What is the context?
The flower comparison is answered by the beloved’s praise of a lily among thorns. The woman’s answering apple-tree image delights in shade and sweet fruit.
The house of wine, banner of love, requested refreshment, and embrace convey love’s powerful attraction and the need for sustaining closeness.
The address to Jerusalem’s daughters then asks that love not be aroused or awakened until the time is right. That repeated refrain gives the poem a note of restraint alongside desire.
The lovers’ desire does not erase the importance of willing and timely response. The poem is not permission to pressure a person into intimacy.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Wesley assigns the opening flower to the bridegroom and reads it through Christ’s beauty. BibleHub’s BSB speaker heading assigns it to the bride; speaker headings are interpretive aids. Wesley’s older refrain asks not to disturb his beloved until he pleases, whereas the BSB speaks of awakening love when the time is right. These differences should be visible rather than assumed away.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.
Where can I study this further?
No deeper study linked yet.