WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.880 Henry: Welcome To Immerse: The Daily Bible Reading Experience. 00:00:02.980 --> 00:00:04.460 Day two hundred and ninety 5. 00:00:05.354 --> 00:00:07.514 Immersed in Song of Songs. 00:00:09.134 --> 00:00:13.364 When we fall in love, we desperately want to express what we feel. 00:00:14.384 --> 00:00:15.164 In such times. 00:00:15.164 --> 00:00:18.674 We often look to songs and poems written by others to help us 00:00:18.674 --> 00:00:20.144 say what we would like to say. 00:00:21.134 --> 00:00:25.484 Almost all cultures have a treasury of love songs that people draw upon. 00:00:25.904 --> 00:00:27.644 To declare their love to one another. 00:00:28.694 --> 00:00:32.954 The cultures of the Middle East, including that of Ancient Israel, were no exception. 00:00:33.614 --> 00:00:36.704 A collection of these love songs has been preserved for us. 00:00:37.094 --> 00:00:42.074 In the Song of Songs, it contains song lyrics that like the Psalms have 00:00:42.074 --> 00:00:46.004 been preserved from earlier times to help people celebrate their devotion 00:00:46.004 --> 00:00:47.504 and delight in another person. 00:00:48.884 --> 00:00:51.704 A traditional heading to the book identifies Solomon as 00:00:51.704 --> 00:00:53.054 the writer of these songs. 00:00:53.684 --> 00:00:56.744 And at one point they described the splendor of his wedding. 00:00:57.464 --> 00:01:00.914 For this reason, the book is sometimes called The Song of Solomon. 00:01:01.814 --> 00:01:06.734 The author is not otherwise identified in the poems themselves, but read as a whole. 00:01:06.974 --> 00:01:10.694 The collection follows the courtship and marriage of a young man and woman. 00:01:11.594 --> 00:01:15.704 It presents a series of romantic conversations between them, punctuated 00:01:15.704 --> 00:01:20.534 by observations from the young women of Jerusalem, probably the bride's friends. 00:01:21.689 --> 00:01:25.709 It's important to appreciate that in traditional Hebrew culture, as in many 00:01:25.709 --> 00:01:30.299 other world cultures, brides and grooms are often portrayed and sometimes 00:01:30.299 --> 00:01:33.119 even dressed as queens and kings. 00:01:33.719 --> 00:01:38.909 So it may actually be this practice that is reflected in such lyrics as come out to 00:01:38.914 --> 00:01:42.209 see King Solomon young women of Jerusalem. 00:01:42.719 --> 00:01:47.669 He wears the crown his mother gave him on his wedding day, his most joyous day. 00:01:48.884 --> 00:01:51.764 This allusion to the wedding couple as a king and queen in a 00:01:51.764 --> 00:01:56.264 garden reminds us of the first couple of the Bible, Adam and Eve. 00:01:57.164 --> 00:02:00.944 We recall that humans are God's appointed rulers of creation, 00:02:01.724 --> 00:02:06.344 and God himself delights in the goodness of physical, sensual love. 00:02:07.244 --> 00:02:13.784 Our joy is a reflection of God's own joy in his creatures, using richly evocative 00:02:13.784 --> 00:02:16.064 symbolism drawn from the natural world. 00:02:16.829 --> 00:02:22.079 These songs portray the beauties of the human body and the splendors of human love 00:02:22.559 --> 00:02:25.109 as glorious aspects of God's creation. 00:02:26.039 --> 00:02:30.149 No book in the Bible uses the imagery of poetry more densely and 00:02:30.149 --> 00:02:32.189 elaborately than the Song of Songs. 00:02:32.999 --> 00:02:36.929 And this celebration of love gives us a sense that even as we await God's 00:02:36.929 --> 00:02:43.064 renewal of all things in his new garden, Some aspects of our present life already 00:02:43.064 --> 00:02:45.164 anticipate the joys that are to come, 00:02:50.414 --> 00:02:52.064 the Song of Songs. 00:02:53.714 --> 00:02:58.004 This is Solomon's Song of Songs, more wonderful than any other. 00:02:59.474 --> 00:03:03.584 Kiss me and Kiss me again for your love is sweeter than wine. 00:03:04.304 --> 00:03:06.254 How pleasing is your fragrance? 