Notes on the Song of Songs

This document examines key words in each verse of the Song of Songs by focusing upon the significance of their meanings as revealed through the Hebrew language in which it was composed. It is not so much a commentary in the traditional sense as a list of reflections upon these Hebrew words accomplished in the distinctive spirit of lectio divina. It is for this reason that in the title I avoid the loftier term "commentary," preferring the more unassuming term, "notes."

Of primary importance in this study is focus upon the Hebrew words within the context of their verbal roots, a method peculiar to Semitic languages, which allows for a broader interpretation of the text at hand. In comparison with other languages, Hebrew has a somewhat limited vocabulary and emphasizes verbs more than nouns and adjectives. This accent upon action implies a fluid or dynamic way of looking at things. For example, the verbal root approach allows one word to suggest a number of different...even contradictory...meanings and interpretations, all of which are interconnected to one degree or another.

People raised in Western culture are accustomed to a logical progression of thought, that is commencing from point A and then proceeding to point B, and so forth. This strategy is generally foreign to the biblical and therefore Hebrew way of thinking. In the latter case, emphasis is placed upon associations where the difference between various words and ideas can be more easily reconciled; in brief, this biblical approach is more synthetic or inclusive by nature. Within the context of lectio divina emphasis is placed upon reading Scripture with a view towards entering the silence of prayer which transcends concepts and thought. Examining the Song of Songs through the verbal roots of its words has the advantage of making connections, of harmonizing first words and then concepts. Practice and familiarity with this method makes it more easy to reconcile inconsistencies in the Hebrew Scriptures, a fact which can also apply to the New Testament.

On the other hand, an analytical approach to Scripture has the advantage of revealing historical circumstances and figures which may have been obscured by the telling and retelling of stories and parables. It can dispel the heavy mist of allegorical interpretations favored by earlier centuries of Christian interpretation, a practice which later fell out of favor but which is currently enjoying a resurgence. This literal or scientific approach is still prevalent in schools, universities and seminaries. While its benefits are undeniable, a strictly literal and historical approach to Scripture often fails to inspire; that is to say, in its quest to demystify texts, people trained in this method can find themselves well-informed about Scripture but lacking insight with regard to its deeper meaning. Such deeper meaning may be denied or remain undiscovered, but the function of Sacred Scripture is to show how we are to relate to God and to one another.

Perhaps readers schooled in a more academic approach to Scripture may find the observations within this document amusing or at best, a series of clever or contorted interpretations. This observation is further complicated to my frequent use of transliterated Hebrew terms which can some may take as learned flights of fancy. I am fully aware of this criticism and realize that these notes take liberties with the sacred text. However, this liberty may be vindicated within the broader scope of lectio divina where emphasis is placed upon Scripture more as a vehicle for contemplation than a group of documents, albeit inspired, which only makes sense through a scientific or analytical approach.

These notes on the Song of Songs encompass two poles: first, a desire to arouse the readers' attention with regard to possible avenues of perusing the sacred text. Often conventional or "spiritual" commentaries adopt a moralizing and devotional stance; this posture is avoided, and the reader may apply the observations in this document towards this end and according to his or her needs. Secondly, while avoiding an allegorical strategy, I hope that examples into the fluid nature of the Hebrew language in the spirit of lectio divina will allow readers to see how this fluid Semitic way of perception may be put at the service of revealing or pointing to Jesus Christ.

Perhaps these series of notes in accord with the Hebrew verbal system which also relates other scriptural texts to these will enable the reader to see deeper patterns which only make sense in the light of prayer. These numerous associations are intended to lead to periods of quiet reflection which hopefully under divine guidance will lead to the repose of contemplative prayer. Over the course of time, a reader will freely be able to alternate between these two modes, namely, of reading the text with slow deliberation and engaging in period of silence. There are no special techniques involved nor should we submit to the constrictions of time, that is, of being anxious to cover material, etc. The only requirement is a burning, persistent desire to contact the living God through his Son, Jesus Christ.

Some more obvious features (for example, the attribution of the Song's composition to King Solomon) I omit; many commentaries refer to such matters, each in their own way. By pointing out a number of avenues to follow based on a prayerful reading of the Song's text, abundant possibilities open up for continued reflection in the spirit of lectio divina. Also, it is recommend to access material on the Gregory of Nyssa Home Page which contains studies associated with the Song Commentaries by Origen, Gregory of Nyssa and Bernard of Clairvaux. These three texts are important in the history of Christian mysticism, and it is highly recommended to read them. Another document which may prove helpful on the same Home Page containing an exhaustive list of all scriptural references to Commentaries by these three authors. Examination of these citations can be beneficial to anyone wishing to write a commentary on the Song of Songs within the traditional Christian framework.

It should be observed that many commentaries on the Song of Songs, ancient and modern, proceed to a given point in the text and do not complete the text for one reason or another. Some authors claim the restraints of time or other such circumstances; part of the reason for incompleteness could be that having progressed into the Song for several verses or chapters, they have expressed all they wish to with regard to the text. Perhaps an added complication is the fact that after having commented on it to a greater or lesser degree, the prospect of dealing with a constant flow of allegories and symbols is quite daunting, despite one's best intentions.

By way of conclusion, I appeal to the reader to supplement his or her own study by accessing a number of biblical study aides which can clarify difficult or obscure aspects of both the Old and New Testaments. In general, I follow the Revised Standard Version of the Bible in these notes but with closer attention to the vagaries of the Hebrew text itself. Frequent use of transliterated Hebrew words within this document can tax or weary a person, a fact of which I am keenly aware, but if one perseveres at least part way through this study, he or she will discover them as essential to the thoughts communicated in this document.

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Richard McCambly, ocso

St Joseph's Abbey

Spencer, Massachuestts USA

Feast of Bede the Venerable

May 25, 1998

Chapter One

vs 1: The Song of Songs which is Solomon's.

Most commentators, ancient and modern, have noted that the repetition of words which forms the title, "Song of Songs," suggests a certain exaggeration or excellence. The Hebrew way of attributing authorship of the text is leshelomah, literally, "to Solomon" in the sense of direction towards, of recognizing a close unity between the poem and its author. The excellency of this poem is further augmented by each of the four Hebrew words containing the letter shin, "sh;" thus these letters serve to grab the attention of the reader or listener right at the start by imparting a sense of exuberance and vitality of the author's intentions. Even the frequent repetition of the word shin shows that the author wants to utter his words as quickly as possible: shyr hashyrym 'asher lishelomah

Also note the relative pronoun, 'asher, "which," in conjunction with the syr hashyrym ("Song of Songs"); it derives from the verbal root 'ashar, "to be blessed, happy" and suggests a transitional mode or being in a state of constant motion with regard to happiness. We have a similar example in the opening words of Psalm One: "Happy ('ashrey) is the man (ha'ysh)..." The identification of happiness with mankind is interesting in that it suggests that our being made in God's image and likeness (cf. Gen 1.26) is the very foundation for such well-being.

vs 2: Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine.

The observation regarding the letter shin (sh) in the section above carries over into this verse's first two words: "Let him kiss me with the kisses" (yishaqeny minshyqoth).

Here we may draw a parallel with the title, "The Song of Songs" and "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth." I.e., the bride who is speaking wishes an abundance of kisses from her spouse whom Christian commentators have traditionally taken as Jesus Christ; the bride often represents his Church. Note that the text literally has, "from his mouth," a direct smack on the lips, as it were. The verbal root for "kiss," nashaq, means a joining or putting in order; the noun nesheq means arms or weapons, although it is uncertain whether this noun derives from the same verbal root as "kiss." Right at the Song's beginning we may say that the bride wishes to arm herself in accord with St. Paul's exhortation, "Put on the whole armor of God" (Eph 6.11).

As soon as the bride has made her bold request regarding kisses, she shifts attention from the bridegroom's mouth to his very nature, love: "for your loves are better than (min, 'from') wine." Here we have another instance of direct emanation of his love as with "from his mouth" regarding the kisses. The word for "love" here is dod whose root implies a bubbling up, and the proper name "David" comes from this same root. Dod is often used in the plural form; associate this with the plural of "Songs," "kisses" and "good," all of which bubble up from the loving atmosphere immediately communicated by the Song's opening words. Other references within the Song to wine are 1.4, 4.10, 5.1, 7.9, 8.2. Because wine is alcoholic, its intoxicating affect is symbolic of ecstasy.

vs 3: Because of the savor of your good ointments your name is as oil poured forth; therefore do the maidens love you.

The source for these anointing ointments is not explicit from the text; i.e., they do not come from any bodily member such as the bridegroom's mouth or breasts. Here we have emphasis upon the sense of smell ("ointments," shemen) and its association with "name," shem. In the biblical context, the name of anyone or anything is important as we see in Moses' request to know God's name (cf. Ex 3.13). God grants his with the famous "I am who I am" of vs 14, so we may equate this name with oil being poured out. Recalling the remarks above pertaining to the relative pronoun "which" (and "who"), consider its role in this statement: "I am who ('asher) am;" it is as though God himself stressed the transitional nature of his "isness" in the sense of going from one "am" to another "am."

Note the parallel between "ointments" and "name," shemen and shem; the essence of this name seems that it is poured out which is true of God's name originally revealed to Moses and passed down through latter generations of Jews and Christians. Even the proper name "Christ," Christos, means "anointed one" in Greek. We may say that this oil stopped flowing (in the sense of having achieved fulfillment) with the revelation of Jesus Christ. Parallel such flowing with this New Testament vision of Christ as consummation of the Old Testament regarding his genealogy in Mat 1.1-16; here the flow of oil, as it were, begins from Adam and passes down to successive generations.

