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At Night. . .the Watchmen

The Woman

I was sleeping but my heart was awake.
A sound! My lover is knocking:
“Open to me, my sister,
my darling, my dove, my perfect one,
because my head is soaked with dew,
my locks with the dampness of the night.”

“I have taken off my robe.
Why should I get dressed again?
I have washed my feet.
Why should I get them dirty again?”

My lover thrust his hand
through the opening in the door.
My feelings were aroused for him.
I arose to open for my lover.
My hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with flowing myrrh,
on the handles of the lock.
I opened for my lover,
but my lover had left.
He was gone.
My spirits sank when he left.[a]
I looked for him but did not find him.
I called him, but he did not answer.

The watchmen who patrol the city found me.
They beat me. They bruised me.
They took my shawl away from me,
    those watchmen of the walls!

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Footnotes

  1. Song of Songs 5:6 Or when he spoke

Maiden’s Dream: Seeking and Not Finding

I was asleep but[a] my heart was awake.
    A sound! My beloved knocking![b]
“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.”[c]
I have taken off my tunic, must I put it on?[d]
    I have bathed my feet, must I soil them?[e]
My beloved thrust his hand into the opening,
    and my inmost yearned for him.
I myself arose to open to my beloved;
    my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with liquid myrrh
    upon the handles of the bolt.
I opened myself to my beloved,
    but my beloved had turned and gone;[f]
my heart sank[g] when he turned away.[h]
I sought him, but I did not find him;
    I called him, but he did not answer me.
The sentinels making rounds in the city found me;
    they beat me, they wounded me;
they took my cloak[i] away from me—
    those sentinels on the walls![j]

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Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 5:2 Or “and”
  2. Song of Solomon 5:2 Or “The sound of my beloved knocking!”
  3. Song of Solomon 5:2 Literally “my locks with drops of night”
  4. Song of Solomon 5:3 Literally “How will I put it on?”
  5. Song of Solomon 5:3 Literally “How will I soil them?”
  6. Song of Solomon 5:6 Or “my beloved had left; he was gone”
  7. Song of Solomon 5:6 Or “my soul left”
  8. 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
  9. Song of Solomon 5:7 Or “mantle”
  10. Song of Solomon 5:7 Literally “the sentinels of the walls”