World English Bible
- I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.
- As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
- As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, his fruit was sweet to my taste.
- He brought me to the banquet hall. His banner over me is love.
- Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me with apples; for I am faint with love.
- His left hand is under my head. His right hand embraces me.
- I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, or by the hinds of the field, that you not stir up, nor awaken love, until it so desires.
- The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes, leaping on the mountains, skipping on the hills.
- My beloved is like a roe or a young deer. Behold, he stands behind our wall! He looks in at the windows. He glances through the lattice.
- My beloved spoke, and said to me, “Rise up, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.
- For behold, the winter is past. The rain is over and gone.
- The flowers appear on the earth. The time of the singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
- The fig tree ripens her green figs. The vines are in blossom. They give out their fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.”
- My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places of the mountainside, let me see your face. Let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely.
- Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that plunder the vineyards; for our vineyards are in blossom.
- My beloved is mine, and I am his. He browses among the lilies.
- Until the day is cool, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be like a roe or a young deer on the mountains of Bether.
“Rise up, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.” —Song of Solomon 2:10, World English Bible
Song of Solomon 2 refuses to separate human love from holy wisdom. The woman’s desire is embodied, delighted, and unashamed—yet it is neither hurried nor careless. Love is celebrated, guarded, and given its proper season.
The speaker calls herself “a rose of Sharon,” though the Hebrew ḥăḇatstseleṯ probably describes a common meadow flower, perhaps a crocus, rather than a rose. She does not claim to be rare. Yet her beloved sees her “as a lily among thorns.” Love does not merely discover beauty; it teaches us to recognize the glory that familiarity overlooks. This is not empty flattery. It echoes the God who calls ordinary people beloved and, by calling them so, awakens them to who they truly are.
The chapter moves between shelter and summons. She rests beneath his shadow and is brought into the “banquet hall”—literally, the “house of wine.” His banner, or military standard, over her is love. In the ancient world, a banner declared publicly to whom someone belonged. Here love does not conquer by force; it protects by covenant. “My beloved is mine, and I am his” is not the language of possession but mutual belonging.
Yet love cannot remain forever indoors. The beloved comes leaping over mountains, calling her into spring. In Israel, winter was the rainy season. When the rains ceased, flowers appeared quickly, vines blossomed, and the returning turtledove announced a brief, precious window of fertility. The Hebrew phrase translated “the time of the singing” may also mean “the time of pruning.” Perhaps both meanings are intended: true spring brings music, but it also requires cutting away what would hinder fruit.
This explains the surprising command: “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes.” Great enemies are easy to fear; small destroyers are easier to excuse. Ancient vineyards were often planted on terraced hillsides, where foxes or jackals could spoil tender vines. Relationships—and souls—are often ruined not by one dramatic betrayal but by small, tolerated intrusions: unspoken resentment, private fantasy, constant distraction, a prayer life repeatedly postponed.
The woman also warns against awakening love “until it so desires.” Desire is not evil, but it is not sovereign. Biblical love has a season, a shape, and a covenant home.
Origen and Bernard of Clairvaux heard in this song Christ calling the soul from hiding. We should not erase its first meaning as poetry honoring marital love. Yet within the whole canon, the deeper echo is fitting: Christ does not merely forgive us in winter; he calls us into resurrection spring. He stands at the lattice, asking not only for our service but for our face and voice.
Cross-references: Isaiah 62:4–5; John 15:1–11;
Ephesians 5:25–32; Revelation 19:6–9
Suggested hymn: “Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts”
Beloved Lord, call me out of every hiding place. Prune what cannot bear love’s fruit, expose the little foxes I have excused, and teach me to receive both Your shelter and Your summons. Let my life answer Your voice with gladness: I will arise and come away. Amen.
Narrated version of this devotional on Song of Solomon Chapter 2