I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.
This charge to the daughters of Jerusalem sounds here for the third and last time. Two questions follow: who is the sleeper who must not be woken, and why does this appeal keep coming back?
A Repeated Charge, Not a Random Refrain
One writer treats the repetition as the answer to those who read the Song as a loose bundle of poems.
William KellyThis charge occurs 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 particular order. Not so. There is perfect order, and not only continuity but progress. You will find this charge three times: in chapter 2, in chapter 3, and again in the last chapter, chapter 8. So the order is clearly designed.
Each Charge Leads to a Coming
The three charges do not all work the same way. Each one leads to a coming, and the comings advance.
Andrew MillerWe looked at this charge in our meditations on Song 2:7. The same charge occurs in Song 8:4. Each time it appears, the coming of the Lord follows at once. In chapter 2:7 it is the revelation of Himself... In Song 3:5 it is the Messiah coming in royal procession, as the true Solomon, crowned King of Israel by the heart of the nation... In chapter 8:4 we see the bride leaving the wilderness united to Him. This is marked progress.
Who Is the Sleeper?
The ESV says love should not be stirred "until it pleases". Older wording reads "till he please", and commentators differ over who is meant. One traces the Hebrew and concludes it is the Bridegroom who rests.
J. N. DarbyHere, in chapters 3:5 and 8:4, the word is not the one used in verse 2 and elsewhere, but ha-havah (the love). If it were ray-ah (love, or companion), the word would have to be "she". But the feminine form of the verb depends on ahavah, so the sense must decide the question. I am disposed to think the English version right. The beloved One rests in His love.
Others read the same clause the opposite way, taking the sleeper to be the bride held safe in His arms.
Assembly WritersOr it could read "until she pleases". It seems more likely that the spouse is the one resting in peace in her bridegroom's embrace, while He watches in love so that nothing disturbs her.
He Rests in His Love
The bride's wish is that nothing disturbs the One she loves. The same writer links that wish to what the Lord says about Jerusalem.
William KellyShe draws attention to her desire that nothing should disturb Him — that He should rest in that love which He designed for her. It is a sweet and wonderful thought that the Lord means to rest in His love for Jerusalem... And about whom does He use that expression? Not about us, but about Jerusalem. You will find this clearly enough in Zephaniah 3.
The Rest He Wants Her to Keep
One writer reads chapter 8 as a summary of the whole book. In it, the charge voices the Beloved's own wish for her.
J. N. DarbyChapter 8 stands by itself, and seems to me to sum up the principles of the whole book. ... The loved one shows her deep affection, and the Beloved wants her to rest in His love and enjoy it as long as she will, with nothing to disturb her.
Leaning — the Difference from Last Time
After the charge comes a picture of dependence. One writer sets it against an earlier journey through the same desert.
William KellyAfter a final charge to the daughters of Jerusalem, there is a fresh vision of the bride coming up out of the wilderness leaning upon her beloved. Long ago the people came up out of it too, and God showed wonders of goodness and power. But it was all in vain. They did not lean on Jehovah or His Christ, but on self and law. For sinful people — and that is what they were — self and law can only mean death and condemnation. Far different will it be when the generation to come emerges from it leaning upon the beloved.
Guarding What Is Easily Broken
One writer, on this charge earlier in the Song, points to the roes and hinds. They startle at the faintest sound, and he makes that the measure of our own watchfulness.
Andrew MillerThe roes and the hinds are the most easily startled creatures in the field. Their hearing is so sharp that a distant sound of danger will alarm them. We should all be that sensitive to the faintest approach of anything that would interfere with our walk and communion with the Lord. We should be just as alert to anything that would turn us aside from practical holiness and complete devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Summary
- Rest He takes. The Lord means to rest in His love, and Zephaniah 3 shows Him saying that about Jerusalem.
- Rest He wants for her. Chapter 8 sums up the whole book. The Beloved wants her to enjoy His love undisturbed, as long as she will.
- Rest disputed. The Hebrew does not name the sleeper. Some read the Beloved resting in His love; others read the bride asleep in His embrace.
- Rest that moves. A coming follows each of the three charges. After this last one, the bride leaves the wilderness united to Him.
- Rest that leans. The old generation crossed the desert leaning on self and law, and gained nothing. The bride comes up out of it leaning on her Beloved. Guard that rest as alertly as a deer listens for danger.