I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.
The verse closes a scene of deep rest. The bride rests in her Beloved's arms, and a solemn charge tells the daughters of Jerusalem not to disturb her. Why swear by gazelles and does, who exactly is asleep, and what does it mean that love must not be woken "until it pleases"?
The Charge Guards a Rest Already Given
The bride has just reached what she longed for. The charge protects an enjoyment, not an effort.
Hamilton SmithShe has reached the assurance and enjoyment of the Bridegroom's love. How happy when the saint finds every longing of the renewed nature satisfied by the love of Christ.
Whoever tastes that love guards it.
Hamilton SmithThe slightest movement would disturb the timid and sensitive roe or hind of the field. With the banner of love over her, and the arms of love around her, the bride dreads the slightest intrusion that would mar the enjoyment of love. And the believer who enjoys the love of Christ may well dread any intrusion that would break or spoil that close love between him and his Saviour.
Who Is Asleep
Older versions read "till he please." The Hebrew leaves the gender open, so the setting has to show who is asleep.
The Believer's MagazineThe Hebrew reads, "till it pleases." So the context must decide who is speaking, and whether He or she is sleeping. "Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep" (Ps. 121:4). So it is certainly not the Lord who is asleep here, but His beloved one, sleeping peacefully in His embrace. He holds her lovingly in His arms, and He watches that nothing disturbs her rest.
Why Gazelles and Does
The oath names two animals for what they are like. They startle at almost nothing, and that is the point.
Andrew MillerShe delights in what He is… It is all, it is only, Christ. When the soul is occupied with Him in this way, He of all others is the most careful that it should not be disturbed. The roes and the hinds are the most easily startled creatures in the field. And their sense of hearing is so acute, that a far distant sound of danger will alarm them. We should all be just as sensitive to the faintest approach of anything that would interfere with our walk and communion with the Lord.
The threats named are not dramatic ones. They are the ordinary traffic of the mind. Andrew Miller names the wandering thought, the self-flattering fancy, and the unjust doubt — things that come to quench the flame of holy love in the soul.
Love Cannot Be Worked Up
The charge not to "stir up" love has a second edge. Affection for the Lord is not something we can manufacture by pressure on ourselves.
Leslie M. GrantLove must be a spontaneous thing, or it is not love at all… The roe, or gazelle, is the very picture of timid sensitivity. The hind climbs surefooted to heights above the common level, and tells the same story of avoiding danger. We cannot produce love in our own hearts by stirring them up. This will fail, for our hearts are no fountain of love at all. We must look elsewhere: "we love because He first loved us." Receiving the love of God is the only source of love toward God or toward others.
A Refrain That Marks the Book's Order
This charge is not a stray line. Its returns give the Song its shape.
William KellyThis charge appears several times in the song. I think it is the perfect answer to those who suppose the song is just many little songs put together with no order. Not so. There is perfect order, and not only continuity but progress. This charge is given three times… She is waiting for the relationship to be settled.
Each return of the charge marks a stage in His coming.
Andrew MillerEach time this charge sounds, the coming of the Lord follows at once. In chapter 2:7, it is the revelation of Himself. "The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes." It is Himself, personally, that is here thought of. In Cant. 3:5, it is the Messiah coming in royal procession… In chapter 8:4, the bride leaves the wilderness united to Him.
Who Is Being Charged
Commentators differ on who the daughters of Jerusalem are. One reading takes them as the cities of Judah, close to the bride but not the bride herself (Andrew Miller). Another takes them as the whole nation (Morrish Bible Dictionary).
Summary
- Rest received. The Bridegroom's love answers every longing of the heart — banner over her, arms around her.
- Rest guarded. Because the sleeper is the bride and not the Lord, He is the one keeping watch that nothing wakes her.
- Rest defended. Gazelles and does startle at a distant sound. Be that alert to whatever would break communion: a wandering thought, self-flattery, an unjust doubt.
- Rest not forced. Love we stir up by our own effort is not love. It rises only in answer to His love.
- Rest fulfilled. Every time this charge sounds, the Beloved's coming follows. First His voice, then His crowning, then the bride leaning on Him out of the wilderness.