Christianity

Song of Solomon 5The Beloved at the Door

Summary

Song of Solomon 5 begins as the beloved enters his garden and the friends are invited to eat and drink. Then the woman describes a night when she was half asleep and he knocked, his hair wet with dew. She hesitated, and when she rose to open, he was gone. Searching the city, she is struck by watchmen. She asks the daughters of Jerusalem to tell him she is lovesick, then describes him from head to feet, ending, He is altogether lovely. This is my beloved.

Key verse

“His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.”

Song of Solomon 5:16

Themes

Missed Opportunity
Longing
Praise of the Beloved
Friendship in Love

I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.

I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.

I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?

My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him.

I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.

I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.

The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.

I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.

What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?

My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.

His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven.

His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set.

His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.

His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.

His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.

His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.

Text: King James Version (1611/1769), public domain.

Across traditions

Christianity
Revelation 3: I Stand at the Door and Knock
In Revelation 3:20 Christ says, Behold, I stand at the door, and knock, offering fellowship to whoever opens. Christian interpreters often compared it with the beloved knocking in Song of Solomon 5:2.
Islam
Surah Al-Ma'idah (5): A People He Loves and Who Love Him
Quran 5:54 speaks of a people whom God loves and who love him. Sufi poets drew on verses like this when they wrote of God as the Beloved and the seeker as a lover, much as allegorical readers found the soul and God in the Song.

Questions about Song of Solomon 5

What does he is altogether lovely mean?

Song of Solomon 5:16 ends the woman's praise of her beloved's beauty with the summary that everything about him is desirable. Christians have often applied the phrase to Christ.

Why didn't she open the door in Song of Solomon 5?

In 5:3 she says she has already undressed and washed her feet. By the time she rises in 5:5 to 6 he has gone. Many read the scene as a dream about how hesitation can cost love.