Chapter Seven

1. A brief conversation of the Shulammite with the Jerusalem women. 2–10a. Solomon once again enthusiastically praises his beloved. 10б–14. The Shulammite firmly, without any hesitation, declares her sincere love for her friend and her complete devotion to him.

Song of Songs 7:1. “Return, return, O Shulammite; return, return, that we may gaze upon you. What concern is it of yours to gaze upon the Shulammite, as upon the dance of Mahanaim? In this verse and only here is the bride of the Song of Songs called by the name of her birthplace, the Shulammite; LXX: Σουναμιτις—a nomen gentilicum from the name of the city Shunem, Heb. Shunem or Sonam—a city in the tribe of Issachar (Josh 19:18; 1 Sam 28:4; 2 Sam 4:8), the home of Abishag (1 Sam 1:3) and the woman benefactress of the prophet Elisha (2 Sam 4:8); now the village of Solam to the north of Zerain (Jezreel), Onomast. 690. The Jerusalem women call the bride by this name, expressing perhaps a tone of admiration for her beauty. In response, the Shulammite modestly, in the form of a mutual question, the sense of which is: “is it worth such attention to pay to a humble village girl, an inhabitant of insignificant Galilee? For she is nothing remarkable, like, for instance, the dance of Mahanaim.” Mahanaim or Mahanayim—a city on the eastern side of the Jordan in the tribe of Gad (Josh 13:26; 2 Sam 2:8 and others), which some identify with the ruins of Mahneh to the north of the Jabbok (Onomast. 668). The place was named after a miraculous vision that had once occurred there—the army of Angels seen by the patriarch Jacob ((Gen 32:2-3). See Prof. Fr. A. Glagolev. Old Testament Biblical Teaching on Angels. Kyiv. 1900, p. 206, 210). The LXX, Vulg., and Slavonic give a common noun meaning to the word in question: Σουναμιτις, chori castrorum, choirs of camps. The sense of the comparison is not entirely clear: we have no information about the dances of Mahanaim. Only one opinion (O. Zöckler and others) deserves full attention, which sees here a historical memory of the heavenly angelic army mentioned above, which appeared to Jacob upon his return from Mesopotamia (Gen 32:2-3).

Song of Songs 7:2. How beautiful are your feet in sandals, O noble daughter! The curves of your thighs are like jewels, the work of skilled hands; Song of Songs 7:3. Your belly is a rounded bowl; may it never lack mixed wine. Your abdomen is a heap of wheat surrounded with lilies; Song of Songs 7:4. Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle; Song of Songs 7:5. Your neck is like an ivory tower; your eyes are pools in Heshbon by the gate of Bath-rabbim; your nose is like a tower of Lebanon overlooking toward Damascus; Song of Songs 7:6. Your head upon you is like Carmel, and the hair of your head like purple; the king is held captive by your tresses. Song of Songs 7:7. How beautiful and how lovely you are, O beloved, in your pleasantness! Song of Songs 7:8. This stature of yours is like a palm tree, and your breasts like clusters of the vine. Song of Songs 7:9. I thought: I will climb the palm tree and seize its branches; may your breasts be like clusters of the vine, and the scent of your breath like apples; Song of Songs 7:10. And your mouth like the finest wine. The description of the bride’s beauties given here generally recalls the two previous descriptions: Song 4:1-7. But it differs from them in the predominance of a sensual character (the description begins from below—with the feet and thighs); with an abundance here of the boldest comparisons in a purely Eastern spirit (vv. 2–6), the realism of the picture reaches the highest degree and even exceeds all bounds (v. 9). Vv. 3–4, cf. Song 4:4-5. In v. 5 Heshbon and Bath-rabbim are synonyms. The name Heshbon (Num 21:26; Deut 1:4 and others. Onomast 454) was the capital of the Amorites and then of the Moabites, and was assigned by Joshua to the tribe of Gad (Josh 13:26), now Hesban to the southwest of Amman. Bath-rabbim (in Kenn. cod. 77) or Bat-rabbim; in the LXX: θνγατρος πολλων, Slavonic, “daughters of many,” Vulg: filiae multitu dinis, indicates the large population of Heshbon. Damascus—the chief city of Syria (Isa 7:8), conquered by David (2 Sam 8:6), now Dimashq-esh-Sham (Onomast. 378). According to the explanation of Prof. Olesnitsky, the chapter in question and in general the section Song 6:4—Song 8:4 presents “an autumn song of the promised land, now completely filled with fully ripened fruits and politically consolidated (seasonal years are opposed here by periods of the history of the Jews, as recognized by the Targum and Midrash). Palestine is covered with herds of goats as densely as the head of a man with hair; its ripened pomegranates blush like maiden cheeks; its wine presses are full of ready best wine and so forth. The comparison of the bride with the palm tree, with its autumn fruits, is especially emphasized here, which we did not notice in the preceding songs... With this natural abundance and grandeur, Palestine is strong politically: upon it stand beautiful and strong cities, for example: Jerusalem, Tirzah, the Damascus fortress, its war bands march in order, like dances (Song 8:1 according to the LXX). The image of the fruitful palm tree, serving as an indicator of wealth of ripened earthly fruits, at the same time designates the high significance of Palestine as a political unit; in such a significance the palm figures among the images of the Jerusalem temple” (p. 376–377).

Song of Songs 7:10. It flows straight to my beloved, bringing sleep to the lips of those who slumber. Song of Songs 7:11. I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me. Song of Songs 7:12. Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field, let us lodge in the villages; Song of Songs 7:13. Let us go early to the vineyards, let us see if the vine has budded, if the tender grapes are opening, if the pomegranates are in bloom; there I will give you my love. Song of Songs 7:14. The mandrakes have given forth fragrance, and at our gates are all manner of fine fruits, new and old, which I have kept for you, my beloved! In response to the exuberant and partly excessive praises of the bride’s perfections, she hastily and ardently declares that she with all her excellences and perfections belongs entirely to her friend (vv. 10б–11), whom she now insistently calls to the bosom of nature to enjoy its beauties and productions (vv. 12–14). The fragrance spread in the garden by mandrakes—these “apples of love”—symbolizes the strength and vitality of her love for her friend (v. 14a), and her wise care for him and her life experience are testified to by the abundance and variety of beautiful fruits that she has preserved for him (14б). Mandrakes, Heb. dudaim, is a plant known in ancient and modern East, Atropa Mandragora or Mandragora vernalis of the Belladonna family, with small pale-green and reddish flowers on a stem up to 1 meter high; in May or June, small yellow, strongly fragrant apples appear on it, which, according to Pliny, were eaten by the Arabs, although they had a soporific effect. The ancient and modern East, classical antiquity, and all the Middle Ages and modern times attributed magical power to the mandrakes—artificial stimulation of sexual love and also the impregnation of previously barren marriages. This belief served as the basis for the account in Gen 30:14-16. On the lips of the innocent Shulammite, the mention of mandrakes (as well as fruits) is a simple symbol of true love, whose power she then (Song 8:6-7) incomparably depicts.