Another association of oil's nature is the anointing of Jesus at Bethany: "A woman came up to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at table." Compare this with Ps 133.2: "It [unity of brothers] is like the precious oil upon the head, running down upon the beard, upon the beard of Aaron," a gesture symbolizing the priesthood.

The "maidens" or halamoth are not virgins strictly speaking (bethulah is the word) but are more properly girls of marriageable age. With this in mind, we may see them as under the tutelage of the bride as she commences her marital relationship so well described in the Song of Songs. The verbal root for "maiden" is halam, "to hide" or "to conceal;" such concealment has certain sexual overtones. Note that the maidens love the bridegroom just like his spouse; the word for "love" here is 'ahav which differs from the dod of vs 2. 'Ahav is the more conventional term which connotes a breathing after or desire.

vs 4: Draw me after you, let us make haste. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will exult and rejoice in you; we will remember your love more than wine; the upright love you.

Note the singular "me" and plural "let us." The plural could refer to either the bridegroom and bride (the most obvious choice among commentators because the king brings his spouse to be alone with him in his chambers), the bride and maidens or all three. Despite the private nature of a marital relationship and the notion of "maidens" as young women in training, as it were, with regard to such a relationship, we may say that all three parties are involved.

In this verse the bride desires to be drawn after her spouse, not alongside (with) him. Mashak,"to draw," connotes the taking possession of someone or something; contrast this notion of appropriation with a similar sounding verb, mashach, "to spread over," from which comes the word "Messiah" or Jesus Christ, Christos. Such drawing desired by the bride is a natural response to her husband's nature (i.e., Christ) to "flow out" (mashach). Thus we have two motions: her advancement towards him...going upstream, as it were...into the downstream or outpouring of love (mashach) by the bridegroom.

As soon as the bride utters these opening words of vs 2 she quickly adds that "the king has brought me into his chambers." Here we have the bridegroom identified as a king, an easy association to make with the lordship of Jesus Christ. Such "chambers" or chader may apply to the bridal chamber (cf. Sg 3.4 for another use, this time with regards to the bride's mother). For a parallel reference, see Prov 24.4: "By knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches." The fundamental meaning of yadah, the root to "knowledge" suggests sexual relationship; it is thus knowledge of an intimate kind.

"We will rejoice and exult in you:" Note the plural "we" as mentioned above with regard to the maidens who accompany their mistress. "Rejoice" comes from the verbal root gyl from which derives the Hebrew word for "circle." Therefore the bride's rejoicing can be associated with a type of circular dance around her beloved. Accompanying this rejoicing is her second exultation, "and we will rejoice" with the root, shamach. Note the similar sound of this verb with "draw [me]" above, mashak. Thus the bride rejoices at the same time she is drawn. Furthermore, she does this rejoicing in (bak, "in you") her spouse. Being "in" him as well as "in" his chambers are similar. Perhaps being "in" the bridegroom is equivalent to being "in" the inmost part of the Temple at Jerusalem as opposed to being "in" the Temple itself, the "chambers."

"We will remember your love more than wine:" The word for "remember" here is zakar, which is also a noun meaning "a male" because it is through a male that the memorial of his parents is passed on to future generations. That is to say, the bride begets...sets up a memorial...of her beloved even at this early stage of their relationship. But as just noted, such a memorial is much more than a reminder but is a living remembrance, a carrying forth into the future, of their love. This notion of the remembrance of love is so powerful that transcends the intoxicating effect of wine, its second mention in just a few verses; the same was implied in vs 2 where the bridegroom's love is "better than wine."

"The upright love you." Such righteous persons are the maidens of the Song who share the bride's 'ahav or love; i.e., by reason of their association with the bride, they participate in the zachar or memorial of him.

vs 5: I am black but comely, O daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.

Shechorah for "black" suggests a "breaking forth" or the "morning" as revealed by its verbal root, shachar. Traditionally, commentators posit such discoloration as the bride's sinfulness who is nevertheless loved by her spouse. However, the Hebrew sense alludes to a different sense as just mentioned. Most likely the darkness associated with "dawn" is that of twilight darkness. Note that Ps 63.2 reads, "O God, you are my God, I seek you," where "seek" comes also from shachar. The time of dawn's twilight is when a watchman is most apprehensive; although he dimly perceives the coming light, this first glance makes him seek its full realization more earnestly.

The "daughters of Jerusalem" are a more specific designation for the "maidens;" the bride declares her black color to them, not to her spouse, after which she compares it with the "tents of Kedar" and then the "curtains of Solomon." The proper noun "Kedar" derives from the root qadar, "to be black," in the sense of being dirty or tarnished; compare it with her declaration of being "black" from the above mentioned verbal root with quite a different meaning, shachar. Kedar is a tribe sprung from Ishmael (cf. Gen 25.13), and Ishmael was a son of Abraham who God rejected in favor of Isaac (cf. Gen 21.10). Thus the "tents" refer to those nomadic tribes whose black colored tents wave in the desert wind.

Note the association of "tents" with the desert or wilderness in contrast first to the "daughters of Jerusalem" and then to the "curtains of Solomon." Both connote the center of civilization for the Jews as well as the place to worship God (i.e., in the Temple). Despite these two facts, the bride also unhesitatingly associates her coloration with the "tents of Kedar" or that which lies outside the more specific holy center of the Temple and hence the more general holy center of Jerusalem. Such disfiguration may be associated with Christ who was crucified outside Jerusalem; also, refer to Is 53.2: "He had no form or comeliness that we should look at him."

In addition to being shachorah, the bride claims that she is "comely" or na'wah. This latter adjective derives from na'ah, a verb suggesting "to sit," "to dwell." For two other references which demonstrate these two aspects of the same verbal root, see Is 52.7: "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings" and Ps 23.2: "He leads me beside the waters of rest."

The bride then compares her blackness to the "curtains of Solomon" which were located in (Solomon's) Temple at Jerusalem, perhaps the same curtains which later were rent at Christ's death (cf. Lk 23.45). Note the association with Solomon who was known for his great wisdom. This correspondence is appropriate, again considering the verbal root of curtain, yarah, which means "to tremble" as well as "to be evil." Most likely the Hebrew "curtain" is named such because curtains move or tremble in the wind.

vs 6: Look not upon me because I am black, because the sun has looked upon me. My mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I did not keep.

These words could be addressed either/or to the bridegroom or the bride's companions and betray a bit of shame in contrast to her boasting of black color in the previous verse. The word for "to look upon" derives from a little used root (cf. Job 20.9 & 28.7 where it is used as "eye"), shazaph, which means "to scorch," "to burn." Here we have two references to looking: one when the bride does not want to be seen and the other as a result of having been scorched by the sun. Keep in mind that we have another use of the verbal root shachar previously in vs 5.

"My mother's children were angry with me:" I.e., here her brothers and sisters are perhaps insinuating children from a previous marriage, another existing husband or lover. Refer to Gen 21.1-21, the story of Hagar's rejection (and her son Ishmael) by Abraham's wife Sarah whom God protected; such children were angry at the bride. In their hostility towards the bride these children made her "keeper of the vineyards," a domestic or sedentary occupation alien to the children's nomadic existence. As part of her job of attending to the vineyards we may say that the bride made wine, the same wine which brought to remembrance her spouse whose "love is better than wine" of vs 2. Note the reference in Sg 8.12 to "my vineyard;" instead of being compelled to work there, the bride has appropriated it as opposed to Solomon's vineyard in vs 11.

vs 7: Tell me, O you whom my soul loves, where do you feed, where do you make your flock rest at noon? Why should I be as one who turns aside by the flocks of your companions?

Now the bride directly addresses her spouse, rather, her "soul" or nephesh addresses him. She makes a distinction here between her own person and her soul, the latter being the animating principle as well as mind which gives life to the body. This faculty operates within yet independent of the senses and is not subject to deceptive information coming from them, especially with regard to the object of the bride's love. Note that this nephesh is doing the loving or 'ahavah; although both words come from different verbal roots, their basic meaning applies to breathing and longing after something thereby revealing the nephesh as a spirit-ual faculty. On the other hand, the bride's "self" (independent from nephesh) is asking the question composed of three parts, feeding, resting of flocks and her turning aside. Two of these refer more specifically to the bridegroom and the other to the bride.

The reference to feeding (rahah) refers to sheep and can also apply to a sense of delight. We find that Christ as shepherd is a dominant theme in the New Testament as the famous words of Ps 23.1 foretell, "The Lord is my shepherd (rohy)."

The second question, "Where do you cause your flocks to rest at noon?," obviously refers to the intense noonday heat as intimated by the verbal root for "noon," tsahar, which means "to shine." Since it is a question of sheep or animals in this verse, we may locate this laying down, as it were, within Noah's ark where Noah acted as a shepherd not only for sheep but for all other creatures. Consider the word for "window" in Gen 6.16: "Make a window (tsohar) for the ark." Note the singular form as opposed to a number windows which you would expect for such a large vessel as the ark.

With this image of Noah's ark in mind as representative of the Church, refer to Jn 19.34 where a soldier pierced Christ's side with a lance: "at once there came out blood and water." Note that the saving blood and water came out from Christ's side on the new ark (or his cross), whereas with Noah, the destructive water remained outside. Also, the "laying down" in the Song, ravats, generally refers to quadrupeds. The bride's request for knowing her spouse's place of repose is the Cross where he lies down.

