Song of Songs

I came to my garden. The man responds predictably and partakes of all that he described in 4:16, to the joyful acclaim of the chorus (who echo themes from 4:16–5:1). According to the reading strategy advocated in the Introduction, 4:16–5:1 represents the continuation of the dream sequence (see 5:2: “I slept, but my heart was awake”), with the sexual consummation of the marriage yet to come in 8:5 (“Under the apple tree I awakened you”). Many who follow the Shepherd Hypothesis, however, read 4:16–5:1 as referring to a visit (real or imagined) of the shepherd boy, for whom the girl really longs (see Introduction: Alternative Interpretations). Other approaches take this passage as describing the sexual consummation of the marriage of the two young people. Those who follow this approach base their interpretation in part on the fact that the consummation of the marriage would then fall in the structural center of the book, as an indication of the centrality of marriage in the literary structure of the book, but also as an indication of the centrality of marriage in the creation of man and woman.

The man’s request is clear: he wants to enter the house to be with the woman (note his urgency or even pushiness in his use of the imperative open, and the barrage of endearing names that follows).

Her initial response of petty objections could be a tease, or just a reluctance that comes from weariness, but it is more likely the kind of befuddlement that one encounters in a dream, leading to the confusing episode in vv. 4–7.

After warming to the man’s approach, but delaying to open the door to him, the woman soon realizes he has gone and she goes in pursuit of him, at which point the watchmen find her and, unlike in 3:3, they beat her, leaving her bruised (5:7). If this were an actual event, it would be unclear why the watchmen did this. If it is part of a dream, though, it would simply be a nightmarish episode, perhaps reflecting the woman’s fear of public hostility toward the couple or toward her pursuit of him: it underscores the painfulness of their separation.

In 2:5 the man was present when the woman uttered the words: sick with love. Now he is absent, suggesting that she is referring to her desire to be with him, and to the way that she, as a woman, can feel overwhelming physical weakness at the thought of her beloved, sometimes described as making the knees go weak as water. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem. The wording of this verse is a variation of the refrain (also found in 2:7; 3:5; 8:4).

The chorus then asks how her lover compares to other men, and she responds.

The chorus is picking up the word beloved from v. 8; this, together with the echoed word adjure, indicates that the singers in the chorus are the “daughters of Jerusalem” addressed in v. 8.

Radiant and ruddy refers to an appealing complexion (cf. 1 Sam. 16:12).

The description of his cheeks as beds of spices would apply more appropriately to a beard than to skin. Given that men in ancient Israel almost always had beards, this seems the likely meaning. As with many other metaphors in the Song of Solomon, the referent has an aromatic quality (spices and sweet-smelling herbs). On myrrh, see note on 1:13.

The continued description of the man refers to precious materials that are often used in statues and in the temple (gold, jewels, ivory, alabaster, and cedars from Lebanon). The man is thus clearly the object of great praise in this section; the woman considers him to be altogether desirable.