Commentary - Song of Solomon 4:9-11

Bird's-eye view

In this portion of the Song, the Bridegroom, Solomon, erupts in heartfelt praise for his bride. This is not the calculated flattery of a seducer, but the overwhelmed, heart-pounding adoration of a husband who is utterly captivated by his wife. The language is intense, personal, and rich with sensory detail. He addresses her with the covenantal intimacy of "my sister, my bride," a phrase that combines familial affection and exclusive marital love. Her beauty has not just been noted; it has had a profound, visceral effect on him, stealing his heart with a mere glance. He then extols the superiority of her love over the finest earthly pleasures, like wine and spices, and describes her words and presence as sources of pure sweetness and life, like honey, milk, and the fragrance of Lebanon. This is a picture of marital love in its unfallen glory, a delightful ravishing of the senses and the soul.

But as with the entire Song, we must read this on two levels. If this is how a human king is enraptured by his bride, how much more does this describe the Lord Jesus Christ's delight in His bride, the Church? This passage is a glorious window into the heart of Christ for His people. He is not a reluctant husband. His heart beats faster for His redeemed. Our faltering faith, our "single glance" toward Him, captivates His heart. His love for us, and our responsive love for Him, is a joy to Him that far surpasses all other created pleasures. This is a potent corrective to our all-too-common view of God as a distant, stoic monarch. He is a passionate and adoring Bridegroom, and this passage invites us to revel in the security and sweetness of His covenant love.

Outline

Context In Song of Solomon

This passage comes after the bride has responded to the bridegroom's call and has come away with him. Chapter 4 opens with Solomon's detailed praise of his bride's physical beauty, moving from her eyes down to her form in a poem often called a wasf. Verses 9-11 form a distinct unit within this section, shifting from a more objective description of her features to the subjective, emotional impact she has on him. His heart is now the subject. This intense expression of personal delight serves as a prelude to his description of her as a locked garden, a sealed fountain (v. 12), which emphasizes her purity and exclusive devotion to him. The entire chapter is a celebration of committed, covenantal, and consummated love, a righteous and holy eroticism that stands in stark contrast to the lusts of the world. It is central to the book's purpose: to display the glory of God in the one-flesh union He designed.

Key Issues

A Covenantal Heart Attack

The world talks a great deal about love, but it is almost always a selfish, grasping kind of love. It is a love that seeks to get, to consume, to use. The love on display in this Song, and particularly in these verses, is of an entirely different order. This is a giving, praising, adoring love. The Bridegroom is not talking about what he is going to get from his bride, but is overwhelmed by who she is. His heart "beats faster," or as the Hebrew says, has been "ravished" or "stolen." This is a kind of covenantal heart attack. He has been undone by her.

This is crucial because every marriage is a picture of the gospel. As Paul tells us in Ephesians 5, the union of husband and wife is a profound mystery that speaks of Christ and the Church. Therefore, the passion and delight we see here in Solomon for his bride is a type, a shadow, of the passion and delight Christ has for His people. We often think of our relationship with God in terms of duty, obligation, and our own constant failure. But this passage reminds us that Christ's love for us is not a grim duty. He is a Bridegroom whose heart is captured by His bride. Our feeble glance of faith toward Him is enough to make His heart beat faster. Understanding this is the key to a joyful and confident Christian life. We are not just servants; we are the cherished, heart-stealing bride of the King.

Verse by Verse Commentary

9 You have made my heart beat faster, my sister, my bride; You have made my heart beat faster with a single glance of your eyes, With a single strand of your necklace.

