Continuing with part two of Dillow's book and chapter on "The
Wedding Night."
By calling her "garden" an orchard of pomegranates, he says
her garden contains the most delicious of fruits. Thus, he speaks
of the pleasure awaiting him there.
The remainder of the verse refers to exotic, fragrant
plants, most of which Solomon imported to Palestine. They
constitute Solomon's erotic and poetic description of her
"garden."
Nard is a fragrance-giving plant; saffron, a yellow plant;
calainus, a plant of reedlike stem and tawny color which grows in
wild marshes; cinnamon, a plant grown in the East Indies which
grows to thirty feet in height.
The perfumed oil obtained from the myrrh plant is called
myrrh and was used in gargles to scent the breath's. The ancients
were very fond of sweet perfumes of all kinds, and perfumed oils
were rubbed on the body and feet. Small pellets of dried mixed
spice and resins or resinous woods were burned in special
censers. Perfume was used to scent the breath (Song 7:8).
Clothing was perfumed (Ps.45:8; Song 3:6; 4:11). Couches and beds
were sprinkled (Prov.7:17). Frankincense was sometimes chewed to
give the mouth a fresh odors. The aloes plant grows in India; its
wood is very aromatic and was held in veneration by the natives.
The association of fragrant odor with the vagina is perplexing to
many women. For various reasons many wives consider their
genitals repulsive and cannot imagine how their husbands find
them attractive. God created husbands to enjoy their wives
bodies, including the genitals. When the genitals have been
thoroughly cleaned with soap and water, and when a woman is
sexually aroused, there is a faint and very stimulating odor
associated with the moistness. When he says her garden contains
"the finest spices," he means it is as rare and as much to be
valued as the most precious of aromatic herbs.
It is interesting again to see how some of the commentators
avoid the obvious implications of Solomon's praises of the
"scent" of her "garden." For example, Zockler in Lange's
commentary says, "A particular explanation of the individual
products of the garden is, on the whole, impossible, and leads to
what is a variance with good taste." But why is it "in variance
with good taste" if God included it in Scripture and sanctioned
it as beautiful and holy?
4:15 SOLOMON:
You are a garden spring, A well of fresh water,
And streams flowing from Lebanon.
To him, she is not a sealed garden. Her garden is an open
well from which he can draw refreshment as a tired and thirsty
traveller could at a fountain. To what do the "streams flowing
from Lebanon" refer? This phrase is used in Prov. 5:16 in a
similar sexual context of male semen:
Drink water from your own cistern
And fresh water from your own well.
That is, have sexual intercourse only with your own wife;
Should your springs be dispersed abroad,
Streams of water in the streets?
McKane says, "It is the male semen which constitutes the
'springs'and channels of water..."
Let them be yours alone,
And not for strangers with you.
"...intercourse with a strange woman is a waste of semen,
since it is the fathering of children from a strange household
and a consequent neglect of the building up of one's own house
and posterity." McKane could have added that it is also immoral!
There seems to be a parallel thought here with Song 4:15; both
passages are written by the same author, Solomon.
The wife in Prov.5:15,16.
The husband in Prov.5:16
waters out of a cistern
lest thy fountains be dispersed
running waters out of thine
own well
rivers of water
If the "fountains" and waters of the male refer to his
semen, then what do the rivers of waters of the wife refer to? As
semen is the product of his sexual excitement, so running waters
must be the product of hers. Thus, the running waters would refer
to the juices which lubricate the vagina during intercourse.
Since these streams were also a symbol of refreshment, the
reference speaks of the sexual refreshment her garden provided.
It is worth noting she doesn't request sexual intercourse (4:16)
until she is already well-lubricated. Too many husbands tend to
start their lovemaking by direct genital stimulation, or they
begin intercourse before the wife specifically indicates she is
close to a climax and well lubricated. The mere fact that she is
lubricated, however, does not mean she is ready for intercourse.
Let her tell you when she's ready like Shulamith told Solomon.
4:16 SHULAMITH:
Awake, O north wind
And come, wind of the south.
She now responds to Solomon's praises. She calls him the
north and south winds. The north wind brings clear weather and
removes clouds, and the south brings warmth and moisture. When
they blew across a garden in Palestine, coolness and sultriness,
cold and heat, would promote the growth of the garden. She is
asking Solomon to stimulate her garden with caresses to promote
the growth of her sexual passion.
Make my garden breathe out fragrance,
Let its spices be wafted abroad.
As the "winds" blow through her garden, first from one
direction and then from another, Shulamith's sexual passion grows
and grows until all the fragrance of the garden rises in waves to
become a sea of incense. She wants everything in her which
pleases her lover to show itself to him in full power and
loveliness. As a traveller passed by an Eastern garden its scent
would draw him to enter it. Shulamith wants her garden to become
more and more "enticing" to Solomon as a result of his caresses.
