Bible Strands
Song of Solomon 2:4
He has brought me to the house of wine, and his banner over me is love.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The bride speaks, positioned between delight (2:3) and faintness (2:5), describing what the beloved has done to her. She is in a state of love-sickness, and this verse is the pivot between the two.
The words — דִּגְלוֹ (diggōlō, "his standard/banner") is a military or royal term for the pole that identifies a camp; here it is the fixed point under which she stands. אַהֲבָה (ʾahăbāh, "love") is the noun form of the root used throughout the Song for active, covenantal love.
The thread — The "house of wine" echoes Song 1:4, where the king brings the bride to his chambers; the banner-as-love finds its New Testament counterpart in John 15:9 ("remain in my love") and Romans 5:8 (love proven by sacrifice).
Why it lands — The verse does not ask the reader to feel love but to recognize it as a fixed standard under which one is placed — a position, not a mood. It demands acknowledgment that love, in this text, is something done to and over a person, not something generated by them.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
Cross-references
- Song of Solomon 1:4 Take me away with you—let us hurry! May the king bring me to his chambers. We will rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. It is only right that they adore you.
- John 15:9 As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Remain in My love.
- Romans 5:8 But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
- Romans 8:28 And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
- Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me.
- Psalms 84:10 For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
- Song of Solomon 6:4 You are as beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah, as lovely as Jerusalem, as majestic as troops with banners.
- Isaiah 11:10 On that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will seek Him, and His place of rest will be glorious.
- Psalms 20:5 May we shout for joy at your victory and raise a banner in the name of our God. May the LORD grant all your petitions.
- Psalms 60:4 You have raised a banner for those who fear You, that they may flee the bow. Selah