Song of Solomon 1:1–17

Title

1 The Song of Songs,a which is forb Solomon.

The Maiden’s Soliloquy

2 Mayc he kiss me ⌊passionately with his lips⌋,d

for your love is better than wine.e

3 As fragrance, ⌊your perfumes⌋f are ⌊delightful⌋;g

your name is poured out ⌊perfume⌋;h

therefore young women love you.

4 Draw me after you, let us run!

May the king bring me into his chambers!i

Let us be joyful and let us rejoice in you;

let us extol your love more than wine.

Rightly do they love you!

The Maiden’s Self-Description

5 I am black but beautiful,j ⌊O maidens of Jerusalem⌋,k

like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.

6 Do not gaze at me because I am black, l

because the sun has stared at me.

The sons of my mother were angry with me;

they made me keeper of the vineyards,

but my own “vineyard”m I did not keep.

Dialogue between Shepherdess and Shepherd

7 Tell me, you whom my ⌊heart⌋n loves,

where do you pasture your flock,

where do your sheep lie down at the noon?

⌊For why should I be like⌋o one who is veiledp

beside the flocks of your companions?

8 If you do not know, O fairest among women,

follow ⌊the tracks⌋q of the flock,

and pasture your little lambsr beside the tents of the shepherds.

The Man’s Poetic Praise of His Beloved

9 To a mares among the chariotst of Pharaoh,

I compare you, my beloved.

10 Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments,

your neck with strings of jewels.

11 We will make ornaments of gold for you

with studsu of silver.

The Maiden’s Poetic Praise of Her Beloved

12 While the king was on his couch,

my nard gave its fragrance.

13 My beloved is to me ⌊a pouch⌋v of myrrh,

he spends the nightw between my breasts.

14 My beloved is to me a cluster of blossoms of henna

in the vineyards of En Gedi.

Mutual Admiration

15 Look! You are beautiful, my beloved.

Look! You are beautiful;

your eyes are doves.

16 Look! You are beautiful, my beloved,

truly pleasant.

Truly our couch is ⌊verdant⌋;x

17 the beams of our house are cedar;

our rafter is cypress.

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a	This construction conveys a superlative connotation, e.g., “The most exquisite song”
b	Or “by Solomon” or “about/concerning Solomon”
c	In the maiden’s soliloquy, she thinks about her beloved in her thoughts (“May he kiss me!”), then poetically speaks to him as if he were in her presence (“for your love is better than wine”). To avoid confusion, the translation uses the second-person form throughout vv. 2–4
d	Literally “with the kisses of his mouth”
e	The shift from the third person “he … his” to the second person “you … your” in vv. 2–4 should not be interpreted as suggesting two different referents, that is, one male whom the maiden is addressing as “you,” and another to whom she refers as “he.” Rather, this shift is a poetic device (called “grammatical differentiation”) that is not uncommon in Hebrew poetry (e.g., Gen 49:4; Deut 32:15; Psa 23:2–5; Isa 1:29; 42:20; 54:1; Jer 22:24; Amos 4:1; Mic 7:19; Lam 3:1; Song 4:2; 6:6). This shift is characteristic of a soliloquy, a dramatic or literary form in which a character reveals her thoughts without addressing a listener who is actually present (e.g., 2 Sam 19:4). In this case, the maiden’s private thoughts about her beloved (v. 2a) shift to an imaginary address to her beloved (vv. 2b–4a)
f	Literally “your oil lotions”
g	Literally “good”
h	Literally “oil lotion”
i	Or “The king has brought me into his chambers”
j	Or “black and beautiful”
k	Literally “O daughters of Jerusalem”
l	This is figurative for the maiden’s physical appearance; her skin was darkly tanned
m	Literally “my vineyard that for me”
n	Literally “soul”
o	Literally “For to what will I be like”
p	The reading of the MT (“like one who is veiled”) is supported by the LXX. However, several ancient versions (Syriac Peshitta, Latin Vulgate, Symmachus) reflect an alternate Hebrew textual tradition in which two letters are transposed, resulting in the reading “like one who wanders about.” This makes good sense contextually, since the maiden does not know where her beloved would be at noon
q	Literally “in the tracks”
r	Or “your kids”
s	Or “my mare”
t	Or “chariot horses”
u	Or “droplets”
v	Literally “the bag”
w	Or “he lays”
x	Literally “green”

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