00:03:06.704 --> 00:03:10.514 Your name is like the spreading fragrance of scented oils. 00:03:11.114 --> 00:03:13.214 No wonder all the young women love you. 00:03:14.204 --> 00:03:15.284 Take me with you. 00:03:15.344 --> 00:03:16.634 Come let's run. 00:03:17.174 --> 00:03:19.844 The king has brought me into his bedroom. 00:03:21.344 --> 00:03:23.084 How happy we are for you. 00:03:23.084 --> 00:03:29.174 Oh, king, we praise your love even more than wine, how 00:03:29.174 --> 00:03:30.794 right they are to adore you. 00:03:31.394 --> 00:03:33.644 I am dark, but beautiful. 00:03:34.199 --> 00:03:38.909 Oh women of Jerusalem, dark as the tense of Keter Dark. 00:03:38.909 --> 00:03:44.189 As the curtains of Solomon's tents don't stare at me because I am dark. 00:03:44.549 --> 00:03:46.709 The sun has darkened my skin. 00:03:47.609 --> 00:03:49.619 My brothers were angry with me. 00:03:50.039 --> 00:03:53.249 They forced me to care for their vineyards, so I couldn't care 00:03:53.459 --> 00:03:55.619 for myself, my own vineyard. 00:03:57.059 --> 00:03:58.379 Tell me my love. 00:03:58.889 --> 00:04:00.929 Where are you leading your flock today? 00:04:01.574 --> 00:04:04.514 Where will you rest your sheep at noon For? 00:04:04.514 --> 00:04:09.074 Why should I wander like a prostitute among your friends and their flocks? 00:04:10.544 --> 00:04:15.014 If you don't know, oh, most beautiful woman, follow the trail 00:04:15.014 --> 00:04:19.484 of my flock and graze your young goats by the shepherd's tents. 00:04:20.504 --> 00:04:26.144 You are as exciting, my darling as a mayor among pharaoh's stallions. 00:04:26.864 --> 00:04:28.334 How lovely are your cheeks? 00:04:28.784 --> 00:04:31.034 Your earrings set them a fire. 00:04:31.844 --> 00:04:33.644 How lovely is your neck? 00:04:33.674 --> 00:04:38.084 Enhanced by a string of jewels we will make for you. 00:04:38.084 --> 00:04:41.174 Earrings of gold and beads of silver. 00:04:41.524 --> 00:04:44.504 The king is lying on his couch. 00:04:44.834 --> 00:04:47.504 Enchanted by the fragrance of my perfume. 00:04:48.614 --> 00:04:53.714 My lover is like a sachet of merr lying between my breasts. 00:04:54.599 --> 00:04:58.979 He is like a bouquet of sweet hena blossoms from the vineyards of Indi. 00:05:00.509 --> 00:05:02.699 How beautiful you are, my darling. 00:05:02.729 --> 00:05:06.479 How beautiful Your eyes are like doves. 00:05:08.009 --> 00:05:09.149 You are so handsome. 00:05:09.149 --> 00:05:11.879 My love pleasing beyond words. 00:05:12.359 --> 00:05:19.139 The soft grass is our bed fragrant cedar branches are the beams of our house and 00:05:19.139 --> 00:05:21.809 pleasant smelling furs are the rafters. 00:05:23.879 --> 00:05:27.779 I am the spring crocus blooming on the Sharon Plain. 00:05:28.109 --> 00:05:33.479 The Lilly of the valley like a Lilly among thistles is my darling. 00:05:33.509 --> 00:05:39.329 Among young women, like the finest apple tree in the orchard is my lover Among 00:05:39.334 --> 00:05:45.059 other young men, I sit in his delightful shade and taste his delicious fruit. 00:05:46.109 --> 00:05:48.209 Hes escorts me to the banquet hall. 00:05:48.569 --> 00:05:50.609 It's obvious how much he loves me. 00:05:51.359 --> 00:05:53.549 Strengthen me with raisin cakes. 00:05:53.699 --> 00:05:56.909 Refresh me with apples for I am weak with love. 00:05:57.599 --> 00:06:01.949 His left arm is under my head and his right arm embraces me. 00:06:03.299 --> 00:06:08.459 Promise me, oh, women of Jerusalem by the Gazelle's and wild dear. 00:06:08.759 --> 00:06:12.539 Not to awaken love until the time is right. 00:06:14.549 --> 00:06:16.919 Ah, I hear my lover coming. 00:06:17.429 --> 00:06:21.119 He is leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills. 00:06:21.659 --> 00:06:26.339 My lover is like a swift gazelle or a young stag look. 00:06:26.729 --> 00:06:31.349 There he is behind the wall, looking through the window, peering into the room. 00:06:32.819 --> 00:06:35.759 My lover said to me, rise up my darling. 