Song of Solomon 1
Lexham English Bible
Title
Maiden’s Soliloquy
2 May[c] you kiss me[d] passionately with your lips,[e]
for your love is better than wine.[f]
3 As fragrance, your perfumes[g] are delightful;[h]
your name is poured out perfume;[i]
therefore young women love you.
4 Draw me after you, let us run!
May the king bring me into his chambers![j]
Let us be joyful and let us rejoice in you;
let us extol your love more than wine.
Rightly do they love you!
Maiden’s Self-Description
5 I am black but beautiful,[k] O maidens of Jerusalem,[l]
like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
6 Do not gaze at me because I am black, [m]
because the sun has stared at me.
The sons of my mother were angry with me;
they made me keeper of the vineyards,
but my own “vineyard”[n] I did not keep.
Dialogue between Shepherdess and Shepherd
7 Tell me, you whom my heart[o] loves,
where do you pasture your flock,
where do your sheep lie down at the noon?
For why should I be like[p] one who is veiled[q]
beside the flocks of your companions?
8 If you do not know, O fairest among women,
follow the tracks[r] of the flock,
and pasture your little lambs[s] beside the tents of the shepherds.
Man’s Poetic Praise of His Beloved
9 To a mare[t] among the chariots[u] of Pharaoh,
I compare you, my beloved.
10 Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments,
your neck with strings of jewels.
11 We will make ornaments of gold for you
with studs[v] of silver.
Maiden’s Poetic Praise of Her Beloved
12 While the king was on his couch,
my nard gave its fragrance.
13 My beloved is to me a pouch[w] of myrrh,
he spends the night[x] between my breasts.
14 My beloved is to me a cluster of blossoms of henna
in the vineyards of En Gedi.
Mutual Admiration
15 Look! You are beautiful, my beloved.
Look! You are beautiful;
your eyes are doves.
16 Look! You are beautiful, my beloved,
truly pleasant.
Truly our couch is verdant;[y]
17 the beams of our house are cedar;
our rafter is cypress.
Footnotes
- Song of Solomon 1:1 This construction conveys a superlative connotation, e.g., “The most exquisite song”
- Song of Solomon 1:1 Or “by Solomon” or “about/concerning Solomon”
- Song of Solomon 1:2 In the maiden’s soliloquy, she thinks about her beloved in her thoughts (“May he kiss me!”), then poetically speaks to him as if he were in her presence (“for your love is better than wine”). To avoid confusion, the translation uses the second-person form throughout vv. 2–4
- Song of Solomon 1:2 Literally “May he kiss me”
- Song of Solomon 1:2 Literally “with the kisses of his mouth”
- Song of Solomon 1:2 The shift from the third person “he … his” to the second person “you … your” in vv. 2–4 should not be interpreted as suggesting two different referents, that is, one male whom the maiden is addressing as “you,” and another to whom she refers as “he.” Rather, this shift is a poetic device (called “grammatical differentiation”) that is not uncommon in Hebrew poetry (e.g., Gen 49:4; Deut 32:15; Psa 23:2–5; Isa 1:29; 42:20; 54:1; Jer 22:24; Amos 4:1; Mic 7:19; Lam 3:1; Song 4:2; 6:6). This shift is characteristic of a soliloquy, a dramatic or literary form in which a character reveals her thoughts without addressing a listener who is actually present (e.g., 2 Sam 19:4). In this case, the maiden’s private thoughts about her beloved (v. 2a) shift to an imaginary address to her beloved (vv. 2b–4a)
- Song of Solomon 1:3 Literally “your oil lotions”
- Song of Solomon 1:3 Literally “good”
- Song of Solomon 1:3 Literally “oil lotion”
- Song of Solomon 1:4 Or “The king has brought me into his chambers”
- Song of Solomon 1:5 Or “black and beautiful”
- Song of Solomon 1:5 Literally “O daughters of Jerusalem”
- Song of Solomon 1:6 This is figurative for the maiden’s physical appearance; her skin was darkly tanned
- Song of Solomon 1:6 Literally “my vineyard that for me”
- Song of Solomon 1:7 Literally “soul”
- Song of Solomon 1:7 Literally “For to what will I be like”
- Song of Solomon 1:7 The reading of the MT (“like one who is veiled”) is supported by the LXX. However, several ancient versions (Syriac Peshitta, Latin Vulgate, Symmachus) reflect an alternate Hebrew textual tradition in which two letters are transposed, resulting in the reading “like one who wanders about.” This makes good sense contextually, since the maiden does not know where her beloved would be at noon
- Song of Solomon 1:8 Literally “in the tracks”
- Song of Solomon 1:8 Or “your kids”
- Song of Solomon 1:9 Or “my mare”
- Song of Solomon 1:9 Or “chariot horses”
- Song of Solomon 1:11 Or “droplets”
- Song of Solomon 1:13 Literally “the bag”
- Song of Solomon 1:13 Or “he lays”
- Song of Solomon 1:16 Literally “green”
Song of Solomon 1
Holman Christian Standard Bible
2 W[b] Oh, that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your[c] love is[d] more delightful than wine.(B)
3 The fragrance of your perfume is intoxicating;(C)
your name is perfume poured out.(D)
No wonder young women[e] adore you.
