Song of Songs 1-2
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 1
Title and Prologue[a]
1 The Song of Songs by Solomon.[b]
Longing for Love
Bride:
2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.
Your[c] love is more delightful than wine;
3 fragrant is the scent of your anointing oils.[d]
Your name is a perfume poured out,
and that is why the maidens love you.
4 Take me with you, and let us make haste;
bring me into your chamber, O king.
Companions:
We will exult and rejoice in you;[e]
we will praise your love more than wine;
how right it is to love you.
First Poem
Tell Me, You Whom My Heart Loves
Let Me Not Be Found Wandering . . .[f]
Bride:
5 I am dark[g] but lovely,
O daughters of Jerusalem,
like the tents of Kedar,
like the curtains of Salma.
6 Do not stare at me because I am dark,
for I was scorched by the sun.
My mother’s sons vented their rage against me;
they forced me to look after the vineyards,
but my own vineyard[h] I could not watch over.
7 Tell me, you whom my heart loves,
where you pasture your flocks,
and where you rest them at midday,[i]
so that I may not be found wandering
beside the flocks of your companions.
Companions:
8 If you do not know,
O fairest among women,
follow the tracks of the flocks
and pasture your young goats
close to the tents of the shepherds.
To Sit in His Shadow Is My Delight[j]
Bridegroom:
9 I compare you, my beloved,
to a mare[k] harnessed to Pharaoh’s chariot.
10 Your cheeks are beautiful with pendants
and your neck with its jeweled necklaces.
11 We will make ornaments of gold for you
that are studded with silver.
Bride:
12 While the king reclines on his couch,
my nard[l] yields its fragrance.
13 My beloved is for me a sachet of myrrh[m]
that lies between my breasts.
14 My beloved is for me a cluster of henna[n] blossoms
in the vineyards of En-gedi.
Bridegroom:
15 How beautiful you are, my beloved,
how beautiful you are;
your eyes are doves.[o]
Bride:
16 How handsome you are, my love,
and how you delight me.
Our couch is verdant.[p]
Bridegroom:
17 The beams of our house are cedar;
our rafters are all of pine.
Chapter 2
Bride:
1 I am a rose of Sharon,[q]
a lily of the valley.
Bridegroom:
2 As a lily growing among thorns,
so is my beloved among maidens.[r]
Bride:
3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my beloved among young men.
To sit in his shadow is my delight,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
4 He escorts me into his banquet hall
and his banner[s] over me is love.
5 Strengthen me with raisins,
restore me with apples,[t]
for I am sick with love.
6 His left arm is under my head
and his right arm embraces me.
Bridegroom:
7 I charge you, daughters of Jerusalem,[u]
by the gazelles and the wild does:
Do not stir up or awaken love
before its time has come.
Second Poem[v]
Let Me See You
Bride:
8 Hark! I hear the voice of my beloved.
Look, here he comes,
leaping across the mountains[w]
bounding over the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
Look where he stands
behind our wall,
peering in through the windows,
gazing through the lattice.
10 My beloved speaks,
and he says to me:
“Arise, my beloved,
my fair one, and come!
11 [x]For see, the winter is past,
the rains are over and gone.
12 The flowers appear in the countryside;
the season of joyful songs has arrived,
and the voice of the turtledove
is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree puts forth its figs
and the blossoms on the vine give forth their fragrance.
Arise, my beloved,
my fair one, and come!”
Bridegroom:
14 O my dove, hiding in the clefts of the rock,
in the sheltered recesses of the cliff,
let me see you,
let me hear your voice.
For your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.
Companions:
15 Catch the foxes for us,
the little foxes
that ruin our vineyards,
for our vineyards are blossoming.
Bride:
16 My beloved belongs to me, and I am his;[y]
he pastures his flock among the lilies.
17 Before the dawn[z] comes,
and the shadows flee,
return, my beloved,
like a gazelle or a young stag
upon the mountains of the covenant.
Footnotes
- Song of Songs 1:1 Solomon composed poems and songs, and tradition decided to place this Book under his patronage. But let us go on to the text itself.
The bride is seized with the desire to rejoin her bridegroom in a perfect and joyous union. She issues a call for him to be with her and musters up her hope. In uninterrupted variations, the Song will take up again the same call and the same hope.
Is it not equally true that the people of God in the solitude of the Exile wait impatiently for the day on which God, their King, will manifest himself anew and lead them back to the Holy Land and Jerusalem. Today, the Church—and every believer with her—remains in wait for the coming of her Lord. - Song of Songs 1:1 The speakers are indicated by the captions Bride, Bridegroom, and Companions respectively. In some cases, the divisions are open to question. By Solomon: Solomon is said to have authored one thousand and five songs (1 Ki 5:12).
- Song of Songs 1:2 Him . . . his . . . Your: these all refer to the bridegroom. Love: i.e., expressions of love (see v. 4; 4:10; 7:12; see also Prov 7:18; Ezek 16:8; 23:17). More delightful than wine: words used by the bridegroom in Song 4:10.
- Song of Songs 1:3 Fragrant . . . your anointing oils: an image of the charms that attract the heart. Maidens: perhaps members of the royal court (see Song 6:8-9). They may also stand for the nations (see Isa 23:12; 37:22; 47:1; Jer 14:17).
