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Daily Bible Studies

O.T. Contents
Series Theme:   Studies in Song of Songs
Page Contents:

Chs.7-8 (Pt.5)

7:1-9

7:10-13

8:1-4

8:5-7

8:8-10

8:11-14

Recap

Summary

Conclusion

      

Part 1

(Ch.1-2)

  

Part 2

(Ch.2-3)

   

Part 3

(Ch.4-5)

  

Part 4

(Ch.5-6)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

O.T. Contents

7:1-9

7:10-13

8:1-4

8:5-7

8:8-10

8:11-14

Recap

Summary

Conclusion

      

Part 1

(Ch.1-2)

  

Part 2 

(Ch.2-3)

   

Part 3

(Ch.4-5)

  

Part 4

(Ch.5-6)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

O.T. Contents

7:1-9

7:10-13

8:1-4

8:5-7

8:8-10

8:11-14

Recap

Summary

Conclusion

      

Part 1

(Ch.1-2)

  

Part 2

(Ch.2-3)

   

Part 3

(Ch.4-5)

  

Part 4

(Ch.5-6)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

O.T. Contents

7:1-9

7:10-13

8:1-4

8:5-7

8:8-10

8:11-14

Recap

Summary

Conclusion

      

Part 1

(Ch.1-2)

  

Part 2

(Ch.2-3)

   

Part 3

(Ch.4-5)

  

Part 4

(Ch.5-6)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

O.T. Contents

7:1-9

7:10-13

8:1-4

8:5-7

8:8-10

8:11-14

Recap

Summary

Conclusion

      

Part 1

(Ch.1-2)

  

Part 2

(Ch.2-3)

   

Part 3

(Ch.4-5)

  

Part 4

(Ch.5-6)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

O.T. Contents

7:1-9

7:10-13

8:1-4

8:5-7

8:8-10

8:11-14

Recap

Summary

Conclusion

      

Part 1

(Ch.1-2)

  

Part 2

(Ch.2-3)

   

Part 3

(Ch.4-5)

  

Part 4

(Ch.5-6)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

O.T. Contents

7:1-9

7:10-13

8:1-4

8:5-7

8:8-10

8:11-14

Recap

Summary

Conclusion

      

Part 1

(Ch.1-2)

  

Part 2

(Ch.2-3)

   

Part 3

(Ch.4-5)

  

Part 4

(Ch.5-6)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

O.T. Contents

7:1-9

7:10-13

8:1-4

8:5-7

8:8-10

8:11-14

Recap

Summary

Conclusion

      

Part 1

(Ch.1-2)

  

Part 2

(Ch.2-3)

   

Part 3

(Ch.4-5)

  

Part 4

(Ch.5-6)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

O.T. Contents

7:1-9

7:10-13

8:1-4

8:5-7

8:8-10

8:11-14

Recap

Summary

Conclusion

      

Part 1

(Ch.1-2)

  

Part 2

(Ch.2-3)

   

Part 3

(Ch.4-5)

  

Part 4

(Ch.5-6)

   

  

Chapter: SONGS 7

    

Passage: SONGS 7:1-9

  

A. Find Out:

    

1. List the parts of her body he describes.

2. List the comparisons he makes.

 

B. Think:

1. Suggest what is conveyed by the comparison. 
2. Complete the table below 

   

 

Body

Comparison

Conveyed

1

 

 

 

2

 

 

 

2

 

 

 

3

 

 

 

4

 

 

 

4

 

 

 

4

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

7

 

 

 

7

 

 

 

9

 

 

 

C. Comment:

This is the third time he describes her in detail (4:1-5 & 6:5-7) and this is the fullest description. It says he now knows her in intimate detail. It says that with his knowledge of her comes a boldness to express his appreciation of her. If we are a Christian husband, do we have the wisdom to express our love and appreciation of our wives in such a strong way? God is not ashamed of sex. This is the inspired word of God. This is a passage of pure physical appreciation, about two people appreciating each other. This is a man speaking to his woman, not merely using her. God gave us our bodies to appreciate one another within the marriage context.

 

D. Prayer Suggestion:

  Oh Lord, help me to speak real words of love to my spouse.

