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Solomon’s Song of Songs [C the best of songs and a song composed of many songs].

The Woman Speaks to the Man She Loves

Kiss me with the kisses of your mouth,
    because your love is better than wine [C makes one light-headed].
The ·smell [scent] of your ·perfume [cologne; L oil] is ·pleasant [wonderful],
    and your ·name [reputation] is pleasant like ·expensive [or poured out] ·perfume [cologne; L oil].
    That’s why the young women love you.
·Take me with [L Draw me after] you; let’s run together.
    The king takes me into his ·rooms [bedroom; inner chamber].

Friends Speak to the Man

We will rejoice and be happy with you;
    we praise your love more than wine [v. 2].
With good reason, the young women love you.

The Woman Speaks

I’m dark ·but [or and] ·lovely [beautiful; C she was out in the sun because her brothers forced her to work the fields; v. 6],
    ·women [L daughters] of Jerusalem [C her friends whom she is instructing about love],
    dark like the tents of Kedar [C desert nomads; Gen. 25:13; Jer. 49:28–29],
    like the curtains of ·Solomon [or Salma; C south Arabian desert nomads].
Don’t look at how ·dark [swarthy] I am,
    ·at how dark the sun has made me [L because the sun scorched me].
My ·brothers [L mother’s sons] were angry with me
    and made me ·tend [or guard] the vineyards,
    so I haven’t ·tended [or guarded] my own ·vineyard [C referring to her body]!
Tell me, you whom I love,
    where do you ·feed your sheep [graze]?
    Where do you let them ·rest [lie down] at noon?
Why should I look for you near your friend’s sheep,
    like a woman who wears a veil [C like a prostitute going tent to tent; Gen. 38:14–15]?

The Man Speaks to the Woman

You are the most beautiful of women.
    Surely you know to follow the tracks of the sheep
and feed your young goats
    near the shepherds’ tents.
My darling, you are like a mare
    among the ·king’s [L Pharaoh’s] stallions [C driving them crazy with desire].
10 Your cheeks are beautiful ·with ornaments [L between earrings],
    and your neck with ·jewels [a necklace].
11 We will make for you gold earrings
    with silver ·hooks [studs].

The Woman Speaks

12 The smell of my ·perfume [nard] spreads out
    to the king on his couch.
13 My lover is like a ·bag [sachet] of myrrh
    that ·lies all night [lodges] between my breasts [C intimately].
14 My lover is like a ·bunch [cluster] of ·flowers [L henna blossoms; C pleasant smelling and used to dye hair red]
    from the vineyards at En Gedi [C a romantic location with a waterfall near the Dead Sea].

The Man Speaks

15 My darling, you are beautiful!
    Oh, you are beautiful,
and your eyes are like doves [C perhaps fluttering or a reference to softness and beauty].

The Woman Answers the Man

16 You are so handsome, my lover,
    and so ·pleasant [or lovely]!
    Our bed is ·the grass [green].
17 Cedar trees form ·our roof [L the boards of our house];
    our ·ceiling [rafters] is made of juniper wood [C they find intimacy outdoors].

The Young Shulammite Bride and Jerusalem’s Daughters

The [a]Song of Songs [the best of songs], which is Solomon’s.(A)

[b](The Shulammite Bride)


“May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!” [Solomon arrives, she turns to him, saying,]
“For your love is better than wine.

“The aroma of your oils is fragrant and pleasing;
Your name is perfume poured out;
Therefore the maidens love you.

“Draw me away with you and let us run together!
Let the king bring me into his chambers.”

[c](The Chorus)

“We will rejoice and be glad in you;
We will remember and extol your love more [sweet and fragrant] than wine.
Rightly do they love you.”

(The Shulammite Bride)


“I am deeply tanned but lovely,
O daughters of Jerusalem,
[I am dark] like the tents of [the Bedouins of] Kedar,
Like the [beautiful] curtains of Solomon.

“Do not gaze at me because I am deeply tanned,
[I have worked in] the sun; it has left its mark on me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
They made me keeper of the vineyards,
But my own vineyard (my complexion) I have not kept.”

“Tell me, O you whom my soul loves,
Where do you pasture your flock,
Where do you make it lie down at noon?
For why should I be like one who is veiled
Beside the flocks of your companions?”(B)

Solomon, the Lover, Speaks

(The Bridegroom)


“If you do not know [where your lover is],
O you fairest among women,
Run along, follow the tracks of the flock,
And pasture your young goats
By the tents of the shepherds.


“To me, my love, you are like
My [favorite] mare among the chariots of Pharaoh.
10 
“Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
Your neck with strings of jewels.”

(The Chorus)

11 
“We will make for you chains and ornaments of gold,
[Studded] with beads of silver.”

(The Shulammite Bride)

12 
“While the king was at his table,
My perfume (Solomon) sent forth [his] fragrance [surrounding me].
13 
“My beloved is to me like a pouch of myrrh
Which lies all night between my breasts.
14 
“My beloved is to me a cluster of henna flowers
In the [fragrant] vineyards of [d]Engedi.”

(The Bridegroom)

15 
“Behold, how beautiful you are, my darling,
Behold, how beautiful you are!
Your eyes are dove’s eyes.”

(The Shulammite Bride)

16 
“Behold, how fair and handsome you are, my beloved;
And so delightful!
Our arbor is green and luxuriant.
17 
“The beams of our houses are cedars,
Our rafters and panels are cypresses.

Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 1:1 Some theologians believe the Song of Solomon to be a collection of songs, but it is more generally understood to be a sort of drama or lyric poem celebrating the wholesomeness of a growing love that leads to maturity in marriage. The ancient rabbis understood it as an allegory of the relationship between God and Israel, and viewed the details as symbolic.
  2. Song of Solomon 1:2 The parenthetical headings indicate that the speakers are not from the Hebrew text nor the Septuagint, but reflect an ancient tradition which appears in some manuscripts.
  3. Song of Solomon 1:5 The purpose of the chorus is to echo and expand the sentiments of the bride and her bridegroom. The members of the chorus are not always known, but have been variously identified as “daughters of Jerusalem,” “daughters of Zion,” “ladies in waiting,” “friends” or “relatives” of the bride.
  4. Song of Solomon 1:14 An oasis on the western side of the Dead Sea.