GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
SONG OF SOLOMON 6:13
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The Friends
13 Turn back, turn back, O Shulammite;
turn back, turn back, so that we may gaze at you!
This scene is a sudden change from what came before. In Hebrew, these lines are the beginning of chapter 7 (along with what is called 7:1 in English). It’s not clear why this part of the verse would not only be separated from what follows, but even left behind in the previous chapter. This began with Latin versions, but the division of the Bible into chapters in ancient times and the division of chapters into verses shortly before Luther’s time is an obscure study that won’t produce very much benefit for us. We will take the text as it usually appears in English. Chapter 7 is mostly a praise of the wife by her husband, who admires the way she looks from top to bottom.
Here the friends are speaking (notice that they say “we”), and they ask the bride, the Shulammite, to “turn back, turn back.” Just what does Shulammite mean?
There is a town in Galilee called Shulam or Shunem in the Jezreel Valley. Some take this to be one of the hints that the bride is from Galilee. But Shulammite could possibly mean “woman belonging to Solomon,” or Solomon’s girl. This would bring Solomon forward as the husband in the Song, which is not necessarily the case. A third possibility is that this word is derived from shalom, the Hebrew word for peace. Shulammite would be a nickname, then, a word meaning either “peaceful one” or even “perfect one.”
The advantage to a commentator in thinking that the wife is from Galilee is that most of Jesus’ disciples were from Galilee (Matthew 4:18; Mark 1:19-20 John 2:44-45; Acts 2:7). In this way, “Shulammite” or Galilean could certainly represent the early Christian church. But very soon, many more Christians were from outside of Galilee than from within it. This makes “peaceful / perfect one” an easier term to interpret, since we are made perfect by the one sacrifice of Christ (Hebrews 10:14), and since God declares: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more” (Hebrews 10:17).
Four times the friends call out, “Turn back!” This term is most familiar to us as the turning back of repentance (1 King 8:35; Jeremiah 36:3; Psalm 51:13 ). But here, connected with 7:1, it is surely something far more secular. It is a call at a dance. Dancing the Bible is most often an act of worship (Psalm 149:3; 150:4) or celebration, especially celebration after a battle has been won and the soldiers return home (Exodus 15:20; Judges 11:34). There is not necessarily anything overly sensual or inappropriate with any of the dancing in the Scriptures; even the dance of Herod’s step-daughter is usually commented upon with more thoughts to operatic interpretations than to the text itself.
The friends ask the wife to let them gaze at her. This is a problem if the friends are men, of course. Men should not look at the wife of another man in any way that would be a temptation or even a distraction. These friends would all be guilty of breaking the Tenth Commandment if they were men. But we’re never told that they are. It’s more likely that the friends of the bride would be women; her bridesmaids, to our way of thinking. They celebrate her beauty and they are happy that her husband is pleased with the way she looks. They want to look at her, and perhaps part of chapter 7 (though the speakers are uncertain) will feature these women admiring the bride’s good looks and her indisputable prettiness.
When a Christian pays a compliment to another for their Christian living, words, actions, or attitude, they are “turning back” their friend for the sake of encouragement and to shine light on a fine example. This is the same thing that we do when we take the men and women of the Bible and notice those things that are good. The Holy Spirit says through Paul: “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable– if anything is excellent or praiseworthy– think about such things” (Philippians 4:8). In Proverbs, the wise and blessed husband remembers to praise his heroic wife while their children bless her for the things she does (Proverbs 31:28). And her deeds also bring her praise from the old men who judge cases at the city gate (Proverbs 31:31).
Turn, turn, turn if you are asked, O Church, turn and allow the world to see what you have done. If it is sinful, you will be rebuked and you will be the better for it in the end. But if it is not sinful, if it is praiseworthy and admirable, then do not blush, but let others look, if they ask, and learn. So much of what each Christian does that most pleases God is done so very quietly and in secret. We do not seek glory, but we seek to give glory to God, and this all by itself is worthy, O unworthy servant, of praise.
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 6:13 Turn, Shulammite