v.1-7 Ob and In:
1. v.1-3 Comparisons
a. What the beloved said about herself and what the lover said about her:
A meadow flower=Colchicum autumnale (meadow-saffron or crocus). ..Appropriately, the rustic maiden who grew up in the simplicity of rural life compares herself to a simple, common flower of the field
Sharon=(NET) The combination of low sandy hills and swampy lowlands produced heavy vegetation and an abundance of wild flowers in the area
A lily among the thorns=(NET) The Lover accommodates her self-denigrating (critically unfair) comparison, but heightens it to praise her: If she insisted that she was nothing more than a common flower of the field, then he insisted that all other women were like thorns by comparison. The term חוֹח (khokh, “thorn”) is often used as a figure for utter desolation and the cause of pain; it is the antithesis of fertility and beautiful luxuriant growth (Job 31:40; Isa 34:13; Hos 9:6).
b. What the lover said about the beloved made the beloved to said sth back to him in return
The apple tree among the trees in the forest=(NET) Apple trees were not native to Palestine and had to be imported and cultivated. To find a cultivated apple tree growing in the forest among other wild trees would be quite unusual; the apple tree would stand out and be a delightful surprise. Like a cultivated apple tree, the Lover was unique and stood out among all other men. In ancient Near Eastern love literature, the apple tree was a common symbol for romantic love and sexual fertility (S. N. Kramer, The Sacred Marriage Rite, 100–101). The “apple tree” motif is used in the Song in a similar manner (e.g., Song 2:3; 8:5). Likewise, the motif of “apples” is used as a symbol of fertility (Joel 1:12) and sexual desire (Song 2:5, 7, 9).
To sit in his shade=(NET) Previously, the young woman had complained that she had been burned by the sun because she had been forced to labor in the vineyards with no shade to protect her (Song 1:5–6). She had urged him to tell her where she could find relief from the sun during the hot midday hours (Song 1:7). Now she exults that she finally had found relief from the scorching sun under the “shade” which he offered to her (Song 2:3). S. C. Glickman writes: “Whereas before she came to him she worked long hours on the sun (1:6), now she rests under the protective shade he brings. And although formerly she was so exhausted by her work she could not properly care for herself, now she finds time for refreshment with him” (A Song for Lovers, 40).
Sweet to my taste=(NET) The idea of “tasting” is used as a metaphor in the OT for the experiential knowledge which is acquired through a person’s relationship with someone (e.g., Ps 34:9). Just as a person would learn whether a fruit was ripe and delicious by tasting it, so a person could learn of the quality of a person’s character by experiencing it through personal interaction. This extended metaphor compares the delights of his love to (1) the refreshment of sitting in the shade of a tree for refuge from the desert sun, and (2) the delight of tasting a sweet apple—a fruit that was not indigenous to Palestine.
2. Parallelism in v.4-5
(NET) four parallel imperatives of request, all revolving around the theme of love-sickness: “Bring me into the banquet hall,
feed me with love; (NIV-let his banner over me be love) NET-Delitzsch revocalized the noun וְדִגְלוֹ (“his banner”) as an imperative וְדִגְלוּ (védiglu, “serve [me]”) from the root דָּגַל (dagal, “to serve food”) which is related to Akkadian dagalu II (“to serve food”).
sustain me with raisin cakes, NET-refers to an expensive delicacy made of dried compressed grapes (HALOT 95 s.v. אֲשִׁישָׁה; BDB 84 s.v. אֲשִׁישָׁה; Jastrow 128 s.v. אֲשִׁישָׁה). Raisin cakes were used as cultic offerings by many ancient Near Easterners, and were especially prominent in ancient Near Eastern fertility rites (e.g., Isa 16:7; Hos 3:1). In ancient Israel they were eaten during festive celebrations, being viewed as enhancing sexual fertility (2 Sam 6:19; 1 Chr 16:3). Scholars regard the “raisin cakes” as (1) literal food viewed as an aphrodisiac to “cure” her love-sickness; (2) a figurative expression (hypocatastasis) for sexual passion or lovemaking; or (3) double entendre referring to the literal food as an aphrodisiac and her desire for lovemaking.
refresh me with apples, because I am faint with love." NET-First, apples were viewed as medicinal in ancient Syro-Palestinian customs; the sick were given apples to eat or smell in order to revive them. Similarly, the Mishnah and Talmud refer to apples as a medication like wine and grapes. Second, apples were considered an aphrodisiac in the ancient Near East. Both motifs are combined here because the Beloved is “love-sick” and only the embrace of her beloved can cure her, as 2:6 indicates
faint with love=NET-It is used figuratively as a hyperbolic hypocatastasis for being so consumed with sexual desire that it saps one of his/her physical and emotional strength (BDB 317 s.v. 2). This is commonly referred to as “love-sickness.” It was associated with such deep longing for physical and sexual fulfillment that it weighed so heavily upon a person that he/she was physically and emotionally drained (2 Sam 13:2).
