Song of Songs 6
by Pastor Mark Hudson
As you know, taking this as song about love between a husband and a wife is a minority position in the history of the church. If you view this allegorically, you are in the majority in terms of the Jewish and Christian interpreters. You may conclude that this song could not be about two lovers. How scandalous! Plus, you may have heard passages from this song that were used to celebrate the love God has for us and our love to Him. And what do single people think of this song? Isn’t the Scripture about God and written for all people? There are so many aspects of the Bible absent: the mention of God, His law, and the covenant.
Yet, the passion, love, expression of love between a husband and wife certainly seems to be what this song is about. We take this song as not a literal song but as a collection of poetic songs. Granted, we are cautious as we try to interpret this unusual song. Yet how can this be interpreted allegorically? Why not understand it as most readers would (should?) interpret it?
In chapter 6, the women ask the bride, where her husband is, and the idea of seeking appears again. She says he is in the garden which is a symbol of the woman and where love is made (4:12, 15; 5:1). In 6:4, another section begins where the man extols the beauty of the woman. This is called a wasf or descriptive song (see other examples in 4:1-7; 5:10-16: 7:1-5). This is the second wasf describing the woman’s beauty. It is not hard to understand why Jerusalem is called a beautiful city. Jerusalem is called “The perfection of beauty” (Ps. 50:2). It is “magnificent in elevation – the whole earth rejoices to see it!” Just the sight of Jerusalem produces joy and awe (Ps 48). All Jewish people love Jerusalem. But Tizrah is a different story. It was the capital of Israel during the days of Jeroboam (I Kings 14:17) but the capital was moved to Samaria during the reign of Omri (I Kings 16:24, 28). Tizrah is six miles north of Shechem. The city may be included here because the name sounds like the verb rsy “to be pleasing”. Or because both cities are beautiful and powerful.
In v. 4 and following it seems as if there is a sense of fear of the woman’s beauty and v. 5, her beauty overwhelms him. Longman quotes the New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis, The description of the beauty of the woman uses language that seems odd to us. I would not suggest a strict imitation. Yet we do find beauty in nature ourselves but we don’t describe our wives the same way. The man is overwhelmed, overcome, and asks that her gaze turns away from him.
One of the commentators I consult is Glendhill, The Message of the Song of Songs (The Bible Spearks Today Series). I want to quote him at length on beauty. I hope you find this as profound as I did nestled among the exegesis of Song of Songs.
“Unselfconscious beauty possesses a purity whose innocence shines forth to illuminate the drabbest of circumstances. Like the sun breaking through on a mist-enshrouded autumn day, so does nature’s gift of beauty warm our hearts and lift our spirits. Bathed in beauty’s translucent light, we are subdued into awe, and impelled to match its purity by rejecting all unbecoming coarseness of responding thought. For beauty is a bonus that makes our world a better place.
For beauty is not to be aesthetically appreciated merely as an abstract concept. The girl in our Song is not a cold, lifeless statue, with a remote untouchable beauty. There is a real-life warm-blooded person behind the radiant exterior. Her beauty is a gift, a possession, which, like all such qualities, may be exploited for good or ill, by herself or by others. She may be conscious of her power to attract admirers, and could easily become conceited and vain, or manipulative and selfish. On the other hand, her outer beauty could well become a vehicle for reflecting an outgoing selfless spirit, renewed and nurtured by the Creator Himself.
Beauty is a gift on loan to us as it were, to be received and cultivated with joy. To recognize its transitory and ephemeral nature is not to denigrate it, however. It is merely to acknowledge the all-too-obvious fact that we all possess things we cannot keep. Beauty withers and fades like a flower, and not all the cosmetic lotions of the beautician’s parlour can stem the inevitable ravages of time. We all get wrinkled and lined, our skin loses its glow, and we begin to sag and bulge in all the wrong places. And how we wish it were not so” (p. 194, Kindle edition).
I think there is a temptation to read this book and focus on the sensual passages. But if this book is about the relationship between a husband and wife, the most intimate relationship we can enjoy we can learn so much. As any married person knows, that relationship revolves around, God, honesty, caring, love, building a family and not sexual expression. While sex is a gift from God, you have to admit the vast majority of us could not articulate a Biblical view of sexuality. A gift yes. Something to talk about, define ourselves by, something that consumes us? Not by a long shot. Yet, God has given this gift to enjoy within a committed life-long relationship. We ought to thank God for this and many of His other gifts.
Father, I come to this part of life as I do everything else: first corrupted by sin, twisted by my own desires, and ultimately confused. You give so many wonderful gifts, ears to hear beautiful music and the songs of birds or the elk’s bugle. You give us eyes to see sunrises and sunsets, faces of the people we love and animals we enjoy. We never tire of tasting delicious food or the kiss of a spouse. We touch the faces of babies or the cheeks of children or grandchildren. And you have offered us the sacred gift of sexual expression. Sex has always belonged to You and therefore it is pure, godly, and to be enjoyed. But we do not make a fire in our bedroom but rather in the fireplace. And you have given us directions on where to enjoy sex and commanded us to be fruitful. No prude You are!
We confess we have been entrusted with a enjoyable gift yet we have abused and bumbled Your gift. We have not taught correctly because of past sins or just being uncomfortable and therefore allowing Hollywood to teach in our absence. As our culture looks more and more like the first century, help us to forget about what we think our culture was in the past and act and think like Christians who believe the Bible. This is a perfect time to be loving, kind, compassionate, and bold. Keep us faithful and keep us from sin. For the sake of Your glorious Name. Amen.