song-of-solomon

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1 
Solomon’s Finest Song.[a]

2 W[b] Oh, that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!

For your[c] love is[d] more delightful than wine.

3 The fragrance of your perfume is intoxicating;

your name is perfume poured out.

No wonder young women[e] adore you.

4 Take me with you—let us hurry.

Oh, that the king would bring[f] me to his chambers.

Y We will rejoice and be glad for you;

we will praise your love more than wine.

W It is only right that they adore you.

5 Daughters of Jerusalem,

I am dark like the tents of Kedar,

yet lovely like the curtains of Solomon.

6 Do not stare at me because I am dark,

for the sun has gazed on me.

My mother’s sons were angry with me;

they made me a keeper of the vineyards.

I have not kept my own vineyard.[g]

7 Tell me, you, the one I love:

Where do you pasture your sheep?

Where do you let them rest at noon?

Why should I be like one who veils herself[h][i]

beside the flocks of your companions?

8 M[j] If you do not know,

most beautiful of women,

follow[k] the tracks of the flock,

and pasture your young goats

near the shepherds’ tents.

9 I compare you, my darling,

to a[l] mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.[m]

10 Your cheeks are beautiful with jewelry,

your neck with its necklace.

11 We will make gold jewelry for you,

accented with silver.

12 W While the king is on his couch,[n]

my perfume[o] releases its fragrance.

13 My love is a sachet of myrrh to me,

spending the night between my breasts.

14 My love is a cluster of henna blossoms to me,

in the vineyards of En-gedi.[p]

15 M How beautiful you are, my darling.

How very beautiful!

Your eyes are doves.

16 W How handsome you are, my love.

How delightful!

Our bed is lush with foliage;

17 the beams of our house are cedars,

and our rafters are cypresses.[q]

Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 1:1 Or The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s
  2. Song of Solomon 1:2 The W, M, Y, N, and B indicate the editors’ opinions of the changes of speakers: W = Woman, M = Man, Y = Young women of Jerusalem, N = Narrator, B = Brothers. If a letter is in parenthesis (W), there is a question about the identity of the speaker.
  3. Song of Solomon 1:2 Unexpected change of grammatical persons, here from he and his to your, is a Hb poetic device.
  4. Song of Solomon 1:2 Or your caresses are, or your lovemaking is
  5. Song of Solomon 1:3 Or wonder virgins
  6. Song of Solomon 1:4 Or The king has brought
  7. Song of Solomon 1:6 Lit my vineyard, which is mine
  8. Song of Solomon 1:7 Or who wanders
  9. Song of Solomon 1:7 To express shame or grief, or to conceal identity as a prostitute would; Gn 38:14-15
  10. Song of Solomon 1:8 Some understand the young women to be the speakers in this verse.
  11. Song of Solomon 1:8 Lit go out for yourself into
  12. Song of Solomon 1:9 Lit my
  13. Song of Solomon 1:9 Pharaoh’s chariot horses were stallions.
  14. Song of Solomon 1:12 Or is at his table
  15. Song of Solomon 1:12 Lit nard
  16. Song of Solomon 1:14 = Wellspring of the Young Goat
  17. Song of Solomon 1:17 Or firs, or pines