Male lover
“I adjure you!
O daughters of Jerusalem!
Do not stir up love!
Do not awaken love
Until it is ready!”
The male lover responds as he did in chapters 2 and 3 by asking that the daughters of Jerusalem keep him from his lover until the right time, until her love is ready. Love should simmer and sleep. Then it awakens. However, here there is no mention of gazelles or wild does. He is swearing or adjuring to the daughters of Jerusalem to hold him back from his desires.
Male lover
“I adjure you!
O daughters of Jerusalem!
By the gazelles,
By the wild does,
Do not stir up love!
Do not awaken love
Until it is ready!”
The male lover responds by asking that the daughters of Jerusalem keep him from his lover until the right time, until her love is ready. Love should simmer and sleep before it awakens. The mention of the gazelles and the wild doe seem to be a way of talking about God. He is swearing or adjuring to these wild swift young animals to hold him back from his desires.
“Rejoice in the wife of your youth!
She is a lovely deer.
She is a graceful doe.
May her breasts satisfy you at all times!
May you be intoxicated always by her love!
Why should you be intoxicated with another woman?
My son!
Why do you embrace the bosom of an adulterous woman?
Human ways are under the eyes of Yahweh.
He examines all their paths.
The iniquities of the wicked ensnare them.
They are caught in the toils of their sin.
They die for lack of discipline.
Because of their great folly they are lost.”
Now this chapter ends with what you should be doing. You should rejoice with the wife of your youth, as there may have been other wives. However, the ideal is the young wife for life. There is a description of her. She is like a lovely deer or a graceful doe. Her breasts satisfy her husband at all times. Her love is intoxicating. So then he asks why you would seek another intoxicating woman if you have one at home. Then the reprimands come. He reminds his sons that God sees everything. He examines all paths. The wicked usually ensnare themselves as they are caught in the toils of sin. They die because of a lack of discipline. There folly leads to a great loss.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 