With no explanation of who she is or what wonderful things have happened to her, the Shulamite launches into a statement about her love for the king.
True love is like a banquet (1:2—2:7). First she speaks of him and then she speaks to him. She yearns for expressions of his love (kisses, 8:1) and confesses that his love is better than wine. The effects of wine are shallow and temporary, but the enrichment that comes from true love is deep and lasting. Note that the expressions of love include touch (kisses), taste (wine), and smell (ointment). No wonder she cries out to him, “Take me with you!” It is his love that draws her to his chambers, where a great banquet has been prepared. The women of Jerusalem
3:5) approve her choice and her decision to go with him. There are four parties involved in marriage: the bride, the groom, society, and the Lord. Other people don’t choose our mates for us, but the approval of godly friends is a great encouragement. The women express their approval of the king and run after them as they go to the banquet in the king’s chambers.
The Shulamite rejoices that he has chosen her and repeats her statement about his love being better than wine. But then she suddenly feels unworthy of such an honor and describes herself as “dark but still lovely” (1:5). She had been tanned by the hot Eastern sun as she worked for her brothers in the vineyard. She kept their vineyards but neglected to care for her own vineyard—herself. The tents of Kedar were made out of the hair of black goats, and she felt that she looked just like them! She speaks to the shepherd-king and offers to go care for his flocks instead of attending the banquet. Otherwise, she would have to veil her face, and then the other guests would take her for a prostitute (Gen. 38:14–15). He didn’t reply to her question, but the women of Jerusalem suggested she follow the flocks of the other shepherds, for shepherds often pastured their sheep together.
But Solomon would have none of her confessions of unworthiness and ugliness! In 1:9–11, he extols her beauty and calls her “my love” (see 1:15; 2:2, 10, 13; 4:1, 7; 5:2; 6:4). If today a man compared his wife or girlfriend to a mare pulling a chariot, he would probably be in trouble, but the lovely Shulamite knew what Solomon meant. No sensible charioteer would ever put a mare among stallions! But Solomon was only saying, “You are unique—one among many, unique, very special.” A noble horse is indeed a beautiful creature, and Solomon was an expert on horses (1 Kings 10:25ff.). Furthermore, the king’s horses wore exquisite ornaments, something his beloved didn’t need because her own beauty was sufficient (see 1 Peter 3:3–4). The daughters of Jerusalem offered to make her special jewelry to please the king (1:11), but Solomon wouldn’t permit it. Our Lord Jesus is today using His Word to beautify His bride (Eph. 5:26–27), and as we obey Him, we are preparing ourselves for the great heavenly wedding (Rev. 19:7–9).
The company arrives at the banquet hall, where they recline at the table with the king and his beloved (1:12). Frequently in the Song of Solomon you find love compared to the enjoyment of food and drink, such as fruit (2:3–4), wine (1:2; 5:1), and honey and milk (5:1). Scripture compares the future reign of Christ to a great marriage feast (Isa. 25:6; Matt. 8:11; Luke 13:29; 14:15; Rev. 19:6–9). The beloved Shulamite wears perfume that attracts her lover; in fact, she sees him as a sachet of myrrh over her heart and as a cluster of beautiful flowers from the rich oasis of En Gedi. She tells him this, and he responds by telling her she is beautiful, especially her eyes. She also tells him that he is handsome and uses two images to assure him that their love would last: their couch (not “bed”) at the table was green, like a verdant garden or field, and their rafters were strong. The roof wasn’t about to fall down!
But then she lapses back into abasing herself, for she compares herself to a common crocus (rose) from Sharon and an ordinary hyacinth (lily) of the fields (2:1). In spite of what a familiar gospel song says, it is the Shulamite who makes this comparison of herself and not the king who make this comparison of himself. But the king responds by using the image of the lily and comparing her to a lily among thorns! She then responds by comparing him to a beautiful apple tree in a forest, under which she could sit down and find protection from the sun (1:6) and fruit for her sustenance. It would be unusual to find an apple tree in a common forest, so she is saying that he is “one in a million.”
Solomon was not ashamed of his love for her and displayed it like the banner of an army. “He must love me,” muses the Shulamite, “because he brought me to this banquet and wasn’t ashamed to be associated with me.” But the very thought of being loved by so great a person left her faint, and she asked for apples and cakes of raisins so she could regain her strength. In 2:6, she anticipates the consummation of their marriage (“O that his left hand were under my head and his right hand embracing me!”), but she knows she must wait for the right time. That’s why she admonishes the women from Jerusalem who accompanied her not to rush into love and marriage but to wait for the right time. Even Solomon would write, “There is a time to love” (Eccl. 3:8). She gives this “charge” again in 3:5, 5:8, and 8:4. True love isn’t something we work up; it’s something the Lord sends down within us when we meet the right person at the right time.
True love is like an adventure in the country (2:8–17). After the banquet, the king left the scene, and we assume that his courtiers escorted the Shulamite safely home. She went back to her normal life, but her eyes and ears were always open as she anticipated his return. Then it happened! One day as she was in her brothers’ home, she heard his voice and saw him coming toward her like a beautiful gazelle or a noble stag, bounding across every barrier that stood between him and his beloved. He stopped at the wall that protected the house and looked at her through the lattice window. Then he spoke to her and twice invited her to “come away” (vv. 10, 13). This invitation would be repeated in 4:8, and the Shulamite herself would extend this invitation to her lover (7:11; 8:14).
“Come” is the great word of the gospel of God’s grace. It is God’s loving invitation to the weary who need rest (Matt. 11:28–30), the sin-stained who need cleansing (Isa. 1:18), the hungry who need nourishment (Luke 14:17), and all who thirst for the water of life (Rev. 22:17). But “come” is also His invitation to His own people: “Come and see” (John 1:39), “Come and drink” (John 7:37–38), “Come and dine” (John 21:12). In this text, the king invited his beloved to leave her home and her work and go with him to enjoy an adventure in the country.
Love is not only a banquet of delights, but love is also an adventure. There must be spontaneous expressions of affection if love is to thrive. It was the early springtime and the latter rains had stopped. The flowers were blooming, the birds were singing, and the trees and vines were sprouting. New life was everywhere and abounding! But it seems that his beloved would rather stay home, in the place of security, like a dove in the clefts of the rocks on the mountainside. He wanted to hear her voice and see her face, but she preferred to stay quietly at home. To grow in their love for each other, they needed to be together and have different experiences in different places. This is how we learn more about ourselves and our potential mates. But this principle also applies to our love for the Lord. We must go with Him into new and challenging experiences that will deepen our love and strengthen our faith.
The “little foxes” (2:15) represent those things that quietly destroy relationships. Foxes get into vineyards to feed on the grapes, and the keepers must prop up the branches so the foxes can’t reach them. The Shulamite was still trying to “keep her own vineyard” (1:6)— develop her own personality and prepare for her future—and her unwillingness to go with the king was robbing her of opportunities for maturity. The fruit of their relationship was still tender and needed to be both protected and encouraged. But she makes it clear that her hesitation doesn’t alter her relationship with her lover, because they belong to each other and she knows where he is and what he’s doing (v. 16). “Feed” in verse 16 means “to pasture a flock.” Just as he came to her as a bounding deer (vv. 8–9), so he will come back, and she will welcome him (v. 17).
True love brings dreams of the one you love (3:1–5). The beloved goes to bed and has a dream about her lover. After all, she refused an invitation to spend time with him, and perhaps her conscience was bothering her. In her dream, she left the security of her home and at night searched for him in the city. The watchmen couldn’t help her, but she persisted and eventually found him and wouldn’t let him go. Her desire was for them to get married, so she brought him to her mother’s house and into the very room where she herself had been conceived. Isaac had brought his wife, Rebekah, into his mother’s tent and there consummated their marriage (Gen. 24:67). This is the first mention of the Shulamite’s mother, but nothing is said about her father. (See 3:4,11; 6:9; 8:2, 5.)
At some point in this dream, or perhaps the next day, she gave her usual admonition to the daughters of Jerusalem to let the Lord direct in their lives and not run ahead of His will (v. 5)—even in their dreams!