R.P. Nettelhorst's Blog, page 104

What Does God Need?

After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ”

Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

They replied, “The Lord needs it.” (Luke 19:28-34)

What does Jesus need? One might believe that Jesus doesn’t need anything. But one day, a week before Passover, Jesus needed a colt and he had his disciples procure it.

Why would someone allow strangers to take a colt simply by saying that the Lord needed it? The word translated “Lord” is a word that in the first century was used by Jewish people to refer to God. So when the disciples asked to borrow the colt for “the Lord,” its owner would believe it was needed for a religious purpose.

Nevertheless, the story about the colt is presented as a miracle: Jesus knew beforehand what would happen. And ordinarily, people do not give property to strangers who ask for it.

But Jesus is God and since God “owns the cattle on a thousand hills,” the animal was his regardless. The story once again reminds us that Jesus is more than just a man. And if Jesus wants something, he will get it. Jesus had the power to heal the sick, and he had the power to borrow something if he needed it, when he needed it. Jesus needed a colt. He couldn’t do without it.

The Bible tells us that God loves you. So what is love? What does it mean he “loves” you?

Place me like a seal over your heart,

like a seal on your arm;

for love is as strong as death,

its jealousy e unyielding as the grave.

It burns like blazing fire,

like a mighty flame.

Many waters cannot quench love;

rivers cannot sweep it away.

If one were to give

all the wealth of one’s house for love,

it would be utterly scorned. (Song of Songs 8:6-7)

So what does God need?

He needs you. He can’t do without you. As much as the lover needs the beloved. As much as a father or mother loves their children.

Don’t imagine that God can go on without you. Don’t think that he can find someone else. That’s what Jonah thought when God asked him to go to Nineveh. He ran away, had himself tossed into the sea. Was willing to die rather than do what God asked him. But look where he ended up: after he got out of the fish, he did exactly what God wanted after all.

God needed Jonah.

God needs you.

Cynicism

The unfortunate reality is that if someone is cussing you out, you know you’re getting their honest feelings. But if someone is complementing you, it is very possible that they are lying. This is horribly cynical. You might get to where you only believe and accept criticism.

Before you know it, you hardly trust anyone, anymore.

Especially when you realize you’re guilty of the same sort of behavior. You probably don’t mention your friend’s bad breath. You assure the host that the meal was excellent. You smile at your friend and tell her that her new hair cut is beautiful.

Maybe your friends will promise to do something–and then not follow through. They say they will be there for you, but when you get there, something else comes up and they’re nowhere to be found. And when it got hot and stuffy, you find yourself alone in the kitchen.

But you understand.

Maybe they just forgot.

And things happen.

Plans change.

And they had the best of intentions.

And…so you keep getting screwed and you’re just going to have to understand. Soon, you become worn out with understanding. And cynicism not only has taken root, it has blossomed, born fruit, and had babies.

And yet…

1 Corinthians 13 relates the following:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

To think unkindly, to imagine that others don’t love you as profoundly as you love them is a violation of the spirit and intent of 1 Corithians 13. But how can you accept this at a gut level and acknowledge it as truth, when your cynicism seems so overwhelmingly true as well?

Love keeps no record of wrongs.

Others will disappoint. Are you so perfect? Then you must accept the lack of perfection in others and accept that the failings are not from a lack of love, nor are they from malicious intent. Instead, it is simply and purely the consequence of human frailty, of misunderstanding, and of inadvertent injury. You must forgive. You must train yourself not to remember the bad. You must choose to keep on loving, and accept that it is possible that you are as important in their eyes, as they are in yours. You must decide to let them be as good as you claim to be.

We learn things inductively: we see a lot of dogs, and so we come to understand the characteristics of dogs. But if you have one or two experiences with dogs that are bad, it is entirely possible for you to decide that all dogs are hateful, and so, whenever you see a dog, you just assume the worst, since you have experienced the worst a couple of times.

Alternatively, you can chose to overlook those incidents which encouraged you to think badly of dogs, and instead focus your attention on that which is inspiring and good. You can do the same thing with your friends and the people around you, the unwashed masses. You can become bitter and cynical. You can decide that no one really loves you or gives a damn.

But is that any way to live? Will you be happy? Is it productive? Will it make others happy? And can it possibly be right? Of course not. Reread the section of 1 Corinthians 13 above. If you actually love God and love your neighbor as yourself, such cynicism cannot stand. As obvious as the reasons for cynicism might appear, cynicism is a skewed and inaccurate view of reality. And all it will ever do is make you miserable. Why choose to be sad?

The Irony of Worldly Wisdom and the Church

Notice, please, what Paul writes in Colossians 2:20-23:

Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules:

“Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”?

These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

Throughout the movie, The Princess Bride, Sicilian boss Vizzini repeatedly describes the unfolding events as “inconceivable.” After Vizzini attempts to cut the rope that the Dread Pirate Roberts is climbing, he states that it was “inconceivable” that the pirate did not fall. The swordsman, Inigo Montoya, then tells Vizzini, “You keep on using that world but I do not think it means what you think it means.”

The word “worldliness” is that sort of word. It does not mean what most people think it means. They imagine it has something to do with running amok. Sermonizing pastors have waxed eloquent denouncing the worldliness of Christians and others. In fact, worldliness and sin are usually viewed as synonyms. There is a focus on condemning lust, illicit sex and maybe twerking.

And yet, sinful pandemonium is not at all what Paul or the Bible actually mean by “the way of the world” or “worldliness.”

Instead, as the passage from Colossians above makes clear, the wisdom of this world, or worldliness is exactly the opposite of running amok. Worldliness is, in point of fact, being concerned with rules and regulations; worldliness is a focus on legalisms and legalism. The way of the world is to never to run amok. You want to see worldliness in action? Go to the DMV. Visit Congress. Stand in a courtroom. The way of the world is to follow rules, to interpret rules, to believe that making another rule, creating another regulation, passing another bit of legislation, is accomplishing something significant and making the world a better place. Worldliness is to reward bureaucrats on the basis of their performance in following proper procedure. Worldliness is to make lists and check them off one by one; worldliness is to check to make sure all the blanks on the form have been filled in.

Worldliness sends you to the back of the line and makes you start over because you didn’t get the document stamped first. Worldliness suspends a student who gave her classmate, gasping for breath in a life-threatening asthma attack, a puff on her inhaler–because sharing drugs like that is against the rules. Better to let someone die than to ignore a regulation. Respect for the law trumps all.

Worldliness believes more laws will fix what ails us. Every nation on Earth, every tribe, every people, every business from the beginning of time until now has been dominated by rules. Rules are the way of the world. And in point of fact, following the rules often becomes more important than actually doing what’s right. The rules trump justice, mercy and love.

Legalists are the most worldly people there are.

Song of Songs, Chapter Eight

Once again, take warning all who read this post. The language that follows is somewhat explicit. If discussions of sex offend you, then you might want to skip this blog post. Of course, you might also want to make a point of avoiding ever reading the Song of Songs in your Bible.

Chapter Eight

If only you were to me like a brother,

who was nursed at my mother’s breasts!

Then, if I found you outside,

I would kiss you,

and no one would despise me.

I would lead you

and bring you to my mother’s house–

she who has taught me.

I would give you spiced wine to drink,

the nectar of my pomegranates. (8:1-2)

Of course, if, as a surprising number of commentators take this, you assume the woman is talking literally and wishes that he were her brother, and that she could take him home with her to her mother, then this little segment here makes not a whole lot of sense. It startles me that so many commentators insist on an interpretation that makes no sense; it reminds me of when Vanessa is reading and gets frustrated and tells me that the sentence makes no sense. She reads it, says a nonsense word, and I ask her, do you know a word like that? Well, no. So do you think that’s what that word really is? Well, maybe not. At least she has the sense to ask, and doesn’t just accept the nonsense.

The term brother in the ancient Near East, like the term sister (which we’ve seen before in Song of Songs) is term of endearment, used like “honey” or “darling”. Hense, she is expressing the desire for a romantic and intimate relationship, and one that is legitimate, rather than sereptitious, since in most cases the term sister and brother were used by husbands and wives. She wants their affair to be open and legitimized. Her mother’s house is not a place she lives; rather, it is her genitals (consider the earlier usage of this term in Song of Songs). And of course the spiced wine, nectar of pomegranites, and the like is all referencing kissing (again, look at the usage earlier in the poem).

His left arm is under my head

and his right arm embraces me.

Daughters of Jerusalem,

I charge you:

Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.

Who is this coming up from the desert leaning on her lover?

Under the apple tree I roused you;

there your mother conceived you,

there she who was in labor gave you birth.

Place me like a seal over your heart,

like a seal on your arm;

for love is as strong as death,

its jealousy unyielding as the grave.


It burns like blazing fire,

like a mighty flame.

Many waters cannot quench love;

rivers cannot wash it away.

If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned. (8:3-7)

The opening lines are reminiscent of what we’ve seen before in 2:6; if you recall, I suggested then that we might be looking at oral sex; I’m still not certain. It is interesting to compare this passage in general with that one, because there are other connections. Thus, I will quote 2:3-7, so that you can see clearly all the similarities and then we’ll talk about it a bit:

Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest

is my lover among the young men.

I delight to sit in his shade,

and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

He has taken me to the banquet hall,

and his banner over me is love.

Strengthen me with raisins,

refresh me with apples,

for I am faint with love.

His left arm is under my head,

and his right arm embraces me.

Daughters of Jerusalem,

I charge you by the gazelles

and by the does of the field:

Do not arouse or awaken love

until it so desires. (2:3-7)

Cool, huh? In the earlier passage, the woman compares him to an apple tree, his fruit is sweet to the taste, and so on (which is part of why I thought possibly in terms of oral sex); in the earlier passage she is faint with love, asking to be strengthened with raisins, refreshed by apples.

Now, in the current passage, she is leaning on her lover, reminiscing:

“Under the apple tree I roused you;

there your mother conceived you,

there she who was in labor gave you birth.”

She is not talking about being born, but rather the birth of their love, and their first encounter. The “mother conceived you” would imply genital to genital sex, rather than oral sex, however.

The remainder of the Song of Songs I find interesting because of how it is consistent with what Paul will write a thousand years later in 1 Corinthians 13. So consider the Song of Songs 8:6-7:

for love is as strong as death,

its jealousy unyielding as the grave.

It burns like blazing fire,

like a mighty flame.

Many waters cannot quench love;

rivers cannot wash it away.

If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love,

it would be utterly scorned.

Then compare it with 1 Corinthians 13:4-8:

Love is patient,

love is kind.

It does not envy,

it does not boast,

it is not proud.

It is not rude,

it is not self-seeking,

it is not easily angered,

it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects,

always trusts,

always hopes,

always perseveres.

Love never fails.

Love is strong as death, it is an unquenchable fire that no amount of water can put out, and no amount of money would be enough to make the beloved reject the one he or she loves. Love cannot be undone, it does not go away, it cannot be extinguished.

We have a young sister,

and her breasts are not yet grown.

What shall we do for our sister

for the day she is spoken for?

If she is a wall,

we will build towers of silver on her.

If she is a door,

we will enclose her with panels of cedar.

I am a wall,

and my breasts are like towers.

Thus I have become in his eyes

like one bringing contentment.

Solomon had a vineyard in Baal Hamon;

he let out his vineyard to tenants.

Each was to bring for its fruit a thousand shekels of silver.

But my own vineyard is mine to give;

the thousand shekels are for you, O Solomon, and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit.

You who dwell in the gardens with friends in attendance, let me hear your voice!

Come away, my lover,

and be like a gazelle

or like a young stag

on the spice-laden mountains. (8:8-14)

The poem ends as erotically as any other part of it. The woman worried about her breast size, but thanks to the attention of her lover, they are now big enough. I don’t think she means that they actually expanded, but rather, her self-perception has improved. She has a better body image thanks to his genuine love for her. Because he loves her and accepts her unconditionally, she can see that she indeed is beautiful and that she brings contentment and satisfaction to him.

Playing off the line from chapter seven, she comments, “If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned” (8:7). She speaks to those who might try to bribe her away from him for a thousand shekels of silver. It isn’t enough; as she says, “But my own vineyard is mine to give”. Love cannot be bought, and love cannot be turned off for money. And so she ends the poem by calling for him to come away to her, and to enjoy her once again; the implication is that they will live happily ever after, of course.

Song of Songs, Chapter Seven

Once again, take warning all who read this post. The language that follows is somewhat explicit. If discussions of sex offend you, then you might want to skip this blog post. Of course, you might also want to make a point of avoiding ever reading the Song of Songs in your Bible.

Chapter Seven

How beautiful your sandaled feet,

O prince’s daughter!

Your graceful legs are like jewels,

the work of a craftsman’s hands.

Your navel is a rounded goblet

that never lacks blended wine.

Your waist is a mound of wheat

encircled by lilies.

Your breasts are like two fawns,

twins of a gazelle.

Your neck is like an ivory tower.

Your eyes are the pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath Rabbim.

Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon looking toward Damascus.

Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel.

Your hair is like royal tapestry;

the king is held captive by its tresses.

How beautiful you are

and how pleasing,

O love, with your delights!

Your stature is like that of the palm,

and your breasts like clusters of fruit.

I said, “I will climb the palm tree;

I will take hold of its fruit.”

May your breasts be like the clusters of the vine,


the fragrance of your breath like apples,

and your mouth like the best wine.

May the wine go straight to my lover,

flowing gently over lips and teeth. (7:1-9)

The bulk of this segment of the erotic poem that is the Song of Songs details the delights of the beloved woman’s body: her legs come into view here. Her breasts are described as a cluster of fruit, and she is described as being like a palm tree. Immediately after that, the man says that he will climb the palm tree and take hold of its fruit. So that should certainly clear enough, even to the densest of readers, one would think.

There are some Near Eastern-centric statements that seem odd to us: descriptions that just don’t do much for the average 21st century Americans. For instance, the description of her nose as being like the tower of Lebanon just sounds very funny. Funny, of course, was not the intent of the poem’s author. But ideals of beauty, and the ways of describing such beauty, undergo shifts from place to place, people to people, times to times.

Not that sex and humor are mutually exclusive things. Sex is fun, and the concept of joking about it is certainly common throughout human history–and laughter is often a common language between lovers. But here, in this particular section of the poem, laughter would break the mood.

The woman responds at the end, following the description of her mouth being like the best wine. She responds that she wants it to flow right into his mouth, gently “over teeth and gums.” I doubt that the French really invented what we call the French kiss.

I belong to my lover,

and his desire is for me.

Come, my lover,

let us go to the countryside,

let us spend the night in the villages.

Let us go early to the vineyards to see if the vines have budded,

if their blossoms have opened,

and if the pomegranates are in bloom–

there I will give you my love.

The mandrakes send out their fragrance,

and at our door is every delicacy, both new and old, that I have stored up for you, my lover. (7:10-13)

The woman announces at the start of this segment her confidence in the relationship. It perhaps illustrates something mentioned in the New Testament, that perfect love drives out fear; and of course in 1 Corinthians 13, the nature of love is that it always hopes. So, her statement illustrates how strong her love really is.

