Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Song of Solomon 7:10
I [am] my beloved’s, and his desire [is] toward me.
10. In this verse the bride openly rejects the king whom she had already tacitly rejected, saying, ‘I belong to my beloved alone, and he on his part longs after me only.’ As Oettli says, the words should be conceived as uttered with an almost triumphant gesture of rejection towards Solomon. Budde supposes Son 7:10 to be perhaps an editorial connecting clause borrowed from ch. Son 2:16, as Martineau and Bickell also do.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 10. I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.] It is worthy of remark that the word which we translate his desire is the very same used Ge 3:16: Thy desire, thy ruling appetite, teshukathech, shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. This was a part of the woman’s curse. Now here it seems to be reversed; for the bride says, I am my beloved’s, and his desire or ruling appetite and affection, teshukatho, is ali, UPON ME. The old MS. translates this with considerable force:-I to my leef, and to me the turnynge of him.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This and the following verses contain the words of the bride, in answer to the Bridegrooms most endearing expressions delivered in the foregoing verses.
His desire is toward me; I perceive, and am fully satisfied, that he heartily loves me. It is my duty to have my desire towards him as my Husband, according to Gods sentence, Gen 3:16, but it is a wonderful condescension in him, that his desire is towards me.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10. Words of the daughters ofJerusalem and the bride, now united into one (Ac4:32). They are mentioned again distinctly (So8:4), as fresh converts were being added from among enquirers,and these needed to be charged not to grieve the Spirit.
his desire is towardmestrong assurance. He so desires us, as to give us sense ofHis desire toward us (Psa 139:17;Psa 139:18; Luk 22:15;Gal 2:20; 1Jn 4:16).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
I [am] my beloved’s,…. These are the words of the church, strongly expressing the assurance of faith she had of her union to Christ, and interest in him; which shows that “that” grace is attainable, and that there may be a continuation of the exercise of it; it may be expressed again and again, as it is by the church in this Song, So 2:16; and that the exercise of it often follows, upon the enjoyment of Christ’s presence, as here, upon his going tap to the palm tree; and that this grace has no tendency to licentiousness, but excites to duty, and makes more careful in it, of which So 7:11 is a proof, “Come, let us go forth”, c. Moreover, these words may be considered as a modest acknowledgment of the church’s, that all she were and had were Christ’s, and came from him all the beauty he had commended in her; all fruitfulness in grace, and strength in the exercise of it; her light and knowledge in divine truths; her zeal and courage to defend them; her upright stature, and holy walk and conversation, and every good thing else, were owing to his grace. And here she also makes a voluntary surrender of all to him again; as she received all from him, she devotes all to him:
and his desire [is] towards me; and only to her, as his spouse and bride: it was towards her from everlasting, when he asked her of his Father, and he gave her to him; and so it was in time, to procure her salvation; hence he became incarnate, and suffered and died in her stead: his desire is towards his people before conversion, waiting to be gracious to them; and, after conversion, to have their company, and their grace exercised on him, and to behold their beauty; nor will his desires be fully satisfied until he has got them all with him in glory. And this phrase not only signifies the conjugal relation of the church to Christ, he being her husband, and she his wife, the desire of his eyes, as a wife is called, Eze 24:16; but takes in the whole care and concern of Christ for her, as her husband; who sympathizes with her under all her distresses; protects her from all dangers and enemies; and provides everything necessary for her, for time and eternity. Some render the words, “seeing his desire is towards me” b; therefore she expresses her faith in him, and gives up herself to him.
b So Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
10 I am my beloved’s
And to me goeth forth his desire.
After the words “I am my beloved’s,” we miss the “and my beloved is mine” of Son 6:3, cf. Son 2:16, which perhaps had dropped out. The second line here refers back to Gen 3:16, for here, as there, , from , to impel, move, is the impulse of love as a natural power. When a wife is the object of such passion, it is possible that, on the one side, she feels herself very fortunate therein; and, on the other side, if the love, in its high commendations, becomes excessive, oppressed, and when she perceive that in her love-relation she is the observed of many eyes, troubled. It is these mingled feelings which move Shulamith when she continues the praise so richly lavished on her in words which denote what she might be to the king, but immediately breaks off in order that, as the following verse now shows, she might use this superabundance of his love for the purpose of setting forth her request, and thus of leading into another path; her simple, child-like disposition longs for the quietness and plainness of rural life, away from the bustle and display of city and court life.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Desiring Communion with Christ; The Love of the Church to Christ. | |
10 I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me. 11 Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. 12 Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves. 13 The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.
These are the words of the spouse, the church, the believing soul, in answer to the kind expressions of Christ’s love in the foregoing verses.
I. She here triumphs in her relation to Christ and her interest in him, and in his name will she boast all the day long. With what a transport of joy and holy exultation does she say (v. 10), “I am my beloved’s, not my own, but entirely devoted to him and owned by him.” If we can truly say that Christ is our best beloved, we may be confident that we are his and he will save us, Ps. cxix. 94. The gracious discoveries of Christ’s love to us should engage us greatly to rejoice in the hold he has of us, his sovereignty over us and property in us, which is no less a spring of comfort than a bond of duty. Intimacy of communion with Christ should help clear up our interest in him. Glorying in this, that she is his, to serve him, and reckoning that her honour, she comforts herself with this, that his desire is towards her, that is, he is her husband; it is a periphrasis of the conjugal relation, Gen. iii. 16. Christ’s desire was strongly towards his chosen remnant, when he came from heaven to earth to seek and save them; and when, in pursuance of his undertaking, he was even straitened till the baptism of blood he was to pass through for them was accomplished, Luke xii. 50. He desired Zion for a habitation; this is a comfort to believers that, whosoever slights them, Christ has a desire towards them, such a desire as will again bring him from heaven to earth to receive them to himself; for he longs to have them all with him, Joh 17:24; Joh 14:3.
II. She humbly and earnestly desires communion with him (Son 7:11; Son 7:12): “Come, my beloved, let us take a walk together, that I may receive counsel, instruction, and comfort from thee, and may make known my wants and grievances to thee, with freedom, and without interruption.” Thus Christ can walk with the two disciples that were going to the village called Emmaus, and talked with them, till he made their hearts burn within them. Observe here, 1. Having received fresh tokens of his love, and full assurances of her interest in him, she presses forward towards further acquaintance with him; as blessed Paul, who desired yet more and more of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, Phil. iii. 8. Christ has made it to appear how much his desire is towards us, and we are very ungrateful if ours be not towards him. Note, Communion with Christ is that which all that are sanctified earnestly breathe after; and the clearer discoveries he makes to them of his love the more earnestly do they desire it. Sensual pleasures pall the carnal appetite, and soon give it surfeit, but spiritual delights whet the desires, the language of which is, Nothing more than God, but still more and more of him. Christ had said, I will go up to the palm-tree. Come, saith she, Let us go. The promises Christ has made us of communion with him are not to supersede, but quicken and encourage, our prayers for that communion. 2. She desires to go forth into the fields and villages to have this communion with him. Those that would converse with Christ must go forth from the world and the amusements of it, must avoid every thing that would divert the mind and be a hindrance to it when it should be wholly taken up with Christ; we must contrive how to attend upon the Lord without distraction (1 Cor. vii. 35), for therefore the spouse here covets to get out of the noise of the town. Let us go forth to him without the camp, Heb. xiv. 13. Solitude and retirement befriend communion with God; therefore Isaac went out into the field to meditate and pray. Enter into thy closet, and shut thy door. A believer is never less alone than when alone with Christ, where no eye sees. 3. Having business to go abroad, to look after their grounds, she desires the company of her beloved. Note, Wherever we are, we may keep up our communion with God, if it be not our own fault, for he is always at our right hand, his eye always upon us, and both his word and his ear always nigh us. By going about our worldly affairs with heavenly holy hearts, mixing pious thoughts with common actions, and having our eyes ever towards the Lord, we may take Christ along with us whithersoever we go. Nor should we go any whither where we cannot in faith ask him to go along with us. 4. She is willing to rise betimes, to go along with her beloved: Let us get up early to the vineyards. It intimates her care to improve opportunities of conversing with her beloved; when the time appointed has come, we must lose no time, but, as the woman (Mark xvi. 2), go very early, though it be to a sepulchre, if we be in hopes to meet him there. Those that will go abroad with Christ must begin betimes with him, early in the morning of their days, must begin every day with him, seek him early, seek him diligently. 5. She will be content to take up her lodging in the villages, the huts or cottages which the country people built for their shelter when they attended their business in the fields; there, in these mean and cold dwellings, she will gladly reside, if she may but have her beloved with her. His presence will make them fine and pleasant, and convert them into palaces. A gracious soul can reconcile itself to the poorest accommodations, if it may have communion with God in them. 6. The most pleasant delightful fields, even in the spring-time, when the country is most pleasant, will not satisfy her, unless she have her beloved with her. No delights on earth can make a believer easy, unless he enjoy God in all.
III. She desires to be better acquainted with the state of her own soul and the present posture of its affairs (v. 12): Let us see if the vine flourish. Our own souls are our vineyards; they are, or should be, planted with vines and pomegranates, choice and useful trees. We are made keepers of these vineyards, and therefore are concerned often to look into them, to examine the state of our own souls, to seek whether the vine flourishes, whether our graces be in act and exercise, whether we be fruitful in the fruits of righteousness, and whether our fruit abound. And especially let us enquire whether the tender grape appear and whether the pomegranates bud forth, what good motions and dispositions there are in us that are yet but young and tender, that they may be protected and cherished with a particular care, and may not be nipped, or blasted, or rubbed off, but cultivated, that they may bring forth fruit unto perfection. In this enquiry into our own spiritual state, it will be good to take Christ along with us, because his presence will make the vine flourish and the tender grape appear, as the returning sun revives the gardens, and because to him we are concerned to approve ourselves. If he sees the vine flourish, and the tender grape appear–if we can appeal to him, Thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee,–if his Spirit witness with our spirit that our souls prosper, it is enough. And, if we would be acquainted with ourselves, we must beg of him to search and try us, to help us in the search, and discover us to ourselves.
IV. She promises to her beloved the best entertainment she can give him at her country seat; for he will come in to us, and sup with us, Rev. iii. 20. 1. She promises him her best affections; and, whatever else she had for him, it would utterly be contemned if her heart were not entire for him: “There therefore will I give thee my love; I will repeat the professions of it, honour thee with the tokens of it; and the out-goings of my soul towards thee in adorations and desires shall be quickened and enlarged, and my heart offered up to thee in a holy fire.” 2. She promises him her best provision, v. 13. “There we shall find pleasant odours, for the mandrakes give a smell;” the love-flowers or lovely ones (so the word signifies), or the love-fruits; it was something that was in all respects very grateful, so valuable that Rachel and Leah had like to have fallen out above it, Gen. xxx. 14. “We shall also find that which is good for food, as well as pleasant to the eye, all the rarities that the country affords: At our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits.” Note, (1.) The fruits and exercises of grace are pleasant to the Lord Jesus. (2.) These must be carefully laid up for him, devoted to his service and honour, must be always ready to us when we have occasion for them, as that which is laid up at our gates, that, by our bringing forth much fruit, he may be glorified, John xv. 18. (3.) There is a great variety of these pleasant fruits, with which our souls should be well stocked; we must have all sorts of them, grace for all occasions, new and old, as the good householder has in his treasury, not only the products of this year, but remainders of the last, Matt. xiii. 52. We must not only have that ready to us, for the service of Christ, which we have heard, and learned, and experienced lately, but must retain that which we have formerly gathered; nor must we content ourselves only with what we have laid up in store in the days of old, but, as long as we live, must be still adding something new to it, that our stock may increase, and we may be thoroughly furnished for every good work. (4.) Those that truly love Christ will think all they have, even their most pleasant fruits, and what they have treasured up most carefully, too little to be bestowed upon him, and he is welcome to it all; if it were more and better, it should be at his service. It is all from him, and therefore it is fit it should be all for him.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Son 7:10-13
SHULAMITE REAFFIRMS HER COMMITMENT TO HER SHEPHERD SPOUSE
Verse 10 reaffirms the Shulamite’s commitment to the beloved shepherd.
Verses 11-13 express the Shulam’te’s desire and readiness for a honeymoon in the field and villages as the shepherd had proposed in Son 2:10-14.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
SHULAMITES JOYFUL SELF-SURRENDER
Son. 7:10
I am my beloveds,
And his desire is towards me.
With her love, Shulamites whole self is given to her Beloved. The heart given, all is given. The Believers language to Jesus: I am thine; save me. They gave themselves first to the Lord, and then to us. The Brides language
(1) That of joy. The believers surrender of himself to Jesus a joyful one. O Lord, I am Thy servant, I am Thy servant; Thou hast loosed my bonds. Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. The Apostles departed from the Council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Jesus.
(2) Certainty. No mere hope or supposition. The matter placed beyond a doubt. Satans object, to lead the believer to question the reality of his surrender of himself to Jesus. Such self-surrender to be made certain by frequent repetition. This the third time Shulamite has made the declaration (Chron. Son. 2:16; Son. 6:3). So Peter declared a third time his love to Jesus. A matter of such importance not to be left in doubt. Desirable to be constantly renewing our self-dedication to the Lord. Much of our comfort and growth in grace connected with the assurance that we have truly surrendered ourselves to Jesus, and are His. Observe in regard to such
Self-Surrender.
I. Its OBJECT.
(1) For his sole possession. One shall say: I am the Lords. Ye are not your own.
(2) For His pleasure and enjoyment. For Thy pleasure all things are. Much more the Church whom He has redeemed to Himself. Christs unspeakable condescension that He finds His enjoyment in His Church.
(3) For His service. I am Thy servant. Abigail, when consenting to be Davids wife, gave herself to be his handmaid to wash the feet of his servants. Marys language that of the believer: Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Eve given to Adam to be an help meet for him. Christs Church at once His Bride and His servants. Our honour to be made fellow workers with Him in the salvation of others.
(4) For His free disposal. Be it unto me according to Thy Word. Let Him do with me as seemeth good in His sight. Not my will, but Thine be done. Such self-surrender the soul of true religion. Religion a binding ourselves over to the Lord. No man can serve two masters. Every man and woman either for Christ or for His adversary.
II. Its CHARACTER. Such surrender
(1) A willing and cheerful one. The Lord loveth a cheerful giver. Not by constraint, but willingly. Christs people willing in the day of His power.
(2) A whole and entire one. No part kept back. Body, soul, and spirit given up. All we are and all we have. Holiness to the Lord written on the bells of the horse-bridle. Every pot holiness unto the Lord. Not a hoof left behind for the enemy.
(3) A present and eternal one. Made now. Not put off till to-morrow. No deferring till a more convenient season. The surrender required now. Not to make it now is a refusal. Made now, it is made for ever. No taking back the gift. The sacrifice bound with the cords of a divine and undying love to the horns of the altar.
III. The GROUND of it. His desire is towards me. The desire that of a husband to the wife of his choice. Similar language used of Eve in regard to her husband (Gen. 3:16). A mans wife the desire of his eyes (Eze. 24:16; Eze. 24:18). The desire of Christ towards a sinner that of a Saviour and a Husband. His desire towards us the ground of ours towards Him. We love Him because He first loved us. I am Thy servant; thou hast loosed my bonds. His desire towards the Church composed of perishing sinners, a desire
(1) To save and bless it. He loved the Church and gave Himself for it. His desire towards sinners brought Him from heaven, and then nailed Him to the Cross for their sake. His desire towards His redeemed such that He can withhold no good thing for them. His care and concern for His Church that of a husband for his wife. Bears with her infirmities, sympathizes with her sorrows, protects her from danger, comforts her in trouble, provides for her wants, prepares for her a home.
(2) To possess it as His own. He gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people. His desire, that they may both be brought to Him, and kept in Him (Joh. 10:16; Joh. 17:11).
(3) To have it with Himself for ever. Is gone to heaven to prepare a place for them, that where He is, there they may be also. Hence His intercessory prayer: Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am (Joh. 14:3; Joh. 17:24). Rises from His Throne of glory to meet and welcome the liberated spirit of His faithful servant (Act. 7:55).
Observe the individuality of the desire. His desire is towards me. Faiths triumph, and the souls comfort in that little word me. Every sinner that accepts of Jesus as a Saviour warranted to employ the language. True even of the sinner before he accepts the Saviour. His desire also towards the unsaved one; for, did He not come to seek and to save that which was lost?
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(10) I am my beloveds.This verse ends a section, not, as in the Authorised Version, begins one.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
10. Her reply is modest but decisive.
His desire is toward me Hebrew, Desire of him is for me, that is, “I ought to desire him.” This is a definite refusal of the proposals of the King, who, baffled and mortified, disappears from view. The Beloved reappears. At this point the Song clearly treats of presence after espousal. After the trial which she has endured so well, and the conflicting emotions which must have heaved her bosom under the words of the King, the feelings of the Enamoured sink to natural calm and quietude.
“So beautiful comes on The stilly hour when storms are gone.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Special Times Together Son 7:10-13 suggests that the wife’s love for her husband has been deepened by his intimacy towards her. She becomes convinced of his devotion (Son 7:10) and asks for more special times together (Son 7:11-12). A couple must have special times together away from the busy schedules of life. During these times she will experience emotional bonding with her husband, which is symbolized by the smell and partaking of delicious fruits (Son 7:13).
Son 7:10 I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.
Son 7:10
Son 7:11 Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages.
Son 7:11
[242] Reinhard Bonnke, interviewed by Benny Hinn, This is Your Day (Irving, Texas), on Trinity Broadcasting Network (Santa Ana, California), television program.
Son 7:12 Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves.
Son 7:12
Comments – The Song of Songs refers to a garden nine times (Son 4:12; Son 4:15-16; Son 5:1; Son 6:2; Son 6:11; Son 8:13) and to a vineyard nine times (Son 1:6; Son 1:14; Son 2:15; Son 7:12; Son 8:11-12) within its text. A garden is a place of meditation and rest, while a vineyard is a place of bearing fruit as a result of entering into rest and communion with God. For our life of walking in the Spirit and bearing fruit is simply the overflow of being filled with the Spirit while in communion with the Lord. The beloved’s vineyard would figuratively represent a believer who has entered into his calling and ministry and is labouring for the Lord.
Son 7:12 Word Study on “the pomegranates” Strong says the Hebrew word “pomegranate” “rimmwn” ( ) (H7416) means “a pomegranate, the tree or the fruit,” and it also refers to the pomegranate ornament used in the Tabernacle and Temple. The Enhanced Strong says this word is used 32 times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as “pomegranate 31, pomegranate tree 1.” It is used times in the book of Songs (Son 4:3; Son 4:13; Son 6:7; Son 6:11; Son 7:12; Son 8:2).
Comments – The pomegranate tree was one of the most attractive fruit trees in the Middle East, with brilliant scarlet blossom in the spring (Son 7:12). The Israelites planted the tree in orchards (Son 4:13; Son 6:11; Son 7:12) and made wine from its juice (Son 8:2) The beautiful texture of its inner fruit may have been behind the metaphorical phrase, “thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks” (Son 4:3; Son 6:7). [243]
[243] E. W. G. Masterman, “Pomegranate,” in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. James Orr (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., c1915, 1939), in The Sword Project, v. 1.5.11 [CD-ROM] (Temple, AZ: CrossWire Bible Society, 1990-2008).
Son 7:12 “there will I give thee my loves” Comments – In Son 7:12 the wife responds to the affection of her husband by saying “there will I give thee my loves”. In other words, she is asking for his continual affection from her husband. This statement tells us that the act of making love in the marriage bed is designed to be repetitive as a means of establishing love and trust between a husband and a wife. When sex is left out of marriage because of the negative attitude of a spouse towards the other, the struggles of a marriage relationship have no chance of being healed. But times of intimacy in the marriage bed is God’s plan of bringing continual restoration and the building of strong bonds of love between two people; for no marriage is without such struggles.
