Song of Solomon 8:4

4 I adjure you, {O maidens of Jerusalem}, do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases!

Song of Solomon 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Song of Solomon 8:4 In-Context

2 {I would surely bring you} to the house of my mother, {who would surely teach me}; {I would give you spiced wine to drink}, the {sweet wine} of my pomegranates.

3 His left [hand is] under my head, and his right [hand] embraces me.

4 I adjure you, {O maidens of Jerusalem}, do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases!

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}; there she who was in labor gave birth to 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.

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "O daughters of Jerusalem"
• [b] Or "Why must you ... before it pleases?"
• [c] 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"