She wants a "sea of incense" to draw his interest to her garden
until his passion is great! She completely accepts her femininity
and is anxious that Solomon fully experience what she has to
offer. She relishes the fact that Solomon is highly aroused by
the sight of her garden and by caressing it. What a healthy
attitude!
Now that she is fully aroused, she requests that Solomon
enter her.
4:16 SHULAMITH:
May my beloved come into his garden
And eat its choice fruits!
5:1 SOLOMON:
I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride
I have gathered my myrrh along with my balsam.
I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; I have drunk my wine
and my milk.
To gather, eat, and drink are all terms that speak of sexual
enjoyment. Delitzsch says, "It supposes a union of love, such as
is the conclusion of marriage following the betrothal, the
God-ordained aim of sexual love within the limits of morality."
These references to wine and milk would be readily
understood in that culture as fertility symbols. Thus the poet
sings of the mixture of his love with hers, of his semen with her
vaginal moistness at the climax of their love.
After their love is consummated, a new speaker is
introduced:
5:1
Eat, Friends,
Drink and imbibe deeply, O lovers.
The commentators have differed widely on the identity of
this speaker. The intimacies of the scene make consideration of a
real human observer impossible. It cannot be the lovers who are
speaking, for they are the ones being addressed.
The poet seems to say this is the voice of God Himself. Only
the Lord could pronounce such an affirmation. He, of course, was
the most intimate observer of all. Their love came from Him (Song
8:7). Thus, the Lord pronounces His full approval on everything
that has taken place. He encourages them to drink deeply of the
gift of sexual love.
There is a beautiful unity to this chapter. It opens with
Solomon's praise and his concern for the emotional state of his
bride (4:1-7). Their love-play pauses while he promises her a
honeymoon in the Lebanon mountains to the north (4:8). They then
resume their love play and his heart beats faster and faster
(4:9-11). He begins to caress her garden and stimulate her
passion (4:12-15). She then invites him to enter her (4:16): they
consummate their love (5:1), and the Lord pronounces His approval
on everything that has taken place.
COMMENT
Bedroom language
Notice the very erotic and sensual language they use to
stimulate each other as they are making love. She speaks of the
spices of her garden being wafted abroad. She asks him to eat of
her garden's fruit. He calls her vagina a fruit orchard and
describes her vaginal moistness as streams flowing from Lebanon
(her home town). His genitals are called "fruit" in Song 2:3 and
hers a "garden" in 4:12-16. The song has dealt very delicately
with some extremely erotic and personal subjects, and yet one can
read it and not take offense.
Robert Gordis discusses the value of poetic symbolism in
subjects like this very well.
It is characteristic of the delicacy of the songs that the
woman in each case expresses her desire for love by
indirection. While a blunt avowal would repel by its
crassness, the use of symbolism, which conceals as it
reveals, heightens by its subtlety the charm of the
sentiments expressed. Psychoanalytic theory has offered a
highly plausible explanation for this powerful appeal of
symbolism to the human spirit.
According to psychoanalysis the unconscious persistently
seeks some avenue of expression which will elude the
'censor' who stands guard over the conscious mind. Symbolism
performs this liberating function for the unconscious
admirably, because, in its very nature, it expresses far
more than it says; its nuances are at best as significant as
its explications. Its overt meaning has nothing in it to
arouse the vigilance of the censor, and meanwhile its deeper
context is able to cross the threshold of consciousness.
In translating the symbolism, one risks the danger of
appearing crass. This is the ever-present danger in this book!
When God spoke of personal aspects of sex, He could have used the
slang terms; however, they would tend to raise up that
psychological censor. He could have used the medical terms, but
that leaves a feeling of "mechanics" and science and often a
sense of awkwardness.
The Lord avoided both problems by using poetic symbolism. It
is impossible, however, for the interpreter of the Song to leave
it in poetry; to do so leaves it without interpretation to modern
readers unfamiliar with ancient oriental symbols. It is the job
of a commentator to explain the symbols just as an expositor of
the book of Revelation must do.
On "dressing up" for your mate
While it is certainly true that God looks on the heart, and
that the focus on clothes and appearance can be overdone, it is
also true that the letters M-R-S (Mrs.) before your name do not
stand for Miserable Rut of Sloppiness, or Miss Rummage Sale. But
judging from the looks of the typical housewife, you would never
know it.
Take a look at nine out of ten women pushing carts in a
supermarket. They look like survivors of a shipwreck wearing
clothes distributed by the Red Cross. They spend more time
selecting a head of cabbage than a new shade of lipstick.
