August 27 – Song of Solomon 6 thru 8 from the Old Testament
Song of Solomon 6 thru 8 – The Lost Lover Found
The Maidens to the Beloved:
6:1 Where has your beloved gone,
O most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned?
Tell us, that we may seek him with you.
The Beloved to the Maidens:
6:2 My beloved has gone down to his garden,
to the flowerbeds of balsam spices,
to graze in the gardens,
and to gather lilies.
Poetic Refrain: Mutual Possession
The Beloved about Her Lover:
6:3 I am my lover’s and my lover is mine;
he grazes among the lilies.
The Renewal of Love
The Lover to His Beloved:
6:4 My darling, you are as beautiful as Tirzah,
as lovely as Jerusalem,
as awe-inspiring as bannered armies!
6:5 Turn your eyes away from me –
they overwhelm me!
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from Mount Gilead.
6:6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
coming up from the washing;
each has its twin;
not one of them is missing.
6:7 Like a slice of pomegranate
is your forehead behind your veil.
6:8 There may be sixty queens,
and eighty concubines,
and young women without number.
6:9 But she is unique!
My dove, my perfect one!
She is the special daughter of her mother,
she is the favorite of the one who bore her.
The maidens saw her and complimented her;
the queens and concubines praised her:
6:10 “Who is this who appears like the dawn?
Beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun,
awe-inspiring as the stars in procession?”
The Return to the Vineyards
The Lover to His Beloved:
6:11 I went down to the orchard of walnut trees,
to look for the blossoms of the valley,
to see if the vines had budded
or if the pomegranates were in bloom.
6:12 I was beside myself with joy!
There please give me your myrrh,
O daughter of my princely people.
The Love Song and Dance
The Lover to His Beloved:
6:13 (7:1) Turn, turn, O Perfect One!
Turn, turn, that I may stare at you!
The Beloved to Her Lover:
Why do you gaze upon the Perfect One
like the dance of the Mahanaim?
The Lover to His Beloved:
7:1 (7:2) How beautiful are your sandaled feet,
O nobleman’s daughter!
The curves of your thighs are like jewels,
the work of the hands of a master craftsman.
7:2 Your navel is a round mixing bowl –
may it never lack mixed wine!
Your belly is a mound of wheat,
encircled by lilies.
7:3 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.
7:4 Your neck is like a tower made of ivory.
Your eyes are the pools in Heshbon
by the gate of Bath-Rabbim.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon
overlooking Damascus.
7:5 Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel.
The locks of your hair are like royal tapestries –
the king is held captive in its tresses!
7:6 How beautiful you are! How lovely,
O love, with your delights!
The Palm Tree and the Palm Tree Climber
The Lover to His Beloved:
7:7 Your stature is like a palm tree,
and your breasts are like clusters of grapes.
7:8 I want to climb the palm tree,
and take hold of its fruit stalks.
May your breasts be like the clusters of grapes,
and may the fragrance of your breath be like apricots!
7:9 May your mouth be like the best wine,
flowing smoothly for my beloved,
gliding gently over our lips as we sleep together.
Poetic Refrain: Mutual Possession
The Beloved about Her Lover:
7:10 I am my beloved’s,
and he desires me!
The Journey to the Countryside
The Beloved to Her Lover:
7:11 Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside;
let us spend the night in the villages.
7:12 Let us rise early to go to the vineyards,
to see if the vines have budded,
to see if their blossoms have opened,
if the pomegranates are in bloom –
there I will give you my love.
7:13 The mandrakes send out their fragrance;
over our door is every delicacy,
both new and old, which I have stored up for you, my lover.
The Beloved’s Wish Song
The Beloved to Her Lover:
8:1 Oh, how I wish you were my little brother,
nursing at my mother’s breasts;
if I saw you outside, I could kiss you –
surely no one would despise me!
8:2 I would lead you and bring you to my mother’s house,
the one who taught me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
the nectar of my pomegranates.
Double Refrain: Embracing and Adjuration
The Beloved about Her Lover:
8:3 His left hand caresses my head,
and his right hand stimulates me.
The Beloved to the Maidens:
8:4 I admonish you, O maidens of Jerusalem:
“Do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases!”
The Awakening of Love
The Maidens about His Beloved:
8:5 Who is this coming up from the desert,
leaning on her beloved?
The Beloved to Her Lover:
Under the apple tree I aroused you;
there your mother conceived you,
there she who bore you was in labor of childbirth.
The Nature of True Love
The Beloved to Her Lover:
8:6 Set me like a cylinder seal over your heart,
like a signet on your arm.
For love is as strong as death,
passion is as unrelenting as Sheol.
Its flames burst forth,
it is a blazing flame.
8:7 Surging waters cannot quench love;
floodwaters cannot overflow it.
If someone were to offer all his possessions to buy love,
the offer would be utterly despised.
The Brother’s Plan and the Sister’s Reward
The Beloved’s Brothers:
8:8 We have a little sister,
and as yet she has no breasts.
What shall we do for our sister
on the day when she is spoken for?
8:9 If she is a wall,
we will build on her a battlement of silver;
but if she is a door,
we will barricade her with boards of cedar.
The Beloved:
8:10 I was a wall,
and my breasts were like fortress towers.
Then I found favor in his eyes.
Solomon’s Vineyard and the Beloved’s Vineyard
The Beloved to Her Lover:
8:11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-Hamon;
he leased out the vineyard to those who maintained it.
Each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver for its fruit.
8:12 My vineyard, which belongs to me, is at my disposal alone.
The thousand shekels belong to you, O Solomon,
and two hundred shekels belong to those who maintain it for its fruit.
Epilogue: The Lover’s Request and His Beloved’s Invitation
The Lover to His Beloved:
8:13 O you who stay in the gardens,
my companions are listening attentively for your voice;
let me be the one to hear it!
The Beloved to Her Lover:
8:14 Make haste, my beloved!
Be like a gazelle or a young stag
on the mountains of spices.
