Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Introduction
The Song of Songs/Canticum Canticorum
“
The Song of Songs” was written originally in Hebrew, centuries before the birth of Christ. In an age before computers or printing presses, this book, like all others, survived only by being copied manually by generations of scholars. This process took place for centuries among the Jews, the work’s first custodians, who considered the book divinely inspired.
(The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible: R-Z, George Buttrick, editor, Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1962, pgs. 420-426. Hereinafter cited as "Interpreter’s")
Its first known translation took place in the 3rd Century B.C.E. (Before the Common Era), in Alexandria, Egypt. At the behest of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, Jewish scholars translated the Hebrew scriptures into Greek, the common language of the day. This translation, known as
The Septuagint,
("Interpreter's", pgs 273-278) became the Bible of Greek-speaking Jewish synagogues scattered throughout the Greco-Roman world. As such, it became the Bible both of the first Gentile converts to Christianity, and of the writers of the New Testament.
The Song of Songs was translated from Hebrew into Latin by Jerome some four centuries after Christ, as part of what history knows as
The Vulgate. Jerome translated the work into the common Latin of his day, so-called “Vulgar Latin,” rather into the more refined literary Latin. This made his translation accessible to ordinary hearers of the period, allowing it pass on from Jerome’s translation into the canon of Western faith and culture. As with the Hebrew original, translations of the
Song of Songs had to be copied down by hand, until the invention of the printing press stabilized its form in the 15th Century C.E.
The title of the book derives from the Hebrew inscription above the first line of poetry: “
The Song of Songs, Which is Solomon’s.” In
The Septuagint as well as most English translations, the phrase appears as Song of Solomon 1:1. The inscription is not found in the text of
The Vulgate, and so does not appear in the text of this translation. Jerome begins
The Vulgate translation with the first line of the first poem, rather than the inscription.
The doubled phrasing of the first phrase, “Song of Songs,” reflects a Hebrew idiom which stresses that the thing in question is the supreme example of its type. Thus, the “
Song of Songs” is the best of songs, even as the Holy of Holies is the most holy of all places.
(Hebrews 9:3.) Whether the inscription intends to tell us that Solomon composed the song, or merely that it was his favorite, is unclear from the language itself. Both Jewish and Christian traditions assert that Solomon wrote the poem as a young man, though many modern scholars dismiss the idea out of hand.
The book’s date of composition is also disputed. Its association with Solomon makes it unlikely that the book was written earlier than his reign, which ended in the year 931 B.C.E. Its inclusion in
The Septuagint means it could not have been written later than the 3rd Century B.C.E. Given the length of time it must have taken for a work to have been accepted as canonical, one could argue logically for a date closer to the 9th than to the 3rd Centuries before Christ. The fact is that we know for sure neither the author’s name nor the date of the work’s composition.
The work is a series of passionate love poems, reflecting the courtship and marriage of a man and a woman. Because of the way the English language deals with gender, it is often difficult to follow who is speaking to whom in an English translation. Latin, like the Romance languages derived from it, handles gender differently. This makes it easier to follow the back-and-forth of the speakers.
In all, there seem to be four speakers:
• The Woman, also referred to as the Wife, the Shulamite.
• The Daughters of Jerusalem, young women who are contemporaries of the Woman.
• The Man, also referred to as the King and the Groom.
• The Friends, associates of the Man and Woman.
Scholars have debated through the centuries the meaning of the book. On an obvious level, it is about love between a woman and a man. That fact troubled later interpreters, shaped by the disdain for human sexuality that long shaped Jewish and Christian traditions. Jewish interpreters tended to see the book as an allegory for the relationship between God and Israel.
(The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version, Michael Coogan, editor, Oxford Press, Oxford, 2001, pg. 959.) For Christians, the Man came to represent Christ or God, and the Woman the Church or the individual soul.
(Ibid.)
It is not surprising that many interpreters refused to accept the literal interpretation of the book.
