Song of Solomon 2:9
in Song of Solomon 2My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: Behold, he standeth behind our wall; He looketh in at the windows; He glanceth through the lattice.
KJV
My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.
⋯
This verse in Song of Solomon 2
Commentary
19 notes on this verseTherefore, he comes, and first after the wall is removed, which seemed to be an obstacle to harmony, in order to dissolve the enmities between soul and body. Then he looks through the windows. About what the windows are, hear the prophet saying: The windows are opened from heaven. Certainly, the prophet signifies those through whom the Lord looked upon the human race before he himself descended to the earth. And today, if any soul earnestly seeks him, it will receive much mercy; for the one who seeks much is owed the most.
This site's exposition
My beloved approaches
on Song of Solomon 2:8-9
"My beloved approaches" turns the poem urgent, as she hears him before she sees him. He is "like a gazelle or a young stag," and "he stands behind our wall." Adam Clarke describes the lattice as the latticed window, which let him look in while hardly seen.
This site's exposition
peering through the lattice
Adam Clarke took the wall as the one that surrounded the house and enclosed its court. On that reading he comes nearer by stages, from the outer wall to the court and then to her window. Matthew Henry read the lattice as the old law's ceremonies.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Be more like him who leaps over mountains and transcends hills, looking through windows, standing above nets. The chains of pleasure are evil. It delights the eyes, soothes the ears, but corrupts the mind: it tells many lies, adds falsehood, subtracts truth, promises money, offers gold; but takes away discipline.
But because we must always be anxious, always attentive; and because the Word of God leaps forth like a young goat, or like a fawn, the soul must always be vigilant and strive for what it seeks and desires to hold.
The Medieval Church3 voices
A commentator
Robert of TombelaineCommentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 2 · Written in the 11th century.
proposed
He is rightly said to be like a roe, because he drew his flesh from the Synagogue, which is signified by the roe. And because he was begotten from the stock of the ancient saints, he is rightly declared to be as it were a …
A commentator
Bernard of ClairvauxSermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 55 · Written before 1153.
proposed
"My beloved is like a gazelle and a young stag" (Song 2:9). This depends on the preceding verse. For him whom she had just described as leaping and hastening, she consequently compares to a gazelle and a young stag. Aptly indeed, because this kind of …
A commentator
Bernard of ClairvauxSermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 56 · Written before 1153.
proposed
"Behold, he himself stands behind the wall, looking through the windows, gazing through the lattices" (Song 2:9). According to the letter indeed he seems to say that he who was seen approaching with leaps had drawn near even to the dwelling of the bride, and …
11 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church6 voices
A commentator
Bernard of ClairvauxSermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 56 · Written before 1153.
proposed
But also for each one of us who desire his coming, I think he stands no less behind the wall, while this body of ours, which is certainly of sin, hides from us in the meantime his face and shuts off his presence. For: "As …
A commentator
Bernard of ClairvauxSermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 56 · Written before 1153.
proposed
But I, since I am a sinner, do not desire to be dissolved but dread it, knowing that "the death of sinners is most wretched" (Ps 33:22). How is death not most wretched where Life does not come to aid? I dread going out, and …
A commentator
Bernard of ClairvauxSermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 56 · Written before 1153.
proposed
But this too you must provide for with all vigilance, that he may always find open the windows and certain lattices of your confessions, through which he may kindly look upon you within, since his looking upon you is your progress. They say that lattices …
A commentator
Gregory the Dialogist40 Homilies on the Gospels, Homily 33 · Written before 604.
proposed
Hence the holy Church says to Him in the Song of Songs, whom she seeks under the likeness of a young deer: "Show me, O you whom my soul loves, where you feed, where you rest at midday." For the Lord is called a young deer, according to His assumed flesh the son of the ancient fathers. Indeed, a more fervent heat burns at midday, and the young deer seeks a shady place where the fire of heat does not affect it. Therefore, the Lord rests in those hearts which the love of the present age does not inflame, which the desires of the flesh do not burn up, which, set ablaze by their anxieties, do not wither in the lusts of this world.
My beloved is like a roe or a young deer. And indeed, all who know well how to explore the natures of these animals discover many things in them that most fittingly apply to the beloved of the Church, that is, the Lord and Savior. …
Behold, he stands behind our wall, etc. For now the beloved remains in the vicinity of the bride, now leaping upon the hills on high, because the same Lord and Savior of ours, presents Himself to the more perfect at times, when He wills, even …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
He that was the substance was not far off from the shadows, Col. ii. The saw him looking through the windows of the ceremonial institutions and smiling through those lattices; in their sacrifices and purifications Christ discovered himself to them, and gave them intimations and earnests of his grace, both to engage and to encourage their longings for his coming.
He is coming to me with all speed and will not tarry a moment beyond the proper season. He standeth behind - And while he doth for wise reasons forbear to come; he is not far from us. Both this and the following phrases may denote the obscure manner of Christ's manifesting himself to his people, under the law, in comparison of his discoveries in the gospel.
My beloved is like a roe, or a young hart,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
He standeth behind our wall - This may refer to the wall by which the house was surrounded, the space between which and the house constituted the court. He was seen first behind the wall, and then in the court; and lastly came to the window of his bride’s chamber.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The prophecies, types, &c., were lattice glimpses of Him to the Old Testament Church, in spite of the wall of separation which sin had raised (Joh 8:56); clearer glimpses were given by John Baptist, but not unclouded (Joh 1:26). The legal wall of partition was not to be removed until His death (Eph 2:14, 15;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Spoke. עָנָה is] an expression of answering and an expression of a loud cry, The following is the precedent for them all, “And the Levi’im are to respond [..in a loud voice].” 19 Devarim:14.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
And at morning time my Beloved answered and said to me, “Arise, O Assembly of Israel, my beloved from of old, beautiful in deeds.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| דּוֹמֶ֤ה | domeh | [is] like | H1819 → | 30 times |
| דוֹדִי֙ | dodi | lover my | H1730 → | 61 times |
| לִצְבִ֔י | litzvi | <to> a gazelle | H6643 → | 33 times |
| א֖וֹ | ʾo | or | H176 → | 321 times |
| לְעֹ֣פֶר | leofer | <to> [the] fawn of | H6082 → | 5 times |
| הָֽאַיָּלִ֑ים | haaiyalim | the deer<s> | H354 → | 11 times |
| הִנֵּה־ | hineh- | there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| זֶ֤ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| עוֹמֵד֙ | omed | [is] standing | H5975 → | |
| אַחַ֣ר | ʾachar | behind | H310 → | |
| כָּתְלֵ֔נוּ | katelenu | wall our | H3796 → | |
| מַשְׁגִּ֙יחַ֙ | mashgiach | [is] gazing | H7688 → | |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַֽחֲלֹּנ֔וֹת | hachalonot | the windows | H2474 → | |
| מֵצִ֖יץ | metzitz | [is] peering | H6692 → | |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַֽחֲרַכִּֽים׃ | hacharakim | the lattices | H2762 → |
דּוֹמֶ֤ה[is] like
domehH1819 →30 times
דוֹדִי֙lover my
dodiH1730 →61 times
לִצְבִ֔י<to> a gazelle
litzviH6643 →33 times
א֖וֹor
ʾoH176 →321 times
לְעֹ֣פֶר<to> [the] fawn of
leoferH6082 →5 times
הָֽאַיָּלִ֑יםthe deer<s>
haaiyalimH354 →11 times
הִנֵּה־there!
hineh-H2009 →843 times
זֶ֤הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
עוֹמֵד֙[is] standing
omedH5975 →
אַחַ֣רbehind
ʾacharH310 →
כָּתְלֵ֔נוּwall our
katelenuH3796 →
מַשְׁגִּ֙יחַ֙[is] gazing
mashgiachH7688 →
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הַֽחֲלֹּנ֔וֹתthe windows
hachalonotH2474 →
מֵצִ֖יץ[is] peering
metzitzH6692 →
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הַֽחֲרַכִּֽים׃the lattices
hacharakimH2762 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Corinthians 13:12Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
it leads to
- 1 John 3:2
Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as…
- 2 Corinthians 3:18
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
- 1 Corinthians 13:9–10
For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
- Philippians 3:12
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
- Revelation 22:4
They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.
- 1 John 3:2
Through
John 12:41Isaiah said these things because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about Him.
it leads to
- Isaiah 6:1–5
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; and the train of His robe filled the temple.
- Isaiah 6:9–10
And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
- John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
- Isaiah 6:1–5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Song of Solomon

This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, On Isaac and the Soul, 4.32-33; Ambrose of Milan, On Cain and Abel, 1.5.15; Ambrose of Milan, On Isaac and the Soul, 5.38; Bede, Commentary on the Song of Songs; Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 55; Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 56; Gregory the Dialogist, 40 Homilies on the Gospels, Homily 33; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Robert of Tombelaine, Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 2.
