Song of Solomon 2
17 verses
The beloved declares herself a rose of Sharon and a lily of the valleys, while the beloved claims she is a lily among thorns—unique and precious. He describes bringing her to his house, where his banner over her is love. The maiden exhorts others not to awaken or stir love until it pleases; she hears her beloved approaching, leaping over mountains and hills, looking through windows and lattices, inviting her to arise and come away. She confirms his presence and their mutual delight, yet winter passes and the time of singing arrives—suggesting seasonal cycles of longing and fulfillment. The chapter deepens the erotic dialogue through extended metaphors of flowers, fruit-bearing landscapes, and the beloved's eager pursuit. The maiden's repeated caution against prematurely rousing love establishes consent and readiness as crucial to the relationship. Literarily, the escalating intimacy and the shift from dialogue to the maiden's private reflection create layers of vulnerability and desire. Theologically, the mutual admiration and pursuit—with neither party dominating—models covenant love as reciprocal and satisfying. The seasonal imagery and the beloved's urgent approach suggest that love involves both transcendence of ordinary time and cycles of anticipation and presence, prefiguring how Christian theology understands the soul's longing for union with God.
VERSES IN THIS CHAPTER
The early church would have heard this very differently than we do today. The promise here is not conditional on our str...
1
I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
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2
As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
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Reading the Psalms alongside this gives a fuller picture of what the author was experiencing — both the anguish and the ...
3
As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
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4
He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
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5
Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.
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6
His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.
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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.
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8
The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
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9
My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.
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10
My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
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11
For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
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12
The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
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13
The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
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14
O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
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15
Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
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16
My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.
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17
Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.
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