So if we're doing Song of Solomon, we've got to think about Solomon's life. And I guess I should pray before we start, so let's pray and we'll officially get going. Father, we do commit this time to you, probably one of the most hard to understand books of the Bible we're going to be looking at. We pray for you to guide us. Pray for us, pray for you to give each of us the whole, whatever the word is, to be tolerant of each other and not to judge each other for various opinions we might have about this. Help us as we look in your book. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. So, Solomon's age, he only lived to be about 60. We don't exactly know when he began ruling. It says he was a young man, so I'm going to assume he was about 20 years old. There's a lot in Kings about him that says he loved the Lord at that time, and this is when he prays for wisdom. God would have given him wealth, but he prays for wisdom, and marries the daughter of Pharaoh about that time. Four years into his reign, he started building the temple. Then they completed it 11 years into his reign and 20 years into his reign He completed his his own personal house that he apparently still had one wife at that time and moved her into that house She was the daughter of Pharaoh He prays a prayer in first first Kings 8 which you're probably familiar the prayer if you go look at it and And he's praying for the temple, that God would inhabit the temple and bless Israel through it, basically. And God appears to him a second time. So I assume, and this is an assumption, that he was in fellowship with God, basically, in that time. I'm not saying he didn't sin. He dealt with his sins and stuff like that in fellowship with God. So let's just take everything else away. And after this, this is when he got really, really rich, if you read Chronicles of Kings, talking about how he became one of the most wealthy people. He married foreign wives during this time, which he wasn't supposed to do. He multiplied horses, which God had told him not to do. So we see him starting to do things that probably he shouldn't. He's just disobeying God. And then a little bit later, he worships his foreign god's wives and falls away from God. So I'm going to assume, this is again assuming, we don't have the scriptures to say this, that he was out of fellowship with God during this time. And he died after reigning 40 years. And so if he started when he was 20, he was about 60. And as I said, we don't really know that 20 years of age thing. It's unclear whether he ever repented of his sin. I think reading Ecclesiastes, and we'll talk about that when we study Ecclesiastes in a few weeks, I think he did. I think in Ecclesiastes, he's telling us about the mistakes he's made in his life and advising us not to do that. He ends with, you know, with fear of God and keep the commandments applies to every man. So that's just an opinion that I feel like he recognized his sin and got right with God. So this is, again, assumption. I'm just assuming he probably wrote proverbs during that early time when he was in fellowship with God. Of course, a lot of it is a record of what his father, David, had taught him. And he probably leads us, he's way over here at the end, after he had kind of gotten straight with God. So that raises the question, well, where was Song of Solomon written? I'm going to suggest maybe right about there in this time when he's out of fellowship with God, marrying wives. And the reason I think that is there's a line in Song of Solomon that says there are 60 queens and 80 concubines. And they're all praising this girl that is the subject of the song. And so he ended up at the end of his life with 700 wives and 300 concubines. So I take it to mean that Song of Solomon was written sometime after he started collecting wives. early in that part of that. So that's in speculation. This is one of the most cryptic books, if not the most cryptic book in the Bible. And for 2,000 years, or maybe I should say 3,000, People have disagreed with what in the world it means, why it's in the Bible, what's God telling us through it. I think we can agree on what it says, and that's kind of my goal today, is just what do the words, English words in this case, say to us? And then in the next week, I'll talk about many different ways people have interpreted this. And the third week from now, I'll argue for one way that makes sense to me. We probably won't agree. There'll be some of you who have different opinions from me, probably. And I hope none of you are offended by mine, and we shouldn't be offended at each other, because this is hard. We can agree, I think, on what it says, what it means. We may disagree. So I bet that right now you could probably say, hey, Romans 3 is about this or that, and Romans 6 is about this, and Romans 5, and Romans 8. And you could tell me all about it. But if I said, what song is Solomon 3 about? you probably wouldn't have a clue, because it's just not fresh in our mind like something like Romans or Galatians is. So my goal today is to get the text of what it says fresh in our minds, not to argue about what it means. I'm going to read it more than once in here, and this is my apology for that. I always feel bad apologizing for reading a scripture, because the scripture tells us to give attention to reading a scripture. But it only takes about 12 minutes to read this little song, and we need to get it fresh in our minds. So the goal today is, what does it say? So I'll just start this here. It'll be about 12 minutes of reading. Now, I've broken this up. There are clues in the Hebrew about whether a man's talking or a woman's talking. You know how we have like he and she pronouns? Well, they actually have gender in their verbs. So there's a few more clues in the Hebrew. So the little blue tags at the beginning of each section tell if it's a woman to a man or a man to a woman. I don't think it'll ever say Solomon or whatever, it's just woman or man. But those are clues that we have that don't necessarily come across in English. So, and I'm using a different font. I'm going to use this feminine looking, if you will, font for the woman when she talks. So the woman of the song is talking here. May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. For