My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, there he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, looking through the lattice.
The bride hears her beloved coming, and describes Him twice over. He is like a gazelle on the hills; and He is at the wall of her house, seen only in flashes through the window and the lattice — near, and still outside.
The gazelle and the young stag
Older translations read "roe" and "young hart" where the ESV has "gazelle" and "young stag." The words themselves carry the meaning.
The Song of SolomonThere are so many beautiful thoughts in this inspired comparison of our Lord to a gazelle or a young hart. It leaps on the mountains, skips on the hills, and speeds on its way to its mate. "Leaping upon the mountains": His energy never runs out. No mountain can hinder Him as He speeds on His way, full of grace and beauty, drawn by the affection of His heart to His loved one. The Hebrew word for hart means "a very strong one." It is a stronger form of a root word that means strong. The word roe means glorious, beautiful or pleasant. Power, glory and beautiful grace all combine in Christ in all their perfection.
Why not a lion
Scripture also pictures Christ as a lion. The image changes with what He is doing.
The Song of SolomonPower never wins the heart, only love and grace can do that. So the inspired writer speaks of Christ as the gazelle or young hart when He is winning the hearts of His own. In Revelation 5 it is a question of Christ taking the government of the world into His own hands. Until then that world is in rebellion against God. There Christ is called "the Lion of the tribe of Judah," and no one can stand against His majesty and power.
Where she is when He arrives
She is indoors, at home. That is a change from the earlier scene.
Hamilton SmithThe first song presents a day scene, with the King sitting at his table. In the second song, the enjoyment of love in the King's presence is past. It opens with the bride resting in her home in the plains, with its latticed windows. While the Bridegroom is away, she has turned back to her own home, in her own land. She is like Peter at a later time, who said, when Christ was absent, "I am going fishing."
Standing, looking, showing Himself
He waits outside in patience and shows Himself, and writers say He deals with His people the same way today.
Hamilton SmithThe King awakens the affections of the bride by the sound of his voice. But he does more. In patience he stands waiting at the wall of the house. Then he shows himself through the lattice and attracts her by the beauty of his person. Was it not so that Christ dealt with those two disappointed disciples on the road to Emmaus? He first made their hearts burn within them as He talked with them by the way. Then He stands at the door of their house like a traveller. At last He reveals Himself to them — just a glance, as it were, through the lattice — and He is gone. And in the same way He deals with His beloved people today.
The wall as shelter
Others read the wall not as her failure but as His provision. The seasons in the next verses set the timing.
The Song of SolomonThis is first of all a prophecy of the Lord appearing to deliver the Jewish remnant at the close of the great tribulation. So we find the remnant, the beloved of the Lord, here in these verses, hiding behind the wall of protection He has provided for her. She waits and listens for the voice of her beloved coming to deliver her. She hears Him coming and knows His voice. He comes up to her place of refuge and looks in at her window. The winter with its cold and storms stands for the great tribulation. That has now given way to the beautiful springtime of the millennial age.
Commentators read this from two sides: Israel waiting for the Messiah, and the King stirring a bride who had drifted home.
A glimpse through the lattice
The lattice gives an outline, not a full view. Writers draw a line here between what faith holds now and where Christ is.
Andrew MillerA little while ago she could only make out the sound of His voice. She could catch a glimpse of His eye through the lattice-work. But now, O happy bride, He is near enough for her to hear the words of His mouth. To faith, blessed be His name, He is always present… Still, personally, He is not here. He is in heaven, we are on earth.
Summary
- Voice. She knows Him by His voice before she sees Him, and waits, listening for His coming.
- Speed. The hart means "a very strong one"; the roe means beautiful. Power and grace meet, and no mountain slows Him down.
- Wooing, not crushing. Here He comes as a gazelle; in Revelation 5 He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Force can subdue, but only love wins a heart.
- Wall. The barrier is also a shelter. It is the protection He provides while the winter of tribulation passes.
- Lattice. For now He gives a glance and a word, as at Emmaus. To faith He is always present, yet He is in heaven and we are on earth.