Song of Songs 8:4

4 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.

Song of Solomon 8:4 in Other Translations

4 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please.

4 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.

4 Promise me, O women of Jerusalem, not to awaken love until the time is right.

4 Oh, let me warn you, sisters in Jerusalem: Don't excite love, don't stir it up, until the time is ripe - and you're ready. The Chorus

Song of Songs 8:4 Meaning and Commentary

Song of Solomon 8:4

I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up,
nor awake [my] love, until he please.
] The phrase, "by the roes [and] by the hinds of the field", used in ( Song of Solomon 2:7 ) ( 3:5 ) ; is here omitted; not as if the charge was less vehement and earnest here, for the form of expostulation seems rather to express more earnestness: for the words may be rendered, "why will ye", or "why should ye stir up, and why awake my love?" ^F9 being apprehensive they were about to do it; and which she dissuades from, as unreasonable and dangerous, and might be prejudicial to them as well as to her. The allusion is to virgins, that sung songs at marriages; one in the evening, lulling to sleep; and another in the morning, awaking and stirring up from it ^F11.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F9 (hm) , "cur", Montanus, Schmidt.
F11 Vid. Theocrit. Idyll. 18.

Song of Songs 8:4 In-Context

2 I would lead you and bring you to my mother’s house— she who has taught me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the nectar of my pomegranates.

3 His left arm is under my head and his right arm embraces me.

4 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.

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

6 Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.

Cross References

• 1. Song of Songs 2:7; S Song of Songs 3:5