Moving on, the man turns his attention to talking about them making love: vines, vineyards, countryside–he is expressing his interest in spending time with her body. As regards the mandrakes: they were considered an aphrodisiac, on the principle that if a plant looks like the thing that you’re having trouble with, then it will help that body part. So, think of mandrakes as a kind of ancient version of Viagra; certainly, given the importance of psychology and mood in something like sex, just the thought that it would help probably did make it help in a lot of cases.

As an example of the aphrodisiac use of mandrakes in the Bible, consider this story from Genesis 30:14-16, which is the only other place in the Bible that mandrakes are mentioned:

During wheat harvest, Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants, which he brought to his mother Leah.

Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

But she said to her, “Wasn’t it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son’s mandrakes too?”

“Very well,” Rachel said, “he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.”

So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. “You must sleep with me,” she said. “I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night.

Song of Songs, Chapter Six

Once again, take warning all who read this post. The language that follows is somewhat explicit. If discussions of sex offend you, then you might want to skip this blog post. Of course, you might also want to make a point of avoiding ever reading the Song of Songs in your Bible.

Chapter Six

Where has your lover gone,

most beautiful of women?

Which way did your lover turn,

that we may look for him with you?

My lover has gone down to his garden,

to the beds of spices,

to browse in the gardens

and to gather lilies.

I am my lover’s

and my lover is mine;

he browses among the lilies. (6:1-3)

Following on from chapter five, the question comes from the daughters of Jerusalem, asking where he has gone — given his “disappearance”, i.e., he had spent himself and needed to recharge as it were. In the verses that follow, we find him getting excited again. Where has he gone? Back to enjoying himself with the delights of her body. She is his garden, the place where he spends his time and energy. Back in chapter 2:1 she calls herself a “lily of the valleys” and he agrees in verse 2 that she is like a “lily among thorns”. Then in 4:5 he says of her that “Your two breasts are like two fawns, like twin fawns of a gazelle that browse among the lilies.”

And, of course in chapter 4:12-14, she is described this way:

You are a garden locked up,

my sister, my bride;

you are a spring enclosed,

a sealed fountain.

Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with choice fruits, with henna and nard, nard and saffron,

calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree, with myrrh and aloes and all the finest spices.

So the spice thing has been mentioned before. And then right after, in vs. 16 she tells him “Let my lover come into his garden and taste its choice fruits.”

Once again, these two lovers are enjoying the fruits of one another. The poetry is not complicated or difficult to understand. One simply must pay a little attention and let his or her mind wander in the direction that the imagery is trying to take it. The poet is skilled at creating images, making use of all our senses. Sex is something that, ideally, should engage everything in us, tantalize and please all five of our senses, and our entire selves, swallowing us up. As she says at last: “I am my lover’s and my lover is mine.” They are entirely obsessed and consumed by each other, completely and wholly one.

You are beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, majestic as troops with banners.

Turn your eyes from me;

they overwhelm me.

Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Gilead.

Your teeth are like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing.

Each has its twin,

not one of them is alone.

Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate.

Sixty queens there may be,

and eighty concubines,

and virgins beyond number;

but my dove,

my perfect one,

is unique,

the only daughter of her mother,

the favorite of the one who bore her.

The maidens saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines praised her.

Who is this that appears like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, majestic as the stars in procession? (6:4-10)

I’m guessing here, and maybe you can enlighten me on this, but I think that women enjoy it if the man they are enamored of tells them that they are beautiful, that they are special, that they are unlike any other woman that has ever been in his life. And so the man, here, tells the woman, his beloved, that she is lovely; the images he uses are agricultural, and sheep and other domesticated animals seem to predominate as images; for us, we may not find the descriptions as aluring as the audience to whom this poem was originally written. I susepct most women would not want various parts of their anatomy to be compared with sheep. But lets not lose sight of the point: he loves her, and everything about her attracts him. I think I mentione before, that in a man who has grown past adolescence, a woman is not just a collection of body parts. Rather, the mature man finds his beloved’s legs, boobs, or whatever he likes wonderful because they are part of his beloved, not as objects in themselves. The man here describes how wonderful her teeth are, for instance, not necessarily because objectively they are the best teeth that ever existed, but because they are the teeth of the woman he loves, whom he is obsessed with. He no longer views them objectively; he cannot. He loves her, and thus there is no part of her physically that does not turn him on; he cannot help but find every part attractive, wonderful, and erotic, because they are part of his beloved, whom he loves in her entirety.

I went down to the grove of nut trees

to look at the new growth in the valley, to see if the vines had budded or the pomegranates were in bloom.

Before I realized it,

my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people.

Come back,

come back,

O Shulammite;

come back,

come back,

that we may gaze on you!

Why would you gaze on the Shulammite

as on the dance of Mahanaim?(6:11-13)

The man is speaking again; he describes his pleasure being in his garden. According to 6:7, which we saw last night, her temples are the halves of pomegranates; 2:13 told us, “the blossoming vines spread their fragrance…” in reference to the woman; in 2:1 she is described as a lily of the valley, and we have discussion in 2:14 we are told, “my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside…” so the imagery that we’ve seen before in reference to the woman, who is called a Shulammite, is consistently applied. And 1:9 tells us “I liken you, my darling, to a mare harnessed to one of the chariots of Pharaoh.” Additionally we have the image of 3:7–”It is Solomon’s carriage, escorted by sixty warriors, the noblest of Israel…”

So, once again, he and she are together; the NLT explains that the royal chariots of my people means: “Before I realized it, I found myself in my princely bed with my beloved one.”

