5:2-8 – Both trying hard and both frustrated by the response
Scripture Text: Song of Solomon 5:2-8
Some amount of time has passed. The honeymoon is over. They are now husband and wife. He is working hard at providing for them. Her desire is to make their time together good. One way we try to describe what she is doing is with the saying “it isn’t just a house, she is making it a home”. Both are good things to do, but they can come in conflict with each other.
verse 2
Note this is a kind of interesting break.
The verse marked 5.1 really goes with the section in chapter 4.
This is a new section.
They are married and have been for a period of time. It doesn’t indicate how long.
See My Conclusions for Happily Ever After.
She wasn’t sleeping soundly, kind of half sleeping half listening.
She was expecting him, or hoping for him to come earlier.
He comes and is saying all the right things.
His head drenched with dew is important because it shows he was outside in the damp air.
He wasn’t with someone else he was working or taking care of his businesses.
She is giving weak excuses.
She wanted him to be there ‘earlier’, but is now out of the mood.
Probably lots of symbolism here but the main point: He really wanted to come in.
She really wanted him to come in but was still upset that he hadn’t been there on her timetable.
verse 5
Eventually she decides to get up and let him in.
She is getting back in the mood quickly.
verse 6
By the time she gets to the door and opens it he had given up and left.
That isn’t what she really wanted.
That isn’t what he really wanted.
But their different perspectives left them each alone.
She looked for him and called after him but too late.
verse 7
She receives a different response from the first time she encountered the watchmen.
The first time was in the morning, this time was in the night.
Woman weren’t supposed to wander around alone at night.
They probably thought she was a prostitute or an adulteress.
Either way they treated her roughly.
She wasn’t injured badly, just shaken up.
verse 8
Now it appears to be the next day.
She has the other women help look for him.
Then she asks what they will tell him if they find him first.
She doesn’t wait for their answer – she tells them what to say:
“Tell him I am faint with love”
This is the same phrase she used in chapter one. At that point it wasn’t apparent if she was tired from doing sexual things, or if she was faint from just thinking about them. Here, she isn’t telling them to say missed you but I’m getting plenty of action. This time it is plain that her message is “I still love you deeply”. The thought of this is leaving her feeling faint.
The next passage is Song of Solomon 5:9-16.
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