Chapter Two

1–7. The third strophe of the first section of the book. The Bride and Bridegroom exchange mutual praises of each other; but then, overcome by the strong impressions of passionate love, the Bride languishes, as if experiencing the sickness of love, and finally, sinking into a semi-conscious state, adjures the daughters of Jerusalem not to awaken love until it awakens of its own accord. 8–17. A description of the Beloved from the perspective of the Bride, the spring greeting of his love for her and hers in return.

Song of Songs 2:1. I am the narcissus of Sharon, the lily of the valleys! Having spoken above (Song 1:15-16) a call for her Beloved to follow her into the bosom of nature, the Bride now humbly presents herself as a child of wild nature (as if in contrast to the artificial magnificence of Solomon’s palace), exclaiming of herself: “I am the narcissus of Sharon, the lily of the valleys.” The Hebrew habatzelet (found also in Isa 35:1), rendered in the Russian translation as “narcissus,” has, however, an indefinite and rather more general meaning, as it stands in the LXX: ανθος του πεδιου, Vulgate: flos campi. Therefore all attempts to define more precisely the name of this flower—narcissus (already the Targum renders it: narkos), rose (Bertheau), tulip (Vaihinger)—are matters of conjecture; according to Gesenius, it is—in Linnaean terminology—Colchium autumnale. Under the name of Sharon, Eusebius and Jerome (Onomast. 834) distinguish two places: one between Mount Tabor and the Sea of Tiberias (now Sharon to the north of Wadi el-Bire), and another—more famous along the coast of the Mediterranean and the mountains of Israel from Jonia to Caesarea (1 Chr 27:29; Isa 33:9). Perhaps, given the proximity of the first place to the city of Shunem, the birthplace of the Bride Shulammite (cf. Song 7:1), it is precisely this one that is meant. The Hebrew shoshan (cf. Song 2:16) is customarily rendered by translators (LXX: κρινον, Vulgate: lilium) and commentators as “lily,” although it likely meant in antiquity flowers of more than one kind and not only white ones (according to Song 5:13, the lily has a red or pink color—like lilium rubens in Pliny); according to Gesenius, Anemone coronaria. Origen, referring verse 1 to the words of the Bridegroom, comments on it thus: “For my sake, who dwell below, He descends into the valley, and having brought me into the valley, He became a lily. Instead of the tree of life, which was planted in God’s paradise, He became a flower of the whole field, that is, of the whole world and all the earth. For what can be the flower of the world so much as the name of Christ?” (p. 163).

Song of Songs 2:2. As a lily among thorns, so is my beloved among the maidens. If the Bride only from modesty calls herself a lily of the valleys (v. 1), then the Bridegroom takes the comparison with the lily as a portrait of her great beauty and incomparable superiority over all other court women (cf. Song 6:8-9). “Just as a lily cannot be compared with thorns, among which it always appears, so my beloved surpasses all the daughters as a lily surpasses thorns” (Origen—Jerome, p. 163).

Song of Songs 2:3. As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. In his shade I love to sit, and his fruit is sweet to my palate. The Bride’s answering words (v. 3a) present a complete parallel to the praises given to her by the Bridegroom (v. 2). By the apple tree (Hebrew tappuach, Greek μηλον, Latin malus), and likewise below by the apples (v. 5, see Song 8:5), is not meant our apple tree, which does not possess those qualities of fruit ascribed to this apple tree (v. 5), nor one that grows as a forest tree or is found at all in Palestine; rather, some other fruit-bearing tree: citron, lemon, or apricot. Staying in the shade of this apple tree and tasting its fruit here, as also below (v. 5, cf. Song 4:16), is an image of the attractive nearness and delights of the Beloved’s caresses. “All trees, all woody growth compared with the Word of God are considered barren forests. To Christ, everything you might name is a forest, and all is barren. For what, in comparison with Him, can be called fruitful? Even trees that appear bowed down by abundance of fruit, when compared with His coming, are shown to be barren” (Origen—Jerome, p. 163).

