To see part one of the Song of Solomon, go to
Day 197, Song of Solomon 1-4.
Together in the Garden of Love
LOVER/HE
I have come into my garden,
my sister, my bride,
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice,
I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey,
I have drunk my wine and my milk.
*The lover claims the beloved as his garden and enjoys all her delights.
*My sister: for lovers to address each other as “brother” and “sister” was common in the love poetry of ancient Near East.
FRIENDS/OTHERS
Eat, O friends, and drink:
and be drunk with love!
*The friends of the lovers applaud their enjoyment of love.
The Bride Searches for Her Lover
BELOVED/SHE
I slept, but my heart was awake.
A sound! My lover is knocking.
“Open to me, my sister, my darling,
my dove, my flawless one.
For my head is drenched with dew,
my hair with the dampness of the night.”
I have taken off my robe–
must I put it on again?
I have washed my feet–
must I soil them again?
My lover thrust his hand through the latch-opening;
my heart began to pound for him.
I arose to open to my lover,
and my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with flowing myrrh,
on the handles of the lock.
I opened to my lover,
but my lover had left; he was gone.
My heart sank at his departure.
I sought him, but found him not;
I looked for him but did not find him.
The watchmen found me
as they went made their rounds in the city;
they beat me, they bruised me,
they took away my cloak,
those watchmen of the walls.
O daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you–
if you find my lover,
what will you tell him?
Tell him I am faint with love.
*I slept…was awake: love holds sway even in sleep–just as a new mother sleeps with an ear open to her baby’s slightest whimper.
*Robe…feet: instinctive reaction raises a foolish complaint before the language of love takes over.
*My hand…flowing myrrh: love’s eager imagination extravagantly lotioned the beloved’s hands with perfume.
FRIENDS/OTHERS
How is your beloved better than others,
most beautiful of women?
How is your beloved better than others,
that you charge us so?
*The friends’ question provides an opportunity for the beloved to describe the beauty of her lover–which she does only here.
The Bride Praises Her Lover
BELOVED/SHE
My lover is radiant and ruddy,
distinguished among ten thousand.
His head is purest gold;
his hair is wavy,
and black as a raven.
His eyes are like doves
by the water streams,
washed in milk,
mounted like jewels.
His cheeks are like beds of spice,
yielding perfume.
His lips are like lilies,
dripping with myrrh.
His arms are rods of gold,
set with chrysolite.
His body is like polished ivory,
decorated with sapphires.
His legs are pillars of marble
set on bases of pure gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,
choice as its cedars.
His mouth is sweetness itself;
and he is altogether lovely.
This is my lover, this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.
*Ruddy: fine appearance and handsome features
*Black: the beloved’s hair was also black.
*By the water streams: the lover’s eyes sparkle.
*Washed in milk: describing the white of the eye.
*Spice…lilies: these similes probably compare sensuous effects rather than appearances, as do the following similes and metaphors, at least in part.
*Dripping with myrrh: love’s pleasant excitements are aroused by the lover’s lips.
*Chrysolite: the precise identification of this stone is uncertain. In Exodus 28:20 it appears in the priestly breastplate.
*Sapphires: Hebrew sappir (from which the English word “sapphire” comes).
*Appearance is like Lebanon: awesome and majestic.
*Choice as its cedars: the cedars of Lebanon were renowned throughout the ancient Near East, and their wood was desired for adorning temples and palaces.
*Mouth: the lover’s kisses and loving speech.
*Daughters of Jerusalem: probably young women of the court or of the royal city, and usually the “Others/Friends” in the sectional headings.
FRIENDS/OTHERS
Where has your beloved gone,
O most beautiful among women?
Where had your beloved turned,
that we may seek him with you?
*The question asked by the friends forms a transition from the beloved’s description of the lover to her delighted acknowledgment of his intimacy with her and the exclusiveness of their relationship.
Together in the Garden of Love
BELOVED/SHE
My lover has gone down to his garden
to the beds of spices,
to browse in the gardens
and to gather lilies.
I am my lover’s and
my lover is mine;
he browses among the lilies
*His garden: the beloved.
*Beds of spices: her sensuous attractions.
*Browse: enjoy. The browsing is a metaphor for the lover’s intimate enjoyment of her charms.
*Gather lilies: the lover, enjoying intimacies with the beloved, is compared to a graceful gazelle nibbling from lily to lily in undisturbed enjoyment of exotic delicacies.
*I…mine: notice the reversal; here her yielding to her lover is emphasized.
Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other
LOVER/HE
You are beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah,
lovely as Jerusalem,
majestic as troops with banners.