- Song of Songs 1:5 We will exult and rejoice in you: joy is one of the greatest blessings of the Messianic prophecies of salvation (see Pss 14:7; 16:9; 21:1; Isa 9:2; 66:10; Joel 2:21, 23; Zep 3:17).
- Song of Songs 1:5 A bride separated from her bridegroom shows signs of the trial. Her entourage may no doubt give her grief concerning some weaknesses, but she rediscovers her self-esteem and decides to set out in search of her lover. Her companions form the chorus that will continuously intervene in the unfolding of these poems that are more or less arranged in the form of a drama. Hearing the calls of the bride, they jest with her and suggest that she follow the other shepherds!
Thus, far from the land from which it has been exiled as a result of too many infidelities, Israel seeks God; but how can the temptation for its people to turn toward foreign gods be rooted out? No matter what defeats may be incurred, the community of believers must unceasingly rediscover its hope on its pilgrimage to the Lord. - Song of Songs 1:5 Dark: burnt by the sun from laboring in the vineyard of her brothers. Daughters of Jerusalem: the chorus (Companions) with whom the bride and the bridegroom interact (see Song 5:9; 6:1). Kedar: name of a Bedouin tribe descended from Ishmael (Gen 25:13) that lived in the Desert of Arabia and was famous for its flocks (see Isa 60:7; Ezek 27:21).
- Song of Songs 1:6 My own vineyard: i.e., her body (see Song 2:15; 8:12). She has given her heart to the bridegroom.
- Song of Songs 1:7 The bride is now seeking the bridegroom because they are apart. This theme runs throughout the Book (Song 3:1-4; 4:8; 5:2-8; 6:1), and the resolution occurs at the end of the Book with the mutual possession of the couple (see Song 8:5). Midday: a time for rest in hot climates. It also stands for supreme happiness (see Job 11:17; Ps 37:6; Isa 58:10).
- Song of Songs 1:9 The bridegroom has heard the call of his beloved and soon appears. They have a feast, each one singing the charms and the presence of the other as well as evoking the plants and flowers of Israel. The lovers withdraw to a corner brimming with greenery. The beloved falls into the arms of her lover and rests in the dream of love fulfilled.
In somewhat the same way, God responds to his people’s call. If Israel returns to him with love, she will remain his beloved among the nations. The Lord, her King, will be for her joy and favor. The last Book of the New Testament, the Book of Revelation, foresees the day when believers will be filled with the refound joy of God. - Song of Songs 1:9 Mare: allusion to the splendid mounts of the Pharaoh. The comparison was a classic one in the East.
- Song of Songs 1:12 Nard: a precious perfume (see Song 4:13-14; Mk 14:3; Jn 12:3), which symbolizes the bride (see Song 4:14).
- Song of Songs 1:13 Myrrh: a feminine perfume (see Est 2:12; Prov 17:7). The sachet of myrrh, which women carried in their bosom, was a sign of love for their husbands. Myrrh was also used on royal nuptial robes (see Ps 45:8).
- Song of Songs 1:14 The henna plant had highly perfumed blossoms. En-gedi: an oasis on the western shore of the Dead Sea, to which David retreated when hunted by Saul (see 1 Sam 24:1).
- Song of Songs 1:15 Your eyes are doves: symbolic of an innocent and personable individual.
- Song of Songs 1:16 The lovers embrace in the field under the trees.
- Song of Songs 2:1 Sharon: a plain on the seacoast, extending from Joppa to Mount Carmel, which was proverbial for its beauty, fertility, and pasturage (see 1 Chr 27:29; Isa 35:2). Lily of the valley: a symbol of loveliness (see also Song 2:16; 4:5; 6:3).
- Song of Songs 2:2 Maidens: see note on Song 1:3.
- Song of Songs 2:4 Banner: i.e., a military flag; just as such a flag is used to show location or possession, her bridegroom’s love does the same in her case (see Num 1:52; Ps 20:6).
- Song of Songs 2:5 Raisins . . . apples: probably a reference to the affection and embraces of love.
- Song of Songs 2:7 This refrain also occurs in Song 3:5; 8:4. Daughters of Jerusalem: see note on Song 1:5.
- Song of Songs 2:8 In her home, the bride longs for the return of her bridegroom; he appears in the window and invites her to take a walk in the freshness of springtime. How each of them wishes to reach the heart of the other. But their time together turns short. The young woman’s companions appear and liken the lovers to the marauding little foxes that people distrust (v. 15)—in spring the foxes set their cubs down amid the flowering vines. The bride responds sharply and protests her love; she invites the bridegroom to return that evening.
God too searches for his people; obstacles ceaselessly appear and prevent the rediscoveries even when Israel is in her own land. More than once God seems to disappear. Rediscovering the new strength of its love, the community pleads for the return of the Lord, who offers his people a covenant, a union capable of fulfilling all the aspirations of human beings. - Song of Songs 2:8 Mountains: i.e., of Judah (see Isa 40:3-5, 9-11; 52:7; 62:10-12).
- Song of Songs 2:11 Spring in bloom is the time of love as well as the symbol of salvation (see Hos 14:6-8).
- Song of Songs 2:16 This verse is patterned after the covenant formula of the Prophets: “They . . . will be my people, and I will be their God” (Jer 32:38; see also Hos 2:25; Jer 31:33).
- Song of Songs 2:17 Dawn: the image of the dawn symbolizes the hour of deliverance (see Ps 17:15). Covenant: literally, “Bether,” whose meaning is uncertain.
