God Loves Sex by Dan B. Allender

Author:Dan B. Allender [Allender, Dan B. and Tremper Longman III]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: REL105000, REL012050, FAM000000, Sex—Religious aspects—Christianity
ISBN: 9781441221087
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2014-09-23T04:00:00+00:00

I Will Climb the Palm Tree (6:13–7:10)

THE WOMEN OF JERUSALEM

Return, return, O Shulammite!

Return, return, that we might look at you!

THE WOMAN

Why should you gaze at the Shulammite,

as the dance of two war camps?

THE MAN

How beautiful are your feet in sandals, O noble daughter!

Rounded are your hips like rings,

the work of the hands of a craftsman.

Your “navel” is a rounded bowl

which does not lack mixed wine.

Your “belly” is a heap of wheat,

bordered with lilies.

Your two breasts are like two fawns,

twins of a gazelle.

Your neck is like an ivory tower.

Your eyes are pools in Heshbon,

by the gate of Bat-rabbim.

Your head . . . is like Carmel

and the hair of your head like purple.

The king is ensnared by your tresses.

How beautiful you are, and how pleasant,

O love with your delights.

This—your stature—is like a palm tree,

and your breasts are like fruit clusters.

I said, “I will climb up the palm tree;

I will grasp its date blossoms!”

May your breasts be like clusters of the vine,

and the smell of your breath be like apples.

May your palette be like fine wine,

running straight to me,

flowing over my lips and my teeth.

THE WOMAN

I belong to my lover,

and his desire is for me.

The final descriptive poem of the Song is uttered by the man. Some of the descriptions are similar to those he already spoke in the earlier poem, but there are new, strikingly erotic depictions of the woman. Also note that, this time, the man starts his description from her feet and moves up her body with his loving compliments. After all, as the opening banter between the women of Jerusalem and the woman makes clear, she is dancing. They ask her to turn, to twirl, and she responds by asking why they are so fixed on her. She compares their gaze to that of the movements of two armies on the battlefield. While at first it may seem strange to us that she compares their watching her dance with a battle, we should imagine the scene of battle from a point overlooking the battlefield. As the two armies encountered one another, who could turn their eyes from the scene as they watched the strategic moves and countermoves of attack and defense? The beauty of the Shulammite draws the same kind of awestruck attention.

She is here called the Shulammite, and only here in the entire Song. Preceded by the definite article (“the”), Shulammite is not a personal name. It could refer to the village from which she came, but of more significance is the meaning of the name. Shulammite is formed from that common and well-known Hebrew word shalom. It is not coincidental that the only other person given a name in the Song is Solomon, whose name is also built on the same word, as the Hebrew version indicates (Shelomo). We will explore the significance of these names and their connection with peace or contentedness later (in chap. 16 when we deal with 8:8–12). For now, we will focus on his description of her beauty and how it moves him.

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