The Song of Songs is sexually graphic in ways that even jaded, modern readers are reluctant to discuss. It contains overt references to the woman’s breasts (4:10), as well as “
the joints of [her] thighs” (7:1). It mentions the location of her mother’s first experience of intercourse (8:5). There are subtler allusions as well, which the reader will have to discover for herself. Yet the love between the characters is as chaste and pure as it is passionate and graphic. “
All my fruits, old and new, I saved for you,” the Woman assures the Man in 7:14.
Given its vivid content, why is the book in the Bible? In A. S. Herbert’s words:
"It is part of the glory of Israel’s faith that it saw human life in all its aspects as having a full and rightful place in the divine purpose. Human love and marriage are part of God’s will for man; through love’s fulfillment in marriage human nature reaches the greatest heights of earthly experience. The horrors of man’s perversion of love must be continually challenged by its true expression as God gave it to man, and as it is celebrated in [The Song of Songs]." (Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, Matthew Black, editor, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, 1962, pg. 469.)
The book is one of the most striking and brilliant literary works in the Old Testament canon. Whether it describes love physically or allegorically, few readers doubt the passion and inspiration of its composition. Rabbi Akiba, whose life and work helped provide the model for rabbinical Judaism after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 C.E., said,
“ . . . all the ages are not worth the day on which the Song of Songs was given to Israel; for all the writings are holy, but the Song of Songs is the Holy of Holies.” (Ibid. pg.468.)
Click here for a more detailed introduction to The Song of Songs at Bible.org.
Chapter One
The Woman
Song of Solomon 1:1 osculetur me osculo oris sui quia meliora sunt ubera tua vino
Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth,
because your breasts are better than wine.
1:2 fraglantia unguentis optimis oleum effusum nomen tuum ideo adulescentulae dilexerunt te
The passion of prime scents, your name is squeezed oil.
Therefore young women loved you.
1:3 trahe me post te curremus introduxit me rex in cellaria sua exultabimus et laetabimur in te memores uberum tuorum super vinum recti diligunt te
The Woman
Take me!
The Daughters of Jerusalem
We will run after you!
The Woman
The king brought me into his cellar.
The Daughters of Jerusalem
We will exult and be happy in you, remembering your breasts more than wine.
The upright love you.
The Woman
1:4 nigra sum sed formonsa filiae Hierusalem sicut tabernacula Cedar sicut pelles Salomonis
I am black but beautiful, daughters of Jerusalem,
like the tabernacle of Cedar, like the pelts of Solomon.
1:5 nolite me considerare quod fusca sim quia decoloravit me sol filii matris meae pugnaverunt contra me posuerunt me custodem in vineis vineam meam non custodivi
Don’t judge me because I am darkened, because the sun discolored me.
My mother’s sons fought against me and made me keeper of a vineyard.
I have not tended my vine.
1:6 indica mihi quem diligit anima mea ubi pascas ubi cubes in meridie ne vagari incipiam per greges sodalium tuorum
Tell me, you who delight my soul, where do you feed your flock?
Where do you eat, where do you lie down at midday,
so I do not begin to wander after the flocks of your companions?
The Man
1:7 si ignoras te o pulchra inter mulieres egredere et abi post vestigia gregum et pasce hedos tuos iuxta tabernacula pastorum
If you don’t know yourself, O beautiful among women,
go out and pass beyond the steps of the flock,
and graze your young goats beside the shepherds’ tabernacle.
1:8 equitatui meo in curribus Pharaonis adsimilavi te amica mea
My love, I compared you to my horsemen
in Pharaoh’s chariots!
1:9 pulchrae sunt genae tuae sicut turturis collum tuum sicut monilia
Your cheeks are lovely, like turtle-doves,
your neck like a necklace.
1:10 murenulas aureas faciemus tibi vermiculatas argento
We will make golden bridles for you,
studded with silver.
The Woman
1:11 dum esset rex in accubitu suo nardus mea dedit odorem suum
While the king reclined to eat,
my scented oil gave its odor.
