Song of Solomon 6: Group Study Handout

How to use: read Song of Solomon 6 aloud together, then take the questions in order. One page is enough for an evening.

Overview

The daughters of Jerusalem ask the 'fairest among women' where her beloved has gone, so they may seek him with her. She answers that he has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to gather lilies (vv. 1-2). She says she belongs to her beloved and he to her (v. 3). Then she is praised: beautiful as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, 'awesome as an army with banners' (v. 4). She is asked to turn her eyes away, for they have overcome the speaker. Her hair is like a flock of goats, her teeth like ewes from the washing, her temples like a piece of pomegranate (vv. 5-7).

Key verse

“I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine. He browses among the lilies,”
Song of Solomon 6:3 (WEB)

Outline

Song of Solomon 6:1–2 Searching for the Beloved
Song of Solomon 6:3–4 Mutual Affection Expressed
Song of Solomon 6:5–7 Praise for Beauty
Song of Solomon 6:8–10 Uniqueness and Worth
Song of Solomon 6:11–13 Journey and Return

Discussion questions

In v2, where does the beloved go in the garden?
What does the beloved compare the woman's hair to in v5?
In v9, why are the daughters calling the Shulammite woman 'blessed'?
In v12, what does the Shulammite mean by 'my desire set me with my royal people’s chariots'?
When have you felt 'unique' like the Shulammite, as described in v9?

Go deeper

Passages that echo Song of Solomon 6: Song of Solomon 4, Song of Solomon 2, Song of Solomon 5.

Before next time: read Song of Solomon 7.