Love Enjoys

Song of Solomon 6.11–13

By Don Ruhl

Song of Solomon 6.11–12 – Love Dreams

I went down to the garden of nuts
To see the verdure of the valley,
To see whether the vine had budded
And the pomegranates had bloomed.
Before I was even aware,
My soul had made me
As the chariots of my noble people.
(Song 6.11, 12) 

In 6.2, she had said that Solomon went to his garden. Thus verse 11 seems to indicate that she went there to join him, remembering that she had unintentionally turned him away (5.3–5), so she sought him earnestly, and 6.2 shows that she had found him.

Does verse 11 refer to the same garden? In 6.2 the garden consisted of spices, a place to feed sheep, and lilies. In 6.11 the garden consisted of nuts.

Most scholars seem to believe that the Shulamite speaks here.

She went to the garden, where Solomon had gone, and the experience carried her away. It was like she was carried away in a chariot. She was lost in the moment. 

Song of Solomon 6.13a – Love Looks

Return, return, O Shulamite;
Return, return, that we may look upon you!
(Song 6.13a) 

In the Song of Solomon, others celebrate the romance of these two, because they admire Solomon and the Shulamite. The friends enjoyed being around her.

Truly, the lovers invite others for one reason or another to celebrate their love for one another. We like to see the people we love and admire. Thus Solomon liked to see her, but others do also, because her inward beauty was as great as her outward beauty, and so they want her to be with them.

Song of Solomon 6.13b – Love Questions

What would you see in the Shulamite—
As it were, the dance of the two camps?
(Song 6.13b) 

Her soul had been carried away while in the garden, but she was called to return. She wanted to know what they, her friends, expected to see, showing her humility.

They wanted to look upon her, and she wondered what they wanted to see or what they thought they would see. Again showing her humility.

Did they want her to do a dance? Perhaps this is part of the celebration of their wedding, and they wanted her to take part in the celebration.

A note on “Shulamite.” This could mean that she was from Shulam, a city not in Scripture. Shulam could be a different spelling for Shunem.

“According to another explanation the word Shulammite contains the same consonants composing Solomon’s name plus a feminine ending…The nobility of character displayed by this peasant girl entitles her to be called a Solomoness, the queenly counterpart of the monarch ruling in Israel’s golden age of peace” (Walter Roehrs, p. 440).

What shall we do with this section of the Song of Solomon? 

• Love brings excitement in the air. Enjoy it.
• Be caught up in love, because people are more important than things.
• Excel at relationship building.