Commentary - Song of Solomon 2:1-7

Bird's-eye view

This passage is a beautiful exchange between the bride (the Shulamite) and her beloved, followed by her personal reflection on the overwhelming nature of their love. It begins with her humble self-assessment, which her beloved immediately counters with a lavish compliment, highlighting her unique beauty in a fallen world. She then returns the praise, describing his singular excellence and the security and sweetness she finds in him. This leads to a description of being brought into a place of celebratory feasting, under the banner of his love. The experience is so intense that she feels faint, lovesick, and calls for sustenance. The section concludes with a tender depiction of intimate embrace and a solemn charge to the watching women not to force or artificially arouse love before its God-ordained time. The entire passage is a rich picture of exclusive, covenantal, and passionate marital love, which serves as a type of the love between Christ and His Church.

We must read this, as with the whole book, on two levels simultaneously without embarrassment. It is a robustly earthy and erotic poem about the love between a man and a woman in marriage. God made the world and called it good, and this includes the delights of the marriage bed. But because all of creation is designed to speak of Christ, and because marriage is explicitly identified as a mystery that points to Christ and the Church (Eph. 5:32), this inspired song is the ultimate song about that ultimate love. It is about the love of a husband for his wife, yes, but in that, it is about the love of the great Husband for His Bride.

Outline

Context In Song of Solomon

This passage follows the opening expressions of longing and mutual admiration in the first chapter. The lovers have already praised one another's features and have established the deep desire they have for each other's presence. Chapter 1 ends with them in a pastoral setting, their "couch is green" (Song 1:16). Chapter 2 continues this dialogue in the midst of the glories of the created order. The exchange builds in intensity, moving from descriptions of beauty to the experience of being completely overcome by love. The charge in verse 7 serves as a refrain that appears again in 3:5 and 8:4, marking the end of a section and providing a crucial theological anchor: the love being celebrated is not a flippant, romantic whim, but a powerful force that must be handled with wisdom and patience, according to God's timing.

Key Issues

The Best Song About the Best Love

The Song of Songs is the best of all songs because it is about the very best thing: covenantal love. And covenantal love is the central theme of the entire Bible. This book is in our canon because it teaches us about the love between a man and a woman, which is a profound good in itself, but it does so in order to display for us the love between Christ, the heavenly Bridegroom, and His bride, the Church. This is not to say that the details are a fussy allegory, where the apples mean one thing and the raisins mean another. That approach tends to flatten the text and make us embarrassed by the physicality of it all. Rather, this is typology. The whole, integrated reality of this marital love, the desire, the praise, the security, the feasting, the physical embrace, is a type, a living, breathing portrait of the spiritual reality it signifies. We learn about Christ's love for us by seeing what godly, passionate, exclusive love looks like in the created order He made to be a theater of His glory.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 “I am the rose of Sharon, The lily of the valleys.”

The bride is speaking here. This is not a boast, but rather a statement of humble contentment. A "rose of Sharon" was likely a common wildflower, a crocus or tulip, not some cultivated prize. A lily of the valleys was similarly a beautiful but common flower. She is not saying, "I am a rare orchid in a hothouse." She is saying, in effect, "I am a simple, common beauty of the fields." In the typological sense, this is the Church acknowledging her humble origins. She is not beautiful in and of herself; her beauty is the simple, earthy goodness that God bestowed upon her in creation, and the redeemed beauty given to her by her Beloved. She is not a queen by birth, but a country girl who has captured the heart of the king.

2 “Like a lily among the thorns, So is my darling among the daughters.”

The beloved immediately takes her humble statement and elevates it into the highest praise. He says, "Yes, you are a lily, but you are a lily among thorns." This is a crucial move. He places her beauty in its context. Compared to all the other "daughters," all the other options, she is uniquely beautiful and they are, by comparison, sharp, painful, and fruitless. This is the exclusivity of covenant love. A husband's eye is for his wife alone, and in his sight, she surpasses all others. Typologically, this is Christ's view of His Church. The world is a briar patch, full of the thorns and thistles of the curse. But in the midst of it, the Church is a thing of unique and startling beauty, a lily whose grace and fragrance stand in stark contrast to the fallen world around her. She is lovely not just in herself, but in her distinction from the world.

3 “Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, So is my beloved among the sons. In his shade I had great desire and sat down, And his fruit was sweet to my taste.

