The woman is inviting the man into the joys of their relationship. Many of the themes and motifs in this poem are already well established in the Song, but they are used in new and engaging ways in this poem.1
The reference to budding, blooming, and the opening of the blossoms is a way to communicate that the time is right for love. She will give him her love,
which is more than just the emotion; she will surrender her body to him in love. By now in the Song, we are used to the woman being the initiator in the relationship (see Song of Solomon 1:2–4, Song of Solomon 1:7–11). In this poem she is the one who pursues the man, thus debunking any stereotype of the passive woman.2
This invitation to shared intimacy comes after much frustration and disappointment in past attempts at intimacy.
In Song of Solomon 1:13–14, she wished that he could spend the night between her breasts like a sachet of myrrh in the vineyards of Engedi. In Song of Solomon 2:10, Song of Solomon 2:13, the man asked her to go out into the countryside. Now, in Song of Solomon 7:11, she invites him to go out into the fields and lodge in the village. In all the invites mentioned above the goal is the same: in Song of Solomon 2:1–17, he invited her to see whether the vines are in blossom
(Song of Solomon 2:13). In Song of Solomon 6:11, in searching for her beloved the young woman went down to the nut orchard to see whether the vines had budded, whether the pomegranates were in bloom.
All the earlier searches were frustrated. In Song of Solomon 1:1–17 the man was not yet with her. In Song of Solomon 2:1–17 she refused him. In Song of Solomon 6:1–13 she was still searching for him. Now, in Song of Solomon 7:1–13, they are together and now both go searching together; I
and you
have been replaced by we
and us.
The search is over for both of them; the delights of sexual love that the man sought unsuccessfully in Song of Solomon 5:2 will now be given to him freely by his wife (Song of Solomon 7:12).3
12 let us go out early to the vineyards and see whether the vines have budded, whether the grape blossoms have opened and the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my love.