your love is better than wine. Your oils have pleasing fragrance. Your name is like purified oil. Therefore, the maidens love you. Draw me after you and let us run together. The king has brought me into his chambers. And then, of course, these little tags in blue aren't part of your Bible, aren't part of anybody's Bible, but now it's a group of people, don't know if it's men or women, talking to a man. We will rejoice in you and be glad. We will extol your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you. And now the woman is talking. I am black but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Cedar, like the curtains of Solomon. Do not stare at me because I am swarthy, for the sun has burned me. My mother's sons were angry with me, and they made me caretaker of the vineyards. But I've not taken care of my own vineyard. Tell me, you who my soul loves, where do you pasture your flock? Where do you make it lie down at noon? For why should I be like one who veils herself beside the flock of your companions?" And then there's this group of, we don't know what they are, but they're called in the song, The Daughters of Jerusalem, and it's sort of like a chorus or something. But anyway, this is the daughter of Jerusalem talking to the woman. If you yourself do not know most beautiful among women. Go forth on the trail of the flock and pasture your young goats by the tents of the shepherds. And then a man's voice comes in here. I'm going to have a man with a bold type font. To me, my darling, you are like my mare among the chariots of Pharaoh. Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your necks with strings of beads. And then to a woman, we will make you ornaments of gold with beads of silver. The woman says, while the king was at his table, my perfume came forth this fragrance. My beloved is to me a pouch of myrrh which lies all night between my breasts. My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of Vengeti. And then a man speaking, how beautiful you are, my darling, how beautiful you are, your eyes are like doves. And then she says, how handsome you are, my beloved, and so pleasant. Indeed, our couch is luxuriant. The beams of our houses are cedars. Our rafters are cypress. I am the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valleys. And then a man speaking to somebody says, like a lily among the thorns, so is my darling among the maidens. And a woman speaking to a group of people, like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. In his shade I took great delight and sat down. His fruit was sweet to my taste. He has brought me to his banquet hall, and his banner over me is love. Sustain me with raisin cakes. Refresh me with apples, because I am lovesick. Let his left hand be under my head, and his right hand embrace me. And then a man speaking, I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or hinds of the field, that you do not arouse or awaken my love until she pleases. And then the woman says, listen, my beloved, behold, he's coming, climbing on the mountains, leaping on the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he's standing behind her wall. He's looking through the windows. He's peering through the lattice. My beloved responded and said to me, and now this is the woman still talking, but quoting her beloved. Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along, for behold, the winter is past, the rain is gone, the flowers have already appeared in the land, the time has come for pruning the vines, and the voice of the turtle dove has been heard in our land. The fig tree has ripened figs, and the vines and blossoms have given forth their fragrance. Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come along. Oh, my dove, and there's still the man talking, the woman quitting the man. Oh, my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the secret place of the steep pathway, let me see your form. Let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet and your form is lovely. And then, There's a group of people to, a group of men, catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that are ruining the vineyards while our vineyards are in blossom. And then a woman to somebody, my beloved is mine and I am his. He pastures his flock among the lilies. A woman to a man, until the cool of the day when the shadows flee away, turn my beloved and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of Beather. And then the woman talks, on my night, on my bed, night after night, I sought him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but did not find him. I must rise now and go about the city and the streets and squares. I must seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but did not find him. The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me. I said, have you seen him whom my soul loves? Scarcely had I left, and when I found him whom my soul loves, I held on to him and would not let him go. until I have brought him to my mother's house and into the room of her who conceived me. And then a man's voice, I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the hinds of the field, that you not arouse or awaken my love until she pleases. And then a section, this is a group of people talking to the daughters of Zion. What is this coming up from the wilderness, like columns of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the scented powders of the merchant? Behold, it's the traveling couch of Solomon. Sixty men around it, of the mighty men of Israel, all of them wielders of the sword, expert in war. Each man has his sword by his side, guarding against the terrors of the night. King Solomon has made for himself a sedan chair, from the timber of Lebanon. He made his posts of silver, his back of gold, his seat of purple fabric, with its interior lovingly fitted out by the daughters of Jerusalem. Go forth, O daughters of Zion, and gaze on King Solomon with the crown with which his mother has crowned him on the day of his wedding and on the day of his gladness of heart. And then there's a man's voice here. How beautiful you are, my darling. I'll be talking to a woman. How beautiful you are. Your eyes are like does behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats that has ascended from Mount Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn ewes which have come about from their washing, all of which bear twins. Not one of them has lost her young. Your lips are like scarlet. Your mouth is lovely. Your temples are like a slice of pomegranate behind your veil. Your neck is like the Tower of David built with rows of stones. on which are hung a thousand shields. All around the shields of the mighty man your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of exile, which feed among the lilies. And then a woman says to a man, until the cool of the day, when the shadows fade away, I will go to my mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense. And then a woman is saying, Awake, north wind, and come, wind of the south. Make my garden breathe forth its fragrance, and let its spices be wafted abroad. May my beloved come into his garden and eat his choice fruit. And a woman says, I'm sorry, a man says, I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride. I've gathered my myrrh along with my balsam. I've eaten my honeycomb with my honey. I've drunk my wine and my milk. And then a group of people say, eat, friends, drink, and imbibe deeply, O lovers. And the woman talks again. I was asleep, but my heart was awake. A voice. Behold, my beloved was knocking. And this is a blow, as she's quoting him. Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my perfect one, for my head is drenched with dew. My flocks were the damp of the night. And she says to him, I've taken off my dress. How can I put it on again? I have washed my feet. How can I dirty them again? My beloved extended his hand through the opening, and my feelings were aroused for him. I rose to open to my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, and my fingers with liquid myrrh on the handles of the bolt. I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned and had gone. My heart went out to him as he spoke. I searched for him, but I couldn't find him. I called him, but he did not answer. The watchmen who make the rounds of the city found me. They struck me and wounded me. The guards at the wall took away my shawl from me. I assure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you'll tell him, for I am lovesick." And then the daughters of Jerusalem say, well, what kind of beloved is your beloved, most beautiful among women? What kind of beloved is your beloved that you adjure us? And she says, my beloved is dazzling and ruddy, outstanding among 10,000. His head is like gold, pure gold. His flocks are like clusters of dates, as black as a raven. His eyes are like doves, besides streams of water, bathed in milk and reposed in their setting. His cheeks are like a bed of balsam. banks of sweet scented herbs. His lips are like lilies, dripping with myrrh. His hands are like rods of gold, set forth with beryl. His abdomen is carved ivory, inlaid with sapphires. His legs are pilasters of alabaster, set on pilasters of pure gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as the cedars. His mouth is full of sweetness, and he is wholly desirable. This is my beloved, O daughters of Jerusalem. And they say, well, where has he gone, O most beautiful young woman? Where has your beloved turned, that we may see him come with you? And she says, my beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of balsam, to pasture his flock in the gardens, and gather the lilies. I am my beloved's, and he is mine, he who pastures his flock among the lilies. And the man says, you are bright as tears are, my darling, as lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners. Turn your eyes away from me, for they confuse me. Your hair is like a flock of goats that have descended from Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of ewes which have come up from their washing. all of which were twins. Not one among them has lost their young. Your temples are like a slice of pomegranate behind your veil. There are 60 queens and 80 concubines, maidens without number. But my dove, my perfect one, is unique. She is her mother's only daughter. She is the pure child of the one who bore her. The maidens saw her and called her blessed. The queens and concubines also. And they praised her, saying, who is this that grows like the dawn, as beautiful as a full moon, as pure as the sun, as awesome as an army with banners? Then a woman says, I went down to the orchard of nut trees to see the blossoms of the valley, to see whether the vine had budded or the pomegranates had blossomed. Before I was aware, my soul set me over the chariots of my noble people." And then a group of people say, come back, come back, Oshulamite. Come back that we may gaze at you. And then a man says, why should you gaze at Oshulamite at the dance of two companies And then he goes on to describe her. How beautiful are your feet and sandals, O Prince's daughter. The curves of your hips are like jewels, the work of the hands of an artist. Your navel is like a round goblet which never lacks mixed wine. Your belly is like a heap of wheat, fenced about with lilies. Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle. Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes like the pool of Heshbon by the gate of Bath-Rabim. Your nose is like the Tower of Damascus. I'm sorry. Your nose is like the Tower of Lebanon, which faces toward Damascus. Your head crowns you like caramel, and the flowing locks of your head like purple threads. The king is captivated by your tresses. How beautiful and how delightful you are. my love with all your charms. Your stature is like a palm tree, and your breasts are like its clusters. I said, I'll climb the palm tree, I'll take hold of the clusters. Oh, that your breasts may be like the clusters of the vine, and the fragrance of your breath like apples, and your mouth like the best wine. And she says, it goes down smoothly for my beloved. Behold, flowing gently through the lips of those who fall asleep. I am my beloved's, and his desire is for me. Come, and she says, come, my beloved. Let's go into the country. Let's spend the night in the villages. Let's rise early and go into the vineyards. Let's see whether the vine has budded and the blossoms have opened, whether the pomegranates have bloomed. There I will give you my love. The mandrakes have given forth their fragrance, and over our doors are all choice fruits, both old and new, which I have saved up for you, my beloved. Oh, that you were like a brother to me, who nursed my mother's breasts. If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you, and no one would despise me either. I would lead you and bring you into the house of my mother. He used to instruct me. I would give you a spiced wine to drink from the juice of my pomegranates. Let his left hand be under my head, his right hand embrace me. I want you to, and again, I want you to swear our daughters of Jerusalem, do not arouse or awaken my love until she pleases. The woman says, beneath the apple tree I awaken you. I think we missed something. Yeah, I'm sorry. I missed the bottom part there. Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? And this is really the The first time that the woman and her beloved had been together, obviously at least. Beneath the aperture I awakened you. There your mother was in labor with you. There she was in labor with you and gave you birth. Put me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm. For love is strong as death. Jealousy is as severe as shield. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench love, nor will rivers overflow it. If a man were to give all the riches of his house for love, it would be utterly despised. And the woman here is quoting her brothers in the past. We have a little sister and she has no breasts. What shall we do for her sister on the day when she's spoken for? If she's a wall, we'll build on her a bed of silver. But if she's a door, we'll barricade her with planks of silver. And she says, I was a wall, and my breasts were like towers. Then I became in his eyes as one who finds peace. Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon. He entrusted the vineyard to caretakers. Each one was to bring 1,000 shekels of silver for its fruit. My very own vineyard at my disposal. The 1,000 shekels are for you, Solomon. And the 200 are for those who take care of its fruit. And then a woman, oh, you who sits in the gardens, look, yeah, this is a man talking. You who sits in the gardens, my companion, you're listening for your voice, let me hear it. And then a woman says, hurry, my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices. And that's the end. So we've read a bunch of words that we're gonna talk about what the words mean, just in English. And I think, like I said, we can agree on that, but I say, I hope we can agree on what the words say. What they mean is really pretty hard. So, I've done a lot of reading, and I think it took more than 12 minutes, but we're gonna go through it again. Got any questions or comments right now? I missed, really? Well, it could be they left some out. I'm sorry about that. You're checking up on me. So you're right. I've left out a section. And what do they say? What do they? If you don't want to read it, that's fine. Just tell me what to say, if you will. feathers, your lovely wine, and the fragrance of your oils and any spice. Your lips, your nectar, my bride, and your milk are near your tongue, the fragrance of your garments is the fragrance of Lebanon. A garden lot is my sister, my bride, a spring lot, a fountain field. Your shoes are an orchard of pomegranates with all choicest fruits, henna with nard, nard with saffron, thalamus with cinnamon, all trees of fragrance that is myrrh and aloe, with all choicest spices, Thank you. Yeah, you can tell I had to put this together, but I just left that section out. And actually, it's too bad. It's got, I think, a real key verse in it there where he said, a garden locked is my sister, my bride. So this is a man talking. He's praising her beauty. And he makes that comment that she's a garden locked. And then right after that, she asks, so wake on earth one and come south wind. Make my garden breathe forth its fragrance with its spices. If it weft abroad, may my beloved come into his garden. So we go from the locked, which I left out, unfortunately, to she's wanting him to come in. And then here, a guy says, I have come in. And then here they say, eat, friends, drink, and by will of her. So sorry about that. And thank you for catching it. I'm really impressed. that you're following along so well. So I want us to go through, I won't read it again, but talk through it again, and I want us to look for sections where the girl's describing her beloved, where a man is describing a woman by describing her body sexually, and places where Solomon or the king are mentioned, where we're clearly talking about Solomon in various repeated refrains. So it starts off, you know, kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, And I'm just going to kind of answer those questions here as we go through it. And I'm going to color the parts that are the woman talking about her beloved or to her beloved in green. And so that's one of them. And then here's a reference to the king. So she's talking to your beloved and she mentions, the king has brought me into his chambers at the end. This one here toward the bottom. She's talking to her beloved. Tell me, where do you pasture your flock? And then the people of Jerusalem, women of Jerusalem, say, if you don't know, blah, blah. And then this guy comparing her to a mare among a bunch of chariots. And then she says, well, the king was at his table. My perfume gave forth its fragrance. My beloved is me. So this is one another one. Dang it. We'll see. This thing went way ahead, apparently. So we did that. Yeah. There we are. That's where I want to be. So my beloved is to me a patch of myrrh. So he's talking about her beloved here. The king is mentioned again. So clearly, Solomon has something to do with this. She talks about how handsome he is, how pleasant, some things about the place they used to be, apparently. She describes it. One problem with this is it uses so many metaphors that we can't relate to. I try to think, what is an apple tree among the forest of trees mean? and you know pomegranates and things blooming and there's lots of references but that's going to be for a later discussion not today. So here though she's talking about her beloved These lines here