"Why should I be as one who turns aside by the flocks of your companions?" The bride communicates her frustration at not being with her lover; furthermore, she is counted along with his "companions" or chaverey. These attendants are the bridegroom's equivalent to the bride's maidens; while helpful and indeed necessary, they are impediments to the bride's nephesh, "soul," engaged in intense longing. Note the verbal root for "turning aside," hatah, whose primary meaning is "to cover," "to become languid." With the alternate notion of "covering" in mind, refer back to vs 5 with mention of the "tents of Kedar" and "curtains of Solomon," both of which serve as coverings; they conceal the bride and do not allow her spouse to see her.

vs 8: If you do not know, O fairest among women, follow in the tracks of the flock and feed your kids beside the shepherds' tents.

Here are the very first words addressed by the bridegroom to his spouse which are less than enthusiastic in comparison to her opening statement. They are reminiscent of Christ's apparently detached response to Mary Magdalen, the "fairest among women," "Do not hold me" (Jn 20.17). Note the fundamental meaning of "fair," yaphah, as "to be bright," "to shine" which stands in contrast to the bride's complaint of having been darkened by the sun.

Since the bride does not "know," the bridegroom bids her to find this knowledge not with himself for whom "her soul loves" but with the "footsteps of the flock." Such knowledge seems neither directed towards herself, her spouse nor to anyone else; it is a simple, all-inclusive knowing minus a subject-object relationship. These footsteps are even one step removed from the flock itself which makes the bridegroom's response seem even bleaker. Be this as it may, she undoubtedly follows his command. Keep in mind that the next two verses which contain heartening words encourage her.

The word for "footsteps" derives from haqav, "to take hold of, "to supplant," which is also the verbal root for the proper name of Jacob, "the supplanter." We find a reference similar to the Song's in Ps 77.19, "Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters, yet your footprints were unseen." This verse gives the bride a clue for that self-knowledge requested by her spouse, and it suggests that it takes place within the redemptive act of Israel's departure from Egypt. The psalm verse more specifically reads, " your footprints were not known," that is, not known in the sense of self knowledge required by the bridegroom. Verse 20 continues with a reference to "flocks:" "You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron," that is, through the Red Sea.

"Feed your kids beside the shepherds' tents:" In light of Ps 77.20 just above, these shepherds may be equated with Moses and Aaron. Note that later in the desert Moses put on a veil after speaking with God (Ex 34.33), that is, when he exited the tent of meeting. We could say that the people assembled there "to feed beside the shepherds' tents" or to hear God's words spoken to Moses. In this instance the people were afraid to gaze upon Moses' face, whereas God said to Moses that "you cannot see my face and live" (Ex 33.20); i.e., we have among the people a handing-down of this inability to perceive God's face or a human face which has been in his presence.

A brief note about "kids," gedy: they are young goats used by nomadic people in the desert for milk and are a prime source of nourishment.

vs 9: I have compared you, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots.

Here are the first words of encouragement by the bridegroom after his rather harsh rejection of his spouse's advances. His image of horses in the Egyptian king's army is at first unusual, for Egypt is the traditional enemy of Israel. This strange comparison, however, makes better sense in light of those two verses from Ps 77 above regarding "footprints." The Song's reference to Pharaoh's chariots, though, is unusual because they were drowned at the Red Sea. On the other hand, such a formidable array represented the height of military strength at the time, so the bridegroom's allusion to it is equivalent to someone today looking for the most powerful symbol of military might with which to compare his beloved.

Note the word for "love," rahyah, from the verbal root rahah, "to pasture." It is easy to apply this notion to Jesus Christ who calls himself the "good shepherd:" "I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me" (Jn 10.14). However, in the context of this Song verse, it is the bridegroom who calls his spouse a rahyah, not the other way round. Given the mutual exchange of intimate knowledge implied here ("I know my own and my own know me."), it is not surprising that titles and functions strictly proper to the bridegroom be applied to the bride at his discretion.

"I have compared:" to make a comparison is the most basic gesture one can make when beholding something extraordinary; it is a process of making what is unusual familiar. The Hebrew verb here is damah whose alternate meaning is "to be silent," perhaps due to the sentiment of astonishment. Also from this root comes the noun "image," demoth, as in Gen 1.26: "Let us make man in our image and likeness." Consider these horses with the flocks of vs 8; apparently the bride goes in their "footsteps" with the speed and might characteristic of horses trained for military action.

vs 10: Your cheeks are comely with ornaments, your neck with chains.

Here is the second statement of encouragement to the bride which is not entirely removed from being compared with horses; the cheeks and neck which are embellished can apply to those horses prepared for war; they can also be used to strike terror into the enemy.

"Cheeks" were considered as a prime location of beauty, for example, with regard to David: "Now he was ruddy" (1Sam 16.12). The bride's cheeks are "comely," that is, na'uw, which comes from the verbal root na'ah as found in vs 5 where this adjective pertains to the bride's general appearance. Not only are her cheeks na'uw, but they contain "ornaments" or tur which suggests something more like a row of jewels and whose verbal root means "to search out." Similarly, "turtledove" comes from this verb, tur, so perhaps the bridegroom perceives the image of a dove in his beloved (cf. Sg 2.12).

"Your neck with chains:" This is the only reference to "chains" (charutym) in the Old Testament and suggests something punctured. The word "gold" is not in the text but may be presumed. See Sg 4.4 & 7.4 for two other instances of "neck." Prov 4.9 has a reference to "neck" worth citing: "For they [teachings of one's father and mother] are a fair garland for your head and pendants for your neck."

vs 11: We will make for you borders of gold with studs of silver.

Note the plural form of the verb, as though the bride's companions had joined her spouse to collaborate in embellishing her. Here is the second instance of tur or "boarder" with explicit mention of gold. From the same verbal root (tor, "to travel about," "spy") comes the noun tor or "dove." Compare a similar sounding word but from a different verbal root, torah, "law," most often associated with the Law or Torah. Noqed or "studs" is the only instance in the Old Testament but refer to noqed, sheep marked with points, as in Gen 30.32.

vs 12: While the king was at his table my spikenard sent forth its smell.

Here the king is at table presumably eating, whereas Sg 1.4 has him in his "chambers." This is the only instance where mesav is used for "table;" it derives from the verbal root savav, "to surround." Since we are dealing with a person of royal stature and thus someone divine, consider another use of mesav pertaining to the Temple, 1Kg 6.29: "He [Solomon] carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, in the inner and outer rooms."

While at table the bride's spikenard odor permeates the house (we might say in light of the last paragraph, "round about"), obviously intimating Mt 26.6 where a woman anointed Jesus' head with "very expensive ointment." Also, refer to Jn 12.3 where Mary does the same only here John says that "the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment." Although both Gospel accounts refer to a supper prior to Christ's passion, we may say that "fragrance" here may be associated with the Last Supper.

Note that the spikenard sends forth its smell or reych, from the same verbal root as ruach or "spirit." Keeping in mind the Last Supper to which was just alluded, it is while Jesus was at table that he spoke most eloquently of the Holy Spirit which he will shortly send or in the Song's words, "send its smell."

vs 13: A bundle of myrrh is my well beloved to me; he shall lie all night between my breasts.

Myrrh is symbolic of death and is one of the gifts brought to the child Jesus by the Magi: "Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh" (Mt 2.11). Applied to Christ, such myrrh was used at his burial (cf. Jn 19.39). Note that it was Nicodemus who brought it, "who had at first come to him by night," an association which may apply to the second half of Sg 1.13, "he shall lie all night..." It was during this night that Jesus spoke to Nicodemus of the Holy Spirit ("The wind blows where it wills...but you do not know from where it comes or where it goes," Jn 3.8). Thus we may say that Nicodemus is a "maiden" or companion of the bride in the Song; Jesus "laid all night between Nicodemus' breasts" while he discoursed (at night) on the Holy Spirit.

This verse contains the first reference to the bridegroom as "beloved" or dod although we find reference to it in Sg 1.1, "for your love is better than wine." Note that the bridegroom is not simple "myrrh" but a "bundle of myrrh," tseror, from the verbal root tsarah, "to compress" and hence "to be distressed." Thus the notion of sorrow is doubled.

The bride says that her spouse or beloved "shall lie" between her breasts, that is, she speaks of an action referring to the coming of "night." The verb lun or lyn does suggest a tarrying, especially at night. One example of such residing is Gen 32.13: "So he [Jacob] lodged there that night," that is, the place where he contested with the mysterious, divine being responsible for changing his name from Jacob to Israel.

Observe the place-where of the spouse's lodging, between the breasts of his bride and parallel it with Jn 13.23: "One of his disciples [John] whom Jesus loved was lying close to the breast of Jesus." The Greek is more descriptive, "in the breast, en to kolpo." Note that "breast" or its construct form, shadey, sounds quite similar to shaday, "Almighty," a common name for God.

vs 14: My beloved is to me like a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of En-gedi.

Here is the second consecutive mention of dod, "beloved," and he is compared to a "cluster of camphire." Kopher or "camphire" also means "pitch" by reason of it being spread over something (the verbal root kaphar means this). Since kaphar suggests the general idea of covering, we may say that the bride intimates a hidden presence of her beloved, to continue the theme of vs 13, "He shall lie all night between my breasts." "Cluster" or 'eshkol also denotes cluster of grapes which are opposite in nature to pitch. By way of note, refer to Gen 6.14: "Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and out with pitch." I.e., make the ark well resistant to the flood waters about to cover the earth.

