Solomon’s Finest Song.[a](A)

W[b] Oh, that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your[c] love is[d] more delightful than wine.(B)
The fragrance of your perfume is intoxicating;(C)
your name is perfume poured out.(D)
No wonder young women[e] adore you.
Take me with you(E)—let us hurry.
Oh, that the king would bring[f] me to his chambers.

Y We will rejoice and be glad for you;
we will praise your love more than wine.

W It is only right that they adore you.

Daughters of Jerusalem,(F)
I am dark like the tents of Kedar,(G)
yet lovely(H) like the curtains of Solomon.
Do not stare at me because I am dark,
for the sun has gazed on me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;(I)
they made me a keeper of the vineyards.(J)
I have not kept my own vineyard.[g]

Tell me, you, the one I love:(K)
Where do you pasture your sheep?(L)
Where do you let them rest at noon?(M)
Why should I be like one who veils herself[h][i]
beside the flocks of your companions?(N)

M[j] If you do not know,
most beautiful of women,(O)
follow[k] the tracks of the flock,
and pasture your young goats
near the shepherds’ tents.

I compare you, my darling,(P)
to a[l] mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.[m](Q)
10 Your cheeks are beautiful with jewelry,(R)
your neck with its necklace.
11 We will make gold jewelry for you,
accented with silver.

12 W While the king is on his couch,[n]
my perfume[o] releases its fragrance.(S)
13 My love is a sachet of myrrh to me,(T)
spending the night between my breasts.
14 My love is a cluster of henna blossoms to me,(U)
in the vineyards of En-gedi.[p](V)

15 M How beautiful you are, my darling.
How very beautiful!
Your eyes are doves.(W)

16 W How handsome you are, my love.(X)
How delightful!
Our bed is lush with foliage;
17 the beams of our house are cedars,
and our rafters are cypresses.[q]

Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 1:1 Or The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s
  2. Song of Solomon 1:2 The W, M, Y, N, and B indicate the editors’ opinions of the changes of speakers: W = Woman, M = Man, Y = Young women of Jerusalem, N = Narrator, B = Brothers. If a letter is in parenthesis (W), there is a question about the identity of the speaker.
  3. Song of Solomon 1:2 Unexpected change of grammatical persons, here from he and his to your, is a Hb poetic device.
  4. Song of Solomon 1:2 Or your caresses are, or your lovemaking is
  5. Song of Solomon 1:3 Or wonder virgins
  6. Song of Solomon 1:4 Or The king has brought
  7. Song of Solomon 1:6 Lit my vineyard, which is mine
  8. Song of Solomon 1:7 Or who wanders
  9. Song of Solomon 1:7 To express shame or grief, or to conceal identity as a prostitute would; Gn 38:14-15
  10. Song of Solomon 1:8 Some understand the young women to be the speakers in this verse.
  11. Song of Solomon 1:8 Lit go out for yourself into
  12. Song of Solomon 1:9 Lit my
  13. Song of Solomon 1:9 Pharaoh’s chariot horses were stallions.
  14. Song of Solomon 1:12 Or is at his table
  15. Song of Solomon 1:12 Lit nard
  16. Song of Solomon 1:14 = Wellspring of the Young Goat
  17. Song of Solomon 1:17 Or firs, or pines

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