are repeated later, just making that note at this point. And then this little section right here, this refrain, if you notice, it's repeated three times. And it so happens right there, and I'll point out where it happens again. Now the woman's talking about her beloved below, he's coming, he's on the mountains, he's looking through the windows, looking through the lattice, and he's saying these things to her, that the spring has come and come out, And then this, whatever this, catch the little foxes for us, and my beloved is mine, I'm his. This phrase here is repeated later, until the cool of the day when the shadows flee away. And then this gazelle or young sag is actually a time before this that I missed that's mentioned, and there will be another one where it's repeated at the end. Here she's talking about her beloved, on my night, on my bed, and I sought him, and then she has what sounds to me like a dream. The watchmen in the city, they just ask her a question here at this point, and she finds her beloved. And here's that refrain again. This is the second time it's occurred, and it's going to occur one more time. Here we're talking about Solomon and quite clearly he's in the sedan chair. There's a big caravan of people going somewhere with Solomon and the retinue of them and a whole bunch of people. And so then probably this is key somehow that he's wearing a crown, which his mother had crowned him on the day of his wedding. And then we hear this, really the first time now, is a man describing the woman in sort of sexual terms. I'm going to call those red. But it's the first time there, beautiful you are, and stuff like that. And again, your neck is like part of it. How do we relate to that? Some of these images, metaphors, are just weird to me. We've seen this before, until the cool of the day when the shadows flail away, just observing this repeated don't have an interpretation at this point. And then the missing verses, we just went by, where he's praising her, and he mentions that she has a garden locked, and here she wants the wind to waft forth the smell of her garden, and may her beloved come into the garden, and her beloved does come into the garden, and let's just come and eat, friends. So here's another one she's wishing about her beloved, Then we go to another long section where she's talking about her beloved. She's asleep, but she's awake. She hears him saying, come on out. She won't get up out of bed. She finally does get out of bed, but he's gone away. And fingers dripping with myrrh. Well, myrrh is a common theme through here. We've seen it many times. Whatever it means here is going on. She opens up. He's gone. She goes out. She's looking for him. The watchmen of the city find her. They strike her and wound her. They take away her shawl. And she asks the daughter of Jerusalem to find her beloved and tell her that she's lovesick. And so obviously that was all green. But the people, the women of Jerusalem say, well, what kind of beloved is your beloved? And she says, well, he's a dazzling and ruddy shepherd, basically, is what she says there. She's talking about him. More she's talking about him. And then here we have a man describing a woman sexually again. Let's see. We've got hair. We've got teeth. you know, temples and 60 queens and 80 concubines, and they're all saying she's a wonderful girl. And then this phrase, which probably has some significance, but we won't worry about it much today. I went down to the orchard and nut trees to see the blossoms of the valley, to see whether the vine has budded or the pomegranates had bloomed. Before I was aware, my soul set me over the chariots of my people. So somehow she's on a chariot, and it's got some significance, and people are telling her to come back. And then a man says, why should you gaze at her? And then those lines appear later. a man describing a woman sexually again, and it's getting more detailed. We're going to get down to hips and navel and belly and breasts and neck and nose and on and on. And then he says, And he says, your stature's like a palm tree, and your breasts like its clusters. And then he says, I said, I'll climb the palm tree and take hold of its fruits. And he wants to climb this palm tree and get to her fruits, which are her breasts. And it's the king talking here. So clearly, this is Solomon talking at this point, I think clearly. And then she says, it goes down smoothly for my beloved, flowing gently through the lips of those who fall asleep. I am my beloved. and his desires for me." So there she's ascribing him. And then she's wanting her beloved to come with her. We saw these lines earlier about seeing whether the vine has budded. She's wishing that her beloved was her brother so that she could hug him in public and nobody would... I think I need to go to the left hand. No, we're passed by that, sorry. Yeah, so nobody would think she was wrong if she was kissing him. And then this phrase again, this is the third time now, once she owed a daughter to Jerusalem, don't arouse her work of my love till she pleases it. And then the woman with her, beloved, and then this stuff about being born below the apple tree, and then the brothers talking about their little sister, that she hasn't any breasts. When she grows up, is she going to be a wall or a door? Which I won't say what I think those things mean right now, but you can probably kind of guess. And she says she was a wall, but she became, in Solomon's eyes, as one who's desired. And there's this stuff about how Solomon gives her a vineyard, and there's money coming from it, and the money is for you, Solomon. And then, yeah, that's all that's mentioned there. And finally, this is the end. She's calling for her beloved to hurry and be with him, be with her. And there's that phrase again. I don't know what I'd ask you at this point. I want to point out some things, though. This phrase right here that we saw three times is ambiguous in Hebrew. The New American Standard and the Geneva Bible translate it this way, I want you to swear, O daughters of Jerusalem, do not arouse or awaken my love until she pleases. But the NIV and the ESV and the New King James translate it, daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you, do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires. You