Solomon’s Love for a Shulamite Girl
1 The (A)song of songs, which is Solomon’s.
The Banquet
The [a]Shulamite
2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
(B)For [b]your love is better than wine.
3 Because of the fragrance of your good ointments,
Your name is ointment poured forth;
Therefore the virgins love you.
4 (C)Draw me away!
The Daughters of Jerusalem
The Shulamite
The king (E)has brought me into his chambers.
The Daughters of Jerusalem
We will be glad and rejoice in [d]you.
We will remember your love more than wine.
The Shulamite
Rightly do they love you.
5 I am dark, but lovely,
O daughters of Jerusalem,
Like the tents of Kedar,
Like the curtains of Solomon.
6 Do not look upon me, because I am dark,
Because the sun has [e]tanned me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
They made me the keeper of the vineyards,
But my own (F)vineyard I have not kept.
(To Her Beloved)
7 Tell me, O you whom I love,
Where you feed your flock,
Where you make it rest at noon.
For why should I be as one who [f]veils herself
By the flocks of your companions?
The Beloved
8 If you do not know, (G)O fairest among women,
[g]Follow in the footsteps of the flock,
And feed your little goats
Beside the shepherds’ tents.
9 I have compared you, (H)my love,
(I)To my filly among Pharaoh’s chariots.
10 (J)Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
Your neck with chains of gold.
The Daughters of Jerusalem
11 We will make [h]you ornaments of gold
With studs of silver.
The Shulamite
12 While the king is at his table,
My [i]spikenard sends forth its fragrance.
13 A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me,
That lies all night between my breasts.
14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blooms
In the vineyards of En Gedi.
The Beloved
15 (K)Behold, you are fair, [j]my love!
Behold, you are fair!
You have dove’s eyes.
The Shulamite
16 Behold, you are (L)handsome, my beloved!
Yes, pleasant!
Also our [k]bed is green.
17 The beams of our houses are cedar,
And our rafters of fir.
Footnotes
- Song of Solomon 1:2 A young woman from the town of Shulam or Shunem, Song 6:13. The speaker and audience are identified according to the number, gender, and person of the Hebrew words. Occasionally the identity is not certain.
- Song of Solomon 1:2 Masc. sing.: the Beloved
- Song of Solomon 1:4 Masc. sing.: the Beloved
- Song of Solomon 1:4 Fem. sing.: the Shulamite
- Song of Solomon 1:6 Lit. looked upon me
- Song of Solomon 1:7 LXX, Syr., Vg. wanders
- Song of Solomon 1:8 Lit. Go out
- Song of Solomon 1:11 Fem. sing.: the Shulamite
- Song of Solomon 1:12 perfume
- Song of Solomon 1:15 my companion, friend
- Song of Solomon 1:16 couch
Cross references
- Song of Solomon 1:1 : 1 Kin. 4:32
- Song of Solomon 1:2 : Song 4:10
- Song of Solomon 1:4 : Hos. 11:4; John 6:44; 12:32
- Song of Solomon 1:4 : Phil. 3:12–14
- Song of Solomon 1:4 : Ps. 45:14, 15; John 14:2; Eph. 2:6
- Song of Solomon 1:6 : Song 8:11, 12
- Song of Solomon 1:8 : Song 5:9
- Song of Solomon 1:9 : Song 2:2, 10, 13; 4:1, 7; John 15:14
- Song of Solomon 1:9 : 2 Chr. 1:16
- Song of Solomon 1:10 : Ezek. 16:11
- Song of Solomon 1:15 : Song 4:1; 5:12
- Song of Solomon 1:16 : Song 5:10–16