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Solomon and His Bride Extol Each Other

[a](A)Where has your beloved gone,
O (B)most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned,
That we may seek him with you?”

[b]My beloved has gone down to his (C)garden,
To the (D)beds of spices,
To (E)shepherd his flock in the gardens
And gather (F)lilies.
(G)I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,
He who (H)shepherds his flock among the lilies.”

[c](I)You are as beautiful as (J)Tirzah, my darling,
As (K)lovely as (L)Jerusalem,
As (M)majestic as [d]an army with banners.
Turn your eyes away from me,
For they have overwhelmed me;
(N)Your hair is like a flock of goats
That have leapt down from Gilead.
(O)Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
Which have come up from their washing,
All of which bear twins,
And not one among them has [e]lost her young.
(P)Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate
Behind your veil.
There are sixty (Q)queens and eighty concubines,
And [f](R)maidens without number;
She is the only one—(S)my dove, my perfect one;
She is the only one of her mother;
She is the pure one of her who bore her.
The (T)daughters saw her and called her blessed,
The (U)queens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying,
10 ‘Who is this that looks down like the dawn,
As beautiful as the full (V)moon,
As pure (W)as the sun,
As (X)majestic as [g]an army with banners?’

11 [h]I went down to the garden of nut trees
To see the blossoms of the valley,
To see whether (Y)the vine had flourished
Or the (Z)pomegranates had bloomed.
12 I did not know it, but my soul set me
Among the chariots of [i]my noble people.”

13 [j][k]Come back, come back, O Shulammite;
Come back, come back, that we may behold you!”
[l]Why should you behold the Shulammite,
As at the (AA)dance of [m](AB)the two companies?

Footnotes

  1. Song of Songs 6:1 CHORUS
  2. Song of Songs 6:2 BRIDE
  3. Song of Songs 6:4 BRIDEGROOM
  4. Song of Songs 6:4 Lit bannered ones
  5. Song of Songs 6:6 Or miscarried
  6. Song of Songs 6:8 Or virgins
  7. Song of Songs 6:10 Lit bannered ones
  8. Song of Songs 6:11 Possibly BRIDE, cf. 6:2; 7:13
  9. Song of Songs 6:12 Or Ammi-nadib
  10. Song of Songs 6:13 CHORUS
  11. Song of Songs 6:13 Ch 7:1 in Heb
  12. Song of Songs 6:13 BRIDEGROOM
  13. Song of Songs 6:13 Heb Mahanaim

Y Where has your love gone,
most beautiful of women?
Which way has he[a] turned?
We will seek him with you.

W My love has gone down to his garden,(A)
to beds of spice,(B)
to feed in the gardens(C)
and gather lilies.(D)
I am my love’s and my love is mine;(E)
he feeds among the lilies.

M You are as beautiful as Tirzah,[b] my darling,
lovely as Jerusalem,
awe-inspiring as an army with banners.(F)
Turn your eyes away from me,
for they captivate me.(G)
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down from Gilead.(H)
Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
coming up from washing,
each one having a twin,
and not one missing.[c](I)
Behind your veil,(J)
your brow[d] is like a slice of pomegranate.
There are 60 queens
and 80 concubines(K)
and young women[e] without number.
But my dove,(L) my virtuous one, is unique;(M)
she is the favorite of her mother,
perfect to the one who gave her birth.
Women see her and declare her fortunate;(N)
queens and concubines also, and they sing her praises:

10 Y[f] Who is this[g](O) who shines like the dawn—
as beautiful as the moon,
bright as the sun,
awe-inspiring as an army with banners?(P)

11 W I came down to the walnut grove
to see the blossoms of the valley,
to see if the vines were budding(Q)
and the pomegranates blooming.
12 Before I knew it,
my desire put me
among the chariots of my noble people.[h]

13 [i]Y Come back, come back, Shulammite![j][k]
Come back, come back, that we may look at you!

M Why are you looking at the Shulammite,
as you look at the dance(R) of the two camps?[l](S)

Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 6:1 Lit your love
  2. Song of Solomon 6:4 = a mountain city in Manasseh
  3. Song of Solomon 6:6 Lit and no one bereaved among them
  4. Song of Solomon 6:7 Or temple, or cheek, or lips
  5. Song of Solomon 6:8 Or and virgins; Sg 1:3
  6. Song of Solomon 6:10 Some see v. 10 as spoken by M.
  7. Song of Solomon 6:10 In Hb, the word for “this” is feminine.
  8. Song of Solomon 6:12 Or of Amminadib, or of my people of a prince; Hb obscure
  9. Song of Solomon 6:13 Sg 7:1 in Hb
  10. Song of Solomon 6:13 Or the peaceable one
  11. Song of Solomon 6:13 Perhaps an inhabitant of the town of Shunem, or a feminine form of Solomon’s name
  12. Song of Solomon 6:13 Or dance of Mahanaim