The Song of Solomon, An Old Testament Picture Book With Precious Lessons For New Testament Saints

• ACT ONE: FEASTING IN THE ROYAL BRIDAL CHAMBERS (1:2-2:7)
• ACT TWO: DREAMING OF A TROUBLED COURTSHIP 2:8-3:4
• ACT THREE: REMEMBERING SUDDEN ESPOUSAL 3:5-5:1
• ACT FOUR: FEARING OVERSHADOWED LOVE 5:2-6:12
• ACT FIVE: FINDING ENDURING COMMUNION 6:13-8:14

Note: The identification of the speaker and of the one who is addressed crucially depends upon pronominal genders and genders of nouns (like "love" which is feminine and refers to the bride, and like "beloved" which is masculine and is only used of the Bridegroom, the King, by the Bride (with the one exception in the plural use in 5:1b where the King uses it to address the townspeople of Baal Hamon). The several segments of the story are unfolded around the Bride's dreams after she falls asleep in the King's arms in 2:7. Most translations foolishly render the third feminine pronoun "she" as "he" where the king says to the attendants: "Don't awaken my love until SHE pleases." The same error will be found in 3:5. Her words speaking of her sleep introduce the third scene in 5:2. The Attendants desire for her to awaken so they may look upon the beauty of her face (which is covered by her black hair tumbling down the King's shoulder) introduces the section beginning at 6:13. The next section opens at 7:9 with the Bride's words in sleep as she begins to realize her great privilege and her heart begins to stir toward accepting the position he has granted to her as the consort of the King. It is the King's own words again in 8:4 which opens the final section as he admonishes the attendants not to awaken the Bride. But she does awaken and accepts the remarkable honor which is hers of no longer working in the King's vineyards but of being His own vineyard, His Bride.

INTRO

Solomon, the human Author of the book and one of the two major characters, tells in this marvellous poem how he as the young King just appointed to his father David's throne (I Chron. 28) met, wooed and won a bride from the vineyards of Baal Hamon when he had gone, disguised as a shepherd, examining his own fields 1:1

ACT ONE: FEASTING IN THE ROYAL BRIDAL CHAMBERS (1:2-2:7)

The Bride from the humble vineyards of Baal Hamon reclines with the Royal Groom in rich settings in the bridal chambers of the palace in Jerusalem. They are surrounded by attendants, the daughters of Jerusalem. Who this Bride is and the lovely circumstances of her remarkable courtship, the trials of her life in the vineyards and the wonderful way in which she discovered that her shepherd was the King of Israel are revealed as the story progresses. (This remarkably foreshadows that day when the Bride of David's greater Son, the Messiah, will be seated with the King in Jerusalem in the wedding supper of the Lamb, surrounded by Jewish attendants). cf. Matt. 25:1-13.

A. Scene One: THE VINEDRESSER BY THE KING 1:2-4

Summary:

The main cast of the story is introduced to the reader in the King's wedding banquet room. These include the Bride, King Solomon her bridegroom and the wedding attendants.

BRIDE TO KING:

(The Bride's love of her Lord's greart affection, delighting in the fragrances which He wears for the banquet (cf. Psa. 45:8), "Let him (her bridegroom) "kiss me. Better than wine is your (masc.) love. How fragrant are your ointments! Your name is even more fragrant! (Her desire of His embraces), Let Him hold me closely! " 1:2-4a

ATTENDANTS TO KING:

"We will swiftly serve you" (masc.)! 1:4b

BRIDE TO ATTENDANTS:

"The King brought me into His chambers! " 1:4c

ATTENDANTS TO BRIDE:

(As they joy in the Bride), "We are glad for you! " 1:4d

ATTENDANTS TO KING:

"We will COMMEMORATE your" (masc.) "love! No wonder all love you "(masc.)! (This statement by the attendantsis one of several clues that all of the book is a review of the several scenes from the King's courtship of the Bride whom we have just met. It may be that this book actually was a play which later was staged and produced for the delight of the King and His Bride). (This scene beautifully pictures that future day when the Bride of Christ will be exalted, transformed, and seated with Christ here on earth at the wedding supper of the Lamb after His return to take up His kingdom).

