Old Testament

Song of Solomon 2

The Beloved Draws Near

5 passages

Overview

The bride and bridegroom exchange tender images of natural beauty to describe one another, the beloved bounds eagerly over the hills to call his bride out into the world reborn in spring, she is overwhelmed with love in the banquet hall and charges the daughters of Jerusalem not to awaken love before its time, and she closes with a declaration of mutual belonging as the day cools and shadows flee.

Passages

1–3Flowers of the Field, Fruit of the Garden: The Beloved and Her Lover Described 4–7The Banquet Hall: Love's Overwhelming Delight and the Charge to the Daughters 8–13The Beloved's Approach: The Call of Spring 14–15The Dove in the Cleft and the Warning Against Foxes 16–17The Declaration of Belonging and the Evening's Close

Study Resources

No study guides, devotionals, or teaching outlines have been created for this chapter yet.

Song of Solomon 2

¹I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.

²As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

³As 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, his fruit was sweet to my taste.

⁴He brought me to the banquet hall. His banner over me is love.

⁵Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me with apples; for I am faint with love.

⁶His left hand is under my head. His right hand embraces me.

⁷I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, or by the hinds of the field, that you not stir up, nor awaken love, until it so desires.

⁸The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes, leaping on the mountains, skipping on the hills.

⁹My beloved is like a roe or a young deer. Behold, he stands behind our wall! He looks in at the windows. He glances through the lattice.

¹⁰My beloved spoke, and said to me, “Rise up, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.

¹¹For behold, the winter is past. The rain is over and gone.

¹²The flowers appear on the earth. The time of the singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

¹³The fig tree ripens her green figs. The vines are in blossom. They give out their fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.”

¹⁴My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places of the mountainside, let me see your face. Let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely.

¹⁵Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that plunder the vineyards; for our vineyards are in blossom.

¹⁶My beloved is mine, and I am his. He browses among the lilies.

¹⁷Until the day is cool, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be like a roe or a young deer on the mountains of Bether.

Song of Solomon 1 Song of Solomon 3