Beginning
Song of Songs, which is a “book” of the Bible, actually has more in common with Handel’s Messiah or Puccini’s Tosca than any prose work of the Old Testament—it’s a libretto, a record of the words sung in a musical or opera. While this song is certainly the longest libretto in the Bible, it is not the only one. The Book of Psalms is replete with them; and they often open with directions for musical instruments such as in Psalm 4, which begins, “For the worship leader. A song of David accompanied by strings.” Song of Songs lacks such instrumental direction; but through the poetic phrasing and pronoun usage, three distinct vocal parts are inherently identifiable: the female lover (who would sing soprano), the male lover (who would sing tenor), and the observing young women (who would function as the chorus). Even without the musical score, it is possible to imagine these actors breathing life into the libretto on a great stage.
1 For Solomon. The most sublime song of all.
2 Her (to him): Kiss me with the sweet kisses of your lips,
for your love delights me more than wine.
3 The pleasant aroma of your fragrance rises in the air;
your name is like precious perfume poured out:
This is why young women adore you.
4 Take me away with you;
let’s run away together!
(to the young women) The king has brought me into his bedroom.
Young Women of Jerusalem (to him): We will shout for joy and celebrate over you.
We will make it known that your love is better than the finest of wines.
Her (to him): Everyone loves you, and there is no reason why they shouldn’t.
5 (to the young women) Look at me, young women of Jerusalem.
I am dark but beautiful.
I am dark like the tents of Kedar;
I am beautiful like the curtains of Solomon’s temple.
6 Don’t stare at my dark skin,
for the sun looked down on me.
My brothers’ anger scorched me;
they made me work all day long in the vineyards,
So I did not have time to care for my own vineyard,
to cultivate my own body.
7 (to him) Tell me, my dearest love,
where are your sheep grazing today?
Where are you resting with your flock at midday?
I want to come to you.
Why must I go looking for you like the veiled women
wandering among the flocks of your friends?
8 Him (to her): If you do not know where I am,
most beautiful of women,
Follow the tracks of my sheep—
they will lead you to me—
And graze your flocks of young goats
beside the shepherds’ tents.
9 You remind me, my dear,
of an honored mare among Pharaoh’s stallion-driven chariots;
10 The strings of jewels against your cheeks frame your elegance,
as also the tender curve of your neck with precious gems.
11 Young Women of Jerusalem (to her): We will make for you golden jewelry to lay against your skin,
golden jewelry studded with silver to frame your elegance.
12 Her: When the king was relaxing at his table,
the seductive fragrance of my perfume filled the air.
13 My love is close to my heart,
like a sachet of myrrh tucked between my breasts.
14 My love is like a fragrant bouquet of henna blossoms
from the vineyards of Engedi.
Him: 15 How beautiful you are, my dear! How so very beautiful!
Your eyes are like doves.
16 Her: You, my love, are so handsome! A pleasure to behold!
Our bed is a lush, green field,
17 The beams of our house are majestic cedars,
and the rafters are tall pines.
2 Her: I am a rose of Sharon,
a lily found in one of the valleys.
2 Him: Like a lily among thorns, that is what she is;
my dear is a captivating beauty among the young women.
3 Her: My love is like an apple tree in a wooded forest;
he is a ripe tree among a grove of saplings, those young men.
I sat beneath his ample shade, filled with such joy.
I tasted the sweetness of his fruit and longed for more.
4 He placed me at his banquet table,
for everyone to see that his banner over me declares his love.
5 (to those around) Sustain me with sweet raisins.
Refresh my energy with apples
Because I am lovesick for him.
6 His left hand cradles my head;
his right embraces me.
7 (to the young women) You of Jerusalem heed my warning.
By the gazelles and deer of the field,
I charge you not to excite your love until it is ready.
Don’t stir a fire in your heart too soon, until it is ready to be satisfied.
8 I hear his voice! The voice of my love!
Here he comes,
Leaping over the mountains,
bounding among the hills.
