Song of Solomon 5 – 6
Verse 5:7 needs to be compared to verse 3:3 and notice sometimes “visions” or dreams do not match reality:
The watchmen found me
as they went about in the city;
they beat me, they bruised me,
they took away my veil,
those watchmen of the walls.
The dream did not have the watchmen treat her badly, where in reality they bruised her. One has to wonder why the watchmen would treat the king’s love poorly, in that day and age it could have meant death. We often see this happen today where our “watchmen” or police beat suspects with zeal, often without justification or need. I wonder what happened to cause this encounter.
Verse 5:15 is part of her praise about her beloved:
His legs are alabaster columns,
set on bases of gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,
choice as the cedars.
The description does not match Nebuchadnezzar’s dream Daniel interpreted, but with a head of gold it has some similarities. Granted her description is much more personal where Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was allegory for the future kingdoms. Alabaster columns sound strong and mighty, where his appearance is like the beautiful cedars. What do you think? Is there a connection or am I making a stretch?
Verse 6:5 caught my eye because it’s similar to other verses:
Turn away your eyes from me,
for they overwhelm me—
Your hair is like a flock of goats
leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
This was almost verbatim from verse 4:1 and I though it odd before. We have goats and their hair is not pleasant to touch. It’s course and rough, not like a cat’s fur. To me it’s almost an insult to compare her hair to goats. Now it’s like a flock which I do not have, so the “dynamics” may be more like a wave and that is what he is comparing her hair to.
The next line compares her teeth with a “flock of ewes” which again seems odd. The first thing I think of is my morning teeth where they look white, but feel fuzzy. Sorry I did not have any great theological insight from the reading today, I have had problems getting much out of this reading. Interestingly pastor Kevin Queen drew out some insight from chapter 2 in describing how often faith requires attention to the small things before we see big things. Check out the pod cast on 12 Stone’s site.