Canticles / Solomon's Love Song

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● Song 2:17 . . Before the dawn comes and the shadows flee away, come back to
me, my love. Run like a gazelle or a young stag on the rugged mountains.

Why her Shiloh would be away at night, is a mystery, but Shulah is apparently
concerned that he was away too long and should've been back by now.

● Song 3:1-2 . . One night as I lay in bed, I yearned deeply for my lover, but he did
not come. So I said to myself: I will get up now and roam the city, searching for
him in all its streets and squares. But my search was in vain.

Shulah began to panic that maybe her man was lying in the streets somewhere
beaten half to death by muggers on his way home. Women's imaginations tend to
run a little wild like that at times, especially late at night.

● Song 3:3 . .The watchmen stopped me as they made their rounds, and I said to
them: Have you seen him anywhere, this one I love so much?

It appears that Shulah felt that the night watchmen should know the identity of the
man for whom she searched without her having to tell them. Perhaps they inquired
(after first calming her down a bit) but we're not told. Solomon's love song is
sketchy in places, lots of places.

Shulah's venture out at night suggests something about the Jerusalem of Solomon's
day. It was safe for a lone woman after hours. Actually that's believable because
the Bible characterizes Solomon's kingdom as peaceable. But this song is a fantasy
so the actual conditions in Jerusalem are irrelevant.
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● Song 3:4 . . It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my
soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my
mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.

It appears that Shulah had to practically drag Shiloh away from whatever it was
keeping him out late,

The Hebrew word for "chamber" doesn't necessarily refer to a bedroom; though in
this case it probably does because Shulah was tucked in that night when she
became concerned that Shiloh wasn't home yet.

● Song 3:5 . . I 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.

In other words; Shulah hung out a sort of "Do Not Disturb / Late Sleeper" sign on
the front door just in case some of the local girls were up early and singing,
dancing, and playing out in the street having fun and making a ruckus like kids
normally do.

The Hebrew for "daughters" is a nondescript word indicating females of any age;
from children to adults. It's likely in this instance, they were children. Shulah
maybe had to scold a few of them in order to get them to quiet down out there.
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This next section smacks of braggadocio; roughly defined by Webster's as boasting.
I rather suspect that Solomon tended to be a bit ostentatious; defined by Webster's
as attracting or seeking to attract attention, admiration, or envy; often by
gaudiness or obviousness.

● Song 3:6a . . Who is this coming up from the desert like a column of smoke

Like they say: Where there's smoke, there's fire.

● Song 3:6b . . Perfumed with myrrh and incense made from all the spices of the
merchant?

Apparently if the wind was just right, people could smell Solomon coming before he
was in sight. No doubt nobody in the Israel of that day smelled like he did, nor
could afford to. The bouquet of spices producing his scent was likely quite
distinctive.

● Song 3:7-8 . . 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.

The armed escort probably wasn't the only members of the king's entourage; but
his personal bodyguards are notable because they're all combat veterans.

I'm guessing Solomon made sure everybody all around knew that his guards had
what it takes to survive in battle so that wannabee assassins wouldn't assume that
attacking him would be no more risky than breaking through a pack of Boy Scouts.

You know, losing your life by a bullet is actually kind of tidy compared to losing
your life by sword. Soldiers back then typically disemboweled their opponents,
hewed their limbs; and sometimes hacked off their heads and/or split open their
skulls like melons. That's a messy, grisly way to die; and just the thought of it can
be very intimidating.

● Song 3:9 . . King Solomon made for himself the carriage; he made it of wood
from Lebanon.

This carriage was custom made rather than taken out of storage from a previous
king's garage.

● Song 3:10 . . 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.

The song says that Solomon's carriage was upholstered "lovingly". Well; I have to
doubt that because he's known in other parts of the Bible for conscripting huge
labor forces to accomplish extravagant building programs. I even kind of doubt that
his bodyguards were volunteers.

But in this song, Solomon is thinking very highly of himself so the women are of
course pleased, proud, and happy to do something for him; I mean, after all he's a
king; what's not to admire? Right?

● Song 3:11a . . Come out, you daughters of Zion,

No men are called to come out? You know, I can't help but detect a touch of
narcissism in this song's lyrics coupled with the fantasies of a man who sincerely
believes himself desired not just by some women, but by all women.

● Song 3:11b . . 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.

I'd like to know exactly which of his weddings that Solomon was thinking about
when he penned that lyric. He had something like seven hundred wives.

NOTE: Although the Hebrew word translated "wedding" means espousal, I have a
hunch it's not supposed to be translated that way, rather, it should speaking of the
day when Solomon was made king in his father David's place. (First chapter of
1Kings)
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The remainder of Solomon's love song is a bit mushy. It's filled with the lovers'
expressions of admiration and praises for each other; which more or less speak for
themselves and require neither explanation nor comment.

To cap my remarks, I borrowed a pertinent line from the 1995 movie "Sabrina"
starring Julia Ormond, Harrison Ford, and Greg Kinnear.

While strolling with a friend in Paris, Sabrina expressed her feelings for Kinear's
character David, who at the time was living back in the States. Sabrina and David
weren't an item; they'd never dated nor had he even once shown the slightest
interest in her; yet Sabrina regarded David as the love of her life, and had only
good things to say about him. But Sabrina didn't know the real man; rather, her
concept was an imagination, i.e. a fantasy.

After Sabrina told her friend how that thoughts of David keep her company, the
friend remarked:

"Illusions are dangerous people because they have no flaws."

Well; Solomon's song has only good things to say about Shiloh and about Shulah,
viz: they're both flawless; but of course that's an illusion-- in real life, nobody is
flawless; and some flaws can be rather intolerable once we get to know them.

_ The End _