       

  

 

    

Chapter: SONGS 7

Passage: SONGS  7:10-13

  

A. Find Out:    

 

1. What affirmation does she now make again? v.10

2. Where, generally, does she suggest they go? v.11

3. Where specifically does she suggest they go, and why? v.12

4. What does she say she'll do there? v.12c

5. What will enhance their time there? v.13

 

B. Think:

1. Check 6:2 Where did she know he liked going?
2. How would her present suggestions therefore please him?
3. What is the purpose of her suggestion?

C. Comment:

“Let's go away to somewhere beautiful where we can be alone and intimate together”, is the gist of this passage. Again and again in the song we are presented with references to nature, gardens, or the country. Yes they dwell in a town but Hebrew gardens were often separate from the house and on the outskirts somewhere. Thus they would have to go out of town to their gardens. So she now suggests that they leave the business of the town and go out into the country, to the villages (to her home?) to a place a beauty and fruitfulness. What she is saying is “I have prepared an environment of beauty and fragrance where we can express our love in a beautiful way”. All around them will be the blossoms giving off their scent, and just outside the flowers (mandrakes) add their scent as well.

Sometimes in the summer the blossom or the scent of flowers almost makes the air heady and thick. It is in such an environment that she says, let's share our love in fullness. What does this all say to us? On the practical level, first of all, it should perhaps challenge those of us who are married to make time and effort to share our love with one another, to bring a creative beauty to our coming together. On a spiritual plane it challenges us to consider the expression of our devotion to God. Can we be creative in the way we pray, read the Bible, worship?

 

D. Prayer Suggestion:

Lord, deliver me from drabness of life, from drabness of love, from drabness of worship. Lord, help me to bring creative beauty back.

   

  

   

Chapter: SONGS 8

Passage: SONGS 8:1-4 

     

A. Find Out:

 

1. Who does she wish her lover was like? v.1a,b

2. Why? v.1c,d

3. Where would she take him? v.2a

4. And what would she do? v.2b

5. What does she imagine him doing? v.3

6. What does she exhort the others not to do? v.4

 

B. Think:

1. What does she reveal about what others think of her here?
2. What is her imagined answer to this?
3. How do people “despise” us showing affection for Jesus?

C. Comment:

At this point the girl is aware of what others think of her. In Jewish society there were strong rules of propriety and open public physical expression of love by those who were not married would have been frowned upon. Yet for her now, so in love is she with this man, that it seems natural for her to want to express her love with a kiss. If she had been his brother, she mused, it would be all right. When she met him she could kiss him as sister to brother without comment. She could take him home without comment and give him food and drink, and there he could hold her and embrace her and kiss her without restraint.

What is the spiritual lesson here? Surely it must be about being free to express our love for Jesus. English people are known for their restraint but that is not a common feature around the world. So often we are more concerned about what other people might think about us and that restrains our expression of love. So many churches have a form of worship that is almost expressionless, emotionless and cold. That is not expressing love for Jesus. Love is expressed in word and in action and in feelings. Perhaps we need to ask the Lord to release our feelings and then our inhibitions.

 

D. Prayer Suggestion:

Oh Lord, I love you. Please help me be freer in expressing that love. Release my emotions, release my feet, my hands, my mouth.

    

 

 

   

Chapter: SONGS 8

                

Passage: SONGS 8:5-7

                   

A. Find Out:

  

1. What do the friends now see her doing? v.5a

2. What had happened under the apple tree? v.5b,c

3. What does she ask of him? v.6a

4. What does she say about love? v.6b,c,7

  

B. Think:

1. What is being conveyed in v.5a?
2. How is there almost a sense of tradition in v.5b,c?
3. What characteristics of love are given in what follows?

C. Comment:

They say TV is made up of lots of sound bites, quick glimpses, few seconds of a shot, then move on. That's what we have here. The “friends” or chorus give us a quick shot of the couple coming from the desert back to civilisation. She leans on him and he leads her back. Spiritually at least, here is a potent picture. Jesus brings us back from the dry places as we lean upon him. Meditate on that picture.

Back in familiar places there is an apple tree in the garden, where their love had come to fullness, as had that of his mother before him. There is a sense of history or ongoingness about this. Places often create a repeat of history. Watch for this as you travel around.

Then she asks to be placed like a seal over his heart or on his arm. In those times the picture of a loved one might be engraved on a jewel that is either hung over the heart or strapped on the arm, rather like a woman today might wear a pendant with a photo in it. It says, keep me close by you, remember me in some way when I'm not with you, don't forget me.