The bride locates this cluster of camphire "in the vineyards of En-gedi," literally, "fountain of the kid," which is located in the Judean desert and abounds with palm trees. That is to say, her spouse is a place of refreshment, a well or heyn within the wilderness, the isolation of which is protected by the pitch-like nature of camphire just described. The bridegroom's identification with a well or source of water in parched land has its New Testament equivalent with Christ's words in Jn 4.14: "but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

vs 15: Behold, you are fair, my love, behold, you are fair. Your eyes are doves.

Note the different word for "[my] love," rahyah, in contrast to the just mentioned dod which we first saw in 1.9. With regards to the attribute "fair," it derives from the verbal root yaphah, "to shine," "to be bright," and the bridegroom mentions it twice in conjunction with the exclamation, "behold" (hinak) which expresses admiration coupled with astonishment. He then compares her eyes with those of doves, traditionally symbolic of purity and innocence among commentators of the Song. Furthermore, a dove represents the Holy Spirit, the Ruach, who "blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know from where it comes and to where it goes" (Jn 3.8).

With this image of modesty in mind, we can say that the dove is not ignorant but is fully aware of "where it [Spirit] comes and where it goes." Such knowledge related to a locality resembles the Spirit of Gen 1.1 who "was moving over the face of the waters." Perhaps it was not so much the dove or Spirit moving in the physical sense but her eyes glancing back and forth. Compare this movement with Satan's when asked by God "from where have you come?:" "From going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it" (Job 2.2). Such "going to and fro" derives from shut, meaning "to row," the image of which suggests quick, noisy splashes or commotion. Note the connotation of shut, a term associated with water, in contrast with the Spirit "moving over the face of the waters."

vs 16: Behold, you are fair, my beloved, indeed, pleasant. Our bed is green.

Now the bridegroom shifts his wonder to another term for his spouse which was already discussed, dod or "love," and again calls her "fair." Only this time he adds the adjective, "pleasant" or naham. For an example, refer to Ps 27.4: "to behold the beauty of the Lord." Note that although the psalmist requests "one thing," it contains a total of three: 1) to dwell in the house of the Lord, 2) to behold the beauty of the Lord and 3) to inquire in his temple. We may insert the psalmist's three-fold request in the bridegroom's mouth in admiration of her loveliness.

Allusion to "bed" or harash implies a marital relationship; this noun derives from an unused root and suggests a couch with a hanging curtain as well as a tent. This harash is "green" or verdant in the sense of being fruitful; there is an obvious correlation between the bride's beauty and the bed's fertile character.

vs 17: The beams of our house are cedars and our rafters are of fir.

This verse brings to conclusion Chapter One and is the second verse describing the spouses' residence, only here we have clear reference to their "house." The bridegroom glories in the qualities of its "beams" and "rafters," suggesting that he is contemplating the house's very structure. A beam (qorah) connotes a ceiling and its verbal root, qarah, means "to meet," "to lay beams," perhaps from the fact that beams meet or join with each other to form a secure overhead structure. Such beams are made of "cedar," a wood noted for its durability and resistance to corruption. Their chief source is Lebanon, and 1Kg 5.6 mentions Solomon's request from King Hiram to "command that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me," that is, to adorn the temple about to be constructed.

Next the bridegroom adds, "our rafters are of fir." The meaning of the Hebrew word for "fir" is unclear but includes the word nahym, "pleasant things." With this in mind, we can say that the rafters which are usually smaller in form that larger beams, are a form of adornment for the ceiling. They are "pleasant things," that is, add beauty to the fact that "our bed [below] is green."

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Chapter Two

vs 1: I am the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys.

We begin Chapter Two with the bride's confident statement by which she compares herself with two types of flowers, a rose (better, crocus) and a lily. Keep in mind that flowers yield a scent as in Sg 1.12 ("my spikenard sent forth its scent or rayach"), and it is characteristic for a bride to adorn herself with it. Refer to 2Cor 2.16, "For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing." Note the two-fold nature of this single "aroma" which belongs to Christ, and keeping in mind the association of rayach with ruach, "spirit," it is not difficult to realize here the action of the Holy Spirit.

Such a "rose" or chavatseleth is a white colored flower tinged with saffron growing in meadows; the only other biblical reference is Is 35.1, and we may parallel the Song verse with it: "The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon." Note mention of Sharon and definition of chavatseleth as "crocus." This rose is located in Sharon, an area noted for its fertility.

The other flower to which the bride compares herself is a lily or shushan whose color is white. Furthermore, like the rose, this lily has a location, "valleys," which serves to enhance its nature. Note the plural form, "valleys," which suggests an abundance of fertile places. Because a valley is deep, it serves to enhance the lily's bright color. The singular form of "lily" coupled with the just mentioned plural "valleys" implies that the lily is of unique quality, that it stands out among numerous valleys.

vs 2: As the lily is among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

After comparing herself to a lily in vs 1, the bride assigns a similar designation to her spouse, thereby highlighting his attractiveness by contrasting it with "thorns" whose equivalent, at least in her perception, are the "maidens." Her boast of the previous verse connotes a tinge of arrogance in that she considers herself to be superior, but any boasting derives from the fact that her spouse has singled out her beauty.

To enhance the benevolence of her spouse, the bride aptly again calls him "my love" or rahyaty, the same word as in Sg 1.9 where she was compared to "a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots." Just as this association with the Egyptian cavalry has hostile overtones, the same may be applied to the "daughters" (habanoth) who are different from "virgins" (halemoth) of 1.3. The former suggests a paternal association, a father (the Song's bridegroom) to his female children. We may ascribe this notion to Lk 13.34: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children [that is, the 'daughters'] together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!" Jesus' image of a "hen" is reminiscent of Gen 1.2: "and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters" where "moving" or rachaph suggests a cherishing or a mother's close relationship with a newborn child. Both images therefore can apply to Christ's incarnation within the limited and sinful world of human beings.

vs 3: As the apple tree is 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.

Because this verse contains two sentences, comments are divided into two sections, I and II as follows:

I. Now the imagery shifts from one of desolation to abundance with attention focused upon the word "apple," taphuach, from the verbal root naphach, "to blow," "breathe." Not only that, but this tree is compared to "trees of the wood" or all other kinds of trees. With the verbal root for "apple" in mind, we observe that the bride's first response to her beloved centers upon the sense of smell of whom she has gotten a trace. She is like Isaac whom Jacob deceived Isaac to obtain Esau's inheritance. Just before imparting his blessing, Isaac, despite his doubts about the veracity of Jacob being Esau, said, "and he [Isaac] smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him...'See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed'" (Gen 27.27)! Note the four mentions of "smell," all of which come from the verbal root ruach. Although this scent denotes Esau's presence, it is erroneous as opposed to the more accurate faculty of vision which Isaac lacked.

Be this as it may, this incident is helpful in conjunction with the Song's verse because ruach immediately awoke Isaac from his listless state; it was more appealing that the sense of touch and sound ("The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau," Gen 27.22). As soon as he perceives this scent, Isaac imparts his blessing in vs 28 with mention of "the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth," that is, rich benedictions with strong associations of scent. Most likely if Jacob did not receive this blessing, there would be no dream where God said, "The land [i.e., with its scent which implies extension through future generations] on which you lie I will give to you and to your descendants" (Gen 28.13).

Note the comparison, "as the apple tree is among the trees of the wood" and "so is my beloved among the sons." Thus "apple tree" may be equated with "beloved" and "trees of the wood" with "sons." Compare it with the previous verse which accentuated a somewhat negative view of female offspring, "As the lily is among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters." The preposition "among" (beyn) can also mean "in between," that is, a being-present-with while not necessarily partaking of those same objects or persons.

II. In this second sentence of Sg 2.3 we have the bride taking rest "under his shadow with great delight." This familiarity with her spouse stands in contrast with the immediate ramifications of our first parent's disobedience (cf. Gen 3.6-7) when they "hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden" (vs 8). Here their immediate response was a direct consequence of hearing "the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day." Contrast it with their newly discovered self-awareness upon eating the fruit in vs 7: "Then the eyes of both were opened." Note that the form "were opened" (tipaqachnah) suggests something happening to the man and woman as opposed to bringing it upon themselves. Such "opening" was not a violent event; its very passivity served to introduce a manner by which the man and woman perceived themselves as distinct individuals with respect to each other. God, who comes on the scene later, is not earlier mentioned as having present in the garden; his later arrival is a temporal gap which did not exist prior to their disobedience.

The Song of Songs represents a restoration, an apokatastasis, of Eden, but with the crucial difference of a marital relationship having been rediscovered through suffering. It is for this reason that the bride "sits down" (yashavty), that is, takes up a position implying repossession. She resembles Moses when conversing with God: "and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by" (Ex 33.22). Moses being in this cleft or hollow spot parallels that shade of the Song's "shadow" or tel in which the bride sits. Ps 17.8 enhances this tel where a shadow connotes assumption of the reality of which it is a kind of image: "Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings." Note that "apple" here is not the same notion of Sg 2.3; the definition of 'yshon is more specifically the "middle of something" and is a diminutive form of 'ysh, "man" where the image of a person is not only reflected in one's eyes but partakes of the person engaged in the act of beholding. Thus this Song's verse implies that the bride becomes an image of her beloved and is appropriated by him through her act of "sitting down."

The bride desired to rest in her spouse's shadow, that is, chamad, whose verbal root suggests pleasantness and intense longing. This aspiration leads her to say, "his fruit was sweet to my taste." Again, note the contrast between "his fruit" (piryu) and the fruit (same Hebrew word) of Genesis mentioned above which led to the demise of our first parents. This "sweet" (matoq) fruit is instrumental for an understanding of the next verse where the bridegroom brings his spouse into his "banqueting house." Note the two dynamics at work: tasting the forbidden fruit of Genesis leads to an expulsion from Eden, whereas tasting the Song's fruit leads to admission of the same reality only now perceived under the image of a "banqueting house" or place symbolizing opulence.