Son 7:12 Figurative Interpretation The child of God who has been empowered with a divine love for redeeming mankind wants to work in the vineyards and see a harvest. This is the place where a servant wants to express his love towards God by producing fruit in the vineyard.
Son 7:13 The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.
Son 7:13
Gen 30:14, “And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son’s mandrakes .”
Gen 30:15, “And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son’s mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son’s mandrakes .”
Gen 30:16, “And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son’s mandrakes . And he lay with her that night.”
Jer 24:1, “The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.”
We recognize a similar Hebrew word ( ) (H1730), which is used 31 times in the book of Songs to means, “beloved,” and is used in this same verse. Such similar words are often used in Hebrew poetry as a play on words.
Son 7:13 “The mandrakes give a smell” – Comments – Gesenius and Smith tell us that the mandrakes referred to in the Scriptures were the apples of the Mandragora (Atropa Mandragora). Smith says it was a plant that is “closely allied to the well-known deadly nightshade, Atropa bellndonna, and to the tomato, and belongs to the order Solanaceae, or potato family.” Gesenius says it is a herb resembling the Belladonna, with a root like a carrot, having white and reddish blossoms of a sweet smell (Cant. 7:14), and with yellow odoriferous apples that commonly are ripe from May to July.” Smith says “it grows low, like lettuce, which its leaves somewhat resemble, except that they are of a dark green.” Its fruit, when ripe, (early May), is about the size of a small apple, 24 inches in diameter, ruddy or yellow, and of a most agreeable odor, (to Orientals more than to Europeans), and an equally agreeable taste.” Gesenius and ISBE call it “love-apple.” Smith says the Arabs call it “Satan’s apple,” from its power to excite voluptuousness.” The ISBE tells us that these mandrakes were “the fruit of the Mandragora officinarum, a member of the Solanaceae or potato order, closely allied to the Atropa belladonna,” which was a common plant found in Palestine and “known as an aphrodisiac by the ancients.” [244]
[244] E. W. G. Masterman, “Mandrake,” in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. James Orr (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., c1915, 1939), in The Sword Project, v. 1.5.11 [CD-ROM] (Temple, AZ: CrossWire Bible Society, 1990-2008).
Son 7:13 Figurative Interpretation The servant of God describes the abundant harvest that is taking place in the vineyards of the Lord as he loving serves the Lord.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Woman’s Response to His Devotion Son 7:10-13 tells us the woman’s response to her husband’s affections. A man is aroused visually by the physical appearance of his wife, while the woman is aroused emotionally by a man’s devotion to her, as we will learn in the next passage (Son 7:10-13). My wife has told me how much she needs me to embrace her and hold her after the act of intercourse. This time of intimacy does not end with the orgasm, but should be followed through with close embrace: for it is during this time that the wife feels her husband’s commitment and devotion to her. While the act of physical love gives the husband pleasure, it is the resulting embrace that gives the wife her pleasure and contentment.
In Son 7:10 to Son 8:4 we do not have the wife desirous of the physical features of her husband, but rather, expressing the emotions of continual embraces. The woman uses the language of flourishing vines and the smell of the mandrakes symbolically to express the emotions that she feels towards her husband as a result of these times of intimacy with her.
Outline Here is a proposed outline:
1. Special Times Together Son 7:10-13
2. The Beloved’s Struggle for Undivided Attention Son 8:1-4
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Bride’s Answer to the Lord.
Even at the end of the last paragraph the bride had caught tip the words of the Bridegroom, stating, on her part, that the Word of her message, of the Gospel-truth, was like wine which caused the most pleasant dreams. She now continues, in reciprocating His affectionate speech:
v. 10. I am my Beloved’s, and His desire is toward me, v. 11. Come, my Beloved, let us go forth into the field, v. 12. Let us get up early to the vineyards, v. 13. The mandrakes,
While the Church longs for the consummation of the heavenly marriage, she nevertheless does not neglect her work in this world. She wants the Bridegroom to go out with her into the wide world, to visit and observe the growth of the many congregations, to witness the results of her work. For this labor in the vineyard of the Lord is the true evidence of her love. In her mind there is no doubt that there are many sweet-smelling plants throughout the world, the elect of the Lord, whose souls He will gather as noble fruits of the Church’s toil. Like excellent fruits these fruits are stored in the home of the Church, to be kept for the day when the work of the bride will be ended and the marriage of the Lamb will be celebrated.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Son 7:10. His desire is toward me Is fixed upon me. New Translation. See ch. Son 2:16 Son 6:3.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.
Here we have, once again, the church rejoicing; in the consciousness that she is the property of Jesus. And here she adds a delightful consideration to that consciousness, that the desire of her Lord is toward her. And indeed, of all subjects in redemption, this, which is one of the highest, is the plainest, and most evident. Had not Christ desired the church, never would he have given himself for her; had be not desired her, never would he have bought her with so vast a price; neither would he have endured the cross, and despised the shame, but for his everlasting glory, and a zeal to his Father’s honor in her salvation. And, indeed, in the gift of the Father of the church to Christ, we are told that Jehovah granted him his heart’s desire, and would not withhold the request of his lips. Psa 21:2 . Reader! how blessed is it to see this, and to trace it in the history of the church at large! And oh how blessed, when you and I can trace the same in the history of our own souls!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Son 7:10 I [am] my beloved’s, and his desire [is] toward me.
Ver. 10. I am my beloved’s.] I see I am so, saith the spouse, by that ample commendation that he hath now again given me, notwithstanding all my former failings in duty towards him. There fall out some faliings out between married couples sometimes; but then they fall in again: they cannot agree together haply so well at first, but being well pieced again, they love better than before. So is it here. The sins we commit make no change in Christ, no substantial alteration. For, first, Upon the same grounds he chose us, he loves us still. He chose us freely, because he would; he chose us for his love, and loves us for his choice. Secondly, There is the same bent of mind and frame of heart towards him remains in us still. And therefore, as there is a transient act of sin passeth from us, so a transient act of chastisement for sin may pass from him. Christ “looked upon Peter,” after his denial, with the same familiarity as before. Jehoshuah the high priest, though he were so ill-clothed, and had Satan at his right hand to accuse him, yet he “stood before the angel.” Zec 3:1 Christ did not abhor his presence nor reject his service. Ephraim, repenting after his revolt, is re-entertained with all sweetness. Jer 31:20 See Trapp on “ Son 2:16 “ See Trapp on “ Son 6:3 “
And his desire is towards me.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Son 7:10-13
10I am my beloved’s,
And his desire is for me.
11Come, my beloved, let us go out into the country,
Let us spend the night in the villages.
12Let us rise early and go to the vineyards;
Let us see whether the vine has budded
And its blossoms have opened,
And whether the pomegranates have bloomed.
