Song of Solomon 2:8-17 contains one of the most beautiful poems in the whole book; it breathes the air of the fresh spring-time, when, according to our own poet, a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love; here it is a young woman's fancy that hears the steps of the beloved hastening over the mountains, drawn by the sweet attractiveness of love. (1) The beloved comes (Song of Solomon 2:8 f.). (2) His speech (Song of Solomon 2:10-14). (3) The bride calls for his companionship (Song of Solomon 2:16 f.). Note the vividness, the dramatic force, of the opening words, Hark my beloved There he comes Hastening over the mountains, leaping over the hills, etc. The first clause of Song of Solomon 2:9 is probably a gloss introduced from Song of Solomon 2:17, where the words have a more suitable connexion; the LXX has here also on the mountains of Bether (baithel). He gazed from the outside of the window, i.e. he looks in through the window, etc. Song of Solomon 2:10 a may be an explanatory gloss, it is clear in any case that the lover now speaks. The word for winter (found only here in OT) and that for rain both refer to the same season, the time of heavy, cold, winter rain. The spring comes with a sudden rush and reveals itself in magnificent colours. Song of Solomon 2:12 b should probably be translated, the time of pruning has come, the time when rich foliage needs careful attention. The turtle dove is mentioned because its migration is a sign of spring (Jeremiah 8:7). In our land is probably a prosaic addition. The winter figs begin to swell and take on new colour. Translate the next words with RV: And the vines are in blossom, They give forth their fragrance. In endearing tones she is, in her character of a dove, summoned from her refuge behind the lattice, which is rhetorically described as the hiding-places of the rock and the secrecy of the steep place. It is difficult to form any connexion for Song of Solomon 2:15. It is mostly taken as a fragment of a sarcastic song which warns the maidens that love makes havoc with their charms, the cares of wedlock soon rub some of the glitter from these fine pictures. The passage closes with a glowing description of the meeting of the lovers in the evening time, when the day becomes cool and there are no shadows because the daylight has gone. The meaning of Bether is uncertain; cleft-riven mountains, separating mountains, mountains of spices or of cypresses (Lebanon) are specimens of the various conjectures.
Song of Solomon 2:8-17
8 The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
9 My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewinge himself through the lattice.
10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
11 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
13 The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
14 O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
16 My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.
17 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.f