On a final note, one cannot help but view this sentence in light of Ps 34.8: "O taste and see that the Lord is good!" Note the sequence...first comes "taste" followed by "seeing" which parallels our first parents' response to the tree in Eden but with a vastly different outcome. The verse just before eight reads, "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them." Here the angel plays a beneficial role as opposed to the preventive one played by the cherubim in Gen 3.24: "and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim...to guard the way to the tree of life."

vs 4: He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.

As noted in the last verse, the bride enters her spouse's "banqueting house" after tasting his fruit, an image which is reverse to the banishment wrought by our first parents' disobedience. "Taste" or taham is responsible for her entry as implied in Ps 34.8 above. A more accurate translation of this location is "house of wine," beyth hayahen. Wine is usually associated with the negative effects of intoxication where a person lacks control of his or her faculties, but its positive significance suggests ecstasy or full absorption in the divine presence symbolized by Eden prior to the "fall."

Such inebriation was associated with the Apostles at Pentecost when people observed them speaking in tongues: "But others mocking said, 'They are filled with new wine'" (Acts 2.13). Note that this observation comes right after many onlookers heard the Apostles speak in their native tongues, a straight-forward observation usually not ascribed to a drunken state. Here is the paradox symbolized by the "house of wine." While we readily associate its outward meaning with the degrading behavior of alcohol, it represents a state of awareness beyond the comprehension of anyone unfamiliar with the ways of the Holy Spirit.

Continuing with the theme of Pentecost, Peter quotes from the prophet Joel with the opening words, "And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh" (Acts 2.17, Jl 2.28). This surging of grace from God resembles the liberal use of wine; as observed in the last paragraph, effects of the Spirit or Ruach can have a negative impart at least for those unaffected by it. Observe that while the Ruach is perceived by hearing (as hearing the diverse languages at Pentecost), wine primarily is apprehended by taste.

"His banner over me was love:" "Banner" connotes military victory (cf. Sg 6.2, 3) and is derived from dagal, "to cover over." For an example, refer to Ps 20.5: "May we shout for joy over your victory, and in the name of our God set up our banners." Such an emblem of victory has special meaning here because it is a victory of and by "love," 'ahavah; as pointed out earlier ,it comes from the verbal root 'ahav, "to desire," "to breathe after." One passage which parallels the meaning of the Song's verse is Is 62.5: "and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you," i.e., set up his "banner."

It should be noted that within Jewish history this notion of a military triumph has special meaning in light of God's victory over Egyptian forces at the Red Sea. It is a perpetual "banner" unfurled, as it were, each year at Passover.

vs 5: Stay me with raisins, comfort me with apples, for I am sick with love.

We may assume that the bride utters this statement including two requests of support within her spouse's "house of wine." The first request contains "raisins," 'ashyshah, more specifically, cakes made from dry raisins or grapes and comes from the unused verbal root 'ashash, "to press together" They were often associated as offerings made to pagan gods as in Is 16.7: "Mourn, utterly stricken, for the raisin-cakes of Kir-hareseth." It is with these offerings the bride wishes to be supported or samak which implies a constant sustenance.

The bride's second request is "comfort me with apples" or tapuch, from the same verbal root as "apple tree," Sg 2.3, to which she compared her spouse, i.e., "among the sons" (Refer to this verse for remarks with regard to tapuch). It is with this fruit she requests "comfort," from the verbal root raphad, "to strew," "to spread out." The basic idea is to give rest as on a couch for one who is weary. Both "raisins" and "apples" are instrumental in comforting the bride; we should not see these two items in isolation but as coming from her bridegroom who bestows them with supreme value.

The reason for the bride's request is that she is "sick with love." The fundamental notion behind the verbal root for "to be sick," chalah, is "to polish," "to be smooth," perhaps due to the fact that illness tends to level down one's health and spirits. Note that the verbal root chalah ('ahavah) appeared in 2.4 ("his banner over me was love"). Perhaps between that point and now, vs 5. Could we say that the banqueting house makes the bride "sick" despite the fact that her spouse's "banner" is unfurled over her? She seems to have drunk some of his wine and became intoxicated; drinking this special type of wine does make one "sick" or chalah because it increases the desire for more as noted above in conjunction with the apparent intoxication of the disciples at Pentecost.

vs 6: His left hand is under my head, and his right hand does embraces me.

Here the bride receives support from her spouse in her "sickness." Instead of curing her, these two hands, left and right, intensify her mysterious condition of being in a state of continuous desire and its fulfillment with respect to the bridegroom's love. There seems to be no negative association in Hebrew with "left" as there is in Latin (the word is sinister, with obvious overtones), for example, see Prov 3.16: "Long life is in her [wisdom] right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor." Perhaps these words of Wisdom can be applied to the bridegroom; his right hand imparts "long life," whereas his left hand imparts "riches and honor."

While the bride's left hand supports his spouse's head, his right hand does the embracing or chabaq also found in Gen 29.13: "When Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister's son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house." This corresponds to the prodigal son of Lk 15.20: "But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him." Here the Greek for "embrace" literally reads "fell upon his neck," epepesen epi ton trachelon autou. Note the five stages here: saw, had compassion, ran, embraced and kissed which correspond to the three stages of spiritual advancement proposed by Origen, Gregory of Nyssa and Bernard of Clairvaux and as pointed out on the Gregory of Nyssa Home Page, www.ucc.uconn.edu/~das93006/nyssa.html. Following this outline, reconciliation begins with vision, passes through several intermediate stages which pertain to restoration of a condition that has disintegrated and results in union as symbolized by the Song's embrace.

vs 7: I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the hinds of the field, that you stir not up nor awaken love until he pleases.

Note the paradox: vs 6 has the bridegroom embracing his spouse, whereas vs 7 seems to imply the reverse or the bridegroom sleeping in her arms. We may assume that if the five stages of spiritual advancement briefly noted with regards to Lk 15.20 are realized, the qualities of one person can apply to the other and visa versa. The bride "charges" the "daughters of Jerusalem," first encountered in Sg 1.5 to whom she says, "I am black but comely." She implies that they are irritating with demands upon her beloved, hence the command. Such "charging" derives from shevah, "to swear" (an oath); from it derives the number "seven" (shevah), usually considered a holy number as we see with the siege of Jericho, Jos 6, with repeated mention of this number. Furthermore, the number seven achieves its special status from Gen 2.2: "On the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day." It is not difficult to associate this divine "rest" (from yashav, the verbal root for "sabbath") with the bride's wish for the "daughters of Jerusalem to leave her spouse at rest.

The bride's command to leave her spouse undisturbed is defined by "gazelles" or "hinds of the field." It seems she presents them with an option designated by the conjunction "or" ('o). The word "gazelles" tsevoth is derived form the verbal root tsavah, "to go out," "to shine," and an alternate meaning for this noun is "splendor," "glory." I.e., the bridegroom has the quality of a gazelle's splendid form which appears shining when in motion. Note that she uses the plural form; not just one gazelle but an indeterminate number of them as well as with the "hinds."

The second animal which the bride presents to the "daughters of Jerusalem" (that is, as an option) to make them keep her spouse undisturbed is the "hind" or 'ayalah. Prov 5.19 compares a wife to this animal as follows: "and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely hind, a graceful doe," implying delicacy combined with speed. Again, reference to this animal is found in Ps 18.33 but this time with military overtones: "He made my feet like hinds' feet, and set me secure on the heights."

We may take the "daughters of Jerusalem" as custodians of the Temple whom Jesus addresses on the way to his crucifixion: "But Jesus turning to them said, 'Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for children'" (Lk 23.28). Applied to the Song text, we may view this statement AS Jesus telling them not to weep over his impending doom, i.e., not to "stir up nor awaken" him in his redemptive suffering and death. Instead, he issues a foreboding statement as to Jerusalem's future in vs the next few verses.

Observe the bride's two directives: "do not stir up" and "do not awaken." The verbal root of the former is hur, "to be hot, ardent" implying that one is fervent in watchfulness. However, in this verse an opposite form of attentiveness is requested with regard to the "beloved" (ha'ahaveh) which, as the last paragraph suggests, indicates that no one should interfere with the bridegroom's activity, not necessarily meaning that he is asleep. The verbal root of the second directive, "do not awaken," is the same form or in Hebrew, polel, or future as opposed to the former being hiphil, a different degree of futureness. Thus the "daughters of Jerusalem" are bidden not to rouse the bridegroom in the future which may be interpreted here as a command for them not to disturb Christ en route to his redemptive death.

"Until he pleases:" that is, until in the future the bridegroom decides that his redemptive work is fulfilled; however, it is not complete at the moment for the "daughters of Jerusalem." The verbal root here is chaphats which combines both the act of willing and desiring. Traditionally, the commonly used phrase "God's will" has been used when referring to the acceptance of trials and has a passive if not negative overtone. However, references to "will" in the Gospels (usually applied to "the one who sent me" or the Father) allude to the Hebrew concept of delight as in Is 62.4: "You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called My delight (chephtsy) is in her." Note that this verse is addressed "for Zion's sake" and "for Jerusalem's sake" (vs 1) which refer to none other than the "daughters of Jerusalem."

vs 8: The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills.

