The Song of Songs 4:16

The Beloved to Her Lover:

4:16 Awake, O north wind; come, O south wind!

Blow on my garden so that its fragrant spices may send out their sweet smell. ¹ 

May my beloved come into his garden

and eat its delightful fruit!

The Song of Songs 6:2

The Beloved to the Maidens:

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

to the flowerbeds of balsam spices, ³ 

to graze ⁴  in the gardens,

and to gather lilies. ⁵ 

The Song of Songs 6:11

The Return to the Vineyards

The Lover to His Beloved: ⁶ 

6:11 I went down to the orchard of walnut trees, ⁷ 

to look for the blossoms of the valley, ⁸ 

to see if the vines had budded

or if the pomegranates were in bloom.

The Song of Songs 8:13

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 ⁹  for your voice;

let me be the one to ¹⁰  hear it! ¹¹ 

Isaiah 5:1

A Love Song Gone Sour

5:1 I ¹²  will sing to my love –

a song to my lover about his vineyard. ¹³ 

My love had a vineyard

on a fertile hill. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 51:3

51:3 Certainly the Lord will console Zion;

he will console all her ruins.

He will make her wilderness like Eden,

her desert like the Garden of the Lord.

Happiness and joy will be restored to ¹⁵  her,

thanksgiving and the sound of music.

Isaiah 58:11

58:11 The Lord will continually lead you;

he will feed you even in parched regions. ¹⁶ 

He will give you renewed strength, ¹⁷ 

and you will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring that continually produces water.

Isaiah 61:11

61:11 For just as the ground produces its crops

and a garden yields its produce,

so the sovereign Lord will cause deliverance ¹⁸  to grow,

and give his people reason to praise him in the sight of all the nations. ¹⁹ 

John 14:21-23

14:21 The person who has my commandments and obeys ²⁰  them is the one who loves me. ²¹  The one ²²  who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal ²³  myself to him.”

14:22 “Lord,” Judas (not Judas Iscariot) ²⁴  said, ²⁵  “what has happened that you are going to reveal ²⁶  yourself to us and not to the world?” 14:23 Jesus replied, ²⁷  “If anyone loves me, he will obey ²⁸  my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up residence with him. ²⁹ 

[4:16]  ¹ tn Heb “may flow.”

[6:2]  ² sn The term גַּן (gan, “garden”) is used six other times in the Song. In five cases, it is used figuratively (hypocatastasis) to describe her body or the sexual love of the couple (4:12, 15, 16a, 16b; 5:1). There is only one usage in which it might refer to a real garden (8:13). Thus, this usage of “garden” might be figurative or literal: (1) He went to a real garden for repose. Solomon did, in fact, own a great many gardens (Eccl 2:4-7; 1 Chr 27:27). (2) The “garden” is a figurative description referring either to: (a) the young woman, (b) their sexual love, or (c) Solomon’s harem.

[6:2]  ³ sn The phrase כַּעֲרוּגַת הַבֹּשֶׂם (ka’arugat havvosem, “flower-beds of balsam”) is used elsewhere in the Song only in 5:13 where it is a simile comparing his cheeks to a flower-bed of balsam yielding perfumed spices. The term הַבֹּשֶׂם (“balsam-spice”) by itself appears five times in the Song, each time as a figure for sexual love (4:10, 14, 16; 5:1; 8:14). Thus, the two options are: (1) the term refers to a real flower-bed of balsam to which Solomon had gone or (2) this term is a figure for sexual love.

[6:2]  ⁴ tn The verb לִרְעוֹת (lir’ot, “to browse”; so NAB, NIV) is from the root רָעָה (ra’ah, “to feed, graze”) which is used seven times in the Song (1:7, 8a, 8b; 2:16; 4:5; 6:2, 3). All its uses appear to be either literal or figurative descriptions of sheep grazing. The verb is used twice in reference to sheep “grazing” in a pasture (1:7, 8). The participle is used once to designate “shepherds” (1:8), once in reference to two fawns which “which graze among the lilies” as a figurative description of her breasts (4:5), and twice as a figurative description of Solomon as “the one who grazes among the lilies” which is probably also a comparison of Solomon to a grazing sheep (2:16; 6:3). Therefore, it is likely that the usage of the term לִרְעוֹת (“to graze”) in 6:2 is also a figurative comparison of Solomon to a sheep grazing among garden flowers. Thus, there are two options: (1) nuance the term לִרְעוֹת as “to browse” (NAB, NIV) and take this as a literal action of Solomon walking through a real garden or (2) nuance the term לִרְעוֹת as “to graze” (NLT) and take this as a figure in which Solomon is pictured as a gazelle grazing on the flowers in a garden.

