Revision #5933
Song of Songs 2:16
Localized for English-speaking readers
Status: approved
Changes from the previous English revision
= ## Context
- Song of Songs 2:8–17 is a passage spoken by the woman. Her beloved comes over the mountains to find her and calls, "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away" (2:10–13). This is followed by the charge to catch "the little foxes, that spoil the vines" (2:15). The woman then declares, "My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies." In the next verse (2:17) she asks him to return like a roe or a young hart before the day ends. The same declaration reappears with its order reversed in 6:3 and is echoed in a similar form in 7:10.
+ Song of Songs 2:8–17 is a passage spoken by the woman. Her beloved comes over the mountains to find her and calls, "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away" (2:10–13). The charge to catch "the little foxes, that spoil the vines" follows (2:15). The woman then declares, "My beloved is mine, and I am his." In the next verse (2:17), she asks him to return like a roe or a young hart before the day ends. The same declaration reappears in reverse order in 6:3 and is echoed in a similar form in 7:10.
=
= ## Interpretation
- - **Literal reading**: The verse is read as poetry celebrating love between a man and a woman, that is, an exclusive and mutual belonging. Many modern commentators and evangelical scholars accept this reading as the primary meaning.
+ - **Literal reading**: This reading treats the verse as poetry celebrating love between a man and a woman, expressed as an exclusive and mutual belonging. Many modern commentators and evangelical scholars accept it as the primary meaning.
= - **Traditional Jewish reading**: Rabbinic tradition and the Targum (an Aramaic translation and paraphrase) have read the Song of Songs as an expression of the love between God and Israel. Some commentators note that the mutual belonging in this verse resembles the covenant formula "I will be your God, and ye shall be my people."
- - **Christian allegorical reading**: Allegory is a method of reading in which the persons and objects of a text are understood as symbols pointing to spiritual realities. From Origen onward, the medieval mystical tradition and Puritan commentators read this verse as describing the union of Christ and the church, or of Christ and the individual believer. The image of the beloved feeding his flock is linked with the image of Christ as the Shepherd (John 10:11–15).
- - **Integrated reading**: Many Protestant interpreters today regard marital love as the original meaning while applying the verse secondarily to the relationship between Christ and the church on the basis of Ephesians 5:31–32.
+ - **Christian allegorical reading**: Allegory is a method of reading in which the persons and objects of a text are understood as symbols pointing to spiritual realities. From Origen onward, the medieval mystical tradition and Puritan commentators read this verse as describing the union of Christ and the church, or of Christ and the individual believer. The picture of the beloved feeding his flock is linked with the image of Christ as the Shepherd (John 10:11–15).
+ - **Integrated reading**: Many Protestant interpreters today regard marital love as the original meaning. On the basis of Ephesians 5:31–32, they also apply the verse secondarily to the relationship between Christ and the church.
=
= ## Questions of Application
- A tradition of devotional literature reads the progression from 2:16 (he is mine, and I am his) through 6:3 (I am his) to 7:10 (I am his, and his desire is toward me) as depicting the growth of a self-centered love into a love centered on the other. Hudson Taylor's devotional meditation on the Song of Songs, *Union and Communion*, is known for this reading. Others hold that the differences in wording are poetic variations and that caution is needed before interpreting them as intended stages.
+ One tradition of devotional literature traces a progression from 2:16 (he is mine, and I am his) through 6:3 (I am his) to 7:10 (I am his, and his desire is toward me). It reads this sequence as the growth of a self-centered love into a love centered on the other. Hudson Taylor's devotional meditation on the Song of Songs, *Union and Communion*, is known for this reading. Other interpreters regard the differences in wording as poetic variations and urge caution about reading them as intended stages.
=
- There are also translation issues to note. Some translations render the verse as the beloved pasturing his flock among the lilies, but the Hebrew text does not explicitly state the object "flock," so other translations depict the man himself grazing like a gazelle. It is also unclear exactly which flower is meant by the Hebrew word *shoshannah*, translated "lily." In Korean churches the verse is sometimes used in sermons at wedding services and on similar occasions as a text on the mutual belonging of husband and wife.
+ The verse also raises questions of translation. The Hebrew text does not explicitly state the object "flock." Some translations therefore depict the man himself grazing like a gazelle rather than pasturing a flock. The precise flower meant by the Hebrew word *shoshannah*, translated "lily," is also uncertain.
=
+ In Korean Protestant churches, the verse is sometimes used in sermons at wedding services and on similar occasions as a text on the mutual belonging of husband and wife.
+
= ## Related Passages
= - Song of Songs 6:3
…
A verse in the Song of Songs in which the woman declares that she and her beloved belong to each other. It is frequently cited and has been read both as a song of marital love and as an expression of the relationship between God and his people or between Christ and the church.
Song of Songs 2:16 is a verse in which the woman declares that she and her beloved belong to each other. It is often cited and has been read both as a song of marital love and as a picture of the relationship between God and his people or between Christ and the church.
Full revision
Song of Songs 2:16 is a verse in which the woman declares that she and her beloved belong to each other. It is often cited and has been read both as a song of marital love and as a picture of the relationship between God and his people or between Christ and the church.
Context
Song of Songs 2:8–17 is a passage spoken by the woman. Her beloved comes over the mountains to find her and calls, "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away" (2:10–13). The charge to catch "the little foxes, that spoil the vines" follows (2:15). The woman then declares, "My beloved is mine, and I am his." In the next verse (2:17), she asks him to return like a roe or a young hart before the day ends. The same declaration reappears in reverse order in 6:3 and is echoed in a similar form in 7:10.
Interpretation
- Literal reading: This reading treats the verse as poetry celebrating love between a man and a woman, expressed as an exclusive and mutual belonging. Many modern commentators and evangelical scholars accept it as the primary meaning.
- Traditional Jewish reading: Rabbinic tradition and the Targum (an Aramaic translation and paraphrase) have read the Song of Songs as an expression of the love between God and Israel. Some commentators note that the mutual belonging in this verse resembles the covenant formula "I will be your God, and ye shall be my people."
- Christian allegorical reading: Allegory is a method of reading in which the persons and objects of a text are understood as symbols pointing to spiritual realities. From Origen onward, the medieval mystical tradition and Puritan commentators read this verse as describing the union of Christ and the church, or of Christ and the individual believer. The picture of the beloved feeding his flock is linked with the image of Christ as the Shepherd (John 10:11–15).
- Integrated reading: Many Protestant interpreters today regard marital love as the original meaning. On the basis of Ephesians 5:31–32, they also apply the verse secondarily to the relationship between Christ and the church.
Questions of Application
One tradition of devotional literature traces a progression from 2:16 (he is mine, and I am his) through 6:3 (I am his) to 7:10 (I am his, and his desire is toward me). It reads this sequence as the growth of a self-centered love into a love centered on the other. Hudson Taylor's devotional meditation on the Song of Songs, Union and Communion, is known for this reading. Other interpreters regard the differences in wording as poetic variations and urge caution about reading them as intended stages.
The verse also raises questions of translation. The Hebrew text does not explicitly state the object "flock." Some translations therefore depict the man himself grazing like a gazelle rather than pasturing a flock. The precise flower meant by the Hebrew word shoshannah, translated "lily," is also uncertain.
In Korean Protestant churches, the verse is sometimes used in sermons at wedding services and on similar occasions as a text on the mutual belonging of husband and wife.
Related Passages
- Song of Songs 6:3
- Song of Songs 7:10
- Ephesians 5:31–32
- Leviticus 26:12
- John 10:14