9 My love is like a gazelle,
sure-footed and swift as a young stag.
Look, there he is! Standing behind my wall,
watching through the windows, peering through the lattice.
10 My love responded and said to me,
Him: Arise, my dearest, my beauty,
and come away with me.
11 Don’t you see? The winter is done.
The rains and clouds have come and gone.
12 The flowers are unfolding in the fields;
the birds are warming up their songs,
The cooing of the turtledove
is heard throughout the land.
13 The fig trees are bringing forth their first fruit,
and the vines are in blossom, filling the air with their fragrance.
So arise my dearest, my beauty,
and come away with me.
14 Now, my dove, don’t be shy.
Don’t hide from me in the clefts of the rock
or nest like a bird in secret among the cliffs.
Show me your lovely form.
Let me hear your beautiful voice,
For it sounds so sweet,
and your face is so lovely.
15 Young Women of Jerusalem (to the couple): Catch the foxes for us,
those little foxes that menace the vineyards,
For our vineyards are so vulnerable when they are in full bloom.
16 Her: My love is mine, and I am his.
He grazes among my lilies.
17 As the day breathes its morning breeze
and shadows turn and flee,
Turn to me, my love, like a gazelle;
come to me like a young stag on rugged mountains.
3 Her: Restless night after night in my bed,
I longed and looked for my soul’s true love;
I searched for him,
but I could not find him.
2 I will get up now and search the city,
wander up and down streets and plazas;
I will look for my soul’s true love.
I searched for him, but I could not find him.
3 The watchmen found me as they kept watch on the silent city.
“Have you seen my soul’s true love?” I asked.
4 Not long after I left them,
I found him—I found my soul’s true love.
This libretto is full of imagery. Two of the most common images are that of the gazelle and the lotus blossom (translated here as “lily”), both frequently used in many ancient Near Eastern cultures. The gazelle is a species of antelope whose males have long horns. Both males and females move with grace and strength as they cross flat savannahs or climb steep cliffs. It is because of these traits that the gazelle is equated with sexuality, youth, and stamina. The Israelites used it in poetry to represent the youthful joys of love and sexual vigor, while many Near Eastern pagan religions used it in images honoring fertility goddesses. The lotus is a type of lily found in watery regions. Because of its shape, which resembles the womb, and its fragrance, which is alluring, the lotus became the flower of choice for lovers across the Near East. In Israel it was featured in poetry and even dominated the capitals of the columns supporting Solomon’s temple; in Egyptian and Phoenician cultures, it represented the gods themselves. With just one word, “gazelle” or “lotus,” this poet conveys a bevy of ideas about love, youth, strength, and passion.
I pulled him to me and would not let him go
until I brought him to my mother’s house,
to the very room where she conceived me.
5 (to the young women of Jerusalem) Heed my warning:
By the gazelles and deer of the field,
I charge you not to excite your love until it is ready.
Don’t stir a fire in your heart too soon, until it is ready to be satisfied.
6 Young Women of Jerusalem: Who is this coming up from the desert,
with billowing clouds of dust and smoke,
with a sweet aroma of burning myrrh and frankincense,
with fragrant spices fresh from the merchant?
The royal litter carries the groom to the wedding, and upon the litter is the king with his crown.
7 Look, it is Solomon’s litter,
surrounded by 60 strong men,
some of the very best soldiers in Israel,
8 All armed swordsmen,
battle-hardened heroes, experts at war,
Marching with swords at their sides,
ready to guard the king from the terrors of the night.
9 King Solomon built his own royal carriage
from the trees of Lebanon.
10 He had its posts fashioned from silver,
its back made of gold,
its seat covered with royal purple,
its interior decorated with love by the young women of Jerusalem.
11 O go out, young women of Zion,
and see King Solomon
Wearing the crown with which his mother has crowned him on his wedding day,
on the day his heart overflows with joy.