Here the bride is excited at her spouse's "voice" (qol) which to her has as much validity as his actual presence. For example, consider Elijah's recognition of the Lord: "and after the fire a still small voice. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle...and behold, there came a voice to him and said, 'What are you doing here, Elijah'" (1 Kg 19.12-13)? This "voice" has two peculiar qualities, "still" and "small," demamah and daqah, which may be applied to the bridegroom's. The verbal root for the former, damah, is interesting in that it has two meanings, "to become like" (from which comes the word "likeness") and "to be silent," the latter being used in this verse. The verbal root for daqah means something beaten or reduced to small pieces. We may say the bridegroom's voice has these two delicate qualities which his spouse recognizes prior to his "leaping" and "bounding."

Also note that Christ's baptism and transfiguration are ratified by this same type of heavenly voice: "and lo, a voice from heaven saying, 'This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased'" (Mt 3.17); "and a voice from the cloud said, 'This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased, listen to him'" (Mt 17.5).

After the bride recognizes the two above mentioned qualities of her beloved's voice, she exclaims "lo" (hineh) as if to express not so much her astonishment as immanent fulfilment of her desire where the "voice" gives way to actual and full presence of her spouse. Consider two references to the bridegroom's first act, "leaping" (dalag): "then shall the lame man leap like a hart" (Is 35.6). Here "hart" is the same word as in Sg 2.7 (and 2.9). The second reference is Ps 18.30: "by my God I have leaped over a wall," that is to say, the lame man of Isaiah is cured by Christ (as in Mt 15.31) who now "leaps" over a "wall" or obstacle, most likely having in mind a fortified city's wall.

Note that instead of the just mentioned wall, the bridegroom leaps over "mountains," that is, lofty obstacles more formidable than any man-made barrier. Both in the Old and New Testaments a mountain symbolized divine transcendence, the place where God revealed himself. Because a mountain peak starts with a broad base and tapers off to a small point at its summit, there is little room there for a person to move about. In this situation one is at the mercy of the elements where the sky or heavens open up in dramatic fashion above. Now for the bridegroom to "leap" over such a hurdle is powerful testimony to his love for the bride; it is something like Ps 97.5 where "the mountains melt like wax before the Lord."

The second obstacle separating the two spouses is "hills" over which the bridegroom "skips" or qaphats whose verbal root means "to shut," "to be gathered;" the noun qets means "end." Perhaps this verbal root's sense of termination, of ending, refers to the sudden shutting of a hand which springs close like a trap. "Hills" are certainly smaller than mountains, but their multiplicity...there are generally many before a mountain range...suggests something like an obstacle course over which the bridegroom must come. Nevertheless, he, "comes forth like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and like a strong man runs its [the sun] course with joy" (Ps 19.5). As just noted, qaphats with its derivative qets suggests an "end" to this "course" and the immediate embrace of the two spouses.

vs 9: My beloved is like a roe or a young hart. Behold, he stands behind our wall, he looks forth at the windows, showing himself through the lattice.

"Roe" and "young hart" are appropriate analogies for the "beloved" (dod) after the vigor of his leaping and skipping of vs 9 which come to the bride's mind: domeh, "I have compared," a verb encountered twice earlier with two variant meanings, 1Kg 19.12-13 ("still, small voice") and Sg 1.9 ("I have compared you...to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots." Such a "roe" is another term for "gazelle" as in vs 7; note that this same term is used both before and after the bridegroom jumps over the mountains and hills.

The second animal similar to the first is a "young hart" or hopher (cf. Sg 2.17, 4.5, 7.4, 8.14), the same verbal root for "dust," assuming that the vigor of a hart's bounding kicks up considerable dust, thereby obscuring its path, a tactic similar to God's preference for obscurity when he reveals himself: "And Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke (hashan) because the Lord descended upon it in fire" (Ex 19.18).

This "roe," whose verbal root as noted in 1.9 is tsavah and from which is derived "glory," tsevy, "stands behind our wall." Note "our wall," which may be assigned to both spouses. One picture which emerges here is that the bride stands on one side of this wall and the bridegroom on the other, hence both remain separated. Its seems as though despite the bridegroom's leaping and skipping over such towering obstacles, he cannot jump over the relatively insignificant wall, katal, whose only other Old Testament use is in Ezr 5.8. Earlier in this same Song verse we have "the voice of my beloved" which again may apply here where he communicates his presence through this wall. Another way of looking at this "wall" is that the bride saw her beloved leaping and skipping, that is, she caught glimpses of him in this act over the wall.

The bride seems to state with some delight that her spouse "looks forth at the windows," that is, looks through into the room in which she is awaiting him much like Rahab at Jericho who received Joshua and the Israelite spies: "Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she dwelt in the wall" (Jos 2.15). Note that Joshua gave Rahab a scarlet cord to attach in her window as a sign that she and her household would be spared (vs 18). With this image in mind, the bridegroom looking in through his spouse's windows recognizes this scarlet cord, a token of their mutual love.

Such "looking" (shagach, a unused root) is also found in Ps 33.14: "From where he sits enthroned he looks forth on all the inhabitants of the earth." God's position in heaven, traditionally located in the sky, a symbol of transcendence, is a type of "wall" through or "from" (min) which he does this looking, min representing a place located in a place different than the activity which emanates from it; that is, the "looking" is directed from heaven or from the windows towards the earth.

"Window" derives from the verbal root chalal, "to pierce," as in Gen 8.6: "At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made and sent forth a raven." Note that this was after the flood waters covered the earth, rather, they "prevailed so mightily upon the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered" (7.19). That is to say, these "mountains" covered by water at God's command parallel those of Sg 2.8 over which the bridegroom leaps. When turning to the New Testament, we see that a soldier pierces Christ's side...a window into his divinity...from which flow blood and water (Jn 19.34) as noted with regard to Sg 1.7 above. Christ on the cross resembles Noah's ark caught between heaven and earth ("leaping over the mountains"); instead of a raven there comes from his side blood and water, symbolic of the Church's birth through the medium of the Holy Spirit. This action fulfills Zech 12.10: "when they look on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him." Such "piercing" is gazing into the new ark, Jesus Christ, which had its precedent in Noah gazing from his ark.

Sg 2.9 concludes with "showing himself through the lattices," that is, through a type of grating which gives a partial view of the bridegroom. "Lattices" or charakym suggests a net as with the Septuagint diktua. Keeping in mind the image of Noah's ark floating upon the flood waters, the image of such "nets" follows appropriately. However, instead of casting them upon water, the bridegroom "shows himself," i.e., tsuts, which primarily means "to shine." In conclusion, we may say that the bridegroom shines through these lattices or nets, whereas he "looks forth (min, 'from') the windows."

vs 10: My beloved spoke and said to me, "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away."

Note that this verse does not, as one would expect, have the bridegroom enter his spouse's home; instead, he remains outside and summons her to exit. Here the verb for "to speak," hanah, implies singing as well as responding to a statement or question. This is enhanced by the fact that the bridegroom also said, where the conventional verb 'amar is employed.

Here the bridegroom's first words since Sg 1.8 ("If you do not know") imply that she does "know" now; this verse does not refer to knowledge of herself or anything else, just plain knowing as noted with regard to this passage above. Between 1.8 and the present verse the bridegroom reckons that she "knows" to a sufficiently advanced degree, and he can summon her from the confines of her chamber.

Note that the summons "rise up" (qumy lak, literally, 'rise to you,') appears directed towards imparting the bride with awareness of her innate capacity for such rising. It is precisely this ascent that her spouse wants to entrust, hence his apparent remoteness before her ardent desire for his face to face presence. Also, observe that he is "my beloved" or dody, and she is "my love" or rahyty, so when she hears this term of endearment, she immediately knows that she is obliged "to rise." Furthermore, the bride is called "my fair one" or yaphaty as in Sg 1.15; remembrance of this other term of affection is certainly enough to inspire the bride to take the proper action of rising.

Not only is the bride bidden to rise, a further command is added, "come away," which assumes the same form of "rise to you," that is, "come to you (leky-lak)." Such coming is a refinement of rising; it suggests that this activity is one of coming home, of realizing her nature as made in her beloved's image and likeness (cf. Gen 1.26).

vs 11: For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.

This statement rounds out, as it were, the bridegroom's words of vs 10, for it gives reason for his spouse's rising and coming...to herself (lak). Mention of "lo" (hineh) as in 2.8 is not so much astonishment as an expression of the bridegroom getting his spouse's attention with respect to what is going on at the moment. What does he want her to realize? Namely, the cessation of both winter and rain, the latter being the chief attribute of this season. The word for "winter" here is the only occurrence in the Old Testament, of setaw.

Winters in the Mediterranean world are characterized by rainy periods which serve to nourish crops for the hot summers, and vs 11 is a herald of spring, of renewal and new growth for the bride. Such "rain" associated with the Hebrew geshem is violent, usually not the gentle variety of spring. Perhaps it is for this reason there was need in vss 8 and 10 of the bridegroom's voice; only it was loud enough to be heard over the fierce pounding of rain on the roof of bride's house. Indeed, the fearful words of Ex 19.19 do not apply to her, "And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in thunder." God or the bridegroom can speak as loud as he wishes and it is a pleasant sound to her ears.

vs 12: The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

An appropriate sequence referring to spring following vs 11 which speaks of the heavy winter rains without which the flowers, birds and turtledove would not flourish. "Flower" derives from the verbal root natsats, "to flourish," "to shine," the sense of which is transferred to "feathers" as well as its other meaning, "to fly." A parallel to this verse is Gen 8.11: "and the dove came back to him in the evening, and lo, in her mouth a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters (i.e., the 'rain is over' of vs 11) had subsided from the earth." Indeed, this olive leaf brought by the dove is the "time of the singing of birds."

