GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
SONG OF SOLOMON 4:4-5
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4 Your neck is like the tower of David,
built with courses of stones,
a thousand shields hang on it,
all of them shields of warriors.
5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
like twin fawns of a gazelle
that browse among the lilies.
The physical description of the bride concludes here with the sixth and seventh attributes, her neck and her breasts. The woman’s neck seems to be described in two different ways. First, there is the description of the ancient Tower of David. It is lost, of course– destroyed either by the Babylonians or the Romans or some later attacker. But some have proposed that one of the towers in Nehemiah is meant, such as “the tower projecting from the upper palace near the court of the guard” (Nehemiah 3:25). There is a tricky and unique (hapax) term, “with courses of stones,” that suggests a carefully built structure that was known for its symmetry as much as its strength. A building can be lovely as well as functional. To my mind, the husband is sweet-talking his wife, telling her that her neck is lovely to him. But since the neck supports the head, we have the spiritual application that the well-constructed tower of the neck calling to mind those things in the church that support the work of the head (Christ): especially preaching and teaching, especially teaching our children at various levels, since children learn in different ways according to their age. Such are the “courses of stones.” In the foundation is baptism. The next course is comprised of the basic stories of the Gospels and of books like Genesis and Exodus. So much of the teaching of the Apostles and Prophets is based on Genesis and the Moses stories that one cannot really understand anything in Isaiah, Jeremiah, or the Epistles without good groundwork in the history of the Bible. After this, children need to learn some key passages and their catechism, following which they can finally be taught Christian doctrine.
The shields are described in exaggerated terms. Even David and Solomon did not have a thousand shields to decorate any buildings. In the armory known as the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon, Solomon made two hundred large shields and three hundred small shields, all of gold, to hang there (1 Kings 10:16-17; 2 Chronicles 9:15-16). But the husband could easily be telling his wife, “You have a pretty necklace, like a thousand golden shields.” Spiritually, the shields might symbolize those things that protect the church and some of its vulnerable ministries, especially prayers, planning, instruction and classes for adults, organization in general (often very different from congregation to congregation), counseling, and so on. Some of our women’s groups support world missions as well as mission work for the visually impaired, hearing impaired, and other special-needs ministries. We cannot truly serve Christ by bringing only the healthy and the well-off to the cross. “People brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed” (Acts 5:15-16). There is much work to be done; there are many souls that are sick and need their Savior.
It is a good thing that the husband and poet has included this reference to his wife’s breasts. If the Bible were silent on the subject of sexual organs altogether (of which the breasts are of course the mildest) the Christian might be misled into thinking that sex is something that should never be mentioned; that it is dirty, sinful, and should be shunned entirely. The pastor who counsels his people will discover all kinds of misunderstandings about the sexual blessings of the marriage bed. In the Bible, references to the breasts are typically about the nursing of children (Isaiah 28:9; Joel 2:16; Job 3:12) but also their sexual attractiveness for husbands (Ezekiel 16:7; Hosea 2:2).
Commentators, especially among monks and other Roman Catholic celibates, are often left so speechless at this and similar passages that they are forced into wild speculation about the numeral “two,” as if a woman has two different kinds of milk to give at the same time (such as St. Bernard going on and on about the milk of encouragement and the milk of consolation, Sermon 10). Luther more sensibly applies the mother’s breasts as giving consolations (alone), “made available to terrified minds.” The mother’s breasts are for quiet and intimate moments with her baby (once again, we are reminded of the courses of the neck in the previous verse), or intimate moments spent with her husband, and with her husband only. Some of the consolations and meditations of the Scriptures are not meant for everyone, but for a single individual. Even Paul must admit that a vision of “the third heaven… paradise” was filled with “inexpresible things, things that man is not permitted to tell” (2 Corinthians 12:2-4). The prophet Joel foresaw that as the Last Days approached, “your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions” (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17). Perhaps some things that certain Christians are permitted to see or hear are not meant for all, but for their comfort or consolation alone.
The two breasts are compared with two fawns, twins, grazing among the lilies (or lotuses). The tall plants cover the fawns, mostly. A woman’s breasts are not to be uncovered in public; they are not for the eyes of anyone apart from her husband (or infant). Mentioned here in the seventh place of the list after the neck, with its courses of stones and protective shields, we are also reminded of what the conscience already knows: that a woman’s intimate body parts are to be covered in the most modest secrecy. A veil for the face and eyes, and lilies or well-draped fabric for the rest of her body. The sinful mind should be instructed that the thrill of excitement in seeing nudity is the conscience hard at work: This is unusual! This is not for my eyes! This is someone else’s bride, or husband, and not for me. But the sinful world is put to use by the devil here, who sears the conscience as with a hot iron (1 Timothy 4:2) so that the little voice of the law fails to recognize the sin against the Tenth Commandment.
Permit me to quote Luther again, more fully here. The Doctor says:
“Here I will issue no warning concerning those impure thoughts which befall youth when they hear such descriptions. For the Holy Spirit is pure and so mentions women’s bodily members that he wants them to be regarded as good creatures of God. And indeed, there is nothing in this book that pleases me more than the fact that I see Solomon speaking in such sweet figures about the highest gifts which God has conferred upon his people. He does so in order that an outstanding example of gratitude should be placed before us here. And would that we, too, would learn to praise our God and give such thanks to him that we called him our Sun and our Friend, and the church his gazelle, pastured in flowers, etc.” (LW 15:231). Praise and thank God for the gifts he gives, including the delight you have in your spouse and the love you share. But be private about it. The world does not need to hear your most intimate thoughts; they are best reserved for the one who is flesh of your flesh.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Song of Solomon 4:4-5 Modesty