The Bride Searches for Her Beloved

She

I slept, but my heart was awake.
A sound! My beloved is (A)knocking.
“Open to me, my (B)sister, my (C)love,
    my (D)dove, my (E)perfect one,
for my head is wet with dew,
    my (F)locks with the drops of the night.”
(G)I had put off my garment;
    how could I put it on?
I had (H)bathed my feet;
    how could I soil them?
My beloved put his hand to the latch,
    and my heart was thrilled within me.
I arose to open to my beloved,
    and my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with (I)liquid myrrh,
    on the handles of the bolt.
I opened to my beloved,
    but my beloved had turned and gone.
My soul failed me when he (J)spoke.
(K)I sought him, but found him not;
    (L)I called him, but he gave no answer.
(M)The watchmen found me
    as they went about in the city;
they beat me, they bruised me,
    they took away my veil,
    those watchmen of the walls.

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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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Notas al pie

  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”