Song of Songs 2
Church fresco showing a lily among thorns according to a quotation from the Song of Solomon, Santa Caterina del Sasso (Varese).
BookSong of Songs
CategoryKetuvim
Christian Bible partOld Testament
Order in the Christian part22

Song of Songs 2 (abbreviated as Song 2) is the second chapter of the Song of Songs in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.[1][2] This book is one of the Five Megillot, a collection of short books, together with Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther, within the Ketuvim, the third and the last part of the Hebrew Bible.[3] Jewish tradition views Solomon as the author of this book (although this is now largely disputed), and this attribution influences the acceptance of this book as a canonical text.[3] This chapter contains a dialogue in the open air and several female poems with the main imagery of flora and fauna.[4]

Text

The original text is written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 17 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).[5] Some fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, assigned as 4Q107 (4QCantb); 30 BCE-30 CE; extant verses 9–17).[6][7][8]

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: S; 4th century), and Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century).[9]

Structure

The Modern English Version (MEV) attributes the voices in this chapter as follows:

Female: Love in paradise (1:16–2:1)

Inscription "The lily of the valleys" from "Song of Solomon 2:1" on "Joyous Festivals 5713" stamp of Israel - 40 mil

Verse 1 closes a poetic section providing a 'picture of the bed as a spreading growth', using a theme of nature's floras, starting from the previous chapter with verses 1:16–17 focusing on the subject of trees and verse 2:1 on the subject of flowers.[10]

Verse 1

Sharon plain in Israeli Coastal Plain region
Plain of Sharon from the Tower of Ramleh. Jaffa to Jerusalem (between 1950 and 1977)
I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.[11]

Male: My love is like a flower (2:2)

Verse 2 links to verse 1 on the use of "lily" (or "lotus"), and forms a parallel with verse 3 on the word order and the use of particles ("as" or "like", "so") as well as the 'terms of endearment' ("my love", "my beloved", or "my darling", "my lover").[21]

Verse 2

As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.[22]

Female: A pastoral scene (2:3-7)

The verse 3 shows an 'excellent synonymous parallelism' with verse 2 on the word order and the use of certain words, such as "as" or "like", "so", "among" or "between", "my love"/"my beloved" or "my darling"/"my lover".[21] Each verse begins with a preposition of comparison ("as"), followed by three Hebrew words consisting of a singular noun, a preposition ("among" or "between"; be^n) and a plural common noun with a definite article.[21]

Verse 3

As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons.
I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.[27]

The sensual imagery of "apple tree" as a place of romance is still used in modern times in songs such as "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree" and "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree".[28]

Verse 4

He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.[29]
  • "The banqueting house" is a rendering of the phrase bet hayyayin, which is only used here in the Bible, literally meaning "house of the wine".[30] Some near synonyms include "house of the drinking of wine" (bet misteh hayyayin) in Esther 7:8, and "house for drinking" (bet misteh) in Jeremiah 16:8 and Ecclesiastes 7:2.[30]

Verse 5

Sustain me with raisins,
refresh me with apples;
for I am faint with love.[31]

The first two lines of this verse form a 'distinctive structure', using verbs and preposition of the same ideas: "refresh (sustain) me"/"revive (refresh) me", "with raisins"/"with apples".[32] The word "apple(s)" links to the first word of verse 3, while the word "love" links to the last word of verse 4.[32]

Verse 7

I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
By the gazelles or by the does of the field,
Do not stir up nor awaken love
Until it pleases.[33]

The names of God are apparently substituted with similar sounding phrases depicting 'female gazelles' (צְבָא֔וֹת, tseḇā’ōṯ) for [God of] hosts (צבאות tseḇā’ōṯ), and 'does of the field'/'wild does/female deer' (אילות השדה, ’ay-lōṯ ha-śā-ḏeh) for God Almighty (אל שדי, ’êl shaddai).[36]

Female: Her lover pursues her (2:8–9)

This section starts a poetic exposition of lovers who are joined and separated (Song 2:8–3:5).[37]

Verses 8–17 form a unity of a poem of the spring by the woman,[38] beginning with 'the voice of my beloved' (qōl dōḏî; or 'the sound of his [approach]'), which signals his presence before he even speaks.[39]

Andrew Harper suggests that the scene moves now from Jerusalem ("daughters of Jerusalem" in verse 7) to "some royal residence in the country", probably in the northern hills.[40] Verse 8b refers to her beloved "leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills".[41] St. Ambrose comments by way of a paraphrase,

Let us see him leaping; he leaped out of heaven into the virgin, out of the womb into the manger, out of the manger into Jordan, out of Jordan to the cross, from the cross into the tomb, out of the grave into heaven.[42]

Male: Invitation to come away (2:10-14)

Inscription "The fig tree puteth forth her green figs" from "Song of Solomon 2:13", "Joyous Festivals 5713" stamp of Israel - 15 mil.

