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Texts -- The Song of Songs 8:6-14 (NET)

Context
The Nature of True Love
8:6 The Beloved to Her Lover: Set me like a cylinder seal over your heart , like a signet on your arm . For love is as strong as death , passion is as unrelenting as Sheol . Its flames burst forth , it is a blazing flame . 8:7 Surging waters cannot quench love ; floodwaters cannot overflow it. If someone were to offer all his possessions to buy love , the offer would be utterly despised .
The Brother’s Plan and the Sister’s Reward
8:8 The Beloved’s Brothers: We have a little sister , and as yet she has no breasts . What shall we do for our sister on the day when she is spoken for? 8:9 If she is a wall , we will build on her a battlement of silver ; but if she is a door , we will barricade her with boards of cedar . 8:10 The Beloved: I was a wall , and my breasts were like fortress towers . Then I found favor in his eyes .
Solomon’s Vineyard and the Beloved’s Vineyard
8:11 The Beloved to Her Lover: Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-Hamon ; he leased out the vineyard to those who maintained it. Each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver for its fruit . 8:12 My vineyard , which belongs to me, is at my disposal alone. The thousand shekels belong to you, O Solomon , and two hundred shekels belong to those who maintain it for its fruit .
Epilogue: The Lover’s Request and His Beloved’s Invitation
8:13 The Lover to His Beloved: O you who stay in the gardens , my companions are listening attentively for your voice ; let me be the one to hear it! 8:14 The Beloved to Her Lover: Make haste , my beloved ! Be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices .

Pericope

NET
  • Sos 8:6-7 -- The Nature of True Love
  • Sos 8:8-10 -- The Brother's Plan and the Sister's Reward
  • Sos 8:11-12 -- Solomon's Vineyard and the Beloved's Vineyard
  • Sos 8:13-14 -- Epilogue: The Lover's Request and His Beloved's Invitation

Bible Dictionary

  • VEHEMENT, VEHEMENTLY

    [isbe] VEHEMENT, VEHEMENTLY - ve'-he-ment, ve'-he-ment-li (charishi; epipothesis): "Vehement" (from Latin vehere, "to carry," or ve, "out of," and mens, "mind"), carried away by the mind or force of passion, occurs twice in the Old...

  • SONG OF SONGS

    [isbe] SONG OF SONGS - (shir hashirim; Septuagint Asma; Codices Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, Ephraemi, Asma asmaton; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) Canticum Canticorum): I. CANONICITY II. TEXT III. AUTHORSHIP AND DATE IV...

  • SEAL

    [isbe] SEAL - sel (substantive chotham, "seal," "signet," Tabba`ath, "signet-ring"; Aramaic `izqa'; sphragis; verb chatham, (Aramaic chatham); (sphragizo), (katasphragizomai, "to seal"): I. Literal Sense. A seal is an instrument of...

  • RELATIONSHIPS, FAMILY

    [isbe] RELATIONSHIPS, FAMILY - re-la'-shun-ships: I. CONSANGUINITY 1. In General 2. Parents and Children 3. Brothers and Sisters 4. Uncles, Aunts, Cousins, Kinsmen II. AFFINITY 1. Husband and Wife 2. Father-in-Law, etc. 3. Brother-...

  • QUENCH

    [isbe] QUENCH - kwench, kwensh: Where the word is used of fire or of thirst it has the usual meaning: "to allay," "to extinguish," "to suppress," "to cool." In the Old Testament it is frequently applied to the affections and passio...

  • PALESTINE, 3

    [isbe] PALESTINE, 3 - IV. Palestine in the Poetic Books of the Old Testament. 1. Book of Job: In Job the scene is distinctively Edomite. Uz (Job 1:1; compare Gen 22:21 the English Revised Version; Jer 25:20; Lam 4:21) and Buz (Job ...

  • LABAN

    [isbe] LABAN - la'-ban: The person named Laban, labhan; (Laban, possibly connected with the root meaning "to be white," from which in Hebrew the adjective meaning "white" has just this form) is first introduced to the reader of Gen...

  • HAGGAI

    [isbe] HAGGAI - hag'-a-i, hag'-a-i (chaggay, an adjective formed from chagh, "feast"): 1. Name: The word "Haggai" may mean "festal," the prophet having been born perhaps on a festival day; compare the Roman name "Festus." Hebrew pr...

  • GAZELLE

    [isbe] GAZELLE - ga-zel' (tsebhi, and feminine tsebhiyah; compare Tabeitha (Acts 9:36), and Arabic zabi; also Arabic ghazal; Dorkas (Acts 9:36); modern Greek zarkadi): The word "gazelle" does not occur in the King James Version, wh...

  • GARDEN

    [isbe] GARDEN - gar'-d'-n (gan, gannah, ginnah; kepos): The Arabic jannah (diminutive, jannainah), like the Hebrew gannah, literally, "a covered or hidden place," denotes in the mind of the dweller in the East something more than t...

  • Fellowship

    [nave] FELLOWSHIP. Eccl. 4:9-12; Amos 3:3 See: Fraternity; Fellowship. With God Gen. 5:22, 24; Gen. 6:9; Ex. 29:45; Ex. 33:14-17; Lev. 26:12; Isa. 57:15; Zech. 2:10; Mark 9:37; John 14:23; John 17:21, 23; 2 Cor. 6:16; 2 Cor. 13:...

