The YOUNG WIFE describes her restored status.
“ I went down into the garden of nuts, To see the green plants of the valley, To see whether the vine budded, And the pomegranates were in flower. Before I was aware, my soul set me, Among the chariots of my willing people. Return, return, O beloved of Solomon, Return, return, that we may look upon you. Why will you look upon the beloved of Solomon, As upon the dance of Mahanaim?”
Restored to her homeland, reunited with her royal and beloved husband in their former surroundings, the young wife renews her acquaintance with their favorite haunts, certain that she would discover that nature was flowering in the same way as she was. She no longer wanted the delights of Jerusalem, but the loveliness of God's creation. And then it was as though she found herself among the chariots of her willing people, and hears their call, ‘Return, O beloved of Solomon, return. Return that we may look upon you.' (Solomon is shelomoh, so shulamith could indicate the wife and beloved of Solomon). Now that her status is seen to have been restored by her beloved, they no longer despise her (Song of Solomon 5:9) but want her in their midst so that they too might look upon her.
Her reply is swift and to the point. Why do they want to look on the beloved of Solomon (whom they had so recently despised)? Is it because they see her simply as royal entertainment, as though she were a well known, popular dance?
Alternately there may be in mind a dance which celebrated the return of Jacob and his family to their native land when he was welcomed by the twin hosts (mahanaim) of angels (Genesis 32:1-2). In this case she is saying, do you want to welcome me like the twin hosts of angels welcomed Jacob?
What a beautiful picture we have here of the restored soul as it wanders out into the green pastures to which it has returned, where the Shepherd watches over His flock (Psalms 23:2). No more the enticements of Jerusalem with their stultifying effects, but the joy of once more experiencing renewal and life. And it is once they are restored that Christians will hear again the desire of the hangers on to have them once more among them, not for their own sake's, but because they are the beloved of the King.