My Beloved Had Turned and Gone

Reflecting on Song of Songs 5:2–8

[If you want to catch up on our Song of Songs series, there is an Introduction, an Outline, an approach for interpreting the book, and then the sections 1:2–4, 1:5–7, 1:8–11, 1:12–2:2, 2:3–7, 2:8–15, 2:16–3:5, 3:6–11, 4:1–7, 4:8–15, and 4:16–5:1. If you’d like full access to these posts, now would be a great time to become a paid subscriber.]

The Song of Songs is full of bright scenes and joyful language. But after the wedding and wedding night in Song of Songs 3:6–5:1, the next passage reports one of the strangest parts of the Song, and perhaps the most disturbing.