The Song of Songs 5:1--8:14

The Lover to His Beloved:

5:1 I have entered my garden, O my sister, my bride;

I have gathered my myrrh with my balsam spice.

I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;

I have drunk my wine and my milk!

The Poet to the Couple:

Eat, friends, and drink!

Drink freely, O lovers!

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.”

The Beloved to Her Lover:

5:3 “I have already taken off my robe – must I put it on again?

I have already washed my feet – must I soil them again?”

5:4 My lover thrust his hand through the hole,

and my feelings were stirred for him.

5:5 I arose to open for my beloved;

my hands dripped with myrrh –

my fingers flowed with myrrh

on the handles of the lock.

5:6 I opened for my beloved,

but my lover had already turned and gone away.

I fell into despair when he departed.

I looked for him but did not find him;

I called him but he did not answer me.

5:7 The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city.

They beat me, they bruised me;

they took away my cloak, those watchmen on the walls!

The Triumph of Love: The Beloved Praises Her Lover

The Beloved to the Maidens:

5:8 O maidens of Jerusalem, I command you –

If you find my beloved, what will you tell him?

Tell him that I am lovesick!

The Maidens to The Beloved:

5:9 Why is your beloved better than others,

O most beautiful of women?

Why is your beloved better than others,

that you would command us in this manner?

The Beloved to the Maidens:

5:10 My beloved is dazzling and ruddy;

he stands out in comparison to all other men.

5:11 His head is like the most pure gold.

His hair is curly – black like a raven.

5:12 His eyes are like doves by streams of water,

washed in milk, mounted like jewels.

5:13 His cheeks are like garden beds full of balsam trees yielding perfume.

His lips are like lilies dripping with drops of myrrh.

5:14 His arms are like rods of gold set with chrysolite.

His abdomen is like polished ivory inlaid with sapphires.

5:15 His legs are like pillars of marble set on bases of pure gold.

His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as its cedars.

5:16 His mouth is very sweet;

he is totally desirable.

This is my beloved!

This is my companion, O maidens of Jerusalem!

The Lost Lover Found

The Maidens to the Beloved:

6:1 Where has your beloved gone,

O most beautiful among women?

Where has your beloved turned?

Tell us, that we may seek him with you.

The Beloved to the Maidens:

6:2 My beloved has gone down to his garden,

to the flowerbeds of balsam spices,

to graze in the gardens,

and to gather lilies.

Poetic Refrain: Mutual Possession

The Beloved about Her Lover:

6:3 I am my lover’s and my lover is mine;

he grazes among the lilies.

The Renewal of Love

The Lover to His Beloved:

6:4 My darling, you are as beautiful as Tirzah,

as lovely as Jerusalem,

as awe-inspiring as bannered armies!

6:5 Turn your eyes away from me –

they overwhelm me!

Your hair is like a flock of goats

descending from Mount Gilead.

6:6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep

coming up from the washing;

each has its twin;

not one of them is missing.

6:7 Like a slice of pomegranate

is your forehead behind your veil.

6:8 There may be sixty queens,

and eighty concubines,

and young women without number.

6:9 But she is unique!

My dove, my perfect one!

She is the special daughter of her mother,

she is the favorite of the one who bore her.

The maidens saw her and complimented her;

the queens and concubines praised her:

6:10 “Who is this who appears like the dawn?

Beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun,

awe-inspiring as the stars in procession?”

The Return to the Vineyards

The Lover to His Beloved:

6:11 I went down to the orchard of walnut trees,

to look for the blossoms of the valley,

to see if the vines had budded

or if the pomegranates were in bloom.

6:12 I was beside myself with joy!

There please give me your myrrh,

O daughter of my princely people.

The Love Song and Dance

The Lover to His Beloved:

6:13 (7:1) Turn, turn, O Perfect One!

Turn, turn, that I may stare at you!

The Beloved to Her Lover:

Why do you gaze upon the Perfect One

like the dance of the Mahanaim?

The Lover to His Beloved:

7:1 (7:2) How beautiful are your sandaled feet,

O nobleman’s daughter!

The curves of your thighs are like jewels,

the work of the hands of a master craftsman.

7:2 Your navel is a round mixing bowl –

may it never lack mixed wine!

Your belly is a mound of wheat,

encircled by lilies.

7:3 Your two breasts are like two fawns,

twins of a gazelle.

7:4 Your neck is like a tower made of ivory.

Your eyes are the pools in Heshbon

by the gate of Bath-Rabbim.

Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon

overlooking Damascus.

7:5 Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel.

The locks of your hair are like royal tapestries –

the king is held captive in its tresses!

7:6 How beautiful you are! How lovely,

O love, with your delights!

The Palm Tree and the Palm Tree Climber

The Lover to His Beloved:

7:7 Your stature is like a palm tree,

and your breasts are like clusters of grapes.

7:8 I want to climb the palm tree,

and take hold of its fruit stalks.

May your breasts be like the clusters of grapes,

and may the fragrance of your breath be like apricots!

7:9 May your mouth be like the best wine,

flowing smoothly for my beloved,

gliding gently over our lips as we sleep together.

Poetic Refrain: Mutual Possession

The Beloved about Her Lover:

7:10 I am my beloved’s,

and he desires me!

The Journey to the Countryside

The Beloved to Her Lover:

7:11 Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside;

let us spend the night in the villages.

7:12 Let us rise early to go to the vineyards,

to see if the vines have budded,

to see if their blossoms have opened,

if the pomegranates are in bloom –

there I will give you my love.

7:13 The mandrakes send out their fragrance;

over our door is every delicacy,

both new and old, which I have stored up for you, my lover.

The Beloved’s Wish Song

The Beloved to Her Lover:

8:1 Oh, how I wish you were my little brother,

nursing at my mother’s breasts;

if I saw you outside, I could kiss you –

surely no one would despise me!

8:2 I would lead you and bring you to my mother’s house,

the one who taught me.

I would give you spiced wine to drink,

the nectar of my pomegranates.

Double Refrain: Embracing and Adjuration

The Beloved about Her Lover:

8:3 His left hand caresses my head,

and his right hand stimulates me.

The Beloved to the Maidens:

8:4 I admonish you, O maidens of Jerusalem:

“Do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases!”

The Awakening of Love

The Maidens about His Beloved:

8:5 Who is this coming up from the desert,

leaning on her beloved?

The Beloved to Her Lover:

Under the apple tree I aroused you;

there your mother conceived you,

there she who bore you was in labor of childbirth.

The Nature of True Love

The Beloved to Her Lover:

8:6 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

The Beloved’s Brothers:

8:8 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.

The Beloved:

8:10 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

The Beloved to Her Lover:

8:11 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

The Lover to His Beloved:

8:13 O you who stay in the gardens,

my companions are listening attentively for your voice;

let me be the one to hear it!

The Beloved to Her Lover:

8:14 Make haste, my beloved!

Be like a gazelle or a young stag

on the mountains of spices.