B. Scene Two: THE SHEPHERD BECOME KING 1:5-8

Summary:

We are given a hint of events which had preceded this scene in the King's wedding banquet hall.

1. We are to recognize from information included in this scene that the Bride formerly had been a worker in the vineyards.
2. We are allowed to know that her lover, the King, had courted in the disguise of a shepherd.
3. It is revealed that the King in disguise did not reveal his true identity to the Bride during the courtship but presented himself to her as a Shepherd.

BRIDE TO ATTENDANTS:

(troubled by her heavily suntanned skin, begins reminiscing about their courtship among the vineyards of Baal Hamon where Solomon had gone while inspecting in disguise his vineyards), "Please don't look (fem.plu.) on me; my skin is sunburned dark. It has been neglected because my brothers forced me to work in the vineyards" 1:5-6 (cf.8:11-12).

BRIDE TO KING:

(thus reminded of her courtship, probably teasingly repeats her oft repeated question which she had asked concerning his identity and place of his non-existent flock) "Lover, where is your flock lest I should visit the wrong flock seeking you?" 1:7

KING TO BRIDE:

(teasingly repeating his evasive answer which had successfully concealed his true identity when in disguise) "If you don't know, most beautiful one, just look for me." 1:8 (This pictures the courtship of the Church by Christ the good Shepherd during the Church age before He asks of the Father and receives His throne (Psa. 2:7-9) to begin His service as the King of Kings on earth).

C. Scene Three: THE LOVE OF THE ROYAL PAIR 1:9-2:7

Summary:

The couple speak of love at the table until she falls asleep in the King's arms. She is deeply wearied from the great excitement of suddenly being called to be the bride of her shepherd lover whom she only recently, at her home, discovered actually was young King Solomon. Through the very modern writing technique, the flashback, here using the linguistic vehicle of the Bride's dream, the Author/King takes us back to the courtship and later by the same technique, to the scenes which preceded the wedding banquet which opens the book. The Bride and Groom reminisce their courtship in the vineyards of Baal Hamon where Solomon had gone inspecting his fields in the guise of a shepherd.

1. THE KING ADMIRES THE BRIDE'S STUNNING BEAUTY 1:9-11

KING:

"You are as beautiful as one of my Egyptian horses, worthy of costly adornments which we will give." 1:9-11

2. THE BRIDE MUSES ON HIS DELIGHTS 1:12-14

BRIDE TO SELF:

(Musing over her new fragrances), "My spikenard is appealing to the King at his table." 1:12

BRIDE TO KING:

"My Beloved is like the bundles of fragrances and wild flowers that I keep lying close to me all night." 1:13-14

3. THE KING AND THE BRIDE ADORE EACH OTHER 1:15-2:3

KING TO BRIDE:

"You are fair; you have doves' eyes." 1:15

BRIDE TO KING:

(So awed she hardly speaks) "You, too, are fair." 1:16a

BRIDE ASIDE:

(Distracted, awed by surroundings of beauty) "Our couch is leafy, our houses cedar and cypress." (Yet more distracted by her situation she says:), "I am a rose (a feminine noun) of Sharon. . ." (the northwestern coastal plain, apparently the area of her home), ". . . a lily (a feminine noun) of the valleys!" 1:16b-2:1

KING TO BRIDE:

"You are indeed a lily among thorns when compared to your attendants!"

