You Are Altogether Beautiful

Reflecting on Song of Songs 4:1–7

[If you want to catch up in our Song of Songs series, here are the posts. 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, and 3:6–11. If you’d like full access to these posts, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.]

A memorable feature in the Song of Songs is the fact that the man and woman speak to one another in figurative, graphic, and provocative language. This kind of speech appears in almost every chapter of the book.

In Song of Songs 4:1–7, the man speaks to and about the woman. You’ll recall that the setting is the wedding of the couple (3:6–5:1). The man has arrived for the ceremony (3:6–11), and now he speaks. In order to understand the meaning of the man’s words, let’s first consider a structure for these verses. Then we will interpret the imagery. And, lastly, we will consider a Christological reading of these verses.