3:8 All of them holding sword, taught of battle, Each his sword by his thigh, for fear at night. level to the capacity of the meanest, and there are shallows in them learned, Under the citron-tree I have waked thee, There did thy mother pledge thee, There she gave a pledge [that] bare thee. 3). 4:11 Thy lips drop honey, O spouse, Honey and milk [are] under thy tongue, And the fragrance of thy garments [Is] as the fragrance of Lebanon. And the two hundred for those keeping its fruit. 5:1 I have come in to my garden, my sister-spouse, I have plucked my myrrh with my spice, I have eaten my comb with my honey, I have drunk my wine with my milk. purely allegorical interpretation of the Song can lead to extremely divergent 6:2 My beloved went down to his garden, To the beds of the spice, To delight himself in the gardens, and to gather lilies. Though on the surface, the Song speaks about the love between the ii. It sees the hero of the Song as Solomon, the son of David, the king of Israel. without number” (6:8)! Yes, as the Lord’s parables have Yet the lesson that is drawn from the sparrow can and must still center appropriately on Jesus, as the One who shows us the full extent of God’s fatherly love and care for us. 2:5 Sustain me with grape-cakes, Support me with citrons, for I [am] sick with love. I believe that it is possible to steer a middle ground between the allegorical and literal extremes: to recognize the Song of Songs as wisdom literature that celebrates a great mystery in life, the mutual love of a man and a woman (Prov. 5:4 My beloved sent his hand from the net-work, And my bowels were moved for him. The kind of free association that Cyril of Alexandria engaged in is, of course, the problem with allegorical interpretation. `Open to me, my sister, my friend, My dove, my perfect one, For my head is filled [with] dew, My locks [with] drops of the night.'. The Literal Interpretation V. CLOSING HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS LITERATURE The full title in Hebrew is "The So of Songs, which is Solomon's." 6:7 As the work of the pomegranate [is] thy temple behind thy veil. If one give all the wealth of his house for love, Treading down -- they tread upon it. How beautiful were thy feet with sandals, O daughter of Nadib. 4:2 Thy teeth as a row of the shorn ones That have come up from the washing, For all of them are forming twins, And a bereaved one is not among them. 1:16 Lo, thou [art] fair, my love, yea, pleasant, Yea, our couch [is] green. 3:3 The watchmen have found me, (Who are going round about the city), `Him whom my soul have loved saw ye?'. Look from the top of Amana, From the top of Shenir and Hermon, From the habitations of lions, From the mountains of leopards. 1:8 If thou knowest not, O fair among women, Get thee forth by the traces of the flock, And feed thy kids by the shepherds' dwellings! 1:1 The Song of Songs, that [is] Solomon's. The third approach, which is very popular today, is to take the Song simply Well, I am quite persuaded through my own There is certainly nothing wrong with biology classes or practical tips about dating and marriage. This interpretation was taken up by Christian Ginsburgh in the 19th century, who saw the Song of Songs as the answer to Solomon’s question in Proverbs 31:10. 2:10 My beloved hath answered and said to me, `Rise up, my friend, my fair one, and come away. Spirit would be most enriching and satisfying spiritual experience. does make good sense when read on the surface. 4:12 A garden shut up [is] my sister-spouse, A spring shut up -- a fountain sealed. 3:11 Go forth, and look, ye daughters of Zion, On king Solomon, with the crown, With which his mother crowned him, In the day of his espousals, And in the day of the joy of his heart! [1] Graeme Goldsworthy, Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), xi. necessary to understand the surface meaning of the Song to some degree before their intended lessons and/or didactic meanings in the spiritual realm, so too The second challenge is to decide what precisely the Song is about. the concubine of David and King Solomon, as many commentators suggest? 4:8 Come from Lebanon, come thou in. 2:14 My dove, in clefts of the rock, In a secret place of the ascent, Cause me to see thine appearance, Cause me to hear thy voice, For thy voice [is] sweet, and thy appearance comely.