Meditations on the Song of Songs – Solomon’s couch1
Meditations on the Song of Songs
The spiritual people read this book and their love for God increases… but the carnal people, when they read it, need a guide, lest they misunderstand it and turn from its sublime meaning to worldly interpretations.
Let the subject of our meditation today be the words of Scripture in the Song of Songs:
“Behold, Solomon’s couch; sixty valiant men are around it, of the valiant of Israel. They all hold swords, being expert in war. Every man has his sword on his thigh because of fear in the night.” (Song 3:7–8)
Behold, Solomon’s couch; around it sixty valiant men…
Solomon is a symbol of Christ:
For the name Solomon means “man of peace.” And it was said of Christ that He is the Prince of Peace, who made peace between God and humanity. Solomon represented wisdom, and Christ is the Person of Wisdom—He is the Wisdom of God and the Power of God (1 Cor 1:24). Solomon was the son who built the temple, and Christ is the Son who built the Church, the holy temple of God.
The couch of Solomon means his throne, symbolizing the throne of Christ.
Around it are sixty valiant men of Israel—the Israel here symbolizes the holy Church.
The throne of God, then, is surrounded by the mighty ones: the strong souls who fought the battles of the Lord and triumphed over the world, the flesh, and the devil.
As for the weak souls that have not persevered, they have no share around the throne of God. The weak person whose heart, will, and mind are broken by a mere desire cannot be among the mighty who surround Solomon’s throne.
It is amazing, beloved brethren, that in the Book of Numbers—where God counted His own—you find that not all people were counted,
but only those able to fight, those capable of bearing arms: “every one able to go to war” (Num 1:2–3).
These are the valiant ones—all of them holding swords, trained in war, each man with his sword upon his thigh against the terrors of the night: the terrors of darkness, dangers, passions, and love of the world.
If on a certain day a thought attacks you and you yield to it, then you are not a valiant man trained in war, but one who has cast down his weapon and fallen before the enemy.
The person trained in war is one experienced in thoughts, skilled in discerning the enemy’s tricks, as St. Paul said: “We are not ignorant of his devices.” He knows the deceit of Satan, discerns the spirits, and distinguishes what is from God and what is from the enemy.
St. Paul described this war in his epistle to the Ephesians, saying: “We wrestle not against flesh and blood,” but against spiritual hosts of wickedness—against demons, the flesh, passions, and every power of the enemy.
A beautiful word the Angel of the Lord said to Gideon: “The Lord is with you, mighty man of valor.” Truly, there are only mighty ones in heaven—those who have triumphed in battles, as the Scripture says, “He leads us in triumph in Christ.”
Sixty valiant men:
Why this number? And what does it symbolize?
Sixty = 6 × 10.
The number 10 symbolizes perfection, and the number 6 symbolizes the completion of work.
God completed His work of creation in six days.
Christ completed His work of redemption on the sixth day and in the sixth hour.
The earth also serves humanity for six years and rests in the seventh, as commanded in Scripture.
Man completes his work in six days and rests on the seventh.
God also completed His love at the wedding of Cana of Galilee by turning six water jars into choice wine—six jars meaning the fullness of all love that could be offered.
Since the number 6 symbolizes the completion of work and 10 symbolizes perfection,
the number 60 therefore symbolizes all who have completed their work in perfection—these are the valiant ones.
And if you ask, “Are there only sixty around the throne of God?” we tell you that this is a symbolic number, representing all the mighty in spirit who are perfect in faith, in strength, in struggle, and in victory.
We do not mean the physically strong, but those mighty in spirit—even if they are small in stature.
David the Prophet was a small boy, yet he was mighty before Goliath.
The entire army was afraid, but he alone was unafraid and went forth to fight in valor, while King Saul—taller than all the people—was fearful.
Saul, mighty in body, was not mighty in spirit; an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him, and he fell. The one who delivered him from this evil spirit was young David—one of the valiant surrounding the throne.
David was “a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, handsome in person, and the Lord is with him” (1 Sam 16).
This last phrase was the secret of his might.
David the valiant was feared by demons—his psalms and music made them flee in terror. A mighty one who had authority over demons!
We need in the Church a group of such mighty ones whom the demons fear.
Recall the saints in the history of the Church who had authority over demons:
remember that saint to whom a demon came to fight, and he bound it outside his cell.
Or Saint Isidore, to whom the demons said, “Is it not enough that we cannot pass by your cell or the one beside it? And one brother in the desert, through your prayers, torments us day and night.”
But you—if you fear demons—can you count yourself among the valiant surrounding the throne, those who have power over all the enemy’s forces?
Can you be mighty if the devil can control your will or tempt you into sin and capture your soul?
Do not think the devil gives gifts generously; he gives you what you desire only in exchange for what is dearest to you—your soul and eternity.
The devil never makes a losing bargain; he always takes more than he gives—his profit always exceeds his spending. So it is with those who resort to sorcery and magic!
I love the image of the Archangel Michael, with his sword in hand, trampling the devil beneath his feet—surely he is one of the valiant around the throne.
How can you be valiant in fighting the demons?
You can, when there is no desire within you that the devil can use against you.
The devil examines your spiritual life to find your weak points and attacks there. He tests the ground—if it is soft and loose, it becomes his battlefield; but the firm ground he cannot tread.
There are valiant ones who stood firm against the devil in their fight for virtue—
take the virtue of chastity, for example: how valiant were Joseph the Righteous and Susanna the Chaste!
Other valiant ones forsook all worldly desires and lived in the wilderness, battling demons fiercely.
Saint Anthony the Great was valiant—the devil fought him by every means: doubts, wealth, women, fear. Yet he did not overcome him.
Daniel the Prophet and the three young men in the king’s palace refused to eat his delicacies or drink his wine; they refused to worship his gods and did not fear the lions’ den or the fiery furnace—they were valiant, fearless, all holding swords and trained in war.
The holy martyrs were also valiant and fearless. They stood before emperors, kings, governors, and rulers; they faced fire, torture, whips, tearing, and all forms of persecution, yet were unshaken—their faith stronger than pain.
Other valiant ones lived in asceticism: in prayer, in vigils, in worship, in solitude, in detachment—like the hermits and monks of the desert.
Arsenius the Great stood facing east with the sun behind him, keeping vigil all night until the sun appeared again—truly valiant!
But you—if you cannot endure wakefulness, and as soon as sleep tempts you, you abandon your prayer—can you be counted among the valiant around the throne?
Saint Macarius of Alexandria, the valiant in vigil, said of his battles:
“I was once attacked by sleep and fell into slumber; so I resolved to fight against sleep, and I remained twenty-one days without closing my eyelids, until I felt my brain had dried.”
Other valiant ones allowed no external force to separate them from the Lord—like St. Paul, who said:
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?… For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:39)
-
Article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III — El-Keraza Magazine, Sixth Year, Issue No. 2, January 10, 1975.
For better translation support, please contact the center.
