Song of Songs 5-8
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 5
Bridegroom:
1 I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride;
I gather my myrrh and my spices,
I eat my honeycomb and my honey,
I drink my wine and my milk.
Companions:
Eat, friends, and drink deeply,
until you are drunk with love.[a]
Fourth Poem
I Sought Him, but I Could Not Find Him
Open to Me[b]
Bride:
2 I was sleeping, but my heart was awake.
Listen! My beloved is knocking:
“Open to me, my sister, my beloved,
my dove, my perfect one.
For my head is drenched with dew,[c]
my hair with the wetness of the night.”
3 I have taken off my robe;
must I put it on again?
I have bathed my feet;
must I soil them again?[d]
4 My beloved thrust his hand through the opening in the door,[e]
and my heart began to tremble.
5 I arose to open to my beloved
with myrrh dripping from my hands;
the liquid myrrh from my fingers
ran onto the handle of the bolt.
6 I opened to my beloved,
but he had turned away and was gone;
my heart sank at his disappearance.
I sought him, but I could not find him;
I called out to him, but he did not answer.[f]
I Am Sick with Love[g]
7 The watchmen[h] came upon me
as they made their rounds of the city.
They beat me and wounded me
and took my cloak from me,
those guardians of the walls.
8 I charge you, daughters of Jerusalem,
if you should find my beloved,
please tell him this:
that I am sick with love.
Companions:
9 In what way is your beloved better than any other,
O fairest of women?
In what way is your beloved better than any other
that you lay this charge upon us?
Bride:
10 [i]My beloved is radiant and ruddy,
one who would stand out in a group of ten thousand.
11 His head is golden, of the purest gold;
his hair is like palm branches,
black as the raven.
12 His eyes are like doves[j]
by water streams,
bathed in milk,
and mounted like jewels.
13 His cheeks are like beds of spices
pouring forth fragrant scents.
His lips are like lilies,[k]
distilling choice myrrh.
14 His arms are rods of gold
adorned with jewels.
His body is a block of ivory
covered with sapphires.
15 His legs are pillars of marble
set in sockets of pure gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,
as imposing as the cedars.
16 His mouth is most sweet,
and he is totally desirable.
Such is my beloved and such is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.
Chapter 6
I Belong to My Beloved[l]
Companions:
1 Where has your beloved gone,
O loveliest of women?
In what direction has your beloved turned
so that we may join you in searching for him?
Bride:
2 My beloved has gone down to his garden,
to the beds of spices,
to browse in his garden
and to gather lilies.
3 I belong to my beloved, and my beloved is mine;[m]
he browses among the lilies.
Fifth Poem
One Alone Is My Dove, My Perfect One
You Are Beautiful, My Beloved[n]
Bridegroom:
4 You are as beautiful as Tirzah,[o] my beloved,
as lovely as Jerusalem,
as majestic as an army with banners.
5 Turn away your eyes from me,
for they leave me defenseless.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down the slopes of Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
as they come up from the washing;
each of them has a twin,
and not one is alone.
7 Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
behind your veil.
8 There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,
and maidens[p] beyond numbering.
9 One alone is my dove, my perfect one,
the darling of her mother,
the favorite of the one who bore her.
The maidens saw her and proclaimed her blessed;
the queens and concubines sang her praises.
Companions:
10 Who is this that comes forth like the dawn,
beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun,
formidable as an army with banners?
Bride:
11 I went down to the orchard of nut trees
to look at the green shoots in the valley,[q]
to see whether the vines had budded
and whether the pomegranates were in bloom.
12 Before I realized it, my desire had placed me
in a chariot beside my prince.[r]
Chapter 7
How Beautiful You Are and How Charming[s]
Companions:
Bridegroom:
Why are you looking at the Shulammite
as at a dance of Mahanaim?
Companions:
2 How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
O prince’s daughter.
Your rounded thighs are like jewels,
the handiwork of a master hand.
3 Your navel is a well-rounded bowl
that never lacks mixed wine.
Your belly is a mound of wheat[v]
surrounded by lilies.
4 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.
5 Your neck is like an ivory tower;
your eyes are like the pools in Heshbon[w]
by the gate of Bath-rabbim.
Your nose is like the Tower of Lebanon
that faces toward Damascus.
6 Your head is held high like Carmel;[x]
your flowing locks are as dark as purple,
and a king is held captive in your tresses.
