“Set Me as
a seal upon your heart, and as a seal upon your arm. For love is strong as
death, jealousy is hard as the grave. Its flames are flames of fire that is the
flame of God.” (Song of
Songs 8:6)
God
continues addressing Israel, asking her to seal their mutual love. First in her
heart, for it encompasses love expression, good judgment, good feelings, and
passionate intensity that invite positive thinking. Second in her arm, for it
is the means to bring love into concrete actions and deeds. Thus we realize
that thought, feeling, emotion, passion and deeds encompass the fulfillment of
one single principle that is love.
The second
sentence of this verse is intricate, yet one of the most profound principles
revealed in the Song of Songs. Its complexity comes from introducing love “as
strong as death”, both with equal powers by virtue of the comparative “as”.
Although, in spite of this, it wants to tell us that indeed love is stronger
than death as we will see in the culmination and end of the poem.
The
statement evokes in our imagination two equally strong contenders in a long
lasting fight in which one defeats the other and prevails forever. Here we
recall Jacob’s all night-long fight with the angel of Esau (Genesis 32:24-29),
ending up overcoming and emerging as Israel, the one who fights with and for
God. We see Jacob/Israel as the embodiment of love and life who defeated Esau
as the embodiment of evil and death.
“He has swallowed up death in victory, and has wiped the Lord God the
tear from off all faces. And the reproach of His people He has turned aside
from off all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 25:8)
Thus we see
that after a long confrontation of thousands of years, God will make love
prevail as our final redemption to reign forever in His promised Messianic era.
After this statement turned into prophecy, the verse reaffirms the bonding love
of God and Israel echoing the fundamental declaration of Judaism.
“Hear
[understand] Israel, the Lord is your God, the Lord is One [and Unique].” (Deuteronomy
6:4)
This declaration
is a sealing kiss that makes “love as strong as death”, for we recite it from
the moment we return to life in our awakening in the morning and in the moment after
closing our eyes to sleep. These two moments also reflect life and death in the
Jewish tradition; hence we thank God when we wake up, for bringing us back to
life.
The third
sentence of the verse tells us that “jealousy” is part of love, for it shields
and protects from anything threatening or harmful to whom or what we love. Thus
we also realize that estrangement is as painful (“hard”) as death (“the grave”),
for it ends the reason and purpose of love.
The fire of
God’s love makes the bonding eternal as His flame that gives life and
sustenance to His entire creation. We understand this “jealousy” as the burning
exclusivity God’s love demands from our love for Him.
“And those who love Him are as the going out of the sun in its might.” (Judges 5:31)
Jealousy
does not allow anything to meddle or interfere with whom or what we love, and
its “fire” burns whatever is different or against the purpose of God’s love and
the love He wants us to live. Thus we understand how He reveals Himself to us,
and we ask Him so in our Jewish daily prayers to be with Him in love.
“(…) and
give us an understanding heart to comprehend and to discern, to perceive, to
learn and to teach, to observe, to practice, and to fulfill all the instructions
of Your Torah in love.”
“(…) For
You have chosen us from among all the nations and languages, and have brought
us our King to the greatness of Your Name in love, to thank You and to proclaim
Your Oneness, and to love Your Name. Blessed You are Lord, who chooses His
people Israel in love.
It is so, because the goodness of love is the context of
God’s creation, and the purpose of life is to exist in it. As the essence and destiny
of our life, love is the freedom that leads us to make it prevail in all
facets, aspects and dimensions of life.
