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
World English Bible
Lover
5 I have come into my garden, my sister, my 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.
Friends
Eat, friends!
Drink, yes, drink abundantly, beloved.
Beloved
2 I was asleep, but my heart was awake.
It is the voice of my beloved who knocks:
“Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled;
for my head is filled with dew,
and my hair with the dampness of the night.”
3 I have taken off my robe. Indeed, must I put it on?
I have washed my feet. Indeed, must I soil them?
4 My beloved thrust his hand in through the latch opening.
My heart pounded for him.
5 I rose up to open for my beloved.
My hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with liquid myrrh,
on the handles of the lock.
6 I opened to my beloved;
but my beloved left, and had gone away.
My heart went out when he spoke.
I looked for him, but I didn’t find him.
I called him, but he didn’t answer.
7 The watchmen who go about the city found me.
They beat me.
They bruised me.
The keepers of the walls took my cloak away from me.
8 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,
If you find my beloved,
that you tell him that I am faint with love.
Friends
9 How is your beloved better than another beloved,
you fairest among women?
How is your beloved better than another beloved,
that you do so adjure us?
Beloved
10 My beloved is white and ruddy.
The best among ten thousand.
11 His head is like the purest gold.
His hair is bushy, black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves beside the water brooks,
washed with milk, mounted like jewels.
13 His cheeks are like a bed of spices with towers of perfumes.
His lips are like lilies, dropping liquid myrrh.
14 His hands are like rings of gold set with beryl.
His body is like ivory work overlaid with sapphires.
15 His legs are like pillars of marble set on sockets of fine gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.
16 His mouth is sweetness;
yes, he is altogether lovely.
This is my beloved, and this is my friend,
daughters of Jerusalem.
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