Song of Songs 2:4. He brought me into the banquet hall, and his banner over me is love. Song of Songs 2:5. Sustain me with raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love. “He brought me into the banquet hall”—an expression completely parallel to the words Song 1:3 “the king brought me into his chambers,” but unlike that passage, it has a metaphorical sense, a figurative expression of a kindred thought, as shown by the very expression (4b): “his banner over me is love.” The meaning is that passionate love, like a military standard, protects the Bride, waving over her head (see Song 6:4). The reading of v. 4 according to the Slavonic text is less clear: “Bring me into the house of wine, order love toward me,” representing an exact translation from the Greek text. “Wine” here is taken in association with Song 1:1 as an image of joy, and “house of wine” (Vulg. cella vinaria), contrary to the literal understanding of many modern commentators, is only an image of the fullness of love’s delights. The Midrash interprets v. 4 thus: “The congregation of Israel says: God brought me into a great vineyard at Sinai, and there gave me my banner—the law, commandments, and good deeds—and I received them with great love” (S. 59). Filled with the impressions of the Beloved’s loving caresses, as if intoxicated by their effect (cf. Song 5:8), the Bride experiences a peculiar sickness of love, as if wounded (LXX) or stricken (Slavonic) by love’s arrow; therefore, turning to the daughters of Jerusalem, she asks them to sustain her with wine (more precisely: “with cakes,” as in the translation of Archimandrite Macarius; Hebrew ashisha means precisely a cake made of pressed fruits and other fruits in general, cf. Hos 3:1) and refresh her with apples (v. 5). In the opinion of some (Bertheau and others), here are meant apples of a particular kind, concerning which Eastern women, especially inhabitants of harems, were convinced of their connection with sexual love. But something similar from the Bible is known only of “apples of love”—mandrakes (Gen 30:1; Song 7:14). The Midrash paraphrases the second half of v. 5 thus: “The congregation of Israel says before God: all the sufferings that the nations cause me come only from the fact that I love You” (S. 60). Origen and Jerome also understand the sickness of love in a moral allegorical sense: “How beautiful, how attractive to receive a wound from love! One has taken into himself the arrow of carnal love, another is struck by earthly passion; but you lay bare your limbs and offer yourself to the chosen arrow, the beautiful arrow, for the archer is God (Isa 49:2)… This arrow wounded those who reasoned among themselves: “Was not our heart burning within us when He spoke to us and explained the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32)” (p. 167).

Song of Songs 2:6. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me. This verse provides the foundation for the preceding and contains an indication of the source of the passionate and as if painful love intensely developed: the most tender love and solicitude from the Beloved embrace all of the Bride’s being and fill her entire life (cf. Song 8:3). “The Word of God holds wisdom in both left and right hand, and though this wisdom is manifold in its understanding, it is one in its source. Solomon himself teaches concerning the left and right hand of Wisdom: “For in her right hand are length of days and years of life, and in her left hand riches and honor.” (Prov 3:16)” (Origen—Jerome, p. 168. See Tolkovaya Bibliya, vol. IV, p. 904).

Song of Songs 2:7. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the does of the field: do not stir up or awaken love, until it pleases. The first section of the book ends with a peculiar oath or adjuration, met three times in the Song of Songs (Song 2:7) and nowhere else in Scripture, an oath to the women of Jerusalem by the gazelles or the does of the field not to awaken love (not “the beloved,” as in the Vulgate and Russian Synodal and Archimandrite Macarius), until it awakens of its own. The formula of the oath “by the gazelles or by the does of the field” according to the Masoretic text is confirmed by the Syriac, Vulgate (per capreas cervosque camporum), and Russian texts, and deserves preference over the formula of the Greek and Slavonic “by the powers and strengths of the field.” The basis of this peculiar poetic form of oath lies in nothing other than the special grace and beauty of gazelles and does, by reason of which they are the most suitable image of female beauty and charm (Prov 5:19; Tolkovaya Bibliya, vol. IV, p. 908), and at the same time of female love; and such an oath is especially fitting and natural in the mouth of a woman and addressed to women (in all three mentioned cases: Song 2:7), whom the Bride earnestly warns against the temptation to prematurely and artificially kindle and inflame in themselves the flame of love; on the contrary, she advises allowing the awakening and development of this feeling to nature and to God. Here is the morality of the entire first section (Song 1:1—Song 2:7): the gradual development of the feeling of love—from the first seeking of the Beloved’s kiss to complete exhaustion of love—served as the foundation for the Bride to give her mentioned warning to her companions. The law of normal gradualness in love that she indicates has force also in the allegorical interpretation—in applying the content of the book to nature, to the history of Israel, and to the history of salvation. According to the explanation of Professor Olesnitsky, the first section of the Song of Songs can be called a winter or pre-spring song of lamentation of the promised land mourning the sun, which has declined in its winter course, and also a song of the first, sorrowful period in the history of Israel—the sojourn in Egypt and wandering in the desert (Cited work, p. 368–369).

