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Wednesday 4/08/26
Thru the Bible: Song of Solomon Chapter 6
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Reveling
In Song of Solomon 5 we covered:
- The couple consummated their union in the bridal chamber.
- The bride confided in her lover of her dream of longing for him.
- We speculated that this “retelling” of the dream was altered into a “could you imagine if” scenario of flirtatious fun between the couple.
- Since the structure of this Love Song is Chiastic, the song now began its retreat to the beginning again with the bride’s maids asking the Shulamite why her lover was better than any other lover.
- The remainder of the chapter is the Shulamite’s answer to her bride’s maids where she offers a type of wasf of Solomon describing his attributes in poetic imagery.
Since we covered chapter 5 I have discovered another interpretation of the retelling of the dream and I think it is worth mentioning. While I believe it has its weak points, I believe my interpretation does as well, and since this is love poetry and therefore highly symbolic, I believe other considerations can be constructive so long as they don’t go outside the boundaries of scripture.
David Guzik proposed that the dream in chapter 5 is a poetic way of addressing a problem which arose in their relationship.
Now since this entire poem seems so closely tethered to their wedding, it never occurred to me to pan out months or years from that happy day in my consideration of the text. So an idea like this would probably not even occur to me. And while I think that it is a stretch, and has its own weaknesses which Guzik acknowledges himself, it truly brings a wonderful truth to light that I feel I’d be robbing you from if we did not consider it.
You will remember that in this second dream, Solomon came and knocked on her door. She replied that she has already disrobed and washed her feet – “must I soil them again?” was her reply. Solomon attempted to circumvent the door lock at which point she came to the door but found he had already left.
Now as I said, Guzik believes this dream represents a real problem between the couple. Rather than the Shulamite being playful and coy in her address to Solomon about opening the door, he saw it as her having grown complacent in their relationship. That she was “dragging her feet” so to speak and was not as eager to be joined in sexual union with him as she once was.
This all certainly has a more “real life” feel to it if time had indeed passed since their wedding and so let’s just consider it as the story develops.
When she finally gets up and comes to the door, she finds he is gone. Then we are told she feels “despair” – perhaps from her actions, perhaps from concern over how she made him feel, perhaps over her safety since, after all – he is the king!
In any case, she goes out seeking for him and in her search the watchmen find her and mistreat her. Guzik suggests this represents her inner struggle with her emotions.
She comes upon her maidens in her troubled state and they ask her what is so special about her lover that she should trouble herself over him.
And this is where I believe Guzik’s view has true merit, even if it isn’t the correct interpretation.
In response to this question from her maidens, the Shulamite begins to describe him!
You see as she is telling the maidens why her beloved is better than all other men to her, she stops viewing this problem from the vantage point of her own emotions and concerns which drew her attention inward, and begins to consider just her lover which draws her thoughts outside of herself.
When she is done with her description, we turn the page to chapter 6 and begin with the maidens apparently possessing a change of heart as they say to the Shulamite, “where has your beloved gone… tell us so we can seek him with you”!
Earlier in chapter 5, when she was in a panic, she couldn’t figure out where he had gone. Now, in chapter 6, after her heart has been reunited to him by means of her meditations on his virtues, she all of the sudden knows where he must be.
In her state of panic, her thoughts of herself only clouded her vision.
Sound familiar in your relationship with Jesus?
When she focused upon him alone, and reveled in his delightfulness, she remembered his ways and in that moment knew where he would have gone when he left her door. He went back to his gardens!
Now this is where the notion gets a little dicey.
Up to this point the poetic imagery of “spiced gardens” always referred to the Shulamite’s sexuality to Solomon. So if we are to maintain that imagery, and since this is in fact Solomon who had many wives and concubines, it is possible that this is what she is referring to. Having come to her for the enjoyment of sexual union and being turned away, he retreated to his other wives.
There is some merit to this idea since later in verses 8-9, Solomon mentions them.
However, this could also be referring to literal gardens since Solomon had MANY beautiful and well cultivated gardens to which, no doubt, he retreated from time to time.
Finally this could also be referring to him as a shepherd which was how he presented himself to her during their betrothal. This following a chiastic structure, it is possible even though now the Shulamite knows Solomon’s true identity as king.
In this scenario, he would have done like the disciples of Jesus had many times – he would have returned to what he found familiar and comforting.
For the disciples of Jesus, this was fishing, for Solomon it was tending his sheep.
