A Commentary in Simple English on Song of Songs

The Sixth Poem: Chapter 7:11 to Chapter 8:4

This is the sixth of the seven poems. It is rather like the second poem, which was in Chapter 2. In 8:4, the girl speaks to the ‘daughters of Jerusalem’. Nothing else in the poem makes us think of the city or of Solomon’s court. We are in the country now, away from the city. It is springtime. It is the girl who speaks to the man she loves.

So in verse 11, the young woman asks the man she loves to go to the fields. They will spend the night there or ‘lodge’. ‘In the villages’ could be right, but ‘among the henna blossoms’ seems more likely. Then in the morning they will look at the grape vines. ‘Blossoms’ here is the word ‘semadar’ which we have met before in 2:13. No one knows the exact meaning, which may have changed over the course of years. There are pomegranate trees too. In verse 13, the ‘mandrake’ was quite a common plant. It had yellow flowers, but there were lumps or ‘love apples‘, which formed on the roots. (See Genesis 30:14-17.) It does seem that they had an effect. They really did make sexual desire stronger when you ate them. [7.2] ‘Both new and old’ means ‘of every kind’. The girl has all sorts of ideas as to how they can make love. ‘The door’ suggests that after the night in the fields and the walk in early morning, it is time to go back home.

(Chapter 8: 1) In many parts of the world it would be wrong for a man to kiss his girl friend in the street. Yet there would be no shame if a man put his arms round his sister and kissed her. The girl and her lover have a secret. They are not free to kiss each other where people might see them. So she wishes that they were brother and sister. Then they would not have to keep the secret of their love for each other.

In the same way, Christian people love Christ. They have no wish to keep their love for him secret. They want everyone to know, yet it is not always easy. Most people will find all sorts of faults in religion. They are quite happy to talk about what they think is wrong with the church. It is not so easy for us to show them how much we love the Lord Jesus, or to make them talk about that.

So (verse 2) the girl says that she will take her lover to her mother’s house (See 3:4). In the second half of the verse, it may not be her mother who taught her. It maybe that she says ‘You will teach me’. ‘Nectar’ is only juice and there is just one pomegranate! The juice of this fruit may be good, but the fruit is full of pips. In verse 3, the couple are together as they were in 2:6. Verse 4 is rather like 2:7 and 3:5. The girl wants time and quiet for her lover to have his way with her.