The next time you go shopping, count the number of women you feel
the average man would find sexy. The aisles of a supermarket
offer a horrifying potpourri of feminine ugliness. The 'Girl
Scout Leader' types with their pulled-back
run-a-quick-comb-through-it hair and hem lines that are never
quite right. The 'good mother' types with their cracked
fingernails and broken-zippered Bermudas (hair forever in plastic
curlers)
Ask yourself this question, ladies: "Would I have wanted him
to see me looking this way before we were married?" If you cannot
answer yes, you need to make some changes. When your husband
leaves for work, he carries a picture of you in his mind. Is that
image likely to give him romantic thoughts during his afternoon
coffee break? Solomon says the image of the Shulamite left these
kinds of thoughts in his mind!
It seems strange that wives and husbands often save their
best for comparative strangers while their mate must settle for
what he (she) can get. After you collapse on the couch completely
"exhausted" from a "hard day," he's supposed to understand,
right? He ought to; you have explained it to him in tiresome
detail. Yet let an insurance salesman or a friend drop by, and
instantly you become all smiles, coffee, and conversation.
What do you look like when he comes home from work? Do you
get the house ready, and more importantly do you get yourself
ready? A man needs a "magnet" at home that keeps drawing him
back. If he does not find that magnet at home, there are hundreds
of them out in the business world. The girls at the office always
appear to him at their best! The way Shulamith dresses has a
definite effect on her sex appeal to her husband. Note in 4:11
where Solomon comments on the "fragrance of her garments." She is
skilled in the use of perfumes and cosmetics which make her as
attractive to her husband as possible (see 1:9,10,15; 4:1-7;
6:4-9; 7:1-7).
These comments need some qualification. No woman should be
expected to appear as if she stepped out of a beauty parlor
twenty-four hours a day. The home should be a place where one can
relax and "let your hair down." All we are suggesting is that
often we let too much hair down and the result is very
thoughtless.
Men are no less guilty of sloppiness than many women. Too
many husbands lay around the house in sweat-shirts or dirty work
clothes. They lounge in front of the TV set watching football
with their overweight bellies hanging over their belts and wonder
why their wives are not sexually responsive to them.
Do you make her feel needed?
Solomon did! When he gazed at her body and referred to the
stately carriage of her neck (4:4), he was poetically telling
her, "My darling, you are a constant source of encouragement and
strength for me. I need you desperately to carry out my
responsibilities as King of Israel."
Have you ever told your wife something like that? She needs
to feel needed. You also need to feel needed. If your boss
continually communicated to you that you were unnecessary to the
function of the company, your motivations to do a good job would
rapidly disappear. You and the family are her world. She needs to
know she's succeeding at her "job" just as much as you need that
assurance on yours.
The problem is she often has a difficult time trying to
determine exactly what you need her for. She pleasures you in
bed, takes care of your things, keeps the place attractive for
you and sees that there are three meals on the table every day.
But what else? She wants to know how much you appreciate her
encouragement. Tell her what her support does to give you the
incentive to go on. Tell her you need to know she believes in
you, trusts you, and has faith in you. She needs to know you
recognize that need and rely on her faith.
President Ford in his acceptance speech said, "I am indebted
to no man and to only one woman." He was telling the world she
contributed to his success. He was giving her honor (1 Peter
3:7).
If it is difficult for you to express this to her, work on
your inhibitions; you might try writing it all out in loving
detail and sending it to her in a special delivery letter! She
may tend to evaluate herself in terms of dishwashing, floor
scrubbing, and all those other "busy" charms, and believe me, it
isn't these things that make her feel important in your life!
The biblical definition of "romance"
Women are incurable romantics with no discernable interest
in being cured. If you ever wrote her any love letters, chances
are she has kept every one of them. Men are harmed by a lack of
romantic love to a much less degree than importance to her. If a
man is denied this, he generally throws himself into his work and
finds fulfilment there. Not so a woman; since her life is more
directly focused in the home she probably feels this lack more
deeply than a man.
A man once told his wife on their wedding day, "I want you
to know I love you. If I didn't I wouldn't have married you. I
expect to continue to love you, but don't expect me to say any
more about it. Remember, I have already said it."
The wife was speechless and, guided by instinct, said, "Oh,
I can't remember something like that. I think you will have to
remind me again and again." As plants need sunshine and water, so
a woman needs romantic love if she is to flourish and bloom.
In chapter 4 we see a beautiful illustration of romantic
love. In fact, the whole book illustrates this point and defines
it for us in tangible ways. Many women complain that their
husbands are not romantic enough, but they never seem to be able
to define exactly this mysterious substance called "romance."
Listen carefully, men, you are at least going to get a
definition, and from the Bible, no less! The Song of Solomon
seems to teach that "romance" has at least FOUR ingredients.
TO BE CONTINUED
|
No comments:
Post a Comment