Single lesson
Song of Solomon 2: The Bride’s Admiration
Song of Solomon 2:1–17
Song of Solomon 2:1–17 is a poem of mutual admiration and desire. Its images of flowers, fruit, animals, seasons and vineyards help the speakers express love carefully, beautifully and with strong feeling.
Before you teach
Within this passage, the voices alternate between lovers and include an address to the daughters of Jerusalem. The poem moves from comparison and delight, to a warning not to awaken love too soon, then to an invitation to come away in springtime, ending with belonging and longing.
Explain the central teaching of Song of Solomon 2: The Bride’s Admiration, using two details from the reading. This poem presents love as precious, joyful and powerful, and it speaks of that love with both delight and restraint.
Welcome: Song of Solomon 2: The Bride’s Admiration
5 minIntroduce “The Bride’s Admiration” and locate Song of Solomon 2:1–17. This poem presents love as precious, joyful and powerful, and it speaks of that love with both delight and restraint. Invite each learner to name a detail or question they will listen for.
Song of Solomon 2:1, Song of Solomon 2:9, Song of Solomon 2:17
Read and explain the passage
12 minThe opening comparisons are poetic, not literal description. One speaker says, “I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys”, and the lover answers, “As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.” The images highlight beauty, distinctiveness and affection through nature language.
The poem shifts to eager expectation. The beloved is compared to a roe or young deer, moving swiftly over mountains and hills. He calls, “Rise up” and “come away”, and his invitation is framed by signs of changing season: winter is gone, flowers appear, birds are heard, figs ripen and vines blossom.
The lover calls the beloved “my dove” and asks to see her face and hear her voice. Then comes a striking image: little foxes can plunder blossoming vineyards, suggesting that something small can damage what is flourishing. The passage closes with mutual belonging and continued longing.
Read the selected verses together, pausing at “The Bride’s Admiration”. Use the source reading below and check the explanation against the words of the passage.
Song of Solomon 2:1, Song of Solomon 2:2, Song of Solomon 2:8, Song of Solomon 2:9, Song of Solomon 2:10, Song of Solomon 2:11, Song of Solomon 2:12, Song of Solomon 2:13, Song of Solomon 2:14, Song of Solomon 2:15, Song of Solomon 2:16, Song of Solomon 2:17
Discuss the details and their meaning
8 minUse the three questions below. Begin with “How do the flower images in verses 1–2 shape the way the lovers speak about one another?” and allow time to find the supporting verses. This poem presents love as precious, joyful and powerful, and it speaks of that love with both delight and restraint. Ask learners to explain which details support their answer and to identify a question they would like to explore further.
Song of Solomon 2:1, Song of Solomon 2:2, Song of Solomon 2:3, Song of Solomon 2:4, Song of Solomon 2:5, Song of Solomon 2:6, Song of Solomon 2:7, Song of Solomon 2:15, Song of Solomon 2:16, Song of Solomon 2:17
Make and respond: Words and images response sheet
12 minWork on “Song of Solomon 2: The Bride’s Admiration: Words and images response sheet”. Follow the materials and steps below, using “The Bride’s Admiration” as reading headings. Each learner should include at least two accurate details and their verse references. Share one observation from the finished sheet and explain how it connects with the central teaching.
Song of Solomon 2:1, Song of Solomon 2:9, Song of Solomon 2:17
Closing: return to The Bride’s Admiration
3 minRevisit Song of Solomon 2:1–17. Invite a learner to summarise what the group has learned about The Bride’s Admiration and another to support the summary with a verse. Give learners a moment to complete their response sheet. They can share a question or, if appropriate for the group, join the optional prayer.
Song of Solomon 2:1, Song of Solomon 2:9, Song of Solomon 2:17
Questions to explore
How do the flower images in verses 1–2 shape the way the lovers speak about one another?
Notice that the poem uses comparison language such as “rose”, “lily” and “among thorns” to express value and distinction.
Song of Solomon 2:1, Song of Solomon 2:2
What joys of love are named in verses 3–6, and what caution is added in verse 7?
List the images of delight and closeness first, then compare them with the command not to awaken love before its proper time.
Song of Solomon 2:3, Song of Solomon 2:4, Song of Solomon 2:5, Song of Solomon 2:6, Song of Solomon 2:7
Why might the poem mention little foxes in blossoming vineyards before speaking of belonging and longing?
Stay with the poem’s own wording and consider how a small problem could threaten something beautiful and growing.
Song of Solomon 2:15, Song of Solomon 2:16, Song of Solomon 2:17
Make, think or respond
Song of Solomon 2: The Bride’s Admiration: Words and images response sheet
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or pens
- a Bible or the source reading on this page
Try it together
- Fold a sheet into three panels or draw three columns. Label them “A repeated word or image”, “Its verse reference”, “What it expresses”.
- Read Song of Solomon 2:1–17. Use “The Bride’s Admiration” as your reading headings and add a short quotation or detail with its verse reference to each panel.
- Compare your notes with a partner. Check that every quotation is accurate and every conclusion has support in the passage.
- Choose one image and add a short written response or a simple drawing. Explain how it connects with the passage.
The finished sheet keeps the details of Song of Solomon 2: The Bride’s Admiration connected to their Bible references and gives the group a way to explain what they noticed.
Adapt for your group
- For learners who need more support, prepare the reading headings “The Bride’s Admiration” and let them match short quotations to the correct heading.
- For confident readers, compare two sections of Song of Solomon 2:1–17. Ask for a written explanation with two supporting references and one question that the text leaves open.
An optional closing prayer
“God, help us listen carefully as we read Song of Solomon 2:1–17. Help us understand what we have read, ask thoughtful questions and respond with care for others. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Song of Solomon 2
1 I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys. Lover
2 As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. Beloved
3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4 He brought me to the banquet hall. His banner over me is love.
5 Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me with apples; for I am faint with love.
6 His left hand is under my head. His right hand embraces me.
7 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, or by the hinds of the field, that you not stir up, nor awaken love, until it so desires.
8 The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes, leaping on the mountains, skipping on the hills.
9 My beloved is like a roe or a young deer. Behold, he stands behind our wall! He looks in at the windows. He glances through the lattice.
10 My beloved spoke, and said to me, “Rise up, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.
11 For behold, the winter is past. The rain is over and gone.
12 The flowers appear on the earth. The time of the singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree ripens her green figs. The vines are in blossom. They give out their fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.” Lover
14 My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places of the mountainside, let me see your face. Let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely.
15 Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that plunder the vineyards; for our vineyards are in blossom. Beloved
16 My beloved is mine, and I am his. He browses among the lilies.
17 Until the day is cool, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be like a roe or a young deer on the mountains of Bether.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.