This interpretation takes the statement of “feeding among the lilies” away from being symbolic and descriptive of physical love to a more literal grazing of his sheep.
So we will now begin reading chapter 6, viewing it through both lenses. That of our interpretation of chapter 5 and that of Guzik’s which I just described to you.
Song of Solomon 6:1-13,
“(1) The Maidens to the Beloved:
Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? Where has your beloved turned? Tell us, that we may seek him with you.”
Now remember Guzik believes this was just after the Shulamite answers her maiden’s question about why Solomon was so much better than any other lover and her loving description of him. To which the maidens respond with new vigor to help her find him.
In our view from chapter 5 this is following the chiastic structure of the love song where the story begins to fold back in on itself, revisiting the major points of the first chapters only in reverse order and with the additional benefits of having already lived through the climax of the Song which is the union of the couple in matrimony.
So carrying forward our notions from last week this exchange has the maidens asking about Solomon’s whereabouts and the Shulamite responding that he is in a place of satisfaction having partaken of her as his delight as the next verse would indicate.
“(2) The Beloved to the Maidens:
My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the flowerbeds of balsam spices, to graze in the gardens, and to gather lilies.”
“(3) The Beloved about Her Lover:
I am my lover’s and my lover is mine; he grazes among the lilies.”
This statement, if viewed from Guzik’s understanding, is a further explanation that Solomon had sought repose or perhaps temporary satisfaction elsewhere, but that his heart still belonged to her. This view has its up sides and down sides.
Since Solomon represents Jesus, this doesn’t seem to fit regardless of whether the garden and lilies are referring to a solemn place of retreat and refreshment like an actual garden or to other lovers for temporary satisfaction.
Now we have Solomon addressing his wife the Shulamite…
“(4) The Lover to His Beloved:
My darling, you are as beautiful as Tirzah, as lovely as Jerusalem, as awe-inspiring as bannered armies!”
Here Solomon describes her as beautiful, only the beauty described transcends just natural beauty. He refers to the cities of Jerusalem and Tirzah which were remarkable in the ancient world. They both were splendid and striking in their beauty, but they also represented a national treasure of Israel as well. Rare and splendid jewels in their land. The national pride in the order, structure, stateliness and straight out beauty of these cities inspired awe among sojourners and national pride among the Jews.
So to use this comparison for his bride went deeper than natural beauty alone and brushed up upon her inner flawlessness and noble character to Solomon and this is confirmed in his following words.
“(5) Turn your eyes away from me – they overwhelm me!
Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead.
(6) Your teeth are like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing; each has its twin; not one of them is missing.
(7) Like a slice of pomegranate is your forehead behind your veil.
(8) There may be sixty queens, and eighty concubines, and young women without number. (9) But she is unique!
My dove, my perfect one!
She is the special daughter of her mother, she is the favorite of the one who bore her. The maidens saw her and complimented her; the queens and concubines praised her:
(10) “Who is this who appears like the dawn? Beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awe-inspiring as the stars in procession?” [procession meaning to flaunt or be conspicuous]
Solomon is clearly enraptured with her beauty both inwardly and outwardly!
The description here is so much like that of chapter 4 that there is no real need to work through the imagery a second time. One thing of note however, is that when viewing this through the lens of Guzik’s interpretation, this takes on a beauty which is worthy of mention and is more than any other the reason I thought it worth the mentioning.
In Guzik’s view, Solomon had been treated lightly by his bride. She had scorned his advances, to which he responded NOT with force, but with retreat. He took a walk, cooled off, and saw beauty which reminded him of her.
He gathered a bouquet of lilies and returned to her again and did not sully the beauty of their reuniting by any hint of bitterness or anger.
Instead, He makes grandiose pronouncements of his love for her and her beauty to him. His description of her being almost precisely the same as chapter 4 reveals that her ill treatment of him has not diminished his view of her in any way! In fact, he goes even further now by adding to that description of her beauty and value to him. And in all the ways that matter, that is a clear depiction of Christ and his loving devotion to the church His bride – to you and to me!
What makes the description honest is its acknowledgement that other women exist who are striking and beautiful, but she outshines them all and belongs in a class to herself – she is utterly unique and perfect.
The use of the “dove” again, especially following an exclamation like this, is clear evidence that his heart’s only true captor is his beloved.
Now Guzik’s interpretation and ours merge in some ways here since nothing about either view denies that Solomon had many lovers and both views recognize the unique and special place the Shulamite held in his heart’s estimation.
