1. The song of songs, which is Solomon's (The Song of Peace).

The name Solomon means peace.

2. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.

The word kiss in the Hebrew means to put together, to fasten up, to touch. The kisses of his mouth have to do with fastening up and bringing together by his spoken word that comes to our heart. Two become one when they kiss.

The word "kiss" used in verse one stands for "intimacy." Intimacy is noted as being the relationship of oneness. When two are intimate they see eye to eye. They speak honestly with each other.

Gen. 27:26 "Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come near and kiss me, my son." (Familial affection is implied).

2Sam. 15:5 "And whenever a man came near to do obeisance to him, he would put out his hand, and take hold of him, and kiss him." (Respect and affection)

1Kgs. 19:20 "And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, "Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you." (Familial affection is implied).

1Kgs. 19:18 "Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him." Those left will be those who have not been unified with Baal.

Ps. 2:12 "Kiss his feet, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way; for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him." (Respect and submission to God, reverence and subservience).

Ps. 85:10 "Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other." (An intimate union) One might say, "Righteousness and the Song of Solomon (peace) have kissed each other."

Luke 7:45 "You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet." There were those who saw themselves as friends of Jesus but they would not kiss Him. They used Him for their own perverted desires of one sort or another, but the harlot kissed Him. She was the one who knew Him.

Rom. 16:16 "Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you". (Brotherly affection and love in the family of God).

2Cor. 13:12 "Greet one another with a holy kiss."

1Pet. 5:14 "Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you that are in Christ."

The kiss implies a close bond in whatever endeavor is undertaken. It may be with harlots or the Lord, but it infers a close bond. It infers becoming one. When Judus kissed Christ, it was a lie since he was implying devotion and union while betraying him to his enemies. Judas made the kiss to stink.

In the Song, the betrothed is desiring the kisses from the mouth of her love. Prov. 24:26 "He who gives a right answer kisses the lips." The woman of Revelation 12 wants the truth straight from her heavenly lover. He who speaks truthfully is one who kisses you on the lips. He is in union with you eye to eye and straight on. The woman of Revelation 12 desires to have a relationship with her savior which is that close. She wants to be kissed by him on the lips. He also desires to kiss her on the lips. This does away with all the hiding that men have done with the Lord and it abolishes the storytelling. "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other [on the lips]. Ps 85:10.

3. Because of the savor of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.

Oil is a frequent symbol of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit conveys the fragrance of Christ into the believer as the Christian walks in an intimate relationship with the Lord. "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumph, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?" (2 Cor. 2:14-16) In love, we are the aroma which ascends from Christ unto God.

A "name" [shem] implies authority of the person who bears it. When we sign our name to a check or to a contract, we authorize a transaction in our authority. "...And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) Oil poured over the head of the king or High Priest signified anointing and empowerment from God for an office.

"For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name is great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts." (Malachi 1:11)

Watchman Nee suggests that here the "maidens" [almah] signify, in type, "other believers." The Hebrew word usually means "virgin maidens." All true believers are justified by faith, but not all are interested in a deep walk with God. Not all wish to leave a state of spiritual infancy to pursue the deeper things of God. When the Lord comes to some of the maidens, rather than having a deep desire to hear him, they only want to hear themselves. They speak of themselves and talk on about their great understanding while their shepherd withdraws himself. This Song speaks of these maidens and THE maiden of HIS desire.

4. Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.

[cheder = inner chamber]. The inner chamber is The Most Holy Place. This inner chamber is off limits to anyone who is not intimate with Him. The previous "Christian experience" was in the Holy Place. This was the place of good and bad and overcoming sin. Now we are asked to come into the immediate presence of the King Himself. In immediate response to the maiden's heart-felt request, the king brings her into his inner chambers — the place of intimate communion and fellowship. Ray Stedman once said, "God has many intimates, but no favorites." The Shulamite represents the believer in Christ who desires a more intimate walk with God. In order to achieve this, one first draws near to God in prayer, giving up the other loves (such as the love of the world) in the process. This love of the world does not necessarily infer sin. It may only be things like marriage, babies, jobs, cars, food and clothing.

