The Beloved’s Wish Song
Shulammith to Solomon:
8:1 Oh how I wish you were1
my little brother,2
Nursing at my mother’s breasts;
If I saw3
you outside, I could kiss you,
Surely4
no one would despise me!5
8:2 I would lead you and bring you to my mother’s house,
The one who taught me,6
I would give you7
spiced wine8
to drink,9
The nectar of my pomegranates.10
The Proper Awakening of Love
Shulammith to the Daughters of Jerusalem:
8:3 His left hand is under my head,
His right hand embraces me.
8:4 I admonish you, O maidens11
of Jerusalem:
“Do not12
arouse or awaken love until it pleases!”
Daughters of Jerusalem:
8:5 Who is this coming up from the desert,
Leaning on her beloved?
Shulammith to Solomon:
Under the apple tree I awakened you;13
There your mother conceived you,
There she who bore you was in travail of child-birth.14
The Nature of True Love
8:6 Set me like a cylinder-seal15
upon your heart,16
Like a signet17
on your arm.18
For love is strong as death,19
Passion20
is unrelenting21
as Sheol.
Its flames are ferocious,22
It is a mighty flame.23
8:7 Many waters cannot quench love;
Flood-waters24
cannot overflow it.
If someone were to offer all his possessions25
to buy love,26
They would be utterly despised.27
The Brother’s Plan and The Sister’s Reward
Shulammith’s Brothers:
8:8 We have a little sister,
And she has no breasts yet.
What shall we do for our sister
On the day when she is spoken for in marriage-betrothal?28
8:9 If she is a wall,29
We will build upon her a battlement30
of silver;
But if she is a door,
We will barricade31
her with boards32
of cedar.33
Shulammith:
8:10 I was a wall,
And my breasts were like fortress-towers.34
Then I found favor35
in his eyes.36
Solomon’s Vineyard and Shulammith’s “Vineyard”
Shulammith:
8:11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-Hamon,
He leased out37
the vineyard to the keepers;
Each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver for its fruit.
8:12 My “vineyard,”38
which belongs to me,39
is at my disposal alone.40
The “thousand shekels” belong to you, O Solomon,
And two hundred shekels belong to the keepers for its “fruit.”
Epilogue: Solomon’s Request and Shulammith’s Invitation
Solomon to Shulammith:
8:13 O you who dwell in the gardens,
My companions are listening attentively41
for your voice,
Let me be the one to42
hear it!43
Shulammith to Solomon:
8:14 Make haste, my beloved!
Be like a gazelle or a young stag
Upon the mountains of spices.