Song of Solomon 8 Study Notes: The Seal of Love
The woman wishes she could show her love openly and repeats her charge to wait for love’s right time. She asks to be set like a seal on his heart and declares that love rivals death in strength and cannot be bought. Plans for a younger sister, a contrast of two vineyards, and a last call to her beloved close the Song.
General
How does the Song end (Song of Solomon 8:13-14)?
Answer: With her calling her beloved to come away swiftly
The Song closes with a brief exchange. One lover speaks to the other, who lives in the gardens, saying the companions are listening and asking to hear that voice (8:13). She then calls her beloved to hurry away and be as swift as a gazelle on the spice-covered mountains (8:14). These last words echo her earlier call for him to turn and be swift as a gazelle (2:17) and her description of him in those terms (2:9). The poem ends with love still eager and longing.
- Song of Solomon 8:13 (BSB)“You who dwell in the gardens, my companions are listening for your voice. Let me hear it!”A request to hear the voice of the one in the gardens.
- Song of Solomon 8:14 (BSB)“Come away, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.”She calls her beloved to come away swiftly.
- Song of Solomon 2:17 (BSB)“Before the day breaks and shadows flee, turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.”She had called him earlier to be like a gazelle.
- Song of Solomon 2:9 (BSB)“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 had earlier described him as like a gazelle.
Theological
With what words does the Song close (Song of Solomon 8:13-14)?
Answer: With her calling her beloved to come away swiftly
The Song ends in dialogue: a request to hear the voice of the one living in the gardens (8:13), answered by her call for her beloved to come away, swift as a gazelle on the spice-covered hills (8:14). The closing words echo 2:17 and 2:9, so the poem concludes not with a final scene but with love’s continuing eagerness.
- Song of Solomon 8:13 (BSB)“You who dwell in the gardens, my companions are listening for your voice. Let me hear it!”A request to hear the voice of the one in the gardens.
- Song of Solomon 8:14 (BSB)“Come away, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.”She calls her beloved to come away swiftly.
- Song of Solomon 2:17 (BSB)“Before the day breaks and shadows flee, turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.”She had called him earlier to be like a gazelle.
- Song of Solomon 2:9 (BSB)“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 had earlier described him as like a gazelle.
General
In 8:5, when someone is seen approaching from the wilderness, how is she described?
Answer: Leaning upon the one she loves
The question in 8:5 echoes 3:6, where the same question introduced a royal procession rising out of the wilderness. Now the one approaching is the woman herself, leaning upon the one she loves. After all her searching (5:6), the two are seen together, and she relies on him.
- Song of Solomon 3:6 (BSB)“Who is this coming up from the wilderness like a column of smoke, scented with myrrh and frankincense from all the spices of the merchant?”The same question was asked earlier about a royal procession.
- Song of Solomon 5:6 (BSB)“I opened for my beloved, but he had turned and gone. My heart sank at his departure. I sought him but did not find him. I called, but he did not answer.”Earlier she had searched for him after he was gone.
Theological
How is the woman pictured in the question of 8:5 about the one approaching from the wilderness?
Answer: Leaning upon the one she loves
The question of 8:5 deliberately recalls 3:6, where it introduced Solomon’s procession out of the wilderness. Here the figure approaching is the woman, supported by her beloved. The searching and separation of earlier scenes (5:6) give way to a picture of union and dependence.
- Song of Solomon 3:6 (BSB)“Who is this coming up from the wilderness like a column of smoke, scented with myrrh and frankincense from all the spices of the merchant?”The same question was asked earlier about a royal procession.
- Song of Solomon 5:6 (BSB)“I opened for my beloved, but he had turned and gone. My heart sank at his departure. I sought him but did not find him. I called, but he did not answer.”Earlier she had searched for him after he was gone.
General
In 8:8-9, what do the speakers plan to do for their little sister if she proves to be a wall?
Answer: Honor her by adding a silver tower on top
The speakers wonder what to do for their younger sister, who is not yet grown, when the day comes for her to be asked for in marriage (8:8). They give two answers: should she be a wall, they will crown her with a silver tower, honoring her; should she be a door, they will close her in with cedar boards, protecting her (8:9). The woman then says that she herself is a wall, and that in his eyes she has become a bringer of peace (8:10). The speakers are not named; many readers take them to be the woman’s brothers, who earlier set her to work in the vineyards (1:6). Their care to guard their sister fits the Song’s call to wait for love’s proper time (8:4).