Then come a torrent of descriptions about love. First, it's strong and sure; second, is righteously jealous; third, it blazes like a fire that cannot be put out; fourth, it is beyond all value, nothing compares with it. How amazing is this thing love that we take so much for granted, that has become devalued in our society.

  

D. Prayer Suggestion:

Oh Lord, forgive us that we have so devalued love and simply equate it with sex. Thank you that it is so much more!

  

  

   

Chapter: SONGS 8

Passage: SONGS 8:8-10  

      

A. Find Out:

  

1. How is the younger sister described? v.8a

2. What is the question that arises? v.8b

3. What will they do if she is like what? v.9a,b

4. Alternatively what will they do if she is what? v.9c,d

5. How does the girl describe herself? v.10a

6. What effect does she have on her lover? v.10b

 

B. Think:

1. What, in terms of size is the difference between a wall and a door?
2. What might this suggest about what they say of the sister?
3. How might that affect what they suggest for her?

C. Comment:

Commentators struggle over this book and particularly over these verses. What we suggest therefore is only tentative. It seems it is the friends or “chorus” that now draw attention to a younger girl. The emphasis so far has been on the beauty and attributes of the woman who is the lover of the man and so they raise the question, almost to contrast the wonder of her beauty, what hope is there for a younger immature, not yet fully formed woman. How could we prepare her for the day when she is spoken for in marriage?

This is when they then start using obscure picture language. If this song was a stage production we might imagine that the set at this point is outside the walls of the city or the walls of a palace or great house. The walls would stretch up tall and set into the wall would be a small door (small by comparison at least). That would suggest they are saying, if she develops tall and willowy (v.9a) or if she is short and stocky (v.9c) they we will do different things for her. “Towers of silver” indicate her being adorned with beautiful jewellery while “panels of cedar” indicate general clothing that would enhance her otherwise rather ordinary figure. The woman in the song acknowledges she is tall and well endowed and as such brings much blessing to her lover.

 

D. Prayer Suggestion:

Lord, thank you that we are each different and beautiful in your sight. Adorn me with your grace I pray.

          

 

 

   

Chapter: SONGS 8

Passage: SONGS 8:11-14

     

A. Find Out:

                  

1. What did Solomon have? v.11a

2. What did he do with it? v.11b,c

3. But what was she able to say? v.12a

4. And what did she want to do? v.12b,c

5. What are his final words? v.13

6. What are her final words? v.14

 

B. Think:

1. What point is she making in verses 11 & 12?
2. What do his final words convey?
3. What do her final words convey?

C. Comment:

She gives us an encapsulated picture to convey an important truth. She tells us that Solomon had a vineyard that he let out to tenants and they had to pay him rent. He was the owner and they had this duty to pay him. By contrast she has her own vineyard; it belongs to her, for her to do with as she will. She is under no obligation to do anything with it, but she chooses to give the fruit of it, the money earned from it, to Solomon. Some money she will give to those who tend the fruit for her; that is their due payment, but the rest she earns from her vineyard she will give to him. It is as if she says, what is mine is yours, I hold nothing back. The truth here is that in their relationship, although she is independent, she chooses to make all that she has accessible to him, her lover. It is a powerful challenge, that in such committed relationships, is there nothing between us as husband and wife, or saved and Saviour. As a spouse do we keep things separate from our partner? As a Christian do we hold back things from Jesus? It should not be so.

As the poem ends they each make a last cry. For him it is “Although you have a life to live with others around you, make sure we still communicate”. Don't let's loose that. For her it is, “Don't get caught up in your duties, come away with me, stay youthful”

 

D. Prayer Suggestion:

Lord, all I have is yours. Bless it and use it as you will. Lord, keep me close to you. Deepen our relationship together.

       

   

  

   

RECAP - Endearments & Reflections"" -   Songs 7-8

SUMMARY :  

   

In this final group of 6 studies we have seen:

- The man telling her how beautiful she is in graphic detail
- The girl expressing her desire for him
- The girl suggesting they go to the country to the vineyards
- Her musing how it would be proper if he were her brother
- Her imagining him holding her
- The friends seeing her coming back with him
- Her affirming the strength of her love
- The friends wondering about the future for a young sister
- She being a source of contentment to him
- She committing her wealth to him
- Him calling for one last word from her
- She affirming her continuing desire for him

COMMENT:

