Song of Solomon 4 - Bible Study in 5 Minutes
Song of Solomon 4 Short Summary:
Solomon opens the chapter admiring the beauty of his new bride and anxiously anticipating their wedding night. He compared her virginity to a locked garden, one that was now ripe, untouched, and ready to be enjoyed.
Song of Solomon 4 Bible Study
AUTHOR:
Ecclesiastes was almost certainly written by Solomon (Ecc 1:1), the son of David, the 3rd king of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah.
His palace and the Temple of God were located in Jerusalem.
Solomon became king in approximately 1015 B.C and reigned for 40 years.
KEY CHARACTERS:
The Young Woman – A beautiful Shulamite woman who is the object of the young man’s affections.
The Young Man – A handsome young man, Solomon, who is the object of the young woman’s affections.
Daughters of Jerusalem – These women interject supplementary comments into the dialog between the young man and woman.
DEFINITIONS:
Tower of David (4:4) – An ancient citadel and fortress in the old city of Jerusalem.
Calamus (4:14) – A flowering plant used to make perfumes.
OUTLINE:
SOLOMON ADMIRES HIS BRIDE (4:1-11):
Solomon described the beauty of his new bride with pictures from nature.
He said her eyes were like the eyes of doves.
Her hair like a flock of goats leaping down the mountains.
Her teeth like white sheep that had just been washed.
Her lips like a scarlet thread.
Her cheeks like two halves of a pomegranate.
Her breasts like twin gazelles.
He compared her neck to the Tower of David.
After describing her beauty, Solomon talks about going away to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense until the morning. This seems to be a poetic way of describing the night they will spend together in a place where they’ll be secluded and enveloped in sensory pleasure and sexual delight.
Solomon continues adoring her, calling her flawless, telling her she captivated his heart, and describing her love as better than fine wine.
THE LOCKED GARDEN (4:12-16):
Solomon starts a new analogy and carries it through the end of the chapter (and into chapter 5).
He describes his bride as a locked garden.
The garden has been ripening and is now at its peak, full of delicious fruits and spices. Its offerings are wonderful and fragrant, and no one else has ever unlocked the gate to enjoy them.
Solomon uses the garden to describe the beauty of his virgin bride. Her body had been guarded, locked from all other men, but now in its maturity and ripeness she offers it to him.
The final words of the chapter belong to the bride, she says, “Let my beloved come to his garden, and eat its choicest fruits” (4:16).
“This is the moment of yielded virginity, where the beloved is invited to enjoy the previously protected and sealed sexuality of the maiden. A line before, the maiden called it “my garden”; now it was “his garden.” Her virginity, her sexuality, was protected so that it could be fully given to her beloved” (David Guzik; Enduring Word Commentary).
APPLICATION
I want us to take a moment to dwell on the beauty of virginity, and the beauty of waiting to surrender that virginity until marriage.
Many preachers and churches won’t talk about this topic because it’s uncomfortable and because they are afraid of offending the people who gave their virginity away too early.
That is a mistake, especially when the world is trying its hardest to make virginity meaningless.
Young men and women, especially in our day, who reach marriage with the sacred seal of virginity are worthy of our highest praise.
Parents and churches need to find a way to preach Solomon’s garden message to their children and young people.
We need to return virginity to its rightful place atop the pedestal of superiority compared to its alternative.
Let Solomon’s rich analogy of his bride’s virginity be instructive to the Church on how we out to teach and admire the virtue.
