Verse 3 of the first chapter of the Song of Solomon informed us that the lover smelled like sweet perfume and fragrant oils. In verse 2, the lover informs her lover that his kisses are sweeter than wine. All the young girls were attracted to the young king and praised all his lovable attributes. Then verse 4 adds the idea of urgency and haste to the maiden’s love for this man. She says, “Draw me after you; let us run. The king has brought me into his chambers.” Instead of running after party pleasure, the maiden prefers her lover’s company. She continues, “We will exult and rejoice in you; we will extol your love more than wine; rightly do they love you.”
The senses of smell and taste play a large part in how people are attracted to each other. “Compared to most other animals, humans are not historically known for their keen sense of smell. However, when it comes to falling in love, recent research shows that people do, in fact, rely on their noses to perceive chemical signals in a potential mate. These signals, known as pheromones, give the brain subtle pieces of information that, in combination with our other senses, help people determine the viability of a budding love interest. Additionally, ‘if you have a positive experience with someone whose smell you enjoy and to whom you’re attracted, your body’s dopamine system will register this interaction as a reward worth seeking again,’ says Dr. Stieg. From this point, the brain will correlate being in that person’s presence with the insatiable desire to do so over and over again.”[1] Also, “Tasting something sweet sets off the brain’s pleasure center, flooding it with dopamine and the strong urge to repeat the behavior — in this case, the reward of being with that other person.”
The King’s lover wants to be with him. His attraction is stronger than anyone or anything else in her life. Everything about the king draws them to himself. When commentators see this book as an allegory of the church’s love for her king, they understand this to be teaching about the general attraction Christ has above all others. Taking this book as a literal presentation of love between a man and a woman has its merits, yet, that love, as seen in all of David’s affairs and Solomon’s affairs, brings diminishing returns as life goes on after the initial stages. They also all end in death. There seems to be more lasting value to understanding the Holy Spirit wrote this book through the hands and experience of Solomon to teach us of a far more comprehensive love. Charles Simeon writes, “Who is there so excellent in himself, or such a source of blessedness to them that love him? Go through the universe; survey everything that stands in competition with him, and see what it can do for your souls. Take that highest of earthly bliss, which is here used to shadow forth the blessedness of union with Christ: how often have they been disappointed who have most passionately sought, and fondly hoped that they had attained, the summit of human happiness! And where it has been enjoyed in its utmost perfection, how soon has it been cut short by the hand of death! But nothing can damp, and nothing can terminate, the blessedness of those who are united to Christ.”[2]
[1] Your Brain and Five Senses: The Science Behind Falling in Love (nyp.org)
[2] Simeon, Charles. 1833. Horae Homileticae: Proverbs to Isaiah XXVI. Vol. 7. London: Holdsworth and Ball.