BRIDE TO KING:

"You are as outstanding among men as the apple among trees. Under its shadow I will delight to sit and partake of its fruit." 2:3

BRIDE TO ATTENDANTS:

"Feed me with dainties and apples for I am lovesick! Let him embrace me." 2:4-6

4. THE BRIDE FALLS ASLEEP IN THE KINGS ARMS 2:7

KING TO ATTENDANTS:

"Don't awaken my love until SHE pleases!" 2:7 (Note the correction of person which is found in the Hebrew text. It is with this verse that Solomon establishes the literary framework by which He will tell the reader how this vinedresser from Baal Hamon came to be seated on the throne by Him). (The scene portrays that remarkable day when the Bride, all glorious in the gold of Ophir (Psa. 45:9), adored by her glorious Consort, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, ministered to by the saved of Israel who will have been returned to Jerusalem (Matt. 24:30-31) to be with their Lord and King, the One Whom they had pierced (Zech.12:10). For the intrepretation of Psalm 45, note that in Psa. 45:9-15 the second and third feminine singular pronouns can only refer to the Bride of the One Who in Majestyhas ridden against Israel's enemies (Zech.14, Psa. 45:1-8)].

ACT TWO: DREAMING OF A TROUBLED COURTSHIP 2:8-3:4

Summary:

The Bride begins to dream. In her dreams she is back in her mother's home. She dreams of the time her shepherd lover had come by night to visit her to ask her to come out in the evening air for fellowship and to enjoy the rich fragrances of the evening. She had not known then that he was the King in disguise, dressed as a shepherd so that he might privately inspect his vineyards at Baal-Hamon. In Her physical weariness she rebuffs him and tells him that she will see him in the morning.

A. Scene One: SHE REJECTS HIS CALL FOR FELLOWSHIP IN THE FIELDS OF BAAL HAMON, HER HOME 2:8-17

Summary:

In her first dream, while she actually lies in the arms of the King, the young vinedresser is in her own mother's home during the courtship of her shepherd lover. Her dream has returned her there remembering the way she had treated him so poorly in those days. Her shepherd lover calls her outside her window.

THE ENGAGED BRIDE:

(awakened by her beloved's voice): "Oh! He is coming! He stands at the wall and peers within my window!" 2:8-9

THE SHEPHERD (KING) TO THE BRIDE TO BE:

(Her Shepherd lover invites the vinedresser to come outside and enjoy the spring evening with him). "Come out, my love! It is spring. Come out, my lovely dove. Let me see you!" 2:10-14

THE ENGAGED BRIDE TO SHEPHERD (KING):

(In weariness, having worked hard all day in the vineyards as a sharecropper [cf. 8:11], SHE gently refuses his invitation, asking him to return in the morning. She quotes a common saying:) "Please go (plu.). and chase the foxes that are spoiling the freshly blooming vineyards. I am my Beloved's all right, but turn to the mountains of "separation" (the meaning of Bether) until morning!" 2:15-17

This is a perfect picture of the believer who becomes so involved in working for our Shepherd Lord that we refuse to give Him a time of fellowship at the end of our day. It pictures the troubled fellowship which the Bride of Christ has so often interrupted and rejected with the Good Shepherd while she was yet on earth in the vineyard.

B. Scene two: SHE LONGS AND SEEKS FOR HIS PRESENCE 3:1-3

Summary:

The engaged Bride in her dreams on her bed finally recognizes what she has done and seeks her shepherd (King) lover until she finally finds him and brings him home. 3:1-4

1. SHE DREAMS OF HER DISTRESS WHEN SHE HAD REBUFFED HIM 3:1

THE ENGAGED BRIDE TO HERSELF:

"I sought him in my dreams but I found him not."

2. SHE SEEKS AND FINDS HIM 3:2-4

THE ENGAGED BRIDE TO HERSELF:

"I will go forth through our streets and seek him." (Arising from her bed in Baal Hamon she goes forth, looking for her shepherd lover.) "I sought him and asked the watchmen if they had seen him. I went on and found him. I held him and brought him home to my mother's house...."

3. THE BRIDE CONTINUES TO SLEEP IN THE KING'S ARMS 3:5

Summary:

A transition reminding us that this is only a dream of the past while the Bride of the King is actually asleep in the King's arms).

