Song of Solomon 8:1-2

The Voice

Why would she break the parallel language and say that he “has desire” for her instead of saying he “belongs” to her as she does to him? Certainly he does belong to her, now that they are intimately bound in covenant. Her words may be said in light of Genesis 3:16, the passage where God outlines humanity’s punishment for their first sin. There it is narrated that Eve is to have desire for her husband who will rule over her. What the woman has said here is the exact opposite of the post-sin marriage structure: it is the man who desires the woman. Therefore, the depiction of the marriage relationship in Song of Songs gives a glimpse of what marriage might have looked like prior to the first sin in Eden. God designed the relationship between husband and wife to be one of love, passion, and pleasure. This should be the ideal all couples strive for in their marriages as they work together to avoid sin in their lives.

8 Her (to him): If only you were like my brother, my love,
        nursed at my mother’s breast!
    Then we could show our affection in public.
        I would kiss you, and no one would think anything of it.
        Nobody would look down on me.
²    I would take you by the hand
        and bring you to my mother’s house—
        she has taught me to be a woman.
    I would give you spiced wine to drink,
        and you could enjoy the juice of my pomegranates.