The big picture
The lovers praise one another through flowers, fruit trees, and sheltering shade. Sharon, a fertile plain, enters the woman's self-description. She addresses the daughters of Jerusalem, the women listening to the song, and asks them not to disturb love before its time. Her beloved arrives with the energy of a deer and invites her into spring. Tender vines need protection, and the chapter ends with mutual belonging. Bether, a mountainous place whose exact location is unclear, gives the final image its landscape.
In this chapter
- Mutual Delight Needs No Forced Awakening Song of Solomon 2:1-7
The woman compares herself with flowers, and her beloved answers that she stands out like a lily among thorns.
- The Beloved Invites Her Into Spring Song of Solomon 2:8-13
The woman hears her beloved approaching like a deer leaping over hills.
- A Voice Is Sought and Tender Growth Guarded Song of Solomon 2:14-15
The beloved calls the woman a dove hidden among rocks and sheltered places.
- Belonging Is Shared While Desire Still Calls Song of Solomon 2:16-17
The woman states that she belongs to her beloved and he belongs to her.
Central truth
Mutual delight grows through an invitation into spring, while love's timing and the need to protect what is tender remain in view.
Scripture beside the summary
Song of Solomon · King James Version · 17Song of Solomon 2:1-7
Mutual Delight Needs No Forced Awakening
The woman compares herself with flowers, and her beloved answers that she stands out like a lily among thorns. She sees him as a fruit tree among ordinary trees, finding shade and sweetness with him. A feast under the sign of love leads into a plea for support because longing has made her faint. She describes his arms holding her. Then she calls the listening women to let love rest until its proper time. The language celebrates desire while refusing to treat another person's pressure as its rightful master.
In everyday life
An engaged couple leaves a crowded reception for a quiet bench when the noise becomes too much. One offers water and an arm to lean against while relatives allow them space. Their affection does not need to become a performance on demand. The song speaks of love's awakening through poetic images and a repeated appeal to waiting women.
Notice
Song of Solomon 2:7 The appeal asks others not to awaken love before its time. The surrounding delight is not treated as permission for outsiders to hurry or manage it.
Song of Solomon 2:1-7
King James Version1I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
2As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
3As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
5Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.
6His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.
7I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.
Song of Solomon 2:8-13
The Beloved Invites Her Into Spring
The woman hears her beloved approaching like a deer leaping over hills. He stands beyond the wall and looks through the lattice, the crossed strips covering a window. He calls her to rise and come away with him. Winter rain has passed; flowers, birdsong, and the turtledove mark a new season. Figs form, and tender vines give fragrance. The repeated invitation joins the lovers' wish to be together with the land's renewed life. The poem gives the moment freshness without needing a dated calendar or a long explanation of their plans.
In everyday life
A partner arrives at the garden gate on the first mild morning after weeks of rain and calls to the woman inside. He points to blossoms opening along the path and waits while she fetches a coat. The invitation draws on what the day is offering. The song makes the beloved's approach as swift and graceful as a deer.
Notice
Song of Solomon 2:11 The invitation follows the passing of winter and rain. The season gives the appeal a fitting moment, linking the lovers' movement with new life around them.
Song of Solomon 2:8-13
King James Version8The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
9My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.
10My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
11For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
12The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
13The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
Song of Solomon 2:14-15
A Voice Is Sought and Tender Growth Guarded
The beloved calls the woman a dove hidden among rocks and sheltered places. He wants to see her face and hear her voice, praising both. The next call is to catch the small foxes that damage vines while the grapes are tender. The exact link between the images is not explained. Together they bring hidden closeness and vulnerable growth into view. The voice matters as much as the face, and what is beginning to flourish needs care. The poem does not identify the foxes with one fixed set of personal faults.
In everyday life
Two partners tending an allotment notice gaps in the fence. The young plants have not yet been stripped. They mend the gaps together, talking about how much they want the plot to grow. Attention goes to a threat still small enough to address. The song's foxes also belong to love poetry, so their meaning is not limited to garden maintenance.
Notice
Song of Solomon 2:15 The grapes are still tender when the foxes are named. The need for protection belongs to an early stage of growth, before the harvest is secure.
Song of Solomon 2:14-15
King James Version14O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
15Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
Song of Solomon 2:16-17
Belonging Is Shared While Desire Still Calls
The woman states that she belongs to her beloved and he belongs to her. He is pictured feeding among lilies, keeping the pastoral language of the chapter. She then calls him to turn like a swift deer upon the named mountains until the day changes and shadows move away. The precise scene remains poetic rather than fully mapped. Mutual belonging does not end her wish for his presence. The closing voice holds assurance and desire together, with movement still expected rather than a relationship described as motionless possession.
In everyday life
A wife waves to her husband across the station platform after they have found each other in the crowd. Their shared home is certain, yet she still wants him beside her and calls him over. He lifts the bag and comes through the open passage. The song expresses that mutual belonging through lilies, deer, and a changing day.
Notice
Song of Solomon 2:16 Belonging is stated in both directions. Neither lover alone claims the bond; the woman's words give herself and her beloved an answering place within it.
Song of Solomon 2:16-17
King James Version16My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.
17Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Song of Solomon 2:1 begins with “I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.”
Where the chapter turns
Song of Solomon 2:17 forms a natural hinge: “Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.”
The final note
Song of Solomon 2:17 leaves the reader with “Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words beloved, love, voice, vines, countenance, daughters help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- flagons
- Drinking vessels or their contents, offered here as support for someone faint with love.
- turtle
- A turtledove, a bird heard in spring, not the shelled animal.
- hart
- A male deer used as an image of lively movement.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
