Sex: Part 2

Sex: Part 2
(Don't click the footnotes)

As mentioned in Part 1, sex is mentioned and alluded to more than some people give the Bible credit for; it is demonstrably not silent on the issue. Here in this entry I will further cite instances in the Bible where sexual relations are placed in a positive light. Song of Solomon 1:2-3:

Oh, how I wish you5would kiss me passionately! For your lovemaking is more delightful than wine.- The NET Bible

The Septuagint reading is odd:

Let him kiss me from his mouth’s kisses! For your breasts are good beyond wine,

It would be odd for a man’s “breasts” to be “good beyond wine” so the preferred reading, according to the NET Bible footnote, would be to understand “breasts” to be a reference to “lovemaking.” Be that as It may, the point is that sex is portrayed as something “delightful” and surely as something to be enjoyed by married couples. Here again, though, we see that sex need not be limited to its primary purpose, that is, to produce offspring. Song of Solomon 2:6:

His left hand caresses my head and his right hand stimulates me.- The NET Bible

The Hebrew word rendered “stimulates” can alternately be rendered “embrace”, however given to the sexual nature of this particular chapter and Book, it may be best to understand “stimulate” as in Proverbs 5:20.[1] However, this may simply be in reference to courtship while dating; gestures such as holding hands and the like. I’ll let the reader decide for themselves. Song of Solomon 4:16:

Awake, O north wind; come, O south wind! Blow on my garden so that its fragrant spices may send out their sweet smell. May my beloved come into his garden and eat its delightful fruit!- The NET Bible

Commenting on this verse one commentary states “The beloved’s request that the winds blow on her garden, that is, herself (cf. vv. 12, 15) was a delicate, poetically beautiful invitation to her lover to fully possess her (come into her). She wished to be his with her charms as available as fruit on a tree (cf. v. 13).”[2] Whether this interpretation is correct or not is an evaluation for the reader to make. The point that I wish to highlight is that it is perfectly natural for women, specifically wives, to have sexual desires that need satisfying by their husbands. Indeed, the Apostle Paul brings up this same point:

(1 Corinthians 7:3-5, NWT) Let the husband render to [his] wife her due; but let the wife also do likewise to [her] husband. 4 The wife does not exercise authority over her own body, but her husband does; likewise, also, the husband does not exercise authority over his own body, but his wife does. 5 Do not be depriving each other [of it], except by mutual consent for an appointed time, that YOU may devote time to prayer and may come together again, that Satan may not keep tempting YOU for YOUR lack of self-regulation.

Or as the NET Bible more explicitly says:

A husband should give to his wife her sexual rights, and likewise a wife to her husband. It is not the wife who has the rights to her own body, but the husband. In the same way, it is not the husband who has the rights to his own body, but the wife. Do not deprive each other, except by mutual agreement for a specified time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer.

This verse emphasizes the sexual obligations that each spouse in the marriage needs to comply with. Whenever the wife’s sexual desires needs to be met or satisfied, it is the husband’s marital duty to do so. It also works the other way, if the husband has sexual needs as well, then it’s the wife’s marital duty to satisfy them. As the New World Translation puts it, “Do not be depriving each other of it”, that is, of each other’s body’s in order to satisfy sexual needs.

I hope with the two entries submitted thus far, a greater appreciate has been had for the Bible’s positive treatment of sexual relations and of the marital duty of both wife and husband to comply with their own sexual needs. The Bible describes sex as something “delightful” and of something that is only permissible for married couples. However, there is still a question to be had: What sorts or types of sexual acts are accepted between married couples? What does the Bible say about oral sex and the like? Part 3 will answer some of these questions.

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[1] The verb חָבַק (khavaq) has a two-fold range of meanings in the Piel stem: (1) to embrace or hug someone (Gen 29:13; 33:4; 48:10; Job 24:8; Prov 4:8; Eccl 3:5; Lam 4:5) and (2) to fondle or sexually stimulate a lover (Prov 5:20; Song 2:6; 8:3) (HALOT 287 s.v. חבק; BDB 287 s.v. חָבַק). The verb designates an expression of love by the position or action of one’s hands (TWOT 1:259). (NET Footnote)

[2] The Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures