God Gives Us Support to Aide in Our Protection - Song of Songs 7-8

Song of Songs 8:8-9 (ESV)

OTHERS

We have a little sister,

and she has no breasts.

What shall we do for our sister

on the day when she is spoken for?

If she is a wall,

we will build on her a battlement of silver,

but if she is a door,

we will enclose her with boards of cedar.

The above verses are at the end of the poem of love between this wedded couple.   Somehow, at the end of the poem and, presumably, after the wedding, we are hearing from the bride’s brothers.   We assume (not wise, however) that she is remembering something they told her in her youth, when she was not yet developed as a woman (she has no breasts).   We are not sure if the terms used in these two verses (wall and door) are to be used in contrast to each other, or in a complimentary way.  Here are some options:

#1 - Contrast Interpretation:

• If we used them in contrast, one interpretation might be that the brothers will  build a battlement of silver for her if she keeps herself chase (becomes a wall to the approaches of men).  But, if she is a door, indicating a more permissive character toward men by letting them into her life, the brothers would have to work to enclose her, themselves (rescue her ... with boards of cedar.) Cedar being the wood of choice for security and safety.   The point being that either she protects herself, or the brothers will do it for her. 

#2 - Complimentary Interpretation:

• If we use them in a complimentary way, we would believe that the wall and the door are both ways to keep the unwanted out.  If their sister, in her later life, becomes a wall and a door to the advances of immoral men, the brothers will reward her with a battlement of sliver and with boards of cedar.   (If she is faithful in the little, she will be rewarded in much.)  The point being that if she protects herself from impurity, the brothers will reward her for that. 

#3 - Spiritual Interpretation:

• Perhaps both have a sense of truth to them.  The takeaway might simply be that God has given her brothers to both protect and reward her as she grows older.   They are given to her for support.  Now that she is married she is recalling this support and protection.  In a spiritual sense, if you interpret Song of Songs ONLY in spiritual terms and the poem is about our marriage to Christ, you would believe that God has given us support from our brothers and sisters in Christ to be there for us.  As we walk in obedience they are there to protect and support us. 

Whatever way you interpret the text, support and care and protection from others is a Biblical truth God wants us to understand.  I personally believe #2 is probably the best way to view the text.   The wall and the door serve the same purpose.  They are protecting her from unwanted advances.   The brothers are there to assist in that.   We have people in our lives that God has put in place to protect us and watch over us and makes us walls and doors to the advances of evil.