{"id":2097,"date":"2007-04-24T02:10:19","date_gmt":"2007-04-24T02:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2007\/04\/love-in-the-key-of-delight-17.html"},"modified":"2007-04-24T02:10:19","modified_gmt":"2007-04-24T02:10:19","slug":"love-in-the-key-of-delight-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2007\/04\/love-in-the-key-of-delight-17.html","title":{"rendered":"Love in the Key of Delight 17"},"content":{"rendered":"

You can’t read the following verses (Song 4:1-5) without both knowing just exactly what the young man delights in in his lovely lover and also all he’s leaving unsaid. Just read it and see what it images for you:
\n4:1 How beautiful you are, my love,
\nhow very beautiful!
\nYour eyes are doves
\nbehind your veil.
\nYour hair is like a flock of goats,
\nmoving down the slopes of Gilead.
\n2 \tYour teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
\nthat have come up from the washing,
\nall of which bear twins,
\nand not one among them is bereaved.
\n3 \tYour lips are like a crimson thread,
\nand your mouth is lovely.
\nYour cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
\nbehind your veil.
\n4 \tYour neck is like the tower of David,
\nbuilt in courses;
\non it hang a thousand bucklers,
\nall of them shields of warriors.
\n5 \tYour two breasts are like two fawns,
\ntwins of a gazelle,
\nthat feed among the lilies. <\/em>
\nHow does one “comment” on poetic imagery like this?
\nTwo important lines capture the point: 4:1 and 4:9 reveal that the shepherd-lover loves his beautiful woman and the erotic language in between these verses expresses the language of delight in the beauty of his love. Here’s 4:9:
\nYou have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride, you have ravished my heart with a glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace<\/em>. She is beautful; she has captured his heart. Therefore, her body is utterly delightful.
\nHe canvasses, surveys, examines, and delights in her eyes, her hair, her teeth, her lips, her cheeks, her neck, and her breasts. For each he finds a potent metaphor that evokes in erotic gaze his delight in her beauty.
\nHer eyes: like two doves behind a veil.
\nHer hair: cascading down Mt Gilead like a flock of goats.
\nHer teeth: like freshly washed ewes.
\nHer lips: like a scarlet thread accentuating the beauty of her mouth.
\nHer cheeks: like a pomegranate.
\nHer neck: like David’s tower
\nHer breasts: (took him long enough) like two fawns at play among the lilies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You can’t read the following verses (Song 4:1-5) without both knowing just exactly what the young man delights in in his lovely lover and also all he’s leaving unsaid. Just read it and see what it images for you:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":298,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-love-and-marriage"],"yoast_head":"\nLove in the Key of Delight 17 - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2007\/04\/love-in-the-key-of-delight-17.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Love in the Key of Delight 17 - Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You can’t read the following verses (Song 4:1-5) without both knowing just exactly what the young man delights in in his lovely lover and also all he’s leaving unsaid. Just read it and see what it images for you:\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2007\/04\/love-in-the-key-of-delight-17.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-04-24T02:10:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"xscot mcknight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Love in the Key of Delight 17 - Jesus Creed","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2007\/04\/love-in-the-key-of-delight-17.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Love in the Key of Delight 17 - Jesus Creed","og_description":"You can’t read the following verses (Song 4:1-5) without both knowing just exactly what the young man delights in in his lovely lover and also all he’s leaving unsaid. 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