Seventh-day Adventist Bible CommentarySong of Songs 5

Francis D. Nichol (ed.) and contributors

Song of Songs 5:1

Into my garden. This verse belongs properly in the preceding chapter. It is Solomon’s response to the maid’s consent to marriage. Eat, O friends. Evidently spoken to the guests at the wedding feast.

Song of Songs 5:2

I sleep. Here begins a new section. The bride relates a troubled dream. She dreams that her beloved came to her at night, and by a moment’s delay she lost him. This is similar to the dream related in ch. 3:1–5, only here the emphasis is on the trouble rather than on the happy outcome.

Song of Songs 5:3

I have put off my coat. She seems to be saying, “I have retired for the night; do not disturb me.”

Song of Songs 5:4

Of the door. These words are supplied and perhaps correctly so. Some think he may have extended his hand through the latticed window of her home.

Song of Songs 5:5

I rose. Presumably still in her dream.

Song of Songs 5:6

When he spake. We may suppose an expression of disappointment as the lover goes away. I sought him. Probably still in her troubled dream.

Song of Songs 5:7

Took away my veil. Evidently to see who she was.

Song of Songs 5:8

Daughters of Jerusalem. In her dream she finds herself accosting the daughters of Jerusalem to help her find her beloved.

Song of Songs 5:10

Chiefest among ten thousand. A fitting title of Christ (see DA 827; MB 79, 100; COL 339). The description of the bridegroom continues through v. 16 and reaches a climax in the expression “He is altogether lovely.” This description is frequently coupled with the title, “chiefest among ten thousand,” when referring to Christ (see in addition to the above references, Ed 69; 6T 175; CT 67).

Ellen G. White

(Song of Solomon 5:10, 16; Hebrews 12:2.) Approaching the Perfect Pattern—As one becomes acquainted with the history of the Redeemer, he discovers in himself serious defects; his unlikeness to Christ is so great that he sees the necessity for radical changes in his life. Still he studies with a desire to become like his great Exemplar. He catches the looks, the spirit, of his beloved Master. By beholding, by “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith,” he becomes changed into the same image.