Song of Solomon

This is the finest song of all, the song that belongs to Solomon.

1The song of songs, which is Solomon’s.

Note"The song of songs" is a Hebrew way of forming a superlative, the same construction as "king of kings", so it means the best or greatest of songs. "Which is Solomon's" is ambiguous in Hebrew: the phrase can mean written by Solomon, written for him, dedicated to him, or belonging to a collection associated with his name.

2Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. Your love is better than wine.

2Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.

NoteThe speaker begins by talking about the man ("let him kiss me") and then turns to address him directly ("your love"). This abrupt switch between speaking about someone and speaking to them is normal in ancient Hebrew love poetry and is not a copying error. The word translated "love" here is a plural noun meaning caresses or lovemaking, not affection in general.

3Your perfumes smell wonderful. Your name itself is like perfume poured out. That is why the young women love you.

3Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.

NoteThere is a play on words that English cannot carry: the Hebrew for "oil/perfume" (shemen) sounds almost identical to the word for "name" (shem). Perfumed oils were expensive imported luxuries, and a person's "name" meant their reputation, so the line compares his reputation spreading to a scent filling a room. The "young women" are unmarried girls of marriageable age.

4Take me with you. Let us hurry. The king has brought me into his rooms. We will be glad and celebrate because of you. We will praise your love more than wine. They are right to love you.

4Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.

NoteThe Hebrew text has no labels marking who is speaking; speakers are identified only by whether the verbs and pronouns are masculine or feminine, singular or plural. Here the singular "take me" belongs to the woman, while "we will be glad" is plural, most readers take it as a group of women responding, though some read it as the woman speaking for herself and her lover. "His rooms" are the private inner rooms of a house, where guests did not go. Calling the beloved "the king" may be literal or may be a lover's flattery; ancient Near Eastern love poetry often addressed an ordinary lover as king or queen.

5My skin is dark and I am lovely, women of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.

5I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.

NoteThe Hebrew conjunction can be translated either "and" or "but," so the line may mean "dark and lovely" or "dark but lovely", the text itself does not settle it. Her darkness is sunburn from outdoor work (see the next verse), which in this society marked a laborer rather than a woman of leisure. Kedar was a nomadic Arab people whose tents were woven from black goat hair. "The daughters of Jerusalem" are a group of city women who function as a chorus, addressed repeatedly through the book.

6Do not stare at me because I am dark. The sun has burned me. My mother's sons were angry with me. They made me take care of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not taken care of.

6Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.

Note"My mother's sons" rather than simply "my brothers" is the wording of the Hebrew; brothers held authority over an unmarried sister and her marriage prospects. A vineyard required constant tending and guarding, so "keeper of the vineyards" means real physical labor under the sun. Her closing line turns the word into a double meaning: her "own vineyard" is herself, and what she has left untended is her own body or beauty.

7Tell me, you whom I love with all my heart, where do you feed your flock? Where do you let the sheep rest at noon? Why should I wander with my face covered among the flocks of your friends?

7Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?

NoteFlocks were brought into shade at midday because the heat made grazing impossible; finding the shepherd meant knowing where he rested. The Hebrew word behind "one that turneth aside" is uncertain. As written it means a woman who veils or wraps herself, which could suggest a prostitute soliciting among the herdsmen (compare Genesis 38:14–15); with one letter changed, as some ancient versions read it, it means a woman wandering about looking for someone. Either way she is describing an embarrassing figure she does not want to become.

8If you do not know, most beautiful of women, then follow the tracks the sheep have left. Feed your young goats beside the shepherds' tents.

8If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents.

9My darling, I think of you as a mare among the horses that pull Pharaoh's chariots.

9I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots.

NoteEgyptian chariots were pulled by teams of stallions. A single mare turned loose among them would throw the whole formation into confusion: that is the force of the comparison, not simply that she is as fine as a horse. Egyptian horses were also expensive imported luxuries in Israel.

10Your cheeks are beautiful with rows of jewels. Your neck is beautiful with strings of gold.

10Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold.

NoteThe Hebrew words for these ornaments are rare and their exact sense is uncertain. They appear to describe strings of beads or discs hanging from a headdress down beside the cheeks, and a necklace of similar strung pieces.

11We will make you ornaments of gold, decorated with small pieces of silver.

11We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver.

NoteThe "we" is plural, either the chorus of women speaking, or a lover using a formal plural. "Studs of silver" are small silver beads or points set into gold work.

12While the king sat at his table, my perfume filled the air with its scent.

12While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.

Note"At his table" translates a word meaning a couch or divan; diners reclined rather than sitting on chairs. Spikenard (nard) was an oil imported from the Himalayas and was among the costliest perfumes in the ancient world.

13The man I love is like a small bag of myrrh to me, resting all night between my breasts.

13A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.

NoteMyrrh is a fragrant gum resin that seeps from a desert shrub and hardens into lumps. Women wore a small cloth pouch of it on a cord around the neck so that it hung between the breasts and warmed against the skin, releasing scent all night.

14The man I love is like a bunch of henna blossoms to me, from the vineyards of En-gedi.

14My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.

Note"Camphire" is the older English name for henna, a shrub bearing dense clusters of cream-colored flowers with a strong sweet scent; its leaves also yield a reddish dye used on hands and hair. En-gedi is a freshwater oasis on the western shore of the Dead Sea, a pocket of green in otherwise bare desert, so anything grown there was rare and prized.

15Look at you, my darling. You are beautiful. You are so beautiful. Your eyes are like doves.

15Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes.

NoteThe Hebrew says only "your eyes are doves"; it does not state what is being compared, the shape, the softness, the glance, or the doves' association with love and gentleness in ancient poetry. "My love" here translates a term of endearment meaning something like "my darling" or "my companion."

16Look at you, my love. You are handsome, and a delight to me. The green grass is our bed.

16Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green.

NoteThe word rendered "bed" also means a couch, and "green" means leafy or verdant. The scene has moved outdoors: their bed is the grass itself, which the next verse extends into a house made of living trees.

17The beams of our house are cedar. The rafters above us are fir.

17The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.

NoteCedar from Lebanon was the prestige building timber of the region, used for palaces and the temple; ordinary houses were not made of it. The tree behind "fir" is uncertain, probably juniper or cypress. The couple are picturing the forest around them as a grand house, with trunks for beams and branches for rafters.