Song of Solomon 2

General context

She calls herself the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys. He answers that as the lily among thorns is my love among the daughters, and she replies that as the apple tree among the trees of the wood is my beloved among the sons; she sat under his shadow with delight and his fruit was sweet to her taste. He brought her to the banqueting house, and his banner over her was love. She asks to be stayed with flagons and comforted with apples, for she is sick of love; his left hand is under her head and his right hand embraces her. She charges the daughters of Jerusalem by the roes and hinds of the field not to stir up or awake her love till he please. Then she hears her beloved's voice: he comes leaping on the mountains and skipping on the hills like a roe or a young hart, stands behind their wall, looks in at the windows and shows himself through the lattice. She reports what he said: rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away; the winter is past, the rain is over, the flowers appear, the singing of birds is come, the voice of the turtle is heard, the fig tree puts forth green figs and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell; arise, come away; O my dove in the clefts of the rock, let me see thy countenance and hear thy voice. A voice says, take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes. She says her beloved is hers and she is his, and he feeds among the lilies; until the day break and the shadows flee, he is to turn and be like a roe or a young hart on the mountains of Bether.

Cited passages: Song of Solomon 2:1, Song of Solomon 2:2, Song of Solomon 2:3, Song of Solomon 2:4, Song of Solomon 2:5, Song of Solomon 2:6, Song of Solomon 2:7, Song of Solomon 2:8, Song of Solomon 2:9, Song of Solomon 2:10, Song of Solomon 2:11, Song of Solomon 2:12, Song of Solomon 2:13, Song of Solomon 2:14, Song of Solomon 2:15, Song of Solomon 2:16, Song of Solomon 2:17

Song of Solomon 2 (KJV)

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Historical context

The speakers are again marked only by their words. The man's line sets my love among the daughters and the woman's sets my beloved among the sons, so the two voices can be told apart by whom each addresses. From verse 10 the woman quotes the man at length, introduced by my beloved spake, and said unto me, so his spring song is reported speech inside her speech; the text does not mark where his quoted words end. Verse 15, about the little foxes, uses us and our and is not attributed to either voice. Sharon and Bether are named only as places of the rose and of the mountains, with nothing said about them. The banqueting house is not located. The only time marker is a season, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; there is no date. The charge to the daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes and by the hinds of the field, is repeated in the same words in chapter 3 and in shorter form in chapter 8. The turtle whose voice is heard is named among birds and flowers in the spring catalogue. The woman's statement that she is sick of love is her own; the text does not describe her condition further.

Cited passages: Song of Solomon 2:2, Song of Solomon 2:3, Song of Solomon 2:10, Song of Solomon 2:15, Song of Solomon 2:1, Song of Solomon 2:17, Song of Solomon 2:11, Song of Solomon 3:5, Song of Solomon 8:4, Song of Solomon 2:12, Song of Solomon 2:5

Literary context

The chapter opens with an exchange of matched similes, each built as as this, so is that: lily among thorns for her, apple tree among the trees of the wood for him, and the second is extended into shadow and fruit. Embrace and adjuration sit together: the left hand under her head is followed at once by the charge not to awake love till he please. The second movement stages an approach in stages, first a voice, then leaping on mountains, then standing behind the wall, then looking through windows and lattice, so that the man draws nearer verse by verse without entering. His quoted song is framed by two near-identical calls, rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away, and arise, my love, my fair one, and come away, and between them lists signs of spring in the order rain, flowers, birdsong, figs, vines. His wish to see her countenance and hear her voice reverses the opening, where she heard his voice first. The chapter ends with the formula my beloved is mine, and I am his, which returns in later chapters with its halves reversed, and with the roe or young hart of verse 9, now asked to turn until the day break, an image the book's final verse also uses.

Cited passages: Song of Solomon 2:2, Song of Solomon 2:3, Song of Solomon 2:6, Song of Solomon 2:7, Song of Solomon 2:8, Song of Solomon 2:9, Song of Solomon 2:10, Song of Solomon 2:13, Song of Solomon 2:14, Song of Solomon 2:16, Song of Solomon 6:3, Song of Solomon 2:17, Song of Solomon 8:14

Key moments

1. The rose of Sharon (Song of Solomon 2:1). She names herself the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys.
2. His banner over me was love (Song of Solomon 2:4). He brings her to the banqueting house under a banner of love.
3. Sick of love (Song of Solomon 2:5). She asks for flagons and apples because she is sick of love.
4. Do not awake love (Song of Solomon 2:7). She charges the daughters of Jerusalem not to stir up love till he please.
5. The voice of my beloved (Song of Solomon 2:8). She hears her beloved coming, leaping on the mountains.
6. Rise up and come away (Song of Solomon 2:10). She reports his call to rise and come away now that winter is past.
7. My beloved is mine (Song of Solomon 2:16). She states that her beloved is hers and she is his.

For reflection

Right after saying she is sick of love and describing his embrace, the woman charges the daughters of Jerusalem not to awake love till he please. What does the chapter treat as the risk in waking love before its time?