Song of Songs 2:8. The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills. Song of Songs 2:9. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice. A new scene opens as a series of recollections of the Beloved of blessed moments of her former union with the Beloved. The monologue of Shulammite, conveying this meeting (Song 2:5), in the opinion of some commentators, might be considered as written before the first section, since it speaks of the reason why Shulammite separated from her father’s house; “the author proceeded with great subtlety, using the events preceding the main action only as the first threads for the rest of the fabric” (Karpeles, p. 81). In the portrayal in vv. 8–9 of the Beloved, distinguished by extraordinary vividness, there is shown the greatest mobility and elusiveness of the Beloved, so that inevitably an analogy arises with the swiftly moving elements. “The second section of the Song of Songs 2:5, says Professor Olesnitsky, in distinction from the first, can be called the Song of Spring. The sun, hidden from the earth, now itself calls her to life. The section begins with fragmentary words ‘the voice of my beloved.’ The Bridegroom stands in such a relation to the bride that she hears only his voice, feels his breath, but does not know where he comes from or where he goes (John 3:8). Like the elusive wind and the swift-footed gazelle, he runs through the land, leaps over the mountains and hills. In relation to a human form such a representation would be very unnatural; but in relation to the free ray of the sun, knowing no obstacles in mountains or valleys, it is in the highest degree natural. It is also fitting here that which is said in the following verse (9) about the beloved, peering as he runs through windows, flickering through the lattices of houses” (p. 369). These characteristics become even more comprehensible in the typological interpretation of them concerning Christ, which Origen gives (p. 170; cf. Midrash, p. 67–68). In the LXX text and Slavonic in v. 9 there is an addition: επι τα ορη Βαιθηλ, “of Bethel”; in other texts and translations this addition does not appear.

Song of Songs 2:10. My beloved speaks and says to me: Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. Song of Songs 2:11. For behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. Song of Songs 2:12. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. Song of Songs 2:13. The fig trees have put forth their leaves, and the vines, in bloom, give off fragrance. Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. Here we have a completed strophe, beginning and ending with the invitation of the Beloved to the Bride to enjoy the charms of the arrived spring, hidden in Palestine after the passing of “the time of the rains” (ethgeshamin Ezra 10:9), specifically the late rain (malkosh). The spring sunshine, piercing through nature, touching the high Palestinian mountains, does not forget to glance into the dwelling of man. Rise up, my fair one, he says to everything living in the holy land; it is time to leave the winter’s rest and step forth into the open for new life… Verses 12–13 depict the spring appearance of Palestinian nature at this time of year, particularly called the month of flowers, ziv, similar to our month of May. The sacred poet chooses such features of spring—flowers, singing, fragrance—as are capable of awakening love of nature and of people. In its tender love of nature and fresh fragrance, this “spring song” is a rare phenomenon in all of ancient times.

Song of Songs 2:14. My dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the cranny of the cliff! Show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is comely. Song of Songs 2:15. Catch us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vineyards, while our vineyards are in bloom. “O my dove, says the sun gazing upon Palestine, let me look upon your face and hear your voice,” plainly refers to the face of nature clothed with flowers, and to the same voice of migratory birds returned to Palestine, of which it was spoken immediately before. The appended expression: “from beneath the clefts and crags and rocks” (show me your face)—is the most exact description of the terrain of Palestine, covered with harsh rocks and only from valleys and water showing freshness and life” (Olesnitsky, p. 370). Verse 15 is a completely unexpected insertion breaking the dialogue between bridegroom and bride; perhaps it is a fragment of a workers’ song from the vineyard, cited by Shulammite from memory of her compulsory service in guarding the vineyard (Song 1:5). The meaning of the verse is clear: “The power protecting Palestine cannot look indifferently upon its enemies, whoever they may be—whether simple foxes or political foxes” (Olesnitsky, p. 370).

Song of Songs 2:16. My beloved is mine, and I am his; he grazes among the lilies. Song of Songs 2:17. Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young stag upon the mountains of separation. From verse 16 of this chapter through verse 4 of chapter 3 is depicted the Bride’s answering—to the Beloved’s call in verses 8–14—longing for him. The epithet of the Beloved (v. 16, cf. Song 6:2-3) “who grazes among the lilies” best shows that the Bridegroom in the Song of Songs is only in an improper sense and in a metaphorical-poetic language called a shepherd. The Bride expresses firm confidence in the unshakeable steadiness of the mutual feelings, the love that binds her to the Beloved (v. 16, cf. Song 7:11). Yet immediately she foresees and anticipates the coming separation from him and therefore in v. 17, which has bearing on the early verses of the next chapter. She, in view of the approaching sunset of the sun, urges her Beloved to return quickly from the “mountains of separation” (Hebrew hare bather, LXX: τα δρη κοιλωματων, Vulgate: montes Bether, Slavonic: “on the mountains of the valleys”). A similar turn of speech occurs also below in Song 4:6.