We’re slowly working our way through Song of Songs, a poem describing six scenes in the lives of two lovers (Solomon and the Shulammite woman). Scene one (1:1-3:5) was their courtship (part a, part b). Scene two was Wedding day glory (3:6-11). We’re now reading for Wedding Night Bliss (4:1-5:1).
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Remember that Song of Songs is a story, and you can see it unfolding in front of you. “How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are doves.” (4:1). Now he’s said that before – do you remember (1:15)? But now he goes further. Now he’s married, he enjoys more of her than he enjoyed before. So he doesn’t just describe her eyes, he describes her hair. As you go through the verses, you can see Solomon in your mind’s eye, studying her face, being intimate in a way he’s not been before. “Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, coming up from the washing. Each has its twin; not one of them is alone.” Try saying, “Hey girl, you’ve got all your teeth left – great!”
“Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon; your mouth is lovely.” Do you see his eyes moving around? “Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate.” He’s on his way down from her face now: “Your neck is like the tower of David”. She doesn’t look like a giraffe, but she is elegant. “Your two breasts are like two fawns,” he’s moving to parts of the body that he wouldn’t look at before. And that’s as far as he gets. The excitement of that is too much for him, I think – he doesn’t go any further.
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Articles in this series:
- Song of Songs: Introduction
- Wooing, waiting and winning (Song of Songs #2a)
- Wooing, waiting and winning (Song of Songs #2b)
- Wedding day glory (Song of Songs #3)
- Wedding night bliss (Song of Songs #4) <-- This article
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