Song of Songs
Chapter 8
XX. Sighs
If only you were my brother, nursed at my mother’s breasts, I could kiss you outside if we met, without anyone despising me for it.
I would lead and bring you into the house of my mother, nd you would teach me there. I would give you wine with spice and the juice of my pomegranates.
His left hand is under my head; his right arm embraces me.
I beg you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the powers of nature, not to arouse or stir up love before her time has come.
XXI. Theophany of Love 5Who is this coming from the wilderness leaning upon her lover? I woke you under the apple tree, where you were conceived by your mother, where she who bore you was in travail.
Set me as a seal on your heart, set me as a seal on your arm. For love is strong as death; its jealousy lasting as the power of death, it burns like a blazing fire, it blazes like a mighty flame.
No flood can extinguish love nor river submerge it. If a man were to buy love with all the wealth of his house, contempt is all he would purchase.
XXII. The Little Sister
We have a little sister with her breasts yet unformed. What shall we do for her when her courtship begins?
If she were a rampart, we would build towers of silver on it. If she were a gate, we would enclose it with panels of cedar.
I am a rampart and my breasts are towers; thus I have become, in his eyes, like one who brings peace.
XXIII. Solomon’s Vineyard
At Baal-hamon Solomon had a vineyard, which he gave over to caretakers; for its fruit, each had to pay:a thousand pieces of silver.
But my vineyard is mine and I myself keep it.You, Solomon, may have the thousand,and the fruit keepers two hundred pieces.
XXIV. Final Meeting
You who dwell in the gardens,with your friends in attendance,let me hear your utterance.
Make haste, my love;be like a gazelle or a young stag on the spice-laden hills!
Commentaries
4 Sights.
The woman wounded by Love has dreamed so much that she now has nightmares. She keeps wishing her friends wouldn’t suffer the same unbearable hurt that she has carried since she was wounded. Since this shepherd is so difficult to reach and impossible to find, at least let the wounded woman sigh. If her beloved were her brother, raised by the same mother, she could at least kiss him in public. And no one would say a word. Already in her mother’s private bedroom, she would give him the wine from the pomegranate trees to drink, and she would feel the tenderness of a loving embrace. But these are only sighs, which do not heal the wound but offer some relief. The refrain keeps the wound exposed. When will the pain of love find peace? This song remains open to the next.
Theophany of Love.
We are at the climax. Throughout the book, this implicit question has echoed: To whom will Love reveal itself? The king and queen have glimpsed its presence in Solomon’s canopy and in the amorous encounter. The young people have not yet reached the end of their journey. The woman wounded by Love has sought it even in her nightmares and sighed for it. Now the divinity “Love” (“She” in the translation) appears, coming perhaps from Lebanon, if we follow a particular textual tradition. It appears at the origin of life, where our mother conceived us for death (cf. Gn 3:16a, 19). Unlike Prov 8:22-31, Love, not Wisdom, is present and active from the very beginning of creation. Love replaces the “Shema” (Dt 11:8), whose words must be engraved on the heart and tied to the hand (Dt 6:5, 8). Love, like the new covenant, must be inscribed on the heart, as Jeremiah 31:33 states (cf. Heb 10:16). This engraving is a lasting memorial. If the woman looks at her arms, she will see the tattoo of Love. The Beloved and Love merge into an intimate, complete embrace. Love brings life and immortality: it conquers death, contrary to what Ecclesiastes 9:6.10 suggests. Now we see that Love used its arrows to wound the woman: they are divine darts, divine flames. Not even the deepest waters of death can extinguish the fire of love (cf. Is 42:3). Ultimately, Love cannot be bought or sold. It is pure gratuity.
The Little Sister.
The little sister is protected by her brothers. They want her to reach marriageable age in the best possible conditions. The battlements strengthen the towers’ defenses. The tightly closed and locked gates prevent entry into the city. This song may well refer to Jerusalem, a walled town with closed gates.
Solomon’s Vineyard.
The theme of the vineyard, with its double meaning, connects this epigram to the second one in the Song (1:5-6). There is a vineyard, representing the people of God, that has been leased to the guards. We know who the guards are: the priests of the temple, as seen in the New Testament (cf. Mt 21:45; Mk 12:12; Lk 10:19). At their head is Solomon (the high priest). The house of God (the temple) has fallen into decay and is now called the “House of Ammon” (Betleamon, in some manuscripts and ancient translations). This is a scandalous name. Even more scandalous is that within the temple, there is a vineyard, which carries a euphemistic meaning. Is this a critique of sacred prostitution? The large sum demanded from the tenants adds to the scandal. Amid these scandals, the voice of the one who proclaims, “My own vineyard is mine…” rises defiantly. This phrase exactly matches the vineyard’s description in 1:6, which the girl failed to guard. The ownership of this vineyard is invaluable. If Solomon demands a thousand coins for leasing the vineyard, let him have it, and add another two hundred for the guards. Perhaps this harsh critique of the Jerusalem priesthood was one reason why the Song was “interpreted” before it officially became a biblical book.
Final Meeting.
The Song begins with an embrace and ends with another, once again outside in the garden. The young woman made a promise in 7:14, and now it is time to fulfill it. The young man, on his part, longed to hear the girl’s voice from the very first idyll (2:8-17). In this final song of the Song, he emphasizes his desire: “let me hear your voice.” Before that, he warns the reclining woman that “the companions are lying in wait.” Such are the guardians of Israel, like the old men whose behavior is condemned in Daniel 13:57: both lecherous and corrupt. The young woman speaks up and invites the young man not to run away but to “pass by”: to be like a gazelle or a young stag on the balsam-covered hills (cf. 1:17). The union is fulfilled, and Love has not appeared throughout the young lover’s journey. However, the presence of young people has provided a framework for sharply criticizing the country’s ruling class.
The Song—beyond its eroticism—is a celebration of concrete, incarnate love between a man and a woman. Deep down, however, it answers a question: Where is Love? How can we reach Love? Not by the path of Wisdom (as proclaimed by Prov, Eccl, and Sir), but by the paths of love. It cannot be otherwise if God is Love. Whoever loves has seen God.