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The Man Speaks to the Woman

Your feet are beautiful in sandals,
    you ·daughter of a prince [noble daughter].
Your round ·thighs [or hips] are like ·jewels [L rings]
    ·shaped by an artist [L the work of the hands of a craftsman].
Your navel is like a round drinking cup
    ·always filled with [L that does not lack] wine.
Your ·stomach [belly] is like a ·pile [heap] of wheat
    ·surrounded [bordered] with lilies.
Your breasts are like two fawns,
    like twins of a gazelle [4:5].
Your neck is like an ivory tower [C grand, strong, dignified].
Your eyes are like the pools in Heshbon [C a beautiful area located near the Dead Sea]
    near the gate of Bath Rabbim.
Your nose is like the mountain of Lebanon
    ·that looks down on [keeping watch toward] Damascus.
Your head is like Mount Carmel [C a prominent, rounded, and attractive mountain],
    and your hair is like purple cloth [C a royal color];
    the king is ·captured [ensnared] in its folds.
You are beautiful and pleasant;
    my love, you are full of delights.
You are like a palm tree [C tall and slender],
    and your breasts are like its bunches of fruit.
I said, “I will climb up the palm tree
    and ·take hold of [grasp] its fruit.”
Let your breasts be like ·bunches of grapes [L clusters of the vine],
    the smell of your breath like apples,
and your mouth like the best wine.

The Woman Speaks to the Man

Let this wine go down sweetly for my lover;
    may it flow gently past the lips and teeth.
10 I belong to my lover,
    and he desires only me [2:16; 6:3].
11 Come, my lover,
    let’s go out ·into the country [L to the field; C a private place for intimacy]
    and spend the night in the ·fields [villages].
12 Let’s go early to the vineyards
    and see if the buds are on the vines.
Let’s see if the blossoms have already opened
    and if the pomegranates have bloomed.
There I will give you my love.
13 The mandrakes [C an aphrodisiac; Gen. 30:14–16] give their sweet smell,
    and all the best ·fruits [gifts] are at our ·gates [entrance].
I have ·saved them [treasured them up] for you, my lover,
    the old and the new [C everything near and dear].

(The Bridegroom)

“Why should you gaze at the Shulammite,
As at the dance of the two armies?

Admiration by the Bridegroom

“How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
O prince’s daughter!
The curves of your hips are like jewels,
The work of the hands of an artist.

“Your navel is a round goblet
Which never lacks mixed wine.
Your belly is like a heap of wheat
Surrounded with lilies.

“Your two breasts are like two fawns,
The twins of a gazelle.

“Your neck is like a tower of ivory,
Your eyes the [sparkling] pools of Heshbon
By the gate of Bath-rabbim.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon
Which looks toward Damascus.

“Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel,
And the flowing hair of your head like purple threads;
I, the king, am held captive by your [a]tresses.

“How beautiful and how delightful you are,
My love, with all your delights!

“Your stature is like that of a palm tree
And your breasts like its clusters [of dates].

“I said, ‘I will climb the palm tree;
I will grasp its branches.
Let your breasts be like clusters of the grapevine,
And the fragrance of your breath like apples,

‘And your kisses like the best wine!’”

(The Shulammite Bride)

“It goes down smoothly and sweetly for my beloved,
Gliding gently over his lips while he sleeps.

The Union of Love

10 
“I am my beloved’s,
And his desire is for me.(A)
11 
“Come, my beloved, let us go out into the country,
Let us spend the night in the villages.(B)
12 
“Let us go out early to the vineyards;
Let us see whether the vine has budded
And its blossoms have opened,
And whether the pomegranates have flowered.
There I will give you my love.
13 
“The mandrakes give forth fragrance,
And over our doors are all [kinds of] choice fruits,
Both new and old,
Which I have saved up for you, my beloved.

Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 7:5 I.e. the long, unbound hair of a woman.