Belonging to One Another

Chapter 6 begins with the friends' question: Where has your beloved gone, you fairest among women? Where has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you? Their offer shows a community that cares about this couple.

The bride answers with confidence: My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to pasture his flock in the gardens, and to gather lilies. Then she declares, I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine. He browses among the lilies. Her words echo 2:16 and express the mutual belonging of covenant marriage: each gives himself or herself fully to the other.

Near the end of the chapter comes a garden scene: I went down into the nut tree grove, to see the green plants of the valley, to see whether the vine budded, and the pomegranates were in flower. Budding vines and flowering pomegranates picture life and growth. In the New Testament, marriage is a picture of Christ's love for His church. Many Christians read the Song this way too. This is an interpretation, not something the Song says directly. In the New Testament, Jesus says that He is the good shepherd, and that He knows His own (John 10:14).