Song of Songs Chapter 7 -- John Karmelich
1.
If I had to teach you the most important thing to
remember from this chapter it is the following:
a)
The greatest expression of lovemaking in Song of Songs
is not describing the wedding night.
It is used in the restoration of the relationship.
i)
Stop and think about for a while. Why would Song of Songs describe in detail
physical lovemaking at a point in the relationship where it has been
restored? It is not a put down of the
wedding night, but it does teach us some lessons about perspective.
ii)
If you have the answer, you are excused for this week,
skip on to the prayer. J
iii)
For the rest of us, let’s move on and learn a few
things.
2.
Chapter 7 focuses on a lovemaking session between the
bride (the “Shulammite”) and the groom, who is King Solomon.
a)
To review, in Chapter 5 we began a study of a
post-wedding period of the relationship.
i)
Chapter 5 is where the bride became contempt in their
relationship. Solomon was at the
door. She was too lazy to get up to let
him in and he went away.
(A modern paraphrase is, “Not tonight, I have a headache” J).
ii)
Solomon, in his love for her, says in effect, “that’s ok
my dear, I love you so much, I will accept this and move on.”
iii)
The Bible teaches that in marriage, the wife’s body
belongs to the husband and the husband’s body belongs to the wife. (See 1st Corinthians 7:4). By that verse, one can make an argument that
it is a sin of taking your partner for grant it. If it is not a sin, then, at the least it is unbiblical and displeasing
to God.
iv)
Chapter 5 and 6 go on to focus on how to restore
the marriage. The lessons taught in
those two chapters are excellent models on how to make your marriage strong
again. They are also models on how to
draw closer to God.
v)
One of the main themes of Song of Songs is that this
book is a marriage manual and it is a model of our relationship with
God.
a)
In direct context is about marriage.
b)
One can also see word-pictures in every chapter about
our relationship with God. One can see
the bride as a model of “us”, being believers in God. One can see Solomon in many cases as word-pictures of God,
showing his love toward us and responding to our love for Him.
b)
Now in Chapter 7, we get into physical lovemaking.
i)
Sexual lovemaking is one of the greatest ways to show
your martial partner of your love for them.
The mistake people make is they worship sex as an entity all to
itself. God intended that His gift of
sex to be used as an expression of love.
a)
The point is we should make love with our spouses
because we love our spouses, not make love with our spouses because we enjoy
making love.
ii)
One can also study the passage in our relationship with
God. Physical lovemaking with the one
we love is one of the greatest feelings of joy one can have. The overall sensation of happiness and joy
that comes from making love to the one you love (in marriage!) is a
feeling that little else can match.
iii)
God wants our relationship with Him to have that level
of joy. It is not about physically
making love to God, but to have a relationship with God the Father that is so
intimate it brings joy to His heart and your heart. The biblical word for joy can literally mean
“to jump and down with excitement”.
That is the type of joy being described here. We’ll talk more about that as we go. But first, I want to talk about “the prodigal son” story. (Bet you didn’t see that coming! J)
3.
One of the most beloved stories in the Bible is Jesus
telling the story of “the prodigal son”.
a)
It occurs in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 15, Verses
11-32.
b)
Let me summarize and paraphrase the story with the
points I want to emphasize:
A father had 2 sons. One son said,
“Dad, when you die, I get half of everything.
I don’t want to wait for you to die, so give it to me now.” The father in his love for his son, agrees,
even though he doesn’t have to give it to him now. The son goes out and blows the money over some period of
time. When the son hits “rock bottom”,
he says in effect, “You know, I’m better off being a hired servant of my father
than my low-life job now that I’ve blown all of my inheritance.” I’ll go home, apologize and grovel to dad,
and maybe he’ll give me a job as one of his servants.”
i)
The son then heads home convinced he no longer has
status as a son. The father, seeing his
son down the road, starts jumping up and down (a paraphrase of Verse 20). He is excited that his son has returned
home. The father throws a big party for
him and welcomes home his son.
ii)
The last part of the chapter is the father explaining to
the other son why the celebration was necessary. The other son still had his half of the estate and his father’s
love. But now it is “party-time” as the
lost son has come home.
c)
Before I explain the relevance of this verse to Song of
Songs, let me bring in the Bible verse right before this story
begins: “In the same way, I (Jesus)
tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one
sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10,
NIV).
d)
OK, John what’s the point? The point is that God has tremendous joy over the
restoration of a relationship with Him.