KING TO ATTENDANTS:

"Don't awaken my love until she pleases!" 3:5 (This scene foreshadows the anguish of the believer who finally recognizes his or her sin sin of walking in the flesh, of seeking independance from his Lord, but now turning back, beginning to acknowledge his or her sin).

ACT THREE: REMEMBERING SUDDEN ESPOUSAL 3:5-5:1

Summary:

Now, in her dreams at the King's table, the Bride recalls how her beloved shepherd returned after an extended absence as King Solomon himself. The king had appeared at her door with a large wedding procession to take her to Jerusalem as his bride. In astonished amazement she accepts. He invites the onlooking villagers to be guests at the nuptial feast there in the little town of Baal-hamon where she had lived.

A. Scene One: SHE DREAMS OF THE DAYS WHEN SHE AS THE LONELY BRIDE LONGED FEARFULLY FOR HIS PROMISED COMING 3:6-11

Summary:

He, having obtained from her mother promise of her hand [8:5 in Hebrew: "There thy mother pledged thee...."], has left with a promise to return and take her to his home as his bride. She has waited long for his arrival and has become discouraged, fearing that he has jilted her and will never come. The young vinedresser sits at home in sorrow and despondency when something very unusual happens.

THE ESPOUSED BRIDE:

(On seeing traffic coming on the roadway from the south, rousing from her heaviness of heart for her absent lover): "Who is this coming up out of the wilderness in great splendor?" 3:6

ATTENDANTS TO BRIDE:

(who, after the manner of dreams, are present in her dream of the past.) "It is King Solomon with his bodyguard in his bridal palanquin arriving to take his bride!"

BRIDE TO ATTENDANTS:

(not realizing that the purpose of the King's journey is to take her, His bethrothed, to His palace in the fulfillment of the Jewish wedding ceremony.): "You go forth and look in the day of his gladness. " (i.e. "I'm not interested.")

B. Scene Two: THE ONE WHOM SHE HAD LOVED AS A SHEPHERD APPEARS AS THE KING TO RECEIVE HIS BRIDE! 4:1-5:1

Summary:

The procession stops at her door! King Solomon steps out and approaches. From the King's lips come the voice and the loving admiration which she had heard so often from her own lover, the shepherd, whom she now recognizes with voiceless astonishment actually to be the King of Israel!

1. THE KING ADMIRES HIS ESPOUSED AND ASKS HER TO COME AWAY WITH HIM 4:1-15

Picturing the astonishing moment of Our Lord's appearance in the rapture when He comes back to us, a scene which our own minds cannot imagine.

KING TO HIS ESPOUSED BRIDE:

(Likening her remarkable physical and spiritual beauty to all of the beautiful things which He loved to enjoy), "Behold, you are fair, my love! You are all fair, my love. (He reflects on her words which had been spoken when she had rejected His earlier invitation to fellowship), Until the day breathes and the shadows flee away, I will take myself up to the mountain of Hamor (Heb.) and the hill of Lebanon (Heb.). (He invites her now to go with him from Lebanon and the places that she knew so well). "Come with me from Lebanon, my bride! You have ravished my heart with one of your eyes! A garden shut up is my sister, my bride, a park of precious trees, a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, flowing streams from Lebanon.!"

2. THE BRIDE ACCEPTS HIS LOVING INVITATION 4:16

(Amazed, almost speechles sat her discovery, yet accepting his beautiful and flowery proposal, responds, attempting to maintain the metaphor.):

BRIDE TO KING:

"Yes, my north wind, Let my Beloved come into his garden and eat his precious fruits."

3. THE KING REJOICES IN HER ANSWER 5:1a

KING TO ESPOUSED BRIDE:

(rejoicing in His Bride's sweet words of acceptance, likens its preciousness to His heart with the entry into the garden that He had described and to the intoxicating sweetness of a mixture of honey, wine and milk). "I will come into my garden, my Bride; I will eat my honeycomb with my honey and drink my wine with my milk!"

