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Song of Solomon 1

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The Song of Songs and the Bride's Yearning 1–4

1
The Song of songs, which is Solomon’s. ​
2
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; For thy love is better than wine. ​
3
Thine oils have a goodly fragrance; Thy name is as oil poured forth; Therefore do the virgins love thee. ​
4
Draw me; we will run after thee: The king hath brought me into his chambers; We will be glad and rejoice in thee; We will make mention of thy love more than of wine: Rightly do they love thee. ​

Self-Awareness and Beauty 5–6

5
I am black, but comely, Oh ye daughters of Jerusalem, As the tents of Kedar, As the curtains of Solomon. ​
6
Look not upon me, because I am swarthy, Because the sun hath scorched me. My mother’s sons were incensed against me; They made me keeper of the vineyards; But mine own vineyard have I not kept. ​

Where the Beloved Feeds His Flock 7–8

7
Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, Where thou feedest thy flock, Where thou makest it to rest at noon: For why should I be as one that is veiled Beside the flocks of thy companions? ​
8
If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, Go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, And feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents. ​

Praise of the Bride's Beauty 9–11

9
I have compared thee, O my love, To a steed in Pharaoh’s chariots. ​
10
Thy cheeks are comely with plaits of hair, Thy neck with strings of jewels.
11
We will make thee plaits of gold With studs of silver.

Mutual Delight and Affection 12–14

12
While the king sat at his table, My spikenard sent forth its fragrance. ​
13
My beloved is unto me as a bundle of myrrh, That lieth betwixt my breasts. ​
14
My beloved is unto me as a cluster of henna-flowers In the vineyards of En-gedi. ​

Mutual Admiration and a Home Built on Love 15–17

15
Behold, thou art fair, my love; Behold thou art fair; Thine eyes are as doves. ​
16
Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: Also our couch is green. ​
17
The beams of our house are cedars, And our rafters are firs. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Song of Solomon 1

Verse 1

The song of songs — The one Hebrew word shir is repeated, the way Scripture forms a superlative: the song above all songs. Solomon’s songs numbered ‘a thousand and five’ (1 Kings 4:32). His name, Shelomoh, is from shalom, peace.

Verse 2

Let him kiss me — Nashaq, to kiss. The speech turns from ‘him’ to ‘thy love’ (dod, love) in mid-verse. ‘Better than wine’ (yayin) is taken up in v.4 and again in 4:10, ‘how much better is thy love than wine!’

Verse 3

thy name is as ointment poured forth — Shemen is perfumed oil, and shem, ‘name’, is the person’s repute; ‘poured forth’ (ruq) is emptied out. Compare ‘A good name is better than precious ointment’ (Eccl 7:1) and the name ‘above every name’ (Phil 2:9). ‘Virgins’ is almah.

Verse 4

Draw me — Mashak, to draw. The same verb is used of divine love: ‘with lovingkindness have I drawn thee’ (Jer 31:3); Christ says ‘No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him’ (John 6:44). ‘Chambers’ is cheder, an inner room; ‘the upright’ is meyshar, rectitude.

Verse 5

I am black, but comely — Shachor, dusky, set against na’veh, comely. Kedar, a son of Ishmael, names the dark tents of the Bedouin (Ps 120:5); yeri’ah, ‘curtains’, are the tent-hangings. ‘Daughters of Jerusalem’ are addressed again in 2:7 and 5:8.

Verse 6

mine own vineyard have I not kept — Natar, to guard, is used both of ‘keeper of the vineyards’ and of the vineyard ‘not kept’. Shazaph, ‘looked upon’, means tanned by the sun. ‘Angry’ (charar) is to burn. ‘My mother’s children’ recurs in Ps 69:8; compare 8:12.

Verse 7

where thou feedest — Ra’ah, to tend a flock, as in ‘The LORD is my shepherd’ (Ps 23:1) and ‘Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel’ (Ps 80:1). Rabats, ‘to rest’, is to crouch down; tsohar is midday. ‘Turneth aside’ translates atah, to wrap or cover oneself. ‘Whom my soul loveth’ returns in 3:1.

Verse 8

O thou fairest among women — Yapheh, fair; the title is repeated by the daughters of Jerusalem in 5:9 and 6:1. ‘Footsteps’ is aqeb, a track; gediyah is a young she-goat; mishkan is a shepherd’s dwelling. The reply keeps the shepherd imagery of v.7.

Verse 9

a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots — Susah is a mare, the feminine of sus, horse. Egypt’s horses and chariots are named in Isa 31:1, ‘stay on horses, and trust in chariots’. ‘My love’ is ra’yah, a female companion, the same word as in 1:15 and 2:10.

Verse 12

my spikenard — Nerd, nard, an aromatic of foreign origin. ‘Table’ is mesab, a couch set around a room. Mary’s ‘ointment of spikenard, very costly’ filled the house with its odour (John 12:3), at a meal where Christ ‘sat at meat’ (Mark 14:3).

Verse 13

A bundle of myrrh — Tserur, a packet; mor, myrrh, from a root meaning bitter, distilling in drops. Myrrh scents the king’s garments (Ps 45:8) and was brought with aloes for Christ’s burial (John 19:39). ‘Lie all night’ is lun, to stay the night.

Verse 14

a cluster of camphire — Kopher is the henna plant, used for dyeing, not camphor; eshkol is a cluster. Engedi (En-gedi, spring of the young goat) lay in Judah (Josh 15:62), where David ‘dwelt in strong holds’ (1 Sam 23:29). Camphire returns in 4:13.

Verse 15

thou hast doves’ eyes — Yonah, dove. ‘Fair’ (yapheh) is repeated for emphasis. The same words are said again in 4:1, ‘doves’ eyes within thy locks’, and the bride says of him ‘His eyes are as the eyes of doves’ (5:12).

Verse 16

our bed is green — Eres is a couch, properly canopied; ra’anan is verdant, flourishing. The bride answers v.15 with the same words, ‘Behold, thou art fair’, and adds na’im, ‘pleasant’ (delightful).

Verse 17

The beams of our house are cedar — Qorah, beam; erez, cedar; rachit, rafter or panel; berot, cypress, rendered ‘fir’. Solomon ‘covered the house with beams and boards of cedar’ (1 Kings 6:9). Cedar boards are named again in 8:9.