INTRODUCTION: Open your Bible to Song 6. Let me set the background. You remember that the wedding has already started, that the wedding night has occurred, but in the Middle East the wedding feasts can last for days. This week we are still looking at the ceremonial pronouncements and the wedding dance.
I. His Compliments
A. Read 6:4–7. Solomon is speaking of Shulamith. In our study of chapter 4 we learned what was meant when Solomon said that Shulamith’s hair was like a flock of goats, her teeth like washed sheep, and her temples like pomegranates.
- What do you think is meant when Solomon says that she is lovely like Tirzah (a town) or Jerusalem?
- Did it ever occur to you to compare your date or your spouse to a city? “Dear, you remind me of Dallas/Fort Worth!” Or, “You know, you are a lot like Chicago!”
- Would you say this as part of your wedding ceremony: “And my darling, you are like New York?”
- And Solomon does not compare her to any specific part of the city—just the city in general. So what is to be concluded from that?
(Jerusalem was the capital and a notable city—the most important city. Tirzah was the capital of the northern kingdom until it was replaced by Samaria.)
B. The rest of v. 4 says, “Majestic as troops with banners.” A problem here is that the word (in the KJV) “army” is supplied, as is the word “troops” in the NIV. So it may be the cities with banners.
- What does that suggest as you think about it? (I think my vacation gave me some insight. Epcot has a laser, light, and fireworks finale. As we stood there in the dark, the reproduction of each major country was all lit up, and a laser banner was shown with the name of the country on it—a fancy, flashy thing.)
(So Solomon is calling her a capital woman: the most important woman, with flash!)
C. Read vv. 8–9. Is this compliment on the same theme?
- Is this a compliment? Would you want your spouse to say this about you? (Such a different context than today. The king could have almost anyone that he wanted (note reference to virgins), and to say that she is the favorite one is a compliment.)
- Did this make the other queens and concubines jealous? (Apparently she was so well liked that they were not jealous.)
- In our relationship to our spouse, is it important to tell them that he or she is number one? The best?
- Is it more likely that we will say that someone else does something better?
D. Read v. 10. This is a parallel to 3:6 where we get the same question: “Who is this coming up out of the desert like a column of smoke?” Here it says, “Who is this that looks like the dawn, the moon, and the sun?”
- Do you really think that Shulamith looked like all of these things? (No.) Then what do you think that Solomon was trying to say about her? (That she was bright, and she excited and delighted him.)
E. I thought that in the context of the 60 queens, the 80 concubines, and the “virgins beyond number,” that our lesson’s title “Drink from your own well” (and a picture of a single well) was, to put it mildly, missing the mark. But Song 6:10 is used by the lesson as part of the jumping-off point to Proverbs 5. Let’s turn to it and read 5:7–21.
- What do you think is meant by the term “Drink water from your own cistern?” (Song 4:12 makes reference to Shulamith being a “sealed fountain,” a “spring enclosed.” This is a reference to sex.)
- What do vv. 9–14 suggest are the results of marital infidelity?
a. “Come to the brink of ruin in the assembly.” What does that mean? (Your reputation shot among others.)
b. “That you will groan at the end of your life because your flesh and body are spent.” What does that mean? (It can mean that you have some sort of disease. It could also mean that you are filled with regrets about your life.)
c. “Strangers feast on your wealth and you toil to enrich another man.” Does this seem to be true? (A CPA that works with me as an expert witness was testifying one day. I knew that he lived at a very expensive address: Potomac, MD. But this day when he was giving his address as part of his testimony, he said that he lived in Vienna, VA. I asked him what happened to his house in Potomac. He told me that his ex-house was in the possession of his ex-wife.)
F. What do you see as the problems that arise from marital infidelity?
G. What do verses 8, 12, 18–20 suggest that we should do to avoid this trap of marital infidelity?
- v. 8: Do not go to the house of one with whom you might have an affair. “Keep to a path” might mean not to regularly visit with one to whom you are attracted.
- v. 12: Exercise some discipline on this subject. Be aware of and follow the advice/correction of others.
- vv. 18–20: Rejoice and be excited with your spouse. If you are excited by someone else, that is a warning signal. Physical contact with another person (embracing the bosom of another man’s wife) is another warning signal. Although this term is used in Gen. 16:5 by Sarah to refer to giving Hagar to Abram: “I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived ….”
II. The Wedding Dance
A. Now that we have made the detour from the Song mandated by the lesson, let’s go back to the Song and the wedding dance. Read Song 6:13. The word “return” (KJV) or “come back” (NIV) is the Hebrew word “shub.” Shub not only can mean “return,” it can also mean constant movement (as in Gen. 8:7 where Noah sent out the raven and it flew back and forth). So friends are saying to Shulamith in the first part of v. 13, “Move!” We want to see you dance.
(If questioned: the word that the KJV translates “company” is a feminine term meaning “dance.” I think it does this because the last word translated “army” can also mean “company.”)
B. What does Shulamith say in response in the last part of v. 13? (Why me?)
C. So she starts to dance. Read 7:1–5. Before the marriage we had Solomon describing Shulamith from the head down, and he didn’t get too far down. Now that she is married the description starts from the feet up—perhaps because she is dancing.
- What do they say about her feet and legs? (That they are beautiful and graceful.)
- Can’t you see in your mind’s eye her dancing and the crowd commenting on her feet and legs?
D. I’m going to skip over verses 2 and 3 because the commentaries believe that the description is considerably more intimate and private than these verses make it appear. I feel more comfortable going for the neck, so let’s go there.
E. Her neck is like an ivory tower. How is this a compliment? (In 4:4 Solomon called her neck a tower. The idea is that it is graceful and strong.)
F. The difference here is that she does not seem to be wearing any jewelry around her neck now. Before it referred to shields hanging on her neck.
G. Eyes.
H. What about her nose being like a tower and looking towards Damascus—solid limestone and 10,000 feet high? Tell them that this put the kibosh on reading this at our wedding. (The “tower of Lebanon” refers to the white mountains of Lebanon that face towards Damascus. It probably refers to the dignity and color rather than the size, although Middle Eastern standards for nose beauty are not the same as European.)
I. Mt. Carmel (grandeur and majesty). Her hair captivates Solomon.
J. In verses 6–10, we now have Solomon speaking. Read. What do you think about what he says?
III. Next Week: Song 7:11–8:14.
