Logos Bible Study

Song of Solomon 5–8

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5I have come to my garden, my sister bride,

I have gathered my myrrh with my spice,

I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey,

I have drunk my wine with my milk!

Eat, O friends! Drink and become drunk with love!a

The Maiden’s Dream: Seeking and Not Finding

2I was asleep butb my heart was awake.

A sound! My beloved knocking!c

“Open to me, my sister, my beloved,

my dove, my perfect one!

For my head is full of dew,

my hair drenched from the moist night air.”d

3I have taken off my tunic, must I put it on?e

I have bathed my feet, must I soil them?f

4My beloved thrust his hand into the opening,

and my inmost yearned for him.

5I myself arose to open to my beloved;

my hands dripped with myrrh,

my fingers with liquid myrrh

upon the handles of the bolt.

6I opened myself to my beloved,

but my beloved had turned and gone;g

my heart sankh when he turned away.i

I sought him, but I did not find him;

I called him, but he did not answer me.

7The sentinels making rounds in the city found me;

they beat me, they wounded me;

they took my cloakj away from me—

those sentinels on the walls!k

Adjuration Refrain

8I adjure you, O maidens of Jerusalem,l

if you find my beloved, what will you tell him?

Tell him that I am lovesick!m

The Maiden’s Praise of Her Beloved

9How is your beloved better than another lover,n

O most beautiful among women?

How is your beloved better than another lover, o

that you adjure us thus?

10My beloved is radiant and ruddy,p

distinguished amongq ten thousand.

11His head is gold, refined gold;

his locks are wavy, black as a raven.

12His eyes are like doves beside springsr of water,

bathed in milk, set like mounted jewels.st

13His cheeks are like beds of spice, a tower of fragrances;

his lips are lilies dripping liquid myrrh.

14His arms are rodsuv of gold engraved withw jewels;

his bellyx is polished ivory covered with sapphires.y

15His legs are columns of alabaster,z set on bases of gold;

his appearance is like Lebanon, choice as its cedars.a

16His mouthb is sweet,

and he is altogether desirable.

This is my beloved;

this is my friend, O young women of Jerusalem.c

6Where has your beloved gone,

O most beautiful among women?

Where has your beloved turned

that we may seek him with you?

2My beloved has gone down to his garden,

to the garden bed of the spice,

to pasture his flock and to gather lilies in the garden.

Mutual Possession Refrain

3I belong to my beloved and my beloved belongs to me;a

he pastures his flock among the lilies.

Solomon’s Praise of His Beloved

4You are beautiful, my beloved, as Tirzah,

lovely as Jerusalem,

overwhelming as an army with banners.b

5Turn away your eyes from before me,

for they overwhelm me.

Your hair is like a flock of the goats

that moves down from Gilead.

6Your teeth are like a flock of the ewes

that have come up from the washing,

all of them bearing twins,

and there is none bereaved among them.

7Your cheeks behindc your veil

are like halves of a pomegranate.

The Maiden’s Beauty Is Without Peer

8Sixty queens there are, eighty concubines,

and maidens beyond number.

9My dove, she is the one;de

my perfect, she is the only one;fg

she is the favorite ofhi her mother who bore her.

Maidens see her and consider her fortunate;j

queens and concubines praise her:

10“Who is this that looks down like the dawn,

beautiful as the moon,

bright as the sun,kl

overwhelming as an army with banners?”m

The Journey to the Valley

11I went down to the orchard of the walnut trees

to look at the blossoms of the valley,

to see whether the vines have sprouted,

whether the pomegranates have blossomed.

12I did not know my heartn set me

in a chariot of my princely people.o

13p Turn, turn,q O Shulammite!r

Turn, turns so that we may look upon you!

Why do you look upon the Shulammite

as at a dance of the two armies?

Solomon’s Praise of His Dancing Maiden

7How beautiful are your feet in sandals,

O royal princess!a

The curves of your thighsb are like jewels,c

the work of the hands of a craftsman.

2Your navel is a round wine-mixing bowld

that does not lack mixede wine!

Your belly is a heap of wheat

encircled with lilies.

3Your two breasts are like two fawns,

twins of a gazelle.

4Your neck is like a tower of ivory;

your eyes are pools in Heshbon at the gate of Beth Rabbim.

Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon

looking out over Damascus.f

5Your head crowns you like Carmel;gh

the flowing locks of your head are like purple tapestry;i

a king is held captive in the tresses!

6How beautiful you are and how pleasant,

O loved one in the delights!

7Your staturej is like the palm tree,

and your breasts are like clusters.

8I say, “I will climb up the palm tree;

I will lay hold of its fruit clusters.”

Let your breasts be pleasing like clusters of the vine

and the scent of your breath like the apples.