1:12 fasciculus murrae dilectus meus mihi inter ubera mea commorabitur
My lover to me is like a little bundle of myrrh;
he will linger between my breasts.
1:13 botrus cypri dilectus meus mihi in vineis Engaddi
A cluster of grapes from Cyprus is my lover to me,
in the vines of En-geddi.
The Man
1:14 ecce tu pulchra es amica mea ecce tu pulchra oculi tui columbarum
Look! You are beautiful, my love!
Look! You are beautiful!
Your eyes are like doves!
The Woman
1:15 ecce tu pulcher es dilecte mi et decorus lectulus noster floridus
Look! You are handsome and gorgeous, my love!
Our bed is blossoming!
1:16 tigna domorum nostrarum cedrina laquearia nostra cypressina
The beams of our house are cedar,
our rafters of cypress.
Chapter Two
The Woman
Song of Solomon 2:1 ego flos campi et lilium convallium
I am a flower of the field,
and a lily of the valleys.
The Man
2:2 sicut lilium inter spinas sic amica mea ian>nter filias
Like a lily among thorns,
so is my love among young women.
The Woman
2:3 sicut malum inter ligna silvarum sic dilectus meus inter filios sub umbra illius quam desideraveram sedi et fructus eius dulcis gutturi meo
Like an apple among the trees of the forest, so is my lover among young men.
I sat under his shadow, whom I desired, and his fruit was sweet to my throat.
2:4 introduxit me in cellam vinariam ordinavit in me caritatem
He brought me into the wine cellar.
He commanded love in me.
2:5 fulcite me floribus stipate me malis quia amore langueo
Prop me up with flowers!
Press me with apples, because I am sick with love!
2:6 leva eius sub capite meo et dextera illius amplexabitur me
His left hand is under my head
and his right will caress me.
The Man
2:7 adiuro vos filiae Hierusalem per capreas cervosque camporum ne suscitetis neque evigilare faciatis dilectam quoadusque ipsa velit
I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes and stags of the field:
do not arouse or work to awaken delight until she chooses.
The Woman
2:8 vox dilecti mei ecce iste venit saliens in montibus transiliens colles
The voice of my lover!
Look! He comes, leaping in the mountains, crossing the hills!
2:9 similis est dilectus meus capreae hinuloque cervorum en ipse stat post parietem nostrum despiciens per fenestras prospiciens per cancellos
My lover is like a roe or a young deer.
See! He himself stands behind our wall,
looking through the windows, glancing through the shutters,
2:10 et dilectus meus loquitur mihi surge propera amica mea formonsa mea et veni
and my lover speaks to me.
The Man
Rise up! Hurry, my love, my beauty, and come!
2:11 iam enim hiemps transiit imber abiit et recessit
for winter is already past,
the storm has passed and ebbed away!
2:12 flores apparuerunt in terra tempus putationis advenit vox turturis audita est in terra nostra
Flowers have appeared in the land.
The time of pruning has come.
The turtle dove’s voice is heard in our land.
2:13 ficus protulit grossos suos vineae florent dederunt odorem surge amica mea speciosa mea et veni
The fig tree has put forth its green figs,
vines flower, giving their odor!
Rise up, my love, my spectacular one, and come!
2:14 columba mea in foraminibus petrae in caverna maceriae ostende mihi faciem tuam sonet vox tua in auribus meis vox enim tua dulcis et facies tua decora
My dove is in the rooms of stone in the hollows of the wall.
Show me your face!
Let your voice sound in my ear,
for your voice is sweet and your face lovely!
2:15 capite nobis vulpes vulpes parvulas quae demoliuntur vineas nam vinea nostra floruit
Capture for us the foxes, the young foxes who destroy our vines,
now that our vine has flowered!
The Woman
2:16 dilectus meus mihi et ego illi qui pascitur inter lilia
My lover is mine and I am his,
who feeds among the lilies,
2:17 donec adspiret dies et inclinentur umbrae revertere similis esto dilecte mi capreae aut hinulo cervorum super montes Bether
until the day breathes and the shadows incline.
