The Song of Solomon 8:1-14
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Young woman (1-4)
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“If only you were like my brother” (1)
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Young woman’s brothers (5a)
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‘Who is this, leaning upon her dear one?’
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Young woman (5b-7)
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“Love is as strong as death is” (6)
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Young woman’s brothers (8, 9)
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“If she is a wall, . . . but if she is a door, . . .” (9)
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Young woman (10-12)
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“I am a wall” (10)
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Shepherd (13)
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‘Let me hear your voice’
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Young woman (14)
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“Be swift like a gazelle”
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8 “If only you were like my brother,Who nursed at my mother’s breasts!
Then if I found you outside, I would kiss you,+And no one would despise me.
2 I would lead you;I would bring you into the house of my mother,+She who taught me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,The fresh juice of pomegranates.
3 His left hand would be under my head,And his right hand would embrace me.+
4 I put you under oath, O daughters of Jerusalem:
Do not try to awaken or arouse love in me until it feels inclined.”+
5 “Who is this coming up from the wilderness,Leaning upon her dear one?”
“Under the apple tree I awakened you.
There your mother was in labor with you.
There she who gave birth to you was in labor.
6 Place me as a seal upon your heart,As a seal upon your arm,For love is as strong as death is,+And exclusive devotion is as unyielding as the Grave.*
Its flames are a blazing fire, the flame of Jah.*+
7 Surging waters cannot extinguish love,+Nor can rivers wash it away.+
If a man would offer all the wealth of his house for love,It* would be utterly despised.”
8 “We have a little sister,+And she has no breasts.
What will we do for our sisterOn the day when she is spoken for?”
9 “If she is a wall,We will build upon her a battlement of silver,But if she is a door,We will board her up with a cedar plank.”
10 “I am a wall,And my breasts are like towers.
So in his eyes I have becomeAs one who finds peace.
11 Solʹo·mon had a vineyard+ in Baʹal-haʹmon.
He entrusted the vineyard to caretakers.
Each one would bring in a thousand pieces of silver for its fruit.
12 I have my own vineyard at my disposal.
The thousand pieces of silver* belong to you, O Solʹo·mon,And two hundred to those who care for its fruit.”
13 “O you who are dwelling in the gardens,+The companions listen for your voice.
Let me hear it.”+
14 “Hurry, my dear one,And be swift like a gazelle+Or a young stagUpon the mountains of spices.”
Footnotes
^ “Jah” is a shortened form of the name Jehovah.
^ Or possibly, “He.”
^ Lit., “The thousand.”