In some ways, that joy is even greater than the joy over when one first
commits their life to God. Why is that?
i)
The whole point of the prodigal son story is that the
lost son never lost his “son-ship”.
The father loves his son unconditionally. A father will weep and grieve over the
mistakes make by his child. The father
wants them to change their ways, but they never stop loving that person. To see a child realize their mistake and
turn back to the love of the parent brings great joy to the parent. That is what we see here!
ii)
Jesus said in Verse 10 of Luke that the angels rejoice
(again, visualize “jumping up and down in excitement”) when a sinner repents.
iii)
God, who loves with a perfect love, wants us to grow in
our relationship with Him. To see us
with a perfect love, realize that our
relationship with Him is greater than any other thing we could possible desire,
brings great joy to God and to us.
iv)
Which, leads me back to the Song of Songs.
v)
I opened with the premise of this lesson that the
greatest expression of lovemaking in the Song of Songs is not in the
honeymoon, but in the restoration of the relationship. It can be seen an expression of joy between
God and those who love him. It is a
“celebration” of the fact that the relationship is restored.
a)
By the end of Chapter 6, that relationship is
restored. Chapter 7 is “party
time”. It is an expression of joy of
that restored relationship.
b)
On that positive note, lets go to Verse 1 of Chapter 7:
4.
Chapter 7, Verse 1:
How
beautiful your sandaled feet, O prince's daughter! Your graceful legs are like
jewels, the work of a craftsman's hands.
a)
Verses 1-9 are Solomon doing all the talking.
b)
The bride is busy too!
J During this whole section she is dancing in
a sexually enticing manner in order to arouse her man. It was a custom of that time and era for a
bride to dance to sexually entice her man.
This is an intimate scene for just the two of them.
c)
The last few verses of this section describe the
physical lovemaking itself.
d)
I’m going to describe the verse-by-verse details to help
explain the meaning of some of the poetic pictures being painted. But first, it would help to explain some of
the broader concepts being portrayed.
i)
In this section, Solomon specifically gives her ten
compliments.
ii)
In Hebrew numerology (study of patterns of numbers in
the Bible) the number “ten” is associated with perfection in the human-state.
iii)
We discussed a few weeks back how the number “seven” is
associated with perfection from God’s perspective. The world was created in six days and God rested on the
seventh. Thus, “seven” is a model of
perfection from God’s perspective.
iv)
The number ten in the Bible is associated with human
perfection. I believe that is why God
gave us ten fingers and toes. Almost
all cultures base their numbering system is on a “zero to ten” basis. In the creation account in Genesis Chapter
1, the Bible says “And God said” ten times.
It is associated with His creation.
There are also the Ten Commandments. In a Jewish thought, ten is associated with human perfection.
v)
The point of all of this is for Solomon to pay her “10
compliments” is an expression in Hebrew Poetry of saying “you are a perfect
creation.” Solomon saw her in perfect
beauty, with no faults at all.
vi)
The last thing to notice about the compliments is that
Solomon goes from “feet to head”. He is
working his way up the body.
a)
Remember that she is dancing for him, so complimenting
her footwork is a good place to start. J
e)
Let’s start with specifics of Verse 1: How beautiful your sandaled feet, O prince's
daughter! Your graceful legs are like jewels, the work of a craftsman's hands.
i)
The
original Hebrew is emphasizing the motion of the feet and thighs.
ii)
When
Solomon is complimenting her sandaled feet, it is not saying she has a nice
pair of shoes. As all women know, men
know nothing about shoes. J
iii)
He
is complimenting the motion of her feet as she dances for him.
iv)
Remember
that these are the feet of a farm girl.
