GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
SONG OF SOLOMON 7:1
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The Bride
7:1 Why would you gaze at the Shulammite
as at the dance of Mahanaim ?
Anyone who has seen a woman come in from a storm, or caught off guard in some similar way, has heard her say, “Oh, don’t look at me. I must look a fright.” This is what the bride is saying in response to the friends who just called out to her to “turn back, turn back.” It’s perfectly natural for a woman, whether a girl or a wife, who wants to look her best for her man, and doesn’t like being caught in a position when she is not in control of her hair, her clothes, and so forth. Of course, a good husband doesn’t care at all when his wife’s hair is a little tousled and she is breathing hard from good hard work. In fact, her complaint, “Why would you gaze at me?” is really just an invitation for a good ripe compliment.
But what is the dance of the Mahanaim? Jacob named a place Mahaniam when he saw a large army of angels. He and his family were traveling home to Canaan after leaving Laban in the north. Jacob was evidently in or near Bashan in northeastern Galilee (Genesis 32:2; cp. Joshua 13:30). So, in honor of the angels he saw and his own growing household of wives, children and servants, he called the place “Two Camps,” or Mahanaim. Either in honor of that meeting or simply because it is a good descriptor, there was a dance called “the Mahanaim.” The most likely estimate for us to make about this is that there were two lines of dancers, probably men on one side and women on the other, who danced, circled, and interlaced with one another like so many renaissance court dances or even rural American dances like the Virginia Reel, or modern line dancing.
The speculations made in some commentaries about the Indian mythology of the goddess Kali, insane with fighting madness, swinging her scimitar in a bloody dance that could make most of her allies into victims, does not fit anywhere in Hebrew culture, nor (and this is really the point) any part of the Hebrew text. The same is true of attempts to equate the dance of Mahanaim into any sort of Sumerian or Akkadian mythology. We are dealing with either a folk dance of the 10th century BC, or perhaps a court dance from the same period (that is, the time of David’s and Solomon’s reigns). It is also possible that a folk dance was brought into the court, something we might expect of David’s more humble origin, or that a court dance was brought out into the folk culture, which is in turn something that could well have happened due to Solomon’s more noble upbringing; father and son were, to my mind, mirror images of one another in many ways that have yet to be explored by Bible scholars or students of the Scriptures (David’s sexual sins were modest and shameful; Solomon’s were open and extravagant; David never expected to be king; Solomon’s mother always expected him to be king; David lived the life of a Shepherd; Solomon had to investigate the country lifestyle through study, 1 Kings 4:33), etc.).
As we apply this verse to marriage, the bride is answering friends about her looks. She is shy or at least caught off guard, and she resists even the gaze of her own friends. She does not think she is beautiful even though her loving husband has assured her of this many times.
In the mystic union of Christ and the Church, the Christian avoids the inspection of God on account of sin and shame, but the Lord assures us that he sees only the glory and beauty of Christ on account of our faith. We are overwhelmed by his grace and his generosity. Who deserves such praise from the Most Praiseworthy?
The dance could be applied in various ways. It might especially be nothing but an incidental phrase, with nothing to do at all with the account, like some of the details in the parables of Jesus. But it could also be that the believer inspects the Christian Church in various ways:
1, Looking for the partnership of fellowship with other believers; inspecting doctrine and confession of faith in all those we come into contact with, for we do not want to be yoked together with unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14).
2, Looking and appreciating the grace and the work of the church as a whole. The church militant (that is, the church in this world), will make mistakes, but function as best we can (1 Samuel 14:40; Esther 8:8). The good Christian will appreciate this, and will not complain about the choices, the work, the decisions, and direction of labor, and so on, of the church as a whole.
3, The Christian will enjoy the shared joy, the celebration, of the church as we praise Jesus together in worship (Psalm 122:1; John 8:56).
4, In a dance, as in the flawed lives of sinful Christians, a misstep is a part of the experience. Couples do well to dance even if they are bad at it– an occasional slow dance in the kitchen does wonders for the romance of a marriage, even when he keeps stepping on her toes. As with dancing with your spouse, the church doesn’t make mistakes on purpose, but ministry can be a messy business (for “fools despise both wisdom and discipline,” Proverbs 1:7). It is often how we react to this that shows our true character, and which God praises in us.
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 7:1 The dance