Song of Solomon 2:8-17

Song of Solomon 2:8-17. The Beloved comes

The scene is evidently changed from Jerusalem to some royal residence in the country. The lover, like the Shulammite herself, belongs to the northern hills; and as he appears here, it is more natural to suppose that the scene has been transferred thither than that he has come to Jerusalem. Moreover the later references to Lebanon imply this change of scene, and it is most suitable to suppose that the change takes place here. The indirect way in which this is hinted is entirely congruous with the kind of poems we have taken these to be. The Shulammite starts up in uncontrollable agitation, imagining she hears her lover's footsteps as he hastens to her over the hills, and she addresses her companions, the court ladies, tracing his approach until he reaches the lattices in the wall, Song of Solomon 2:8. Her lover speaks to her through these, and she, hearing him, repeats what he says, Song of Solomon 2:10. In reply to his desire to see her and hear her voice, as she cannot make herself visible, she sings a little vineyard song, Song of Solomon 2:15. In Song of Solomon 2:16 she gives herself up to a loving rapture, and then, Song of Solomon 2:17, fearing for her lover's safety she exhorts him to depart till the evening. Some think the bride speaks here of some past scene when her lover came to meet her, over which she is now brooding. That is possible, but the view expressed above seems preferable. In any case these verses are among the most beautiful in the book, and take their place among the perfect love verses of the world. A modern parallel may be found in Tennyson's lines,

"And all my heart went out to meet him

Coming, ere he came."