I suspect they are callous and worn from the work. Solomon doesn’t notice the imperfection, but
just sees the beauty. This is one of
many reminders in Song of Songs how God sees us in our perfected state, and not
by our faults.
v)
Next
thing to notice is that he calls her “O prince's daughter.”
a)
Again,
this is a farm girl. Solomon is now
married to her. He is complimenting her
by saying in effect, “I don’t see you as a simple farm girl, I see you my love
as one of the beautiful women of the palace.
You are a princess, my cherished one.
You are royalty.”
b)
Guys,
women want to be cherished. They want
to be treated like royalty. They want
to be put on a pedestal. As much as
possible, they want you to meet their needs.
(You can start by trying to find out what their needs are and finding
out how you can best minister to those needs.
You will be amazed at how your partner will then respond to your
needs!)
vi)
Finally,
he compares her legs to jewels.
a)
That
sounds funny in our language. As
beautiful as jewelry can be, we have a tough time thinking how that can be
compared to legs.
b)
One
has to remember that Solomon is describing her motion. Specifically, he is describing the motion of
her thighs as she dances for him.
c)
A
modern paraphrase of this verse would be to say, “Oh I love the motion of your
legs as you dance for me. The precision
is like a jeweler designing fine jewelry.
(It still doesn’t work in our culture, but you get the point. J)
(1)
The
comparison isn’t so much to jewelry itself, as to the fine art of cutting and
designing jewelry. It takes precision,
timing and patience. Solomon is
complimenting those qualities in her dancing.
vii)
This leads to some applications for you and me.
a)
What are we doing to “turn on” our partners?
(1)
Now let’s face it, if we just start dancing like this,
especially after years of marriage, the first reaction of our spouse is that we
have mentally lost it. J If I
came home from work and saw my wife dancing with veils, I’m just going to stand
there puzzled. J
(2)
The correct answer is to find out (ask him or her!) what
excites them? It could be an outfit, it
could be a set of compliments, it could be something as simple as helping out
around the house. Half the fun is
finding out what your spouse enjoys.
Pray to God for help. God wants
us to build up our marriage.
b)
Whatever the specifics, the bride in her love for
Solomon goes through the ritual and custom of that day in order to entice her
husband.
c)
She just went through two chapters of a mistake,
wondering what to do, and finally responding to His love for her and restoring
the relationship.
d)
Remember that the lovemaking is a word-picture of us
having the extreme joy of a wonderful relationship with God. In the literal sense, it is an expression of
love between a husband and wife. Sex
itself is not the goal, but a way of expressing love with the one whom you have
made a commitment.
5.
Chapter 7, Verse 2:
Your
navel is a rounded goblet that never lacks blended wine. Your waist is a mound
of wheat encircled by lilies.
a)
Many
of the commentators believe that “navel” is a bad translation. Many believe the word actually refers to the
genitals. Notice that Solomon goes from
feet to thighs/legs to navel to waist
in the first two verses. The navel is
out of order if he is working his way up the body. That is why some believe the Hebrew word refers to the genitals. The “goblet that never lacks blended wine”
can be interpreted as having sexual references to the joy of contact with the
genital area.
b)
Others
commentators say that navel is the correct word. She is probably dancing with some sort of eastern style
“lingerie”. Visualize some of the
classic movies where the women do the “dance of the seven veils”. The navel is often exposed.
c)
At
this point Solomon is being enticed. I
believe the actual attack is still to come.
J
d)
Wine
in the Bible is associated with joy.
In biblical weddings, wine is present.