- Song of Solomon 8:9 (BSB)“If she is a wall, we will build a tower of silver upon her. If she is a door, we will enclose her with panels of cedar.”The speakers state what they will do if their sister is a wall or a door.
- 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.”The woman’s brothers appeared earlier, setting her to keep the vineyards.
- 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 Song calls for love to wait for its proper time.
Theological
What do the speakers of 8:8-9 resolve to do for their little sister should she prove a wall?
Answer: Honor her by adding a silver tower on top
The speakers consider their younger sister, not yet grown, and what they will do when she is sought in marriage (8:8). Should she be a wall, they will adorn her with a silver tower; should she be a door, they will secure her with cedar boards (8:9). The woman then declares herself a wall and says that in his sight she has become a bringer of peace (8:10). The speakers are unnamed, though many readers identify them with the brothers who earlier set her to keep the vineyards (1:6); they act as guardians, in keeping with the refrain of waiting for love’s appointed time (8:4).
- Song of Solomon 8:9 (BSB)“If she is a wall, we will build a tower of silver upon her. If she is a door, we will enclose her with panels of cedar.”The speakers state what they will do if their sister is a wall or a door.
- 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.”The woman’s brothers appeared earlier, setting her to keep the vineyards.
- 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 Song calls for love to wait for its proper time.
General
True or False: According to 8:7, a man who offered everything he owned could buy love with it.
Answer: False
This is false. The verse says that if a man gave his whole household fortune in exchange for love, the offer would meet with utter scorn (8:7). Love is a gift freely given, not something that can be bought. Proverbs makes a related point, saying a simple meal with love is better than a feast with hatred (Proverbs 15:17), and Paul teaches that even giving away everything one owns gains nothing without love (1 Corinthians 13:3).
- Song of Solomon 8:7 (BSB)“Mighty waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If a man were to give all the wealth of his house for love, his offer would be utterly scorned.”An offer of all one’s wealth for love would be scorned.
- Proverbs 15:17 (BSB)“Better a dish of vegetables where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred.”Love is worth more than a costly feast.
- 1 Corinthians 13:3 (BSB)“If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing.”Even giving away everything gains nothing without love.
Theological
True or False: According to 8:7, love can be purchased if a man offers his entire fortune for it.
Answer: False
This is false. Should a man offer the entire wealth of his household for love, the offer would meet with utter contempt (8:7). Love is beyond price and can only be freely given. Proverbs likewise ranks love above costly abundance (Proverbs 15:17), and Paul declares that even the most lavish giving profits nothing without love (1 Corinthians 13:3).
- Song of Solomon 8:7 (BSB)“Mighty waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If a man were to give all the wealth of his house for love, his offer would be utterly scorned.”An offer of all one’s wealth for love would be scorned.
- Proverbs 15:17 (BSB)“Better a dish of vegetables where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred.”Love is worth more than a costly feast.
- 1 Corinthians 13:3 (BSB)“If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing.”Even giving away everything gains nothing without love.
General
According to 8:6-7, how is the strength of love described?
Answer: It rivals death and is a fire no flood can put out
At the high point of the Song, she declares that love matches death in its strength and that its jealousy is as unyielding as the grave (8:6). Its flashes are flames of fire, and even great floods and rivers cannot put it out or carry it away (8:7). Love here is fierce, lasting, and unconquerable. The New Testament likewise says that love bears and endures everything and never fails (1 Corinthians 13:7-8). Readers have taken the Song both as a celebration of the love of husband and wife and, as many Christians including Reformed writers have long done, as a picture of the love between God and His people or Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:25; Hosea 2:19-20).
- Song of Solomon 8:6 (BSB)“Set me as a seal over your heart, as a seal upon your arm. For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as unrelenting as Sheol. Its sparks are fiery flames, the fiercest blaze of all.”She describes love as being as strong as death.
- Song of Solomon 8:7 (BSB)“Mighty waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If a man were to give all the wealth of his house for love, his offer would be utterly scorned.”Great waters cannot put out love.
- 1 Corinthians 13:7-8 (BSB)“It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be restrained; where there is knowledge, it will be dismissed.”Love bears and endures all things and never fails.
- Ephesians 5:25 (BSB)“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her”Paul ties the love of a husband for his wife to Christ’s love for the church.
- Hosea 2:19-20 (BSB)“So I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in loving devotion and compassion. And I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will know the LORD.””God pledges Himself to His people forever in faithfulness.
