Chapter 7 is largely yet another wasf – a praising of the physical body of the Shulamite employing the use of vivid imagery – most of which is in fact largely time sensitive and culturally dependent. One thing is clear, these two are entirely captivated by each other!
This is the 4th wasf of the entire book.
Three in total are from Solomon to the Shulamite at various stages of their relationship from courtship to marriage. Song of Solomon is Chiastic in structure and so even though these ending chapters are folding back in on, and revisiting key points from the beginning of the narrative, it does so through the now familiar lens of having already been wed. As such, even though none of the descriptions of Solomon to the Shulamite were altogether “PG” material, this last one borders on an “R” rating.
It is important towards understanding the Song of Solomon to realize that it is written almost entirely from the Bride’s perspective. Solomon is depicted as praising her beauty 3 times to her face. While the Shulamite only praises Solomon’s handsomeness once and that was to her maidens – not to Solomon.
One of the takeaways of this is the fact that – just like our relationship with God, He is very verbal of His love, devotion and desire for us and while we do in fact praise His attributes as well, we tend to do so more to others as we commune with our siblings in Christ or in our testimony of Him before the world. Also, while we do in fact delight in Him, our greatest joy comes from His delighting in us. It is our pleasure to exist for His pleasure and in this way human relationships between the sexes mirror this reality – and such was the design of God.
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