4. THE KING TO THE NEIGHBORS OF BAAL HAMON WHO NOW ARE GATHERED AROUND IN AWE: 5:1b

(Inviting all of them to a banquet which would be held in their little town as they joined Him in rejoicing that one of their own had been chosen to be the consort of the King), "Come, oh beloved ones; come to the feast of rejoicing! Eat! Drink!" (Note here the only use of the word "Beloved" of anyone other than the Bridegroom. Here it is in the plural). (Picturing Christ's sudden appearing in the rapture and His call to his church: "Come up here!" (Rev. 4:1-2; 1 Thes.4:13-17. Surely, if the angels rejoice when a sinner turns to Christ, there will be great rejoicing in heaven. But as surely those of Israel who begin to understand who He iswill rejoice in the salvation of the Gentiles).

ACT FOUR: FEARING OVERSHADOWED LOVE 5:2-6:12

Summary:

As she still actually lies in the King's arms in the Palace Wedding Banquet hall, the Bride's dreams now turn to the future. She begins to dream of her future relations to the one who so abruptly had become her Bridegroom. She has a troubled dream that she might spurn her lover-husband just as she once spurned his call for fellowship outside of her mother's house during their engagement. She dreams of hesitating to open the door of her bridal chamber in the palace for him, that he in turn then leaves her door and the palace before she arises to open the door for him. Then she dreams that she calls and searches for him in worried distress, describing him in new-found glowing terms to the attendants, the daughters of Jerusalem. She carefully avoids explaining to them her plight and the coldness of heart that brought on the separation. Her explanation that he has gone down to his garden shocks her into the reality of remembering that he has described her as his garden, as a lovely place for him to enjoy alone (4:12-15). Immediately, upon this realization on her part, the Bridegroom returns to be with her. When the bride finds the Bridegroom in her dream, he tells her where he has been and how his heart drew him back to her beautiful presence.

TRANSITION:

The Bride announces that the following section is her dream. She dreams in fear of a troubled future relationship. (In this concern the Bride is beautifully foreshadowing a concern that each believer should have lest his future communion should be interrupted as it often is today).

A. Scene One: THE BRIDE NOW DREAMS IN FEAR THAT HER COMMUNION WITH THE KING WILL BE OVERSHADOWED BY HER SELF-INDULGENCE 5:2-6a

Summary:

(The Bride dreams that she is in the bridal suite in the palace and that she refuses entrance to the king. This brings great concern on her part and a replaying of her search for Him when He was her shepherd lover in Baal Hamon after rejecting his call for fellowship there) 5:2-6a

BRIDE TO SELF:

"Sleeping, I hear my Beloved asking entrance into our bedroom." (5:2)

BRIDE TO KING:

(hesitating, loitering over her perfumes) "I have readied myself for bed. How can I be bothered?" 5:3

BRIDE TO SELF:

(after the King has left) "I saw my Beloved's hand at the door catch. I arose, occupied with all that he had given me. When I finally opened the door to let him in, my Beloved was gone!" 5:4-6a

B. Scene Two: HER FRANTIC SEARCH OF THE CITY OF JERUSALEM IN HER FEARFUL DREAM 5:6b-6:3

BRIDE TO ATTENDANTS:

(who are present in her dream as she searches the strange city for her Beloved) "I sought Him and was smitten by the watchmen. Where is my Beloved?" 5:6b-8

ATTENDANTS TO BRIDE:

(a bit rebukingly) "What is your Beloved more than anyone else that you so command us?" 6:9

BRIDE TO ATTENDANTS:

(glowingly, now deeply realizing and movingly expressing her love more beautifully than she ever has been able to do.) "My Beloved is preeminent among myriads! Yea, altogether lovely is my Beloved!" 5:10-16

ATTENDANTS TO BRIDE:

(again perhaps a bit rebukingly) "Where is he gone that we may seek him?" 6:1

BRIDE TO ATTENDANTS:

(perhaps evasively, ashamed of her plight and of what she has done to her lover) "My Beloved is gone into his garden to eat and to gather lilies." (Then, realizing that SHE should be his garden as he has described her in 4:6, 12-16; 5:1, she in her dream bursts into a humbling confession of her wrong treatment of him).

