Song of Songs 2 Footnotes

2:7 The phrase in this verse recurs in 3:5 and 8:4. Each refrain follows a description of the consummation of the marital relationship. The bride sought to discourage the young women from engaging in a sexual relationship prematurely. The admonition promotes chastity and self-control. It seems strange that the bride swore by the gazelles and the wild does of the field. The word for “gazelles” resembles the Hebrew word tseva’ot, “armies,” which was used in the traditional identifier “the LORD of Armies.” Perhaps this was a circumlocution to avoid swearing by the name of the Lord.

2:14 The bridegroom referred to his bride affectionately as “my dove.” The gentle characteristics of the dove make the white bird a universal symbol of peace, prosperity, and love. In other ancient Near Eastern cultures, the dove represented the goddess of love. Classical Judaism equated the “dove” with Israel, while early Christianity understood the reference to “my dove” as a picture of the church as a bride “in Christ,” innocent and without blame. The inaccessibility of the dove as it hides in the rocks also allegorically depicts the church hiding in “the Rock” of Christ, or the eager pursuit of Christ as he seeks out the church and draws her to himself. A literal reading takes the phrase “my dove” as simply a term of endearment expressing the perfection of the bride.

2:15 Commentators disagree over the identity of the “little foxes” that ruin the vineyards. Traditional Jewish interpretation understands “foxes” as the enemies of Israel. Christian allegorical interpreters argue that the “foxes” represent pagan people, who, once seized, make good candidates for conversion. Other opinions suggest that the raiding of the vineyard by the foxes figuratively describes obstacles that threaten to interfere with the development of love.

2:16 The phrase “my love is mine and I am his,” closely resembles the covenant formula, “They will be my people, and I will be their God” (Jr 24:7; see 11:4; Ezk 34:30).