see the difference, don't you? The first case, somebody is not wanting his or her love to be woken up. until she pleases. And the second one, we don't want love itself, either the emotion or the physical act, to be awakened until it so desires. You see the difference, right? It's a pretty big difference. And that refrain, if you will, occurs three times, each time having that same ambiguity. The reason it is ambiguous is the word There's a word, ahava, which means love. It's just a word for love. But a person could use that term for the person they love. Like I could call Sharon ahava and just address her as love. And we mean my love, essentially, when you're talking to a person and addressing them as that. So the word ahava can either be addressing a person that you love or just the word love. And that's why it's ambiguous between those two. So if we look around in the song for how people refer to people, she never uses that term to talk about her beloved. She uses the term give me dodi, which occurs about 32 times for her beloved. But Solomon does use the word ahava in 7.6, where he says, how beautiful you and how delightful you are, ahava, with all your charms. And that Ahavah is translated, my love, I think, in every translation. And so I think, and this is my opinion, I'm giving you an opinion already now, that since he uses Ahavah to refer to the woman in 7-6, and I think that's undeniable, I think also these other three places are him talking about the girl. So I prefer the words that were in the text read to you. I want you to swear, O daughters of Jerusalem, do not arouse or awaken my love until she pleases." Now, perhaps you noticed, did you notice, I'll put a question here, things just sound like dreams. As I read it, it just seems like the song is full of the woman dreaming. And that's the only reason I like this. I take this to be, it's an interpretation now, Solomon saying, I want you to swear, daughters of Jerusalem, not to arouse or awaken my love, being the woman until she pleases. And that's a bit of an interpretation, which is how we wouldn't get into, but I do take it that way. And then there's another phrase that, oh, let's see. No, no, I've got a slide ahead of myself. This place occurs three times. We know that already. And a lot of scholars think that each place it occurs is the end of a section. Okay, and there's another phrase that probably this guy, I'll just go ahead and go to it. This is, you know, before we had the garden locked part that I left out, and then the woman wishing that her beloved would come to the garden, and now the blows come to the garden, and he's gathered everything, and they're exhorting to eat and drink and, by the way, most people think that's some sort of a reference to a sexual encounter of some sort. And, And this verse here, people point out, is the exact middle verse of the song. And I think it's some sort of a climax, if you will. So based on that, I'm going to assume that the song is split up this way, where it has sections ending with this phrase, do not arouse or awaken my love until she pleases. And right there in the middle is this part that ends with drink and vibe deeply, oh lovers. So I want to go through the song one more time. We'll go faster this time. I want us to look for dream sections, identify them, places that somebody's dreaming. And I want us to stop after each section and try to just summarize what it says, not what it means. So let's go to the third time. We've seen this woman describing her beloved and talking about the king also, and a woman describing her beloved. And then she doesn't know where to go. And her perfume's getting worse. It's fragrance. And her beloved's just hurting wine, the king, et cetera. Yeah, we're getting to the near end. Well, then she's talking about her beloved again. And finally, here we have the end of the first section, if in fact that means an end. So how do we summarize that section? I'll go ahead and summarize this, and I may ask you guys to speak up in the next sections. But there's a country girl whose overbearing brothers made her work in a vineyard. She's in love with her beloved, whom she describes as a shepherd. She's longing to be with her beloved. and the king has brought her into his chambers. I think, and you can disagree with me here, but I think we can agree that the English words and the Hebrew words say that in the first section. Now, we would interpret what in the world does it mean, that's a whole different question, but that's what I take it to say. Let's go on. So the next section, she's describing her beloved. He's coming on the hills. He's like a gazelle. He's standing outside the wall. He's looking through the windows, peering through the lattice. This sounds like a dream to me. Now, it's not the strongest dream sequence, but it does. I think she's dreaming at this point. And then he tells her to come on out. This is still part of the dream. And he wants to be with her alone and see her. And that's still part of the dream. And then we had this spray to catch the little foxes that were in the vineyard, et cetera. And then we'll just go on to this. The next place where she talks about her beloved, on my bed, night after night, I sought him who my soul loves. And then she goes out and the watchman, and then she asks him if they found him. I think that's another dream, to make a long story short. She even starts off, on my bed, night after night, I sought him. And then this section ends with, I adjure you, a daughter of Jerusalem, not waking her until she pleases. So how do we summarize that section? I'll go ahead and give you my answer there. The girl dreams that the time has come for her to be with her beloved, and he has Excuse me, he has come for her and wants to be alone with her. And then in another dream, she's searching for him and she finds him and takes him into her room in her brother's house. There's just so much of this stuff where she can't find him and she doesn't know where he is all through this. In section three, Solomon gets in the story here clearly. He might be in it before this, but we're specifically mentioning Solomon. We're talking about this big caravan of people, of warriors, and of a sedan chair that