“The little foxes that ruin the vineyards”
Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, for our vineyards are in bloom. (Song of Songs 2:15 BSB)
What it sounds like today
A literal complaint about pest control in a vineyard.
The cultural key
Read flatly this is agricultural advice about vermin. In the poem the vineyard is a running image for the lovers and their blossoming relationship (elsewhere she calls herself a vineyard, 8:12). Foxes were notorious for burrowing into vineyards and gnawing the tender new shoots and blossoms, so a few small foxes could wreck a crop precisely when the vines were most fragile and full of promise. To say 'catch the little foxes, for our vineyards are in bloom' is to warn that small, easily-overlooked threats, petty quarrels, suspicions, neglect, can ruin a love that is just coming into flower. The emphasis on little is the point: it is not the big predator but the minor nuisances, caught early, that must be dealt with. A modern reader hears a note about pests; the first hearer heard a tender warning to guard a young love from small spoilers.
Recovered meaning
In the poem the vineyard stands for the lovers' blossoming relationship, and foxes ravaged tender vines. 'The little foxes' are small, easily-missed threats that can spoil a young love just as it flowers, and the call is to catch them early.