Troublesome Topic: Feminine Beauty Part 2 Song of Solomon ch 4 & ch 6

1

Neck represents life itself or the most important things of life. (See 1:10 for a full discussion of why I have translated it this way and the use of this imagery.)

2

Towers were an important part of the wall, serving as key elements in the protection of the city.

3

The name David is likely more than just an identifier; it is a symbol of an excellent reputation. The name means “loved” and implies someone who is loved in a special or extraordinary way.

4

“Courses of stone” is a double word picture that points to the ideas of strength and orderliness  or organization. While some other pictures of strength in this song are man-made, the stone is strong, impenetrable and solid because God designed it that way. When we take principles and priorities that God designed to be strong and we organize them properly in our lives they create a multiplying effect of strength. If one stone is strong, many stones cemented together are even stronger. However, placing within that organization of personal priorities a few improper priorities, i.e. a few points of weakness (we could say a few rotting chunks of wood placed in our stone wall), the strength of the entire system may be compromised.

5

Shields were obviously symbols of protection, as were the soldiers who carried them.

6: “a garden”

The term refers to a variety of things – parks, orchards, vegetable gardens or flower gardens. It can also mean an enclosure, or an enclosed garden. Thus the phrase used here has a double emphasis on this garden being enclosed or locked up.

Re: the imagery: Since the people in the cities of those days did not have much space, what little area they did have around their house they used carefully and purposefully; they planted fruit-bearing trees and certain herbs or vegetables, or, if they had more space than most, flowers. Besides meeting a need for the family it helped make the house a very beautiful place –as if to naturally adorn it with color and beauty. It seems that this latter situation is the idea of garden in the Song. A garden was a place of natural beauty.

7: “locked up”

The word used here means a “bolt or a bar” for those were the common ways to secure a house. “Locked up” is a picture of  “protection.” The word “garden” also meant “enclosure” because they were often enclosed to keep them safe from animals and thieves. Here we see the word “enclosure” and then the words “locked up” as a double emphasis on security and protection.

8

“Enclosed” has the same meaning as locked—“protected.” “you guard well your ability to refresh”

Implications for marriage: A wife cannot refresh everyone equally. Her focus must first be on her husband and then her children. In order to do that well she cannot offer her refreshing qualities to everyone that comes along, not in the same way as she does for her husband. Protecting that ability to refresh makes it a powerful tool in her husband’s life.

9

A spring was refreshing because it produced fresh clean water, and since it was coming from the earth it was cool. Spring was always contrasted with the stagnant water of a cistern.

10

“Sealed” is a third way to say protected.

11

A fountain had the same meaning as a spring, it was refreshing. In fact it probably referred to a natural spring. It was not like the fountains we know today because the kind of fountain we know requires a pump which is usually powered by electricity.

12: "Fair"

A person whose skin is fair has skin that is white, and white is a reference to purity.

13

The moon was the lesser of the two great lights, one of the special expressions of God’s glory.

14

Brightness is associated with the color white and therefore purity. In conjunction with the sun that is especially true since the sun is the brightest and hottest light.

15

The sun, as the great light, is a major demonstration of God’s glory and power.

16: “bannered hosts”

This is the same phrase used in 6:4. Some translations render it as “stars in procession” because the sun and the moon have already been mentioned. However, stars are not mentioned in the original. The word used here means “bannered, bannered ones, or with banners” like an army following its banner. The emphasis is on the fact that they have a banner to follow, not the idea that they are moving “in procession.” It is a big assumption to say it means “stars in procession” when a simpler, more obvious meaning will work. Instead, we should take what it actually says and try to find the meaning of its symbolism as the original audience understood it.