he has that's made out of gold and all this wonderful stuff. And then we get the first. Yeah. Well, now you're interpreting, and I'm not gonna lie. Let me make a couple comments about, because first of all, let me observe that you're trying to interpret it chronologically. You're saying, did that happen, and they shared the dream, and now this is happening? And I think a lot of people suggest this isn't chronological, but it's got that structure that kind of builds toward a climax and goes away. So right in the middle is, this apparently explicit love making part and you know that my brother, if you start to think about it chronologically, looks like he's not married yet. But apparently, and I say apparently, the song is not meant to be interpreted chronologically. So, but it is really important to hear that Solomon is getting married here, apparently. Huh? Yes, he does. I'll just leave it as his, he's wearing a crown and it's a crown that his mother crowned him on with on his wedding day. I'll leave it at that. And then we get the first description of her sexually and then just go on through all that. She's wanting the wind to waft the smell away, and her beloved comes in the garden. Then here's this climax part, or whatever it's about. And so the summary of the section, Solomon appears riding in an exquisite sedan chair amid a large caravan of warriors with a great pomp and circumstance. I think that's meant to be seen that way. He's wearing a crown given him by his mother on his wedding day, whatever that means. He describes the body of a woman that he, presumably the girl, but that's an interpretation, whom he desires sexually. And a woman, presumably the girl in my opinion, wishes the wind would blow the fragrance of her garden to her beloved so that he would come and enjoy its fruit. And again, that's not, I think that's what it says, and what it means we'll worry about next week. Oh yeah, finally, her beloved does come into the garden and they each partake, whatever that means. Then we have another dream here. This is the most obvious dream section. I was asleep, but my heart was awake. And she hears the voice of him, and she says, no, I'm in bed. I can't get up again. And she finally does get up, but he's gone away. And she goes out and searches. And the watchman, this time, beat her and took away her shawl. And she asked the Dr. Jerusalem to help find him. And this is the dream continued, I think. And they ask her what kind of beloved he is, and she describes it in this way. And then they say, where has he gone? And I guess I went too quick. He's gone down to his garden. And then we have this voice just sort of pop in here describing her about how sexually, again, her eyes, et cetera. And it just gets more that way. But then we've got 60 queens and 80 concubines. And so you mentioned you're a bunch of women. You're right about that. And then this is a verse which, again, I think means something, but we won't talk about it yet. I went down to the orchard of nut trees to see the blossoms of the valley, to see whether the vine had budded or the pomegranates had bloomed. Before I was aware, my soul set me over the chariots of my noble people. And so she's going somewhere, and people are calling her to come back. And then this voice again describing her sexually, and this is the most explicit one. Breasts are like fawns, neck, et cetera. The king is captivated by your hair. So I think this is Solomon certainly talking at this point. And he's going to climb the palm tree. And he wishes that he could take hold of the fruit. He hopes he'll be able to take hold of the fruit. And then she says, well, it goes down smoothly for my beloved. And then she talks about her beloved. And yeah, so they're going to go out in the country, et cetera. She wishes he was like a brother so she could embrace him and kiss him in public. And that refrain, let his left hand be under my head, his right hand embrace me. The third time now, somebody wanting her not to be woken up. So what does the fourth section summarize as? I'll just give you my answer. The girl dreams she's searching the streets after dark, looking for her beloved. The watchmen of the city find her and beat her. She asks the daughters of Jerusalem to help. They ask her what her beloved is like. She answers he's a handsome shepherd. Solomon's voice appears as describing her sexually. The girl calls her beloved. to join her in the country. And she wishes he was her brother. There's nothing anymore. That's the end of it. So she can embrace him and kiss him in public. And now we're at the last section. So who is this coming up from the wilderness, landing on her beloved? So she is with her beloved at this time. This stuff about the apple tree and the sister with no breast and what are we gonna do and I was a wall etc and And then we're at the end and the last section I'll say finally we said the woman with her beloved now. I think that's the first time it's clear that they've been together She makes a moralizing statement Love is as strong as death many waters cannot quench love nor will rivers overflow it If a man were to give all the riches of his house for love, it would be utterly despised. I think however we come down his interpretation for the song, that little set of verses there is going to have to be a key part of it. She remembers how when she was young, her brothers used to wonder what she'd do if she was a door. But she said she was a wall, and her breasts were like towers. And then she became as one who finds peace in his eyes. And Solomon had a vineyard. And he gave her this vineyard, apparently. And there was 1,000 shekels associated with it. And the money is for Solomon, et cetera. And then it ends with her calling her beloved to join her. So what do we conclude? So we're done with the whole song now. And I even summarized the last section. And we're doing OK on time. I think we'll have to keep talking, though, to keep us on time. I think there's a song, which is at face value, is about a girl and her beloved. The girl wants to be with her beloved, but there are various objects preventing them from getting together. I think that's a fair summary of it. It teaches some sort of moral truth, which I think is summed up in that, especially