Song of Solomon 2

The woman says: I am a rose of Sharon, a lily growing in the valleys.

1I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.

NoteThe Hebrew has no speaker labels; the "The woman says" and "The man says" headings are supplied by translators, who work out the speaker from the gender and number of the Hebrew verbs and pronouns. Sharon is the fertile coastal plain running north from Joppa, proverbial for wild flowers and pasture. The flower named here is not the modern rose: the Hebrew word probably means a bulb flower of the open country, such as a crocus or a meadow saffron.

2The man says: Like a lily standing among thorn bushes, that is what my darling is like among the other young women.

2As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

3The woman says: Like an apple tree among the wild trees of the forest, that is what the man I love is like among the other young men. I sat down in his shade, and it made me glad, and his fruit tasted sweet to me.

3As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

NoteThe Hebrew tappuach, traditionally "apple," is a fruit tree that is not certainly identified; apricot and quince have both been proposed, since apples grew poorly in that climate. The point of the comparison is that it is a cultivated fruit tree standing among ordinary forest trees, giving both shade and something to eat.

4He brought me to the house where the wine is served, and the flag he raised over me was love.

4He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.

Note"Banqueting house" is literally "the house of wine", the room or building where wine was served at a feast. A banner was a military standard carried on a pole so that troops could see where their unit was; to raise one over someone was to claim them publicly and openly.

5Hold me up with cakes of raisins. Refresh me with apples, because I am weak with love.

5Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.

Note"Flagons" in the King James does not mean jugs of drink; the Hebrew word means pressed cakes of raisins, a concentrated sweet eaten as a delicacy and as a quick restorative. "I am sick of love" in 1611 English meant made ill or faint by love, not tired of it.

6His left arm is under my head, and his right arm holds me close.

6His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.

7Daughters of Jerusalem, I make you promise me, by the gazelles and the wild deer of the open country: do not stir love up, and do not wake it, until it is ready.

7I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

Note"I charge you" translates a formal Hebrew verb for putting someone under oath. The "daughters of Jerusalem" are the young women of the city, who are addressed several times in this book as a kind of audience. Swearing by gazelles and does rather than by God is unusual; the Hebrew words for them sound close to two of the standard oath phrases involving God's names, so the wording may be a deliberate softened substitute. The last clause is ambiguous in Hebrew and can mean "until it (love itself) is ready," "until he pleases," or "until she pleases."

8Listen, the voice of the man I love! Look, here he comes, jumping across the mountains, leaping over the hills.

8The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.

9The man I love is like a gazelle or a young deer. Look, he is standing behind our wall. He is looking in through the windows, peering through the crossed slats.

9My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.

NoteWindows in an ordinary house had no glass; the opening was covered with a wooden grille of crossed strips, which let in air and light while keeping the room private. Someone outside could look in through the gaps but was only partly visible from within.

10The man I love spoke, and said to me: Get up, my darling. Come away with me, my beautiful one.

10My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

11Look, the winter is over. The rainy season has ended and gone.

11For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;

NoteIn this climate the rain falls in one winter season, roughly from late autumn to early spring, and then stops almost entirely. Its ending is the sign that travel, fieldwork and courtship out of doors become possible again.

12The flowers have come up in the fields. The time for singing is here, and the call of the turtledove can be heard in our land.

12The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

Note"Turtle" here is not the reptile: it is the turtledove, a migratory bird whose return and cooing call marked the arrival of spring in the region.

13The fig tree is ripening its early figs, and the vines are in bloom and giving off their scent. Get up, my darling. Come away with me, my beautiful one.

13The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

NoteThe "green figs" are the small early figs that form on the branches before the leaves are fully out, the first fruit of the year and a recognized sign that the season has turned. Grape vines in flower give off a strong sweet scent for a short period in spring.

14My dove, hiding in the cracks of the rock, in the hidden places on the cliff side, let me see your face and let me hear your voice. Your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.

14O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.

NoteThe word rendered "stairs" in the King James means a steep place or cliff face; the image is of a rock dove nesting on a ledge high on a cliff, out of reach and out of sight.

15Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, because our vines are in bloom.

15Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

NoteFoxes, or possibly jackals, the Hebrew word covers both, damaged vineyards by digging under the vines and by eating the fruit and shoots, so they were trapped while the vines were in flower and the crop still at risk. The Hebrew gives no indication of who is speaking this verse, and it may be a snatch of a separate song.

16The man I love belongs to me, and I belong to him. He feeds his flock among the lilies.

16My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.

Note"He feedeth among the lilies" means he pastures his flock there; the verb is the ordinary one used of a shepherd grazing animals. It can also be read without an object, as "he grazes among the lilies," continuing the picture of the gazelle.

17Until the day breaks and the shadows run away, turn back, my love. Be like a gazelle or a young deer on the mountains of Bether.

17Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.

NoteThe Hebrew of the first line is literally "until the day breathes and the shadows flee." Interpreters disagree whether this means dawn, when the shadows of night disappear, or late afternoon, when the evening breeze comes up and the shadows lengthen and are lost. "Bether" is otherwise unknown as a place name; the word can also be read as a common noun meaning cleft or division, giving "the mountains of separation" or "the rugged mountains."