Theological
How do 8:6-7 portray the power of love?
Answer: It rivals death and is a fire no flood can put out
The Song reaches its climax in 8:6-7: love is as relentless as death, and its jealousy is as unyielding as the grave, its flashes a blazing flame that no flood or river can put out or carry away. Love is presented as fierce, durable, and invincible, a point echoed in Paul’s words that love bears and endures all and never fails (1 Corinthians 13:7-8). The Song has been read both as a celebration of married love and, by many Christians including Reformed writers, as a picture of the covenant love between God and His people or Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:25; Hosea 2:19-20).
- Song of Solomon 8:6 (BSB)“Set me as a seal over your heart, as a seal upon your arm. For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as unrelenting as Sheol. Its sparks are fiery flames, the fiercest blaze of all.”She describes love as being as strong as death.
- Song of Solomon 8:7 (BSB)“Mighty waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If a man were to give all the wealth of his house for love, his offer would be utterly scorned.”Great waters cannot put out love.
- 1 Corinthians 13:7-8 (BSB)“It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be restrained; where there is knowledge, it will be dismissed.”Love bears and endures all things and never fails.
- Ephesians 5:25 (BSB)“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her”Paul ties the love of a husband for his wife to Christ’s love for the church.
- Hosea 2:19-20 (BSB)“So I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in loving devotion and compassion. And I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will know the LORD.””God pledges Himself to His people forever in faithfulness.
General
For the third time in the Song, what does she charge the daughters of Jerusalem in 8:4?
Answer: Not to stir up love before its proper time
In 8:4 she repeats the solemn charge given twice before (2:7; 3:5): the daughters of Jerusalem must not stir up or awaken love before its proper time. The refrain teaches that love has its fitting season and is not to be rushed or forced. Scripture’s wider wisdom agrees that God has appointed a time for everything and makes each thing beautiful when its time comes (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
- Song of Solomon 8:4 (BSB)“O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.”She charges the daughters of Jerusalem not to awaken love before its time.
- 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 first time she gives this charge.
- 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 second time she gives this charge.
- Ecclesiastes 3:11 (BSB)“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom the work that God has done from beginning to end.”God makes each thing beautiful in its proper time.
Theological
What is the content of the woman’s third solemn charge to the daughters of Jerusalem (Song of Solomon 8:4)?
Answer: Not to stir up love before its proper time
The refrain of 2:7 and 3:5 returns a final time in 8:4: the daughters of Jerusalem are charged not to rouse or awaken love before the right season. Love has its God-appointed time and is not to be hurried, in keeping with the wisdom that God makes each thing beautiful when its time comes (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
- Song of Solomon 8:4 (BSB)“O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.”She charges the daughters of Jerusalem not to awaken love before its time.
- 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 first time she gives this charge.
- 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 second time she gives this charge.
- Ecclesiastes 3:11 (BSB)“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom the work that God has done from beginning to end.”God makes each thing beautiful in its proper time.
General
What does she ask her beloved to do in 8:6?
Answer: Set her like a seal on his heart and arm
She asks him to place her like a seal upon his heart and on his arm (8:6). A seal, often worn as a signet ring, marked what belonged to its owner and was kept close and guarded with care. God speaks of making His chosen servant like His signet ring (Haggai 2:23). Her request is to be held as his treasured possession, both inwardly in his affections and outwardly in his life. It fits her repeated declarations that they belong to each other (2:16; 6:3).
- Song of Solomon 8:6 (BSB)“Set me as a seal over your heart, as a seal upon your arm. For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as unrelenting as Sheol. Its sparks are fiery flames, the fiercest blaze of all.”She asks to be placed like a seal upon his heart and arm.
- Haggai 2:23 (BSB)“On that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, I will take you, My servant, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and I will make you like My signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of Hosts.””A signet ring pictures someone chosen and treasured.
- Song of Solomon 2:16 (BSB)“My beloved is mine and I am his; he pastures his flock among the lilies.”She had declared that they 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.”She repeated that declaration of mutual belonging.
Theological
What request does the woman make of her beloved in 8:6?
Answer: Set her like a seal on his heart and arm
Her plea to be placed like a seal upon his heart and on his arm (8:6) asks to be claimed as his own, inwardly and outwardly. A seal or signet ring was a mark of ownership kept close to its owner, which is why God can speak of making His chosen servant like His signet ring (Haggai 2:23). The request gathers up the Song’s declarations of mutual possession (2:16; 6:3).
