Song of Songs 1:6-8
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
6 Do not stare at me because I am so black,[a]
because the sun has burned me.
The sons of my mother were angry with me;
they charged me with the care of the vineyards:
my own vineyard I did not take care of.
Love’s Inquiry
7 W Tell me, you whom my soul loves,
where you shepherd,[b] where you give rest at midday.
Why should I be like one wandering
after the flocks of your companions?
8 M If you do not know,
most beautiful among women,
Follow the tracks of the flock
and pasture your lambs[c]
near the shepherds’ tents.
Footnotes
- 1:6 So black: tanned from working outdoors in her brothers’ vineyards, unlike the city women she addresses. My own vineyard: perhaps the woman herself; see 8:8–10 for her relationship to her brothers.
- 1:7 Shepherd: a common metaphor for kings. Here and elsewhere in the Song (3:1; 5:8; 6:1), the woman expresses her desire to be in the company of her lover. The search for the lover and her failure to find him create a degree of tension. Only at the end (8:5–14) do the lovers finally possess each other.
- 1:8 Pasture your lambs: both the woman and the man act as shepherds in the Song.
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