Come back!
My lover is like a roe or a young deer on the mountains of Bether.
Chapter Three
The Woman
Song of Solomon 3:1 in lectulo meo per noctes quaesivi quem diligit anima mea quaesivi illum et non inveni
In my bed at night I sought him whom my soul loves.
I sought him, but I did not find him!
3:2 surgam et circuibo civitatem per vicos et plateas quaeram quem diligit anima mea quaesivi illum et non inveni
I rose and walked through the city, down rows of houses and streets,
seeking him whom my soul loves.
I sought him, yet I did not find!
3:3 invenerunt me vigiles qui custodiunt civitatem num quem dilexit anima mea vidistis
The watchmen who keep the city found me.
Haven’t you seen him whom my soul loves?
3:4 paululum cum pertransissem eos inveni quem diligit anima mea tenui eum nec dimittam donec introducam illum in domum matris meae et in cubiculum genetricis meae
A little while after passing them,
I found him whom my soul loves.
I took him and did not let go
until I brought him to my mother’s house
and into the bed of her who gave birth to me.
The Man
3:5 adiuro vos filiae Hierusalem per capreas cervosque camporum ne suscitetis neque evigilare faciatis dilectam donec ipsa velit
I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes and stags of the field:
do not arouse or work to awaken delight until she chooses.
3:6 quae est ista quae ascendit per desertum sicut virgula fumi ex aromatibus murrae et turis et universi pulveris pigmentarii
Who is she who rises up in the desert, like a pillar of smoke
from aromatic myrrh, and incense, and all the powders of the fragrance sellers?
The Friends
3:7 en lectulum Salomonis sexaginta fortes ambiunt ex fortissimis Israhel
See! Around Solomon’s bed, sixty strong men walk,
from the mightiest of Israel,
3:8 omnes tenentes gladios et ad bella doctissimi uniuscuiusque ensis super femur suum propter timores nocturnos
all having swords and highly trained for war,
a weapon strapped to each one’s leg, because of night’s dangers.
3:9 ferculum fecit sibi rex Salomon de lignis Libani
King Solomon made a carriage for himself
of the wood of Lebanon.
3:10 columnas eius fecit argenteas reclinatorium aureum ascensum purpureum media caritate constravit propter filias Hierusalem
He made its columns of silver, its seat of gold, its frame of purple,
which he spread out, full of love, on account of Jerusalem’s daughters.
3:11 egredimini et videte filiae Sion regem Salomonem in diademate quo coronavit eum mater sua in die disponsionis illius et in die laetitiae cordis eius
Go and see, daughters of Zion,
King Solomon in the diadem with which his mother crowned him,
on the day of his coronation and on the day of joy of her heart.
Chapter Four
The Man
Song of Solomon 4:1 quam pulchra es amica mea quam pulchra es oculi tui columbarum absque eo quod intrinsecus latet capilli tui sicut greges caprarum quae ascenderunt de monte Galaad
How beautiful you are, my love! How beautiful you are!
Your eyes are like doves, apart from that which lies hidden within!
Your hair is like a flock of goats, which climb up from Mount Gilead!
4:2 dentes tui sicut greges tonsarum quae ascenderunt de lavacro omnes gemellis fetibus et sterilis non est inter eas
Your teeth are like flocks of shorn sheep, who climbed up from the washing,
all with twin lambs,
and none among them is sterile.
4:3 sicut vitta coccinea labia tua et eloquium tuum dulce sicut fragmen mali punici ita genae tuae absque eo quod intrinsecus latet
Your lips are like a scarlet band, and your speech sweet!
As a piece of pomegranate, so are your cheeks,
apart from that which lies hidden within!
4:4 sicut turris David collum tuum quae aedificata est cum propugnaculis mille clypei pendent ex ea omnis armatura fortium
Your neck is like the tower of David, which is built with bulwarks.