The dance of Mahanaim means “between two lines of dancers” or possible “a camp dance.” In either case, the sense is a provocative sort of dance, think “I dream of Jeannie” but with a few less clothes, perhaps. And the intent, of course, is to entice. So the answer to the question as to why gaze at her as upon that sort of dance is sort of obvious. And that is the point, no doubt.

Song of Songs, Chapter Five

Once again, take warning all who read this post. The language that follows is somewhat explicit. If discussions of sex offend you, then you might want to skip this blog post. Of course, you might also want to make a point of avoiding ever reading the Song of Songs in your Bible.

Chapter Five

I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.

I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; I have drunk my wine and my milk.

Eat, O friends, and drink;

drink your fill, O lovers. (5:1)

In the previous section, the man described his beloved as a a garden. Her love was described as better than wine in 4:10, honey was under her tongue in 4:11, her perfume was compared to spice in 4:10, myrr is associated with her in 4:6 and 14; milk is also under her tongue in 4:11. So, one would gather that there is some heavy physical contact going on here. Furthermore, it ends with the couplet encouraging them to eat and drink, the idea obviously being to satisfy themselves fully with one another.

I slept but my heart was awake.

Listen!

My lover is knocking:

“Open to me, my sister,

my darling,

my dove,

my flawless one.

My head is drenched with dew,

my hair with the dampness of the night.”

I have taken off my robe–

must I put it on again?

I have washed my feet–

must I soil them again?

My lover thrust his hand through the latch-opening; my heart began to pound for him.

I arose to open for my lover,

and my hands dripped with myrrh,

my fingers with flowing myrrh,

on the handles of the lock.

I opened for my lover,

but my lover had left;

he was gone.

My heart sank at his departure.

I looked for him but did not find him.

I called him but he did not answer.

The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city.

They beat me,

they bruised me;

they took away my cloak,

those watchmen of the walls!

O daughters of Jerusalem,

I charge you– if you find my lover,

what will you tell him?

Tell him I am faint with love. (5:2-8)

This section is pretty obvious, though I find it remarkable how many commentators, even those who supposedly don’t allegorize the thing as a poem expressing the love of Christ for the church, miss or ignore what’s actually going on here.

Obviously, following from verse one of chapter four, where the man announces that he has come into the garden — that is, that he and she are making love — what follows is standard Hebrew expansion, going into rather intimate detail about the process. It begins with her awakening and finding her lover roused and ready to go. He lets her know that he is more than ready; perhaps he has ejaculated once already, hence the dew on his head and the dampness of the night. She seems, following that, to have already felt like she had taken care of things, complaining of taking off her robe and having washed her feet. The word “feet” in certain contexts refers to the genitals; perhaps that is the case here.

Then, her lover begins manual manipulation of the clitoris, rousing her; she begins lubricating and opens to him — and then all at once, just as she’s getting ready, he’s already done and gone. So she experiences some frustration, calling, but he’s limp, and so nothing more is going to happen any time soon. What follows then is the image of the watchman: finding her, stripping her, beating her. She didn’t get what she had been anticipating and what she needed from her lover.

Alternatively, while the watchmen segment might reference a bit of S&M, I think that’s unlikely. Instead, it most probably it’s simply expressing her disappointment that he was a bit too quick. Still, despite all that, her ardor is not lessened, and she thinks no less of him. She is still desperately in love and wants him more than anything. And of course that becomes clear with the verses that follow, where she describes his physical attributes, explaining to those who might wonder, what makes her man so special to her.

How is your beloved better than others, most beautiful of women?

How is your beloved better than others, that you charge us so?

My lover is radiant and ruddy,

outstanding among ten thousand.

His head is purest gold;

his hair is wavy and black as a raven.

His eyes are like doves by the water streams, washed in milk, mounted like jewels.

His cheeks are like beds of spice yielding perfume.

His lips are like lilies dripping with myrrh.

His arms are rods of gold set with chrysolite.

His body is like polished ivory decorated with sapphires.

His legs are pillars of marble set on bases of pure gold.

His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as its cedars.

His mouth is sweetness itself;

he is altogether lovely.

This is my lover,

this my friend,

O daughters of Jerusalem. (5:9-16)

This section opens with the daughters of Jerusalem asking the woman a question: “how is it that this guy is so special?” So, she tells them, describing her lover’s physical attributes. There is no shallowness in this; the point of the Song of Songs is to express the delights of physical love. So the description of one another’s bodies is the appropriate focus. So she describes his body, just as he with her. She, too, describes him in terms of a garden, in terms of precious stones and metals, focusing on all his parts. And yet, there is more to him than just the individual parts; she points out at the end that he is altogether lovely, as a whole, and that he is both lover and friend. Her physical description of him, just as the physical description he made of her, sets us up for what follows: they will be playing in these gardens, these constructs of theirs. Both he and she delight completely in one another.