4 Him (to her): You, my love, are beautiful.
So beautiful!
Because stimulating images come forth when the lovers describe in intimate detail each other’s bodies, Jewish men were discouraged from reading this greatest of songs until the age of 30.
Your eyes are like doves
nestled behind your veil.
Your hair moves as gracefully as a flock of goats
leaping down the slopes of Mount Gilead.
2 Your teeth are pearl white like a flock of sheep shorn,
fresh up from a wash.
Each perfect and paired with another;
not one of them is lost.
3 Your lips are as red as scarlet threads;
your mouth is beautiful.
Your cheeks rosy and round are beneath your veil,
like the halves of a pomegranate.
4 Your neck is elegant like the tower of David,
perfectly fit stone-by-stone.
There hang a thousand shields,
the shields of mighty men.
5 Your breasts are like two fawns,
twin gazelles grazing in a meadow of lilies.
6 As the day breathes its morning breeze
and shadows turn and flee,
I will go up your myrrh mountain
and climb your frankincense hill.
7 You are so beautiful, my love,
without blemish.
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride;
come with me from Lebanon.
Journey with me from the crest of Amana,
from the top of Senir even the summit of Hermon,
From the lions’ dangerous den,
from the mountain hideouts of leopards.
9 My heart is your captive, my sister, my bride;
you have stolen it with one glance,
caught it with a single strand of your necklace.
10 How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
Your love is more pleasing than the finest wine,
and the fragrance of your perfume brings more delight than any spice!
11 Your lips taste sweet like honey off the comb, my bride;
milk and honey are beneath your tongue.
The scents of your clothes are like the fresh air of Lebanon.
12 You are a locked garden, my sister, my bride, open only to me;
a spring closed up tight, a sealed fountain.
13 Your sprouts are an orchard of pomegranates and exotic fruits—
with henna and nard,
14 With nard and saffron,
calamus and cinnamon—
With rows of frankincense trees
and myrrh and aloes and all the finest spices.
15 My bride, you are a fountain in a garden,
a well of life-giving water flowing down from Lebanon.
What does he mean by “my sister, my bride”? Is this a sudden revelation of an incestuous relationship? No. He is describing how sexual expression can bring two people intimately together, as close as two people can be; the man and woman are now family. This image would have been particularly meaningful in ancient Israelite society, where life was centered on familial relationships and calling someone “brother” or “sister” was a sign of deep intimacy and care. Blood relatives lived together, worked together, traded with each other, and were buried together. By calling the woman “sister,” he is declaring they are now blood relatives. In the covenant relationship called marriage, blood is drawn during consummation, bonding the two parties together as man and wife, as brother and sister, forever.
16 Him (to the winds): Rise, you north wind;
come, you south wind.
Breathe on my garden,
and let the fragrance of its natural spices fill the air.
Her: Let my love come into his garden
and feast from its choice fruits.
5 Him (to her): I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride;
I have gathered my myrrh with its natural spices.
I have tasted the honeycomb dripping with my honey
and have drunk my wine and milk together.
(to his young friends of Jerusalem) Eat, friends, drink your fill!
Be intoxicated with love.
2 Her: I was sleeping, but my heart was awake
when I heard a sound, the sound of my love pounding at the door.
Him: Open yourself to me, my sister, my dearest,
my sweet dove, my flawless beauty.
My head is drenched with dew;
my hair is soaked with the wetness of the night.
Her: 3 I have taken off my robe.
How could I ever put it on again?
I have washed my feet.
How could I walk across this dirty floor?
4 My love put his hand on the latch;
my insides began to throb for him.
5 I leaped from my bed to let my love in.
My hands were dripping sweet myrrh,
My fingers were coated with myrrh
as I reached for the handles of the lock.
6 I opened for my love, but he had turned away and was gone.
He’d left, and my heart sank.
I looked for him, but I did not see him.
I called out to him, but he did not answer.
7 The watchmen found me
as they made their rounds in the city.
