Genesis 45:12

45:12 You and my brother Benjamin can certainly see with your own eyes that I really am the one who speaks to you.

The Song of Songs 2:8-17

The Arrival of the Lover

The Beloved about Her Lover:

2:8 Listen! My lover is approaching!

Look! Here he comes,

leaping over the mountains,

bounding over the hills!

2:9 My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag.

Look! There he stands behind our wall,

gazing through the window,

peering through the lattice.

The Season of Love and the Song of the Turtle-Dove

The Lover to His Beloved:

2:10 My lover spoke to me, saying:

“Arise, my darling;

My beautiful one, come away with me!

2:11 Look! The winter has passed,

the winter rains are over and gone.

2:12 The pomegranates have appeared in the land,

the time for pruning and singing has come;

the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

2:13 The fig tree has budded,

the vines have blossomed and give off their fragrance.

Arise, come away my darling;

my beautiful one, come away with me!”

The Dove in the Clefts of En-Gedi

The Lover to His Beloved:

2:14 O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,

in the hiding places of the mountain crags,

let me see your face,

let me hear your voice;

for your voice is sweet,

and your face is lovely.

The Foxes in the Vineyard

The Beloved to Her Lover:

2:15 Catch the foxes for us,

the little foxes,

that ruin the vineyards –

for our vineyard is in bloom.

Poetic Refrain: Mutual Possession

The Beloved about Her Lover:

2:16 My lover is mine and I am his;

he grazes among the lilies.

The Gazelle and the Rugged Mountains

The Beloved to Her Lover:

2:17 Until the dawn arrives and the shadows flee,

turn, my beloved –

be like a gazelle or a young stag

on the mountain gorges.

The Song of Songs 3:4

3:4 Scarcely had I passed them by

when I found my beloved!

I held onto him tightly and would not let him go

until I brought him to my mother’s house,

to the bedroom chamber of the one who conceived me.

The Song of Songs 5:2

The Trials of Love: The Beloved’s Dream of Losing Her Lover

The Beloved about Her Lover:

5:2 I was asleep, but my mind was dreaming.

Listen! My lover is knocking at the door!

The Lover to His Beloved:

“Open for me, my sister, my darling,

my dove, my flawless one!

My head is drenched with dew,

my hair with the dampness of the night.”

Matthew 14:27

14:27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them: “Have courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.”