It is a word-picture of ultimate joy.
i)
To
paraphrase Solomon is saying the beauty of her navel (or genital areas) brings
me joy to behold.
e)
The
second part describes your waist as a “mound of wheat encircled by lilies.”
i)
“Oh
honey, your waistline looks like a pile of wheat with flowers all around it”. J
a)
Guaranteed
guys, that would make your woman stop dancing on the spot as she says, “Huh?,
what do you mean by that?” J
ii)
Remember
this is a farm girl. Solomon is using
vocabulary she can understand. The
application in our compliments is to use love-language that our spouses can comprehend. Compare your spouse to things that they
find beautiful.
iii)
The
mound of wheat refers to refined wheat.
This is where the wheat is already harvested and the chaff is
separated. That mound is very soft at
this point. That material was often used
for pillows. So here is this pile of
soft wheat surrounded with lilies for embellishment.
a)
The
point is although we may not think of this as being attractive, this picture
worked for this culture and time era.
6.
Verse
3: Your breasts are like two fawns, twins
of a gazelle.
a)
Solomon
is still doing the describing while she is dancing.
i)
A
fawn is a baby dear, or in this case a baby gazelle. If one goes a zoo in the Middle East, they have these types of
gazelle fawns on display. They are very
cute and cuddly. You want to touch and
pet them. I think Solomon is saying
that her breasts are “inviting” the same way one wants to touch and fondle a
baby animal.
7.
Verse
4: Your neck is like an ivory tower.
Your eyes are the pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath Rabbim. Your nose is
like the tower of Lebanon looking toward Damascus.
a)
OK,
we’re up to the neck. The emphasis of
her neck is not on the size but on the color.
i)
If
you remember back in the early chapters, she put herself down for being dark in
color (Songs 1:5-6). Having tan skin in
that culture was a bad thing.
ii)
Ivory
is very white in its color.
b)
The
next compliment focuses on her eyes. He
compares her eyes to “pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath Rabbim.”
i)
These
pools are man made reservoirs that existed at that time and location.
ii)
Instead
of me giving geographical details about this reservoir, let me try to give you
an illustration. Picture a serene pool
of water, like in a pond or a reservoir on a calm sunny day. It brings a picture of peace and
tranquility.
iii)
I
believe that is what Solomon, in a poetic way is trying to get across. A visual picture of the peace that her eyes
bring to him.
iv)
The
application is, “Do you look at your wives or husband’s eyes and see peace and
contentment? Is your relationship grown to a point of trust where you can look
at your lover’s eyes and see peace?”
That is what Solomon is saying here.
v)
Remember
that this whole scene is a celebration of the restoration of a
relationship. It is a celebration of
joy that their love is restored. It
brings peace to Solomon to see the beauty of her eyes.
c)
The
next compliment is on the nose. He says
it is, “Like the tower of Lebanon looking toward Damascus”.
i)
I
will spare the big nose jokes right now and just say it is bad
interpretation. J
ii)
Remember
that he compares her eyes to a reservoir, her head to a mountain (next verse),
her nose to a tower. The girl is not 90
feet tall, so none of these compliments have to do with size. This nose compliment about the tower
probably simply means it is straight and majestic.
iii)
Another
clue to meaning of this compliment goes back a verse or two when he compares
her neck to an ivory tower. The
emphasis is on the white or purity.
iv)
There
are white cliffs off of Lebanan overlooking Damascus. They are quite beautiful when the sun hits them. I believe that is the compliment Solomon was
shooting for. He is described a
geographical location she can relate to.
v)
Again,
if he is describing a literal tower, the emphasis is on the beauty of
the nose and not the size. He is
emphasizing its majestic quality.
8.
Verse
5: Your head crowns you like Mount
Carmel. Your hair is like royal tapestry; the king is held captive by its
tresses.
a)
If
one takes a tour of Israel, a common stop is up to Mt. Carmel. From there, one looks down on the town of
Hafia. It is one of the most
picturesque scenes in all of Israel.
Mt. Carmel stands out in majesty over this landscape. The word-picture created here is a picture
of the head as it stands over a beautiful setting.
i)
For
you bible trivia buffs, Hafia is the spot where Elijah called down fire from
heaven to consume a sacrifice to God.