3. The oat v.7
(NET) The “gazelles” and “does of the fields” are probably zoomorphisms for love personified. In other words, the witness of this oath is “love” itself. Should the daughters violate this vow which they are asked to make, “love” itself would hold them accountable
4. Difficult passage v.7c
Do not awaken or arouse love until it pleases!
awaken or arouse =NET-The first is the Hiphil imperative (“do not awake/excite …”) and the second is the Polel imperative (“do not awake/start to move …”). The Hiphil depicts a causative action (causing love to initially awaken) and the Polel depicts an intensive action (repeated efforts to awaken love or to set love into motion)
Do not awaken or arouse love=NET-There are three major views: (1) to force a love relationship to develop prematurely rather than to allow it to develop naturally; (2) to interfere with the experience of passionate love; or (3) to stir up sexual passion, that is, to become sexually active.
Do not awaken or arouse love until it pleases!= NET “Promise that you will not arouse or awaken love until it pleases!” This line is a typical Hebrew negative oath formula in which the speaker urges his/her audience to take a vow to not do something that would have destructive consequences
Summary and reflection: In general, love between woman and man is appreciation to each other. You see something unique for that person among others. When you are praised you want to praise the other back. The man provided protection and rest for the woman that she longs for. The interaction between them brings her sweetness. The man made vow to the woman, “Promise that you will not arouse love or setting love into action until it develop naturally!”
It is something unique between this kind of love and other love. Love comes with seriousness, and consumes a person. Love also requires our promise. No one want it to happen by someone else's arousal. Do I praise my husband? Am I serious with my love? Do I keep my promise? Have I aroused love?
v.8-13 Ob and In:
1. Lovers longing to see each other
The passage in v.8-9 is about the woman who was waiting at home while v.10-13 is about the man who gave an invitation to the woman to go away with him.
2. v.8-9 repeated words: in the woman's imagination, the man was approaching, even though he had to climb over the mountains and hills, he was determined. He came quickly like the gazelle or a young male deer.
(She had been waiting with great attention so that she knew the moment he was behind their wall, and looking through their window).
3. v.10-13 repeated words: The woman called the man, "my lover." An in the invitation, the man called the woman, "my darling," and "my beautiful one." The invitation repeated 3 times, "come away with me." Also, the timing to execute the plan had come v.11-13a. In spring, the winter rains are gone. The flowers can be seen, one can hear the bird singing, and eating the ripened figs and smelled the fragrance of vine flowers. (BKC) spring stimulates the senses of sight, sound, taste, and smell.
Summary and Reflection: Love included the longing to spending time together, and to see each other. Do I long for my husband and do I long for Jesus' return? When the woman wait she pay great attention. Do I pay great attention when I wait for Jesus? Lovers have mutual feelings to each other and they wanted to enjoy the senses together. How can we cultivate the oneness in our marriage and enjoy the companion of each other?
v.14-17 Ob and In:
1. v.14-15 Repeated:
a. dove in the clefts/the hiding places
(NET) Doves were often associated with timidity in the ancient world. Being virtually defenseless, they would often take refuge in crevices and cliffs for safety (Jer 48:28)
b. let me see you/hear your voice
(NICOT) Yet verse 14 continues the theme of the man’s invitation to the woman. He wants her to come with him. She is presently separated from him, indeed hidden from him. He wants her to join him. Further, she is in a barren and perhaps threatening environment, and he desires to be with her
c. the foxes ruin "our" vineyard
(NET) oxes are always spoken of in a negative light in the OT and in the ancient world were particularly associated with their destructive tendencies with regard to vineyards (Judg 15:4; Neh 4:3; Ps 63:10; Lam 5:18; Ezek 13:4)... the “foxes” are probably used figuratively to represent potentially destructive problems which could destroy their romantic relationship and which could hinder it from ripening into marriage....“our vineyards are in bloom” means that their romantic love relationship was in its initial stages, that is, before it had ripened into marriage.
d. The "us," "our" and v.16a
My lover is mine and I am his
2. v.17 An invitation to return
(NET) In keeping with the extended simile in which the Beloved compares him to a gazelle or stag leaping upon the mountains, the term סֹב may simply denote “turn oneself around, change direction” (HALOT 739 s.v. 1). Rather than leaping somewhere else, so to speak, she invites him to leap upon the “mountain gorges.”...As her Lover prepares to leave her country village, the Beloved asks him to return to her again in the same way he arrived, like a gazelle bounding over the mountains in 2:8–10 (mountains are literal).
Summary and reflection: In the beginning of their courtship, the woman was timid and hide from the man. She wants the man to catch the "foxes" which are destroying their blooming relationship in the beginning stage. Then she invited him turning back to her and did not leave where she was.
Relationship has threats, including one party longing and the other retreating. The lover allowed the beloved to be hidden. He only invited her and compliment her. He did not forced her to come out. Pray that in my marriage and in my relationship with God I will not be retreating and I will encourage my husband when he does. Second threat is the "foxes" which destroy our relationship when it was not developed in the mature stage yet. Catch the foxes, and get rid of them. What is in between my husband and I? What is in between my Lord and I? Finally, invitation. When I see the threat do I invite my husband back to where we were?
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