A thousands shields hang from it, each one weapons of the mighty.
4:5 duo ubera tua sicut duo hinuli capreae gemelli qui pascuntur in liliis
Your two breasts are like two young deer,
twins who graze among the lilies.
4:6 donec adspiret dies et inclinentur umbrae vadam ad montem murrae et ad collem turis
Until the day breathes and shadows incline,
let me go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of incense.
4:7 tota pulchra es amica mea et macula non est in te
You are totally beautiful, my love!
There is no flaw in you!
4:8 veni de Libano sponsa veni de Libano veni coronaberis de capite Amana de vertice Sanir et Hermon de cubilibus leonum de montibus pardorum
Come from Lebanon, my bride!
Come from Lebanon! Come!
You will be crowned from the top of Amana,
from the heights of Sanir and Hermon,
from the lion’s dens, from the leopards’ mountains!
4:9 vulnerasti cor meum soror mea sponsa vulnerasti cor meum in uno oculorum tuorum et in uno crine colli tui
You wounded my heart, my sister, wife!
You wounded my heart, by one of your eyes alone,
by one lock from your neck!
4:10 quam pulchrae sunt mammae tuae soror mea sponsa pulchriora ubera tua vino et odor unguentorum tuorum super omnia aromata
How beautiful are your nipples, my sister, wife –
your breasts more beautiful than wine,
and the odor of your perfume surpasses all aromas!
4:11 favus distillans labia tua sponsa mel et lac sub lingua tua et odor vestimentorum tuorum sicut odor turis
Your lips are a dripping honeycomb, wife!
Honey and milk are under your tongue,
your garments’ odor like the odor of incense!
4:12 hortus conclusus soror mea sponsa hortus conclusus fons signatus
An enclosed garden is my sister, wife,
an enclosed garden, a sealed spring!
4:13 emissiones tuae paradisus malorum punicorum cum pomorum fructibus cypri cum nardo
Your emissions are a paradise of pomegranates, with the fruits of an orchard,
of the henna-tree, with scented oil,
4:14 nardus et crocus fistula et cinnamomum cum universis lignis Libani murra et aloe cum omnibus primis unguentis
scented oil and saffron flower and cinnamon,
with all the woods of Lebanon, myrrh and aloes,
with all the finest perfumes,
4:15 fons hortorum puteus aquarum viventium quae fluunt impetu de Libano
a garden spring, a well of living waters,
which flow from the heights of Lebanon,
4:16 surge aquilo et veni auster perfla hortum meum et fluant aromata illius
Rise, North Wind, and come, South Wind!
Blow through my garden, and let its aromas flow!
Chapter Five
The Woman
Song of Solomon 5:1 veniat dilectus meus in hortum suum et comedat fructum pomorum suorum veni in hortum meum soror mea sponsa messui murram meam cum aromatibus meis comedi favum cum melle meo bibi vinum meum cum lacte meo comedite amici bibite et inebriamini carissimi
Let my love come into his garden
and eat the fruit of his apple trees!
The Man
Come to my garden, my sister, wife!
I have trimmed my myrrh, with all my aromatic spices,
I have eaten honeycomb with my honey,
I have drunk my wine with my milk!
Eat, friends!
Drink and be drunk, dearly loved!
The Woman
5:2 ego dormio et cor meum vigilat vox dilecti mei pulsantis aperi mihi soror mea amica mea columba mea inmaculata mea quia caput meum plenum est rore et cincinni mei guttis noctium
I sleep and my heart watches
for the voice of my love calling.
The Man
Open to me, my sister, my lover, my flawless dove!
My head is covered with dew,
my locks with the drops of night!
The Woman
5:3 expoliavi me tunica mea quomodo induar illa lavi pedes meos quomodo inquinabo illos
I have taken off my tunic! How will I put it back on?
I have washed my feet! How will I dirty them again?
5:4 dilectus meus misit manum suam per foramen et venter meus intremuit ad tactum eius
My lover put his hand through the opening
and my womb trembled at his touch.
