Song of Solomon is a fascinating dance between two lovers unmistakably bound to each other yet struggle to make a connection they both long for. It’s beautiful, haunting and perfectly revealing of the human condition. This parallels God’s pursuit of mankind – the love of God faithfully wooing us, in spite of our sin, never giving up drawing us nearer to Him.
Surely I would have given up if not for His faithfulness to find me time and time again.
Song of Solomon Chapter Five
I slept, but my heart was awake.
A sound! My beloved is knocking.
“Open to me, my sister, my love,
my dove, my perfect one,
for my head is wet with dew,
my locks with the drops of the night.”
3 I had put off my garment;
how could I put it on?
I had bathed my feet;
how could I soil them?
4 My beloved put his hand to the latch,
and my heart was thrilled within me.
5 I arose to open to my beloved,
and my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with liquid myrrh,
on the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened to my beloved,
but my beloved had turned and gone.
My soul failed me when he spoke.
I sought him, but found him not;
I called him, but he gave no answer.
7 The watchmen found me
as they went about in the city;
they beat me, they bruised me,
they took away my veil,
those watchmen of the walls!
8 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
if you find my beloved,
that you tell him
I am faint with love.
For more on the Song of Solomon A Seal Upon Your Heart delves into God’s protection over us when navigation relationships.
Taking a Closer Look
Now I am no religious scholar but I see a lot in these verses, and these two figures haunt me – I think we can all relate to both the Lover and the Beloved at times. So let’s look into these verses from the perspective of the human condition..
I slept, but my heart was awake. (Wow, so much in just one sentence. I’ve been here before – the mind shuts down, turns off and forgets. Love hurts sometimes. The intellect really can’t comprehend love – it’s lost to it. But the heart, it keeps beating, waiting, watching for what it is looking for and knows it immediately even if the mind is still asleep and unable to make the connection.)
A sound! My beloved is knocking. (The heart hears it but the mind is still playing catch-up..)
“Open to me, my sister, my love,
my dove, my perfect one,
for my head is wet with dew,
my locks with the drops of the night.” (Sensual and alluring. At this point, I’m wondering, where did he go? And how long has he been looking for her? Where has her Lover been that he is now in such a state? The passing of time can be cruel to the soul.)
3 I had put off my garment;
how could I put it on?
I had bathed my feet;
how could I soil them? (So here we find her hesitating to move toward him. It’s as if she made the decision to move on and change her clothes, change her circumstances and situation, put off the old and put on something new because – well – maybe she thought he wasn’t coming back. She was comfortable and sleeping (though her heart was awake and wouldn’t let her go) she’s going through the motions until the knock and voice of her lover jarred her – now she’s questioning, ‘what to do?’ She wasn’t expecting him..
4 My beloved put his hand to the latch,
and my heart was thrilled within me. (He grew impatient. One translation says ‘My beloved thrust his hand through the latch-opening.’ The symbolic intimacy of this verse is undeniable: love will pierce our strongest defenses and break through the walls we build around us which we think protect us but really only bury us. Love causes us to arise from our cold slumber. Love breaks through the lock she had placed on the door and she is moved, excited, hopeful and anticipating a positive exchange with her Lover.
5 I arose to open to my beloved,
and my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with liquid myrrh,
on the handles of the bolt. (Oh my goodness! She’s anointed herself for him and changed her course. She’s fully awake. But it’s too late! She hesitated, dithered about, questioned for too long – and now, though she makes haste to the door to throw the latch, her hands are too slippery with oil and she’s unable to get a good grip. So more time passes fumbling around with the lock until…..
6 I opened to my beloved,
but my beloved had turned and gone.
My soul failed me when he spoke. (It’s heart-wrenching. She’s lost him again.)
I sought him, but found him not;
I called him, but he gave no answer.
7 The watchmen found me
as they went about in the city;
they beat me, they bruised me,
they took away my veil,
those watchmen of the walls!
The Impact of Love
Love can move us to do things that would otherwise be unthinkable. Love is beautiful. Love is fierce. Who can withstand it? She is laid bare, dignity trampled, pride bruised – those who think they know better for her tell her she’s wrong to be outside, searching the streets like a mad woman and ‘beat her up’ emotionally so-to-speak. I can hear them now ridiculing her; ‘how could you ruin your clothes like this? What were you thinking? Don’t you care how you look? You’re a disgrace for all to see in the city streets.”
But she didn’t care because her heart took over and her intellect finally made the connection. There are those who resist being moved by the power of love while others embrace it, are moved out into the streets by it, hair dripping with the dew of the night, tossing-turning struggling to understand it, care less what others think about it – they are all in. Unrelenting, passionate and unwavering in pursuit of their beloved…
8 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
if you find my beloved,
that you tell him
I am faint with love.
Featured Image: ‘Song of Songs IV’ by Marc Chagall 1958
Want more information about different interpretations of Song of Solomon? Check out Britanica’s insightful article Song of Solomon Biblical Canticle