"Young, unmarried girls, do not awaken love before the appropriate time." This is the primary message of the Song of Songs. But how is the Song crafted literarily to reinforce this message? Let's take a deeper look at the Song.
THE SONG'S CHARACTERS & SETTING
There has been a healthy debate over whether the Song of Songs includes two or three main characters. The three possible main characters include King Solomon, the shepherd boy (or lover-boy), and the girl-in-love. This determination of the number of main characters centers on whether or not chapter 3 is to be understood as a dream sequence where the girl is picturing the lover-boy as royalty picking her up for her wedding celebration or a literal retelling of King Solomon coming to pick up one of his brides-to-be to join his royal harem of hundreds of wives and concubines. I take 3:1-8:4 to be a dream sequence in light of the fact that more than once the author reinforces that the girl-in-love is asleep in bed (3:1; 5:2).
So what is the profile of these TWO main characters?
THE PROFILE OF THE LOVER-BOY
Let me begin by saying that the lover-boy is certainly not one to be emulated. There can be no doubt that he is on the prowl for a wife. This is what is meant by the phrase "he browses among the lilies" (2:16; 4:5; 6:2, 3). However, the lover-boy really plays a secondary role in the Song even though he is officially a main character. His primary role in the poem is to bring out and accentuate the 'love-sickness' of the girl-in-love. The lover-boy certainly has a way with words and has a knack for flirtation (although I would NOT recommend using any of his pickup lines to find a date for the prom!). And while it would be easy to say that the lover-boy is 'playing' the girl (and maybe he is), this would be reading too much between the lines.
THE PROFILE OF THE GIRL-IN-LOVE
The real focus of the Song is the main female character. She describes herself as "a lily of the valley." What on earth does this mean? Well, throughout the Song, the lover-boy is said to be "browsing among the lilies" (2:16; 4:5; 6:2, 3). The lilies most likely are referring to the other virgins or daughters of Jerusalem (that is, girls of marriageable age) whom the lover-boy is 'scoping out'. And so we learn that this girl-in-love is approaching the age of marriage. The irony is that she believes that she shares an exclusive love relationship with this lover-boy ("I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine" see 2:16; 6:3) when, in fact, he is merely "browsing among the lilies" looking for someone to marry.
The girl-in-love is also described as being "sick with love" (2:5; 5:8). We learn this very early on in the poem after she expresses her 'appreciation' for the lover-boy (2:3-4). This is important to note because the author uses the 'dream' setting of chapters 3:1-8:4 to describe the psychology of a love-obsessed girl. In this dream sequence, the girl-in-love shows herself to be INSECURE as she runs around the city frantically trying to find her lover (3:1-4; 5:2-6:3), DISILLUSIONED as she pictures the lover-boy as royalty (the likes of King Solomon) picking her up for the wedding celebration (3:6-5:1; I didn't realize that girls dreamed about their wedding day!), and IMPATIENT as she wishes that her lover-boy were 'like a brother' so that she could kiss him right now (8:1-3). That sounds a lot like a love-infatuated girl in our day and age! Clearly the affects of love have not changed over the past several thousand years!
It appears that this 'love sickness' has produced a degree of rebelliousness in this girl-in-love. How do we know this? First, 1:5-6 tells us that the girl-in-love is "darkened by the sun" because her brothers are making her work the vineyard (literally) during the day because she had neglected her own vineyard (figuratively referring to her body). It appears that she is being punished! But how has she been neglecting her vineyard (that is, body)? In 1:7-17, it appears that the girl-in-love has been sneaking around with the lover-boy during the day and hiding her face behind a veil so that she would go unrecognized. She had even been getting intimate with the lover-boy during these daytime rendezvous (2:3-6). In this regard, she has been acting like a prostitute (and it just so happens that prostitutes were notorious for wearing veils!). Because of this, the brothers have put their sister, the girl-in-love, to work during the time she would otherwise try to sneak off to be with the lover-boy. This punishment allows the brothers to keep an eye on their love-infatuated sister. However, the girl-in-love will not be outmatched! She tells her lover-boy to return at night for a moonlit rendezvous (2:16-17).
The girl-in-love's rebelliousness is also highlighted at the end of the Song. Her brothers do not believe that she is ready yet for love based on her physique (8:8-9) and so they vow to protect her until the appropriate time for love. However, the girl believes she is ripe for love and has the right to do with her body what she wishes (8:10-12). This is what 8:11-12 tells us...Solomon can loan out his vineyard (that is, his vast collection of wives and concubines) to the highest bidder for a 1,000 pieces BUT her vineyard (that is, her body) is her's to give to whom she wishes (minus a fair bride price of 200 pieces). As a last act of defiance, she summons her lover-boy for intimacy (8:14)! This girl-in-love will not be deterred by anyone (whether it be her brothers or the watchmen of the city who are trying to protect her)! That's how the poem ends!
THE SONG'S PROPHETIC PURPOSE
So how was this song supposed to speak to the Jewish people (and to us today)? Well, it is interesting that in Isaiah 3:16-26, the daughters of Zion (that is, 'daughters of Jerusalem') are haughty (that is, disdainfully arrogant), walking around with outstretched necks (see SOS 4:4; 7:4), and FLIRTING with their eyes. Does this sound like the girl-in-love in the Song? Isaiah 5:1-7, then sounds eerily similar to the Song of Songs with its 'vineyard' references (This is probably why the Jewish interpretation of the Song of Songs has been an allegorical depiction of the relationship between God and Israel!). So what's the point? The daughters of Jerusalem rebelled against God's creation design for love by misusing their sexuality. The result...JUDGMENT. God has created sexuality as a good gift for us to enjoy! BUT God insists that we (and Israel) should enjoy it only within His boundaries and design! Romantic love must be used with wisdom otherwise it can lead to a world of misery (8:6-7)!
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