To emphasize: the purpose of the whole poem called the Song of Songs is to celebrate the joy of sexual expression, of the fulfillment of that pleasure. The poem is supposed to titillate, to excite. It achieves its purpose well, at least in its cultural context, to anyone who pays half attention, to anyone who is not shocked that sex would be in the Bible–as if sex and God somehow are incompatible. God’s first commandment (Genesis 1:28 : be fruitful and multiply, i.e. have sex) is a lot of fun. Why do we then think that God intends us to be unhappy? But of course the answer shows up in the same story just a couple of chapters later in Genesis, because we–in the persons of Adam and Eve–failed to really love God, and we then decided that God was holding out on us, that he didn’t have our best interest in mind. We doubted that God loved us as much as we love ourselves. And that little doubt is still with us, eating at us, destroying our relationships with God and with one another.

Song of Songs, Chapter Four

Once again, take warning all who read this post. The language that follows is somewhat explicit. If discussions of sex offend you, then you might want to skip this blog post. Of course, you might also want to make a point of avoiding ever reading the Song of Songs in your Bible.

Chapter Four

How beautiful you are, my darling!

Oh, how beautiful!

Your eyes behind your veil are doves.

Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead.

Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, coming up from the washing.

Each has its twin;

not one of them is alone.

Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;

your mouth is lovely.

Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate.

Your neck is like the tower of David,

built with elegance;

on it hang a thousand shields,

all of them shields of warriors.

Your two breasts are like two fawns,

like twin fawns of a gazelle that browse among the lilies. (4:1-5)

The man is speaking, and does what all men do with their beloved: he praises her beauty. Nicely, this is poetry, and so he is very descriptive, and does a much better job of it than the average male trying to say nice things without a script. He is very detailed, focusing on various aspects of her body. What appeals to a woman, I suspect, is not the words alone, or perhaps only tangentially; what appeals to her is who it is that is telling her this, and the pleasure for her comes in knowing, thanks to his words, that he finds her desirable, and that he loves her. I’m curious; do women actually enjoy hearing the man they love praising the beauty of specific body parts? In any case, that’s what the man in this poem does, and it’s what many men do.

Obviously, some of the descriptions and comparisons might not be as well recieved today as they were in the agrarian culture in which the author of this poem lived. I’m unsure if comparing breasts to fawns and eyes to doves would still work well or not. The imagery is important, though, and needs to be noted, since these pictures will be played off on for the remainder of the poem. As we go along, it is important to remember which parts of their bodies get compared to which objects.

Until the day breaks and the shadows flee,

I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of incense.

All beautiful you are, my darling;

there is no flaw in you.

Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,

come with me from Lebanon.

Descend from the crest of Amana,

from the top of Senir,

the summit of Hermon,

from the lions’ dens

and the mountain haunts of the leopards.

You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. (4:6-9)

The man continues praising her, encouraging her to give in to him; he moves now to more active seduction, asking her to leave her place of repose, to let her garden come free, to open herself to him. The use of the word “sister” in love poetry is something the Egyptians did regularly–though sometimes with the ancient Egyptian royal family, it was literal on top of being the normal convention for love poetry. But in the Song of Songs, it is merely standard convention. It speaks to the intimacy of the relationship, and does not at all reference that she is actually a sister, any more than the term commonly translated “beloved” in the Song of Songs, means “aunt” or “uncle”. The taboos about having sex with close relatives is pretty universal in human societies, largely a consequence of biological necessity.

An interesting thing here is the use of the word “heart”; as westerners, we read that and a particular image comes to mind: the heart as the emotions, that his emotions have been taken by her; we read that as the English idiom; and that is not really quite what is in view here. The word “heart” here means his mind; she has captivated his mind; he is obsessed with her; his every thought now is in terms of her. He cannot think without her being in his mind, in his thoughts; he closes his eyes, and there she is, a picture in his mind; what he means is the English idiom, that he can’t get her out of his head. And here, it is her beauty, her physical form, which has taken over his mind, his every waking thought. She has become to him like a song, a tune that is stuck in his head, that he just can’t drive out. And frankly, he doesn’t mind at all. So it’s not Disney’s Small World that he’d be comparing her to.

How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride!

How much more pleasing is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice!

Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride; milk and honey are under your tongue.

The fragrance of your garments is like that of Lebanon.

You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride; you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.

Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with choice fruits, with henna and nard, nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,

with every kind of incense tree, with myrrh and aloes and all the finest spices.

You are a garden fountain,

a well of flowing water streaming down from Lebanon.

Awake, north wind,

and come, south wind!

Blow on my garden,

that its fragrance may spread abroad.

Let my lover come into his garden and taste its choice fruits.
(4:10-16)

This one is not too tough to figure out; the man continues his praise of her, describing her as a hidden or locked-up garden, a garden that delights all the senses: taste, touch, smell, sound and sight. She is compared favorably to things that were expensive and desirable.

Her reaction is in essence: “so why don’t you come up and see me some time?” She invites him to sample the delights of which he has been merely describing from a distance, as an outsider. She tells him that he is welcome in this marvelous garden, and that he can enjoy it fully, as much as he wants.

