Song of Solomon 8

Maiden’s Fanciful Wish

¹How I wish that you were my little brother,[#Literally “O that he would give you like a brother to me”; #The Hebrew construction (which is somewhat misleading if rendered in a woodenly literal sense) is an idiom expressing one’s fanciful wish]

If I met you outside, I would kiss you,

²I would surely bring you to the house of my mother,[#Literally “I would lead you and I would bring you”; #The combination of the two verbs creates a hendiadys which may be rendered more cogently as “I would surely bring you …”]

I would give you spiced wine to drink,

Double Refrain: Embrace and Adjuration

³His left hand is under my head,

⁴I adjure you, O maidens of Jerusalem,[#Literally “O daughters of Jerusalem”]

Up from the Wilderness and under the Apple Tree

⁵Who is this coming up from the wilderness,

Under the apple tree I awakened you;

The Nature of Genuine Romantic Love

⁶Set me as a seal upon your heart,

for love is strong as death;

its flashes are flashes of fire;

⁷Many waters cannot quench love;

If a man were to give all the wealth of his house for love,

Maiden’s Virtuous Chastity and Voluptuous Beauty

⁸We have a little sister,[#Literally “a little sister for us”]

What should we do for our sister

⁹If she is a wall,

but if she is a door,

¹⁰I was a wall, and my breasts were like the towers,

Solomon’s Vineyard and the Maiden’s Gift

¹¹Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon;[#Literally “A vineyard was for Solomon”]

¹²My own “vineyard” belongs to me;[#Literally “My vineyard that for me before my face”]

Closing Words of Mutual Love

¹³O you who dwell in the garden,

¹⁴Flee, my beloved!