"The time of singing" is reminiscent of Ps 119.54: "Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage," that is to say, the bride's "pilgrimage" within her very own house before the arrival of her spouse which consists in learning how to wait for him. In another sense she is beginning her pilgrimage, only now it takes place outside her house in response the bridegroom's "voice." We may keep this in mind while reading the remaining verses of chapter two.

"Singing" derives from zamar whose alternate meaning is "to pluck," "to prune," and may be said to resemble pruning because during the act of singing words are cut off. Now Christ's words assume a more complete meaning, "Every branch of mine that bears no fruit he [the Father] takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit" (Jn 15.2). Indeed, this is the time of singing, keeping in mind the verbal root zamar. "It has come" (nagah), that is, it has reached or has fully arrived.

We next read, "the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land." This bird (tor) has the same verbal root as "ornament" (cf. Sg 1.10) and means "to travel about." Also the word "law" or torah comes from this root implying that when one reads the Torah or Divine Law, you coo over it much like a tor or dove, thereby giving one's full loving attention to its contents. Hence, a "reading" of the Torah is quite different from the ordinary sense of reading and is a good image of lectio divina, the context of which this document, Notes on the Song of Songs, is situated (contrast this word, tor, with another, yonah (Sg 1.15, 2.14, 4.1, 5.2 & 12, 6.9). Although Gen 8.11 uses the latter term, we may say that this dove "is heard in our land" or in the new creation after the flood of which the dove was a herald. Note that while the "Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters" in Gen 1.2, Noah's dove was, as it were, "moving over the face of our land," "our" being the common property of both bridegroom and bride.

vs 13: The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

Such freshness results from the dove's "moving" over the face of the new land as mentioned above. With regard to the theme of this "moving," consider Gen 9.13 when God makes a new covenant with Noah, thereby continuing its symbol: "I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth."

In Gen 3.7 we read that our first parents "sewed fig leaves (te'enah) together and made aprons for themselves," a gesture they did upon having "the eyes of both opened" (vs 7). Awareness of physical nakedness, rather, its association with shame, was the first thing that struck their eyes, and they took immediate action to cover it. However, Mal 4.4 counters this by saying, "but every man shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid." Also note the use of "vine" with Sg 2.13.

When the fig tree "puts forth" these figs, their verbal root is chanat whose fundamental meaning is "to season," that is, to come to maturity or fullness. Chanat also means "to embalm" as with regards to Israel's (Jacob) body: "So the physicians embalmed Israel; forty days were required for it, for so many are required for embalming" (Gen 50.2-3). Note the use of "Israel" or Jacob, as if the entire nation in Egypt were being embalmed or preserved for the duration of its stay until the Exodus. Such "figs" are put forth...chanat...during this extended time of captivity until Moses' birth. The root for "to put forth" is pagah whose fundamental meaning is "to hit upon," "to meet." Thus when the fig tree gives its fruit, this pagah signifies a sudden, immediate blossoming which parallels the direct and sudden liberation of Israel from Egypt (Note the similarity of this verb with nagah of vs 12, "the flowers appear on the earth," i.e., their instant arrival.

Similarly, the "vines are in blossom," and "vines" is symbolic of the land's abundance from which wine is made. Here "tender grapes" or semadar are most likely young (cf. Sg 2.15, 7.13), the only references being in the Song of Songs. Note that these "tender grapes" have a definition opposite to their positive sense in Ex 9.31: "The flax and the barley were ruined, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud." This verse delineates the plague of hail against the Egyptians which God sent because "you do not yet fear the Lord God" (vs 30). Here the important word "yet" suggests that God is waiting not so much for the Egyptian people to fear God but their leader, pharaoh.

Such "tender grapes" yield a scent or reyach from whose verbal root comes ruach, "spirit." This reyach extends throughout "our land" (Sg 2.12), again suggesting those remarks above in conjunction with Gen 9.13, the dove's "movement" over the land in comparison with the Ruach of Gen 1.2 "moving" over the waters at the first creation.

It is as though this reyach directs the bride to "arise" at her spouse's word and like the wind, she "blows where she wills" (Jn 3.8). Not only is she bidden to arise but "to come away"...no specific direction is given, just the command to become like the wind. To rise up is a vertical movement after which this "coming away" assumes a horizontal direction signifying that she lives now on a higher plane above her previously inferior or unfulfilled one, symbolic of the resurrected life. Here again the bridegroom calls her "my love" (rahyaty) and "my fair one" (yaphaty), two terms encountered earlier. Here there is "neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3.28).

vs 14: O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the cliff, let me see your countenance, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet and your face is comely.

The bridegroom calls his spouse a "dove," yonah, from which is derived the proper name Jonah. Note the location of this dove, "in the clefts of the rock," which has its counterpart in Jon 1.17: "and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." Christ quotes this passage as referring to himself: "For as Jonah was three days in the belly of the whale, so will the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Mt 12.40). Immediately after this reference Christ alludes to the "queen of the South" who "came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and, behold, something greater than Solomon is here" (vs 42). Thus we may say that the bride being in "the clefts of the rock" alludes to the witness of these two persons in conjunction with Jesus Christ.

If this is so, what are these "clefts of the rock?" We have here the image of a dove taking refuge in a rocky precipice much like the psalmist who says, "O that I had wings like a dove (yonah)! I would fly away and be at rest; yes, I would wander afar, I would lodge in the wilderness" (Ps 55.6-7). Chagor is the word for "clefts," from an unused verbal root whose other two references have negative tones of pride's loftiness (cf. Jer 49.16, Obad 3). They are located in the "rock" or selah which phonetically resembles selah, "pause," a word used in the psalter to indicate an interval with musical associations. Gregory of Nyssa's On the Inscriptions of the Psalms (available on the Gregory of Nyssa Home Page) interprets selah first in the psalms' context as a musical pause and then as an interval symbolic of contemplative prayer. On the other hand, within the context of lectio divina, selah can suggest a pause where one rests in God's presence.

Perhaps the best reference to such a "cleft" (although a different word is used) is Ex 33.22: "and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by." Here the word for "cleft" is naqarah from the verbal root naqar, "to bore," "to pierce." It is an analogy to God's hand is Ps 63.7: "and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy." Perhaps it was to this naqarah that Isaiah referred when saying, "Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug" (Is 51.1).

"In the secret places of the cliff:" Here "cliff" or madregah literally means a steep mountain which one ascends by steps as from the verbal root darag. The bride or dove is located here which we may presume is her house outside which her spouse peers as noted in 2.9. It is "secret" (satar) in that this locale is known only by the two lovers and no one else.

The bridegroom makes two requests of his spouse, to "see your countenance" and to "hear your voice," elements belonging first to the sense of sight and then of hearing. This verse resembles Moses in that cleft mentioned above who desires to see God who replies, "but my face shall not be seen" (Ex 33.23). Although this statement is true with regards to God, the bridegroom in his stead can demand to see his spouse's face. Note the Song's play on words, "let me see your countenance," har'yny 'eth-mar'ayk.

Then the bridegroom inverts the use of adjectives, "for your voice is sweet," that is to say, "sweet" is usually associated with taste but here it applies to the bride's voice. Harav is the adjective used and is derived from the verbal root whose fundamental meaning is "to pledge;" thus her voice is a type of "pledge" on behalf of their mutual love.

Finally, the bridegroom testifies to his spouse's countenance which he finds to be "comely," na'weh, whose verbal root ("to sit," "to dwell") we encountered in Sg 1.5. It is as though her voice were to him a dwelling place in which he could repose.

vs 15: Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes.

Here we have two animals of the same genus, "foxes" and "little foxes" where the same term, shuhalym, is used for both, only the Song mentions a distinction in size. Traditional commentaries see these "foxes" as symbolizing threats of various sorts with regard to the spiritual life supposedly due to their being a figure of craftiness. Shuhalym derives from shahal, "to be hollow" because such animals dig or burrow in the ground. Christ calls Herod a fox, "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course'" (Lk 13.32). Indeed, Herod was responsible for killing the first born male children (cf. Mt 2.16) as well as John the Baptist, so he is an appropriate "fox" who attempts to spoil Christ's "vineyards." We may take the diminutive form as Herod's associates who actually carried out his plans.

Such "vineyards" are indeed in blossom, that is, they have "tender grapes" or those semadar of vs 13 which give a "good fragrance." Again, reference to Herod/foxes is appropriate because much of his destructive attempts to foil Jesus Christ transpired at the beginning of his career. Because John the Baptist was prominent at the inauguration of Christ's ministry, he too came under Herod's wrath and he, a semadar, was beheaded.

vs 16: My beloved is mine, and I am his; he feeds among the lilies.

The bride confidently makes this simple statement of mutual possession after he proves his love by going after both the "foxes" and "little foxes." Note that he "feeds (rahah) among the lilies," first encountered in Sg 1.9, "O my love." Thus loving is a type of feeding which both spouses have expressed through their affection thus far in the Song, and the statement "My beloved is mine, and I am his" affirms that such feeding has reached its climax; i.e., both spouses have "devoured" each other.

It should be briefly noted that often in the Song of Songs we see both spouses attain what appears the peak of their mutual love; then the next verse begins almost as though this love did not exist or as though we as readers had been mislead and must start all over again. However, anyone acquainted with advancement in the spiritual life knows that it is perpetually in process and that each stage is the beginning of a higher one. Such a theme is dear to Gregory of Nyssa, and I refer to the Home Page which contains numerous references on this matter.

