Song of Songs Lesson 2 Handout
I. Introduction and Re-cap
II. Verses to Study
A. Read 5:6-9 and 6:1-2.
5:6-9
6 I opened the door for my beloved, but my beloved had turned and gone. I was faint because of what he said. I sought but found him not; I called but he did not answer.
7 I met the watchmen who patrol the town; They struck me, they bruised me; The guards of the walls stripped me of my mantle.
8 I adore you, maidens of Jerusalem! If you meet my beloved, tell him this: That I am faint with love.
9 How is your beloved better than another” O fairest of women? How is your beloved better than another” that you adjure us so?
6:1-2
1 “Whither has your beloved gone, O fairest of women? Whither has your beloved turned? Let us seek him with you.”
2 My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to browse in the gardens and to pick lilies.
1. What may have caused this separation of the two lovers? When the lover seeks a return, who seems to block it? And why?
2. Explore and explain this encounter between the lover and the “Jerusalem girls?”
3. Where has the Beloved gone?
B. Read 5:10-16.
5:10-16
10 My beloved is clear-skinned and ruddy, preeminent among ten thousand.
11 His head is finest gold, his locks are curled and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves by watercourses, bathed in milk, set by a brimming pool.
13 His cheeks are like beds of spices, banks of perfume his lips are like lilies; they drip flowing myrrh.
14 His hands are rods of gold, studded with beryl; his belly a tablet of ivory, adorned with sapphires.
15 His legs are like marble pillars set in sockets of fine gold. He is majestic as Lebanon, stately as the cedars.
16 His mouth is delicious and all of him is delightful, Such is my beloved, such is my darling, O maidens of Jerusalem!
Can you decipher some or all of the qualities of the Beloved (God) that the lover (we) ascribe here?
C. Read 6:7-11.
6:7-11
7 Your brow behind your veil (gleams) like a pomegranate split open.
8 There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,
9 Only one is my dove, my perfect one, the only one of her mother, the delight of her who bore her. Maidens see and acclaim her; queens and concubines and praise her.
10 Who is she that shines through like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, radiant as the sun awesome as bannered hosts?
11 I went down to the nut grove to see the budding of the vale; to see if the vines had blossomed, if the pomegranates were in bloom.
Can you decipher some or all of the qualities of the lover (us) that the Beloved (God) and others see that are worthy and admirable?
D. Read 7:3-10.
3 Your navel is like a round goblet—Let mixed wine not be lacking! - Your belly like a heap of wheat hedged about with lilies.
4 Your breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle.
5 Your neck is like a tower of ivory, your eyes like pools in Heshbon by the gate of Bath-rabbim, your nose like the Lebanon tower that faces toward Damascus.
6 The head upon you I like crimson wool, the locks of your head are like purple - A king is held captive in the tresses.
7 How fair you are, how beautiful! O love with all its rapture!
8 Your stately form is like the palm, your breasts are like clusters.
9 I say: Let me climb the palm, let me take hold of its branches; let your breasts be like clusters of grapes, your breath like the fragrance of apples,
10 And your mouth like choicest wine. “Let it flow to my beloved as new wine gliding over the lips of sleepers.”
We read several of these verses when we studied Talmud and ethics. How do these poetic images convey ways in which we act and live that are pleasing to God?
E. Read 7:11-14.
11 I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me.
12 Come, my beloved, let us go into the open; let us lodge among the henna shrubs.
13 Let us go early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine has flowered, if its blossoms have opened, if the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give my love to you.
14 The mandrakes yield their fragrance, at our doors are all choice fruits; both freshly picked and long-stored have I kept, my beloved, for you.
These verses are all about love-making. How can we best understand their meaning as to what happens when we’re intimate with God?
F. Read 8:3-5
3 His left hand was under my head. His right hand caressed me.
4 I adjure you, O maidens of Jerusalem. Do not wake or rouse love until it please!
5 Who is she that comes up from the desert. leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I roused you; It was there your mother conceived you, there she who bore you conceived you.
There seems again to be a sense of love playing out in another place, at a different time, or under different circumstances. What might be going on here?
G. Read 8:6-7, 14.
6 Let me be a seal upon your heart, like the seal lupon your hand. For love is fierce as death, passion is mighty as Sheol; its darts are darts of fire, a blazing flame.
7 Vast floods cannot quench love, nor rivers drown it. If a man offered all his wealth for love, he would be laughed to scorn.
14 “Hurry my beloved, swift as a gazelle or a young stag, to the hills of spices!”
What additional insights do we garner from these verses about love in our relationship with God?
III. Conclusion - what are our takeaways from this study?