(See 2nd Kings 4:25).
ii)
Back
to the comparison of her head to Mt. Carmel.
Let me try to give a modern paraphrase, “Honey I love to look at
you. Your head stands out like a
crowning achievement over a work of beauty.
iii)
More
advice to the guys: Your wife always
looks good. Never find faults in your
spouse’s looks. “Honey, does this dress
make me look fat? Of course not!”
a)
On
a side note, I try to be honest about clothes on my wife. She takes my opinion more seriously when I
tell her what does and does not look good on her. The correct answer to the question is “oh no, it doesn’t make you
look fat, it just doesn’t compliment you very well. How about this one?”
b)
Our
love for our spouse reflects God’s love for us. We should see our spouse in God’s perfect love, and be blind to
any imperfections. (We’re talking about
physical beauty). I can go on from
here, but you get the idea.
b)
The
“hair” reference literally translates to a “royal-purple” color.
i)
I
don’t believe she dyed her hair purple.
It may be a reference to a veil.
It may also be a reference to the sun or light shining on very black
hair that reveals a purple-like color.
ii)
I
believe the purple reference is a word-picture of royalty. The same way Solomon called her a “princess’
daughter” a few verses back is similar to this reference.
a)
In
his love for her, he doesn’t see her as a simple farm girl, but as the
beautiful princess bride for a prince.
9.
Verse
6: How beautiful you are and how
pleasing, O love, with your delights!
a)
Verse
6 is a summary statement. For those of
us who see Chapter 9 as a story of lovemaking, I believe this is where the
action begins. J
b)
The
allegorical interpretation of God and us is to see this verse and realize how
much God loves us just as we are. We
see ourselves with our faults and defects, but God in his perfect love for us, delights
in us especially as we live our lives for Him.
i)
These
verses are all about the bride trying to please her man. One can read this allegorical as believers
in God living their lives to glorify him.
It can be as simple as praising God and praying to him, or in our actions
through others. In all cases, God the
father delights in those who live their lives to serve Him.
10.
Verse
7: Your stature is like that of the
palm, and your breasts like clusters of fruit.
8 I said, "I will climb
the palm tree; I will take hold of its fruit."
a)
Palm
trees are amazing plants. They survive
in some of the worse climates of the world.
They survive desert heat, desert wind and still grow tall in stature
with flowing leaves far above the ground.
It is amazing to think how that tree can survive in that climate and
flourish that far off the ground.
i)
Remember
that Solomon is using word pictures that she can relate to. Much of that territory is desert. He is comparing her stature to a tall palm
tree.
ii)
It
is a wonderful compliment to compare her whole body to the stature of a palm
tree, standing majestically over the ground.
b)
Solomon
then focuses on the breasts. They are
enticing to him at this point.
i)
Solomon
compares her breasts to the sweetness of fruit. The rest I’ll leave to your imagination. J
c)
Visualize
a person climbing up a palm tree. Now
visualize a man “climbing” up a woman in lovemaking. I believe that is the picture here. He is working his way up the body. At this point, he is at the breasts and compares it to
fruit. It is sweet to the taste and
desirable to Solomon.
i)
This
again well ties in to what Solomon advised men in Proverbs:
a)
“May
your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer—may her
breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her
love.” (Proverbs 5:18-19, NIV)
ii)
Remember
this is not the honeymoon, this is the restoration of their relationship. The joy of the union is being expressed once
again in their ever-growing love for one another.
a)
A
healthy marriage should be like that, ever growing. We should love our spouses far more now than we did when we first
get married. As we grow in our
relationship, we grow in our trust of our spouse. Love is a commitment, and as time moves on, one can trust more
and more of our desire to strengthen and bind that commitment.
b)
The
same should be with our love for God.
Our love for God should naturally grow with time. The more time we spend with God, the more we
should desire Him and be with him. Just
as absence from our spouse draws us back again, so should any absence in time
with God himself.
11.