They beat me, they left bruises on my skin,
and they took away my veil, those watchmen on the walls.
8 (to the young women of Jerusalem)
Promise me that if you find my love,
you will speak with him, telling him that I am faint with love.
9 Young Women of Jerusalem: How is your beloved better than all the other lovers,
most beautiful of women?
How is your beloved worth more than all the rest,
that you would make us promise this?
10 Her: Because my love is radiant and ruddy,
he stands out above 10,000 other men.
11 His head is pure gold;
his hair is thick and wavy and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves at the edge of a stream,
mounted like jewels and bathed in pools of milk.
13 His bearded cheeks are like a spice garden, with towers of spice:
His lips are lilies dripping and flowing with myrrh,
14 His hands are like strong rods of gold, each set with jewels.
His body displays his manhood like an ivory tusk inlaid with sapphires.
15 His legs are like pillars of white marble,
both set on bases of gold.
He stands tall and strong like the mountains of Lebanon,
with all its majestic cedars.
16 His mouth tastes sweet, so sweet;
he is altogether desirable.
This is my love. This is my dear one, as I am his,
O young women of Jerusalem.
6 Young Women of Jerusalem (to her): Where has your love gone,
most beautiful of women?
Do you know which direction he went
so we can help you find him?
They pass through many obstacles as they celebrate their union in different venues. Love is found in a garden or a parental home. Ecstasy comes in a dream or reality.
2 Her: Women of Jerusalem, I know where my love is.
My love has gone into his garden
Among the beds of aromatic spices,
like a gazelle grazing among his gardens
and a gardener gathering the lilies.
3 I belong to my love, and my love to me.
He feeds his flock among the lilies.
4 Him (to her): You are beautiful, my dear, as beautiful as Tirzah,
as lovely as Jerusalem,
as regal as an army beneath their banners.
5 Turn your eyes from me
because they overpower me as always.
Your hair moves as gracefully as a flock of goats
leaping down the slopes of Mount Gilead.
6 Your teeth are pearl white like a flock of sheep shorn,
fresh up from a wash.
Each is perfect and paired with another;
not one of them is lost.
7 Your cheeks are rosy and round beneath your veil,
like the halves of a pomegranate.
8 There may be 60 queens and 80 concubines—
there may be more virgins than can be counted—
9 But my dove, my perfect love is the only one for me,
the only daughter of her mother,
the pure and favored child to the one who bore her.
The young women saw her and called her blessed;
the queens and concubines praised her.
10 Young Women of Jerusalem: Who is this who looks down like the dawn,
as radiant as the full moon, as bright as sunlight,
as majestic as an army beneath their banners?
11 Her: I went down to walk among a stand of walnut trees,
to take in the new growth of the valley,
To see if the vines had budded
or the pomegranates were blooming.
12 Before I knew it, my passions set me before some chariots,
those belonging to my noble people.[a]
13 Young Women of Jerusalem: Come back, come back, O Shulammite!
Come back, come back to us, so that we can look upon you.
Him: Why should you look upon the Shulammite,
as you would stare at the dance of joyous victory at Mahanaim?
7 Him: Your feet are so beautiful,
perfectly fitted in sandals, noble daughter![b]
Your sculpted thighs are like jewels,
the work of a master hand.
2 Your hidden place is open to me like a goblet, perfect and round,
that never runs dry of blended wine;
Your waist is a mound of wheat—curved and white and fertile—
encircled by lilies.
3 Your breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.
4 Your neck is as stunning as an ivory tower;
your eyes shimmer like the pools in Heshbon
by the gate of Bath-rabbim.
Your nose is strong and proud like the tower of Lebanon,
which points toward Damascus.
5 Your head is as stately as Mount Carmel;
your hair shines like a tapestry of royal purple cloth—
the king is held captive by your locks.
6 How beautiful you are, my love, and how pleasing
In all your delightful and satisfying ways.