The only difference here may be that in Guzik’s view, Solomon’s request to turn her gaze from him may have some connection with her former denial of his advances and a need to not further stir a passion that is not being satisfied.
From our view, it is nothing more than an exquisite exclamation of how powerful an impact his beloved has upon him.
Eyes have been viewed as a window into the soul, mind and true character since antiquity. This enduring concept is found across ancient cultures, with origins attributed to early philosophers like Cicero and Plato, as well as far more ancient religious texts. They all emphasize that eyes reveal hidden thoughts and emotions that words cannot hide.
So here, Solomon sees, in her eyes, an inner beauty and devotion to him that he finds overwhelming.
Now that such could be rightly said of Jesus regarding us as His bride again seems too remarkable to be true. I believe however, that has more to do with our limited understanding of His power in creating us, as well as possessing too limited a view of His transforming work in us individually and corporately in redemption.
As uncomfortable and even somewhat irreverent as it may seem – Jesus is enraptured with us. Just let your hearts take that in – not in pride, but let it melt you into humility and gratitude. Let the surprise of it take your breath away!
Any understanding of God and our relation to Him that can be read and understood completely from a dispassionate view is a dead religion and deserves to die! It is clearly a mischaracterization of God Who has gone out of His way to reveal His passion and devotion to us His special creation. So if there are no elements of our relationship to God in Christ that does not take your breath away, then you need to revisit how you have interpreted scripture for that relationship should truly arouse our attention and captivate us!
Now this last section could go in so many directions and I honestly cannot think of a truly bad way to understand it. I found it difficult to determine if this was Solomon or the Shulamite speaking so we will explore both options.
If this is Solomom, and if we are continuing with our view of Chapter 5, then this continues to follow a chiastic structure and Solomon is recalling his going throughout the townships of Israel to seek out a bride. The imagery here would therefore be one where the “orchard and blossoms of the valley” would represent the young maidens of Israel who are of the marrying age.
Recall that pomegranates were closely associated with romance and fertility. So when Solomon found the Shulamite, his heart skipped a beat – he was “beside himself with joy!”.
The request to “give me your myrrh” is a poetic way of asking for her romantic love in return – “” representing romantic love.
If this is the Shulamite, then this is a retelling of first love. How they discovered each other and the beauty of the memories of young, developing love.
Viewed from Guzik’s perspective this represents the renewal or rather the “picking back up where they left off” of their love following their troubles. It is a mental, symbolic returning to the “place we first met”. A reclaiming of all the beauty, adoration and single-mindedness of love’s first blush between them.
“(11) The Lover to His Beloved:
I went down to the orchard of walnut trees, to look for the blossoms of the valley, to see if the vines had budded or if the pomegranates were in bloom.
(12) I was beside myself with joy!
There please give me your myrrh, O daughter of my princely people.”
These last two verses are a beautiful close to all that has gone before regardless of which interpretation you favor.
“(13) The Lover to His Beloved:
“Turn, turn, O Perfect One! Turn, turn, that I may stare at you!”
Solomon had asked his bride to turn away. The beauty, devotion and depth of sincerity he found in her gaze being more than his heart could take – now risks his very heart exploding in untamed joy by asking her to return her gaze to him once more.
The Beloved to Her Lover:
“Why do you gaze upon the Perfect One like the dance of the Mahanaim?”
This last sentence is difficult to interpret.
It is clearly the bride’s response to Solomon’s gaze.
This word “gaze” means to mentally perceive or contemplate with pleasure; specifically to have a vision of. So it most likely means, why do you see me the way you do?
The term “perfect one” is שׁוּלמּית shûlammı̂yth (shoo-lam-meeth’) and is more literally translated as “peaceful”. It is directly connected to the Hebrew word for Shulamite and was probably a type of “pet name”. Comparing his gazing upon her to the dance of Mahanaim (mach – an – eh) is the puzzling part.
Mahanaim (מחנה machăneh [makh-an-eh’]) literally means an encampment of travellers or troops, though it is used figurative of dancers, angels, certain animals and even stars. With Solomon having recently attributed her beauty to “stars in procession”, this latter one may be preferred.
But what does it mean?
If the referent is “the dance of the stars or celestial bodies” it could mean, why do you look at me with such admiration and wonder? But even still it remains unclear.
We should consider it sufficient to say that whatever this glance is – either the literal way he stares at her or the way he thinks of her in his heart – the notion is that it is good and even flattering.
Blessings!
Blessings!
