Song of Songs 7

7:1-5 The man now praises the woman’s dancing feet and then ascends her sensuous body to her flowing hair (7:1-5). • This queenly maiden (literally prince’s daughter) might or might not be from a royal family, but the man considers her as fine as royalty.

7:2 Between your thighs lies a mound of wheat (literally Your belly is like a mound of wheat): The man is either describing the woman’s smoothly rounded abdomen or her pubic mound.

7:4 sparkling pools in Heshbon by the gate of Bath-rabbim: The pools of Heshbon, formed by a brook, can still be seen today near the ruins of Heshbon on the east coast of the Dead Sea. • The tower of Lebanon is probably a metaphor for Mount Hermon, a high mountain that overlooks the valley of Damascus, the capital of Syria. The majestic beauty of the woman’s nose rises above her other facial features.

7:5-6 Mount Carmel is a high mountain range on the Mediterranean coast. • your hair radiates royalty (literally your hair is as purple threads): Purple was an expensive color to produce, so it was the exclusive property of royalty.

7:7-8 The husband describes their lovemaking. He ascends her body and caresses her breasts.

7:9 The man compares the woman’s love and her kisses to wine in that they are delightful and make one light-headed (see 1:2).

7:11-12 The woman suggests that they go together to check on the status of the vineyards and make love while there.

7:13 Mandrakes (Hebrew duda’im) were a Middle Eastern aphrodisiac (see Gen 30:14-16); the roots of the plant resemble a human torso. The word is a play on my lover (Hebrew dodi). • at our door: All sexual pleasures are available to them now, and she will share with him the delights she has saved for him alone. • new . . . old: She has in mind the sexual expressions they have already experienced, and new ones as well.