HarperCollins Study Bible, page 248
in the vineyards of En-gedi.
15Ah, you are beautiful, my love;
ah, you are beautiful;
your eyes are doves.
16Ah, you are beautiful, my beloved,
truly lovely.
Our couch is green;
17the beams of our house are cedar,
our raftersa are pine.
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a Meaning of Heb uncertain
1.1 Song of Songs, a superlative meaning “the sublime song.”
1.2–8 The maiden’s complaint.
1.2 Let him…your. The lovers sometimes address each other in the third person (e.g., 1.12; 2.1–3), which carries a tone of respect. Let him kiss me, Hebrew yishakeni, suggests a pun on yashkeyni, “give to drink” (used in 8.2). Love (Hebrew dodim), meaning physical expressions of love.
1.4 King, probably a term of affection and esteem referring to the youth.
1.5–8 The young woman’s brothers grew angry at her (for her new love interests?) and tried to coop her up at home.
1.5 Black and beautiful, better “black but beautiful.” As v. 6 shows, the maiden does not consider “blackness,” i.e., sunburn, to be part of her beauty. The daughters of Jerusalem are the Shulammite’s girlfriends, who listen to her effusions and tease her a bit (5.9). Kedar, an Arabian tribe whose name means “dark.” Curtains, i.e., tent curtains. Solomon, or read “Salmah,” also an Arabian tribe.
1.6 Vineyard, an allusion to womanhood (cf. 8.12).
1.7–8 One who is veiled, a harlot (Gen 38.14–15). The woman is being provocative and gets teased in return in v. 8. To pasture, or “graze” (Hebrew ro‘eh), together with homonyms, often enters into wordplays alluding to lovemaking (his beloved is called ra‘ yati, my love [v. 9], from a homonymous root). As for where this shepherd “grazes,” see 2.16; 4.16–5.1.
1.9–2.7 An admiration dialogue in which the lovers speak to each other and praise each other’s beauty as a whole; set in a bower in the fields.
1.12–14 The king is the youth, reclining royally on a leafy “couch” under the trees (vv. 16–17). Nard is an expensive spice that emits scent when rubbed; myrrh and henna too are fragrant spices. The woman’s beloved lies nestled between her breasts like a pouch of spices. En-gedi, where henna grows, is an oasis on the Dead Sea.
1.15–16 The man speaks in v. 15; the woman replies in v. 16.
SONG OF SOLOMON 2
1I am a rosea of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.
2As a lily among brambles,
so is my love among maidens.
3As an apple tree among the trees of the wood,
so is my beloved among young men.
With great delight I sat in his shadow,
and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4He brought me to the banqueting house,
and his intention toward me was love.
5Sustain me with raisins,
refresh me with apples;
for I am faint with love.
6O that his left hand were under my head,
and that his right hand embraced me!
7I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles or the wild does:
do not stir up or awaken love
until it is ready!
Springtime Rhapsody
8The voice of my beloved!
Look, he comes,
leaping upon the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9My beloved is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
Look, there he stands
behind our wall,
gazing in at the windows,
looking through the lattice.
10My beloved speaks and says to me:
“Arise, my love, my fair one,
and come away;
11for now the winter is past,
the rain is over and gone.
12The flowers appear on the earth;
the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtledove
is heard in our land.
13The fig tree puts forth its figs,
and the vines are in blossom;
they give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my fair one,
and come away.
14O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
in the covert of the cliff,
let me see your face,
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.
15Catch us the foxes,
the little foxes,
that ruin the vineyards—
for our vineyards are in blossom.”
16My beloved is mine and I am his;
he pastures his flock among the lilies.
17Until the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle
or a young stag on the cleft mountains.b
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a Heb crocus
b Or on the mountains of Bether; meaning of Heb uncertain
2.1 I am a rose (better “crocus”) of Sharon is not a boast, but a modest self-appraisal; the woman says she is but one of thousands. Her beloved turns this into high praise: she is unique (v. 2); and she replies in kind (v. 3).
2.4 Banqueting house (lit. “house of wine”) alludes to a garden booth (cf. 1.17).
2.5 The fruits that the lovesick woman requires are her lover’s caresses (cf. v. 3).
2.6 This sentence should probably be translated as a statement.
2.7 This same request recurs in 3.5; 8.4. The maiden does not want her friends to disturb love, i.e., the couple’s embrace. Gazelles, does, words for making “oaths” without mentioning God’s name.
2.8–17 The man appears at his beloved’s window just before dawn and urges her to come away with him to the countryside, now abloom in the splendor of spring.
2.11 Winter in Israel is the rainy season. In April and May the figs and vines begin to ripen and the migrant birds reappear.
2.12 Singing. The Hebrew zamir may also mean “pruning season” and so may be a wordplay pointing in two directions.
2.15 Foxes is a metaphor for lusty youths, vineyards for nubile women. The woman in an Egyptian love song affectionately refers to her lover as a “(little) fox.”
2.16 He pastures his flock (the Hebrew lacks “his flock”). Her beloved “pastures” or “grazes” among the most delicate and lovely of flowers—the maiden herself (cf. 5.13; 4.16–5.1a).
2.17 The maiden urges her beloved to flee—we may recall her irritable brothers!—before daybreak. The cleft mountains. An anatomical allusion? Better might be “mountains of Bether,” hills outside Jerusalem.
SONG OF SOLOMON 3
Love’s Dream
11Upon my bed at night
I sought him whom my soul loves;
I sought him, but found him not;
I called him, but he gave no answer.a
2“I will rise now and go about the city,
in the streets and in the squares;
I will seek him whom my soul loves.”
I sought him, but found him not.
3The sentinels found me,
as they went about in the city.
“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
4Scarcely had I passed them,
when I found him whom my soul loves.
I held him, and would not let him go
until I brought him into my mother’s house,
and into the chamber of her that conceived me.
5I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles or the wild does:
do not stir up or awaken love
until it is ready!
The Groom and His Party Approach
6What is that coming up from the wilderness,
like a column of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
with all the fragrant powders of the merchant?
7Look, it is the litter of Solomon!
Around it are sixty mighty men
of the mighty men of Israel,
8all equipped with swords
and expert in war,
each with his sword at his thigh
because of alarms by night.
9King Solomon made himself a palanquin
from the wood of Lebanon.
10He made its posts of silver,
its back of gold, its seat of purple;
its interior was inlaid with love.b
Daughters of Jerusalem,
11come out.
Look, O daughters of Zion,
at King Solomon,
at the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
on the day of the gladness of his heart.
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a Gk: Heb lacks this line
b Meaning of Heb uncertain
3.1–5 A nighttime search for the beloved; cf. 5.2–8. This might all be a dream.
3.5 The happy conclusion; cf. 2.7.
3.6–11 “Solomon’s wedding.” Though usually understood as an actual royal wedding, this may be a fantasy disguise for the beloved in his humble bower, which is extravagantly pictured as a royal pavilion.
3.6 What (Hebrew “who”) is that, probably an exclamation of surprise (as in the identically phrased 8.5), not a real question. Frankincense is a fragrant balsamic gum whose Hebrew name, lebonah, sometimes plays on “Lebanon.”
3.7–8 A litter is a portable couch; the Hebrew simply has “couch,” and it may be stationary. Sixty mighty men. Armed guards surround the royal chamber, here perhaps in imagination. The alarms by night may be nocturnal demons.
3.9–11 Palanquin, or “pavilion,” not necessarily portable. Inlaid with love. Emendation yields “inlaid with stones” cf. Esth 1.6. The crown may allude to a floral garland.
SONG OF SOLOMON 4
The Bride’s Beauty Extolled
1How beautiful you are, my love,
how very beautiful!
Your eyes are doves
behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats,
moving down the slopes of Gilead.
2Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear twins,
and not one among them is bereaved.
3Your lips are like a crimson thread,
and your mouth is lovely.
Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
behind your veil.
4Your neck is like the tower of David,
built in courses;
on it hang a thousand bucklers,
all of them shields of warriors.
5Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle,
that feed among the lilies.
6Until the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
I will hasten to the mountain of myrrh
and the hill of frankincense.
7You are altogether beautiful, my love;
there is no flaw in you.
8Come with me from Lebanon, my bride;
come with me from Lebanon.
Departa from the peak of Amana,
from the peak of Senir and Hermon,
from the dens of lions,
from the mountains of leopards.
9You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride,
you have ravished my heart with a glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.
10How sweet is your love, my sister, my bride!
how much better is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
11Your lips distill nectar, my bride;
honey and milk are under your tongue;
the scent of your garments is like the scent of Lebanon.
12A garden locked is my sister, my bride,
a garden locked, a fountain sealed.
13Your channelb is an orchard of pomegranates
with all choicest fruits,
henna with nard,
14nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,
with all trees of frankincense,
myrrh and aloes,
with all chief spices—
15a garden fountain, a well of living water,
and flowing streams from Lebanon.
16Awake, O north wind,
and come, O south wind!
Blow upon my garden
that its fragrance may be wafted abroad.
Let my beloved come to his garden,
and eat its choicest fruits.
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a Or Look
b Meaning of Heb uncertain
4.1–7 A praise song (cf. 5.10–16; 6.4–10; 7.1–9) that describes the beloved part by part with bold and sometimes startling metaphors. The metaphors are often extended by a description pertaining only to the image itself, not to the beloved’s appearance.
4.1 Flock of goats suggests wavy black tresses cascading over head and shoulders.
4.3 The woman’s veil casts a shadow that recalls the webbing of membranes in a split pomegranate.
4.4 This image suggests a necklace made up of rows of beads, each of which is like a shield hung on a wall (cf. Ezek 27.11). An actual tower of David is otherwise unknown.
4.6 The day…flee, i.e., at dawn. The hills of myrrh and spices seem to allude to the maiden’s breasts.
4.8–5.1 The youth invites his beloved to come away with him, speaking as if she were in far and inaccessible mountains (cf. 2.14) and then lauds her caresses.
4.8 Lebanon, a mountain range north of Israel. Amana, Senir, and Hermon are tall mountains in the Anti-Lebanon range, running along the border of present-day Syria and Lebanon.
4.9 Sister is a term of endearment, as in the Egyptian love songs, and in no way implies consanguinity. Bride too is a term of affection, but it also expresses hopes for the future.
4.11 Your lips distill nectar (or “drip honeycomb”), my bride, a striking assonance in Hebrew: nofet tittofnah siftotayik kallah. The scent of Lebanon. The fragrant cedars of Lebanon can be smelled from miles away.
4.12 Garden and fountain are images of feminine sexuality (cf. Prov 5.15–17). The youth extols his beloved’s modesty and sexual exclusiveness, while hinting at his wish to be admitted.
4.13–14 Channel, rather the area of a garden irrigated by the channel. Saffron, calamus, and the others mentioned are all aromatic spices. The profusion of fruits and spices suggests a fullness of sensual delights.
4.16 The maiden invites the beloved into her garden—her own fresh and fragrant body—which is now his garden too, to taste the fruits of love.
SONG OF SOLOMON 5
1I come to my garden, my sister, my bride;
I gather my myrrh with my spice,
I eat my honeycomb with my honey,
I drink my wine with my milk.
Eat, friends, drink,
and be drunk with love.
Another Dream
2I slept, but my heart was awake.
Listen! my beloved is knocking.
“Open to me, my sister, my love,
my dove, my perfect one;
for my head is wet with dew,
my locks with the drops of the night.”
3I had put off my garment;
how could I put it on again?
I had bathed my feet;
how could I soil them?
4My beloved thrust his hand into the opening,
and my inmost being yearned for him.
5I arose to open to my beloved,
and my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with liquid myrrh,
upon the handles of the bolt.
6I opened to my beloved,
but my beloved had turned and was gone.
My soul failed me when he spoke.
I sought him, but did not find him;
I called him, but he gave no answer.
7Making their rounds in the city
the sentinels found me;
they beat me, they wounded me,
they took away my mantle,
those sentinels of the walls.
8I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
if you find my beloved,
tell him this:
I am faint with love.
Colloquy of Friends and Bride
9What is your beloved more than another beloved,
O fairest among women?
What is your beloved more than another beloved,
that you thus adjure us?
10My beloved is all radiant and ruddy,
distinguished among ten thousand.
11His head is the finest gold;
his locks are wavy,
black as a raven.
12His eyes are like doves
beside springs of water,
bathed in milk,
fitly set.a
13His cheeks are like beds of spices,
yielding fragrance.
His lips are lilies,
distilling liquid myrrh.
14His arms are rounded gold,
set with jewels.
His body is ivory work,b
encrusted with sapphires.c
15His legs are alabaster columns,
set upon bases of gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,
choice as the cedars.
16His speech is most sweet,
and he is altogether desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.
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a Meaning of Heb uncertain
b Meaning of Heb uncertain
c Heb lapis lazuli
5.1 I come to my garden. The youth accepts the invitation and enters the garden, which he now calls his. Then a chorus—the daughters of Jerusalem?—encourages the couple to drink their fill of love. Be drunk with love (Hebrew dodim, “lovemaking”) means to give oneself over to sexual ecstasy, as in Prov 5.19; 7.18.