the last two lines. You can't buy love, quoting the Beatles. If a man were to give all his riches for love, he'd be utterly despised. So different ways of interpreting it. In the last two, now we're really getting into next week's material, but I want to give you a preview. People have interpreted this as allegory, topology, and historical. Christians and Jews, and we'll talk about some of each of those next week. But I just want to tell you what those are. Allegory means there's a story that's absurd. Like here in black is an allegory from Judges where it says, the trees went forth to anoint a king over them. They said to the olive tree, rain over us. Well, that's absurd. Trees don't talk. Trees don't have kings. And so in an allegory, the elements of the story are imaginary, like the trees being kings. And the allegory isn't something that ever occurred in real life. The yellowness of the story symbolized something else. And people, this in fact has been the most common way to summarize this as long as Holloman will look at some of those next week. I jumped ahead, excuse me. Allegory is recognized by the absurdity of a literal interpretation. Trees talking, trees asking another tree to rule, it's just absurd. So you read that and you say the meaning, the text is absurd, so it must mean something else. What does it mean? And the absurdity drives you to look for other meaning. And a lot of people have read this song that we just read today, and they said, hey, that's absurd, so it must mean, those things must symbolize something, it must be allegorical. Topology is similar, but in topology, the elements of the story symbolize things. And the story is about real people and real events. But in this case, in topology, the people or the events that really did happen symbolize or foreshadow something. So people who interpret Song of Solomon typologically say, you know, there really was a Solomon. He really did live. He's involved in this. And he's representing God somehow. And the lover, the girl, somehow represents the church. And they go on from there. We'll look at examples of that next week. But more recently, people have interpreted this historically, assuming that it's just a song about real people, and it's about what it's about. And so we need to interpret that way. Divides into two major categories. One's called a two-character interpretation, which identifies a real-life Solomon with a real-life girl. And let me just say it differently, and the way I should say it is, it identifies Solomon and the girls below it as the same person. That might be shocking to you, But I would like you to consider the possibility that Solomon and the girl's beloved are not the same person. And that's what the three-character interpretation is. So in the three-character interpretation, basically, Solomon comes along and captures this girl and then takes her into his harem and tries to entice her to marry him, but she remains true to her beloved. And so both of those interpret just as a literal story. Now, obviously, clearly, it is cryptic. There's no question about that. I mean, when we read it, it just shifts from one scene to another in weird ways. But the belief is about real people. So the two-character interpretations usually seek to identify principles for good courtship and marriage from it. In the 20th century, with so much emphasis on sex, you'll find books these days that even say, hey, there's principles for good sex in here. And one of the things you've probably heard is that the Speculation that the Jews had a several day wedding practice, and this actually corresponds to the days of the wedding. And that's based on a guy named Wittsenstein, I guess, who observed a Syrian wedding a little over 100 years ago. But anyway, that's a common interpretation these days. And the three character usually sees the book as a picture of the strength of true love between the woman and her shepherd lover. True love can't be bought, even though the richest man in the world tried. So we're out of time, pretty much. And we've accomplished what I wanted to do. I wanted to just talk about what it says. And now I've flooded your website with different ways of what it means. It might be of what it means. My intention is to spend the whole hour next week talking about various interpretations. And if you have one that you really believe in, you're welcome to share it with us, too. And then two weeks from today, I'll show you why I think the three-character interpretation is right. So there we are in various interpretations next week. And that's the end. Now we have 120 seconds for questions or comments. Yes? Well, that's a good question. And Jews wrestled with that. You know, basically in the Old Testament, Christians adopt the Jewish canon pretty much. So, so it's really the Jews did wrestle with it. And it doesn't have, if I'll give you some of the statistics next week, it doesn't have any of the normal concepts or words like theological words, like believe or whatever. you know, and doesn't have, it has once the term Lord, but doesn't talk about God, and it's talking about sex apparently, so, yeah, it's a good question, how's it getting to Canada? People have wrestled with that. And I'll just say, I'll just go ahead and, you know, I've kind of put my cards on the table that I like, the three-character interpretation. And to me, this book is very much like Ecclesiastes. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon said, you know, he's an old man who's about to die. He said, you know, I live my life in the wrong way. I've done this and that, and that is wrong. Stay away from it. I see Song of Solomon as much the same way, where he's saying, you know, I had hundreds of women, and once I met this one girl who wouldn't, So if that's the case, then it makes sense that it would be in the canon, I think. But it's a really good question to ask. What else? All right, let's pray, and we'll dismiss, and Don will be going here. Father, we thank you for this discussion, and I think that we could read through the book and talk about it and just try to see what it says. I pray this week you'd motivate people to read and think about what they think it means, and help us next week to understand that. I pray that in Jesus' name.