5:5 surrexi ut aperirem dilecto meo manus meae stillaverunt murra digiti mei pleni murra probatissima
I raised up that I might open to my lover!
My hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers full of costliest myrrh.
5:6 pessulum ostii aperui dilecto meo at ille declinaverat atque transierat anima mea liquefacta est ut locutus est quaesivi et non inveni illum vocavi et non respondit mihi
I opened the latch-key to my beloved, but he had turned aside and gone.
My soul melted that he spoke.
I looked, but did not find him.
I called, but he didn’t answer me.
5:7 invenerunt me custodes qui circumeunt civitatem percusserunt me vulneraverunt me tulerunt pallium meum mihi custodes murorum
The guards who walk around the city found me.
They beat and wounded me.
The keepers of the wall took my veil from me.
5:8 adiuro vos filiae Hierusalem si inveneritis dilectum meum ut nuntietis ei quia amore langueo
I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my lover,
that you tell it, because I am sick with love!
The Daughters of Jerusalem
5:9 qualis est dilectus tuus ex dilecto o pulcherrima mulierum qualis est dilectus tuus ex dilecto quia sic adiurasti nos
What is your lover like among the loved, O most beautiful of women?
What is your lover like among the loved, because you made us swear thus?
The Woman
5:10 dilectus meus candidus et rubicundus electus ex milibus
My lover is radiant and ruddy,
chosen from a thousand.
5:11 caput eius aurum optimum comae eius sicut elatae palmarum nigrae quasi corvus
His head is finest gold;
his hair like the branches of the palm tree, black like a crow.
5:12 oculi eius sicut columbae super rivulos aquarum quae lacte sunt lotae et resident iuxta fluenta plenissima
His eyes are like milk-washed doves over streams of water,
who live beside plentiful rivers.
5:13 genae illius sicut areolae aromatum consitae a pigmentariis labia eius lilia distillantia murram primam
His cheeks are like courtyards of aromatic spice, sown by the fragrance sellers;
his lips like lilies dripping finest myrrh.
5:14 manus illius tornatiles aureae plenae hyacinthis venter eius eburneus distinctus sapphyris
His hands are like lathed gold, full of hyacinths;
his stomach like ivory inlaid with sapphires.
5:15 crura illius columnae marmoreae quae fundatae sunt super bases aureas species eius ut Libani electus ut cedri
His legs are like marble columns which are built on bases of gold;
his appearance like Lebanon, choice like cedars.
5:15 guttur illius suavissimum et totus desiderabilis talis est dilectus meus et iste est amicus meus filiae Hierusalem
His throat is most smooth and totally desirable.
My lover is like this,
and this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem!
The Daughters of Jerusalem
5:17 quo abiit dilectus tuus o pulcherrima mulierum quo declinavit dilectus tuus et quaeremus eum tecum
Where did your lover go, O most beautiful of women?
Where did your lover turn aside, and we will seek him with you?
Chapter Six
The Woman
Song of Solomon 6:1 dilectus meus descendit in hortum suum ad areolam aromatis ut pascatur in hortis et lilia colligat
My lover came down into his garden, to the courtyard of aromatic spices,
that he might dine in the garden and gather lilies.
6:2 ego dilecto meo et dilectus meus mihi qui pascitur inter lilia
I am my lover’s and my lover is mine,
who feeds among the lilies!
The Man
6:3 pulchra es amica mea suavis et decora sicut Hierusalem terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata
My love is beautiful, soft and elegant like Jerusalem,
overwhelming like the battle line of an army.
6:4 averte oculos tuos a me quia ipsi me avolare fecerunt capilli tui sicut grex caprarum quae apparuerunt de Galaad
Turn your eyes away from me, because they made me flee!
Your hair is like a herd of deer, which appeared from Gilead.
