5 Dollar Nachos

Song of Solomon 2
The Beloved’s Request

The Shulamite

8 The voice of my beloved!
Behold, he comes
Leaping upon the mountains,
Skipping upon the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Behold, he stands behind our wall;
He is looking through the windows,
Gazing through the lattice.

Commentary:
b. Behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains: The maiden imagined her beloved bounding to come meet her, full of energy and excitement, as if he were a gazelle or a young stag.

c. Behold he stands behind our wall; he is looking through the windows: The maiden imagined her beloved peering through the windows to see if his maiden was home.

i. “He was seen first behind the wall, and then in the court; and lastly came to the window of his bride’s chamber.” (Clarke)

10 My beloved spoke, and said to me:
“Rise up, my love, my fair one,
And come away.
11 For lo, 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 turtledove
Is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree puts forth her green figs,
And the vines with the tender grapes
Give a good smell.
Rise up, my love, my fair one,
And come away!

This sounds like any other energetic person. The warm weather comes and he is trying to finally get outside and have a date with his beautiful girlfriend.

Song of Solomon
2

The Shulamite to the Daughters of Jerusalem
4 He brought me to the banqueting house,
And his banner over me was love.
5 Sustain me with cakes of raisins,
Refresh me with apples,
For I am lovesick.

6 His left hand is under my head,
And his right hand embraces me.
7 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
By the gazelles or by the does of the field,
Do not stir up nor awaken love
Until it pleases.

From my commentary:
Do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases: There are two meanings to the phrase in general. It could be, “Don’t interrupt the sweet dream of love the maiden enjoys, drawing her back to the reality of daily life.” Or it could be, “Don’t start the process of loving exchange until the opportunity and appropriate occasion is present; don’t start something unless we can complete it.”

That second interpretation is very true. Don’t start something unless you can finish something. Otherwise you are just tempting yourself. Do not put yourself in a bad position.

Song of Solomon
2:3

The Shulamite
3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the woods,
So is my beloved among the sons.
I sat down in his shade with great delight,
And his fruit was sweet to my taste.

So the woman is enjoying all that the man has to offer
His security, his sweetness…

Song of Solomon 2

A Country Girl in a Palace
1 I am the rose of Sharon,
And the lily of the valleys.

In the first visits at the palace, she was self-conscious and unsure of her appearance and worth. Now, she describes herself as two fairly commonplace wildflowers. She regarded herself as a flower (definitely having beauty), but as rather plain flowers (not remarkable compared to others).
So she elevated herself EVER so slightly.

The Beloved
2 Like a lily among thorns,
So is my love among the daughters.

Like a lily: The beloved heard the maiden’s almost confident self-description and responded with affirmation. Perhaps she said it with a touch of doubt, and he erased any doubt with his response.
The beloved gave his maiden a precious gift: the gift of feeling preferred. In his estimation, she was the flower and the other girls were just thorns.

Song of  Solomon

The Shulamite
16 Behold, you are handsome, my beloved!
Yes, pleasant!
Also our [k]bed is green.
17 The beams of our houses are cedar,
And our rafters of fir.

My commentary pretty much said nothing about this.
Soooo, I had to do a little more digging:

Quote:
To top it all off, Solomon, our picture of Christ, reminds her, “…also our bed is green.” The word ‘green’ here is translated from the Hebrew word ‘raanan’ which means verdant (green with growing plants, unripe, fresh), new, prosperous. He was in essence saying, “We have a whole new field to play on. It’s untouched and it’s just for you and me.

Now I have been reading this from the perspective of a man and woman. However, there are many interpretations that say we are the Bride, and Solomon represents Christ. In that we see that the Lord wants a relationship with us built on prosperous and new adventures! Nothing old or stale. Only new fun and vibrant!

Song of Solomon

The Beloved
15 Behold, you are fair, my love!
Behold, you are fair!
You have dove’s eyes.

Commentary:
You have dove’s eyes: He especially noted the beauty in her eyes. It is true that some women have beautiful eyes by birth; yet there is something wonderful about the beauty of spirit that is seen in the eyes. A woman deeply in love with God has a particular beauty in her eyes.

“The large and beautiful dove of Syria is supposed to be here referred to, the eyes of which are remarkably fine.” (Clarke)

Pour praises on your love. Let your love know they are amazing. Encourage them to be the best they can. Then they will WANT to please you. Then they will strive to be better.

The Shulamite
12 While the king is at his table,
My [i]spikenard sends forth its fragrance.
13 A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me,
That lies all night between my breasts.
14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blooms
In the vineyards of En Gedi.

Commentary:
The maiden understood her ability to attract her beloved; and she also understood his ability to attract her. This dynamic of mutual romantic and sexual attraction is wonderful in the context of a concern for character and corresponding commitment; it is a dangerous dynamic outside this context.

Uncomfortable people sometimes create theories that are a little silly, or ridiculous:
“Jewish scholars have seen in the bride’s breasts Moses and Aaron; the two Messiahs, Messiah Son of David and Messiah son of Ephriam; Moses and Phinehas; and Joshua and Eleazar. Christian interpreters have been equally ingenious. They have seen the bride’s breasts as the church from which we feed; the two testaments, Old and New; the twin precepts of love of God and neighbor; and the Blood and the Water. Gregory of Nyssa found in them the outer and the inner man, united in one sentient being.” (Kinlaw)

Sometimes an object, is just that. Are bodies were created by the Lord. So to be ashamed of any part of it, should never be.

It is clear there is an attraction between these two. Her fragrance attracts him, and his fragrance stays with her in the most sexual of places.

The daughters of Jerusalem offer gifts to the Shulamite.

The Daughters of Jerusalem
11 We will make you ornaments of gold
With studs of silver.

From my commentary:
We will make you ornaments of gold: The on-looking daughters of Jerusalem wanted to bless the maiden also. When they saw how the king cared for her, they wanted to be kind and good to her also.

i. This is one reason why it is important to a woman that her man treat her well and treat her well in public. She instinctively understands that others will treat her better if they see that her man values her and treats her well.

Something else I’ve noticed…
A good love story is fun to be a part of. That is why we love movies with happy endings where the boy and the girl FINALLY kiss at the end.
The daughters of Jerusalem are almost living vicariously through the Shulamite.

The Beloved
8 If you do not know, O fairest among women,
[g]Follow in the footsteps of the flock,
And feed your little goats
Beside the shepherds’ tents.
9 I have compared you, my love,
To my filly among Pharaoh’s chariots.
10 Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
Your neck with chains of gold.

Commentary:
Historical studies set this phrase in an interesting light. Normally, we would think of a beautiful filly, magnificently drawing Pharaoh’s chariots. Yet there are ancient sources that indicate that by strict rule, Pharaoh’s chariots were pulled by stallions, not fillies, mares, or geldings. This then would have the sense that the maiden was as alluring and exciting as a filly among stallions.

So this girl stood out from the rest. One comment said: she had the same sexual attraction that a mare loose among stallions would have.