Song of Songs 8:1-9

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.
2 I would lead you, I would take you, to the house of my mother[b] who taught me.[c] I would give you spiced wine to drink from my pomegranate juice.
3 His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.[d]
4 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you: do not stir up or awaken love until the appropriate time.[e]

Young Women of Jerusalem

5 Who is this[f] coming up from the wilderness, leaning on the one she loves? I awakened you under the apricot tree.[g] There your mother conceived you; there she conceived and gave you birth.

Woman

6 Set 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 flames[j]- the fiercest of all.[k]
7 Mighty waters cannot extinguish love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If a man were to give all his wealth[l] for love, it would be utterly scorned.

Brothers

8 Our sister is young; she has no breasts. What will we do for our sister on the day she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall, we will build a silver parapet on it. If she is a door, we will enclose it with cedar planks.[m]

Song of Songs 8:1-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO SONG OF SOLOMON 8

This chapter begins with an ardent wish of the church for a free and intimate converse with Christ; declaring what she would do to him, and for him, should she have such an interview with him, So 8:1,2; what familiarity should be between them, So 8:3; charging the daughters of Jerusalem not to give him any disturbance, So 8:4. Upon which they inquire who she was that was in such a posture they saw her in, So 8:5; when the church, instead of giving them an answer, says some things concerning her beloved, on whom they saw her leaning; and makes some requests to him for more nearness to him, and manifestations of his love to her; urged from the strength her love and affections to him, which was invincible, So 8:6,7. Next follows a speech of the church about her little sister; expressing a concern for her, and what she would do to her and with her, So 8:8,9; and the answer of the little sister, declaring what she, was, and what she enjoyed, So 8:10; then the words of the church again, concerning her husband's vineyard; the place, keepers, and profit of it, So 8:11,12. And the chapter, and with it the Song, is concluded with a request of Christ to the church, that he might hear her voice, So 8:13; and with a petition of hers to him, that he would come quickly to her, So 8:14.

Footnotes 13

  • [a]. Lit Would that you were like a brother to me
  • [b]. Sg 3:4
  • [c]. LXX adds and into the chamber of the one who bore me
  • [d]. Sg 2:6
  • [e]. Sg 2:7; 3:5
  • [f]. Sg 3:6; 6:10
  • [g]. Sg 2:3
  • [h]. Sg 2:16; 6:3; 7:10
  • [i]. 1 Co 13:8; Rm 8:38-39
  • [j]. Dt 32:21-22
  • [k]. Or the blaze of the Lord
  • [l]. Lit all the wealth of his house
  • [m]. Vv. 8-9 may record what the girl's brothers (Sg 1:6) used to say; Gn 24:29; 34:6-18.
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