The mutual love of Christ and his church, 1-7. The hope, 8, 9, and calling of the church, 10-13. Christ's care of the church, 14, 15. The profession of the church, her faith and hope, 16, 17.
[Lady:]
1 I am the rose of Sharon/
and the lily of the valleys.
[Gentleman:]
2 As the lily among thorns,/
so is my love among the daughters.
[Lady:]
3 As the apple-tree among the trees of the forest,/
so is my beloved among the sons./
I sat down under his shadow with great delight,/
and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4 He brought me to the banqueting house,/
and his banner over me was love.
5 Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples,/
for I am sick with love.
6 His left hand is under my head/
and his right hand embraces me.
7 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,/
by the gazelles and by the does of the field,/
that you do not stir or awake my love/
until he pleases.
8 The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes/
leaping upon the mountains,/
skipping upon the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young buck./
Behold, he stands behind our wall./
He looks through the windows./
He glances through the lattice.
10 My beloved spoke and said to me,/
"Rise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
11 For behold, the winter is past,/
the rain is over and gone.
12 The flowers appear on the earth./
The time of the singing of birds has come,/
and the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land.
13 The fig-tree puts forth her green figs,/
and the vines with the tender grape/
give a good smell./
Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away."
[Gentleman:]
14 O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,/
in the secret places of the precipice,/
let me see your countenance,/
let me hear your voice./
For your voice is sweet and your countenance is beautiful.
15 Take for us the foxes, the little foxes/
that plunder the vines,/
for our vines have tender grapes.
[Lady:]
16 My beloved is mine and I am his./
He feeds among the lilies.
17 Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away,/
turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young buck/
upon the mountains of Bether.
Matthew Henry Commentary - Song of Solomon, Chapter 2[➚]
John Gill's Chapter Summary:
Here begins a new colloquy between Christ and his church, in which they alternately set forth the excellencies of each other and express their mutual affection for and delight and pleasure they take in each other’s company. Christ seems to begin, in an account of himself and his own excellencies and of the church in her present state (Song of Solomon 2:1-2); then she, in her turn, praises him and commends him above all others relates some choice proofs she had had of his love to her and of communion with him in his house and ordinances, to such a degree as to overcome her (Song of Solomon 2:3-6); and then either he or she gives a charge to the daughters of Jerusalem, not to disturb either the one or the other in their sweet repose (Song of Solomon 2:7). Next the church relates how she heard the voice of Christ and had a sight of him on the hills and mountains, at some distance, then more nearly, behind her wall and through the lattices (Song of Solomon 2:8-9); and expresses the very words in which he spoke to her and gave her a call to come away with him, making use of arguments from the season of the year, the signs of which are beautifully described (Song of Solomon 2:10-13); and requests that she would come out of her solitude so that he might enjoy her company, whose countenance and voice are so delightful to him, and gives a charge to her and her friends to seize on such as were harmful and prejudicial to their mutual property (Song of Solomon 2:14-15). And she closes the chapter with expressing her faith of interest in Christ, and with a petition for his speedy approach to her and continued presence with her (Song of Solomon 2:16-17).