Bridegroom:
7 How beautiful you are and how charming,
my beloved, my delight.
8 You are as stately as a palm tree,[y]
and your breasts are like clusters of fruit.
9 [z]I have decided to climb the palm tree
and take hold of its fruit.
May your breasts be like clusters of the vine,
the scent of your breath as sweet as apples,
10 and your mouth like fragrant wine.
Come, My Beloved, I Will Give You My Love[aa]
Bride:
[ab]May the wine go straight to my beloved,
gliding over the lips and teeth.
11 I belong to my beloved,
and his desire is for me.[ac]
12 Come, my beloved,
let us go forth into the fields
and spend the night in the villages.
13 Let us go to the vineyards early
and see if the vines are budding,
if their blossoms have opened
and the pomegranates are in bloom;
there I will give you my love.
14 The mandrakes[ad] emit their fragrance,
and at our doors are the rarest of fruits,
fresh as well as ripened,
which I have kept in store for you, my beloved.
Chapter 8
1 Oh, if only you were to me like a brother,
nursed at my mother’s breast.
Then if I met you out of doors,
I could kiss you
without people regarding me with scorn.[ae]
2 I would lead you
and bring you into the home of my mother.
There you would teach me to give you spiced wine to drink
and the juice of my pomegranates.
3 His left hand is under my head
and his right arm embraces me.
Bridegroom:
4 I charge you, daughters of Jerusalem:
Do not stir up or awaken love
before its time has come.[af]
Epilogue
Love Is as Strong as Death[ag]
Companions:
5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness
leaning on her beloved?
Bridegroom:
Under the apple tree[ah] I awakened you;
it was there that your mother conceived you,
and there where she who conceived you bore you.
Bride:
6 [ai]Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal upon your arm.
For love is as strong as death,[aj]
and ardor is as relentless as the netherworld.
Its flames are flashes of fire,
an unending blaze.[ak]
7 Flood waters cannot quench love,
nor can torrents drown it.
If one were to offer all his wealth for love,
he would be regarded with contempt.
One Who Brings Peace[al]
Companions:
8 “Our sister is little,
and her breasts are not yet formed.
What shall we do for our sister
on the day she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build a silver battlement upon it;
if she is a door,
we will board her up with planks of cedar.”
Bride:
10 I am a wall,
and my breasts are like towers.
So now in his eyes
I have become one who brings peace.
My Vineyard Is under My Control[am]
11 [an]Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon,[ao]
and he entrusted that vineyard to tenants.
For its fruit each one would have to pay him
a thousand pieces of silver.
12 My vineyard[ap] is under my control.
You, O Solomon, may have the thousand silver pieces,
and those who tend the fruit may have two hundred.
Bridegroom:
13 O you who dwell in the gardens,
my companions are listening for your voice;
let me hear it.
Bride:
14 Make haste, my beloved,
and be like a gazelle or a young stag
upon the spice-filled mountains.
Footnotes
- Song of Songs 5:2 The lovers are urged to share their love, which is an image of the love between Christ and his Church (see Eph 5:29-32).
- Song of Songs 5:2 The bride is sleeping, and the thought of the bridegroom is with her even in her dreams. Suddenly, he knocks on the door. Happiness and fear meld together; how can she receive him in the middle of the night? She hesitates and makes believe that she cannot open the door, even though she is already trembling with joy at the coming encounter. However, when she finally dares to open the door, the bridegroom has disappeared into the night and she is alone.
For Israel, too, God remains hidden when the people are tardy in answering his call. The time is near—this is the message of John the Baptist. “Behold, I am standing at the door, knocking”: such is the seductive but demanding image of Christ in the Book of Revelation (Rev 3:20). - Song of Songs 5:2 Dew: a symbol of divine blessings (see Ps 133:3; Hos 14:6).
- Song of Songs 5:3 Silly reasons for not opening the door, which will be overcome by the bride’s love.
- Song of Songs 5:4 Opening in the door: through it a wooden key was inserted from the outside to remove the bolt.
- Song of Songs 5:6 This is the same prophetic formula used previously (see Song 3:1, 3 and notes). Here it is combined with another traditional formula indicating the Lord’s withdrawal from an unfaithful Israel (see Prov 1:28; Isa 50:2; 65:12; 66:4; Jer 7:27).
