Song of Solomon 2

Speaker labels come from the WEB translators, not the Hebrew text. Beloved is the woman, Lover is the man.

Beloved

1 I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.

Lover

2 As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

Beloved

3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, his fruit was sweet to my taste.

4 He brought me to the banquet hall. His banner over me is love.

5 Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me with apples; for I am faint with love.

6 His left hand is under my head. His right hand embraces me.

7 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, or by the hinds of the field, that you not stir up, nor awaken love, until it so desires.

8 The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes, leaping on the mountains, skipping on the hills.

9 My beloved is like a roe or a young deer. Behold, he stands behind our wall! He looks in at the windows. He glances through the lattice.

10 My beloved spoke, and said to me, “Rise up, my love, my beautiful 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 has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

13 The fig tree ripens her green figs. The vines are in blossom. They give out their fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.”

Lover

14 My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places of the mountainside, let me see your face. Let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely.

15 Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that plunder the vineyards; for our vineyards are in blossom.

Beloved

16 My beloved is mine, and I am his. He browses among the lilies.

17 Until the day is cool, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be like a roe or a young deer on the mountains of Bether.

Around Song of Solomon 2

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

About Song of Solomon as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

Spring has come, and a woman hears her beloved before she sees him: he comes leaping on the mountains, looking in at the windows. He says, “the winter is past.” She calls herself “a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys”, and says, “My beloved is mine, and I am his.”

The Song of Solomon is a series of love poems like this one. A woman and a man speak to and about each other with longing and delight, in pictures drawn from gardens, vineyards, spices and the countryside. A chorus of friends joins in at points. There is no clear storyline; the poems circle around seeking, finding and belonging.

Background

The first verse links the book with Solomon, which may mean it was written by him, for him or in his tradition. Its date is debated. Love poetry with similar imagery is known from ancient Egypt.

How Christians read it

For most of history Jews read the Song as a picture of God's love for Israel, and Christians as a picture of Christ's love for the church or for the believer. Most readers today take it first as a celebration of love between a woman and a man, which Scripture calls good. Many hold both together: human love is a gift in its own right and also a reflection of a greater love.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 19 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes