Here’s how the study works: Read the chapters mentioned in the heading during the week and share any words, thoughts, verses that stood out to you. Having a week for several chapters creates the opportunity to revisit them and make additional comments as you feel inclined as well as make comments on other people’s insights.
1:9 I liken you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.
Solomon (the author of this book) wasn't supposed to get horses from Egypt (Deut 17:16). Yet he did (1 Kings 10:26-28).
(From Constable's commentary) "Stallions, not mares, pulled chariots. A mare among the best of Pharaoh's stallions would have been desirable to every one of them. In Solomon's day Egyptians horses were the best as Arabian horses became later."
(Parson in Constable) "…the comparison of the female lover with a mare would first and foremost emphasize her nobility and her value."
Solomon likened her to something he shouldn't have.
1:9 I liken you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.
Solomon (the author of this book) wasn't supposed to get horses from Egypt (Deut 17:16). Yet he did (1 Kings 10:26-28).
(From Constable's commentary) "Stallions, not mares, pulled chariots. A mare among the best of Pharaoh's stallions would have been desirable to every one of them. In Solomon's day Egyptians horses were the best as Arabian horses became later."
(Parson in Constable) "…the comparison of the female lover with a mare would first and foremost emphasize her nobility and her value."
Solomon likened her to something he shouldn't have.
2:3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
(Hubbard in Constable's commentary) "'Shade', 'fruit' and 'apple tree' are all ancient erotic symbols…In the Song, as in much of the other ancient Near Eastern love poetry, the woman is the one who takes the initiative, and who is more outspoken…Our contemporary attitude where the girl is on the defensive and the man is the initiator, is a direct contrast with the attitude in the ancient world."
When did the attitude of the woman being the initiator to the man change? And why? It makes you realize about how much we are affected by our culture.
2:3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
(Hubbard in Constable's commentary) "'Shade', 'fruit' and 'apple tree' are all ancient erotic symbols…In the Song, as in much of the other ancient Near Eastern love poetry, the woman is the one who takes the initiative, and who is more outspoken…Our contemporary attitude where the girl is on the defensive and the man is the initiator, is a direct contrast with the attitude in the ancient world."
When did the attitude of the woman being the initiator to the man change? And why? It makes you realize about how much we are affected by our culture.
3:5 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
Good advice here. Do not arouse or awaken sexual love until you're in a place where it can be legally and ethically consummated.
3:5 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
Good advice here. Do not arouse or awaken sexual love until you're in a place where it can be legally and ethically consummated.
4:16 Awake, north wind, and come, south wind! Blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread everywhere. Let my beloved come into his garden and taste its choice fruits.
'The most obvious feature of the Song of Songs is the sexually explicit nature of the material, sensitively guised in figurative language' (Tanner in Constable).
Nothing's too personal for God!
4:16 Awake, north wind, and come, south wind! Blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread everywhere. Let my beloved come into his garden and taste its choice fruits.
'The most obvious feature of the Song of Songs is the sexually explicit nature of the material, sensitively guised in figurative language' (Tanner in Constable).
Nothing's too personal for God!
5:2 I slept but my heart was awake. Listen! My beloved is knocking: 'Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one.'
Asleep but with the heart awake suggests a dream.
5:2 I slept but my heart was awake. Listen! My beloved is knocking: 'Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one.'
Asleep but with the heart awake suggests a dream.
5:16 This is my beloved, this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem.
(Kinlow in Constable's Commentary) 'A normal person finds the erotic ultimately meaningful only if there is trust and commitment, delight in the other's person as well as in the body.'
A lover needs to be a friend where there is trust and commitment.
5:16 This is my beloved, this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem.
(Kinlow in Constable's Commentary) 'A normal person finds the erotic ultimately meaningful only if there is trust and commitment, delight in the other's person as well as in the body.'
A lover needs to be a friend where there is trust and commitment.