Turn your eyes from me;
they overwhelm me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
coming up from washing.
Each has its twin,
not one of them is alone.
Your cheeks behind your veil,
are like halves of a pomegranate.
There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,
and virgins without number;
But my dove, my perfect one, is unique,
the only daughter of her mother,
the favorite of the one who bore her.
The maidens saw her and called her blessed;
the queens and concubines praised her.
*Tirzah: an old Canaanite city in the middle of the land. It was chosen by Jeroboam I (930-909 B.C.) as the first royal city of the northern kingdom. The meaning of its name (“pleasure, beauty”) suggests that it was a beautiful site, perhaps explaining why the author here sets it alongside Jerusalem (though what constituted the beauty of Tirzah is not known). Comparison of the beloved’s beauty to that of cities was perhaps not so unusual in the ancient Near East, since cities were regularly depicted as women.
*As troops with banners: the beloved’s noble beauty evoked in the lover emotions like those aroused by a troop marching under its banners.
*Your eyes…overwhelm me: the beloved’s eyes awaken in the lover such intensity of love that he is held captive.
*Queens…concubines…virgins: the reference is either to Solomon’s harem or to all the beautiful women of the realm.
*Perfect one: “flawless one.”
*Only daughter: not literally, but the one uniquely loved
*Maidens…praised her: all the other women praised her beauty.
FRIENDS/OTHERS
Who is this that appears like the dawn,
fair as the moon, bright as the sun,
majestic as the stars in procession?
LOVER/HE
I went down to the grove of nut trees
to look at the new growth in the valley,
to see if the vines had budded
or the pomegranates were in bloom.
Before I realized it, my desire set me
among the royal chariots of my people.
*Nut: perhaps walnut.
*Look…in the valley: for the first signs of spring.
*Before I realized it…: the most obscure verse in the Song.
*Chariots: Solomon was famous for his chariots.
FRIENDS/OTHERS
Come back, come back,
O Shulammite,
come back, come back,
that we may gaze on you!
*Shulammite: the beloved. It is either a variant of “Shunammite,” i.e. a young woman from Shunem, or a feminine form of the word “Solomon,” meaning “Solomon’s girl.” In ancient Semitic languages the letters l and n were sometimes interchanged.
LOVER/HE
Why should you gaze on the Shulammite,
as on the dance of Mahanaim?
How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
O princes daughter!
Your graceful legs are like jewels,
the work of a craftsman’s hands.
Your naval is a rounded goblet
that never lacks blended wine.
Your waist is a mound of wheat,
encircled with lilies.
Your breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.
Your neck is like an ivory tower.
Your eyes are the pools in Heshbon
by the gate of Bath Rabbim.
Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon,
looking toward Damascus.
Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel.
Your hair is like royal tapestry;
a king is held captive by its tresses.
How beautiful and pleasant you are,
O loved one, with all your delights!
Your stature is like that of the palm,
and your breasts like clusters of fruit.
I said, “I will climb the palm tree;
I will take hold of its fruit.”
May your breasts be like clusters of the vine,
the fragrance of your breath like apples,
and your mouth like the best wine.
*Here the description moves up from the feet rather than down from the head.
*Prince’s daughter: alludes to the nobility of her beauty.
*Goblet: a large, two-handled, ring-based bowl.
*Encircled by lilies: the beloved perhaps wore a loose garland of flowers around her waist.
*Ivory tower: mixed imagery, referring to shape as well as to color and texture.
*Pools: the beloved’s eyes reflect like the surface of a pool; or the imagery may depict serenity and gentleness.
*Heshbon: once the royal city of King Sihon, it was blessed with an abundant supply of spring water.
*Bath Rabbim: means “daughter of many;” perhaps a popular name for Heshbon.
*Tower of Lebanon: perhaps a military tower on the northern frontier of Solomon’s kingdom, but more likely the beautiful, towering Lebanon mountain range.
*Mount Carmel: a promontory midway along the western coast of the kingdom, with a wooded top and known for its beauty.
*Royal tapestry: a reference to purple, royal cloth.
*King: Solomon.
*Tresses: the Hebrew word for this word suggests a similarity to flowing water.
*Palm: the stately date palm.
*I said. To myself. I will climb: the beloved’s beauty draws him irresistibly.
*Vine: grape.
*Apples: perhaps the fragrance of apple blossom.
BELOVED/SHE
May the wine go straight to my lover,
flowing gently over lips and teeth.
I belong to my lover,
and his desire is for me.
The Bride Gives Her Love
BELOVED/SHE
Come, my lover,
let us go to the countryside,
let us spend the night in the villages.
Let us go early to the vineyards
and 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.
