8 The voice of my beloved!
Behold, he comes,
leaping over the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9 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.
10 My beloved speaks and says to me:
“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away,
11 for behold, the winter is past;
the rain is over and gone.
12 The flowers appear on the earth,
the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtledove
is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree ripens its figs,
and the vines are in blossom;
they give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away.
14 O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
in the crannies of the cliff,
let me see your face,
let me hear your voice,
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.
15 Catch the foxes for us,
the little foxes
that spoil the vineyards,
for our vineyards are in blossom.”
16 My beloved is mine, and I am his;
he grazes among the lilies.
17 Until the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle
or a young stag on cleft mountains.
-Song of Solomon 2:8-17
In the first seven verses of this chapter, the man and woman had a "close call" where they almost fell into sin. The woman made a run for it, and some time passed before they saw each other again. It could be that the man had to go on a journey after their last meeting, perhaps for work or war. But now that his trip is over, he returns - and he returns by *running.* For a moment, the woman stares at him awestruck as he runs to her. The last time they were together, she ran like a deer from the danger of sin; this time, *he* runs to her like a rutting buck ready to take his prize.
But while the man is full of determination, he has not forgotten the lesson from their "close call" either. He stays outside of her family's house, desiring to do things God's way. With a bit more maturity, he proposes to her. Spring has arrived, and as the land becomes verdant with fruit and grass and vines, so too is it time to prepare for a wedding together so they can soon have a harvest of love. While he organizes the event, he asks only that she catch foxes - that is, any distraction or drama that could muck up the nuptial process, she can spend her time nipping such issues in the bud.
She accepts his proposal enthusiastically, declaring their belonging one to the other. He may be grazing among the lilies, but she is the one he chooses to be with. Only she has this request for him: that he go out like a stag once more. She wants him to keep enough distance to preserve their virtue, yet also for him to keep his confidence and enthusiasm. And since Solomon shows these two doing things the way God wants, he happily obliges.
