A song of longing: Song 2:8-3:5

The Song of Solomon, Part 2

It got intense in the last reading. It was the first in a short series, and I wasn’t yet ready for deep intimacy. The woman says, “His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me!” Song 2:6. If not a sex position, it’s still an intimate embrace. Even if they are fully dressed. Next, we move to a different song where the couple is apart, and the woman sings about her longing.

The Bride Adores Her Beloved

⁸ The voice of my beloved!
    Behold, he comes,
leaping over the mountains,
    bounding over the hills.
⁹ My beloved is like a gazelle
    or a young stag.
Behold, there he stands
    behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
    looking through the lattice.
¹⁰ My beloved speaks and says to me:
“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
    and come away,
¹¹ for behold, the winter is past;
    the rain is over and gone.
¹² The flowers appear on the earth,
    the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtle-dove
    is heard in our land.
¹³ The fig tree ripens its figs,
    and the vines are in blossom;
    they give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
    and come away.
¹⁴ O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
    in the crannies of the cliff,
let me see your face,
    let me hear your voice,
for your voice is sweet,
    and your face is lovely.
¹⁵ Catch the foxes for us,
    the little foxes
that spoil the vineyards,
    for our vineyards are in blossom.”
¹⁶ My beloved is mine, and I am his;
    he grazes among the lilies.
¹⁷ Until the day breathes
    and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle
    or a young stag on cleft mountains.

3 On my bed by night
I sought him whom my soul loves;
    I sought him, but found him not.
² I will rise now and go about the city,
    in the streets and in the squares;
I will seek him whom my soul loves.
    I sought him, but found him not.
³ The watchmen found me
    as they went about in the city.
“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
⁴ Scarcely had I passed them
    when I found him whom my soul loves.
I held him, and would not let him go
    until I had brought him into my mother’s house,
    and into the chamber of her who conceived me.
⁵ I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
    by the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
    until it pleases.

Song 2:8-3:5

The Song of Solomon, also known as the Song of Songs, contains sensual songs in the Bible. It uses attraction and romance to symbolise the love of God.

This song ends like the first, with the couple reuniting and embracing. In the first, their embrace is intimate, while in this one, she leads him into the bedroom. These songs conclude with a repeated verse to the daughters of Jerusalem.

I could upset people by saying this, but these lovers are not yet married. In a world of purity rings and an insistence on absolute abstinence before marriage, a book that talks of a degree of eroticism before marriage is a problem. To them at least, but here it is the longing for each other alone that is important, not some government-commissioned licence.

This song expresses the deep longing the young woman feels for her beloved, who is away from her. But unlike many separated lovers, there is no jealousy, bitterness, or self-loathing about being alone, just a longing. Longing for each other’s presence. After waiting, she goes out searching, a really stupid thing to do as it could put her reputation and even her life in danger.

Who is this woman willing to take such risks for her love? And who is the beloved deserving of such sacrifice? I ask these questions because The Song of Songs, part of the Bible’s Wisdom books, is often thought not to have been written by Solomon, who had over 700 wives and concubines. Even though he is mentioned, the song seems to express the feelings of a couple in love with each other alone. The book’s dedication aligns it with Solomon’s literary tradition found in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.

The first 9 chapters of Proverbs provide a father’s guidance to his son on relationships. While it lacks the passion of the Song of Songs, it features two women vying for the son’s attention: Miss Wisdom and Miss Folly. This guidance is also relevant for a daughter regarding Mr. Wisdom and Mr. Folly. Proverbs ends by describing the ideal virtuous wife, often seen as a symbol of God. Could the woman in the Song of Songs also symbolise God?

God being the one who searches for his followers is a theme in scripture:

• The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there are any who understand, Who seek after God. Psalm 14:2
• For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. 2 Chronicles 16:9
• I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strays. Ezekiel 34:16
• For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Jesus in Luke 19:10

Yes, God seeks us. In the Song of Songs, God is often seen as feminine, expressing love and longing for his people like that of a young woman for her beloved.

Like this woman, the longing and searching of God is risky. It was a risk for the Son to give up all he had and to come to earth not as a ruler but as a servant. Take time to meditate on God’s risky love.

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