Some of the images are not unique to this poem. For instance, take a look at the phrases and images used in Proverbs 5:15-19:

Drink water from your own cistern,

running water from your own well.

Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?

Let them be yours alone,

never to be shared with strangers.

May your fountain be blessed,

and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.

A loving doe, a graceful deer–

may her breasts satisfy you always,

may you ever be captivated by her love.

The similarity in images is not too surprising, given that both Proverbs and Song of Songs have traditionally been ascribed to the same author: Solomon. As you’ve no doubt noticed in reading through the stuff I churn out, there are certain, perhaps annoying, turns of phrase, ideas and images that I keep reusing. Writers are like that. Solomon was no different.

Song of Songs, Chapter Three

Once again, take warning all who read this post. The language that follows is somewhat explicit. If discussions of sex offend you, then you might want to skip this blog post. Of course, you might also want to make a point of avoiding ever reading the Song of Songs in your Bible.

Chapter Three

All night long on my bed

I looked for the one my heart loves;

I looked for him but did not find him.

I will get up now and go about the city, through its streets and squares; I will search for the one my heart loves.

So I looked for him but did not find him.

The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city.

“Have you seen the one my heart loves?”

Scarcely had I passed them

when I found the one my heart loves.

I held him and would not let him go

till I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the room of the one who conceived me.

Daughters of Jerusalem,

I charge you by the gazelles

and by the does of the field:

Do not arouse or awaken love

until it so desires. (3:1-5)

This is one of what seems at first to be almost a dream sequence; the woman talks about awakening in the night and not having the one she loves with her, which sends her out on a hunt, prowling about the city and questioning the night watchmen. So the obvious question arises, is this referencing a late night stroll about the city of Jerusalem, or are we dealing with some sort of double entendres again? When we consider that she brings him back to her “mother’s house”, to the “room of the one who conceived” her, and then ends this segment with the importance of not arousing love too quickly, it would seem to me that something other than wandering around the city streets is in view. Perhaps it means that she spent the night trying to keep him up, or trying to get him up; perhaps he needed a dose of viagra? But given that such things didn’t exist then, she had to work at it the old fashioned way, until finally she got the desired arousal and was able to bring “him” into her vagina. Then the closing lines perhaps reference the need for patience and working with a guy on those rare occasions (well, the guy explains that ‘it never happened to me before…’) when things don’t quite come together as quickly as both parties would like, in contrast to it working too quick.

Who is this coming up from the desert

like a column of smoke,

perfumed with myrrh

and incense made from all the spices of the merchant?

Look!

It is Solomon’s carriage,

escorted by sixty warriors,

the noblest of Israel,

all of them wearing the sword,

all experienced in battle,

each with his sword at his side,

prepared for the terrors of the night.

King Solomon made for himself the carriage;

he made it of wood from Lebanon.

Its posts he made of silver,

its base of gold.

Its seat was upholstered with purple,

its interior lovingly inlaid by the daughters of Jerusalem.

Come out, you daughters of Zion,

and look at King Solomon wearing the crown,

the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding,

the day his heart rejoiced. (3:6-11)

That something more than just to give a description of the carriage of Solomon is the point of this section seems obvious from several respects. One, it begins by asking “who is this” and answers it by an announcement of Solomon’s carriage. That is hardly a who, at least at first glance. But then one sees interesting statements that force a re-evaluation of what’s actually being talked about here. For instance, “perfumed with myrrh” and “terrors of the night” are a couple of the phrases that make me go, “hmmmm.” And with mention of the “crown with which his mother crowned him” when combined with the mention of her taking him “to her mother’s house, the room of the one who conceived her” in the previous section, leads me to think that something other than a carriage is the point here. Consider the talk of his carriage, made by him, with its “post” and “base” and then moving on to the “crown.” Consider, too, that it “arises” from the desert, like a “column” of smoke. This makes me think that perhaps we’re looking at an elaborate and poetic description of his penis and its reaction to her–especially given that an erect, circumcised penis would have a head that look as if it has a crown on it. Certainly it would be “rejoicing” on the day of his wedding. Given the point of the Song of Songs, I don’t think I’m making too great a leap to imagine that the poem is more likely to be talking about a penis than about a some sort of fancy wheeled contrivance belonging to Solomon.

Song of Songs, Chapter Two

A warning to those who read this post. The language that follows is somewhat explicit. If discussions of sex offend you, then you might want to skip this blog post. Of course, you might also want to make a point of avoiding ever reading the Song of Songs in your Bible.

Chapter Two:

I am a rose of Sharon,

a lily of the valleys.

Like a lily among thorns

is my darling among the maidens.

Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my lover among the young men.

I delight to sit in his shade,

and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

He has taken me to the banquet hall,

and his banner over me is love. (2:1-4)

The passage begins with the woman speaking. Oddly the first two lines have been used in a Christian hymn which applied them to Jesus. Why would a song do that? It comes from the popular, though obviously mistaken, view that the Song of Songs is the story of Jesus’ love for the church. Even so, it remains very peculiar that the popular hymn would misapply the words, since it rather obvious that it is the woman who is describing herself here.

