NET Bible

The Beloved’s Wish Song

^8:1 Oh, how I wish you were my little brother, nursing at my mother’s breasts; if I saw you outside, I could kiss you— surely no one would despise me! ^8:2 I would lead you and bring you to my mother’s house, the one who taught me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the nectar of my pomegranates.

Double Refrain: Embracing and Adjuration

^8:2 The Beloved about Her Lover:

^8:3 His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.

^8:3 The Beloved to the Maidens:

^8:4 I admonish you, O maidens of Jerusalem: “Do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases!”

The Awakening of Love

^8:4 The Maidens about His Beloved:

^8:5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved?

^8:5 The Beloved to Her Lover:

^8:5 Under the apple tree I aroused you; there your mother conceived you; there she who bore you was in labor of childbirth.

The Nature of True Love

^8:5 The Beloved to Her Lover:

^8:6 Set me like a cylinder seal over your heart, like a signet on your arm. For love is as strong as death; passion is as unrelenting as Sheol. Its flames burst forth; it is a blazing flame. ^8:7 Surging waters cannot quench love; floodwaters cannot overflow it. If someone were to offer all his possessions to buy love, the offer would be utterly despised.

The Brother’s Plan and the Sister’s Reward

^8:7 The Beloved’s Brothers:

^8:8 We have a little sister, and as yet she has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister on the day when she is spoken for? ^8:9 If she is a wall, we will build on her a battlement of silver; but if she is a door, we will barricade her with boards of cedar.

^8:9 The Beloved:

^8:10 I was a wall, and my breasts were like fortress towers. Then I found favor in his eyes.

Solomon’s Vineyard and the Beloved’s Vineyard

^8:10 The Beloved to Her Lover:

^8:11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon; he leased out the vineyard to those who maintained it. Each was to bring 1,000 shekels of silver for its fruit. ^8:12 My vineyard, which belongs to me, is at my disposal alone. The thousand shekels belong to you, O Solomon, and 200 shekels belong to those who maintain it for its fruit.

Epilogue: The Lover’s Request and His Beloved’s Invitation

^8:12 The Lover to His Beloved:

^8:13 O you who stay in the gardens, my companions are listening attentively for your voice; let me be the one to hear it!

^8:13 The Beloved to Her Lover:

^8:14 Make haste, my beloved! Be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.