  Initially the passage is quite clear as he speaks of the wonder of her beauty in no uncertain terms. She responds with similar feelings but there is more a sense of commitment to him from her and she suggests they spend the night together in the surrounding villages and in the vineyards of the countryside. There is a sense of impropriety in this suggestion in a society with very strict standards and she muses that is he had been her brother it would be all right to be seen out together. Yet she imagines him holding her. The chorus change the scene for us and show us the couple returning and she looks back with pleasure and affirms her love. To contrast this couple and especially of her maturity, the chorus think of a younger sister who relies for adornment and (rich) clothing (implied). It finishes with affirmations of love from her. The pictures are of love that is wholehearted and whether we apply that spiritually or relationally with our partner it challenges us again to consider whether we are as whole hearted in our love.

    

LESSONS?

  Love for the Lord and for our partner must be wholehearted/

     

PRAY:

       

  Declare you love for your Lord and, if you are married, ask Him to help you be more expressive towards your partner.

     

 

   

SUMMARY

 

1:1-4a

She yearns to know his love expressed towards her

1:4b

Chorus: They share her delight & (implied) tell us more

1:4c-7

She is aware of her imperfections & wonders where he is

1:8

Chorus: Go seeking him out

1:9-11

He imagines showering her with jewellery

1:12-2:2

They share brief interchanges of appreciation

2:3-13

She speaks of their early encounters

2::14,15

He wants to know more of her

2:16-3:5

She declares their love and yearns for more time with him

3:6-11

She sees Solomon coming in his splendour

4:1-15

He speaks for the first time of her beauty in detail

4:16

Chorus: May the circumstances bring this love out

5:1a

He declares he has experienced her love

5:1b

Chorus: Go for it!

5:2-8

She was slow to rise when he came and missed him

5:9

Chorus: So how is he better than other men?

5:10-16

She describes how handsome he is

6:1

Chorus: So where is he?

6:2,3

She declares, he's gone to his garden and I am his

6:4-9

He extols her beauty and declares her unique

6:10

Chorus: But who is this coming?

6:11-12

He went to his garden, realises his desire & dashes back

6:13a

Chorus: we want to gaze on your beauty

7:1-9a

He : she's not for looking at, she's utterly beautiful

7:9b-13

She declares her love and desire for more of it

8:1-4

She reflects on society's inhibitions & he holds her

8:5a

Chorus: see them returning

8:5b-7

She declares the strength of their love

8:8,9

Chorus: What about our young sister's future

8:10-12

She is a source of contentment and provision for him

8:13,14

They both call to the other

 

 

   

   

CONCLUSIONS

 

As we come to the end of this set of studies the following may be one or two reflections that might challenge us and to do this, may we simply ask the question, Why this Song?

 

God made us physical beings

  

So often people have wondered why is this ‘song', with so much blatantly physical language, is here in the midst of the canon of Scripture. So often people have sought to be so spiritual and in so doing they have denigrated anything physical and yet the truth is that God has made us physical beings and so much of our capability for enjoyment – and there is a lot – is to do with our physical capabilities.

We have taste buds that have in this modern age created a whole food and drink industry and culinary programmes creating ever more exotic tastes. The modern world does everything it can to expand its use of sex but in so doing lose the wonder of this physical side of life that God has designed. In the context of living, committed relationships, sex can be staggeringly beautiful and wonderful, and Solomon seeks to convey something of the wonder of his appreciation of his girl. Put aside the rampant ‘woman grabbing' that he fell into as a powerful king having literally hundreds of wives – no wonder he fell into such a jaded state as is recorded in Ecclesiastes. No, put that aside and focus on this one relationship, this one man and one woman expressing all of their God made abilities – and then worship!

   

A Thermometer of Life

    

Perhaps thermometer isn't the best instrument but think of an instrument that measures the sort of person you are. How you read this song reveals the sort of person you are. Immature teenagers might snigger over the physical descriptions found in these pages but this is nothing like pornography. No, the physical descriptions are all wrapped up in the language of love. Unlike modern ‘love' this isn't just grabbing at physical pleasure. This is a carefully crafted song about the love two people have of each other, a love that grows slowly, and a love that includes friendship and true appreciation of one another. No, this is holy ground, this is utterly distinct and different from the modern forms of crudity so often found on TV or in films. Pray and then read it again and, if you didn't see it before, see the wonder of this gift of God to human beings – and worship! (See also the ‘Play' form of this Song)