Song of Solomon 8
New Living Translation
Young Woman
8 Oh, I wish you were my brother,
who nursed at my mother’s breasts.
Then I could kiss you no matter who was watching,
and no one would criticize me.
2 I would bring you to my childhood home,
and there you would teach me.[a]
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
my sweet pomegranate wine.
3 Your left arm would be under my head,
and your right arm would embrace me.
4 Promise me, O women of Jerusalem,
not to awaken love until the time is right.[b]
Young Women of Jerusalem
5 Who is this sweeping in from the desert,
leaning on her lover?
Young Woman
I aroused you under the apple tree,
where your mother gave you birth,
where in great pain she delivered you.
6 Place me like a seal over your heart,
like a seal on your arm.
For love is as strong as death,
its jealousy[c] as enduring as the grave.[d]
Love flashes like fire,
the brightest kind of flame.
7 Many waters cannot quench love,
nor can rivers drown it.
If a man tried to buy love
with all his wealth,
his offer would be utterly scorned.
The Young Woman’s Brothers
8 We have a little sister
too young to have breasts.
What will we do for our sister
if someone asks to marry her?
9 If she is a virgin, like a wall,
we will protect her with a silver tower.
But if she is promiscuous, like a swinging door,
we will block her door with a cedar bar.
Young Woman
10 I was a virgin, like a wall;
now my breasts are like towers.
When my lover looks at me,
he is delighted with what he sees.
11 Solomon has a vineyard at Baal-hamon,
which he leases out to tenant farmers.
Each of them pays a thousand pieces of silver
for harvesting its fruit.
12 But my vineyard is mine to give,
and Solomon need not pay a thousand pieces of silver.
But I will give two hundred pieces
to those who care for its vines.
Young Man
13 O my darling, lingering in the gardens,
your companions are fortunate to hear your voice.
Let me hear it, too!
Young Woman
14 Come away, my love! Be like a gazelle
or a young stag on the mountains of spices.
Song of Solomon 8
The Voice
Why would she break the parallel language and say that he “has desire” for her instead of saying he “belongs” to her as she does to him? Certainly he does belong to her, now that they are intimately bound in covenant. Her words may be said in light of Genesis 3:16, the passage where God outlines humanity’s punishment for their first sin. There it is narrated that Eve is to have desire for her husband who will rule over her. What the woman has said here is the exact opposite of the post-sin marriage structure: it is the man who desires the woman. Therefore, the depiction of the marriage relationship in Song of Songs gives a glimpse of what marriage might have looked like prior to the first sin in Eden. God designed the relationship between husband and wife to be one of love, passion, and pleasure. This should be the ideal all couples strive for in their marriages as they work together to avoid sin in their lives.
8 Her (to him): If only you were like my brother, my love,
nursed at my mother’s breast!
Then we could show our affection in public.
I would kiss you, and no one would think anything of it.
Nobody would look down on me.
2 I would take you by the hand
and bring you to my mother’s house—
she has taught me to be a woman.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
and you could enjoy the juice of my pomegranates.
3 His left hand cradles my head,
and his right hand reaches out to embrace me.
4 (to the young women of Jerusalem) Heed my warning:
I charge you not to excite your love until it is ready.
Don’t stir a fire in your heart too soon, until it is ready to be satisfied.
Three times in this most beautiful song (2:7; 3:5; 8:4), the female lover encourages her friends not to stoke the fires of passion until the proper time. This is wise instruction because unbridled passion can be very satisfying or quite destructive. The woman is presumably reminding the royal harem of this proverb to hold off on sexual intimacy. The “young women of Jerusalem” is probably a reference to the concubines of the king and how they, like most women, want to experience true and lasting intimacy. The difficulty is that these women may only know one night with the king and have their dreams of deep relationship go unrequited.
5 Young Women of Jerusalem: Who is this woman coming up from the desert,
leaning on her love?
Her: Under the apple tree I roused your love for me,
in the place where your mother conceived you,
in the place where she gave birth to you.
6 Set me as a seal over your heart;
wear me as an emblem on your arm
For love is as strong as death,
and jealousy is as relentless as the grave.
Love flares up like a blazing fire, a very ardent flame.
7 No amount of water can quench love;
a raging flood cannot drown it out.
If a person tried to exchange all of his wealth for love,
then he would be surely rejected.
8 Young Women of Jerusalem: We have a little sister
whose breasts have not yet developed.
How shall we protect her
until the time when she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build silver towers of protection;
If she is a door,
we will barricade the door with the strongest cedar.
10 Her: I was a wall,
and now my breasts are like towers;
At that time I found completeness and satisfaction in his eyes.
11 Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon;
he let farmers tend it and charged each a ransom for its produce—1,000 pieces of silver.
12 My vineyard is my own—mine to lend or mine to lease.
Solomon, you may have your 1,000;
Those who tend the fruit, your 200.
13 Him: You who dwell in the gardens,
whose friends are always attentive to your voice,
Let me hear it.
14 Her: Come quickly, my love.
Be like a gazelle or young stag on the mountains of spices.
Song of Solomon 8
Living Bible
8 The Girl: “Oh, if only you were my brother; then I could kiss you no matter who was watching, and no one would laugh at me. 2 I would bring you to my childhood home,[a] and there you would teach me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, sweet pomegranate wine. 3 His left hand would be under my head and his right hand would embrace me. 4 I adjure you, O women of Jerusalem, not to awaken him until he pleases.”
The Young Women of Jerusalem: 5 “Who is this coming up from the desert, leaning on her beloved?”
King Solomon: “Under the apple tree where your mother gave birth to you in her travail, there I awakened your love.”
The Girl: 6 “Seal me in your heart with permanent betrothal, for love is strong as death, and jealousy is as cruel as Sheol. It flashes fire, the very flame of Jehovah. 7 Many waters cannot quench the flame of love, neither can the floods drown it. If a man tried to buy it with everything he owned, he couldn’t do it.”
The Girl’s Brothers: 8 “We have a little sister too young for breasts. What shall we do if someone asks to marry her?”
King Solomon: 9 “If she has no breasts,[b] we will build upon her a battlement of silver, and if she is a door, we will enclose her with cedar boards.”
The Girl: 10 “I am slim, tall,[c] and full-breasted, and I have found favor in my lover’s eyes. 11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon, which he rented out to some farmers there, the rent being one thousand pieces of silver from each. 12 But as for my own vineyard, you, O Solomon, shall have my thousand pieces of silver, and I will give two hundred pieces to those who care for it. 13 O my beloved, living in the gardens, how wonderful that your companions may listen to your voice; let me hear it too. 14 Come quickly, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or young deer upon the mountains of spices.”
Notas al pie
- Song of Solomon 8:2 my childhood home, literally, “my mother’s house.”
- Song of Solomon 8:9 If she has no breasts, literally, “If she be a wall.” build upon her a battlement of silver . . . enclose her with cedar boards, the meaning is obscure.
- Song of Solomon 8:10 I am slim, tall, literally, “I am as a wall.” full-breasted, literally, “my breasts are as towers.”
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.