Song of Solomon 2:10

HE CARRIES HER AWAY

"My beloved spake, and said unto me,

Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away.

For, lo, the winter is past,

The rain is over and gone;

The flowers appear on the earth;

The time of the singing of birds is come,

And the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land;

The fig-tree ripeneth her green figs,

And the vines are in blossom;

They give forth their fragrance.

Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

O my dove, thou art in the clefts of the rock,

In the covert of the steep place,

Let me see thy countenance,

Let me hear thy voice;

For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely."

"Rise up, my fair one, come away" (Song of Solomon 2:10,13). Why is this repeated? The Shulamite might not have been able to respond instantly, through fear of discovery, or by reason of interference by other women in the harem. Anyway, in some of the most beautiful language in all the literature of mankind, the shepherd lover pleads for her to come away.

"The winter is past ...the rains are come and gone ... the flowers are blooming .... the birds are singing ... and the figs are getting ripe" (Song of Solomon 2:11-13). The next verse indicates that the lovers have indeed escaped from the harem.

"O my dove, thou art in the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the steep place" (Song of Solomon 2:15) This indicates the security of the wilderness which, at this point, they had achieved in their flight to the shepherd lover's vineyard in northern Palestine, far from Jerusalem.