Chapter 1
- 1
- 1
- 2
- B 2 Let him kiss me with kisses of his mouth!
More delightful is your love than wine! - 3
- Your name spoken is a spreading perfume-
that is why the maidens love you. - 4
- Draw me!-
D We will follow you eagerly!
B Bring me, O king, to your chambers.
D With you we rejoice and exult,
we extol your love; it is beyond wine:
how rightly you are loved! - 5
- B 3 I am as dark-but lovely,
O daughters of Jerusalem-
As the tents of Kedar,
as the curtains of Salma. - 6
- 4 Do not stare at me because I am swarthy,
because the sun has burned me.
My brothers have been angry with me;
they charged me with the care of the vineyards:
my own vineyard I have not cared for. - 7
- B 5 Tell me, you whom my heart loves,
where you pasture your flock,
where you give them rest at midday,
Lest I be found wandering
after the flocks of your companions. - 8
- G If you do not know,
O most beautiful among women,
Follow the tracks of the flock
and pasture the young ones
near the shepherds' camps. - 9
- G 6 To the steeds of Pharaoh's chariots
would I liken you, my beloved: - 10
- Your cheeks lovely in pendants,
your neck in jewels. - 11
- We will make pendants of gold for you,
and silver ornaments. - 12
- B 7 For the king's banquet
my nard gives forth its fragrance. - 13
- 8 My lover is for me a sachet of myrrh
to rest in my bosom. - 14
- 9 My lover is for me a cluster of henna
from the vineyards of Engedi. - 15
- G 10 Ah, you are beautiful, my beloved,
ah, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves! - 16
- B 11 Ah, you are beautiful, my lover-
yes, you are lovely.
Our couch, too, is verdant; - 17
- the beams of our house are cedars,
our rafters, cypresses.
Introduction Next ChapterFootnotes
1 [1] This title is actually the first verse of chapter 1.
2 [1:2-8:14] The marginal letters indicate the speaker of the verses: B-Bride; D-Daughters of Jerusalem; G-Bridegroom. In Song 1:2-7 the bride and the daughters address the bridegroom who appears here as a king, but more often in the poem as a shepherd. King and shepherd are familiar figures of the Lord in the Sacred Scriptures. Cf Psalm 23:1; Isaiah 40:11; John 10:1-16.
3 [5] Daughters of Jerusalem: the chorus whom the bride addresses and who ask her questions (Song 5:9; 6:1) thus developing action within the poem. Kedar: a Syrian desert region whose name suggests blackness; tents were often made of black goat hair. Curtains: tent coverings of Salma, a region close to Kedar.
4 [6] Swarthy: tanned by the sun from working in her brothers' vineyards. My own vineyard: the bride herself; cf Isaiah 5:1-7 where Israel is designated as the vineyard and the Lord is the Lover.
5 [7] Here and elsewhere in the Song (Song 3:1; 5:8; 6:1), the bride expresses her desire to be in the company of her lover. These verses point to a certain tension in the poem. Only at the end (Song 8:5-14) does mutual possession of the lovers become final.
6 [9-11] The bridegroom compares the girl's beauty to the rich adornment of the royal chariot of Pharaoh.
7 [12] Nard: a precious perfume, a figure of the bride; cf Song 4:14.
8 [13] Myrrh: produced from aromatic resin of balsam or roses.
9 [14] Henna: a plant which bears white scented flowers.
10 [15] Doves: suggesting innocence and charm.
11 [16-17] Though the meeting place of the lovers is but a shepherd's hut of green branches, it becomes a palace with beams of cedar and rafters of cypress when adorned with their love.
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