Verse 13

The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.[43]
  • "Green figs": is translated from the Hebrew word paggâh, which occurs in its Aramaic form in the city name, "Bethphage".[40] The plural form paggîm are used to call unripe fruits of the early fig (Hebrew: bikkûrâh), which takes about four months to ripe, usually towards the end of June, in contrast to the late figs (Hebrew: tě’çnîm) that grow continuously on the new branches and ripen usually they ripen from August onwards in Palestine.[44]
  • "My love": see notes on verse 2.
Inscription "O my dove that art in the clefts of the rock" from "Song of Solomon 2:14", "Joyous Festivals 5713" stamp of Israel - 110 mil.

Verse 14

O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.[45]
  • "Dove" (as in Song 5:2, 6:9) serves as a 'metaphor for inaccessibility'.[46]

Couple: Protect our love (2:15)

Verse 15

Catch the foxes for us,
the little foxes
that spoil the vineyards,
for our vineyards are in blossom.[47]
  • "Foxes": or "jackals".[48] The foxes are associated with the obstacle of the blossoming romantic relationship.[49]

Female: Love affirmed, gratification delayed (2:16-17)

Unlike the ambiguity of the speaker (or speakers) in the previous verse, the two verses in this section are no doubt spoken by the woman, affirming the mutual affection with her lover.[49]

Verse 16

My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.[50]

In reversed order compared to Song 6:3.[51]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Halley 1965, p. 278.
  2. ↑ Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.
  3. 1 2 Brenner 2007, p. 429.
  4. ↑ Brenner 2007, p. 430.
  5. ↑ Würthwein 1995, pp. 36–37.
  6. ↑ Ulrich, Eugene, ed. (2010). The Biblical Qumran Scrolls: Transcriptions and Textual Variants. Brill. pp. 740–741. ISBN 9789004181830. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
  7. ↑ Dead sea scrolls - Song of Songs.
  8. ↑ Fitzmyer, Joseph A. (2008). A Guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 42. ISBN 9780802862419. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  9. ↑ Würthwein 1995, pp. 73–74.
  10. ↑ Hess 2005, pp. 72–73.
  11. ↑ Song 2:1 KJV
  12. ↑ Hebrew Text Analysis: Song of Solomon 2:1. Biblehub
  13. ↑ Song 2:1, Septuagint
  14. ↑ Song 2:1 Archived 2020-07-12 at the Wayback Machine, Vulgate
  15. ↑ Song 2:1, Wiclif
  16. 1 2 "Sharon", Harper's Bible Dictionary
  17. ↑ Is 35:1, Septuagint
  18. ↑ Is 35:1 Archived 2020-07-12 at the Wayback Machine, Vulgate
  19. ↑ Is 35:1, Wiclif
  20. ↑ Longman 2001, p. 111.
  21. 1 2 3 4 Hess 2005, p. 76.
  22. ↑ Song 2:2 KJV
  23. ↑ Hebrew Text Analysis: Song of Solomon 2:2. Biblehub
  24. 1 2 Bergant 2001, p. 19.
  25. ↑ Strong's Concordance: 7474. rayah. Biblehub
  26. 1 2 Hebrew Text Analysis: Song of Solomon 5:16. Biblehub
  27. ↑ Song 2:3 KJV
  28. ↑ Pope, Marvin H. (1995) Song of Songs, Yale University Press, p. 372; apud Longman 2001, p. 112
  29. ↑ Song 2:4 KJV
  30. 1 2 Longman 2001, p. 112.
  31. ↑ Song 2:5 MEV
  32. 1 2 Hess 2005, p. 79.
  33. ↑ Song 2:7 NKJV
  34. ↑ Coogan 2007, p. 961 Hebrew Bible.
  35. ↑ Note [a] on Song 2:7 in NKJV
  36. ↑ Bergant 2001, p. 26.
  37. ↑ Hess 2005, p. 36.
  38. ↑ Longman 2001, p. 116.
  39. ↑ Exum 2005, p. 125.
  40. 1 2 Harper, A. (1902), Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. Song of Solomon 2, accessed 28 April 2019
  41. ↑ Song of Songs 2:8: New Revised Standard Version
  42. ↑ Ambrose, Enarrat. in Psal. cxviii. (A Commentary on Psalm 118), quoted by Gill, J. (1746-63), Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible on Song of Solomon 2, accessed 8 October 202
  43. ↑ Song 2:13 KJV
  44. ↑ According to Riehm's Handwörterbuch; apud Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. Song of Solomon 2
  45. ↑ Song 2:14 KJV
  46. ↑ Coogan 2007, p. 962 Hebrew Bible.
  47. ↑ Song 2:15 ESV
  48. ↑ Note [a] on Song 2:15 in ESV
  49. 1 2 Longman 2001, p. 125.
  50. ↑ Song 6:3 KJV
  51. ↑ Jamieson, Robert; Fausset, Andrew Robert; Brown, David. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary On the Whole Bible. "Song of Solomon 6". 1871.

Sources

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