 3 your c anointing oils are fragrant; your d name is oil poured out; therefore virgins love you. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; Having made the case for the difficulties of the book, I must now make the case for your making it your own. Where will You rest them under the fiercest sun of harshest Exile? His appearance is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. This should also be understood, taught, and emulated. The Song of Songs is enigmatic because it has no unambiguous reference to God, religion, or spiritual things. Painters? 8 The voice of my beloved! Its flashes are flashes of fire, You will find it instructive to compare it verse by verse with your favorite translation. He praises her purity and chastity saying Song of Songs 4:12, “A garden enclosed Is my sister, my spouse, A spring shut up, A fountain sealed 11. This leads us to a third story line. 6 RICHARD M. DAVIDSON. Still the notion that the book is an anthology of love songs is worth considering. Like a lily among the thorns, Must we conclude that the Song of Songs has nothing to say about God and spiritual matters? Footnotes. 3 Your oils have a pleasing fragrance. 12 My own vineyard is before me. Each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver for its fruit. Let me start you off with the most important clue to understanding it: The Song of Songs is told from the bride’s point of view. J. Sidlow Baxter writes: To some it may seem that the language of Solomon’s Song is too intimate or extravagant to express the communion of the saints with the heavenly Bridegroom; yet it is a fact that the most ardent lovers of the Lord have here found a relief of expression such as could be found nowhere else. skipping on the hills. The second says that sex is a recreational activity that should have limited restraints. 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