# Song of Solomon Study ## Background - There appears to be at least three ways to interpret this book - Literally - A love poem between Solomon and his bride {[[Love]]; [[Solomon]]; [[Bride]]} - Figuratively - Marriage guidance for the rest of us {[[Marriage]]} - Figuratively - (not the best word, but the only one I can think of at this moment) - A love poem between Jesus and His bride, the church {[[Jesus]]; [[Church]]} - I plan to look at the book and these three interpretations as well as any others that God gives me - Some of the imagery seems a little weird to apply it to Jesus and the church. However, hopefully, God will enable me to keep and open mind and heart to listen to Him and His meaning and purpose for this book {[[God]]; [[Mind]]; [[Heart]]} - All references are to the Berean Standard Bible (BSB) translation of Song of Solomon unless otherwise notes - The first section of notes below will be organized paragraph by paragraph - There are lots of recurring themes throughout the book. The second section will have general notes that apply to more than one paragraph ## Questions - There are several topics that are mentioned multiple times respectively. - General questions - What do each of them represent? - What is the significance? - Repeating topics - Done - Daughters of Jerusalem - Friends - wine - In-Work - love - Not Started - vines and vineyards - grapes - Apples and apple tree - Sense stimulation - Fragrances / spices - asleep / awake - city watchmen - ## ToDo - ToDo Study - Compare with the [Bride of Christ Bible Study] ## Takeaways - ## Notes ### General Notes - Arguably, this book is more descriptive than most. There are LOTS of word pictures here. Sometimes, in a single verse there are almost a half-dozen seemingly independent images. --- ### Paragraph by Paragraph --- #### Song 1.1 2023.12.29 {[[Song_01|Song 1.1]]} - According to **1 Kings 4.29-34**, Solomon was wise, creative and knowledgeable. - In particular, he composed 1005 songs {[[1_Kings_04|1 Kings 4.32]]} - Apparently, the book / song we refer to as Song of Solomon was considered his "Magnum Opus" --- #### Song 1.2-3 2024.01.03 {[[Song_01|Song 1.3]]} - Daily question for 2024.01.03: What would people say about your name; your church's name? - The Hebrew word [[H8034|shem]] is used in **verse 1.3**. It is interesting that the word is pronounced "shame" - The Bride compared Solomon's name to that of perfume with a pleasing fragrance poured out. See my notes below about the sense of smell. - I think it is noteworthy that a literal name could be written or spoken or could figuratively represent a person's character. However, the Bride compared Solomon's name to that of perfume with a pleasing fragrance. She even added that the perfume was poured out. It would seem that by pouring out the perfume, the impact on the sense of smell could be overwhelming. See my notes below about the sense of smell. 2024.01.02 {[[Song_01|Song 1.2]]} - Daily question for 2024.01.02: In what ways is love better than wine? - See my notes on love and wine below {[[Love]]; [[Wine]]} --- #### Song 1.4a 2024.01.02 {[[Song_01|Song 1.4]]} - Daily question for 2024.01.04: What does it look like to beg God to "hurry up" Jesus' return? - One possible example is the next to the last verse in the whole Bible: - He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! {[[Revelation_22|Revelation 22.20 (BSB)]]} --- #### Song 1.4b 2024.01.02 {[[Song_01|Song 1.4]]} - Daily question for 2024.01.05: In this book, who do the friends represent? - If this book is about Jesus and His bride the church, then **John 15.12-17** may be applicable to the friend question {[[Song_01|Song 1.4b]]; [[John_15|John 15.12, 14, 15]]} 2023.12.22 - See my General notes below about the friends --- #### Song 1.4c Date {[[Song_01|Song 1.4]]} - Daily question for 2024.01.06: What does it look like to adore Jesus? --- #### Song 1.5 Date {[[Song_01|Song 1.5]]} - Daily question for 2024.01.08: Who or what do the "daughters of Jerusalem" represent? - Daily question for 2024.01.07: In what ways is the church today, "dark" and what does that mean? --- #### Song 1.6 Date {[[Song_01|Song 1.6]]} - Daily question for 2024.01.13: In what ways has the church neglected its own vineyard? - Daily question for 2024.01.12: In what ways has the church neglected its own vineyard? - Daily question for 2024.01.11: What do "vineyards" represent in this book? - Daily question for 2024.01.10: Who or what do "my mother's sons" represent? --- #### Song 1.7 Multiple Dates {[[Song_01|Song 1.7]]} - Daily question for 2024.01.21: In what ways is the church today hanging out with the wrong crowd? - Daily question for 2024.01.20: What "work" is assigned to Christians? - Daily question for 2024.01.19: What "work" is assigned to the Church? - Daily question for 2024.01.18: What "work" is assigned to the sheep? - Daily question for 2024.01.17: What does it look like to seek Jesus? - Daily question for 2024.01.16: Why is the bride asking about the location of the sheep? - Daily question for 2024.01.15: How well does your church "love" Jesus? - Daily question for 2024.01.14: The one I love, my bride has a birthday today! --- --- #### Song 2.4 - Date {[[Song_02|Song 2.4]]} --- #### Song 2.15 2023.12.23 {[[Song_02|Song 2.15]]} - What do the foxes represent? --- --- #### Song 5.1b 2023.12.23 {[[Song_05|Song 5.1b]]} - See my notes below about the friends {[[Friendship|friends]]} --- #### Song 5.16 2023.12.23 {[[Song_05|Song 5.16]]} - See my notes below about the friends {[[Friendship|friends]]} --- --- ### Topical Notes - [[H1323|Daughters]] of [[H3389|Jerusalem]] {[[Daughter]]; [[Jerusalem_(Current-Original)]]} - It seems that there is a connection between "Daughters of Jerusalem (DoJ)" and [[NIH|The]] [[NIH|Friends]] (TF). - See my note below on "friends" - There are nine occurrences of "daughter" in the English BSB. Strangely, the BSB and the Strong's BSB don't have the same verse layout for 1.4 -- 1-5 - 1.4 - The DoJ in verse 5 seem connected to the speakers in 4.b which many translations label verse as being spoken by "The Friends" - 2.7 - Not as strong a connection with TF. However, it seems plausible - 3.5 - Not as strong a connection with TF. However, it seems plausible - 3.10 - The usage of DoJ in this verse makes me less confident there is a connection with TF - 3.11 - Not as strong a connection with TF. However, it seems plausible - 5.8 - Although juxtaposed to TF in verse 9, I'm not sure they are connected - 5.16 - A weak connection with TF. - 7.1 - The bridegroom, Solomon admires his bride and refers to her as "daughter of the prince" - 8.4 - Unlike many of the others, this occurrence seems strongly connected with TF - Friends - If this book is about Jesus and His bride the church, then **John 15.12-17** may be applicable to the friend question {[[Song_01|Song 1.4b]]; [[John_15|John 15.12, 14, 15]]} - Who do the "friends" represent? - As noted in the footnotes, the subheadings, "Bride", "Bridegroom" and friends do not occur in the Hebrew - Subheadings notwithstanding, there are two occurrences of ([[H7453]]) translated "friends" in this book; both in **chapter 5** {[[Friendship]]} - 5.1b - Eat, O [[H7453|friends]], and drink; drink freely, O beloved. {[[Song_05|Song 5.1b]]} - 5.16 - His mouth is most sweet; he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my [[H7453|friend]], O daughters of Jerusalem. {[[Song_05|Song 5.16]]} - Love ^sos-love - Love is a major theme in this book. - The author used three different Hebrew words to discuss / describe love: - [[H0157|aheb]] - [[H0160|ahabah]] - [[H1730|dod]] - There are seven occurrences of [[H0157|aheb]] with various BSB translations - Of the seven occurences of the verb ([[H0157]]), the subject varies - The maidens "adore / love" Solomon {[[Song_01|Song 1.3]]} - The friends praise Solomon's love. Although the object of Solomon's love is not explicitly stated, a reasonable assumption is it is his bride {[[Song_01|Song 1.4]]} - The bride is the subject in the last 5 occurrences {[[Song_01|Song 1.7]]; [[Song_03|Song 3.1-4]]} - Love & Wine - See my observations about love and wine below in the wine section {[[Song_01|Song 1.2, 4]]} - There are 11 occurrences of [[H0160|ahabah]] with various BSB translations - 2.4 - 2.5 - 2.7 - 3.5 - 3.10 - 5.8 - 7.6 - 8.4 - 8.6 - 8.7 (2) - There are 39 occurrences of [[H1730|dod]] with various BSB translations - In **verse 1.2**, the Bride compared love and wine and concluded love was better. In **verse 1.4b**, the Friends made a similar comparison and came to the same conclusion {[[Song_01|Song 1.2, 4]]} - 1.13 - [[H1730|My beloved]] is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts. - 1.14 - [[H1730|My beloved]] is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of En-gedi. - 1.16 - How handsome you are, [[H1730|my beloved]]! Oh, how delightful! The soft grass is our bed. - 2.3 - - 2.8-9 - 2.10 - 2.16-17 - 4.10 - 4.16 - 5.1 - 5.2 - 5.3-6 - 5.8 - 5.9 (4) - 5.10 - 5.16 - 6.1 (2) - 6.2 - 6.3 (2) - 7.9 - 7.10 - 7.11 - 7.12 - 7.13 - 8.5 - 8.14 - Sense of smell ^sos-smell - There are lots of words relating to the sense of smell - Some are generic - fragrance {1.12} - Some describe the source of the scent - perfume {1.12} - sachet of myrrh {1.13} - cluster of henna blossoms {1.14} - cedars {1.17} - fragrant firs {1.17} - Others instances are not specific fragrances, but could be interpreted as such - rose of Sharon {2.1} - lily of the valley {2.1} - Sense of taste ^sos-taste - his fruit is sweet to my taste {2.3} - Sustain me with raisins {2.5} - refresh me with apples {2.5} - Sense of touch ^sos-touch - There are lots of words relating to the sense of touch - Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! {1.2} - soft grass {1.16} - lily among thorns {2.1} - Wine ^sos-wine - Arguably, this discussion could fit under the sense of taste {[[#^sos-taste| taste ]]}. However, since there are 7 occurences of "[[Wine]]" ([[H3196]]) in this book, I thought it should have a separate discussion - In **verse 1.2**, the Bride compared love and wine and concluded love was better. In **verse 1.4b**, the Friends made a similar comparison and came to the same conclusion {Song 1.2, 4} - 2.4 - He has brought me to the house [[H3196|of wine]], and his banner over me is love. - 4.10 - How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! Your love is much better [[H3196|than wine]], and the fragrance of your perfume than all spices. - 5.1 - I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk [[H3196|my wine]] with my milk. - 7.8b-9 - May your breasts be like clusters of the vine, the fragrance of your breath like apples, and your mouth like the finest [[H3196|wine]]. May it flow smoothly to my beloved, gliding gently over lips and teeth. - 8.2 - I would lead you and bring you to the house of my mother who taught me. I would give you spiced [[H3196|wine]] to drink, the nectar of my pomegranates. - In three of the seven occurrences of wine, the author compared it to love - Each time, love was chosen over wine {Song 1.2; 1.4b; 4.10} - Despite love beating out wine in all three comparisons, all seven occurences are positive -