Song of Solomon 1:1-8
A Love More Delightful Than Wine
Read the passage
1This is Solomon’s Song of Songs.
2Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is more delightful than wine.
3The fragrance of your perfume is pleasing; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens adore you.
4Take me away with you—let us hurry! May the king bring me to his chambers. We will rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. It is only right that they adore you.
5I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
6Do not stare because I am dark, for the sun has gazed upon me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me a keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have neglected.
7Tell me, O one I love, where do you pasture your sheep? Where do you rest them at midday? Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your companions?
8If you do not know, O fairest of women, follow the tracks of the flock, and graze your young goats near the tents of the shepherds.
Berean Standard Bible
Read aloud
The poem opens with a woman speaking plainly about desire. She wants the man she loves to kiss her, and she says his love is better than wine. Her words are eager and personal: she wants to be with this particular man.
She compares his name to perfume poured out and says it is no wonder the maidens adore him. Fragrance gives her a way to describe how pleasing he is to her. The song includes voices of rejoicing, as well as her own wish to be taken away with him.
Then the woman speaks about her own appearance. She is dark from working in the sun, and she is lovely. Her brothers made her keep the vineyards, while she could not tend her own vineyard. The image holds both confidence and a wound. She knows she is beautiful, but she also remembers being overworked and watched by other people.
Her desire is specific. She wants to know where the man she loves pastures his sheep and rests at midday. She does not want to wander around as a veiled woman near other shepherds. The answer tells her to follow the tracks and bring her young goats near the shepherds' tents. Even this early, the poem places longing in a real landscape with real questions about where someone can be found.
The woman can say that she is lovely and also ask people not to stare at her. Her brothers’ anger and the work they imposed have left their mark. Hearing both her confidence and her hurt helps us attend to her as a person, rather than reducing the song to a list of compliments.
Questions
1 What does the woman say is better than wine?
AnswerThe love of the man she desires. She begins by naming delight rather than hiding it behind vague compliments.
2 What does the woman compare his name to?
AnswerShe compares it to perfume poured out, expressing how pleasing he is to her, and says that the maidens adore him too.
3 Why does the woman say she is dark?
AnswerThe sun has looked upon her because her mother's sons made her work in the vineyards. Her appearance carries the evidence of labor imposed on her.
4 What does she want to know about the man she loves?
AnswerShe wants to know where he pastures his sheep and rests them at midday so she can find him without wandering among strangers.
What This Means for Us
The poem does not treat honest attraction as something dirty. It gives desire a voice while also showing that a person is more than an appearance. The woman is beautiful, but she is also someone who has worked, been controlled by family, and wants to find the person she loves.
In a family, speak about beauty and desire with honor instead of either joking about them or making them shameful. Praise character, attention, and faithfulness along with appearance. A person should be cherished, not evaluated like a product.
Prayer
God, thank You for the gift of love and for the good things You made us able to notice. Teach us to speak about desire with honesty, honor, and care for the whole person. Amen.