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Texts -- The Song of Songs 5:2-7 (NET)

Context
The Trials of Love: The Beloved’s Dream of Losing Her Lover
5:2 The Beloved about Her Lover: I was asleep , but my mind was dreaming . Listen ! My lover is knocking at the door! The Lover to His Beloved: “Open for me, my sister , my darling , my dove , my flawless one! My head is drenched with dew , my hair with the dampness of the night .” 5:3 The Beloved to Her Lover: “I have already taken off my robe – must I put it on again? I have already washed my feet – must I soil them again?” 5:4 My lover thrust his hand through the hole , and my feelings were stirred for him. 5:5 I arose to open for my beloved ; my hands dripped with myrrh – my fingers flowed with myrrh on the handles of the lock . 5:6 I opened for my beloved , but my lover had already turned and gone away . I fell into despair when he departed . I looked for him but did not find him; I called him but he did not answer me. 5:7 The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city . They beat me, they bruised me; they took away my cloak , those watchmen on the walls !

Pericope

NET
  • Sos 5:2-7 -- The Trials of Love: The Beloved's Dream of Losing Her Lover

Bible Dictionary

  • Personification

    [nave] PERSONIFICATION Of wisdom, Prov. 1; 2:1-9; 8; 9. possibly of the Church or Israel, Song 1-8.

  • Fellowship

    [nave] FELLOWSHIP. Eccl. 4:9-12; Amos 3:3 See: Fraternity; Fellowship. With God Gen. 5:22, 24; Gen. 6:9; Ex. 29:45; Ex. 33:14-17; Lev. 26:12; Isa. 57:15; Zech. 2:10; Mark 9:37; John 14:23; John 17:21, 23; 2 Cor. 6:16; 2 Cor. 13:...

  • Song

    [nave] SONG Sung at the passover, Matt. 26:30; Mark 14:26. Didactic, Deut. 32. See: Psalms, Didactic. Impersonation of the church, Song 1-8. Of Moses and the Lamb, Rev. 15:3, 4. New, Psa. 33:3; 40:3. Prophetic, See: Psalms, P...

  • Lovers

    [nave] LOVERS. Instances of Isaac for Rebekah, Gen. 24:67. Jacob for Rachel, Gen. 29:20, 30. Shechem for Dinah, Gen. 34:3, 12. Boaz for Ruth, Ruth 2-4. of romance, mistresses, paramours Song 1:13, 14, 16; 2:3, 8, 9, 10, 16, 1...

  • Watchman

    [isbe] WATCHMAN - woch'-man (tsopheh, shomer, metsappeh, notser): Used to designate a sentinel on the city walls (2 Sam 18:25; 2 Ki 9:18; Ps 127:1; Isa 62:6) or on the hilltops (Jer 31:6). Song 3:3; 5:7 introduces another class, "t...
    [nave] WATCHMAN, a sentinel. On the walls of cities, Song 3:3; 5:7; of Jerusalem, 2 Sam. 13:34; 18:24, 25; Neh. 4:9; 7:3; Isa. 52:8; 62:6; of Babylon, Jer. 51:12. On towers, 2 Kin. 9:17; 2 Chr. 20:24; Isa. 21:5-12; Jer. 31:6. At t...

  • DRESS

    [isbe] DRESS - In the Hebrew and Greek there is a wonderful wealth of terminology having to do with the general subject of dress among the ancient Orientals. This is reflected in the numerous synonyms for "dress" to be found in Eng...
    [smith] This subject includes the following particulars: Materials; Color and decoration; Name, form, and mode of wearing the various articles; Special usages relating thereto. Materials .--After the first "apron" of fig leaves, (Ge...

  • Washing

    [nave] WASHING, Ex. 19:10, 14; Matt. 15:2; Mark 7:2-5, 8, 9; Luke 11:38; Heb. 9:10. Of priests, Ex. 29:4; 30:18-21; 40:12, 31, 32; Lev. 8:6; 16:4, 24, 26, 28; Num. 19:7-10, 19; 2 Chr. 4:6. Of burnt offerings, Lev. 1:9, 13; 9:14;...

  • WASHING OF FEET

    [isbe] WASHING OF FEET - The Old Testament references (Gen 18:4; 19:2: 24:32; 43:24; Jdg 19:21; 1 Sam 25:41; 2 Sam 11:8; Song 5:3; Ps 58:10) show that the washing of the feet was the first act on entering the tent or house after a ...

  • Bowels

    [nave] BOWELS Diseased, 2 Chr. 21:15-20. Judas', gushed out, Acts 1:18. Figurative Of the sensibilities, Gen. 43:30; 1 Kin. 3:26; Job 30:27; Psa. 22:14; Song 5:4; Jer. 4:19; 31:20; Lam. 1:20; Phil. 1:8; 2:1; Col. 3:12; 1 John 3:...

  • Church

    [nave] CHURCH, the collective body of believers. Miscellany of Minor Sub-Topics Called in the O.T., The Congregation, Ex. 12:3, 6, 19, 47; 16:1, 2, 9, 10, 22; Lev. 4:13, 15; 10:17; 24:14. Called in the N.T., Church, Matt. 16:18; ...

  • VEIL (1)

    [isbe] VEIL (1) - val: The following words are so translated in English Versions of the Bible (sometimes the King James Version vail): (1) miTpachath, Ruth 3:15 the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) "ma...

  • Lock

    [nave] LOCK, Judg. 3:23-25; Neh. 3:13, 14; Song 5:5.

  • MYRRH

    [isbe] MYRRH - mur: (1) (mor or mowr; Arabic murr]): This substance is mentioned as valuable for its perfume (Ps 45:8; Prov 7:17; Song 3:6; 4:14), and as one of the constituents of the holy incense (Ex 30:23; see also Song 4:6; 5:1...

  • DEW

    [isbe] DEW - du (Tal; drosos). 1. Formation of Dew: Two things are necessary for the formation of dew, moisture and cold. In moist countries there is less dew because the change in temperature between day and night is too small. In...

  • DEFILE; DEFILEMENT

    [isbe] DEFILE; DEFILEMENT - de-fil', de-fil'-ment (Anglo-Saxon, afylau, etc.; Middle English, defoulen, "make foul," "pollute," render (the King James Version) 9 Hebrew roots (the Revised Version (British and American) six): ga`al,...

  • BOLT

    [isbe] BOLT - bolt (na`al, "to bind up"): The ancient Hebrews had fastenings of wood or iron for the doors of houses (2 Sam 13:17,18; Song 5:5), city gates (Neh 3:3,6,13-15), prison doors, etc. (Isa 45:2), which were in the form of...

  • BEARD

    [isbe] BEARD - berd: (1) Western Semites in general, according to the monuments, wore full round beards, to which they evidently devoted great care. The nomads of the desert, in distinction from the settled Semites, wore a clipped ...

  • DROP, DROPPING

    [isbe] DROP, DROPPING - "To drop" expresses a "distilling" or "dripping" of a fluid (Jdg 5:4; Prov 3:20; Song 5:5,13; Joel 3:18; Am 9:13; compare 1 Sam 14:26, "the honey dropped" (margin "a stream of honey")); Job 29:22 and Isa 45:...

  • GARDEN

    [isbe] GARDEN - gar'-d'-n (gan, gannah, ginnah; kepos): The Arabic jannah (diminutive, jannainah), like the Hebrew gannah, literally, "a covered or hidden place," denotes in the mind of the dweller in the East something more than t...

  • LOCKS

    [isbe] LOCKS - loks ((1) tsitsith, (2) pera'; (3) machlaphah, (4) qewutstsah): See in general the article on HAIR. (1) The first word, tsitsith, means really a tassel, such as is worn by the Jews on the four corners of the prayer-s...
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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • I. The superscription 1:1II. The courtship 1:2-3:5A. The beginning of love 1:2-111. Longing for the boyfriend 1:2-42. The girl's insecurity 1:5-83. Solomon's praise 1:9-11B. The growth of love 1:12-3:51. Mutual admiration 1:1...
  • Perhaps the outstanding characteristic of this first major section of the book is the sexual restraint that is evident during the courtship. This restraint contrasts with the sexual intimacy that characterizes the lovers afte...
  • In these verses Solomon evidently praised his bride for giving herself wholly to him as he had asked.4:9 "Sister"was evidently an affectionate term for wife (cf. vv. 10, 12; 5:1-2; Tobit 7:16; 8:4, 7).4:10 Again the word tran...
  • 5:2 Again the woman dreamed (cf. 3:1-4). In her dream her husband came to her having been out of doors in the evening. His mind appears to have been on making love in view of what follows.5:3-4 However she had lost interest. ...
  • 6:4-10 Solomon's first words to his beloved were praises. Verse 4c probably means Solomon felt weak-kneed as a result of gazing on his wife's beauty, as he would have felt facing a mighty opposing army. Her eyes too unnerved ...
  • The Shulammite exulted in her complete abandonment to her husband and in his complete satisfaction with her (cf. 2:16; 6:3). These joys increase through the years of a healthy marriage."Far from being the objectionable condit...
  • The Shulammite's desire for her husband's love continued to increase throughout their marriage (vv. 1-3).8:1 Ancient Near Easterners frowned on public displays of intimate affection unless closest blood relatives exchanged th...
  • These verses summarize the theme of the book.8:5a Evidently these are the words of the daughters of Jerusalem. The couple is coming up out of the wilderness. The "wilderness"connoted Israel's 40 years of trials to the Jewish ...
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