Maiden’s Fanciful Wish

¹ ⌞How I wish that you were my little brother⌟,¹² who nursed ⌞upon my mother’s breasts⌟!³ If ⌞I met you outside⌟,⁴ I would kiss you, ⌞and no one would despise me⌟!⁵

1. Literally “O that he would give you like a brother to me”
2. The Hebrew construction (which is somewhat misleading if rendered in a woodenly literal sense) is an idiom expressing one’s fanciful wish
3. Literally “at the breast of my mother”
4. Literally “I will find you in the street”
5. Literally “also they would not despise me”

Double Refrain: Embrace and Adjuration

² ⌞I would surely bring you⌟¹² to the house of my mother, ⌞who would surely teach me⌟;³ ⌞I would give you spiced wine to drink⌟,⁴ the ⌞sweet wine⌟⁵ of my pomegranates.⁶

1. Literally “I would lead you and I would bring you”
2. The combination of the two verbs creates a hendiadys which may be rendered more cogently as “I would surely bring you …”
3. Literally “she will teach me”
4. Literally “I would give you to drink from the wine of the spice”
5. Or “juice”
6. The traditional Hebrew reads the singular “my pomegranate.” However, the plural reading “my pomegranates” is attested in numerous medieval Hebrew manuscripts and is reflected in the ancient versions (Greek Septuagint, Aramaic Targum, Syriac Peshitta). The latter makes the most sense in this context as a euphemistic description of the maiden’s delights

³ His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces¹ me.

1. Or “embraced”

Up from the Wilderness and under the Apple Tree

⁴ I adjure you, ⌞O maidens of Jerusalem⌟,¹ do not² arouse or awaken love until it pleases!³

1. Literally “O daughters of Jerusalem”
2. Or “Why must you … before it pleases?”
3. Or “Do not stir up or awaken the love until it is willing,” or “Do not disturb or interrupt our lovemaking until it is satisfied”

The Nature of Genuine Romantic Love

⁵ Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I awakened you; there your mother ⌞conceived you⌟;¹ there she who was in labor gave birth to you.

1. Literally “was in labor with you”

⁶ Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death; passion is fierce as Sheol; its flashes are flashes of fire; it is a blazing flame.

Maiden’s Virtuous Chastity and Voluptuous Beauty

⁷ Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away.¹ If a man were to give all the wealth of his house ⌞for love⌟,² he would be utterly scorned.³

1. Or “and rivers cannot engulf it”
2. Literally “in the love”
3. Literally “they will utterly scorn him”

⁸ ⌞We have a little sister⌟,¹ ⌞and she does not yet have any breasts⌟.² What should we do for our sister ⌞on the day when she is betrothed⌟?³⁴

1. Literally “a little sister for us”
2. Literally “and there is no breast for her”
3. Literally “on the day when it is spoken of her”
4. Or “on the day when she is spoken for”

⁹ If she is a wall, ⌞we will adorn her with a turret of silver⌟;¹² but if she is a door, we will barricade her with boards of cedar.³

1. Literally “we will build upon her a camp of silver”
2. The term translated “turret” refers to the decorative parapet adorning the top of a building. This image is likely figurative for a silver tiara set upon the head
3. Or “we will enclose her”

Solomon’s Vineyard and the Maiden’s Gift

¹⁰ I was a wall, and my breasts were like the towers, ⌞so my betrothed viewed me with great delight⌟.¹

1. Literally “then I was in his eyes as one who finds peace”

¹¹ ⌞Solomon had a vineyard⌟¹ at Baal-hamon; ⌞he entrusted his vineyard to the keepers⌟;² ⌞people paid a thousand silver pieces for its fruit⌟.³

1. Literally “A vineyard was for Solomon”
2. Literally “he gave the vineyard to the keepers”
3. Literally “each one brought a thousand silver pieces for his fruit”

Closing Words of Mutual Love

¹² ⌞My own “vineyard” belongs to me⌟;¹ the “thousand” are for you, O Solomon, ⌞and “two hundred” for those who tend its fruit⌟.²

1. Literally “My vineyard that for me before my face”
2. Literally “and two hundred for the keepers of his fruit”

¹³ O you who dwell in the garden, my companions are listening to your voice. Let me hear it!

¹⁴ Flee, my beloved! ⌞Be like a gazelle⌟¹ or ⌞a young stag⌟² upon ⌞the perfumed mountains⌟!³

1. Literally “and be like for you to a gazelle”
2. Literally “to the fawn of the stag”
3. Literally “the mountains of spices”