- Song of Songs 5:7 Distraught at having missed the rendezvous, the bride runs to seek out the bridegroom. What an adventure this journey into the night becomes! She runs into the guardians of the walls who maltreat her; then a group of young women joke at her: What do you see in your beloved? Her reply comes from the heart, for she bears the portrait of her beloved within her—what a treasure!
In Israel, after so many losses, there is reborn a new ardor to seek God when trials and mockeries mount up, at the return from the Exile or in the pagan dispersion. There is no clearer witness than a sincere conversion. But is not God the first to awaken the human heart in which he is secretly present? In St. Augustine’s words, “You would not be seeking me if you had not already found me.” The more we understand God, the more ardently do we seek his countenance. - Song of Songs 5:7 Watchmen: see note on Song 3:3.
- Song of Songs 5:10 The bride describes the great physical qualities of the bridegroom.
- Song of Songs 5:12 Doves: see note on Song 1:15.
- Song of Songs 5:13 Lilies: see note on Song 2:1.
- Song of Songs 6:1 Enchanted now by the fresh passion of the bride, the young women become her accomplices and seek to help her in her search. Their services are superfluous, for the bridegroom has appeared.
God, too, in an unexpected way, is near to those who truly seek him. And suddenly we will be called to see God as he is. - Song of Songs 6:3 I . . . mine: see note on Song 2:16a.
- Song of Songs 6:4 The bridegroom allows himself to be led to his rendezvous and praises his beloved: he stresses above all her undivided love, which is much different from that of Solomon, which was comprised of numerous and imperfect loves. For this young man, all his delight is in his unique beloved. This is the song of true love.
Israel can no longer forget that God prefers his people among all nations. And finally, the Lord’s love is unique for everyone, as St. Paul so boldly declares: “The Son of God . . . loved me and gave himself up for me” (Gal 2:20). - Song of Songs 6:4 Tirzah: i.e., “the charming,” “the desired,” was the capital of the northern kingdom before Samaria was built (see 1 Ki 14:17). As majestic as an army with banners: the bridegroom is as struck by his beloved’s beauty as he is by watching an army majestically moving forward with its banners unfurled.
- Song of Songs 6:8 Queens . . . concubines . . . maidens: either all the women of Solomon’s harem or all the beautiful women in the land.
- Song of Songs 6:11 Look . . . in the valley: for the early signs of spring (see note on Song 2:11-13).
- Song of Songs 6:12 The meaning of the entire verse is uncertain. The Vulgate reads: “I did not know, and I was disturbed because of the chariots of Amminadab.”
- Song of Songs 7:1 The chorus sees the bride as resembling Abishag the Shunammite, the exceptionally beautiful girl of whom 1 Ki 1:1-4 speaks. The passionate praise is received by the bride while she dances with joy.
In the poetic comparison, the terms are taken from the geography of Israel; this is a way of also singing the happiness of the people who rediscover their land. Thus, our chants will exult in the joy of the kingdom of God and the happiness that radiates from the holy city where all will be gathered together. - Song of Songs 7:1 The comparisons have to be understood in the light of Eastern esthetics, and even then they are not always easy to understand.
- Song of Songs 7:1 Shulammite: usually interpreted as referring to a woman from Shunem, specifically Abishag the Shunammite (1 Ki 1:1-4).
- Song of Songs 7:3 Wine . . . wheat: symbols of fertility.
- Song of Songs 7:5 Heshbon: a city in the Transjordan blessed with a great supply of spring water. Bath-rabbim: “Daughter of many,” so named perhaps because at that gate people went in crowds for water. Tower of Lebanon: probably the beautiful and towering mountains of Lebanon.
- Song of Songs 7:6 Carmel: a region on the west coast of the kingdom famous for its majesty and beauty.
- Song of Songs 7:8 Palm tree: a tree known for its stateliness.
- Song of Songs 7:9 The bride’s beauty is an irresistible draw for her husband.
- Song of Songs 7:10 In her turn, the bride lets the cry of her heart come forth; she invites the bridegroom to a promenade in the exuberant countryside of the new spring. Everything reminds them of the joy of union. However, there is a bit of regret: how she would like to bear witness before everyone that she and her lover belong to one another, and how she would like to take him home to her mother for their marriage! The poem concludes with a refrain that evokes the bride asleep, filled with tenderness and love.
