The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Vineyard” it comes from the Hebrew Word “kerem” which means “vineyard.”
This poetic love song opens with the bride’s passionate longing for her beloved. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Song of Solomon 1.
The bride declares, “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine,” describing her beloved’s name as ointment poured forth, therefore the virgins loving him, drawing her, and they will run after him, the king bringing her into his chambers, where they will be glad and rejoice in him, remembering his love more than wine.
The bride describes herself as black, but comely, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon, asking her beloved not to look upon her because she is dark, since the sun has looked upon her, her mother’s children being angry with her, making her keeper of the vineyards, though her own “vineyard,” “kerem” in Hebrew, she has not kept, asking where he feeds his flock, and where he makes it rest at noon, that she not turn aside by the flocks of his companions.
The beloved responds, comparing her to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots, praising her cheeks and neck, promising to make her borders of gold with studs of silver, the bride responding that while the king sits at his table, her spikenard sends forth its fragrance, describing her beloved as a bundle of myrrh that lies all night between her breasts, a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi, the two exchanging tender, poetic praise for one another, he calling her fair, and she calling him pleasant, their bed being green, the beams of their house being cedar, and the rafters of fir.
This opening chapter’s frank, poetic celebration of romantic and physical love between husband and wife affirms marital intimacy as a genuine, God-given good worthy of Scripture’s own extended, artistic attention. The bride’s honest vulnerability about her own insecurities, even while receiving genuine praise, reflects how authentic intimacy involves both honest self-disclosure and generous, affirming response from one’s beloved.
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