Song of Solomon 5: Group Study Handout

How to use: read Song of Solomon 5 aloud together, then take the questions in order. One page is enough for an evening.

Overview

The speaker begins with an invitation to love, saying 'Eat, friends! Drink, yes, drink abundantly, beloved' (v. 1).

Key verse

“I was asleep, but my heart was awake. It is the voice of my beloved who knocks: “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled; for my head is filled with dew, and my hair with the dampness of the night.”
Song of Solomon 5:2 (WEB)

Outline

Song of Solomon 5:1 Invitation to Abundant Love
Song of Solomon 5:2 Awakening to the Beloved's Call
Song of Solomon 5:3 Hesitation to Respond
Song of Solomon 5:4–5 The Beloved's Yearning
Song of Solomon 5:6 A Moment of Loss
Song of Solomon 5:7–8 A Search Through the City
Song of Solomon 5:9–16 Celebrating the Beloved's Beauty

Discussion questions

In v6, why is the beloved unable to find her lover after she opens the door?
What does the beloved describe in v5 when she mentions 'myrrh' and 'liquid myrrh'?
In v8, when the beloved asks the daughters of Jerusalem to tell her beloved she is 'faint with love', what does this indicate about her state?
In vv. 10-11, what is suggested by the beloved's description of her lover's appearance as 'white and ruddy'?
When have you felt 'faint with love' (v8) in a relationship or friendship?

Go deeper

Passages that echo Song of Solomon 5: Song of Solomon 1, Song of Solomon 2, Song of Solomon 4.

Before next time: read Song of Solomon 6.