6 “[a]Where has your beloved gone,
O most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned,
That we may seek him with you?”2 “[b]My beloved has gone down to his garden,
To the beds of balsam,
To pasture his flock in the gardens
And gather lilies.
3 “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,
He who pastures his flock among the lilies.”4 “[c]You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,
As lovely as Jerusalem,
As awesome as [d]an army with banners.
5 “Turn your eyes away from me,
For they have confused me;
Your hair is like a flock of goats
That have descended from Gilead.
6 “Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
Which have come up from their washing,
All of which bear twins,
And not one among them has [e]lost her young.
7 “Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate
Behind your veil.
8 “There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,
And [f]maidens without number;
9 But my dove, my perfect one, is [g]unique:
She is her mother’s [h]only daughter;
She is the pure child of the one who bore her.
The [i]maidens saw her and called her blessed,
The queens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying,
10 ‘Who is this that [j]grows like the dawn,
As beautiful as the full moon,
As pure as the sun,
As awesome as [k]an army with banners?’11 “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.
12 “Before I was aware, my soul set me
Over the chariots of [l]my noble people.”13 “[m][n]Come back, come back, O Shulammite;
Come back, come back, that we may gaze at you!”“[o]Why should you gaze at the Shulammite,
As at the dance of [p]the two companies?
One commentary draws the comparison between the terrible dream of the previous passage, where the bride thought she had lost her beloved, and this chapter. Now that she is awake, she knows exactly where her beloved has gone. He is exactly where he ought to be, working, that is, feeding his sheep in the gardens.
The importance here in the contrast is that the dream was wholly emotional, and emotions are fickle. Yet when the woman had a moment to think, she knew where he was, and that, “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine…” She knew that they belonged together, not because of emotions, but because they had chosen each other. Jesus expounded (Matt. 19:6) upon the verses in Genesis 2 that we noted yesterday, “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”
Our world puts a whole lot of stake in emotions and feelings. If we feel offended, we should perhaps make a law against such things–which some countries have actually done. God’s way demands that we put feelings aside and stick to our word, as this couple did. The reward is seen in the rest of the passage, and emotions do indeed run high.
In v. 5 Solomon asks his bride to turn her eyes away because they confuse and overwhelm him. So great is her beauty and value to him, that he puts her above any queens, concubines, or maidens (v. 8). Again, Solomon makes the choice to prefer her over anyone else, rather than to let raw emotion lead him astray. In the end they ride off into the sunset, or literally, in a chariot, enjoying the fruit of their love.
Too often, we are distracted by short term pleasures, but may we follow God’s lead, and commit to each other for the long-term. It is more than worth it, since it is God’s way (see Matthew 5 again), and he knows and wants what is best for us.