Song of Solomon 5
Lexham English Bible
5 I have come to my garden, my sister bride,
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice,
I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey,
I have drunk my wine with my milk!
Eat, O friends! Drink and become drunk with love![a]
Maiden’s Dream: Seeking and Not Finding
2 I was asleep but[b] my heart was awake.
A sound! My beloved knocking![c]
“Open to me, my sister, my beloved,
my dove, my perfect one!
For my head is full of dew,
my hair drenched from the moist night air.”[d]
3 I have taken off my tunic, must I put it on?[e]
I have bathed my feet, must I soil them?[f]
4 My beloved thrust his hand into the opening,
and my inmost yearned for him.
5 I myself arose to open to my beloved;
my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with liquid myrrh
upon the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened myself to my beloved,
but my beloved had turned and gone;[g]
my heart sank[h] when he turned away.[i]
I sought him, but I did not find him;
I called him, but he did not answer me.
7 The sentinels making rounds in the city found me;
they beat me, they wounded me;
they took my cloak[j] away from me—
those sentinels on the walls![k]
Adjuration Refrain
8 I adjure you, O maidens of Jerusalem,[l]
if you find my beloved, what will you tell him?
Tell him that I am lovesick![m]
Maiden’s Praise of Her Beloved
9 How is your beloved better than another lover,[n]
O most beautiful among women?
How is your beloved better than another lover, [o]
that you adjure us thus?
10 My beloved is radiant and ruddy,[p]
distinguished among[q] ten thousand.
11 His head is gold, refined gold;
his locks are wavy, black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves beside springs[r] of water,
bathed in milk, set like mounted jewels.[s][t]
13 His cheeks are like beds of spice, a tower of fragrances;
his lips are lilies dripping liquid myrrh.
14 His arms are rods[u][v] of gold engraved with[w] jewels;
his belly[x] is polished ivory covered with sapphires.[y]
15 His legs are columns of alabaster,[z] set on bases of gold;
his appearance is like Lebanon, choice as its cedars.[aa]
16 His mouth[ab] is sweet,
and he is altogether desirable.
This is my beloved;
this is my friend, O young women of Jerusalem.[ac]
Footnotes
- Song of Solomon 5:1 Or “Drink and become drunk, O lovers!”
- Song of Solomon 5:2 Or “and”
- Song of Solomon 5:2 Or “The sound of my beloved knocking!”
- Song of Solomon 5:2 Literally “my locks with drops of night”
- Song of Solomon 5:3 Literally “How will I put it on?”
- Song of Solomon 5:3 Literally “How will I soil them?”
- Song of Solomon 5:6 Or “my beloved had left; he was gone”
- Song of Solomon 5:6 Or “my soul left”
- Song of Solomon 5:6 Or “when he was speaking.” Translations equivocate on how to translate this verb, since there are two terms in Hebrew spelled identically: “to speak” and “to turn aside” (HALOT 1:210). The context suggests the latter
- Song of Solomon 5:7 Or “mantle”
- Song of Solomon 5:7 Literally “the sentinels of the walls”
- Song of Solomon 5:8 Literally “O daughters of Jerusalem”
- Song of Solomon 5:8 Literally “sick with love”
- Song of Solomon 5:9 Literally “What is your beloved more than another beloved …?”
- Song of Solomon 5:9 Literally “What is your beloved more than another beloved …?”
- Song of Solomon 5:10 Literally “red”
- Song of Solomon 5:10 Literally “more than”
- Song of Solomon 5:12 Or “streams”
- Song of Solomon 5:12 Literally “dwelling in a setting”
- Song of Solomon 5:12 Or “seated at a suitable mounting”
- Song of Solomon 5:14 Literally “cylinders”
- Song of Solomon 5:14 Or “rings”
- Song of Solomon 5:14 Literally “filled with”
- Song of Solomon 5:14 Or “body”
- Song of Solomon 5:14 Or “works of ivory set with sapphire”
- Song of Solomon 5:15 Or “marble”
- Song of Solomon 5:15 Literally “the cedars”
- Song of Solomon 5:16 Or “his palate”
- Song of Solomon 5:16 Literally “O daughters of Jerusalem”
Song of Solomon 5
Common English Bible
[Man]
5 I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride!
I have gathered my myrrh and my spices.
I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey;
I have drunk my wine and my milk.
Eat, dear friends!
Drink and get drunk on love!
A missed encounter
[Woman]
2 I was sleeping, but my heart was awake.
A sound! My love is knocking:
[Man]
“Open for me, my sister, my dearest,
my dove, my perfect one!
My head is soaked with dew,
my hair, with the night mists.”
[Woman]
3 “I have taken off my tunic—
why should I put it on again?
I have bathed my feet—
why should I get them dirty?”
4 My love put his hand in through the latch hole,
and my body ached for him.
5 I rose; I went to open for my love,
and my hands dripped myrrh,
my fingers, liquid myrrh,
over the handles of the lock.
6 I went and opened for my love,
but my love had turned, gone away.
I nearly died when he turned away.
I looked for him but couldn’t find him.
I called out to him, but he didn’t answer me.
7 They found me—the guards
who make their rounds in the city.
They struck me, bruised me.
They took my shawl away from me,
those guards of the city walls!
8 I place you under oath, daughters of Jerusalem:
If you find my love, what should you tell him?
That I’m weak with love!
[Daughters of Jerusalem]
9 How is your lover different from any other lover,
you who are the most beautiful of women?
How is your lover different from any other lover,
that you make us swear a solemn pledge?
In praise of him
[Woman]
10 My lover is radiant and ruddy;
he stands out among ten thousand!
11 His head is finest gold;
his wavy hair, black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves
by channels of water.
They are bathing in milk,
sitting by brimming pools.
13 His cheeks are like fragrant plantings,
towers of spices.
His lips are lilies
dripping liquid myrrh.
14 His arms are gold cylinders
studded with jewels.
His belly is smooth ivory
encrusted with sapphires.
15 His thighs are pillars of whitest stone
set on pedestals of gold.
His appearance—like Lebanon,
stately, like the cedars.
16 His mouth is everything sweet,
every bit of him desirable.
This is my love, this my dearest,
daughters of Jerusalem!
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