BRIDE TO SELF:

(acknowledging her rightful place in relationship to her King) "I am my Beloved's, and my Beloved is mine! (Am not I the lily of the valley, a lily among thorns?" 2:1-2.

C. Scene Three: THEIR COMMUNION RESTORED 6:4-12

(He suddenly returns, admiring her, loving her and kindly explaining his absence).

KING TO BRIDE:

"You are so beautiful that I am overcome. No queen nor concubine can compare with you! I went to visit my garden and my heart forced me to hasten back to you." 6:4-12

ACT FIVE: FINDING ENDURING COMMUNION 6:13-8:14

Summary:

The attendants quietly are admiring their sleeping queen, the vinedresser bride, and waiting for her to awaken. The King encourages their admiration of her, also joining in expressing his admiration of the sleeping beauty. She, dreaming, expresses uneasiness and homesickness for familiar haunts that she might become reacquainted more gradually with her Shepherd-King. She would have him on the level of her brothers and longs for the counsel of her mother. Then, remembering her torments at the hands of her brothers, she finally awakens to find herself in the king's arms at the banqueting table. Now she awakens to her glorious new position as his love. Remembering that she once worked in the fields as a sharecropper for the young king before she had really known him, she now rejoices that she is his garden, his vineyard for him to enjoy and own. (Picturing in a lovely way our momentary homesickness for earth and those we will leave when we go with our Shepherd-King to His heavenly home. What a picture of our acceptance of Heaven's glory and eternitywith Him who loved us in place of earth's suffering which we will leave when He calls us unto Himself!).

A. Scene one: SHE IS GREATLY ADMIRED BY THE ATTENDANTS AND THE KING 6:13- 7:9

Summary:

We now are returned to the Palace of the King. The Bride is yet asleep in the King's arms and the attendants are restlessly gathered around them. (picturing the Church with Christ without spot or wrinkle as in Eph.5:27) 6:13-7:9

ATTENDANTS TO BRIDE:

(longing to arouse her that they may look upon her beauty) "Awaken, awaken, Oh Shulamite, that we may look upon you!" 6:13a

KING TO ATTENDANTS:

(perhaps a bit proudly), "What will you see in the Shulamite?" 6:13b

ATTENDANTS TO KING:

(with delighted awe), "As it were the company of two armies!" 6:13c

ATTENDANTS TO BRIDE:

(as she lies sleeping) "How beautiful are your feet with shoes, oh Prince's daughter!" (cf.Ps.45:11). "How utterly lovely is your body! Your head is like Carmel; your hair is like the trellises of its vineyards, in whose tresses the King is bound!" 7:1-5

KING TO BRIDE:

(joining in to admire her as she sleeps), "How pleasant you are, my love, so graceful as a palm tree are you for me to hold. Your mouth is like the best wine causing sleeping ones to speak" (a clue that she has indeed been talking in her sleep). 8:6-9

B. Scene two: SHE BRIEFLY LONGS FOR HIM AS SHEPHERD AND FOR HER HOME 7:10-8:7

Summary:

The Bride, still asleep, murmurs things that reveal how insecure she feels in the beautiful surroundings with all of the beautiful attendants all around, but especially with her lover, realizing who He is and how glorious He is. She longs for home and familiar haunts in order that she might become reacquainted with her Shepherd-King in his new and glorious role.

