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Song Page for
Song of Solomon 2 |
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Lyrics
Beloved
1 I am the rose of Sharon, and the
lily of the valleys.
Lover
2 As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
Beloved
3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
5 Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am
sick of love.
6 His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.
7 I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.
8 The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
9 My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.
10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
11 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the
turtle is heard in our land;
13 The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
Lover
14 O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
Beloved
16 My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.
17 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the
mountains of Bether.1
Bible
Commentary
1. Rose of Sharon. By spiritual application, both the titles 'rose of Sharon' and 'lily
of the valleys' have been referred to Christ. Grammatically
and contextually, however, it is more natural to consider this a
statement of the bride. The word translated 'rose' occurs only
here and in
Isa. 35:1, and the identity is uncertain. 'Sharon'
means literally, 'a field', 'a plain', and as a proper name
signifies the maritime plain between Joppa and Mt. Carmel.
Lily of the valleys. The word for 'lily' may have either a masculine or a feminine form.
The feminine form occurs here, whereas the masculine appears in
other parts of the Book of Song of Solomon. The feminine form
occurs again in ch. 2:2 where it definitely applies to the Shulamite
maid. Contextural considerations also favour this view.
According to it the bride is confessing her modesty, stating that
she feels out of place in a palace. She is only a country
flower.
2. Lily among thorns. Solomon assures his bride that all other women, compared to her, are
like thorn plants compared with a beautiful wild flower.
3. The apple tree. The bride returns the compliment: her bridegroom, compared to other
men, is like a fruit tree compared with the nonfruit-bearing trees
of the forest.
4. Banqueting house. Literally, 'house of wine'.
5. Stay me with flagons. Rather, "sustain me with cakes of dried grapes." These cakes
were considered to be stimulating, and hence beneficial in cases of
exhaustion.
Sick of Love.
In modern English she would say that she was lovesick. The
bride was completely overcome with the thrill of her new experience
and could not find figures adequate to describe her ecstatic
delight.
9. Roe.
In modern English, a gazelle.
12. Turtle.
Heb. tor, the turtledove, a species of pigeon.
14. My dove.
The rock pigeon selects the lofty cliffs and deep ravines for
its roosting places, and avoids the neighbourhood of men. Thus
Solomon indicates the modesty and shyness of his loved one.
15. Take us the foxes.
The meaning of this line and the identification of the speaker
are matters of conjecture. Some think that this is a warning
against the foxes that come in the spring and destroy the vines that
are just then in blossom. Others think that the Shulamite is
giving the reason why she cannot immediately respond to her
beloved's invitation, since she has domestic duties to perform.
Others think that the reference is merely to the playful pleasure
the happy lovers would enjoy chasing the little foxes in the
aromatic vineyards.
17. Mountains of Bether.
No such geographical mountains are known. Perhaps the word
here rendered "Bether" should be translated instead. Bether
comes from a root meaning "to cut in two," hence possibly cleft
mountains are meant.3
References and notes
1. King James Authorized Version
3. John Gill's Exposition of the Bible - http://eword.gospelcom.net/comments/song/gill/song2.htm
3.
Seventh-day Adventist Bible
Commentary - Vol. 3 pgs. 1109, 1115, 1116
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About Canticles 2 |
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Easyfind |
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Music for
Cant. 2 |
 Click
image for hear a song preview of Song
of Solomon
2.
This song features on the 43 minute CD album
Song of Solomon.
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Authorship |
Four main points sum up the
internal evidence in favour of a Solomonic authorship:
The knowledge displayed of plants, animals, and other
productions of nature, is in accordance with what is said
about Solomon in 1 Kings 4:33
The evidence of wide acquaintance with foreign products such
as were imported in the time of Solomon.
Similarity of the Song of Solomon with certain parts of the
book of Proverbs (Cant. 4:5, cf. Prov. 5:19; Cant. 4:11, cf.
Prov. 5:3; Cant. 6:9, cf. Prov. 31:28)
The language of the Canticles is such as one would expect
from the time of Solomon. It belongs to the
flourishing period of the Hebrew tongue. Highly
poetical, vigorous and fresh, it has no traces of the decay
that became evident in the declining period when Israel and
Judah were divided. None of these indications is in itself
conclusive, but together they point strongly to Solomon as
the author.2
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Structure of
Cant. 2 |
The marriage of Solomon to the Shulamite Maid, 1:2 to 2:7
Solomon enters. He and the bride exchange mutual
expressions of love, 1:9 to 2:7
Recollections of Fond Associations, 2:8 to 3:5
A delightsome rendezvous in the springtime, 2:8-172
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Synopsis of Canticles 2 |
Here begins a new colloquy between Christ and his church; in
which they alternately set forth the excellencies of each
other; and express their mutual affection for, and delight
and pleasure they take in, each other's company. Christ
seems to begin, in an account of himself and his own
excellencies, and of the church in her present state, ver.
1;
then she, in her turn, praises him, and commends him above
all others relates some choice proofs she had had of his
love to her, and of communion with him in his house and
ordinances, to such a degree as to overcome her, ver.3;
and then either he or she gives a charge to the daughters of
Jerusalem, not to disturb either the one or the other in
their sweet repose, ver.7.
Next the church relates how she heard the voice of Christ,
and had a sight of him on the hills and mountains, at some
distance; then more nearly, behind her wall, and through the
lattices, ver. 8;
and expresses the very words in which he spake to her, and
gave her a call to come away with him; making use of
arguments from the season of the year, the signs of which
are beautifully described, ver. 10;
and requests that she would come out of her solitude, that
he might enjoy her company, whose countenance and voice are
so delightful to him; and gives a charge to her and her
friends, to seize on such as were harmful and prejudicial to
their mutual property, ver. 14.
And
she closes the chapter with expressing her faith of interest
in Christ; and with a petition for his speedy approach to
her, and continued presence with her, ver. 16.2
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Shulamite Maid |
Shulamite (Cant. 6:13) should
probably be Shunammite (see 1 Kings 1:3). If so, the
maiden was from Shunem, a town in the territory of Issachar
(see Joshua 19:18). Shunem was the scene of the
touching story recorded in 2 Kings 4:8-37, in which the
prophet Elisha raised to life the son of his Shunammite
benefactress. The modern city of Solem stands on the
ancient site.2
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