- Song of Solomon 8:6 (BSB)“Set me as a seal over your heart, as a seal upon your arm. For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as unrelenting as Sheol. Its sparks are fiery flames, the fiercest blaze of all.”She asks to be placed like a seal upon his heart and arm.
- Haggai 2:23 (BSB)“On that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, I will take you, My servant, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and I will make you like My signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of Hosts.””A signet ring pictures someone chosen and treasured.
- Song of Solomon 2:16 (BSB)“My beloved is mine and I am his; he pastures his flock among the lilies.”She had declared that they 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.”She repeated that declaration of mutual belonging.
General
In 8:11-12, how is Solomon’s vineyard at Baal-hamon contrasted with the speaker’s own vineyard?
Answer: His was leased to tenants, but the other is the speaker’s to give
Solomon owned a vineyard at Baal-hamon and leased it to tenants, each of whom owed a thousand silver shekels for its fruit (8:11). Against this stands the speaker’s own vineyard, which is the speaker’s to give; Solomon may have his thousand, and those who tend the fruit their two hundred (8:12). The words recall 1:6, where the woman said that while working her brothers’ vineyards she neglected her own. The contrast fits the teaching just given that love cannot be bought (8:7).
- Song of Solomon 8:11 (BSB)“Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon. He leased it to the tenants. For its fruit, each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver.”Solomon leased his vineyard to tenants for silver.
- Song of Solomon 8:12 (BSB)“But my own vineyard is mine to give; the thousand shekels are for you, O Solomon, and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit.”The speaker’s own vineyard is the speaker’s to give.
- 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 had neglected her own vineyard.
- Song of Solomon 8:7 (BSB)“Mighty waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If a man were to give all the wealth of his house for love, his offer would be utterly scorned.”Love cannot be bought with wealth.
Theological
What contrast does 8:11-12 draw between Solomon’s vineyard at Baal-hamon and the speaker’s own?
Answer: His was leased to tenants, but the other is the speaker’s to give
Solomon’s vineyard at Baal-hamon is a commercial holding, let out to tenants who each owe a thousand silver shekels (8:11). The speaker’s own vineyard, by contrast, is the speaker’s to bestow; Solomon may keep his thousand and the keepers their two hundred (8:12). The language recalls the woman’s earlier word about neglecting her own vineyard while serving her brothers (1:6), and the contrast is consistent with the truth that love cannot be purchased (8:7).
- Song of Solomon 8:11 (BSB)“Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon. He leased it to the tenants. For its fruit, each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver.”Solomon leased his vineyard to tenants for silver.
- Song of Solomon 8:12 (BSB)“But my own vineyard is mine to give; the thousand shekels are for you, O Solomon, and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit.”The speaker’s own vineyard is the speaker’s to give.
- 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 had neglected her own vineyard.
- Song of Solomon 8:7 (BSB)“Mighty waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If a man were to give all the wealth of his house for love, his offer would be utterly scorned.”Love cannot be bought with wealth.
General
What does she wish for in 8:1-2?
Answer: That she could show him affection openly without scorn
She wishes her beloved were like a brother to her, so that she could greet him warmly out in the open without anyone looking down on her (8:1). She would bring him to her mother’s house (8:2), as she once brought him there after finding him (3:4). Soon after this wish she again charges the daughters of Jerusalem to wait for love’s proper time (8:4).
- Song of Solomon 3:4 (BSB)“I had just passed them when I found the one I love. I held him and would not let go until I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the chamber of the one who conceived me.”She had earlier brought him to her mother’s house.
- Song of Solomon 8:4 (BSB)“O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.”Soon after the wish, she repeats her charge about love’s proper time.
Theological
What longing does the woman express in 8:1-2?
Answer: That she could show him affection openly without scorn
She wishes her beloved were like a brother, so that she might show him affection in public without reproach (8:1), and bring him to her mother’s house (8:2), as she had once brought him there (3:4). The wish is soon followed by her renewed charge to wait for love’s right time (8:4).
- Song of Solomon 3:4 (BSB)“I had just passed them when I found the one I love. I held him and would not let go until I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the chamber of the one who conceived me.”She had earlier brought him to her mother’s house.
- Song of Solomon 8:4 (BSB)“O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.”Soon after the wish, she repeats her charge about love’s proper time.