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Song of Songs 8:6-8
New Catholic Bible
Song of Songs 8:6-8
New Catholic Bible
Bridegroom:
Under the apple tree[a] I awakened you;
it was there that your mother conceived you,
and there where she who conceived you bore you.
Bride:
6 [b]Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal upon your arm.
For love is as strong as death,[c]
and ardor is as relentless as the netherworld.
Its flames are flashes of fire,
an unending blaze.[d]
7 Flood waters cannot quench love,
nor can torrents drown it.
If one were to offer all his wealth for love,
he would be regarded with contempt.
One Who Brings Peace[e]
Companions:
8 “Our sister is little,
and her breasts are not yet formed.
What shall we do for our sister
on the day she is spoken for?
Footnotes
- Song of Songs 8:6 Under the apple tree: fruit trees were regarded as conducive to lovers’ embraces.
- Song of Songs 8:6 Love is as strong as death: starting with these words, the author gives three climactic wisdom sayings about the awesome power of true love. Love stands its ground against the greatest powers on earth: death, fire, and water, and conquers even great wealth. An unending blaze: another translation may be: “Like the very flame of the Lord,” showing that love is enkindled by God.
- Song of Songs 8:6 Love is as strong as death: starting with these words, the author gives three climactic wisdom sayings about the awesome power of true love. Love stands its ground against the greatest powers on earth: death, fire, and water, and conquers even great wealth. An unending blaze: another translation may be: “Like the very flame of the Lord,” showing that love is enkindled by God.
- Song of Songs 8:6 Love is as strong as death: starting with these words, the author gives three climactic wisdom sayings about the awesome power of true love. Love stands its ground against the greatest powers on earth: death, fire, and water, and conquers even great wealth. An unending blaze: another translation may be: “Like the very flame of the Lord,” showing that love is enkindled by God.
- Song of Songs 8:8 Suddenly a life that is still young finds itself mature with passion; already love has decided the future of the bride even though her brothers are still thinking of the men to whom they could contract her in marriage. They did not notice their little sister becoming a woman. Elders always have trouble admitting that their siblings have already entered into life, that love has already brought new freedom to them.
Israel, apparently always adolescent and indecisive, the most insignificant of nations in any case, is fulfilled more than one could believe by faith in God. And the believer, so fragile in his own eyes, finds an inconceivable freedom in the Lord’s presence.