The
rest of Verse 8: May your breasts be
like the clusters of the vine, the fragrance of your breath like apples, 9 and your mouth like the
best wine.
a)
Here
is Solomon making a request. He is
asking that
i)
1)
your breasts be like the clusters of grapes growing on a vine
ii)
2)
your breath be like applies
iii)
3)
your mouth by the like the best wine.
(Biblically, wine is associated with joy.)
b)
What
Solomon is saying in effect is, “I want this to go on forever. I love making love to you. I want your breasts to satisfy my love for
you the rest of my life. Like
grapevines, may they bloom sweet grapes for me. Further, I love to kiss you.
May the breath and taste of your mouth always be sweet to me.”
i)
That
type of request is what all husbands and wives should desire for each
other. They should only have eyes for
each other. They should want to live
their lives as pleasing to their spouse. We should use mouthwash for our spouse’s sake. J The main point isn’t so much the specifics as it is to state to
your partner your desire to having a loving relationship with them all the days
of your life.
ii)
Hopefully
you can see by now why God set up marriage as a model for the ideal
relationship between himself and us.
God also wants to have a healthy and loving relationship for all the
days of our lives and on into eternity.
He wants us to praise him out of gratitude of love for the love he has
bestowed on us. This applies through
the good and bad times of live. Just as
we cling tighter to our spouses during the difficult times, so we should cling
that much harder to God during those rough days. During the positive moments, we should have joy and lovemaking
with our loves just as we can show God our gratitude for the wonderful things
He provides for us.
12.
The
rest of Verse 9: May the wine go
straight to my lover, flowing gently over lips and teeth.
a)
From
this point forward to the end of the chapter, the woman (Shulammite) is
speaking.
b)
In
the first half of verse 9, he says, “and your mouth like the best wine.”
i)
Now
she is returning the compliment! Read
the verse again at this point.
ii)
I
believe they are complimenting each other verbally as they are kissing. He is describing how the taste of her mouth
is like the best wine.
iii)
Remember
this is a girl who worked the vineyards.
This is a compliment that she can relate to. She is responding to that love and saying in effect “that
wonderful wine is only for you my love.”
c)
To
me, this section of Song of Songs is one of the great high points of the
book. It is the bride, in the
realization of Solomon’s love for her responding back to him.
i)
Solomon
just spent 8˝ verses describing her beauty.
There is no mention of any of her faults nor flaws. There is no mention of, “I’m still angry
about this”. There are no past hurts
being discussed.” Solomon loves her
with a perfect love and describes her beauty from head to toe and his desire for
her.
ii)
We
as believers in God, have a difficult time believing that God loves us
perfectly just as we are. We see our
own imperfections and then have doubts. Part of the problem is actually our
egos. We want to be better so we can say
or think “look at all the good things I can do for God. We can’t be better people. There has a come a point in our relationship
with God where we realize that God loves us perfectly just as we
are. A perfect God can only love
us perfectly. We can mess up our lives
by not being obedient to God, but we can’t mess up God’s perfect love for us.
d)
I
believe the bride in this song is realizing that at this point. That will become more evident in Verse
10. Notice what the first words are out
of her mouth:
i)
Not,
“Gee honey thanks for all the compliments.
ii)
Not,
“I don’t think I’m all that great”.
iii)
Her
first response is, “May the wine go straight to my lover, flowing gently over
lips and teeth.”
a)
Modern
translation: “Yeah, baby!” J
b)
She
is taking the love offered to her, and responding back to him.
c)
Personally
I suspect she is kissing him as she pays this compliment.
d)
The
point is she responds accordingly to the love that Solomon offers her.
e)
Some
of you can see where I’m going with this.
J God, who loves us with perfect
love, is looking for us to respond to that love. (
(1)
I’ll
talk more about this point in the next verse.
13.
Verse
10: I belong to my lover, and his
desire is for me.
a)
This
verse is one of the key verses in Song of Songs.
b) It is repeated three times, each with a different emphasis.