Song of Solomon 8
Lexham English Bible
Maiden’s Fanciful Wish
8 How I wish that you were my little brother,[a][b]
who nursed upon my mother’s breasts![c]
If I met you outside,[d] I would kiss you,
and no one would despise me![e]
2 I would surely bring you[f][g] to the house of my mother,
who would surely teach me;[h]
I would give you spiced wine to drink,[i]
the sweet wine[j] of my pomegranates.[k]
Double Refrain: Embrace and Adjuration
3 His left hand is under my head,
and his right hand embraces[l] me.
4 I adjure you, O maidens of Jerusalem,[m]
do not[n] arouse or awaken love until it pleases![o]
Up from the Wilderness and under the Apple Tree
5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness,
leaning upon her beloved?
Under the apple tree I awakened you;
there your mother conceived you;[p]
there she who was in labor gave birth to you.
The Nature of Genuine Romantic Love
6 Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm;
for love is strong as death;
passion is fierce as Sheol;
its flashes are flashes of fire;
it is a blazing flame.
7 Many waters cannot quench love;
rivers cannot sweep it away.[q]
If a man were to give all the wealth of his house for love,[r]
he would be utterly scorned.[s]
Maiden’s Virtuous Chastity and Voluptuous Beauty
8 We have a little sister,[t]
and she does not yet have any breasts.[u]
What should we do for our sister
on the day when she is betrothed?[v][w]
9 If she is a wall,
we will adorn her with a turret of silver;[x][y]
but if she is a door,
we will barricade her with boards of cedar.[z]
10 I was a wall, and my breasts were like the towers,
so my betrothed viewed me with great delight.[aa]
Solomon’s Vineyard and the Maiden’s Gift
11 Solomon had a vineyard[ab] at Baal-hamon;
he entrusted his vineyard to the keepers;[ac]
people paid a thousand silver pieces for its fruit.[ad]
12 My own “vineyard” belongs to me;[ae]
the “thousand” are for you, O Solomon,
and “two hundred” for those who tend its fruit.[af]
Closing Words of Mutual Love
13 O you who dwell in the garden,
my companions are listening to your voice.
Let me hear it!
14 Flee, my beloved!
Be like a gazelle[ag] or a young stag[ah]
upon the perfumed mountains![ai]
Footnotes
- Song of Solomon 8:1 Literally “O that he would give you like a brother to me”
- Song of Solomon 8:1 The Hebrew construction (which is somewhat misleading if rendered in a woodenly literal sense) is an idiom expressing one’s fanciful wish
- Song of Solomon 8:1 Literally “at the breast of my mother”
- Song of Solomon 8:1 Literally “I will find you in the street”
- Song of Solomon 8:1 Literally “also they would not despise me”
- Song of Solomon 8:2 Literally “I would lead you and I would bring you”
- Song of Solomon 8:2 The combination of the two verbs creates a hendiadys which may be rendered more cogently as “I would surely bring you …”
- Song of Solomon 8:2 Literally “she will teach me”
- Song of Solomon 8:2 Literally “I would give you to drink from the wine of the spice”
- Song of Solomon 8:2 Or “juice”
- Song of Solomon 8:2 The traditional Hebrew reads the singular “my pomegranate.” However, the plural reading “my pomegranates” is attested in numerous medieval Hebrew manuscripts and is reflected in the ancient versions (Greek Septuagint, Aramaic Targum, Syriac Peshitta). The latter makes the most sense in this context as a euphemistic description of the maiden’s delights
- Song of Solomon 8:3 Or “embraced”
- Song of Solomon 8:4 Literally “O daughters of Jerusalem”
- Song of Solomon 8:4 Or “Why must you … before it pleases?”
- Song of Solomon 8:4 Or “Do not stir up or awaken the love until it is willing,” or “Do not disturb or interrupt our lovemaking until it is satisfied”
- Song of Solomon 8:5 Literally “was in labor with you”
- Song of Solomon 8:7 Or “and rivers cannot engulf it”
- Song of Solomon 8:7 Literally “in the love”
- Song of Solomon 8:7 Literally “they will utterly scorn him”
- Song of Solomon 8:8 Literally “a little sister for us”
- Song of Solomon 8:8 Literally “and there is no breast for her”
- Song of Solomon 8:8 Literally “on the day when it is spoken of her”
- Song of Solomon 8:8 Or “on the day when she is spoken for”
- Song of Solomon 8:9 Literally “we will build upon her a camp of silver”
- Song of Solomon 8:9 The term translated “turret” refers to the decorative parapet adorning the top of a building. This image is likely figurative for a silver tiara set upon the head
- Song of Solomon 8:9 Or “we will enclose her”
- Song of Solomon 8:10 Literally “then I was in his eyes as one who finds peace”
- Song of Solomon 8:11 Literally “A vineyard was for Solomon”
- Song of Solomon 8:11 Literally “he gave the vineyard to the keepers”
- Song of Solomon 8:11 Literally “each one brought a thousand silver pieces for his fruit”
- Song of Solomon 8:12 Literally “My vineyard that for me before my face”
- Song of Solomon 8:12 Literally “and two hundred for the keepers of his fruit”
- Song of Solomon 8:14 Literally “and be like for you to a gazelle”
- Song of Solomon 8:14 Literally “to the fawn of the stag”
- Song of Solomon 8:14 Literally “the mountains of spices”
雅歌 8
Revised Chinese Union Version (Simplified Script) Shen Edition
8 惟愿你像我的兄弟，
像吃我母亲奶的兄弟。
我在外头遇见你就与你亲吻，
谁也不轻看我。
2 我必引导你，
领你进入我母亲的家，
她必教导我，
我必使你喝石榴汁酿的香酒。
3 他的左手在我头下，
他的右手将我环抱。
4 耶路撒冷的女子啊，
我嘱咐你们，
不要唤醒、不要挑动爱情，等它自发。
第六首
〔她们〕
5 那靠着良人从旷野上来的是谁呢？
〔新娘〕
在苹果树下，我叫醒了你；
在那里，你母亲曾为了生你而阵痛，
在那里，生你的为你阵痛。
6 求你将我放在你心上如印记，
带在你臂上如戳记。
因为爱情如死之坚强，
热恋如阴间之牢固，
所发的光是火焰的光，
是极其猛烈的火焰[a]。
7 爱情，众水不能熄灭，
江河也不能淹没。
若有人拿家中所有的财宝要换爱情，
就全被藐视。
〔她的兄弟〕
8 我们有一小妹，
她还没有乳房，
人来提亲的日子，
我们当为她怎么办呢？
9 她若是墙，
我们要在其上建造银塔；
她若是门，
我们要用香柏木板围护她。
〔她〕
10 我是墙，
我的两乳像塔。
那时，我在他眼中是找到平安的人。
〔他〕
11 所罗门在巴力‧哈们有一葡萄园，
他将这葡萄园租给看守的人，
每人为其中的果子要交一千银子。
12 我有属自己的葡萄园。
所罗门哪，一千归你，
两百归看守果子的人。
13 你这住在园中的，
同伴都要听你的声音，
求你使我也得以听见。
〔她〕
14 我的良人哪，求你快来！
像羚羊，像小鹿，在香草山上。
Footnotes
- 8．6 “极其猛烈的火焰”或译“耶和华的烈焰”。
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和合本修訂版經文 © 2006, 2010, 2017 香港聖經公會。蒙允許使用。 Scripture Text of Revised Chinese Union Version © 2006, 2010, 2017 Hong Kong Bible Society. www.hkbs.org.hk/en/ Used by permission.