Song of Solomon 2 Study Notes: Spring Comes and Love Waits
The man likens the woman to a lily among thorns, and she urges the women of Jerusalem not to stir up love before its proper time. He comes swiftly over the hills and calls her away because winter has ended; she declares that they belong to each other and asks him to be swift as a gazelle.
General
How does the woman picture her beloved as he comes to her in 2:8-9?
Answer: Like a swift gazelle leaping over hills
She hears him coming and pictures him leaping across mountains and hills, swift as a gazelle or young stag (2:8-9). Then he is standing behind the wall, looking in through the windows and the lattice (2:9). The image shows his eagerness to reach her. Elsewhere Scripture uses the sure, quick feet of a deer on the heights as a picture of strength God gives (Habakkuk 3:19; Psalm 18:33).
- Song of Solomon 2:8-9 (BSB)“Listen! My beloved approaches. Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.”She hears her beloved coming swiftly over the mountains and hills.
- Habakkuk 3:19 (BSB)“GOD the Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer; He makes me walk upon the heights! For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments.”The swift feet of a deer on the heights picture strength God gives.
- Psalm 18:33 (BSB)“He makes my feet like those of a deer and stations me upon the heights.”David uses the same image of feet like a deer’s on the heights.
Theological
What image does the woman use for her beloved’s approach in 2:8-9?
Answer: Like a swift gazelle leaping over hills
She hears his approach and pictures him bounding across the mountains, quick as a gazelle or young stag (2:8-9), until he stands at the wall and looks in through the windows and lattice (2:9). The image conveys eager haste. The deer’s swift, sure-footed movement on the heights appears elsewhere as a picture of God-given strength (Habakkuk 3:19; Psalm 18:33).
- Song of Solomon 2:8-9 (BSB)“Listen! My beloved approaches. Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.”She hears her beloved coming swiftly over the mountains and hills.
- Habakkuk 3:19 (BSB)“GOD the Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer; He makes me walk upon the heights! For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments.”The swift feet of a deer on the heights picture strength God gives.
- Psalm 18:33 (BSB)“He makes my feet like those of a deer and stations me upon the heights.”David uses the same image of feet like a deer’s on the heights.
General
In 2:2, what does the man compare his darling to among the other young women?
Answer: A lily growing in a patch of thorns
He says that among the other young women she stands out like a lily growing among thorns (2:2). She answers with an image of her own, saying that among the other young men he stands out as an apple tree stands out among forest trees (2:3). Each sees the other as unlike anyone else. Proverbs praises a noble wife in the same way, as one who surpasses many others (Proverbs 31:29), and later in the Song he calls her unique, praised even by other women (6:9).
- Song of Solomon 2:2 (BSB)“Like a lily among the thorns is my darling among the maidens.”He compares her to a lily among thorns.
- Proverbs 31:29 (BSB)““Many daughters have done noble things, but you surpass them all!””The noble wife is praised as surpassing many others.
- Song of Solomon 6:9 (BSB)“but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the favorite of the mother who bore her. The maidens see her and call her blessed; the queens and concubines sing her praises.”He later calls her unique and says other women call her blessed.
Theological
What image does the man use in 2:2 to set his darling apart from the other young women?
Answer: A lily growing in a patch of thorns
His image sets her apart: as a lily stands out among thorns, so she stands out among the other young women (2:2). She answers in kind, likening him to an apple tree that stands out in a forest (2:3). Each regards the other as incomparable, much as the noble wife of Proverbs is said to surpass many others (Proverbs 31:29), and as he later calls her unique, blessed even in the eyes of other women (6:9).
- Song of Solomon 2:2 (BSB)“Like a lily among the thorns is my darling among the maidens.”He compares her to a lily among thorns.
- Proverbs 31:29 (BSB)““Many daughters have done noble things, but you surpass them all!””The noble wife is praised as surpassing many others.
- Song of Solomon 6:9 (BSB)“but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the favorite of the mother who bore her. The maidens see her and call her blessed; the queens and concubines sing her praises.”He later calls her unique and says other women call her blessed.
