The Finest Song
Passage: Song of Solomon 2:1-13
The bride and groom speak to one another.
Overview
'I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.' 'His banner over me was love.' The beloved calls, 'Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.'
Going deeper
Romantic love is God's good gift. The refrain 'stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please' (v7) counsels patience.
Key verses (KJV)
- Song of Solomon 2:4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
- Song of Solomon 2:7 I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.
- Song of Solomon 2:10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
From the commentaries
4. Historically fulfilled in the joy of Simeon and Anna in the temple, over the infant Saviour (Lu 2:25-38), and that of Mary, too (compare Lu 1:53); typified (Ex 24:9-11). Spiritually, the bride or beloved is led (So 2:4) first into the King's chambers, thence is drawn after Him in answer to her prayer; is next received on a grassy couch under a cedar kiosk; and at last in a "banqueting hall," such as, Josephus says, Solomon had in his palace, "wherein all the vessels were of gold" (Antiquities, 8:5,2). The transition is from holy retirement to public ordinances, church worship, and the Lord's Supper (Ps 36:8). The bride, as the queen of Sheba, is given "all her desire" (1Ki 10:13; Ps 63:5;
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
Verse 4 He brought me to the banqueting house - Literally, the house of wine. The ancients preserved their wine, not in barrels or dark cellars under ground, as we do, but in large pitchers, ranged against the wall in some upper apartment in the house, the place where they kept their most precious effects. We have a proof of this in Homer: - Ως φαν· ὁ δ' ὑψοραφον θαλομον κατεβησατο πατρος Ευρυν, ὁθι νητος χρυσος και χαλκος εκειτο, Εσθης τ' εν χηλοισιν, ἁλις τ' ευωδες ελαιον. Εν δε πιθοι οινοιο παλαιου ἡδυποτοιο Εστασαν, ακρητον θειον ποτον εντος εχοντες, Ἑξειης ποτε τοιχον αρηροτες· ειποτ' Οδυσσευς Οικαδε νοστησειε, και αλγεα πολλα μογησας. Κληΐσται δ' επεσαν σανιδες πυκινως αραρυιαι, Δικλιδ
Adam Clarke, Adam Clarke's Commentary (1810-1826)
Application
- Why might Scripture include love poetry?
- What does 'his banner over me was love' mean to you?
- How does patience protect love?