9Your palate is like the best wine that goes down for my beloved,

smoothly gliding over my lips and teeth.k

Mutual Possession Refrain

10I belong to my beloved,l

and he desires me!m

Rendezvous in the Countryside

11Come, my beloved, let us go out to the countryside;n

let us spend the nighto in the villages.

12Let us rise early to gop to the vineyards;

let us see whether the vine has budded,q

whether the grape blossom has opened,

and whether the pomegranates are in bloom;r

there I will give my love to you.

13The mandrakes give off their fragrance,

and over our doorway is every kind of delicious fruit;s

both fresh and dried fruit I have stored upt for you, O my beloved.

The Maiden’s Fanciful Wish

8How I wish that you were my little brother,ab

who nursed upon my mother’s breasts!c

If I met you outside,d I would kiss you,

and no one would despise me!e

2I would surely bring youfg to the house of my mother,

who would surely teach me;h

I would give you spiced wine to drink,i

the sweet winej of my pomegranates.k

Double Refrain: Embrace and Adjuration

3His left hand is under my head,

and his right hand embracesl me.

4I adjure you, O maidens of Jerusalem,m

do notn arouse or awaken love until it pleases!o

Up from the Wilderness and under the Apple Tree

5Who is this coming up from the wilderness,

leaning upon her beloved?

Under the apple tree I awakened you;

there your mother conceived you;p

there she who was in labor gave birth to you.

The Nature of Genuine Romantic Love

6Set me as a seal upon your heart,

as a seal upon your arm;

for love is strong as death;

passion is fierce as Sheol;

its flashes are flashes of fire;

it is a blazing flame.

7Many waters cannot quench love;

rivers cannot sweep it away.q

If a man were to give all the wealth of his house for love,r

he would be utterly scorned.s

The Maiden’s Virtuous Chastity and Voluptuous Beauty

8We have a little sister,t

and she does not yet have any breasts.u

What should we do for our sister

on the day when she is betrothed?vw

9If she is a wall,

we will adorn her with a turret of silver;xy

but if she is a door,

we will barricade her with boards of cedar.z

10I was a wall, and my breasts were like the towers,

so my betrothed viewed me with great delight.a

Solomon’s Vineyard and the Maiden’s Gift

11Solomon had a vineyardb at Baal-hamon;

he entrusted his vineyard to the keepers;c

people paid a thousand silver pieces for its fruit.d

12My own “vineyard” belongs to me;e

the “thousand” are for you, O Solomon,

and “two hundred” for those who tend its fruit.f

Closing Words of Mutual Love

13O you who dwell in the garden,

my companions are listening to your voice.

Let me hear it!

14Flee, my beloved!

