Song of Solomon · chapter 2 of 8
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Song of Solomon 2 shows the woman and the man in a conversation full of images from nature. She calls herself a rose of Sharon and he compares her to a lily among brambles; she compares him to an apple tree among the trees of the forest. Then he invites her to come away because winter is past and spring has come, and she declares that her beloved is hers and she is his.
Song of Solomon 2 continues the dialogue of chapter 1, now with images of flowers and trees that express each one's esteem for the other. It also contains the first of three times the woman charges the daughters of Jerusalem not to awaken love before it pleases, a phrase repeated through the poem like a refrain.
The woman calls herself a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys (v. 1). The man answers that, like a lily among brambles, so is his love among the young women (v. 2). She replies that, like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is her beloved among the young men, and that she sat in his shadow with delight and his fruit was sweet to her taste (v. 3). He brought her to the banqueting house, and his banner over her was love (v. 4). She asks to be sustained with raisins and refreshed with apples, for she is sick with love (v. 5). His left hand is under her head and his right hand embraces her (v. 6). Then she charges the daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and the does of the field, not to stir up or awaken love until it pleases (v. 7).
The woman hears the voice of her beloved coming, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills, like a gazelle or a young stag (vv. 8-9). He stands behind the wall and gazes through the windows, and says to her: arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away (v. 10). For now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, the voice of the turtledove is heard and the fig tree ripens its figs, and the vines in blossom give forth fragrance (vv. 11-13). He calls her his dove, in the clefts of the rock, and asks to see her face and hear her voice (v. 14). Someone asks that the little foxes that spoil the vineyards be caught, for the vineyards are in blossom (v. 15).
The chapter ends with the woman's declaration: my beloved is mine, and I am his; he grazes among the lilies (v. 16). She asks him to turn, until the day breathes and the shadows flee, like a gazelle or a young stag on the cleft mountains (v. 17).
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The man brought her to the banqueting house, and his banner over her was love. The image of a banner shows that his love is a public declaration and a place of security, not something hidden or shameful.
The woman charges the daughters of Jerusalem not to stir up or awaken love until it pleases. The refrain, repeated later, teaches that love has its time and should not be forced or rushed.
The winter is past, the rain is over, the flowers appear on the earth and the time of singing has come. The man invites her to come away with the arrival of spring, and the poem joins love with the cycle of the creation God has made.
My beloved is mine, and I am his. The woman sums up the relationship in a phrase of mutual belonging, which recalls the union of the two in marriage and returns later in the poem.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: A rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys. — Song of Solomon 2:1
Answer: A lily among brambles. — Song of Solomon 2:2
Answer: His banner was love. — Song of Solomon 2:4
Answer: The winter, and the rain is over and gone. — Song of Solomon 2:11
Answer: The little foxes that spoil the vineyards. — Song of Solomon 2:15
Answer: That her beloved is hers and she is his. — Song of Solomon 2:16
Song of Solomon 2 teaches that love needs care. The little foxes of verse 15 are a good symbol: the small neglects, misunderstandings and routines that, if unattended, damage a relationship. In a couples or youth group you can talk about what those foxes are today and how to protect against them.
The refrain of verse 7 invites us to respect timing. For young people it is a call not to rush what should come in its own time. And for the whole community, the image of spring reminds us that God renews and that human love reflects his generosity.
Song of Solomon 2 closes with the declaration of mutual belonging and the wish to see each other again. Chapter 3 continues with the woman's search at night and the procession of Solomon's litter.
Sharon was a fertile plain along the Mediterranean coast. The flower named, which some versions call a rose and others a crocus or narcissus, was a common wildflower. The woman describes herself simply, and the man answers with praise: to him she is a lily among brambles.
The refrain expresses that love should not be forced or rushed but wait for the right moment. Many apply it to the importance of waiting for marriage and not stirring up feelings that have not yet come in their time. The text gives no rulebook but an invitation to wisdom in love.