BRIDE TO KING:

"I am my Beloved's and he loves me. Come, my Beloved; let's return to the vineyards. There will give you my love and many pleasant things that I had stored up there for you." 7:10-13

BRIDE TO KING:

(continuing to murmur to the King, expressing homesickness and hesitation about her new role the way that any country girl would under similar circumstances. She briefly wishes that he were really only the shepherd she had met and had come to love). "Oh, would that you were like my brother; I would kiss you freely and they (the attendants) would not despise me. In my Mother's house she would instruct me and there I would love you." 8:1-3

KING TO ATTENDANTS:

(Once more reminding the reader that the Bride still sleeps in His arms:), "Shhh!! Don't waken my love till SHE pleases!" 8:4

C. Scene three: ENDURING LOVE ASSURED 8:5-7

Summary:

Now the bride remembers in her final dream her journey in the palanquin beside the young and handsome King as they travelledto Jerusalem through the plain of Esdraelon after He had arrived at Baal Hamon to take her to that place which He had prepared for her. In her final elements of dream she expresses her doubts about why she was there beside the King of Israel.

BRIDE TO HERSELF:

"Who is she that is coming up from the wilderness leaning upon her Beloved?" (i.e. "My, why on earth am I here???"). 8:5a

KING TO BRIDE:

(reassuring her), "Under the apple tree I (as the Shepherd) first aroused your love for me. It was there that your mother, who brought you forth, pledged you to me to be my Bride." 8:5b

BRIDE TO KING:

(longing for security in her strange circumstances), "Set me as a seal upon your heart. Love is strong as death; jealousy is as cruel! Its flashes are flashes of fire, a flame of Jah."8:6 (This is the only verse in the book which contains a reference to the Eternal Lord).

KING TO BRIDE:

(reassuringly), "Nothing could possibly quench my love for you!" 8:7

D. Scene four: SHE FINALLY REALIZES THAT THE SUFFERING OF HER HOME AND IN THE VINEYARD IS OVER 8:8-10

Summary:

She remembers the early days when she lived at home working in the fields. She remembers the painful jibes and torments of her brothers who had mocked her. They had convinced her that she was completely unappealing to anyone and that they never would be able to find a husband for her.

BROTHERS TO THE BRIDE (SOME MONTHS EARLIER):

"Our sister is shapeless! What can we do to make her appealing enough for engagement to anyone? If she were a wall or a door, we could conceal her plainness!" 8:8-9

BRIDE TO HERSELF:

(now proudly losing homesickness in the joy of realizing who she was and what a great privilege she had in being the bride of the king), "I am a wall! I am no longer immature! I have become beautiful and I have found favor in the eyes of my Beloved!" 8:10

E. Scene Five: THE BRIDE COMMITS HERSELF TO HIM AND TAKES HER RIGHTFUL PLACE AS HIS CONSORT 8:11-14

Summary:

The Bride now awakening and understanding, takes her rightful place as the King's Bride, likening herself to a garden to be enjoyed by its husbandman.

BRIDE ASIDE, MUSING TO HERSELF OF HER RELATIONSHIP TO THE KING:

(and undoubtedly fully awakened from her fearful dreams now), "Solomon had a vineyard that was to bring forth reward unto him. I am likewise a vineyard of his!" 8:11-12a

BRIDE TO KING:

"I am to be your vineyard and its profits are yours!" 8:12b

KING TO BRIDE:

(tenderly encouraging), "You who are dwelling in the gardens, the Attendants hear your voice. I want you to repeat it to me! Let me hear your sweet words of acceptance!" 8:13

BRIDE TO KING:

(now joyfully assuming her relationship as the consort of the great King of Israel and remembering His words when He had asked her to come with Him to the place which He had prepared for her), "Come quickly, Beloved, into the garden of spices!" 8:14 Surely we are to remember the words of acceptance of the Bride to His glorious invitation in 4:16b. How appropriate are the final words of the Church, spoken to her Bridegroom in the final words which are revealed to the Church: "Come quickly, Lord Jesus!" Rev. 22:17, 20)

STUDY QUESTIONS FOR THE SONG OF SOLOMON

1. Explain the internal evidence that Solomon wrote the Song of Solomon.
2. Trace the story which unifies the argument of the Song of Solomon.
3. Explain some of the theories of the interpretation of the Song of Solomon.
4. Elaborate on the ways that the experiences described in the Song of Solomon foreshadow the relationship of Christ and His Bride.