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Song of Solomon 8

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A Wish for Unrestricted Affection 1–4

1
Oh that thou wert as my brother, That sucked the breasts of my mother! When I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; Yea, and none would despise me. ​
2
I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother’s house, Who would instruct me; I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine, Of the juice of my pomegranate. ​
3
His left handshould beunder my head, And his right hand should embrace me. ​
4
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, That ye stir not up, nor awake my love, Until he please. ​

The Couple Returns; Love Strong as Death 5–7

5
Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, Leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple-tree I awakened thee: There thy mother was in travail with thee, There was she in travail that brought thee forth. ​
6
Set me as a seal upon thy heart, As a seal upon thine arm: For love is strong as death; Jealousy is cruel as Sheol; The flashes thereof are flashes of fire, A very flame of Jehovah. ​
7
Many waters cannot quench love, Neither can floods drown it: If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, He would utterly be contemned. ​

Counsel Regarding the Younger Sister 8–10

8
We have a little sister, And she hath no breasts: What shall we do for our sister In the day when she shall be spoken for? ​
9
If she be a wall, We will build upon her a turret of silver: And if she be a door, We will inclose her with boards of cedar. ​
10
I am a wall, and my breasts like the towersthereof Then was I in his eyes as one that found peace. ​

The Shulamite's Exclusive Vineyard 11–12

11
Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; He let out the vineyard unto keepers; Every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver. ​
12
My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: Thou, O Solomon, shalt have the thousand, And those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred. ​

Final Exchange and Invocation 13–14

13
Thou that dwellest in the gardens, The companions hearken for thy voice: Cause me to hear it. ​
14
Make haste, my beloved, And be thou like to a roe or to a young hart Upon the mountains of spices. ​

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

Study Notes for Song of Solomon 8

Verse 1

O that thou wert as my brother — 'O that' is literally 'who will give' (nathan). 'Without' is chuts, outside the house. 'Despised' is buz, the verb rendered 'contemned' at the close of v.7, where love bought with wealth is scorned: the wish is to kiss him in the open and meet no contempt.

Verse 2

into my mother's house — She had brought him 'into my mother's house' before (3:4). 'Lead' is nahag, a shepherd's verb: 'thou that leadest Joseph like a flock' (Ps 80:1). 'Spiced wine' is reqach wine, and 'juice' (asis) is the word rendered 'sweet wine' in Amos 9:13.

Verse 3

His left hand should be under my head — The Hebrew is that of 2:6, where the KJV reads 'is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me'. 'Embrace' is chabaq, the verb of 'embraced him' (Gen 29:13) and of the promise 'thou shalt embrace a son' (2 Kgs 4:16).

Verse 4

stir not up, nor awake my love — The charge is given a third time (2:7; 3:5), here without 'by the roes, and by the hinds of the field'. 'Charge' is shaba', to adjure by oath. 'Stir up' and 'awake' are one verb, ur, used again in v.5 ('I raised thee up'). 'My love' is ahavah, 'love', the word of vv.6–7.

Verse 5

leaning upon her beloved — The question 'Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness' repeats 3:6, where it read 'out of the wilderness'. 'Leaning' (raphaq) occurs only here. The 'apple tree' (tappuach) is where 2:3 set the beloved 'among the trees of the wood'. 'I raised thee up' is ur, as in v.4.

Verse 6

Set me as a seal upon thine heart — Chotam is a signet. The tribes' names were 'like the engravings of a signet' (Ex 28:21) and borne 'upon his heart' (Ex 28:29); the LORD makes Zerubbabel 'as a signet' (Hag 2:23). 'A most vehement flame' is one word, shalhebeth, found elsewhere only in Job 15:30 and Ezek 20:47.

Verse 7

Many waters cannot quench love — 'Many waters' (mayim rabbim) are those of Ps 18:16, 'he drew me out of many waters'; the 'floods' (nahar, rivers) are those of Isa 43:2, 'through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee'. 'Substance' (hon) is wealth, as in Prov 6:31. 'Utterly be contemned' repeats the verb buz, as in v.1.

Verse 8

We have a little sister — The speakers are not named; they say 'we' and 'our sister'. 'Little' is qatan, small or young, and 'she hath no breasts' is answered in v.10, 'my breasts like towers'. 'Spoken for' is the verb dabar, used when 'David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife' (1 Sam 25:39).

Verse 9

If she be a wall — Two answers are offered. A wall (chomah) is built upon with 'a palace of silver' (tirah, a fortress, 'castles' in Gen 25:16); a door (delet) is closed in with 'boards of cedar' (luach, the word for 'tables of stone', Ex 24:12). Verse 10 takes up the first.

Verse 10

I am a wall, and my breasts like towers — She answers v.9 with its first alternative, and the 'tower' (migdal) is the word of 7:4, 'a tower of ivory'. 'Favour' is shalom, peace, where the usual phrase is to find 'grace' in the eyes (Gen 6:8). The same root gives the name Solomon (Shelomoh) in v.11.

Verse 11

Solomon had a vineyard at Baalhamon — Baalhamon is named only here. The keepers (natar) who work it are named by the word used of her in 1:6, 'they made me the keeper of the vineyards'. Each is to bring 'a thousand pieces of silver', the figure Isa 7:23 gives for 'a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings'.

Verse 12

My vineyard, which is mine, is before me — In 1:6 she says 'mine own vineyard have I not kept'; here it is 'before' her. Solomon 'must have a thousand' and the keepers 'two hundred', a fifth of the sum. The verb for keeping the fruit is natar, as in v.11 and 1:6.

Verse 13

Thou that dwellest in the gardens — 'Gardens' is plural, as in 4:15, 'a fountain of gardens'. 'The companions' (chaver) are those of 1:7, 'the flocks of thy companions'. 'Cause me to hear' uses the verb of 2:14, 'let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice'.

Verse 14

Make haste, my beloved — The last verse returns to 2:17, 'turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart', but upon 'the mountains of spices' instead of 'the mountains of Bether'. 'Make haste' is barach, to flee, as in 'Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish' (Jonah 1:3). Bosem, 'spices', is the word of 4:10, 14, 16.