Be like a gazelleg or a young stagh

upon the perfumed mountains!i

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Footnotes

  1. aOr “Drink and become drunk, O lovers!”
  2. bOr “and”
  3. cOr “The sound of my beloved knocking!”
  4. dLiterally “my locks with drops of night”
  5. eLiterally “How will I put it on?”
  6. fLiterally “How will I soil them?”
  7. gOr “my beloved had left; he was gone”
  8. hOr “my soul left”
  9. iOr “when he was speaking.” Translations equivocate on how to translate this verb, since there are two terms in Hebrew spelled identically: “to speak” and “to turn aside” (HALOT 1:210). The context suggests the latter
  10. jOr “mantle”
  11. kLiterally “the sentinels of the walls”
  12. lLiterally “O daughters of Jerusalem”
  13. mLiterally “sick with love”
  14. nLiterally “What is your beloved more than another beloved …?”
  15. oLiterally “What is your beloved more than another beloved …?”
  16. pLiterally “red”
  17. qLiterally “more than”
  18. rOr “streams”
  19. sLiterally “dwelling in a setting”
  20. tOr “seated at a suitable mounting”
  21. uLiterally “cylinders”
  22. vOr “rings”
  23. wLiterally “filled with”
  24. xOr “body”
  25. yOr “works of ivory set with sapphire”
  26. zOr “marble”
  27. aLiterally “the cedars”
  28. bOr “his palate”
  29. cLiterally “O daughters of Jerusalem”
  30. aLiterally “I am for my beloved and my beloved for me”
  31. bLiterally “terrible as the bannered ones”
  32. cLiterally “from behind”
  33. dLiterally “she is one”
  34. eThe term “one” functions here as an adjective of quality: “unique, singular, the only one”
  35. fLiterally “she is one”
  36. gOr “the only daughter of her mother.” Although the latter option is permissible, the term is used elsewhere of the heir as the favored child (e.g., Gen 22:2; Prov 4:3). This nuance is supported by the parallel term “favorite”
  37. hOr “she is the pure one.” Since there are two Hebrew terms spelled the same way, some relate this to the adjective that means “pure.” Others relate it to the verb that means “to choose, select.” The parallelism favors the latter
  38. iLiterally “the favorite for”
  39. jOr “call her happy” or “call her blessed” or “bless her”
  40. kLiterally “pure as the glow”
  41. lOr “bright as the heat of the sun.” The Hebrew term “glow” poetically refers to the bright rays of the sun (Psa 19:7; Isa 24:23; 30:26)
  42. mLiterally “terrible as the bannered ones”
  43. nLiterally “soul”
  44. oOr “Before I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib” (KJV, ASV) or “Before I knew it, my desire set me mid the chariots of Ammi-nadib” (JPS) or “Before I was aware, my soul set me over the chariots of my noble people” (NASB) or “Before I realized it, my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people” (NIV) or “… among the chariots of Amminadab” (NIV margin) or “… among the chariots of the people of the prince” (NIV margin)
  45. pSong of Songs 6:13–7:13 in the English Bible is 7:1–14 in the Hebrew Bible
  46. qOr “Return, return …!”
  47. rOr “O perfect one,” “O peaceful one,” “O bride.” Many interpreters take this moniker as suggesting the maiden was from the village of Shulem (alternately called Shunem)
  48. sOr “Return, return …!”
  49. aOr “O daughter of leader”
  50. bLiterally “thigh”
  51. cLiterally “ornaments”
  52. dLiterally “a bowl of the roundness”
  53. eOr “blended”
  54. fLiterally “looking out over the face of Damascus”
  55. gLiterally “Your head is on you like the Carmel”
  56. hBecause of its height and fertility, Mount Carmel is often associated with royalty
  57. iLiterally “the purple”
  58. jLiterally “this your height”
  59. kOr “over lips of sleepers.” One Hebrew textual tradition preserves the reading “lips of those who sleep” (MT). Another Hebrew tradition reads “my lips and my teeth,” as reflected by the ancient versions (LXX, Latin Vulgate, Aramaic Targum, Syriac Peshitta). The latter is adopted here since it makes the most sense poetically
  60. lLiterally “I am for my beloved”
  61. mLiterally “and his desire is for me.” Or “and his desire belongs to me”
  62. nLiterally “go forth into the field”
  63. oOr “lodge”
  64. pOr “let us go”
  65. qOr “sprouted”
  66. rLiterally “have bloomed”
  67. sOr “over our doorways all choice things”
  68. tLiterally “new also old I have laid up”
  69. aLiterally “O that he would give you like a brother to me”
  70. bThe Hebrew construction (which is somewhat misleading if rendered in a woodenly literal sense) is an idiom expressing one’s fanciful wish
  71. cLiterally “at the breast of my mother”
  72. dLiterally “I will find you in the street”
  73. eLiterally “also they would not despise me”
  74. fLiterally “I would lead you and I would bring you”
  75. gThe combination of the two verbs creates a hendiadys which may be rendered more cogently as “I would surely bring you …”
  76. hLiterally “she will teach me”
  77. iLiterally “I would give you to drink from the wine of the spice”
  78. jOr “juice”
  79. kThe traditional Hebrew reads the singular “my pomegranate.” However, the plural reading “my pomegranates” is attested in numerous medieval Hebrew manuscripts and is reflected in the ancient versions (Greek Septuagint, Aramaic Targum, Syriac Peshitta). The latter makes the most sense in this context as a euphemistic description of the maiden’s delights
  80. lOr “embraced”
  81. mLiterally “O daughters of Jerusalem”
  82. nOr “Why must you … before it pleases?”
  83. oOr “Do not stir up or awaken the love until it is willing,” or “Do not disturb or interrupt our lovemaking until it is satisfied”
  84. pLiterally “was in labor with you”
  85. qOr “and rivers cannot engulf it”
  86. rLiterally “in the love”
  87. sLiterally “they will utterly scorn him”
  88. tLiterally “a little sister for us”
  89. uLiterally “and there is no breast for her”
  90. vLiterally “on the day when it is spoken of her”
  91. wOr “on the day when she is spoken for”
  92. xLiterally “we will build upon her a camp of silver”
  93. yThe term translated “turret” refers to the decorative parapet adorning the top of a building. This image is likely figurative for a silver tiara set upon the head
  94. zOr “we will enclose her”
  95. aLiterally “then I was in his eyes as one who finds peace”
  96. bLiterally “A vineyard was for Solomon”
  97. cLiterally “he gave the vineyard to the keepers”
  98. dLiterally “each one brought a thousand silver pieces for his fruit”
  99. eLiterally “My vineyard that for me before my face”
  100. fLiterally “and two hundred for the keepers of his fruit”
  101. gLiterally “and be like for you to a gazelle”
  102. hLiterally “to the fawn of the stag”
  103. iLiterally “the mountains of spices”

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