00:06:36.269 --> 00:06:37.409 Come away with me. 00:06:37.409 --> 00:06:38.369 My fair one. 00:06:38.999 --> 00:06:43.379 Look, the winter is passed and the rains are over and gone. 00:06:43.979 --> 00:06:45.689 The flowers are springing up. 00:06:46.229 --> 00:06:51.899 The season of singing birds has come and the cooing of turtle doves fills the air. 00:06:52.769 --> 00:06:57.809 The fig trees are forming young fruit and the fragrant grape vines are blossoming. 00:06:58.799 --> 00:07:00.239 Rise up my darling. 00:07:00.869 --> 00:07:02.279 Come away with me. 00:07:02.399 --> 00:07:03.269 My fair one. 00:07:04.769 --> 00:07:07.169 My dove is hiding behind the rocks. 00:07:07.934 --> 00:07:09.974 Behind an outcrop on the cliff. 00:07:10.964 --> 00:07:12.374 Let me see your face. 00:07:12.914 --> 00:07:14.444 Let me hear your voice. 00:07:15.164 --> 00:07:18.584 For your voice is pleasant and your face is lovely. 00:07:20.024 --> 00:07:24.464 Catch all the foxes, those little foxes before they ruin the vineyard of 00:07:24.464 --> 00:07:27.224 love for the grapevines or blossoming. 00:07:27.614 --> 00:07:31.304 My lover is mine and I am his. 00:07:31.874 --> 00:07:33.884 He browses among the lilies. 00:07:34.484 --> 00:07:39.074 Before the dawn breezes blow and the night shadows flee returned 00:07:39.074 --> 00:07:44.324 to me, my love like a gazelle or a young stag on the rugged mountains. 00:07:46.334 --> 00:07:50.084 One night as I lay in bed, I yearned for my lover. 00:07:50.744 --> 00:07:52.934 I yearned for him, but he did not come. 00:07:53.754 --> 00:07:58.634 So I said to myself, I will get up and roam the city, searching 00:07:58.634 --> 00:08:00.824 in all its streets and squares. 00:08:01.394 --> 00:08:03.284 I will search for the one I love. 00:08:04.004 --> 00:08:06.854 So I searched everywhere, but did not find him. 00:08:07.634 --> 00:08:11.234 The watchmen stopped me as they made their rounds, and I asked, 00:08:11.894 --> 00:08:13.694 have you seen the one I love? 00:08:14.354 --> 00:08:16.394 Then scarcely had I left them. 00:08:16.394 --> 00:08:20.354 When I found my love, I called and held him tightly. 00:08:20.804 --> 00:08:24.494 Then I brought him to my mother's house, into my mother's bed 00:08:25.004 --> 00:08:26.804 where I had been conceived. 00:08:27.944 --> 00:08:34.244 Promise me, oh, women of Jerusalem by the Gazelle's and Wild dear, not to 00:08:34.244 --> 00:08:37.454 awaken love until the time is right. 00:08:39.494 --> 00:08:43.664 Who is this sweeping in from the wilderness, like a cloud of smoke? 00:08:44.414 --> 00:08:46.274 Who is it fragrant with? 00:08:46.279 --> 00:08:49.334 Merr and frankincense in every kind of spice. 00:08:50.339 --> 00:08:54.869 Look, it is Solomon's carriage surrounded by 60 heroic men, 00:08:55.139 --> 00:08:57.509 the best of Israel's soldiers. 00:08:58.349 --> 00:09:01.979 They are all skilled swordsmen experienced warriors. 00:09:02.759 --> 00:09:07.049 Each wears a sword on his thigh, ready to defend the king 00:09:07.049 --> 00:09:08.849 against an attack in the night. 00:09:09.539 --> 00:09:14.189 King Solomon's carriage is built of wood imported from Lebanon. 00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:16.289 Its post are silver. 00:09:16.664 --> 00:09:17.954 It's canopy gold. 00:09:18.284 --> 00:09:19.964 Its cushions are purple. 00:09:20.474 --> 00:09:24.464 It was decorated with love by the young women of Jerusalem. 00:09:25.934 --> 00:09:28.964 Come out to see King Solomon young women of Jerusalem. 00:09:29.384 --> 00:09:35.084 He wears the crown his mother gave him on his wedding day, his most joyous day. 00:09:36.854 --> 00:09:39.734 This concludes today's reading experience. 00:09:39.854 --> 00:09:40.854 Thank you for joining us.