The mandrakes send out their fragrance,
and at our door is every delicacy,
both new and old,
that I have stored up for you,
my lover.
*The beloved reports a similar invitation from her lover.
*I will give you my love: she offers herself completely to her lover.
*Mandrakes: short-stemmed herbs associated with fertility. The odor of the blossom is pungent.
*At our door: where the lovers meet.
*Every delicacy: metaphor for the delights the beloved has for her lover from her “garden.”
*Both new and old: those already shared and those still to be enjoyed.
Longing for Her Lover
If only you were like a brother to me,
who was nursed at my mother’s breasts!
Then, if I found you outside, I would kiss you,
and no one would despise me.
I would lead you and bring you
to my mother’s house–
she who has taught me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
the nectar of my pomegranates.
His left hand is under my head
and his right hand embraces me.
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.
*No one would despise me: the beloved could openly show affection without any public disgrace.
*I would give you: she would offer her lover the delights of her love.
*Nectar: the Hebrew for this word refers to intoxicating juices.
FRIENDS/OTHERS
Who is this coming up from the desert
leaning on her lover?
BELOVED/SHE
Under the apple tree I roused you;
there your mother conceived you,
there she who was in labor gave your birth.
Place me like a seal over your heart,
like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
its jealousy unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
like a mighty flame.
Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.
If one were to give
all the wealth of his house for love,
it would be utterly scorned.
*Under the apple tree: in the ancient world, sexual union and birth were often associated with fruit trees.
*Love is…grave; It burns…flame; Many waters…away: these three wisdom statements characterize marital love as the strongest, most unyielding and invincible force in human experience. With these statements the Song reaches its literary climax and discloses its purpose.
*Seal: seals were precious to their owners, as personal as their names.
*Arm: probably a poetic synonym for “hand.”
*Unyielding as the grave: as the grave will not give up the dead, so love will not surrender the loved one.
*Mighty flame: the Hebrew expression conveys the idea of a most intense flame, hinting that it has been kindled by the Lord.
*Many waters: words that suggest not only the ocean depths but also the primeval waters that the people of the ancient Near East regarded as a permanent threat to the world. The waters were also associated with the realm of the dead.
*If one…scorned: a fourth wisdom statement, declaring love’s unsurpassed worth.
Final Advice
FRIENDS/OTHERS
We have a young sister,
and her breasts are not yet grown.
What shall we do for our sister
for the day she is spoken for?
If she is a wall,
we will build towers of silver on her.
If she is a door,
we will enclose her with panels of cedar.
*In the closing lines of the Song, the words of the brothers, the beloved’s reference to her own vineyard and her final reference to Solomon suggests a return to the beginning of the Song. The lines may recall the beloved’s development into the age for love and marriage and the blossoming of her relationship with her lover.
*In the ancient Near East, brothers were often guardians of their sisters, especially in matters pertaining to marriage.
*The day she is spoken for: marriage was often contracted at an early age.
*Wall…door: this imaginative verse probably expresses the brothers’ determination to defend their young sister (the beloved) until her proper time for love and marriage has come. Or it may mean that the brothers are concerned to see that she is properly adorned for marriage before she is spoken for.
BELOVED/SHE
I am a wall,
and my breasts are like towers.
Thus I have become in his eyes
like one bringing contentment.
Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon;
he let out the vineyard to tenants.
Each was to bring for its fruit
a thousand shekels of silver.
But my own vineyard, is mine to give;
the thousand shekels are for you,
O Solomon,
and two hundred for those who tend its fruit.
*I…like towers: in contrast to the time when she was watched over by her brothers, the beloved rejoices in her maturity.
*Baal Hamon: location unknown. The Hebrew word hamon sometimes means “wealth” or “abundance;” hence Baal (i.e. “lord”) Hamon could mean “lord of abundance,” bringing to mind Solomon’s great wealth.
*Thousand shekels…two hundred: whether these figures are to be taken literally is uncertain.
*My own vineyard: her body.
*Mine to give: as Solomon is master of his vineyard, so the beloved is mistress of her attractions to dispense them as she will. She offers Solomon the owner’s portion of her vineyard.
LOVER/HE
You who dwell in the gardens,
with friends in attendance,
let me hear your voice!
*In the gardens: earlier the beloved invited her lover to accompany her to the countryside and the vineyards. Here the imagery places her appropriately in a garden.
*Friends: male; perhaps the companions of the lover.
BELOVED/SHE
Come away, my lover,
and be like a gazelle
or like a young stag
on the spice-laden mountains.
*Be like a gazelle…stag: display tour virile strength and agility for my delight.