There I will give you my love.
13The mandrakes have given forth fragrance;
And over our doors are all choice fruits,
Both new and old,
Which I have saved up for you, my beloved.
Son 7:10 See note at Son 8:10-14.
desire This term (BDB 1003) is positive here. Sexual fulfilment is a godly desire (in the proper context, with the proper person), but the same strong human emotion can be negative (cf. Gen 4:7) when it desires that which is not the will of God.
Son 7:11-12 Notice the calls to action. It is spring. It is time to make love (I am assuming that these are wedding poems and that this couple is married, but the only specific allusion to this is Son 4:6-11, esp. Son 7:11, line 4). Also note the rural setting (cf. Son 2:10-15) and quest for privacy:
1. Come – BDB 229, KB 246, Qal IMPERATIVE, lit. walk or go
2. Let me go out – BDB 422, KB 425, Qal IMPERFECT used in a COHORTATIVE sense
3. Let us spend the night – BDB 533, KB 529, Qal COHORTATIVE
4. Let us rise early – BDB 1014, KB 1492, Hiphil COHORTATIVE
5. Let us see – BDB 906, KB 1157, Qal IMPERFECT used in a COHORTATIVE
This is obviously a rural setting, not Jerusalem. This fits the northern first love theory. Chapter 8 is also the same rural, northern, hometown setting! Would Solomon sneak off and spend the night in a village inn or guest room?
Son 7:12 In the garden setting (cf. Son 4:16 to Son 5:1; Son 6:2) of blossoming spring the couple make love (there I will give you my love, Son 7:12, line 5). This shows these poems are not in chronological order!
Son 7:13 The first line fits well with what goes before in Son 7:12, but the second through fourth lines are hard to interpret. Obviously the woman is asserting that she has saved herself for this lover (contrast Son 1:6, which may refer to her skin and not her virginity which was so important in ancient Israel). The VERB is I have saved up ( BDB 860, KB 1049, Qal perfect, hide, or treasure up).
mandrakes This was considered a very strong aphrodisiac (cf. Gen 30:14-15). It was often called the love apple (cf. UBS Helps for Translators, Fauna and Flora of the Bible, pp. 138-139).
And over our doors are all choice fruits,
Both new and old The NET Bible (p. 1177) asserts that the storing of fruit on a shelf over the door to ripen and mature was a common practice in the ancient Near East. The phrase would have denoted:
1. the fruit was ready to be eaten
2. she had saved it just for him
3. the time is now (Son 7:12, line 5)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
I am my beloved’s = I belong to my beloved: referring to her beloved shepherd. The Shulamite speaks, and thus gently but firmly refuses the king’s advances.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Son 7:10-13
Son 7:10-13
THE SHULAMITE’S FINAL REJECTION OF THE KING
“I am my beloved’s;
And his desire is toward me.
Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field;
Let us lodge in the villages.
Let us get up early to the vineyards;
Let us see whether the vine hath budded,
And its blossom is open,
And the pomegranates are in flower:
There will I give thee my love.
The mandrakes give forth fragrance;
And at our doors are all manner of precious fruits, new and old,
Which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.”
There are very powerful reasons for seeing these verses as a rejection of the king by the Shulamite. Chief of those reasons is the dramatic word HIS that stands at the head of this paragraph. “I am my beloved’s, and HIS desire is toward me” (Son 7:10). This contrasts with the sixteen personal pronouns in the second person which dominate the king’s flattering appeal. They are the equivalent of you, you, you, you – sixteen times! Yet the very first words of the Shulamite were addressed to the king standing right there in front of her; and yet she spoke of her beloved in the third person! and it is impossible to refer the word his to Solomon. The Shulamite’s lover was not present. She spoke of him, not to him. He was the shepherd, not the king.
Furthermore, the balance of the paragraph fully harmonizes with that understanding.
“Let us go forth into the field” (Son 7:11). This could not possibly refer either to a palace or to a harem.
“Let us lodge in the villages” (Son 7:11). The Shulamite is definitely not speaking of Jerusalem.
“Let us get up early” (Son 7:12). Even a fool knows that farmers get up early; kings don’t!
“Let us see whether the vine hath budded, etc.” (Son 7:12). The employment mentioned here is that of rural dwellers, not that of urbanites.
“There will I give thee my love” (Son 7:12). The use of the second person pronoun here cannot change what she has already said. In these words, she is speaking of her true love, the shepherd, who will accompany her in their inspection of the vineyard. Can anyone imagine Solomon going with one of his concubines on such a mission?
We have somewhat elaborated the exposition of these verses, because our interpretation differs sharply from that which is advocated by most of the commentators we have consulted.
Waddey: “The queen gently requests that her husband take her for a visit to her old home place.
Bunn: “The maiden now invites her lover to receive her love.
Delitzsch, while rejecting it, fairly stated the hypothesis which we have accepted: “Advocates of the shepherd-hypothesis believe that the faithful Shulamite, after hearing Solomon’s panegyric, shakes her head (negatively), saying, `I am my beloved’s.'”
Cook: His whole comment on this last paragraph was; “All his affection has me for its object. The bride proceeds to exercise her power over his loving will.”
Woodstra: “This is the king extolling the beauty of his bride and her love for him.”
Meek: “This is repeated in part from Son 2:16 and Son 6:3.
Here, as frequently elsewhere in the book the lovers are represented as separated, with the girl longing for her beloved.”
Robinson: “The Shulamite speaks here in reply to the king. Her heart is set on her native fields and vineyards. These are more attractive to her than the splendor and ceremony of a court.”
Willard: “The first nine verses of this chapter are held to be evidence of decadence and lust on the part of the aging Solomon. It is probably the most difficult portion of the book for those who interpret Solomon and the maiden to mean Christ and the Church.”
Adam Clarke: “Here the bride wishes to accompany her spouse to the country and spend a night in his country house.”
This writer’s acceptance of the shepherd-hypothesis in our interpretation is influenced substantially by what is written in Song of Solomon 2. See our comments there. Also a key factor in our interpretation is our utter inability to find anything in the Biblical record of Solomon’s life that is fit to be compared to the sinless Son of God.
The allegorical interpretation has been favored throughout the centuries since the destruction of Jerusalem, in spite of the fact that there is no hint whatever in the Song itself that the production is, in any sense, an allegory; and no inspired writer ever indicated such a thing. This writer confesses that the principal reason for accepting an allegorical interpretation lies in the near-impossibility of the book’s presence in the Bible by any other means.
Many questions about the Song of Solomon remain unanswered in this writer’s mind; and it is our prayer that further study may shed more light on it.