4 Take me with you(E)—let us hurry.
Oh, that the king would bring[f] me to his chambers.
Y We will rejoice and be glad for you;
we will praise your love more than wine.
W It is only right that they adore you.
5 Daughters of Jerusalem,(F)
I am dark like the tents of Kedar,(G)
yet lovely(H) like the curtains of Solomon.
6 Do not stare at me because I am dark,
for the sun has gazed on me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;(I)
they made me a keeper of the vineyards.(J)
I have not kept my own vineyard.[g]
7 Tell me, you, the one I love:(K)
Where do you pasture your sheep?(L)
Where do you let them rest at noon?(M)
Why should I be like one who veils herself[h][i]
beside the flocks of your companions?(N)
8 M[j] If you do not know,
most beautiful of women,(O)
follow[k] the tracks of the flock,
and pasture your young goats
near the shepherds’ tents.
9 I compare you, my darling,(P)
to a[l] mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.[m](Q)
10 Your cheeks are beautiful with jewelry,(R)
your neck with its necklace.
11 We will make gold jewelry for you,
accented with silver.
12 W While the king is on his couch,[n]
my perfume[o] releases its fragrance.(S)
13 My love is a sachet of myrrh to me,(T)
spending the night between my breasts.
14 My love is a cluster of henna blossoms to me,(U)
in the vineyards of En-gedi.[p](V)
15 M How beautiful you are, my darling.
How very beautiful!
Your eyes are doves.(W)
16 W How handsome you are, my love.(X)
How delightful!
Our bed is lush with foliage;
17 the beams of our house are cedars,
and our rafters are cypresses.[q]
Footnotes
- Song of Solomon 1:1 Or The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s
- Song of Solomon 1:2 The W, M, Y, N, and B indicate the editors’ opinions of the changes of speakers: W = Woman, M = Man, Y = Young women of Jerusalem, N = Narrator, B = Brothers. If a letter is in parenthesis (W), there is a question about the identity of the speaker.
- Song of Solomon 1:2 Unexpected change of grammatical persons, here from he and his to your, is a Hb poetic device.
- Song of Solomon 1:2 Or your caresses are, or your lovemaking is
- Song of Solomon 1:3 Or wonder virgins
- Song of Solomon 1:4 Or The king has brought
- Song of Solomon 1:6 Lit my vineyard, which is mine
- Song of Solomon 1:7 Or who wanders
- Song of Solomon 1:7 To express shame or grief, or to conceal identity as a prostitute would; Gn 38:14-15
- Song of Solomon 1:8 Some understand the young women to be the speakers in this verse.
- Song of Solomon 1:8 Lit go out for yourself into
- Song of Solomon 1:9 Lit my
- Song of Solomon 1:9 Pharaoh’s chariot horses were stallions.
- Song of Solomon 1:12 Or is at his table
- Song of Solomon 1:12 Lit nard
- Song of Solomon 1:14 = Wellspring of the Young Goat
- Song of Solomon 1:17 Or firs, or pines
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