Song of Solomon

Introduction

According to the most common interpretation, the Song of Solomon is a collection of love poems between a man and a woman, celebrating the sexual relationship God intended for marriage. God established marriage, including the physical union of a husband and wife (Gen. 2:18–25), and Israelite wisdom literature treasures this aspect of marriage as the appropriate expression of human sexuality (Prov. 5:15–20). The Song of Solomon has also been understood as an illustration of the mutual love of Christ and his church. It is possible that Solomon (tenth century b.c.) is the author (1:1). However, this verse could mean that the Song was dedicated to Solomon or was written about him, and therefore many scholars regard the book as anonymous.

1 The Song of aSongs, which is Solomon’s.

The Bride Confesses Her Love

She1

2  Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!

For your blove is better than wine;

3  your canointing oils are fragrant;

your dname is oil poured out;

therefore virgins love you.

4  eDraw me after you; flet us run.

gThe king has brought me into his chambers.

Others

We will hexult and rejoice in you;

we will extol byour love more than wine;

rightly do they love you.

She

5  I am very dark, but ilovely,

O jdaughters of Jerusalem,

like kthe tents of lKedar,

like the curtains of Solomon.

6  Do not gaze at me because I am dark,

because the sun has looked upon me.

My mmother’s sons were angry with me;

they made me nkeeper of othe vineyards,

but pmy own vineyard I have not kept!

7  Tell me, you qwhom my soul loves,

where you rpasture your flock,

where you make it slie down at noon;

for why should I be like one who veils herself

beside the flocks of your tcompanions?

Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other

He

8  If you do not know,

O umost beautiful among women,

follow in the tracks of the flock,

and pasture your young goats

beside the shepherds’ tents.

9  I compare you, vmy love,

to wa mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.

10  xYour cheeks are lovely with ornaments,

your neck with strings of jewels.

Others

11  We will make for you2 ornaments of gold,

studded with silver.

She

12  While ythe king was on his couch,

my znard gave forth its fragrance.

13  My beloved is to me a sachet of amyrrh

that lies between my breasts.

14  My beloved is to me a cluster of bhenna blossoms

in the vineyards of cEngedi.

He

15  dBehold, eyou are beautiful, fmy love;

behold, you are beautiful;

your geyes are doves.

She

16  Behold, you are beautiful, hmy beloved, truly idelightful.

Our couch is green;

17  the beams of our house are jcedar;

our rafters are jpine.

2 I am a rose1 of Sharon,

ka lily of the valleys.

He

2  As a lily among brambles,

so is lmy love among the young women.

She

3  As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,

so is my mbeloved among the young men.

With great delight I sat nin his shadow,

and his ofruit was sweet to my taste.

4  He pbrought me to the banqueting house,2

and his qbanner over me was love.

5  Sustain me with rraisins;

refresh me with apples,

sfor I am sick with love.

6  His tleft hand is under my head,

and his right hand uembraces me!

7  I vadjure you,3 O wdaughters of Jerusalem,

by xthe gazelles or the does of the field,

that you not stir up or awaken love

until it pleases.

The Bride Adores Her Beloved

8  The voice of my beloved!

Behold, he comes,

leaping yover the mountains,

bounding over the hills.

9  My beloved is like za gazelle

or a young stag.

Behold, there he stands

behind our wall,

gazing through the windows,

looking through the lattice.

10  My beloved speaks and says to me:

a“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,

and come away,

11  for behold, the winter is past;

bthe rain is over and gone.

12  cThe flowers appear on the earth,

the time of singing4 has come,

and the voice of dthe turtledove

is heard in our land.

13  eThe fig tree ripens its figs,

and fthe vines are in blossom;

they give forth fragrance.

gArise, my love, my beautiful one,

and come away.

14  O my hdove, in the iclefts of the rock,

in the crannies of the cliff,

let me see your face,

let me jhear your voice,

for your voice is sweet,

and your face is klovely.

15  Catch lthe foxes5 for us,

the little foxes

that spoil the vineyards,

ffor our vineyards are in blossom.”

16  mMy beloved is mine, and I am his;

he ngrazes6 among the lilies.

17  Until othe day breathes

and pthe shadows flee,

turn, my beloved, be like qa gazelle

or a young stag on cleft mountains.7

The Bride’s Dream

3 On my bed rby night

I sought shim whom my soul loves;

tI sought him, but found him not.

2  I will rise now and go about the city,

in uthe streets and in the squares;

I will seek shim whom my soul loves.

I sought him, but found him not.

3  vThe watchmen found me

as they went about in the city.

“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”

4  Scarcely had I passed them

when I found shim whom my soul loves.

I wheld him, and would not let him go

until I had xbrought him into my mother’s house,

and into the chamber of yher who conceived me.

5  zI adjure you, aO daughters of Jerusalem,

bby the gazelles or the does of the field,

that you not stir up or awaken love

until it pleases.