The bridegroom has come for his bride. Whether this is literal or figurative, we could not say. Does this only happen in the dreams of the maiden or has Solomon capitulated? If Solomon has given her leave to go back to her home in Shunem, then perhaps a message has been sent to her shepherd and he actually is present to respond to the words of his beloved. We shall comment separately upon each of these six verses.
Son 7:11. It must have been with a good deal of poignancy that the maiden thought of the open fields of Galilee. She no doubt thought of friends or relatives in some of the villages who would welcome she and her new husband as overnight visitors. All the associations of many years back rushed in upon her and her heart is full of yearnings to be back again amid familiar faces and places. She is tired of the oppressive atmosphere of the kings harem.
Son 7:12. It is still the spring of the year. It was spring when she was snatched away from her garden. Unless we conclude an entire year has gone by, her sojourn at court was only a few weeks. After a pleasant conversation with friends at the house in the village they would retire for the night. She is already anticipating their marriage and what is here proposed amounts in our terms to a honeymoon. How fresh and new is the atmosphere in the early morning! A stroll through the vineyard could be so beautiful! Holding hands, we could stoop down and check together the development of the blossoms. We could pause to drink deeply of the fragrance from the flowers of the pomegranate trees. There in the seclusion and privacy of His hanidwork I will give you my love. Away from the eyes of anyone but her beloved she would express her deep feelings for him.
Son 7:13. We are back in the village of Shunem. In the garden near the house the fragrance of the mandrakes is filling the air. At the doors of our house we have kept from past seasons dired fruit-we will also have fresh produce from our garden. Ever since I met you I have planned and laid up these gifts for the day when we could share them together. Besides the literal meaning we have given to her words, we seem to catch another meaning! Mandrakes had long been associated with love (Cf. Gen 30:14-18). Perhaps these words are but a veiled promise of her expressions of love to be given to him in their house.
If the Shulammite represents the bride of Christ, then these words can become a pattern for the love the church should have for her Lord. This has always been a parallel for the love the husband should have for his wife and the wife for her husband. Where is the bride who will express her love with the same, intensity and fidelity as the Shulammite? We believe there are many who would if they were married to a man like the shepherd. But is this the criteria for such a response? Many a husband knows he is far from the ideal here described but his wife loves him none-the-less. This is surely the fulfillment (in reverse order) of how Christ loved the church. Even when this is true can we not read into these words the longing of the dear girl we married? She does want to find anew the fresh fields and the secluded spot-she still wants your exclusive interest in her-to share with her the little things-the beautiful things of very ordinary life. Just a cup of tea-a simple flower-even an orange eaten with love is worth more than the many expensive things for which we spend so much time away from her. If somehow her husband could be her brother she could then get on the inside of his thoughts and could establish a rapport shared in a happy family. Anything to be one with the one she loves more than life.
What a tremendous example this passage is of the kind of love we, as the bride, should give to our living Lord. Christ is a living Person. He loves you with a personal love, and He looks everyday for your personal response to His love. Look into His face with trust till His love really shines into your heart (Rom 5:5). Make his heart glad by telling Him you love Him. (author unknown) Converse with your heavenly Husband-say to Him, Come, my beloved, lets go to work- or lets wash the dishes. He is alive-He does want to participate in all you are and do. He also sleeps with you at night. How delightful to begin the day with Him. We have found so much good in the little booklet Manna In The Morning published by Moody Press. We wish to say a word of recommendation here-if you are not meeting Him in the morning-or even if you are-get it and read it. Oh, how we need to plan ahead for a continual love affair with our Lord. There is all manner of precious fruit from our experiences and from His word-both new and old which we can share with Him. This will never happen if we do not plan it. Communion with our Lord through the Holy Spirit (2Co 13:14; Col 2:1 ff) is a joint participation-a partnership that includes all of life. Do we take Him into our mothers house? i.e., into the relationship and fellowship of the family conversation? or of the TV programs and the exchange of the usual subjects? If we did, perhaps our family would be so impressed with His presence that instruction would have an entirely different meaning.
Praising the Bride’s Beauty – Son 6:4 to Son 7:9
Open It
1. Why is it hard to say youre sorry?
2. What is your favorite love story?
Explore It
3. How would you describe the events of these verses? (Son 6:4 to Son 7:9)
4. How did the Lover describe his wife? (Son 6:4-9)
5. Why did the Lover tell his Beloved to turn her eyes from him? (Son 6:5)
6. Where did the Lover go? (Son 6:11)
7. How did the Lover describe his reconciliation with his Beloved? (Son 6:11-13)
8. What did the Lover say about his Beloveds feet and legs? (Son 7:1)
9. What did the Lover say about his Beloveds navel and waist? (Son 7:2)
10. How did the Lover describe his Beloveds breasts? (Son 7:3; Son 7:7)
11. What did the Lover say about his Beloveds neck, eyes, and nose? (Son 7:4)
12. How did the Lover describe his Beloveds head and hair? (Son 7:5)
13. What did the Lover find pleasing? (Son 7:6)
14. What did the Lover say he would climb? (Son 7:8-9)
Get It
15. Judging from the events of these verses (and the events that led up to them, 6:1-3), what are some essential elements in the process of reconciliation?
16. What does this story say about reconciliation?
17. Why is it sometimes hard to reconcile your differences with someone you love?
18. In what way do you find the somewhat sensual nature of these verses surprising, refreshing, or offensive?
19. How is the Lovers praise of his wifes beauty important to the reconciliation process?
20. How might the Beloveds breasts be like clusters, her breath like apples, and her mouth like wine?
21. How have these verses impacted your view of marriage?
22. How have these verses impacted your view of human sexuality?
Apply It
23. What conflict in your relationship with your spouse will you work to resolve this week?
24. What broken relationship will you mend this week?
The Bride’s Tender Appeal – Son 7:10 to Son 8:4
Open It
1. What makes a person feel secure in a relationship?
2. What makes a person feel insecure in a relationship?
3. When do you think it is OK for a woman to take the initiative in a relationship?
Explore It
4. To whom did the Beloved say she belonged? (Son 7:10)
5. Where did the Beloved want to go to spend the night? (Son 7:11)
6. Why did the Beloved want to go to the vineyards? (Son 7:12)
7. What did the Beloved say that the mandrakes sent out? (Son 7:13)
8. What had the Beloved stored up for her Lover? (Son 7:13)
9. Whom did the Beloved wish her Lover was like? Why? (Son 8:1)
10. Where did the Beloved say she would take her Lover? (Son 8:2)
11. What did the Beloved say about her Lovers arms? (Son 8:3)
12. What charge did the Beloved give to the Daughters of Jerusalem? (Son 8:4)
Get It
13. How would you describe this relationship between husband and wife?
14. In what way do married people belong to one another?
15. What does the fact that the Beloved felt comfortable with taking the initiative suggest about the couples relationship?
