1. Song of Solomon 2:9 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Why does the woman say that her beloved is “like a gazelle or a young stag”?

Song of Solomon 2:9 (ESV)

9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, there he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, looking through the lattice.

At the end of the previous poem (Song of Solomon 2:7) gazelles were associated with sexual vitality. The young woman now describes her beloved using the same association. The imagery also flows from her description of his anticipated arrival in Song of Solomon 2:8. His determination to get to her is like the movement of the gazelle or young stag and expresses the excitement and eagerness of the young man to be with her.1