Now the bride responds in kind, matching his praise. If she is a lily among thorns, he is an apple tree among the common, non-fruit-bearing trees of the forest. What makes an apple tree stand out? Not its height or its timber, but its fruit and its shade. He is not just another man; he is unique because he provides two things: protection and sustenance. She desired his shade and sat down in it, this is a picture of rest, security, and peace under his headship. And his fruit was sweet to her taste, this speaks of the delightful nourishment and satisfaction she finds in him. For the believer, Christ is our apple tree. The world offers many "trees," many philosophies and saviors, but they are fruitless. Only Christ offers true rest from the heat of God's law and the sweet fruit of salvation and fellowship.

4 He has brought me to his house of banqueting, And his banner over me is love.

The scene shifts from the pastoral field to a place of celebration. The "house of banqueting" is literally the "house of wine." He has not brought her to a place of solemn duty, but to a feast. The Christian life is a festival. But this is not a chaotic, drunken party. It is an ordered feast, because his banner is over her. A banner is a military standard; it identifies which army you belong to and where your position is in the line of battle. His banner over her is love. This means his love protects her, defines her, and organizes her. This is not a sentimental, flimsy love. It is a covenantal, defining, marshalling love. Christ brings His church to a perpetual feast, the Lord's Supper, and there we are reminded that we belong to Him. His love is our identity and our protection. It is a love that orders our lives and prepares us for spiritual warfare.

5 Sustain me with raisin cakes, Refresh me with apples, Because I am lovesick.

The experience of this love is overwhelming. She is "lovesick," faint with the intensity of it all. This is not a metaphor for a vague spiritual feeling; it is a deeply felt, physical reality. The joy and passion are so great that she feels weak and needs to be strengthened. And what does she ask for? Not for the experience to end, but for the strength to endure it. She asks for raisin cakes and apples, real, tangible, created goods. These were considered delicacies, energy-rich foods. This is a glorious affirmation of our embodied existence. Intense spiritual and emotional realities have physical effects. The soul's longing for Christ can be so intense that it leaves us feeling weak, and we must be sustained by the ordinary means of grace, the simple, good gifts God provides to strengthen us for the journey.

6 Let his left hand be under my head And his right hand embrace me.”

This is a posture of complete trust, security, and intimacy. Her head is supported by his left hand, and his right hand surrounds her. She is entirely enveloped in his protective and affectionate embrace. There is no fear here, only rest. This is the security of the marriage covenant made visible. The wife is secure in the strength of her husband. For the Church, this is a picture of our position in Christ. We are held by Him. His strength supports us, and His love surrounds us. As the old hymn says, we are "safe in the arms of Jesus." This is not our achievement; it is our position by grace. We rest in an embrace that we did not initiate but which we are privileged to receive.

7 “I call you to solemnly swear, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the hinds of the field, That you do not arouse or awaken my love Until she pleases.”

The bride, speaking from this place of secure and overwhelming love, turns to the onlookers, the "daughters of Jerusalem." She puts them under a solemn oath. She adjures them by the gazelles and hinds of the field, creatures that are beautiful, wild, and easily startled. The point is that love is a powerful and delicate thing. It cannot be forced, manipulated, or rushed. You cannot manufacture this kind of love with romantic techniques or emotional pressure. It must awaken naturally, in God's good time, "until she pleases" or "until it pleases." This is a profound piece of wisdom for courtship and romance. Godly love is not something to be ginned up; it is something to be patiently waited for. It is a fire that is to be tended carefully, not played with. For the Church, this is a warning against all forms of revivalism or spiritual manipulation that try to force a spiritual experience. True revival, true love for Christ, is a sovereign work of the Spirit, which awakens when and where He pleases.

Application

First, this passage calls us to a right appreciation of marriage. Our culture alternates between idolizing romantic love and cynically despising it. The Bible shows us a better way: marital love is a created good, meant to be passionate, exclusive, and delightful. It is a feast, not a funeral. Husbands should praise their wives, making them feel like a lily among thorns. Wives should delight in the unique strength and provision of their husbands, finding rest in his shade. This is the foundation.

Second, we must see that this foundation is meant to support a great cathedral of meaning. Your marriage is a sermon. It is a living picture of Christ and the Church. The way a husband loves his wife is meant to show the world how Christ loves His people. The way a wife responds to her husband is meant to show the world how the Church ought to respond to her Lord. This gives marriage a weight and glory far beyond mere personal happiness. It is a stewardship of the gospel mystery.

Finally, we are reminded that love for Christ should be an overwhelming, "lovesick" affair. We should not be content with a cool, distant, intellectual appreciation of the Savior. We are His bride. We should long for His presence so intensely that we feel faint. We should find our rest and security only in His embrace. And we must learn the patience of love. We cannot force spiritual growth or manipulate the affections. We must wait on the Lord, trusting His timing, and asking Him to sustain us with His good gifts until that day when the feast is consummated and we see our Bridegroom face to face.