1 WHITHER is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee.
2 My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
3 I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies.
4 Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners.
5 Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead.
6 Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, whereof every one beareth twins, and there is not one barren among them.
7 As a piece of a pomegranate are thy temples within thy locks.
8 There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number.
9 My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.
10 Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?
11 I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded.
12 Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib.
13 Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies

1Whither is thy beloued gone? O thou fairest among women, whither is thy beloued turned aside? that we may seeke him with thee.

2My beloued is gone downe into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feede in the gardens, and to gather lillies.

3I am my beloueds, & my beloued is mine: he feedeth among the lillies.

4 Thou art beautifull, O my loue, as Tirzah, comely as Ierusalem, terrible as an armie with banners.

5Turne away thine eyes from me, for they haue ouercome me: thy haire is a flocke of goates, that appeare from Gilead.

6Thy teeth are as a flocke of sheepe which goe vp from the washing, wherof euery one beareth twinnes, and there is not one barren among them.

7As a piece of a pomegranat are thy temples within thy lockes.

8There are threescore Queenes, and fourescore concubines, and virgins without number.

9My doue, my vndefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her: The daughters sawe her, and blessed her; yea the Queenes and the concubins, and they praysed her.

10 Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, faire as the moone, cleare as the sunne, and terrible as an armie with banners?

11I went downe into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranats budded.

12Or euer I was aware, my soule made me like the chariots of Amminadib.

13Returne, returne, O Shulamite; returne, returne, that we may looke vpon thee: what will yee see in the Shulamite? as it were the company of two armies.

I == Song 1:8

 

 

 

III == Song 2:16 ; 7:10

 

IV == Song 6:10

V == Song 4:1

 

VI == Song 4:2

 

VII == Song 4:3

 

 

 

 

 

 

X == Song 6:4

 

 

XI == Song 7:12

 

 

 

XIII == Gen 32:2

1 Where has your lover gone,
O most beautiful among women?
Where has your lover gone
that we may seek him with you?

2 My lover has come down to his garden,
to the beds of spice,
To browse in the garden
and to gather lilies.

3 My lover belongs to me and I to him;
he browses among the lilies.

4 You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my beloved,
as lovely as Jerusalem,
as awe-inspiring as bannered troops.

5 Turn your eyes from me,
for they torment me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down from Gilead.

6 Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
which come up from the washing,
All of them big with twins,
none of them thin and barren.

7 Your cheek is like a half-pomegranate
behind your veil.

8 There are sixty queens, eighty concubines,
and maidens without number -

9 One alone is my dove, my perfect one,
her mother's chosen,
the dear one of her parent.
The daughters saw her and declared her fortunate,
the queens and concubines, and they sang her praises;

10 Who is this that comes forth like the dawn,
as beautiful as the moon, as resplendent as the sun,
as awe-inspiring as bannered troops?

11 I came down to the nut garden
to look at the fresh growth of the valley,
To see if the vines were in bloom.
if the pomegranates had blossomed.

12 Before I knew it, my heart had made me
the blessed one of my kinswomen.

v 1. In 1:8 the others of the harem may have mocked her beauty, but now they see her as she is, and after that vivid description, they too want to seek for him. (This is an answer to the problem of 2:16, as we tell others of Christ, they may desire Him.)

v 2,3. For all her searching, she knew in reality where, because of his nature, he would be found. She is again possessive, as in 2:16, that she is his and he is hers.

 

 

v 4-9. Solomon had entered and heard her impassioned statements of love, and though he sees he cannot woo her, he cannot help but express his admiration, respect and love. This may have been written early in his reign as he had just sixty wives and eighty concubines. There was also an endless supply of virgins, but the Shunamite excelled them all, and she had their praise and admiration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

v 10. The others of the harem were amazed at her spunk before the king and wondered how this humble but beautiful farm girl happened to be among princesses.

v 11-13. Her answer was that she went down to the orchard one day to see how things were doing, and not being discreet in her actions, she had wandered into the area of the king’s retinue. Since her family probably rented the vineyard from him, that may not have been far. They asked her to turn and show her beauty as in a dance, and being temporarily lifted up in pride, she succumbed to their attentions.
(How often pride and the praise of men may momentarily sweep us off our feet.)