Song of Solomon 8
Holman Christian Standard Bible  Par ▾ 
1 If only I could treat you like my brother,a

  one who nursed at my mother’s breasts,

  I would find you in public and kiss you,

  and no one would scorn me.

  2I would lead you, I would take you,

  to the house of my motherb who taught me.c

  I would give you spiced wine to drink

  from my pomegranate juice.

  3His left hand is under my head,

  and his right arm embraces me.d

  4Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you:

  do not stir up or awaken love

  until the appropriate time.e

Y 5Who is thisf coming up from the wilderness,

  leaning on the one she loves?

W I awakened you under the apricot tree.g

  There your mother conceived you;

  there she conceived and gave you birth.

  6Set me as a seal on your heart,

  as a seal on your arm.h

  For love is as strong as death;i

  ardent love is as unrelenting as Sheol.

  Love’s flames are fiery flamesj —

  the fiercest of all.k

  7Mighty waters cannot extinguish love;

  rivers cannot sweep it away.

  If a man were to give all his wealthl for love,m

  it would be utterly scorned.

B 8Our sister is young;

  she has no breasts.n

  What will we do for our sister

  on the day she is spoken for?

  9If she is a wall,

  we will build a silver parapet on it.

  If she is a door,

  we will enclose it with cedar planks.o, p

W 10I amq a wall

  and my breasts like towers.

  So in his eyes I have become

  like one who finds peace.r

  11Solomon owned a vineyard in Baal-hamon.s

  He leased the vineyard to tenants.t

  Each was to bring for his fruit

  1,000 pieces of silver.u

  12I have my own vineyard.v, w

  The 1,000 are for you, Solomon,

  but 200 for those who guard its fruits.

M 13Youx who dwell in the gardens —

  companionsy are listening for your voice —

  let me hear you!z

W 14Hurry to me, my love,

  and be like a gazelle

  or a young stag

  on the mountains of spices.aa


Footnotes:
a. 8:1 Lit Would that you were like a brother to me
b. 8:2 Sg 3:4
c. 8:2 LXX adds and into the chamber of the one who bore me
d. 8:3 Sg 2:6
e. 8:4 Sg 2:7; 3:5
f. 8:5 Sg 3:6; 6:10
g. 8:5 Sg 2:3
h. 8:6 Sg 2:16; 6:3; 7:10
i. 8:6 Rm 8:38-39; 1Co 13:8
j. 8:6 Dt 32:21-22; Pr 6:34; 27:4
k. 8:6 Or the blaze of the Lord
l. 8:7 Lit all the wealth of his house
m. 8:7 Pr 6:35
n. 8:8 Ezk 16:7
o. 8:8-9 Vv. 8-9 may record what the girl’s brothers used to say.
p. 8:9 1Kg 6:15
q. 8:10 Or was
r. 8:10 In Hb, the word for peace sounds similar to Solomon and Shulammite.
s. 8:11 Ec 2:4
t. 8:11 Mt 21:33
u. 8:11 Is 7:23
v. 8:12 Lit My vineyard, which is mine, is before me ; Sg 1:6
w. 8:12 Sg 1:6
x. 8:13 In Hb, the word for You is feminine.
y. 8:13 Sg 1:7
z. 8:13 Sg 2:14
aa. 8:14 Sg 2:17
Song of Solomon 7
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