6:5 dentes tui sicut grex ovium quae ascenderunt de lavacro omnes gemellis fetibus et sterilis non est in eis
Your teeth are like a flock of sheep, who climb up from the washing,
all with twin kids, and no sterile one is among them.
6:6 sicut cortex mali punici genae tuae absque occultis tuis
Like the skin of a pomegranate are her cheeks,
apart from your hidden charms.
6:7 sexaginta sunt reginae et octoginta concubinae et adulescentularum non est numerus
There are sixty queens, eighty concubines,
and numberless young women.
6:8 una est columba mea perfecta mea una est matris suae electa genetrici suae viderunt illam filiae et beatissimam praedicaverunt reginae et concubinae et laudaverunt eam
Yet my dove, my perfect one is unique, only child of her mother
chosen of the one who birthed her.
The daughters saw her
and proclaimed her most blessed.
Even queens and concubines praised her!
6:9 quae est ista quae progreditur quasi aurora consurgens pulchra ut luna electa ut sol terribilis ut acies ordinata
Who is she who comes forth like the dawn arising,
beautiful like the moon, chosen like the sun,
fierce like the battle line of an army?
6:10 descendi ad hortum nucum ut viderem poma convallis ut inspicerem si floruisset vinea et germinassent mala punica
I came down to my nut garden, to see the apples of the valley,
to find out if the vine flourished and the pomegranate budded.
6:11 nescivi anima mea conturbavit me propter quadrigas Aminadab
I did not know.
My soul troubled me, because of the chariots of Aminadab.
The Friends
6:12 revertere revertere Sulamitis revertere revertere ut intueamur te
Come back, come back, Shulamite!
Come back, come back, that we may admire you!
Chapter Seven
The Man
Song of Solomon 7:1 quid videbis in Sulamiten nisi choros castrorum quam pulchri sunt gressus tui in calciamentis filia principis iunctura feminum tuorum sicut monilia quae fabricata sunt manu artificis
Why would you stare at the Shulamite, if not like a dance of armies?
How beautiful are your steps in sandals, prince’s daughter –
your thighs’ joints like a necklace, which was made by the hands of an artisan!
7:2 umbilicus tuus crater tornatilis numquam indigens poculis venter tuus sicut acervus tritici vallatus liliis
Your navel is like a beautifully-crafted bowl, never lacking cups!
Your stomach is like a pile of wheat, surrounded by lilies!
7:3 duo ubera tua sicut duo hinuli gemelli capreae
Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a deer.
7:4 collum tuum sicut turris eburnea oculi tui sicut piscinae in Esebon quae sunt in porta filiae multitudinis nasus tuus sicut turris Libani quae respicit contra Damascum
Your neck is like a tower of ivory!
Your eyes are like pools in Heshbon, which are in the gate of the daughter of a multitude.
Your nose is like the towers of Lebanon, which watch toward Damascus!
7:5 caput tuum ut Carmelus et comae capitis tui sicut purpura regis vincta canalibus
Your head is like Carmel,
and the hair of your head like the purple cloth of kings, bound in channels.
7:6 quam pulchra es et quam decora carissima in deliciis
How beautiful you are,
and how lovely my most beloved in delights!
7:7 statura tua adsimilata est palmae et ubera tua botris
Your height is like palm trees,
and your breasts like grape clusters.
7:8 dixi ascendam in palmam adprehendam fructus eius et erunt ubera tua sicut botri vineae et odor oris tui sicut malorum
I said, I will climb up into my palm tree!
I will pick its fruit,
and your breasts will be like clusters of grapes from the vine,
and the fragrance of your mouth like apples!
The Woman
7:9 guttur tuum sicut vinum optimum dignum dilecto meo ad potandum labiisque et dentibus illius ruminandum
Your throat is like the finest wine, worthy for my lover to drink,
and for his lips and teeth to taste!
7:10 ego dilecto meo et ad me conversio eius
I go to my lover,
and his turning is to me!
7:11 veni dilecte mi egrediamur in agrum commoremur in villis
Come, my love!
Let us go into the field!
