1 Solomon’s Finest Song.[a](A)
2 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)
3 The fragrance of your perfume is intoxicating;(C)
your name is perfume poured out.(D)
No wonder young women[e] adore you.
4 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.
5 Daughters of Jerusalem,(F)
I am dark like the tents of Kedar,(G)
yet lovely(H) like the curtains of Solomon.
6 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]
7 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)
8 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.
9 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
- Song of Solomon 1:1 Or The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s
- 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.
- Song of Solomon 1:2 Unexpected change of grammatical persons, here from he and his to your, is a Hb poetic device.
- Song of Solomon 1:2 Or your caresses are, or your lovemaking is
- Song of Solomon 1:3 Or wonder virgins
- Song of Solomon 1:4 Or The king has brought
- Song of Solomon 1:6 Lit my vineyard, which is mine
- Song of Solomon 1:7 Or who wanders
- Song of Solomon 1:7 To express shame or grief, or to conceal identity as a prostitute would; Gn 38:14-15
- Song of Solomon 1:8 Some understand the young women to be the speakers in this verse.
- Song of Solomon 1:8 Lit go out for yourself into
- Song of Solomon 1:9 Lit my
- Song of Solomon 1:9 Pharaoh’s chariot horses were stallions.
- Song of Solomon 1:12 Or is at his table
- Song of Solomon 1:12 Lit nard
- Song of Solomon 1:14 = Wellspring of the Young Goat
- Song of Solomon 1:17 Or firs, or pines
Cross references
- 1:1 : 1Kg 4:32
- 1:2 : Sg 4:10
- 1:3 : Jn 12:3
- 1:3 : Ec 7:1
- 1:4 : Hs 11:4
- 1:5 : Sg 2:7; 3:5, 10; 5:8, 16; 8:4
- 1:5 : Ps 120:5; Is 60:7
- 1:5 : Sg 2:14; 4:3; 6:4
- 1:6 : Ps 69:8
- 1:6 : Sg 8:11
- 1:7 : Sg 3:1-4
- 1:7 : Sg 2:16; 6:3
- 1:7 : Is 13:20; Jr 33:12
- 1:7 : Sg 8:13
- 1:8 : Sg 5:9; 6:1
- 1:9 : Sg 1:15
- 1:9 : 2Ch 1:16-17
- 1:10 : Sg 5:13
- 1:12 : Sg 4:14; Mk 14:3; Jn 12:3
- 1:13 : Ps 45:8; Jn 19:39
- 1:14 : Sg 4:13
- 1:14 : 1Sm 23:29
- 1:15 : Sg 4:1
- 1:16 : Sg 2:3