The Right Time for Love
The Young Woman
v1 I am only a wild flower from Sharon,
a wild flower of the valleys.
The Young Man
v2 You are like a wild flower,
a wild flower among thorns.
You are my very dear woman among women.
The Young Woman
v3 You are like an apple tree.
This tree is among the trees of the forest.
This is what you are like among young men.
I sit in your shade with great pleasure.
Your apples taste good. They are sweet.
v4 He has taken me to his house.
It is where he has special meals.
Everyone can see how much he loves me.
v5 He has made me strong again with his fruit.
I feel much better with his apples!
I am weak with love.
v6 His left hand is under my head.
And he touches me softly with his right hand.
v7 Women in Jerusalem, make a promise to me.
Think about the wild gazelles and deer as you make this promise.
Do not think about love until the right time.
The Young Woman
v8 Listen! My lover!
Look! Here he comes!
He is jumping across the mountains.
He is jumping over the hills.
v9 My lover is like a gazelle.
Or, like a young deer.
He is like an animal that can run fast.
Look at him, as he stands next to the wall.
He looks in through the window.
He looks through the wooden bars.
v10 My lover speaks to me.
The Young Man
Come then, woman whom I love.
My dearest, come with me.
v11 Look, the winter is over,
the rains have come and gone.
v12 Flowers appear in the country;
birds are singing.
in the fields, people can hear the song of doves.
v13 Young figs are growing on the fig trees.
Smell the flowers on the vines.
Get up, my dear, my beautiful lady.
Come with me.
v14 You are like a dove that hides in holes in the cliffs.
It is as if you are hiding in secret places in the cliffs.
Let me see your face.
Let me hear your voice.
Your voice is so pleasant,
and your face is so lovely.
v15 Catch the foxes for us.
These little foxes spoil the vineyard.
There are flowers in our vineyard now.
The Young Woman
v16 My lover is mine,
and I am his!
My lover eats among the lotuses.
v17 Turn, my lover,
until the day begins.
And until the shadows go away.
You should be like a gazelle,
or a young deer on the mountains of Bether.
Commentary
Verses 1-2
The man and woman seem to disagree with each other here. In verse 1, she explains that she is like a common flower. That is, of course, very different from her description of him in 1:14. She is saying that there are many other women like her. She does not consider herself special.
But in verse 2, the young man does not agree with her. He agrees that she is like such a flower. But only if one compares that flower with thorns. Of course, *thorns are not attractive. But he considers her very precious and attractive.
Verses 3-6
She continues the conversation with a similar description of him. He is like an apple tree. But that tree is not in a garden where there are many other similar trees. It is in the forest, where she is very pleased to find it. And that tree is wonderful. It provides shade from the hot sun. It provides a meal of fruit. That fruit will make her strong. She needs to be strong, because she feels weak. Love seems so powerful an emotion that it has made her weak. And he seems to be the only remedy!
Verse 7
This is a very important verse in the Song. It appears here, in 3:5, and in 8:4. The woman urges people to make a serious promise. There is a proper time to express love. It is so important not to do that before the proper time.
The woman speaks about wild gazelles and deer as she says this. That is because wild gazelles and deer know the proper season to mate. This fact is very clear from their behavior. Nobody tells them when the right time is. But they already know it.
However, people often find it much more difficult to work out when the right time is.
Verses 8-9
The young woman has spoken about the wild gazelles and deer. And now she sees one. Actually, she does not see an animal. She sees the young man. But he seems like a wild gazelle or a deer to her.
That is because he seems to know the right time for their marriage! He is so pleased to come to her. But he comes gently. He does not force his way into her home. He will not force her to do anything. But he will invite her to marry him.
Verses 10-13
The young man’s invitation is very gentle. He is simply trying to prove that the right time for marriage has arrived. He describes a series of events in nature. These events happen between winter and spring. They happen in the order that he describes. The birds are singing. The plants are flowering. They all know the right time. And so, he argues, now is the right time for their marriage, too.
Verse 14
At the end of the events in verses 10-13, the doves build their nests in the cliffs. So the man says that the woman is ‘like a dove’. He hopes that she will agree to marry. Then, like the doves with their nests, the man and woman will be able to have a home together.
Verse 15
Love is not without danger. In verse 13, the man compared their love to the flowers in the vineyard. Young *foxes will spoil the young fruits that grow in a vineyard. Unless the farmer catches them, there will be no harvest from the vines.
And unless the young woman acts now, their marriage cannot happen yet. So their love will not bring about any permanent result. It will just be an emotion that may disappear.
Verse 16-17
Verse 16 is another important verse. Similar words appear here, in 6:3 and 7:10. Each time, the words change slightly. They show how the woman’s attitudes become more mature.
Here, she seems to respect the man only slightly. Yes, she loves him. But his love is like her love, she says. She again speaks about the flowers in 2:1. There, she said that there were many women like her. Now, she says that he is like a gazelle. He is choosing a flower, and he has many flowers to choose from. So the man speaks nice words. But she pretends that he would speak those words to other women too.
Like the gazelle, he must turn and go to the mountains. There may be a proper time for their love. But she is not ready. He must go away.
The Right Time
This man and woman cared very much about the right time for their marriage. They did not want to do anything too quickly. Instead, they waited until they were both ready to become engaged.
During this period of history, people studied very much how to be wise. One of the things that they studied was the right time to do things (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). So, as the man and woman thought about the right time for marriage, they too were studying wisdom. Perhaps that is why the Song of Songs is among the Bible’s wisdom books.
Still today, young people care very much about the right time to do things. They ask when it is right to hug or to kiss. They ask whether they should be alone together. They want to know when they may have sex. They inquire when they ought to become engaged or to marry.
The Bible gives clear instructions about some of these matters. For example, it says that a man and a woman should not have sex before their marriage.
But there are other matters where the Bible does not give clear answers. For example, different societies have different ideas about when it is right to hug or to kiss. But the Bible does encourage us to study to be wise. And if we study to be wise, we shall learn good answers. So, it is never wise to allow your emotions to become out of control. And you should never put yourself in danger with someone who may not be responsible.
Also, the Bible does not say at what age a person should marry. But it does teach that the married relationship should last. It should continue for the whole life of the husband and wife. So you should not marry until you are ready to make such an important and permanent decision.
Many people teach that the Song of Songs is mainly about a person’s relationship with God. And there is also a right time to begin a relationship with God. That time is called ‘today’ (Hebrews 4:7)! Also, there will be a future time when Jesus will return. He will return like a bridegroom who comes to marry his bride. Only God the Father knows that time (Mark 13:32). But it will happen – at the right time!
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