16. During what season did these events take place?
17. Why might the Beloved wish her Lover were like a brother to her so that she could kiss him outside without being despised by others?
18. What feeling about their relationship might the Beloveds description of her Lovers arms suggest?
Apply It
19. What can you do this week to deepen your relationship with your spouse?
20. How can you make your spouse feel loved, accepted, and secure this week?
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
C. The United Life (Son 7:10-13; Son 8:1) I. The Bride (Son 7:10-13; Son 8:1)
Her Desire to Visit Her Home with Her Bridegroom.
II. The Voice of the Singer: Wisdom (Son 8:4).
III. The Bride and the Bridegroom Together (85-14).
1. The Bridegroom (5).
2. The Bride (6-12).
(Quotation from the Brothers, Son 8:8-9). (Answer of the Bride, Son 8:10-12).
3. The Bridegroom (13).
4. The Bride (14).
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
24.
Come, my beloved
Son 7:10-13
I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me. Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves. The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.
Matthew Henry, wrote, These are the words of the spouse, the church, the believing soul, in answer to the kind expressions of Christs love in the preceding verses.
The church had been without the fellowship of Christ for some time now. He had not neglected her; but she had neglected him. His heart had not been cold toward her; but her heart had been cold toward him. He had done her no evil; but she had done him much evil. He had not forsaken her; but she had, for a while, forsaken him. He came to reveal himself, to show his love and grace. He knocked at her door, called to her, and tugged at her heart. But, through her coldness of heart, slothfulness, sin, and desire for ease, she refused him. She withdrew her heart from him, so he withdrew from her the sense of his presence. Though he was always with her, and would never forsake her, she was not aware of his presence. The sweet manifestation of his love and grace and power were gone (Son 5:2-3).
Even when the Lord hid his face from her and caused her to pass through so much trouble, he acted in love. Her best interest was upon his heart. His purpose was her good. He would prove her love. He was proving her faith. He was making himself more and more precious to her. He was showing her herself, her emptiness, her barrenness, her need of him. Blessed trial!
No sooner had the Lord withdrawn his manifest presence from her, than she realized her shameful neglect and sin. She arose and sought him. Her soul was grieved. Her heart ached with longings for him. She passed through many painful afflictions and trials that were hard to bear. But she continued to love him and to trust him. Her soul was like two armies warring against one another, the one in league with sin, the other in love with Christ. But she continued to seek her Beloved (Son 5:4-8). Is this the condition you are in? How often we bring ourselves into this low condition.
My soul through many changes goes.
His love no variation knows!
At last, the Lord graciously revealed himself to her again. He assured her of his love and grace. He assured her that his heart had not changed. And he promised her that he would come to her again. He said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples (Son 7:8-9). He said, I will come to you again and make myself known unto you. Then, you shall be fruitful. Your soul shall be refreshed. This promise filled her soul with hope. And this is how she responded to him. Come, my Beloved.
Enter our hearts, Redeemer blest,
Enter, Thou ever-honored Guest;
Enter, and make our hearts Thine own,
Thy house, Thy temple, and Thy throne.
And stay, not only for a night,
To bless us with a transient sight;
But with us dwell, through time and then
In heaven for evermore Amen.
A blessed assurance of love
Here is a blessed assurance of love. I am my Beloveds, and his desire is toward me. Here we see faith taking Christ at his Word. He told her of his love for and his interest in her. He told her that she belonged to him and only to him. And she believed him. Her heart was made to rejoice in her relation to Christ and her interest in him. In his name she will boast all the day long (Jer 9:23-24).
Does your heart enjoy such an assurance of Christs love? If you are a sinner trusting Christ alone, you may be sure of this You are his, and his desire is toward you! If you love Christ, and your desire is toward him, you may be sure of this He loves you, and his desire is toward you!
I am my Beloveds
With these words, the believing soul acknowledges that all she is and all she has belongs to Christ and comes from Christ. And she here makes a voluntary surrender of all to him again. As she received all from him, she devotes all to him. I am my Beloveds, not my own.
Ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price
The Lord Jesus Christ is our Lord. We belong to him. We are his property. We are his by his own eternal choice (Joh 15:16). We are his by legal purchase (Tit 2:14). We are his by divine gift (Joh 6:37-39). And we are his by voluntary surrender. Faith in Christ is nothing less than a voluntary surrender of myself to his dominion (Luk 14:25-33). May the Lord graciously give us continual, constant devotion to him. We want more than occasional spasms of devotion. We want continued, unbroken devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ.
His desire is toward me.
As a faithful husbands desire is toward his wife, so that in all things he seeks her happiness, comfort, and welfare, so Christs desire is toward his church. His desire is toward me only – All that the Lord does, he does for his elect. His desire is toward me from eternity. His desire is toward me at all times. This is why he came into the world. His desire is toward me. Before conversion, after conversion, at all times and forever, His desire is toward me. Christs desire toward his own elect will never be fully satisfied until he has them all with him in glory. As a tender husband, the desire of the Lords heart is toward his people. He sympathizes with us in all our distresses. He protects us in all our dangers. And he provides for us all that we need for time and eternity.
An earnest desire
In Son 7:11-12, the spouse expresses an earnest desire for her Beloved. His desire is toward me; and my desire is toward him. Come, my Beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. Let us get up early to the vineyards.
Perhaps, you think, The Lord assures us that we are his and that he will never leave us nor forsake us. That being the case, such an expression is out of order. Not so. Is it out of order for a wife, assured by the experience of her husbands faithful love and devotion, to constantly yearn for his approving smile? Of course not. Such yearnings are inspired by the confidence of love rising from its experience.
Do you long for Christ? Tell him so. Come, my Beloved. Let us walk together, that I may receive counsel and instruction from you. Come, comfort my heart, refresh my soul, and revive my spirit. Our Lord walked with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus; and as he talked with them, their hearts burned within them. That experience made them want him all the more. Immediately, they went to the place where they hope to find him, the assembly of his church at Jerusalem (Luk 24:32-36; Mat 18:20). There they found him.
Having received fresh tokens of his love and fresh assurances of her interest in him, the spouse wanted a better acquaintance with him. She pressed towards the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus. Oh, that I may know him, was her cry (Php 3:10). We want to know our Savior doctrinally, experimentally, growingly in the fellowship of his suffering and in the power of his resurrection, being made conformable to him in his death.
She wanted to enjoy personal, private communion with Christ. She wanted to get alone with him. Come, my Beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. If we would enjoy the fellowship of Christ, we must lay aside the cares and amusements of this world, avoiding everything that would take our hearts away from him (1Co 7:35; Col 3:1-3). If we would enjoy fellowship with Christ, if we would know him, we must get alone with him. Did our Lord not say, When we pray, enter into thy closet, and shut the door? But, as Matthew Henry put it, A believer is never less alone than when he is alone with Christ.