An old acrostic for Faith is Forsaking All ITake Him. We can not claim the close fellowship symbolized by the royal courts and inner chamber of the king if we cling to the idolatrous lusts of the world. Spiritual adultery and worldliness are the mark of our generation. "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides for ever." (I John 2:15-17) James, the brother of Jesus is even stronger in his rebuke, "You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." (James 4:4) The world does not merely signify evil worldly activities. The world includes all that is in the world. It may even be good world such as boating, horseback riding, bike riding, mechanics and building things, etc. Anything that has our first love is our love.

Isa 26:20 "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast."

Before the woman enters into his chambers, she has kissed him on the lips. That is, they have spoken honestly with each other. They have come to terms on what the truth is and what is required to be in a marriage relationship. The woman has yielded up herself and the king has taken her into intimate fellowship with him.

5. I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.

6. Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.

7. Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside [in shyness] by the flocks of thy companions?

Here the woman looks at herself and seems confused. She is black from the sun and does not want people to look at her but she also states that she is comely. She blames others for her condition and that she had not even kept her own vineyard because of these unfortunate circumstances. When the Sun of Righteousness shines upon us we are more conscious of our own sorry condition. We appear black compared to his excellent righteousness. His white robes seem more of a problem for the woman than a blessing, for the whiter they are the darker she looks. She calls out for the one she loves in her heart, for she feels her need, but does not know where to find that One her heart pants after.

8. If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents.

Here the messenger tells the woman that if she does not know where her lover is, she may gain assistance by feeding near the shepherds' tents. "Go to where the people of God feed and you will find your lover there." This is a statement for the blessing of the congregation and the church. She is not free to roam around in the world by herself looking for her lover, for she will not find him there. She should go where the lambs are feeding. This also is a key to our current state where the woman is fed in the wilderness for 1260 days. The Lord has prepared a place to feed us. If the woman wants to find him, she must feed there in that place.

9. I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots.

10. Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold.

11. We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver.

12. While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.

13. A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.

14. My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.

15. Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes.

16. Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green.

17. The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.

Here stated is the profession of the woman. The woman has come to understand the character of God. She extols his virtues. She sees her lover as perfect, perfect, perfect. His eyes are the eyes of peace. His neck is strong and rich bringing the thoughts of the head and the instincts of the heart together. She sees the king sitting at a well-supplied table and she desires that he lie between her breasts all night. The great symbol of nurturing is the breast which supplies the first nutrients to the child born of her. The child of the king will rule with a rod of iron. The imagery here is that she will love to lie close to her lover and have his head right over her heart in the midst of her nurturing nature. She desires to bring this to her savior since her heart is so full of love. Here she is understanding the character of God but still has not found Him. She knows what He is like but has not consummated the marriage with Him. She knows what she should have but does not yet have it.

Mary Magdalene was a woman in love with Jesus. She poured her oil upon his feet and bathed his feet with her tears drying his feet with her hair. This act was placing the head of Jesus between her breasts and it prepared him for the burial and helped sustain him on his cross.

"And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head." "And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment." "While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof." The woman says, my Savior will stay on my heart all night. Mary was a comely woman but had a black reputation. She was in love with her savior and sought him out to shower him with ointment. He had doves eyes. All of the "appropriate guests" took offense at this expression of Mary's love. While they expressed offense at it because of her black past, they would have been offended if anyone had done that. Mary touched Jesus and kissed him, and besides all that, it was in public. 

"And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, thy sins are forgiven." 

This was the moment when Judas was offended and all hearts untrue to the master will be offended at this total and free expression of love for him.

"Our bed is green." Green is the color of faith. We are supported and our love is held through the support of faith.

— Submitted by "Faithful"

To Song of Solomon - Chapter Two

Posted on 7-14-00