Catholic Commentary on Song of Songs 5

"I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine; he browses among the lilies." (Song of Songs 6:3)

The Bride Seeks Her Beloved

The beloved knocks: open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night. She hesitates; when she finally opens the door he is gone. She goes out to search: I looked for him but did not find him. I called him but he did not answer. The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city; they beat me, they bruised me; they took away my cloak. She asks the daughters of Jerusalem to tell him if they find him that she is faint with love. They ask: how is your beloved better than others? She describes him in vivid terms: his head is purest gold; his hair is wavy and black as a raven; his eyes are like doves by the water streams; his lips are like lilies dripping with myrrh. He is altogether lovely. I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine; he browses among the lilies.

The Catechism identifies the bride's description of her beloved as the figure of the soul's contemplation of Christ: the beloved described in superlatives is the image of the one whose beauty exceeds all description (CCC 2709).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, he is altogether lovely. The bride knows her beloved so well that she can describe him from head to foot in precise and beautiful terms. Do you know Christ this intimately? Can you describe him from your personal encounter? The contemplative life is the life that knows the beloved well enough to describe him when he cannot be seen.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, altogether lovely, we are yours and you are ours. Give us the contemplative love that knows you in your absence as well as your presence. Amen.

5
The Bride and Her Beloved
The Bridegroom
 
1 I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride;
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.
I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey;
I have drunk my wine with my milk.
The Friends
 
Eat, O friends, and drink;
drink freely, O beloved.
The Bride
 
2 I sleep, but my heart is awake.
A sound! My beloved is knocking:
“Open to me, my sister, my darling,
my dove, my flawless one.
My head is drenched with dew,
my hair with the dampness of the night.”
 
3 I have taken off my robe-
must I put it back on?
I have washed my feet-
must I soil them again?
4 My beloved put his hand to the latch;
my heart pounded for him.
5 I rose up to open for my beloved.
My hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with flowing myrrh
on the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened for my beloved,
but he had turned and gone.
My heart sank at his departure.
I sought him, but did not find him.
I called, but he did not answer.
 
7 I encountered the watchmen on their rounds of the city.
They beat me and bruised me;
they took away my cloak,
those guardians of the walls.
8 O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you,
if you find my beloved,
tell him I am sick with love.
The Friends
 
9 How is your beloved better than others,
O most beautiful among women?
How is your beloved better than another,
that you charge us so?
The Bride
 
10 My beloved is dazzling and ruddy,
outstanding among ten thousand.
11 His head is purest gold;
his hair is wavy and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves
beside the streams of water,
bathed in milk
and mounted like jewels.
13 His cheeks are like beds of spice,
towers of perfume.
His lips are like lilies,
dripping with flowing myrrh.
14 His arms are rods of gold
set with beryl.
His body is an ivory panel
bedecked with sapphires.
15 His legs are pillars of marble
set on bases of pure gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,
as majestic as the cedars.
16 His mouth * 5:16 Hebrew palate is most sweet;
he is altogether lovely.
This is my beloved, and this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.

*5:16 5:16 Hebrew palate

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