[6:2]  ⁵ sn The term שׁוֹשַׁנָּה (shoshannah, “lily”) or שׁוֹשַׁנִים (shoshanim, “lilies”) appears eight times in the Song (2:1, 2, 16; 4:5; 5:13; 6:2, 3; 7:2). Of these five are unequivocally used figuratively as descriptions of a woman or women (2:1, 2), the color and softness of her breasts (4:5), the attractiveness of his lips (5:13), and her waist (7:2). The closest parallel to 6:2 is the description “the one who grazes among the lilies” (2:16; 6:3) which is a figurative expression comparing his romancing of his Beloved with a sheep feeding on lilies. However, this still leaves a question as to what the lilies represent in 2:16; 6:2, 3. The phrase “to gather lilies” itself appears only here in the Song. However, the synonymous phrase “to gather myrrh and balsam spice” is used in 5:1 as a figure (euphemistic hypocatastasis) for sexual consummation by the man of the woman. There are three basic options as to how “lilies” may be taken: (1) The lilies are real flowers; he has gone to a real garden in which to repose and she is picking real lilies. (2) The term “lilies” is a figure for the young woman; he is romancing her just as he had in 2:16 and 5:1. He is kissing her mouth just as a sheep would graze among lilies. (3) The term “lilies” is a figure expression referring to other women, such as his harem (e.g., 6:8-9). Two factors support the “harem” interpretation: (1) Solomon had recently departed from her, and she was desperate to find him after she refused him. (2) His harem is mentioned explicitly in 6:8-9. However, several other factors support the Beloved interpretation: (1) She expresses her confidence in 6:3 that he is devoted to her. (2) The immediately following use of “lilies” in 6:3 appears to refer to her, as in 2:16 and 5:1. (3) He praises her in 6:4-7, suggesting that he was romancing her in 6:2-3. (4) Although his harem is mentioned in 6:8-10, all these women acknowledge that he is disinterested in them and only loves her. (5) Her exultation “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine; the one who grazes among the lilies” (6:3) is a statement of assurance in their relationship and this would seem quite strange if he was cavorting with his harem while she said this.

[6:11]  ⁶ sn It is difficult to determine whether the speaker in 6:11-12 is Solomon or the Beloved.

[6:11]  ⁷ tn The term אֱגוֹז (’egoz, “nut”) probably refers to the “walnut” or “walnut tree” (juglans regia) (DCH 1:116 s.v. אֱגוֹז). The singular form is used collectively here to refer to a grove of walnut trees.

[6:11]  ⁸ sn It is not clear whether the “valley” in 6:12 is a physical valley (Jezreel Valley?), a figurative description of their love relationship, or a double entendre.

[8:13]  ⁹ tn The term מַקְשִׁיבִים (maqshivim) is in the Hiphil stem which denotes an intense desire to hear someone’s voice, that is, to eagerly listen for someone’s voice (e.g., Jer 6:17) (HALOT 1151 s.v. קשׁב 1). The participle functions verbally and denotes a continual, ongoing, durative action.

[8:13]  ¹⁰ tc The editors of BHS suggests that גַם אָנִי (gam ’ani, “me also”) should be inserted. Although there is no textual evidence for the insertion, it seems clear that the 1st person common singular referent is emphatic in MT הַשְׁמִיעִינִי (hashmi’ini, “Let me hear it!”).

[8:13]  ¹¹ tn The imperative הַשְׁמִיעִינִי (hashmi’ini) functions as a request. The lover asks his beloved to let him hear her beautiful voice (e.g., Song 2:14).

[5:1]  ¹² tn It is uncertain who is speaking here. Possibly the prophet, taking the role of best man, composes a love song for his friend on the occasion of his wedding. If so, יָדִיד (yadid) should be translated “my friend.” The present translation assumes that Israel is singing to the Lord. The word דוֹד (dod, “lover”) used in the second line is frequently used by the woman in the Song of Solomon to describe her lover.

[5:1]  ¹³ sn Israel, viewing herself as the Lord’s lover, refers to herself as his vineyard. The metaphor has sexual connotations, for it pictures her capacity to satisfy his appetite and to produce children. See Song 8:12.

[5:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “on a horn, a son of oil.” Apparently קֶרֶן (qeren, “horn”) here refers to the horn-shaped peak of a hill (BDB 902 s.v.) or to a mountain spur, i.e., a ridge that extends laterally from a mountain (HALOT 1145 s.v. קֶרֶן; H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:180). The expression “son of oil” pictures this hill as one capable of producing olive trees. Isaiah’s choice of קֶרֶן, a rare word for hill, may have been driven by paronomastic concerns, i.e., because קֶרֶן sounds like כֶּרֶם (kerem, “vineyard”).

[51:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “found in” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[58:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he will satisfy in parched regions your appetite.”

[58:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and your bones he will strengthen.”

[61:11]  ¹⁸ tn Or perhaps, “righteousness,” but the context seems to emphasize deliverance and restoration (see v. 10 and 62:1).

[61:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and praise before all the nations.”

[14:21]  ²⁰ tn Or “keeps.”

[14:21]  ²¹ tn Grk “obeys them, that one is the one who loves me.”

[14:21]  ²² tn Grk “And the one.” Here the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated to improve the English style.

[14:21]  ²³ tn Or “will disclose.”

[14:22]  ²⁴ tn Grk “(not Iscariot).” The proper noun (Judas) has been repeated for clarity and smoothness in English style.

[14:22]  ²⁵ tn Grk “said to him.”

[14:22]  ²⁶ tn Or “disclose.”

[14:23]  ²⁷ tn Grk “answered and said to him.”

[14:23]  ²⁸ tn Or “will keep.”

[14:23]  ²⁹ tn Grk “we will come to him and will make our dwelling place with him.” The context here is individual rather than corporate indwelling, so the masculine singular pronoun has been retained throughout v. 23. It is important to note, however, that the pronoun is used generically here and refers equally to men, women, and children.