Song of Songs 8
8
1
If only I could treat you like my brother, # Lit Would that you were like a brother to me
one who nursed at my mother’s breasts,
I would find you in public and kiss you,
and no one would scorn me.
2I would lead you, I would take you,
to the house of my mother # Sg 3:4 who taught me. # LXX adds and into the chamber of the one who bore me
I would give you spiced wine to drink
from my pomegranate juice.
3His left hand is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me. # Sg 2:6
4Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you:
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time. # Sg 2:7; 3:5
Y
5Who is this # Sg 3:6; 6:10 coming up from the wilderness,
leaning on the one she loves?
W
I awakened you under the apricot tree. # Sg 2:3
There your mother conceived you;
there she conceived and gave you birth.
6Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal on your arm. # Sg 2:16; 6:3; 7:10
For love is as strong as death; # Rm 8:38-39; 1Co 13:8
ardent love is as unrelenting as Sheol.
Love’s flames are fiery flames # Dt 32:21-22; Pr 6:34; 27:4 —
the fiercest of all. # Or the blaze of the Lord
7Mighty waters cannot extinguish love;
rivers cannot sweep it away.
If a man were to give all his wealth # Lit all the wealth of his house for love, # Pr 6:35
it would be utterly scorned.
B
8Our sister is young;
she has no breasts. # Ezk 16:7
What will we do for our sister
on the day she is spoken for?
9If she is a wall,
we will build a silver parapet on it.
If she is a door,
we will enclose it with cedar planks. # Vv. 8-9 may record what the girl’s brothers used to say. # 1Kg 6:15
W
10I am # Or was a wall
and my breasts like towers.
So in his eyes I have become
like one who finds peace. # In Hb, the word for peace sounds similar to Solomon and Shulammite.
11Solomon owned a vineyard in Baal-hamon. # Ec 2:4
He leased the vineyard to tenants. # Mt 21:33
Each was to bring for his fruit
1,000 pieces of silver. # Is 7:23
12I have my own vineyard. # Lit My vineyard, which is mine, is before me ; Sg 1:6 # Sg 1:6
The 1,000 are for you, Solomon,
but 200 for those who guard its fruits.
M
13You # In Hb, the word for You is feminine. who dwell in the gardens —
companions # Sg 1:7 are listening for your voice —
let me hear you! # Sg 2:14
W
14Hurry to me, my love,
and be like a gazelle
or a young stag
on the mountains of spices. # Sg 2:17
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Song of Songs 8: HCSB
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© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Song of Songs 8
8
Young Woman
1Oh, I wish you were my brother,
who nursed at my mother’s breasts.
Then I could kiss you no matter who was watching,
and no one would criticize me.
2I would bring you to my childhood home,
and there you would teach me.#8:2 Or there she will teach me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
my sweet pomegranate wine.
3Your left arm would be under my head,
and your right arm would embrace me.
4Promise me, O women of Jerusalem,
not to awaken love until the time is right.#8:4 Or not to awaken love until it is ready.
Young Women of Jerusalem
5Who is this sweeping in from the desert,
leaning on her lover?
Young Woman
I aroused you under the apple tree,
where your mother gave you birth,
where in great pain she delivered you.
6Place me like a seal over your heart,
like a seal on your arm.
For love is as strong as death,
its jealousy#8:6a Or its passion. as enduring as the grave.#8:6b Hebrew as Sheol.
Love flashes like fire,
the brightest kind of flame.
7Many waters cannot quench love,
nor can rivers drown it.
If a man tried to buy love
with all his wealth,
his offer would be utterly scorned.
The Young Woman’s Brothers
8We have a little sister
too young to have breasts.
What will we do for our sister
if someone asks to marry her?
9If she is a virgin, like a wall,
we will protect her with a silver tower.
But if she is promiscuous, like a swinging door,
we will block her door with a cedar bar.
Young Woman
10I was a virgin, like a wall;
now my breasts are like towers.
When my lover looks at me,
he is delighted with what he sees.
11Solomon has a vineyard at Baal-hamon,
which he leases out to tenant farmers.
Each of them pays a thousand pieces of silver
for harvesting its fruit.
12But my vineyard is mine to give,
and Solomon need not pay a thousand pieces of silver.
But I will give two hundred pieces
to those who care for its vines.
Young Man
13O my darling, lingering in the gardens,
your companions are fortunate to hear your voice.
Let me hear it, too!
Young Woman
14Come away, my love! Be like a gazelle
or a young stag on the mountains of spices.
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