She was willing to rise early to be with her Lord. She considered it neither trouble nor sacrifice, but a great privilege to do so. She says, Let us get up early to the vineyards. C. H. Spurgeon, commenting on this text, wrote, This is put here as the very type and symbol of an earnest and vigorous service for Christ. It intimates this If we would enjoy the fellowship and company of Christ, we must be diligent; we must take advantage of our opportunities to hear from, commune with, and worship him. There is nothing particularly excellent, or noble, or spiritual about rising before dawn, but, if we would spend our days with Christ, we must begin our days with Christ. Seek him early; and seek him diligently.
She would be content in any place, under any circumstances, if she could enjoy the presence of Christ with her. What does it take to make us happy and content? Here we see one who was content to take her lodging in the villages, in the huts of the poor, if only Christ would be with her.
Prisons would palaces prove,
If Jesus would dwell with me there!
Knowing that earthly comfort and luxury had once nearly stolen her heart, she was willing to make any sacrifice to have her Beloved Saviors presence. Nothing can satisfy a believing soul but Christ. And nothing can destroy the peace, contentment, and satisfaction of a believer who enjoys the presence and fellowship of Christ.
All that my soul has tried
Left but a dismal void;
Jesus has satisfied,
Jesus is mine!
When we so desire Christ that we desire nothing but Christ, we shall have Christ (Psa 73:25).
Examination
In Son 7:12, the bride, the believing soul, willingly submits to examination by her Beloved. She says, Let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth. One reason she desires the presence of Christ is that she may know the state and condition of her own soul (Psa 139:23-24). Our souls are our vineyards. It is our responsibility to keep our vineyards, not our neighbors vineyards, but our own, to look after them and examine them. Someone has suggested that the vine is faith, the tender grape hope, and the pomegranates love and joy.
In the examination of our souls, it is always wise to take Christ along. His presence will make the vine to flourish, the tender grape to appear, and the pomegranates to bud forth. As the returning of the sun revives our gardens, the returning of Christs manifest presence revives our souls. It is to Christ himself that we must appeal for our comfort and assurance, praying like David, Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.
If he sees the vine of faith flourishing, the tender grape of hope appearing, and the pomegranates of love and joy budding, if we can appeal to him, like Peter, Thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee, if his Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the sons of God, that is enough.
Promised love
In Son 7:12-13, we hear the bride, whose heart has been revived by Christ, making a sincere promise of love to him. There, from the depths of my heart and my innermost soul, will I give thee my loves. The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my Beloved.
Oh, for grace to give the Lord Jesus Christ all the love of our hearts, so that there is no room left, and nothing left, to give to any rival! This is the sure result of our Lords reviving presence. When Christ comes and makes himself known to his people, our love and devotion to him is renewed.
Love for Christ must be our motive and our governing principle in all things. The love of Christ constraineth us. He looks beyond our words, and our actions, to the attitude of our hearts. All through these verses the spouse acts with reference to her Beloved. It is for him that she goes forth into the field, for the sake of his company, and the quiet enjoyment of his love, she would lodge in the villages; and all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which are stored within her gates she declares to be laid up for her Beloved. Love, then, is the fittest and most powerful motive to holy service (C. H. Spurgeon). This love has about it certain evident peculiarities.
It is a love which realizes the person of the Beloved. The church is strong when the Lord Jesus Christ is real to her. Jesus Christ is not a mere historical person to us, who once lived and died. He is a real person, living today in our midst. He walks among the golden candlesticks, and resides in our souls.
Our love for Christ arises from an assurance of his love for us (1Jn 4:19). It is not possible for us to love Christ unless we are made to know that he loves us. When I know that his desire is toward me, then my desire shall be toward him.
Love for Christ leads us to hold all things in joint possession with him. Love is the mother of devotion, sacrifice, and self-denial. Love for Christ causes the believer to give himself and all that he has to Christ. Love does not have divided properties. Such is the love of Christ for us that he gave all that he had for us and gives all that he is and has to us. He could not bear to have anything, not even his throne, that should be altogether for himself. He stripped himself naked to clothe us. Then, he gave us his breath to be our life, and his blood to be our health. Every ransomed soul ought to have such love for Christ that he could sing
If I might make some reserve,
And duty did not call;
I love my Lord with zeal so great,
That I would give Him all.
Let us more and more have all things in common with our Lord. We are joint-heirs with Christ. All that he has is ours. Let all that we have be his. Our talents, our time, our abilities, our possessions, all are his, rightfully his. Let us constantly live in the awareness that those things we call ours are really his. He has only put them into our hands that we might serve him with them, and serve him with the enjoyment of them.
Love for Christ leads us to go afield in serving him. Love for Christ says, What more can I do for him? It is never satisfied with old fruits, it must always bring forth new service for him. Let us bring out everything for him, use it for him, and count it our highest honor that he will accept that which we bring to him.
This love grows and flourishes in the fellowship and communion of Christ. I am afraid that we are far too cold in our love for our altogether lovely Christ, because we live at a distance from him. Oh, may God enable us to live in constant, habitual fellowship and communion with our Savior. This one thing is needful to promote and sustain revival in our souls. If we have abounding love for Christ, we shall prosper under terrible disadvantages; but if we do not have this love, we have lost the great secret of happiness, peace, and usefulness. Let this be our unceasing prayer and hearts desire Come, my Beloved!
Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible
my: Son 2:16, Son 6:3, Act 27:23, 1Co 6:19, 1Co 6:20, Gal 2:20
his: Son 7:5, Son 7:6, Job 14:15, Psa 45:11, Psa 147:11, Joh 17:24
Reciprocal: Psa 16:3 – in whom Son 4:9 – thou hast Eze 24:16 – the desire Dan 9:23 – greatly beloved Dan 10:11 – greatly beloved Dan 11:37 – the desire
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Son 7:10-11. I am my beloveds This and the following verses contain the words of the bride, in answer to the bridegrooms endearing expressions delivered in the foregoing verses. Let us go forth into the field That, being retired from the crowd, we may more freely and sweetly converse together.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
7:10 {d} I [am] my beloved’s, and his desire [is] toward me.
(d) This the spouse speaks.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
3. The ultimate unity 7:10
The Shulammite exulted in her complete abandonment to her husband and in his complete satisfaction with her (cf. Son 2:16; Son 6:3). These joys increase through the years of a healthy marriage.
"Far from being the objectionable condition alleged by many women today, Shulamith obviously basked in her position of subordination. This does not suggest that her personality had been dissolved in Solomon’s like a drop of honey in the ocean or that she considered herself mere chattel. This is apparent from her self-assertiveness documented in Son 5:3. However, it does suggest that she found in her position sustaining comfort." [Note: Patterson, pp. 109-10.]