The Bridegroom begins with a declaration of her power over him. The phrase "made my heart beat faster" is a robust translation of a Hebrew verb that means to ravish, to seize the heart, to capture it. It is an astonishing admission from a king. He is utterly captivated. He addresses her as my sister, my bride. This is not incestuous, but rather a term of the deepest possible affection and covenantal solidarity. She is his sister in that they share a common heritage, a common worldview, a familial intimacy. She is his bride in that this intimacy is now expressed in an exclusive, one-flesh marital covenant. He is saying, "You are my closest friend and my only lover." And what has accomplished this heart-theft? Not some grand gesture, but a single glance. One look from her eyes was enough. Even a single, seemingly insignificant detail like one strand or jewel of her necklace has undone him. This is the nature of true love; it finds profound beauty in the smallest particulars. For the believer, this is a picture of how Christ sees us. Our simple, often weak, glance of faith toward Him is enough to captivate His heart. He sees the beauty of the righteousness He Himself has given us, and He is enthralled.

10 How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, And the fragrance of your oils Than all kinds of spices!

Having described the effect of her beauty on him, he now praises the quality of her love. The word for love here refers to her expressions of love, her affections. And he declares them to be superior to the most potent earthly pleasures. How much better is your love than wine. Wine, in the Scriptures, is a symbol of joy and gladness. It is a gift from God to make the heart merry. But the king says that the joy he derives from her love surpasses even that. Her love is a deeper, richer, more intoxicating joy than the finest vintage. He then moves to the sense of smell. The fragrance of your oils, the perfumes she wears, is better than all other spices. In the ancient world, spices were highly valued commodities, representing wealth, luxury, and delight. He is saying that her very presence, the aroma that surrounds her, is more precious to him than all the exotic fragrances of the world. This is a total, multi-sensory delight. In the same way, our love and devotion to Christ, empowered by the Spirit, is a sweet-smelling aroma to Him. It is a pleasure to Him that exceeds all the glories of the created world.

11 Your lips, my bride, drip honey from the comb; Honey and milk are under your tongue, And the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

The praise continues, focusing now on her speech and her presence. Her lips dripping honey from the comb speaks of the sweetness and purity of her words. They are not processed or artificial, but natural, wholesome, and delightful. What she says is a source of nourishment and pleasure to him. The phrase honey and milk are under your tongue is a classic biblical image for the blessings of the promised land. It speaks of abundant goodness, richness, and life. Her words, her kisses, her very essence, are like the land of Canaan to him, a place of fulfillment and blessing. The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. Lebanon was famous for its magnificent cedar forests, which produced a clean, strong, and life-giving scent. Her clothes carry this scent of the high forests, a scent of majesty, purity, and vitality. She is no hothouse flower; she is fresh and invigorating. For the Church, this speaks of the sweetness of our praise and the truth of our witness. When we speak the gospel, when we sing our psalms, our words are like honey to our God. And the righteousness with which Christ has clothed us is a fragrance of life to Him, a reminder of the mountain where He won our salvation.

Application

First, for husbands and wives. This is what your love should look like. Husbands, does your wife know that she makes your heart beat faster? Do you praise her, not just for what she does, but for who she is? Do you tell her that her love is better to you than the big game, a cold beer, or a night out with the guys? Your marriage is meant to be a living, breathing picture of the gospel, and that requires this kind of articulated, heartfelt, and passionate praise. Wives, your loving response to your husband, your glance of affection, has a powerful effect. This is the kind of delightful covenant relationship that God designed marriage to be.

Second, for every believer. Your relationship with Jesus Christ is not a sterile, contractual arrangement. He is the Bridegroom who is utterly captivated by His bride. Meditate on this. Let it sink deep into your bones. When you feel worthless, when your sin accuses you, remember that by grace, your glance of faith toward Christ makes His heart pound. Your fumbling attempts to love and obey Him are more precious to Him than wine and spices. The words of praise on your lips are like honey to Him. We are so prone to project our own coldness onto God, to assume He is as bored with us as we sometimes are with Him. This passage is the divine corrective. We are loved with a passionate, personal, and powerful love. To know this, to really believe it, is to have the foundation for a life of joyful and confident obedience. We do not serve a taskmaster; we are loved by a heavenly Bridegroom.