General
In 2:7, what does the woman charge the daughters of Jerusalem to do?
Answer: Not stir up love before its proper time
She solemnly charges the daughters of Jerusalem, invoking the gazelles and wild deer, not to stir up or wake love before its time has come (2:7). The same charge returns twice more in the Song (3:5; 8:4), so it works as a refrain. Love is a powerful gift, and the charge is to wait for its proper time rather than hurry it. Ecclesiastes likewise teaches that every matter under heaven has its own season (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
- Song of Solomon 2:7 (BSB)“O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you by the gazelles and does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.”The woman gives the daughters of Jerusalem her charge about love.
- Song of Solomon 3:5 (BSB)“O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you by the gazelles and does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.”The same charge is repeated after the night search.
- Song of Solomon 8:4 (BSB)“O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.”The charge appears a third time near the end of the Song.
- Ecclesiastes 3:1 (BSB)“To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:”Wisdom teaches that every matter has its proper time.
Theological
What is the content of the woman’s solemn charge to the daughters of Jerusalem in 2:7?
Answer: Not stir up love before its proper time
Invoking the gazelles and wild deer, she binds the daughters of Jerusalem by oath not to rouse or awaken love before the fitting time (2:7). The charge recurs twice more (3:5; 8:4), functioning as a refrain that marks the poem’s movements. Love is a strong gift, to be waited for in its proper time rather than forced, in keeping with the wisdom that every matter has its appointed season (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
- Song of Solomon 2:7 (BSB)“O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you by the gazelles and does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.”The woman gives the daughters of Jerusalem her charge about love.
- Song of Solomon 3:5 (BSB)“O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you by the gazelles and does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.”The same charge is repeated after the night search.
- Song of Solomon 8:4 (BSB)“O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.”The charge appears a third time near the end of the Song.
- Ecclesiastes 3:1 (BSB)“To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:”Wisdom teaches that every matter has its proper time.
General
Why does 2:15 call for the little foxes to be caught?
Answer: They spoil the vines as the vineyards blossom
The call is to catch the little foxes because they do damage in the vineyards, and the vineyards are now in blossom (2:15). Young blossoming vines are precious and easily harmed, so even small pests must be kept out before they spoil the fruit. A vineyard owner in Scripture works hard to protect and care for his vines (Isaiah 5:2). Vineyards appear often in the Song; earlier the woman said her brothers had put her to work tending vineyards (1:6).
- Song of Solomon 2:15 (BSB)“Catch for us the foxes—the little foxes that ruin the vineyards—for our vineyards are in bloom.”The little foxes must be caught because the vineyards are in bloom.
- Isaiah 5:2 (BSB)“He dug it up and cleared the stones and planted the finest vines. He built a watchtower in the middle and dug out a winepress as well. He waited for the vineyard to yield good grapes, but the fruit it produced was sour!”A vineyard owner works hard to prepare and guard his vines.
- Song of Solomon 1:6 (BSB)“Do not stare because I am dark, for the sun has gazed upon me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me a keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have neglected.”Earlier the woman was set to work keeping vineyards.
Theological
What reason does 2:15 give for catching the little foxes?
Answer: They spoil the vines as the vineyards blossom
The foxes must be caught because they damage the vineyards, which are now in blossom (2:15). Blossoming vines are valuable and vulnerable, so even small pests must be dealt with before they ruin the fruit. Scripture elsewhere pictures the vineyard owner’s careful labor to protect his vines (Isaiah 5:2). Vineyards recur throughout the Song, and earlier the woman said her brothers had set her to keep the vineyards (1:6).
- Song of Solomon 2:15 (BSB)“Catch for us the foxes—the little foxes that ruin the vineyards—for our vineyards are in bloom.”The little foxes must be caught because the vineyards are in bloom.
- Isaiah 5:2 (BSB)“He dug it up and cleared the stones and planted the finest vines. He built a watchtower in the middle and dug out a winepress as well. He waited for the vineyard to yield good grapes, but the fruit it produced was sour!”A vineyard owner works hard to prepare and guard his vines.
