Song of Solomon 6

“(The Daughters of Jerusalem Speaking) Where has your beloved gone, O fairest among women? Where has your beloved turned aside, that we may seek him with you? (The Shulamite Speaking) My beloved has gone to his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed his flock in the gardens, and to gather lilies. I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine. He feeds his flock among the lilies.” Song of Solomon 6:1-3 (NKJV)

Perhaps, you have heard that love is not jealous.  In fact, the Bible speaks against jealousy and positions it as opposing true love.

“Love is patient, love is kind. love does not envy, is not boastful. Is not conceited, does not act improperly,…” 1 Corinthians 13:4-5a (HCSB)

So, it was confusing to me, as a new believer, young in the faith, when I read how God, Who is love (1 John 4:8), describes Himself as “jealous.”

“You are never to bow down to another god because Yahweh, being jealous by nature, is a jealous God.” Exodus 34:14 (HCSB)

Obviously, we are talking about two kinds of jealousy.  1 Corinthians 13 speaks of an irrational, unjustifiable jealousy.  There are some men who become enraged if they see their wives talking to other men in a casual social setting.  Such jealousy is crazy because, in life, we interface with people of the opposite sex several times a day and have interactions that have nothing to do with intimacy.  Yet there are some spouses who become anxious and fearful of losing their husband or wife through such arbitrary encounters. This type of jealousy signals deeper emotional problems.

On the other hand, there is a righteous jealousy.  For instance, show me a man who sees his wife in the arms of another man yet is not jealous, and I will show you a man who does not love his wife!  God is justifiably jealous when He sees His “bride” (the Church) cuddling with the idols of this world.

In today’s passage, we get a glimpse of justified jealousy.  The daughters of Jerusalem ask the Shulamite where her beloved has gone.  Note that these are the same “daughters of Jerusalem” whom the Shulamite directs to look upon Solomon as she searches for her beloved (3:10a-11).  Because her love is exclusive, her answer is kind yet firmly direct.  Essentially, “My man is where he needs to be, doing what he needs to be doing.  Oh, and by the way, he is MINE, and I am HIS.”  

I love that sense of ownership.  I have that with my wife, and she has that with me.  That does not make either of us one another’s slave driver.  It simply reinforces the reality that when I am away, I can trust she is true to her marriage vows.  And she knows the same of me.  I also know how the idea that one’s spouse “owns” them is offensive to some Christians.  Perhaps, we should revisit the “bought with a price” ownership/marriage between Jesus and His “bride,” aka us! (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)