Commentary on Song of Solomon 2:17 (Summary)

This is a difficult verse to interpret. In the Dutch translation NBV we read, Now that the day breathes again and the darkness flees – go away now my love. According to this translation, the woman is now sending her beloved away. From the whole context, this sounds strange. In itself, the translation going away is possible but looking at the context I choose the other possibility: that the woman is actually calling on her husband to turn around and come to her. This translation is also found in the great majority of the English versions: Turn around, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on cleft mountains [or: mountains of Bether].

She responds to what he has said earlier: Come, let us go away together, let us enjoy nature together. Nature that sings so beautifully of the work of the Holy Spirit, renewing life on earth.

Again, we see here something of the relationship between Christ and his church. We need it so much to really live in fellowship with Christ. We so need it that not all kinds of other matters pull us away from our exercise of fellowship with him. That does not mean that all the other things that demand our attention are wrong. But if it takes up a lot of your time, it may mean that it infringes on the time you spend on your confidential fellowship with the Lord. It may mean that you begin to put off the Lord and, as a result, pray and read the Bible less. You tell yourself, I do not have time, or I am too tired. Then you become more and more like someone who is about to be carried away by wrong opinions or feelings. Especially in the love relationship with Christ it is so important to keep in mind what the Holy Spirit tells us in 1 Timothy 4:7–8: Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

Anyone who loves the other will seek the other.