Again, the destiny of Israel seems to us to be very close to this adventure. Overwhelmed by God’s love, the people will one day respond perfectly to the invitations of the one who is their spouse. And for more than one mystic there is no better image for the spiritual encounter with God than the new joy of a betrothal. - Song of Songs 7:10 The bride offers the wine of her love to the bridegroom.
- Song of Songs 7:11 See notes on Song 2:16a; 6:3.
- Song of Songs 7:14 Mandrakes: herbs thought to inspire love and increase fertility (see Gen 30:14).
- Song of Songs 8:1 Without people regarding me with scorn: the bride could show her affection openly and incur no scorn.
- Song of Songs 8:4 See note on Song 2:7.
- Song of Songs 8:5 The chorus no longer recognizes the bride; love has awakened her to a new life. Quite violent is the passion that makes the lovers into one single being. Love seizes them as a force that cannot be resisted. They can no more escape it than they can escape death and the subterranean pit that, in the words of the ancients, one day will snatch all the living, the netherworld. God, who created love, willed this unity that nothing can divide. “And the two shall become one flesh,” declares Paul the Apostle (Eph 5:31) with the Gospel (Mt 19:5) and the Book of Genesis (Gen 2:24). Such a love cannot be acquired at the price of silver.
It is something unheard of that between God and his people there is established a definitive link that holds despite all kinds of trials and dramas. And how can one hide forever from the Lord’s ardor? - Song of Songs 8:6 Under the apple tree: fruit trees were regarded as conducive to lovers’ embraces.
- Song of Songs 8:6 Love is as strong as death: starting with these words, the author gives three climactic wisdom sayings about the awesome power of true love. Love stands its ground against the greatest powers on earth: death, fire, and water, and conquers even great wealth. An unending blaze: another translation may be: “Like the very flame of the Lord,” showing that love is enkindled by God.
- Song of Songs 8:6 Love is as strong as death: starting with these words, the author gives three climactic wisdom sayings about the awesome power of true love. Love stands its ground against the greatest powers on earth: death, fire, and water, and conquers even great wealth. An unending blaze: another translation may be: “Like the very flame of the Lord,” showing that love is enkindled by God.
- Song of Songs 8:6 Love is as strong as death: starting with these words, the author gives three climactic wisdom sayings about the awesome power of true love. Love stands its ground against the greatest powers on earth: death, fire, and water, and conquers even great wealth. An unending blaze: another translation may be: “Like the very flame of the Lord,” showing that love is enkindled by God.
- Song of Songs 8:8 Suddenly a life that is still young finds itself mature with passion; already love has decided the future of the bride even though her brothers are still thinking of the men to whom they could contract her in marriage. They did not notice their little sister becoming a woman. Elders always have trouble admitting that their siblings have already entered into life, that love has already brought new freedom to them.
Israel, apparently always adolescent and indecisive, the most insignificant of nations in any case, is fulfilled more than one could believe by faith in God. And the believer, so fragile in his own eyes, finds an inconceivable freedom in the Lord’s presence. - Song of Songs 8:11 The great monarch Solomon had a large harem, which had to be guarded by officers of the palace. The bridegroom, a poor shepherd, has his beloved all to himself. She awaits his call and will then flee her tactless companions: the two of them alone! Love is an ever renewed quest.
In this final song of love, the community of Christ can also express its expectation. It is above all a call: “Come, Lord Jesus, come”; and it is also and above all a certitude: I am coming soon. Maranatha. It is with this Hebrew word, maranatha, that the last Book of the Bible comes to a close (Rev 22:17-20). Human love is most suitable to be a symbol of divine love. - Song of Songs 8:11 These verses are capable of various interpretations. In addition to the one given in the previous note, they may be interpreted as the bride saying to an imaginary Solomon that his vineyard has only monetary value while she is making a free gift of her vineyard (which is herself) to her bridegroom—in keeping with the text of verse 7b that insists that there is no price great enough to buy love.
- Song of Songs 8:11 Baal-hamon: an unidentified place, which is said to have a vineyard worth a thousand pieces of silver. Since it means “Lord of multitudes,” it may be intended to contrast the single beloved of the Song with the many wives of Solomon.
- Song of Songs 8:12 My vineyard: i.e., the bride herself as in Song 1:6. It is contrasted with the vineyard of Solomon in 8:11. In what may be a satirical note, she offers Solomon the owners’ portion for her vineyard and two hundred pieces of silver to the tenants.
