On 1-10-16, Song of Songs 6:4-12 or Song of Solomon 6:4-12 will be our Adult Sunday School/ Uniform Series/ International Sunday School Lesson, herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as The Most Beautiful Bride

The Most Beautiful Bride

Song of Songs 6:4-12

or

Song of Solomon 6:4-12

January 10, 2016

Commentary 

by

Jed Greenough

Her lover browses among the lilies.  He says she is beautiful like a city or troops with banners and she has hair like goats and teeth like sheep!

Despite what some might say we cannot entirely know what is being said here in today’s scripture because it came from within.  Different things have different worths and meanings to people depending on what they hold in high regard and certainly the time and culture from where they came.  But it is enough to know that they are in their love attempting in words to convey the depths of their feelings.

I might use a sunrise or sunset, the sounds of a distant river or the mists along the trees in the morning.  You would use the words that are a part of who you are because like me they stir in you a depth of emotion and that again is what you want to convey.

What does this have to do with us, why should we study it?  I think the answer is as varied as the poetry we would write but for me it is clear.  I believe that love, being as much a part of our lives as birth and death, should have its place in the Bible.

You can read about the struggles of sin, greed, hunger, murder within those pages so I am very happy to read about the feelings of intimacy we see in this scripture and throughout Song of Songs.

It might be true that there is some deep other meaning that this whole book is alluding to but I for the umpteenth week in a row think again that this is another over complication of God’s word.  

If you think that this all an allegory for something else, it might be.  I’m confident that God’s word is rich enough for that to be true too.  I just hope that if you use this as a source of inspiration for writing of your loved one you can come up with some better comparisons for them besides comparing them to dozens of other women, some fruit or livestock!  Have fun with that!

For Discussion:

1. Does a discussion of God’s word always have to be serious?
2. Discuss the way these natural things are discussed in polite or veiled ways.
3. Discuss your favorite verse found within today’s scripture or all of Song of Songs.
4. Discuss why her hair would be like a flock of goats.
5. Discuss why her teeth are like a flock of sheep…
6. Discuss how he is trying to show that she is alone in her uniqueness.  
7. Discuss how a book like this helps you as a Christian.

Upcoming Lessons

1-17-16     An Unfaithful Bride     Hosea 1

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved