Note: The Song of Solomon is usually some of the most difficult reading in the Bible, for it is a two-way conversation between a man and a woman separated by the unlikely distance of the private suite of the king and the place of shepherds in the fields. However, to clarify who is speaking, we have placed the woman’s words in green.
Chapter 1
1 The song of all songs by Solomon.
2 May you kiss me with kisses from your mouth, [for the feel] of your chest is better than wine. 3 And the scent of your cologne is better, than the smell of all the perfumes, that have been poured in your name. Because of this, young women have loved you. 4 They are the ones who drew me toward you, and toward the scent of your cologne we all ran.
However; the king has carried me off, into
his private suite. But I shout in joy and am glad over you, for I love your
chest more than wine… and the love that I have is upright [and good].
5 O daughters of
7 O tell me, you who are loved by my life, where do you tend them… and where
do you nap at
9 As my horse from the chariots of Pharaoh, that’s how I [view] you my dear one. 10 Your cheeks are as pretty as doves, and your neck is like the pendant 11 I’ll make you, out of gold that is tinged with silver.
12 When the king went to lie down, the oil I was wearing gave off its smell. 13 But to me the man that I love, is like a bundle of balsam, and between my breasts he will stay. 14 The man that I love is a cluster of cypress; he’s like the vineyards of EnGedi.
15 {Look!} You’re so pretty my dear one; your eyes are as those of a dove.
16 {Look!} You’re so handsome my dearly-loved man; and beautiful [will be] our bed in the shade, 17 where the beams of our house [will be] made out of cedars, and the barns [will be made] out of cypress.
Chapter 2
1 I am a flower of the fields… I’m a lily of the valley.
2 As a lily in the midst of thorn bushes, is my dear one among many daughters.
3 And as an apple among all the trees in the groves, is my beloved amidst other sons. To be in his shadow I’ve desired, and I’ve found his fruit to be sweet in my [mouth].
4 Bring me into the tavern, and therein
order me love! 5 Fill me with perfumes and pile me with apples, for I’ve been
pierced through with love. 6 His left hand is under my head, and he holds me close
with his right hand.
7 O daughters of
8 Hear the voice of my beloved man. {Look!} He comes springing over the mountains, and leaping over the hills, 9 for my dearly loved man is like [a deer], or like a fawn among all the hinds!
{Look!} He’s standing outside of my window, peeking in through the shades. 10 The man that I love answers and tells me, ‘Get up and come here my dear one… my fair one, and my [sweet] dove; 11 for look, the winter has passed, and the rains have poured down, then [passed]. 12 Flowers have appeared in the land, and the time for pruning has come. The voice of the dove is now heard in our land, 13 the fig tree is budding its fruit, and you can smell the blossoms of grapevines.
‘Get up and come here my dear one, my fair one! Yes, get up and come here my dove! 14 Come, my dove, to the protection of the rocks, that are piled in the area around the wall. Let me see what you look like, and [once again] hear your voice; for I [love] the sound of your voice, and I [love to look at] your beauty. 15 Grab hold of the foxes destroying the vineyards, for our grapevines are now in full bloom!’
16 My dearly-loved man is for me, and I’m [the only ne] for him. He’ll be [outside] tending the lilies, 17 until a new day when the clouds will be gone. 2 O my loved man, be like the buck, or like a fawn among hinds, and [stay nearby] in the mountains.
Chapter 3
1 During the nights on my bed, I searched for the one that I love with my life. I searched but I didn’t find him. I called to him but he didn’t answer. 2 So, I’ll get up and go through the city; I’ll search the markets and squares, for the one that I love with my life.
Well, I searched but I didn’t find him.
3 Then they found me… the ones keeping guard, those who walk round in the city.
[And I asked], ‘Have you seen the one who I love with my life?’
4 It was shortly after I passed them, that I found the one who I love with my life. I grabbed him and wouldn’t let go, and I took him to the house of my mother… to the bedroom of she who conceived me.
5 O daughters of
6 Who is this woman ascending from the desert, like smoke arising from incense, made of of myrrh, frankincense, and all the powders of perfumers?
7 Look! It’s the bed of Solomon, with sixty mighty men standing round it, from among all the great ones of Israel… 8 all who are brandishing broadswords, and all who are taught in ways of war. Each wears his sword on his thigh, [to keep watch] through the nights.
9 King Solomon has made a carriage for himself, out of the
woods from
11 Come and behold, O daughters of
Chapter 4
1 {Look!} You’re so pretty my dear one; see how pretty you
are! Your eyes look like doves outside your veil. Your hair is as herds of
goats, the ones that are seen in
3 Your lips are as scarlet thread, and the way that you
talk is beautiful. Your cheeks, when they’re outside your veil, are as red as
pomegranate skins. 4 Your neck is like the
6 Until it comes a new day, and all the shadows are gone, I’ll go to the mountain of myrrh, and at the hill of frankincense I'll stay.
7 Entirely fair is my dear one, and there is no defect in
you. 8 Come from Lebanon O bride; from
9 You have captured my heart, O my sister and bride; you’ve captured my heart with your eyes, and with the garland of your neck. 10 How beautiful are your breasts, O my sister and bride. Your breasts are better than wine, and the scent of your clothes is above all perfumes.
11 Your lips are like honey dripped from the comb, for honey and milk are under your tongue, and like frankincense is the scent of your clothes. 12 But you’re locked in a garden, my sister and bride… like a well that’s been sealed up tight.
13 The messages you send are a garden of pomegranates, and
they're like fruit from the trees… they’re like cypress mingled with nard. 14
16 Awake O north wind, and come O south wind! Refresh my garden and let its scents flow!
Chapter 5
1 May my loved man go down to his garden, and may he eat the fruit from his trees!
I went to my garden, my sister, O bride, and gathered my harvest of spices and myrrh. I’ve eaten my bread with my honey, and I’ve drunk my milk and my wine.
Eat, O dear one and drink! Let’s both get drunk my loved one! 2 I [want to] sleep but my heart is so restless, for the voice of my loved one knocks on my door, saying; ‘Open to me, my sister, my dear one… my dove, the one who’s so perfect, for my head is covered with dew, and my curls [are wet] with the mist of the night. 3 My under clothes I have removed, and now should I put them back on? I have washed off my feet, so now must I run and get them dirty again?’
4 My loved man stuck his hand through the crack in [my door], and [the touch of my skin] aroused him. 5 So, I got up and opened to him, as my hands dripped with myrrh, and my fingers dripped with myrrh on the handle of the lock. 6 Then I opened to my dearly-loved man, but the man that I love wasn’t there.
I yearned for his words with my life, so I searched but I couldn’t find him; I called to him but he couldn’t hear me. 7 Then they found me (the guards who walk round the city). They struck me and hurt me, and took away my wrap… those who keep watch at the walls.
8 So, I ask you to swear, O daughters
of
9 But who is this man that you love among men, O you pretty one among women? Who is this man you so love, that you have bound us with an oath?
10 My loved man has white skin and red
cheeks; he is choice and one in a [million]. 11 His head is like gold from
Kefaz, his curls are flowing like fir trees, and they are as black as a crow.
12 His eyes are like doves near deep pools of water, as though bathed in milk
and sitting on water. 13 His mouth is like a bowl of spices, that is set
out to give a fresh smell. His lips are also like lilies, dripping with full-bodied
myrrh, 14 and his hands are just like spun gold, filled with the gems of Tharsis. His
belly is a tablet of ivory, mounted on a gem of sapphire. 15 His legs are like
columns of marble, resting on bases of gold. He looks like the finest of cedars
from
Chapter 6
1 But, where has he gone, O pretty one among women? Where has he wandered, so we can search on your behalf?
2 My loved man has gone to his garden, to gather bowls filled up with spices. He’s gone to tend to his garden, and to collect [bunches of] lilies.
3 To my dearly-loved man I belong, and my dearly-loved man is [just] mine, the one who’s tending among the lilies.
4 You’re pretty, O dear one; as pleasing and beautiful as
8 There are now sixty queens! There are eighty concubines, and young women of which there’s no number! 9 Yet, one of them is my dove (she who is my perfect one). She’s the only daughter her mother ever had; the favored one of she who gave birth. The daughters and queens call her blest, and the concubines all [sing] her praises. 10 ‘Who is she, this one that looks like the dawn, who’s as fair as the moon and as chosen as the sun, but as disturbing as men ready for war?’
11 I went to the grove of walnuts; I went down to behold the fruit of the stream in the valley, just to see if the grapevines had blossomed, and to see if the pomegranates were in flower. 12 But the man that I am didn’t know, that this made me like the chariots of Aminadab.
13 Return, return, O Shulamite! Return, return, for we’re searching for you! Why would you notice the Shulamite? She arrives like an army in the camps.
Chapter 7
1 How pretty are your feet in your sandals, O you daughter
of Nabad. Your thighs are shaped like fine pendants… the works of the hands of
a craftsman. 2 Your navel is like a shaped bowl, not lacking a mixture of wine.
Your belly is like a [fine] mound of grain, that’s wrapped in [a field] of
lilies. 3 Your breasts are like two fawns… a pair of twins of the doe. 4 Your
neck is like a tower of ivory, and as the lakes at Heshbon are your eyes… those
by the Gates of Many Daughters. Your nose is like the
6 How beautiful and delicious you are, O love, in all the luxuries you possess. 7 In greatness you’re much like a palm tree, and your breasts are as clusters of grapes. 8 I said that I’d climb up that palm tree, and from its top I would cling. For, your breasts are like clusters of grapes on the vine, the scent of your nose is like apples, 9 and [the taste] of your [mouth] is as the best wine.
I’m going to my dearly-loved man
straight away, for [I need him close] to my lips and my teeth. 10 I’ll turn to the
man that I love, and he will then turn toward me.
11 Come, O man that I love; we’ll run to the fields and lodge in the towns! 12 We’ll arise early [and go to] the vineyards, to see if the grapevines have blossomed; to see if the flowers have bloomed, and to see if the pomegranates have flowered, for there I’ll give you my breasts.
13 The mandrakes have given their odor, and fruit trees new and old are at our doors. O man that I love, I’ve saved them for you.
Chapter 8
1 O man that I love, who would grant you, to be nursed at the breasts of my mother. If I found you outside I would kiss you, and none would treat me with contempt. 2 I shall take you… I’ll bring you to the house of my mother, and into the bedroom where I was conceived. Then I’ll allow you to drink the spiced wine, which comes from the nectar of my pomegranates.
3 His left hand is under my head, and with his right hand he holds me.
4 O daughters of
5 Who is this ascending from the desert, and hanging on to the man that she loves?
From under the apple tree I awoke you, and with you your mother was also there… she who through pain gave you birth.
6 Set me as a seal on your heart, and as a seal on your arm! For, as strong as death is [my] love, and [my] jealousy is as hard as the place of the dead. Its sparks and the fire of [love’s] flames, 7 cannot be put out with much water, nor can rivers engulf it. But if a man should give all he owns for love, [most] men will think him [a fool].
8 ‘Our sister is [young] and still has no breasts, so what should we do for our sister, on the day she’s [engaged to be married]? 9 If she is a wall, should we build on her parapets of silver? And if she is a door, should we surround her with planks of cedar?’
10 I am a wall and my breasts are like towers; and I was in their eyes as one who’d found peace.
11 In BaalHamon there once was a vineyard, which was owned by Solomon [the king]. Then he entrusted his vineyard to those who’d maintain it. And all men had to pay for its fruit, with a thousand pieces of silver. (He said:) 12 ‘My vineyard is mine there before me! So, pay your thousands to Solomon, and two hundred to those who are tending its fruit.’
13 O you who now sit in the gardens, my companions have noticed your voice, and the things that you caused me to hear. So, man that I love, you must run away; be like the doe or the fawn of the hinds, and [hide] in the mountain of spices!
Notes
Soul or?
The Greek word psyche (as in psychology) has been translated many ways, including soul, life, etc. However, psyche actually means something that breathes. It is used in the Bible to describe both breathing animals and breathing humans. So, by definition, a soul cannot leave the body, because a soul is what the living body (whether human or animal) is (see Genesis 2:7).
In ancient
However, such Greek philosophical thought never influenced Jesus and his Apostles. So, they consistently used psyche to indicate a living person or animal. The teaching that the soul is immortal stands in direct conflict with Jesus’ promise of a resurrection, because, if a person is immortal (can never die) he/she can never be resurrected (brought back to life).
In addition, the teaching of the immortality of the human soul is totally without support from the Bible. The word immortal(ity) (Gr: athanasia or undying) is only mentioned in the Bible in two places, and it isn’t used with or applied to the word soul in either case. Both of these scriptures show that immortality is only given by God as a reward for righteousness. And as Ezekiel 18:4 says, ‘The person (gr. psyche or ‘soul’) that is sinning will die (gr. apothaneitai).’
Of course, there are places in the Bible where the word soul means more than just a living, fleshly body. For example, God is recorded to have spoken of ‘My Soul’ in several places. Obviously, God is much more than just a ‘soul’ as most people think of that term, and He surely wasn’t talking about His having a human body. So, we must conclude that what He was referring to is His life.
Then there are Jesus’ words found at Matthew 10:28, which read, ‘Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body but can’t kill the person (psyche). Rather, be afraid of Him who can destroy both the person and the body in the garbage dump.’ Here, Jesus is using the word psyche (soul) to refer to the value of life that remains with God until the resurrection. And he obviously isn’t referring the soul as immortal here, because he says God will destroy (gr. apolesai) the [unrighteous] soul or person.