- Song of Solomon 1:6 (BSB)“Do not stare because I am dark, for the sun has gazed upon me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me a keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have neglected.”Earlier the woman was set to work keeping vineyards.
General
What does the woman declare about herself and her beloved in 2:16?
Answer: They belong to each other completely
She declares that her beloved is hers and she is his (2:16). The same words of mutual belonging return later in the Song (6:3; 7:10), showing that their love is shared and faithful on both sides.
- Song of Solomon 2:16 (BSB)“My beloved is mine and I am his; he pastures his flock among the lilies.”The woman declares that she and her beloved belong to each other.
- Song of Solomon 6:3 (BSB)“I belong to my beloved and he belongs to me; he pastures his flock among the lilies.”The same mutual belonging is affirmed later in the Song.
- Song of Solomon 7:10 (BSB)“I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me.”She again says she belongs to her beloved.
Theological
What relationship does the woman affirm between herself and her beloved in 2:16?
Answer: They belong to each other completely
Her declaration is one of mutual possession: her beloved is hers and she is his (2:16). The formula recurs, with variation, at later points (6:3; 7:10), marking their love as reciprocal and exclusive. The belonging runs both ways.
- Song of Solomon 2:16 (BSB)“My beloved is mine and I am his; he pastures his flock among the lilies.”The woman declares that she and her beloved belong to each other.
- Song of Solomon 6:3 (BSB)“I belong to my beloved and he belongs to me; he pastures his flock among the lilies.”The same mutual belonging is affirmed later in the Song.
- Song of Solomon 7:10 (BSB)“I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me.”She again says she belongs to her beloved.
General
What reason does the beloved give when he calls her to rise and come away (2:10-13)?
Answer: Winter has ended and the land is in bloom
He calls her to get up and come away with him because the cold, rainy season has ended (2:10-11). Flowers are appearing, it is a time for singing, doves can be heard, figs are ripening and the vines are blossoming (2:12-13). The new season of spring matches the fresh joy of their love. The changing seasons themselves are God’s gift; He promised that summer and winter would keep coming for all the days the earth remains (Genesis 8:22), and He waters the land so that it bears fruit (Psalm 104:13-14).
- Song of Solomon 2:10-13 (BSB)“My beloved calls to me, “Arise, my darling. Come away with me, my beautiful one. For now the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers have appeared in the countryside; the season of singing has come, and the cooing of turtledoves is heard in our land. The fig tree ripens its figs; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come away, my darling; come away with me, my beautiful one.””The beloved calls her to come away because winter has ended and spring has come.
- Genesis 8:22 (BSB)“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall never cease.””God promises that the seasons, including summer and winter, will continue.
- Psalm 104:13-14 (BSB)“He waters the mountains from His chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of His works. He makes the grass grow for the livestock and provides crops for man to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth:”God waters the land and makes it fruitful.
Theological
On what ground does the beloved urge her to rise and come away with him in 2:10-13?
Answer: Winter has ended and the land is in bloom
His invitation rests on the turning of the seasons: the winter and its rains have passed (2:10-11), and the land is coming to life with flowers, song, the voice of doves, ripening figs and blossoming vines (2:12-13). Springtime mirrors the freshness of their love. The cycle of seasons is itself God’s faithful provision, guaranteed for all the days the earth remains (Genesis 8:22), as He waters the land and makes it fruitful (Psalm 104:13-14).
- Song of Solomon 2:10-13 (BSB)“My beloved calls to me, “Arise, my darling. Come away with me, my beautiful one. For now the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers have appeared in the countryside; the season of singing has come, and the cooing of turtledoves is heard in our land. The fig tree ripens its figs; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come away, my darling; come away with me, my beautiful one.””The beloved calls her to come away because winter has ended and spring has come.
- Genesis 8:22 (BSB)“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall never cease.””God promises that the seasons, including summer and winter, will continue.
- Psalm 104:13-14 (BSB)“He waters the mountains from His chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of His works. He makes the grass grow for the livestock and provides crops for man to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth:”God waters the land and makes it fruitful.