"Lilies" or shushanym are the sustenance of the bridegroom (cf. Sg 6.3 for another reference of the bridegroom's feeding). We find shushanym in the inscriptions to Psalms 45, 69 and 80; note the last psalm whose first verse reads "Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel." The word for "shepherd" here is roheh, "the one who feeds" and is identified as the guardian of Israel. The bride's question in Sg 1.7 ("Where do you feed?") is thus answered...he feeds among the tribes of Israel.

vs 17: Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, and be like a roe or a young hart upon rugged mountains.

Animals like roes or harts (deer) usually feed at twilight, morning or evening, when there is a special tranquility in the air. Perhaps this is why the Genesis account of creation says with regard to each day God had made, "there was evening and there was morning," i.e., the time of twilight, the time of transition. God himself "was walking in the garden in the cool of the day" or evening (Gen 3.8) just like Isaac when he was about to encounter Rebekah. I in this latter case the scene is lovely as opposed to what God discovered during his walk (i.e., our first parents hiding from his presence): "And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there were camels coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she alighted from the camel" (Gen 24.63-4).

This verse takes place at night or the onset of that evening twilight already mentioned. Reference to day breaking and shadows departing are reminiscent of Gen 32.24: "And Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day (had haloth hashachar)." Note the contrast of this phrase with the Song's, had sheyaphuch hayom, the latter more accurately reading, "until the day breathes." Such breathing keeps in line with the just noted remarks on twilight which forms a type of breathing in between two cycles, day and night.

The verb yaphach for "to breathe" is the root for "apple" ( "as the apple tree is among the trees of the wood," 1.3), so this time of suggested twilight is when the scent of apples, symbolic of the bridegroom, is most dominant as well as other scents of the countryside. Surely during the evening Isaac "smelled" his bride to be, Rebekah, to whom I already alluded; the same applies to God walking "in the cool of the day:" he got a whiff of the man and woman despite their attempts to hide from him.

"And the shadows flee:" the word for "shadows" is tselalym, from tsalal, with two meanings, "to be shaded" and "to be rolled down." Perhaps the sense here is that a shadow tumbles...rolls...after the object of which it is an reflection, but applied to Jacob's wrestling match in Gen 32.25, both men (NB: the Hebrew has "man" or 'esh, not "angel" as sometimes understood) rolled around...tsalal...on the ground in their struggle "until the breaking of the day." As a side note, tsalal is used with a different sense in Ex 15.10 with reference to the Egyptian forces destroyed in the Red Sea: "They sank as lead in the mighty waters."

A key word with reference to all this is "until" (had), that is, until the activity of day breaking and shadows fleeing comes to a stop. Then the bride asks her spouse first "to turn away" and "be like a roe or a young hart upon the rugged mountains." Such movement (savav; also "to go round") implies that she wishes him not necessarily to turn aside but to come round again. Her second wish is that he be like the just mentioned two animals, "roe" or "young hart" encountered in Sg 2.9 as he stands behind "our wall."

Not only does she desire her spouse to be like one of these two animals but "upon the rugged mountains" or better, mountains divided by valleys (vater). The verbal root here is batar which means "to cut up," "to divide." We find the verb batar in Gen 15.10: "And he [Abram] brought him all these [heifer, she-goat, ram, turtledove, pigeon], cut them in two, and laid each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two." With this verse in mind, we could say that the bride wishing her spouse to "turn" upon the rugged mountains means that like Abram, he will these sacrificial animals.

Observe that vss 17 & 18 continue, "When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram." This dividing of animals resembles the parting of the Red Sea when the Egyptian army was destroyed. Note the similarity between the "smoking fire pot" and "flaming torch" of Genesis with the "pillar of cloud by day" and the "pillar of fire by night" of Ex 13.22 mentioned just prior to the Red Sea incident. As Sg 2.17 has it, this "cutting up" (batar) takes place on "mountains," that is, "the waters [of the Red Sea] being a wall [i.e., mountain] to them on their right hand and on their left" (Ex 14.22).

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Chapter Three

vs 1: By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loves. I sought him but did not find him.

The bride seeking her spouse "by night on my bed" continues the theme of his mysterious interplay between presence and absence referred to in the Commentary thus far. Note the previous mention of "bed" in Sg 1.16, "Our bed is green," and the different terms, the latter being heresh and the former, mishkav, from the verbal root shakav, "to lie down." From this root also comes "tent" (mishkan) encountered in Sg 1.8, "shepherds' tents." Keeping in mind this dual notion of bed-tent, we may infer that the bride is within her mishkav seeking her spouse; more specifically it is not the bride but her "soul" who is doing the seeking.

This "soul" or nephesh (whose verbal root means "to breathe) is the faculty by which the body lives: "You whom my soul loves," Sg 1.7. Since nephesh is doing the loving there, it is only natural that this faculty continues this activity in the verse now under consideration. Note that while nephesh loves, the bride (her "I," as it were) does the seeking. We already saw the verb "to love" ('ahav) in Sg 1.3 with reference to the "maidens," and its primary meaning is "to long," "to breathe after." Thus it is natural for the soul...the nephesh...to do this breathing or loving.

The bride is careful to state that she seeks the bridegroom "at night," that is, during the time when activity is at a minimum and her mind is more sensitive to movements of which she is generally unconscious at other times. Refer to Jacob's dream when "he dreamed that there was a ladder set on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it" (Gen 28.12). We may say that the bride, like Jacob, beheld this vision; more specifically it is the bride's "I-ness" whereas her nephesh, her inmost being, was present with him while absence, as it were, yet constantly engaged in loving or 'ahav.

The primary notion of "to seek" or baqash is that of feeling, of touching. We find a parallel to this sense of touch regarding Jesus Christ in 1Jn 1.1: "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life." Baquash applied here does not necessarily mean actual possession; note that John refers to "the word of life," that is, the Logos or his presence which we may apply to the act of lectio divina, the "bed" upon which we seek him and whom our souls love.

The bride uses baquash a second time in the same verse but only with regard to her not finding him. She says this to indicate frustration at her incomplete knowledge. Nevertheless, the verb "to find" here, mats'a, connotes more a reaching out; as in lectio divina, a person does not "find" Christ but reaches out towards him and in darkness, "touched him with our hands."

vs 2: I will rise now and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him who my soul loves. I sought him, but I did not find him.

Since the bride could not find her beloved, she decides to "rise" (qom), not simply move from her present location (presumably from behind the "wall" of 2.9). Perhaps this getting up is in imitation of her spouse's leaping and bounding already described after the example of a roe or hart. She decides to "go about the city in the streets and in the broad ways" having as a guide her "soul" (nephesh). Also this rising indicates night when she hopes to hit upon her beloved in these public places which are deserted of people except for him.

What method of searching does the bride follow? A clue lies in Ex 12.23: "For the Lord will pass through to slay the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to slay you." Note the two "passings:" the first is to destroy the Egyptians, havar; the second is not to slay the Hebrews, pasach, from which is derived the word "Passover." We may say that the bride follows her spouse in accord with the second passing or pasch; i.e., she is right behind him. It would be better to say that she imitates her beloved by taking note of "the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts" mentioned above. Note, too, that the bride follows in her own unique way Ex 12.42: "It was a night of watching (lyl shimurym) by the Lord."

This pasch to which the bride "rises" takes place in "streets" (bishwoqym) and "broad ways" (varchokoth). The former derives from the verbal root shoq, "to run after," "to desire;" from it comes the noun "leg." Surely the added meaning of desire applies to the bride in her pasch. Note Prov 1.20: "Wisdom cries aloud in the street" where we find a different word for "street," chots, from the root, "to surround." The figure of Wisdom with regard to the Exodus passage just discussed is not the Lord (bridegroom) but the "blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts" of the slain lamb. Of course, it is easy to view this blood as foreshadowing Christ's death.

"Him whom my soul loves;" a phrase already encountered several times in the Song and as pointed out earlier, it represents the bride's inner being, the directing part of her soul which is motivated by desire for her spouse. Note, though, that her soul did not find him; this verse ends with these suspenseful words because as observed above, the bride follows in the tracks of her spouse's pasch right behind him as though the blood on the door posts were traces of his love urging her on in her search.

vs 3: The watchmen who go about the city found me. "Have you seen him whom my soul loves?"

It would be intriguing to take these watchmen as the Egyptians moved by the commotion of the Lord's pasch whom the bride "passes" (havar) in the next verse. In this light, the shomrym discover the bride while following her lover's pasch; she asks them about him but the Song does not give their response. Note too that the shomrym "go about the city" just like the bride, that is, right on her trail as she is on her spouse's trail.

Watchmen fulfil the important function of keeping guard, especially at night, to protect against both intruders and unruly conduct within the city. To them also applies Ex 12.42 quoted above, "It is a night of watching for the Lord" but with different consequences. Both words derive from the common verbal root, shamar, frequently used in the psalms with regard to the divine Law or Torah as in Ps 119.8, 17, 34, 44, 55, 88, 101, 134, 146. The watchmen of Sg 3.3 who find the bride would not understand her question, "Have you seen him whom my soul loves?" because their focus of attention is not, like the bride's, upon the object of her love, her 'ahavah.

vs 4: Scarcely had I passed them when I found him who my soul loves. I held him and would let him go until I had brought him into my mother's house and into the chamber of her that conceived me.

Again, take note of this "passing" or here, havar, as opposed to pasch with regard to the bridegroom. Coupled with the word "scarcely" or "a little" (kimhat) the bride discovers her lover but no wor