  • FLAME

    [isbe] FLAME - flam (lahabh, and other forms from same root; phlox): In Jdg 13:20 bis; Job 41:21; Isa 29:6; Joel 2:5, the word is lahabh. Various other words are translated "flame"; mas'eth, "a lifting or rising up" (Jdg 20:38,40 t...

  • FAVOR

    [isbe] FAVOR - fa'-ver (chen, ratson, with other Hebrew words; charis): Means generally good will, acceptance, and the benefits flowing from these; in older usage it meant also the countenance, hence, appearance. Alternating in Eng...

  • COAL

    [isbe] COAL - kol (pecham, "charcoal"; compare Arabic fachm, "charcoal"; gacheleth, "burning coal" or "hot ember"; compare Arabic jacham, "to kindle"; shechor, "a black coal" (Lam 4:8); compare Arabic shachchar, "soot" or "dark-col...

  • CEDAR

    [isbe] CEDAR - se'-dar, se'-der ('erez, from Hebrew root meaning "to be firm"; kedros): The 'erez was in almost all the Old Testament references the true cedar, Cedrus libani, but the name may have been applied in a loose way to al...

  • BOARD

    [isbe] BOARD - bord (qeresh, "a slab or plank," "deck of a ship," "bench," "board"): This word is found in Ex 26:16-21; 36:21 ff; its plural occurs in Ex 26:15,17-29; 35:11; 36:20-34; 39:33; 40:18; Nu 3:36; 4:31. This word also is ...

  • BALAMON

    [isbe] BALAMON - bal'-a-mon Balamon; the King James Version, Balamo): In the field between Balamon and Dothaim Manasses, the husband of Judith, was buried (Judith 8:3). Compare Baal-hamon (Song 8:11).

  • BAAL (1)

    [isbe] BAAL (1) - ba'-al: (ba`al; or Baal): The Babylonian Belu or Bel, "Lord," was the title of the supreme god among the Canaanites. I. NAME AND CHARACTER OF BAAL II. ATTRIBUTES OF BAAL III. BAAL-WORSHIP IV. TEMPLES, ETC. V. USE ...

  • AMULET

    [isbe] AMULET - am'-u-let (qemia, lechashim, mezuzah, tephillin, tsitsith; phulakterion): Modern scholars are of opinion that our English word amulet comes from the Latin amuletum, used by Pliny (Naturalis Historia, xxviii, 28; xxx...

  • AGRICULTURE

    [smith] This was little cared for by the patriarchs. The pastoral life, however, was the means of keeping the sacred race, whilst yet a family, distinct from mixture and locally unattached, especially whilst in Egypt. When grown into...

Arts

Hymns

(Note: In "active" or "on" condition, the hymns music will be played automatically when mouse hover on a hymns title)
  • [Sos 8:14] Fly, Ye Seasons

Questions

  • I've heard and read the same statement a number of times, but have never troubled myself to look up each passage. I'm not surprised that looking up "heaven" and "hell" in a concordance would give you contradictory results. T...
  • Love to God is commanded (Deu. 11:1) and is, indeed, the one great commandment (Matt. 22:38). It should be with all the heart, and is better than sacrifice (Deu. 6:5; Mark 12:33). It's produced by the Holy Ghost and engendere...

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Many references to Solomon throughout the book confirm the claim of 1:1 that Solomon wrote this book (cf. 1:4-5, 12; 3:7, 9, 11; 6:12; 7:5; 8:11-12; 1 Kings 4:33). He reigned between 971 and 931 B.C.How could Solomon, who had...
  • There have been three primary reasons that some scholars have thought this book does not deserve to be in the Bible. First, it does not contain the name of God. However, God's name may appear in 8:6. Furthermore, what makes a...
  • Contemporary culture has affected the interpretation of this book more than that of most other Bible books. For many years believers considered this book to be a revelation of God's love for the believer and the believer's lo...
  • I. The superscription 1:1II. The courtship 1:2-3:5A. The beginning of love 1:2-111. Longing for the boyfriend 1:2-42. The girl's insecurity 1:5-83. Solomon's praise 1:9-11B. The growth of love 1:12-3:51. Mutual admiration 1:1...
  • These verses summarize the theme of the book.8:5a Evidently these are the words of the daughters of Jerusalem. The couple is coming up out of the wilderness. The "wilderness"connoted Israel's 40 years of trials to the Jewish ...
  • Verses 8-12 flash back to the Shulammite's life before meeting Solomon and their first encounter. Verses 13-14 reveal their final mature love....
  • 8:8-9 These words by the Shulammite's older brothers (cf. 1:6) reveal their desire to prepare her for a proper marriage. Comparing her to a wall may mean that she might use self-restraint and exclude all unwarranted advances ...
  • These verses reflect the desire that Solomon and the Shulammite still felt for each other. Solomon seems to have spoken verse 13 and the Shulammite verse 14. The mountains probably refer to her breasts (cf. 2:17; 8:14).The na...
  • The primary purpose of the book seems to be to present an example of the proper pre-marital, marital, and post-marital relationship of a man and a woman. This example includes illustrations of the solutions to common problems...
  • Isaiah, as a folk singer, sang a parable about a vineyard that compared Israel to a vineyard that Yahweh had planted and from which He legitimately expected to receive fruit.57However, the prophet's original audience did not ...
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