Song of Solomon 8:4

4 Women of Jerusalem, promise not to awaken or excite my feelings of love until it is ready.

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 lead you and bring you to my mother's house; she is the one who taught me. I would give you a drink of spiced wine from my pomegranates.

3 My lover's left hand is under my head, and his right arm holds me tight.

4 Women of Jerusalem, promise not to awaken or excite my feelings of love until it is ready.

5 Who is this coming out of the desert, leaning on her lover? I woke you under the apple tree where you were born; there your mother gave birth to you.

6 Put me like a seal on your heart, like a seal on your arm. Love is as strong as death; jealousy is as strong as the grave. Love bursts into flames and burns like a hot fire.