Let us stay in the villages!
7:12 mane surgamus ad vineas videamus si floruit vinea si flores fructus parturiunt si floruerunt mala punica ibi dabo tibi ubera mea
Let us rise up early
and go to the vineyards!
Let us see if the vine blossoms,
if the flowers give forth fruit,
if the pomegranate blooms!
There, I will give my breasts to you!
7:13 mandragorae dederunt odorem in portis nostris omnia poma nova et vetera dilecte mi servavi tibi
The mandrakes gave their scent in our doorways!
All fruits, old and new, I saved for you, my beloved!
Chapter Eight
The Woman
Song of Solomon 8:1 quis mihi det te fratrem meum sugentem ubera matris meae ut inveniam te foris et deosculer et iam me nemo despiciat
Who may give you to me as my brother, sucking the breasts of my mother,
so that if I find you outside and kiss you, no one now will despise me?
8:2 adprehendam te et ducam in domum matris meae ibi me docebis et dabo tibi poculum ex vino condito et mustum malorum granatorum meorum
I will take you and lead you to my mother’s house!
There you will teach me
and I will give you a cup of aged wine,
and new wine from my pomegranates.
8:3 leva eius sub capite meo et dextera illius amplexabitur me
His left hand will be under my head
and his right will caress me.
The Man
8:4 adiuro vos filiae Hierusalem ne suscitetis et evigilare faciatis dilectam donec ipsa velit
I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem:
do not arouse or work to awaken delight until she chooses.
8:5 quae est ista quae ascendit de deserto deliciis affluens et nixa super dilectum suum sub arbore malo suscitavi te ibi corrupta est mater tua ibi violata est genetrix tua
Who is she who comes up from the desert,
flowing with delights and leaning on her lover?
Under an apple tree I aroused you.
There your mother was corrupted;
there she who birthed you was entered sexually.
8:6 pone me ut signaculum super cor tuum ut signaculum super brachium tuum quia fortis est ut mors dilectio dura sicut inferus aemulatio lampades eius lampades ignis atque flammarum
Place me as a seal over your heart, and a seal over your arm,
because delight is as strong as death, jealousy as hard as destruction!
Its lamps are lamps of flame and even fire.
8:7 aquae multae non poterunt extinguere caritatem nec flumina obruent illam si dederit homo omnem substantiam domus suae pro dilectione quasi nihil despicient eum
Many waters cannot extinguish love,
nor can rivers overwhelm it.
If a man were to give all the substance of his house for delight,
they will despise it as nothing.
The Friends
8:8 soror nostra parva et ubera non habet quid faciemus sorori nostrae in die quando adloquenda est
Our sister is little and has no breasts.
What shall we do for our sister on the day when she is spoken for?
8:9 si murus est aedificemus super eum propugnacula argentea si ostium est conpingamus illud tabulis cedrinis
If she is a wall, let us build a bulwark of silver over her.
If she is a doorway let us join it with cedar boards.
The Woman
8:10 ego murus et ubera mea sicut turris ex quo facta sum coram eo quasi pacem repperiens
I am a wall and my breasts like towers,
from which fact I am before him like one finding peace.
The Friends
8:11 vinea fuit Pacifico in ea quae habet populos tradidit eam custodibus vir adfert pro fructu eius mille argenteos
The Peaceful One had a vineyard in that land which has people.
He handed it over to the keepers.
A man brings a thousand pieces of silver for its fruit.
The Man
8:12 vinea mea coram me est mille tui Pacifice et ducenti his qui custodiunt fructus eius
My vineyard is before me.
A thousand to you, Peaceful One,
and two hundred to those who keep its fruit.
8:13 quae habitas in hortis amici auscultant fac me audire vocem tuam
You who live in the garden, friends are listening!
Make me hear your voice!
The Woman
8:14 fuge dilecte mi et adsimilare capreae hinuloque cervorum super montes aromatum
Flee, my lover,
and be like the roe and the young deer over the mountains of spices.