The Lover:
5:1 I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride;
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice/balsam.
I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;
I have drunk my wine and my milk!
The Wedding Banquet: The Exhortation
The Friends (Wedding Guests):1
Eat, O friends, and drink!2
Eat your fill, O lovers!
The Trials of Love: Shulammith’s Dream of Losing Solomon
5:2 I was asleep but my mind3
was dreaming.4
Listen!5
My lover6
is “knocking”7
on my bedroom door
He said, “Open the door8
for me, my sister, my darling,
My dove, my flawless one!
My head is drenched with dew,
My hair with the dampness of the night.”
5:3 But I responded, “I have already taken off my robe-must I put
it on again?
I have already washed my feet—must I soil them again?”
5:4 My lover thrust his hand9
through10
the doorhole,11
And my feelings12
were stirred13
for him.
5:5 I arose to open for my beloved;
My hands dripped with myrrh,
My fingers flowed with myrrh
On the handles of the lock.
5:6 I opened for my beloved,
But my lover had already turned14
and gone away.15
I fell into despair16
when he departed.17
I looked for him but did not find him;
I called him but he did not answer.
5:7 The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city.
They beat me, they bruised me;
They took away my cloak, those watchmen on the walls!
The Triumph of Love: Shulammith Praises Solomon
Shulammith to the Maidens:
5:8 O maidens of Jerusalem, I charge you —
If you find my beloved, what will you tell him?
Tell him that I am love-sick!18
The Maidens to Shulammith:
5:9 Why is your beloved better than others, 19
O most beautiful of women?
Why is your beloved better than others,
That you would charge us in this manner?
Shulammith to the Maidens:
5:10 My beloved20
is dazzling21
and ruddy,22
He stands out23
in comparison to24
all other men.25
5:11 His head is like the most pure gold.26
His hair is curly27
and black like a raven.
5:12 His eyes are like doves by streams of water,
Washed in milk, mounted like jewels.
5:13 His cheeks are like garden-beds full of balsam
trees28
yielding29
perfume.
His lips are like lilies dripping with drops of myrrh.
5:14 His arms are like rods of gold set with chrysolite.
His abdomens30
are like polished ivory inlaid with sapphires.
5:15 His legs are like pillars of marble set on bases of pure gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as its cedars.
5:16 His mouth is very sweet;31
He is totally desirable.32
This is my beloved!
This is my companion,
O maidens of Jerusalem!