Song of Songs 1

¹The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.[#: in Hebrew and Aramaic the idiom “the X of Xs” denotes the superlative (e.g., “king of kings” = “the highest king”; cf. Dt 10:17; Eccl 1:2; 12:8; Ezr 7:12; Dn 2:37). The ascription of authorship to Solomon is traditional. The heading may also mean “for Solomon” or “about Solomon.”]

²W Let him kiss me with kisses of his mouth,[#1:2–8:14] This translation augments the canonical text of the Song with the letters W , M , and D , placed in the margin, to indicate which of the characters in the Song is speaking: the woman, the man, or the “Daughters of Jerusalem.” This interpretive gloss follows an early Christian scribal practice, attested in some Septuagint manuscripts from the first half of the first millennium A.D.; #Sg 4:10.]

for your love is better than wine,

³better than the fragrance of your perfumes.[#: shemen (perfume) is a play on shem (name).]

Your name is a flowing perfume—

therefore young women love you.

⁴Draw me after you! Let us run![#Sg 4:10.; #Another change, but from second to third person (cf. 1:2). The “king” metaphor recurs in 1:12; 3:5–11; 7:6. : perhaps she is addressing young women, calling on them to join in the praise of her lover.]

The king has brought me to his bed chambers.

Let us exult and rejoice in you;

let us celebrate your love: it is beyond wine!

Rightly do they love you!

⁵W I am black and beautiful,

Daughters of Jerusalem—

Like the tents of Qedar,

like the curtains of Solomon.

⁶Do not stare at me because I am so black,[#: tanned from working outdoors in her brothers’ vineyards, unlike the city women she addresses. : perhaps the woman herself; see 8:8–10 for her relationship to her brothers.]

because the sun has burned me.

The sons of my mother were angry with me;

they charged me with the care of the vineyards:

my own vineyard I did not take care of.

⁷W Tell me, you whom my soul loves,

where you shepherd, where you give rest at midday.

Why should I be like one wandering

after the flocks of your companions?

⁸M If you do not know,

most beautiful among women,

Follow the tracks of the flock

and pasture your lambs

near the shepherds’ tents.

⁹M To a mare among Pharaoh’s chariotry[#The man compares the woman’s beauty to the rich adornment of the royal chariot of Pharaoh. : a special feminine form of the word “friend,” appearing only in the Song (1:15; 2:2, 10, 13; 4:1, 7; 5:2; 6:4) and used to express endearment and equality in love. Cf. Hos 3:1 for the use of the masculine form of the term in a context with sexual overtones.]

I compare you, my friend:

¹⁰Your cheeks lovely in pendants,

your neck in jewels.

¹¹We will make pendants of gold for you,

and ornaments of silver.

¹²W While the king was upon his couch,

my spikenard gave forth its fragrance.

¹³My lover is to me a sachet of myrrh;[#: the woman’s favorite term for her partner (used twenty-seven times). : an aromatic resin of balsam or roses used in cosmetics, incense, and medicines.]

between my breasts he lies.

¹⁴My lover is to me a cluster of henna[#: a plant which bears white scented flowers, used in cosmetics and medicines. : a Judean desert oasis overlooking the Dead Sea.]

from the vineyards of En-gedi.

¹⁵M How beautiful you are, my friend,[#Sg 4:1, 7.]

how beautiful! your eyes are doves!

¹⁶W How beautiful you are, my lover—

handsome indeed!

Verdant indeed is our couch;

¹⁷the beams of our house are cedars,

our rafters, cypresses.