7 Your stature is as elegant as a date palm tree,
and your breasts are sweet, attractive, and round like clusters of its fruit.
8 I say, “I will climb the palm tree;
I will take hold of its fruit.”
May your breasts be like clusters of grapes,
the fragrance of your mouth[c] like fresh apples,
9 and may your kisses satisfy like the best wine.
Her: May the wine go down smoothly for my love,
flowing gently over his lips and teeth.[d]
10 I belong to my love,
and he has desire for me.
11 (to him) Come out into the fields, my love,
and there spend the night in the villages.
12 Let’s rise with the morning and go to the vineyards
to see if the vines have budded,
If their blossoms have opened,
and if the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I will give you my love.
13 The mandrakes send out their seductive fragrance,
and the finest fruits wait at our doors—
New pleasures as well as old—
I have stored them up for you, my lover.
Why would she break the parallel language and say that he “has desire” for her instead of saying he “belongs” to her as she does to him? Certainly he does belong to her, now that they are intimately bound in covenant. Her words may be said in light of Genesis 3:16, the passage where God outlines humanity’s punishment for their first sin. There it is narrated that Eve is to have desire for her husband who will rule over her. What the woman has said here is the exact opposite of the post-sin marriage structure: it is the man who desires the woman. Therefore, the depiction of the marriage relationship in Song of Songs gives a glimpse of what marriage might have looked like prior to the first sin in Eden. God designed the relationship between husband and wife to be one of love, passion, and pleasure. This should be the ideal all couples strive for in their marriages as they work together to avoid sin in their lives.
8 Her (to him): If only you were like my brother, my love,
nursed at my mother’s breast!
Then we could show our affection in public.
I would kiss you, and no one would think anything of it.
Nobody would look down on me.
2 I would take you by the hand
and bring you to my mother’s house—
she has taught me to be a woman.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
and you could enjoy the juice of my pomegranates.
3 His left hand cradles my head,
and his right hand reaches out to embrace me.
4 (to the young women of Jerusalem) Heed my warning:
I charge you not to excite your love until it is ready.
Don’t stir a fire in your heart too soon, until it is ready to be satisfied.
Three times in this most beautiful song (2:7; 3:5; 8:4), the female lover encourages her friends not to stoke the fires of passion until the proper time. This is wise instruction because unbridled passion can be very satisfying or quite destructive. The woman is presumably reminding the royal harem of this proverb to hold off on sexual intimacy. The “young women of Jerusalem” is probably a reference to the concubines of the king and how they, like most women, want to experience true and lasting intimacy. The difficulty is that these women may only know one night with the king and have their dreams of deep relationship go unrequited.
5 Young Women of Jerusalem: Who is this woman coming up from the desert,
leaning on her love?
Her: Under the apple tree I roused your love for me,
in the place where your mother conceived you,
in the place where she gave birth to you.
6 Set me as a seal over your heart;
wear me as an emblem on your arm
For love is as strong as death,
and jealousy is as relentless as the grave.
Love flares up like a blazing fire, a very ardent flame.
7 No amount of water can quench love;
a raging flood cannot drown it out.
If a person tried to exchange all of his wealth for love,
then he would be surely rejected.
8 Young Women of Jerusalem: We have a little sister
whose breasts have not yet developed.
How shall we protect her
until the time when she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build silver towers of protection;
If she is a door,
we will barricade the door with the strongest cedar.
10 Her: I was a wall,
and now my breasts are like towers;
At that time I found completeness and satisfaction in his eyes.
11 Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon;
he let farmers tend it and charged each a ransom for its produce—1,000 pieces of silver.
12 My vineyard is my own—mine to lend or mine to lease.
Solomon, you may have your 1,000;
Those who tend the fruit, your 200.
13 Him: You who dwell in the gardens,
whose friends are always attentive to your voice,
Let me hear it.
14 Her: Come quickly, my love.
Be like a gazelle or young stag on the mountains of spices.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.