Unfortunately, no single word that can be used to translate psyche in every possible Bible application, so various terms are used herein, depending on the circumstances, but always in an attempt to harmonize with the meaning.
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Hades: Hell or the Grave?
The Greek word hades (they pronounced it hahdess) has been translated both as Hell (which is thought of as a place of torture) and as the Grave in other Bible versions (such as the King James). Since one word can’t mean two very different things, which translation is correct?
Hades (like the English word Hell) actually means the place of the dead. However, as pagan Greek philosophy started to develop, then creep into Christianity, the latter-day Greek view of hades (a place of torture) was applied to it. Was this a correct application?
An insight into how the ancient Hebrews and the early Christians understood the word can be gained by looking at how it was applied in the Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scriptures (the ‘Old Testament’ Bible of Jesus’ day ). There, the Hebrew word sheol is translated into Greek as hades in every instance, yet in each case, these are obvious references to the grave (the place of the dead), not to a place of conscious torture (see Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10).
Another revealing application of the word hades is found at Revelation the 20:13. It says there, ‘ The sea (gr. he thalassa) gave up its dead, death and the grave (gr. thanatos kai ho hades) gave up those dead in them, and they were all judged by the things they did.’
In the book of Job, another word that is used once in the Greek Scriptures and often translated as Hell, is found in two scriptures. That Greek word is word is Tartarus, which refers to the place where evil gods or angels are sent. For more information, see the linked document ‘Is There a Burning Hell?’
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Blest or Happy?
There is quite a debate as to whether the Greek word makarios found in many places throughout the Bible should be translated blessed or happy.
Notice that we have chosen to translate it as blest, which is an older spelling of the word blessed, to get rid the affected pronunciation that was likely introduced by early preachers (blessed).
According to Zodhiates’ Complete Word Study Dictionary, the word should never translated happy, because happy is derived from the words happen, happening, or happenstance (luck). His reasoning (which we agree with) is that, when someone suffers for the sake of righteous principles, his/her reward isn’t just happiness (which can come from any source of good luck or fortune), but rather, it is a joy that comes from gaining a better relationship with God.
In other words, there is no exact word in English to use here, but blest seems to be a closer alternative than happy
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Erotics of the Bible
While men self-righteously proclaim rules of proper sexual thoughts and conduct between men and women, the Song of Solomon is rife with words that openly describe sexual desires and actions, and with many other words that appear to have a double entendre, and which appear to have no other purpose or meaning.
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Crowns, Turbans, and Diadems
In the Bible, we read of two different types of royal
headgear that was worn by Kings, crowns (gr. stephanos) and turbans (gr.
diademas). Which was worn by the kings of
A study of history shows that most kings wore some sort of
hat on official occasions, which varied by time and by country. The gold
headpiece that was worn by the pharaohs of
The first mention of a crown being worn by a king of Israel
is found at 1 Samuel 12:30, where King David took the gold crown from the head
of the Ammonite king of Rabbath, named Malchom, and placed it on his own head.
However, it doesn’t appear as though this was the custom of kings of
If you study uses of the word crown in the Bible, you’ll see that most instances are talking about the top portion of the head, not a hat. However, there are notable exceptions to this.
At Revelation 12:3, the dragon is shown as having seven heads and ten horns, and ‘on its heads were seven royal turbans.’ We have translated this verse as saying there were seven ‘royal turbans’ on its heads, because the Greek word used there was diadema, or through wraps, indicating that they were wearing turbans (although many religious depictions incorrectly show them wearing crowns).
However, there appear to be good uses in the Bible for the word crown as a symbol of athletic victory, not necessarily of kingship. Take for example, the following occurrences:
- 1 Corinthians 9:24, 25, ‘Don’t you know that all who race in the stadium must run, but only one gets the prize? So, run to win! And every fighter has to maintain full control just to win a crown that rots away. However, we receive one that doesn’t rot.’
- James
- 1 Peter 5:4, ‘Then, when the Chief Shepherd is revealed, you will walk away with the enduring crown of glory.’
- Revelation 2:10, ‘But be faithful to death and I’ll give you the crown of life.’
So, if it is true that the crown is more a sign of victory (a garland) in the Bible than of kingship, this gives us a better understanding of verses such as the following:
- Revelation 12:1, ‘Then a great sign appeared in heaven. There was a woman who had the sun wrapped around her, the moon was under her feet, on her head was a crown of twelve stars.’
- Revelation
In the Song of Solomon, Chapter Three verse eleven, we read that Solomon received a crown from his mother at the time of his betrothal, yet this doesn't appear to be the gold crown of a king, but possibly a crown made from flowers as a sign of great joy.
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