Unsurprisingly, I do not like that song at all. It annoys me. The woman is a rose, and a lily, here. The man then reacts agreeably, telling her that she is very special, more wonderful than any of the other women in his life. Remember, again, that the content of this poem is taking place in a polygamous setting.

Notice how this whole section transitions very nicely from what we looked at in chapter one:the two lovers are on the grass, beneath the cedar and fir (or alternatively, the woman is the grass and the man is the cedar covering her with his shade). After he responds to her self-description as a rose or lily, she speaks up again in the last six lines of this section. Notice that just as he recognizes her as special among all the women in his life, she too, is not inexperienced or naive: she finds him to be special compared to all the other men she knows.

And then she returns to double entendres: she delights to sit in his shade, his fruit is sweet to her taste, he has “taken me to his banquet table.” It is possible, I think, that she is talking about oral sex.

The passage also maintains the theme of the covering of the cedar and fir, of course, which has heavy sexual overtones. And then this segment ends with “his banner over me is love.” Of course that phrase shows up in another Christian song. I don’t think it really fits with the song so well, since it seems to be in the context of this woman giving her lover a blow job. I doubt that’s the picture the old Christian song was going for.

It should be obvious by this point that the Hebrew word translated “love” has an enormous range of meanings, essentially identical to the range of use for the word “love” in English. Consider: Jacob “loved” his his tasty food (Gen. 27:14 — the NIV translates it “liked” but its the same word as Song of Songs uses throughout). It is unlikely that these two people are loving each other in quite the same way as Jacob loved his food, or vice-versa.

At least I don’t think so…

Strengthen me with raisins,

refresh me with apples,

for I am faint with love.

His left arm is under my head,

and his right arm embraces me.

Daughters of Jerusalem,

I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field:

Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires. (2:5-7)

Given the context with with the previous section, which I suggested might have to do with oral sex, it is also possible that this is what is going on in this bit, too, and is thus just continuing with that theme. On the other hand, both the previous images and these, may instead reference genital to genital sex. Either seems possible. What we know for certain that is unlikely is that she’s talking about eating actual apples and raisins. The phrasing about how he is embracing her does not really exclude either oral or genital sex in my opinion. Culturally, I’m not certain which is more probable in this context, either.

This segment ends with a charge to the other women: that love should not be aroused or awakened too quickly. I take that to mean, especially in light of the fact that she charges them by the gazelles and does, that she is pointing out the importance of sloooow, when it comes to love making. Love making is not something to be rushed through. Of course, this might also be enjoining patience for the relationship in general: that the issue between them need not be forced; that if she is merely patient, she will receive that which she most desires. Given what will follow, my bet is on the idea that she wants slowness, in contrast to the male tendency to move too fast when it comes to sex, both in wanting it and in performing it.

Listen!

My lover!

Look!

Here he comes,

leaping across the mountains,

bounding over the hills.

My lover is like a gazelle

or a young stag.

Look!

There he stands behind our wall,

gazing through the windows,

peering through the lattice. (2:8-9)

She is very excited to see him, of course; that is obvious from the wording. The image of mountains and hills, behind the wall, gazing through the window, and the lattice of course all deal with barriers of one sort or another–barriers that she knows her lover will be able to overcome. She may be excited, she may be looking forward to what he will do, but she is not yet, perhaps, entirely up to the task. It will take a little time, a little effort, a little patience and tenderness. He of course wants it now, but she must be roused and made ready. His prowess is compared to the gazelle and stag, which were noted for their sexual abilities, as well as their speed–at least in running. If gazelles and stags are anything like a pair of kangaroos that I saw going at it at the LA Zoo, they make up for any speed with their stamina. The kangaroos went at it for at least an hour, nonstop.

My lover spoke and said to me,

“Arise, my darling,

my beautiful one,

and come with me.

See! The winter is past;

the rains are over and gone.

Flowers appear on the earth;

the season of singing has come,

the cooing of doves is heard in our land.

The fig tree forms its early fruit;

the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.

Arise, come, my darling;

my beautiful one, come with me.

My dove in the clefts of the rock,

in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.”

Catch for us the foxes,

the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.

My lover is mine and I am his;

he browses among the lilies.

Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, turn, my lover, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the rugged hills. (2:10-17)

And of course the point of this final section from chapter two of the Song of Songs is relatively clear: the man praises her beauty. She is described in terms of vines, flowers, a dove hiding in the clefts of the rocks, and the mountains. Her response is to announce that he needs to rescue her from anything that might spoil the vineyard. Obviously, she is that vineyard, a vineyard that is in bloom.

The man is described as browsing among the lilies all night long — obviously her body. She plays off him being a gazelle or stag again, on the “rugged hills”, which is self-referential.

Really, it doesn’t take much paying attention to realize that these two people are completely enamored of each other. They compete to find metaphorical ways to describe one another and their pleasures in exploring intimate details of their bodies. The point of the poem is to excite, to incite, to stir longing and desire, and to celebrate the wonder of the sexual experience between a man and woman who are in love. It’s too bad, really, that so many commentators during so much of church history didn’t pick up on the obvious. Had they, we today might have a much more relaxed, much healthier attitude toward sex and ourselves.