Solomon Arrives for the Wedding

6  cWhat is that coming up from the wilderness

like dcolumns of smoke,

perfumed with emyrrh and frankincense,

with all the fragrant powders of a merchant?

7  Behold, it is the litter1 of Solomon!

Around it are fsixty gmighty men,

some of the mighty men of Israel,

8  all of them wearing swords

and expert in war,

each with his hsword at his thigh,

against iterror by night.

9  King Solomon made himself a carriage2

from the wood of Lebanon.

10  He made its posts of silver,

its back of gold, its seat of purple;

its interior was inlaid with love

by jthe daughters of Jerusalem.

11  Go out, O kdaughters of Zion,

and look upon King Solomon,

with the crown with which his mother crowned him

on lthe day of his wedding,

on the day of the gladness of his heart.

Solomon Admires His Bride’s Beauty

He

4 Behold, myou are beautiful, my love,

behold, you are beautiful!

nYour eyes are doves

obehind your veil.

pYour hair is like a flock of goats

leaping down qthe slopes of Gilead.

2  Your rteeth are like a flock of shorn ewes

that have come up from the washing,

all of which bear twins,

and not one among them has lost its young.

3  Your lips are like sa scarlet thread,

and your mouth is tlovely.

Your ucheeks are like halves of a pomegranate

obehind your veil.

4  Your vneck is like the tower of David,

built in wrows of stone;1

on it xhang a thousand shields,

all of ythem shields of warriors.

5  Your ztwo breasts are like two afawns,

twins of a gazelle,

that bgraze among the lilies.

6  cUntil the day breathes

and the shadows flee,

I will go away to the mountain of dmyrrh

and the hill of dfrankincense.

7  eYou are altogether beautiful, my love;

there is no fflaw in you.

8  gCome with me from hLebanon, my ibride;

come with me from hLebanon.

Depart2 from the peak of Amana,

from the peak of jSenir and kHermon,

from the dens of lions,

from the mountains of leopards.

9  You have captivated my heart, my lsister, my bride;

you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,

with one mjewel of your necklace.

10  How beautiful is your love, my lsister, my bride!

How much nbetter is your love than wine,

and othe fragrance of your oils than any spice!

11  Your plips drip nectar, my bride;

qhoney and milk are under your tongue;

the fragrance of your garments is rlike the fragrance of hLebanon.

12  A garden locked is my lsister, my bride,

a spring locked, sa fountain tsealed.

13  Your shoots are uan orchard of pomegranates

with all vchoicest fruits,

whenna with xnard,

14  nard and saffron, ycalamus and ycinnamon,

with all trees of zfrankincense,

amyrrh and baloes,

with all ychoice spices—

15  a garden fountain, a well of cliving water,

and flowing streams from hLebanon.

16  Awake, O north wind,

and come, O south wind!

Blow upon my dgarden,

let its spices flow.

Together in the Garden of Love

She

eLet my beloved come to his fgarden,

and eat its vchoicest fruits.

He

5 I gcame to my garden, my hsister, my bride,

I gathered my imyrrh with my spice,

I ate my jhoneycomb with my honey,

I kdrank my wine with my milk.

Others

Eat, lfriends, drink,

and be drunk with love!

The Bride Searches for Her Beloved

She

2  I slept, but my heart was awake.

A sound! My beloved is mknocking.

“Open to me, my nsister, my olove,

my pdove, my qperfect one,

for my head is wet with dew,

my rlocks with the drops of the night.”

3  sI had put off my garment;

how could I put it on?

I had tbathed my feet;

how could I soil them?

4  My beloved put his hand to the latch,

and my heart was thrilled within me.

5  I arose to open to my beloved,

and my hands dripped with myrrh,

my fingers with uliquid myrrh,

on the handles of the bolt.

6  I opened to my beloved,

but my beloved had turned and gone.

My soul failed me when he vspoke.

wI sought him, but found him not;

xI called him, but he gave no answer.

7  yThe watchmen found me

as they went about in the city;

they beat me, they bruised me,

they took away my veil,

those watchmen of the walls.

8  I zadjure you, O adaughters of Jerusalem,

if you find my beloved,

that you tell him

bI am sick with love.

Others

9  What is your beloved more than another beloved,

O cmost beautiful among women?

What is your beloved more than another beloved,

that you thus zadjure us?

The Bride Praises Her Beloved

She

10  My beloved is radiant and druddy,

edistinguished among ten thousand.

11  His head is the finest gold;

fhis locks are wavy,

black as a raven.

12  His geyes are like doves

beside streams of water,

bathed in milk,

sitting beside a full pool.1

13  His icheeks are like jbeds of spices,

mounds of sweet-smelling herbs.

His lips are klilies,

dripping uliquid myrrh.

14  His arms are rods of gold,

set with ljewels.

His body is polished ivory,2

bedecked with msapphires.3

15  His legs are alabaster columns,

set on bases of gold.

His appearance is like oLebanon,

choice as the cedars.

16  His pmouth4 is most sweet,

and he is altogether desirable.

This is my beloved and this is my friend