“Eat, friends, drink, and be drunk with love.”
People that know my love for this book know how dearly I hold the allegorical sense of interpretation for this book. But, this is too good to pass up.
Chapter 4 (and the first verse of Chapter 5) is the honeymoon section, and it has some amazing tips for anyone looking to have an amazing wedding night.
One of the first things that’s sort of overlooked here is the fact that there’s so much talking. The way some people (guys, mostly) dream of their honeymoon, they seem to imagine that there’s very little talking involved. Not so according to Solomon. Not only that, what’s even more peculiar is that this is the largest single chunk of talking from the man that we find in the book. The girl gets a third of a verse, and the “others” get a fourth of a verse. So what’s the significance of this? Well, first off we see the exhortation to men to make the presence of their whole selves evident through speech. This is a main way that woman are communicated to. Men are more tactile, it seems. A touch on the neck can say more to a guy than many words. Women should be spoken to. But not only that, let’s look at the content.
This is so good. For the guys out there that are thinking “Okay, fine, I have to talk. But what on earth do I say as I’m getting ready to have sex with someone?” Well, I’m sure there are many options, but this was Solomon’s choice. He starts talking about her various body parts. Look at this: He says,
“you are beautiful…your eyes are doves…your hair…your teeth…your lips…your mouth is lovely…your cheeks…your neck…your two breasts…[your] garden fountain, a well of living water, and flowing streams.”
I think you can figure out what that last one is. What he is doing is slowly undressing her from top (her veil) to bottom (her “well of living water”), and as he undresses each part, he dwells on it, taking it all in, and complimenting each part. This is such a sensual passage. If you read some if it and try to analyze all the imagery and symbolism for various sexual acts and body parts, and you think to yourself “is he really saying what I think he’s saying?” The answer is yes. This is one of those passages that made this book forbidden to Jewish boys until they were twelve or so.
The way many people (once more, guys mostly) talk about their honeymoon, they talk as if they are just going to barge in there and get to business. They are rough. They are impatient. This passage encourages us, men, that tenderness and slow advances turn a girl on and prepare her more than just your body.
Notice the effect all this has on the girl. Throughout the book she has dominated the narrative with her thoughts and musings. Longing for her Lover, showering him with praise, expressing her insecurity. Then he sweeps in there, slowly undresses her, lingering on every part, showering her with compliments tailored just for her, and then as he leans in and draws near to her “garden fountain” he says:
“Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden, let its spices flow.”
I think you get it. In response to this, the woman, at this point lying down and nude can only get out:
“Let my Beloved come into his garden, and eat its choicest fruits.”
The Bridegroom then enjoys his new Bride and says,
“I came into my garden, my sister, my bride, I gathered my myrrh with my spice, I ate my honeycomb with my honey, I drank my wine with my milk.”
That is hot.
As this all happens, the camera seems to pan away from the couple to the “others” to close this scene out. I think these “others” represent different groups at different points in the book (the church, the world, groups of angels, God). In this case they seem to represent God and all the heavenly hosts looking down and watching all this, seeming to smile approvingly and joyfully exhorting the lovers:
“Eat, friends, drink, and be drunk with love.”






