Verse | Hebrew text | A translation | What shall we say? |
ה | מִי זֹאת עֹלָה מִן הַמִּדְבָּר מִתְרַפֶּקֶת עַל דּוֹדָהּ תַּחַת הַתַּפּוּחַ עוֹרַרְתִּיךָ שָׁמָּה חִבְּלַתְךָ אִמֶּךָ שָׁמָּה חִבְּלָה יְלָדַתְךָ | who is this coming up from the desert leaning on her beloved? Under the apricot tree I aroused you there your mother laboured with you there she laboured, gave you birth | In the first desert passage, it is the bridegroom who emerges. Here he emerges with the bride who has shared the cost. |
ו | שִׂימֵנִי כַחוֹתָם עַל לִבֶּךָ כַּחוֹתָם עַל זְרוֹעֶךָ כִּי עַזָּה כַמָּוֶת אַהֲבָה קָשָׁה כִשְׁאוֹל קִנְאָה רְשָׁפֶיהָ רִשְׁפֵּי אֵשׁ שַׁלְהֶבֶתְיָה | Set me as a seal upon your heart as a seal upon your arm for strong as death is love jealousy as hard as Sheol its coals are coals of the flaming fire of יָה | The flaming fire gives away the story. יָה has been in this work all along. |
ז | מַיִם רַבִּים לֹא יוּכְלוּ לְכַבּוֹת אֶת הָאַהֲבָה וּנְהָרוֹת לֹא יִשְׁטְפוּהָ אִם יִתֵּן אִישׁ אֶת כָּל הוֹן בֵּיתוֹ בָּאַהֲבָה בּוֹז יָבוּזוּ לוֹ ס | many waters are not able to quench such love nor will torrents drown it if anyone would give all the substance of his house for love they will surely despise him | John Ireland's anthem is a favorite among many choirs (I could not find a recording online). the target of this despising בּוֹז בּוֹז is to come. Repeating the verb, infinitive + conjugated, is common for intensifying the meaning. |
ח | אָחוֹת לָנוּ קְטַנָּה וְשָׁדַיִם אֵין לָהּ מַה נַּעֲשֶׂה לַאֲחֹתֵנוּ בַּיּוֹם שֶׁיְּדֻבַּר בָּהּ | a little sister we have and her breasts, they are not much What will we do for our sister on the day that she is spoken for? | |
ט | אִם חוֹמָה הִיא נִבְנֶה עָלֶיהָ טִירַת כָּסֶף וְאִם דֶּלֶת הִיא נָצוּר עָלֶיהָ לוּחַ אָרֶז | If she is a wall we will build on it a battlement of silver. And if she is a door we will enclose her with boards of cedar, | |
י | אֲנִי חוֹמָה וְשָׁדַי כַּמִּגְדָּלוֹת אָז הָיִיתִי בְעֵינָיו כְּמוֹצְאֵת שָׁלוֹם | I am a wall and my breasts as towers Then I became in his eyes as finding peace | |
יא | כֶּרֶם הָיָה לִשְׁלֹמֹה בְּבַעַל הָמוֹן נָתַן אֶת הַכֶּרֶם לַנֹּטְרִים אִישׁ יָבִא בְּפִרְיוֹ אֶלֶף כָּסֶף | a vineyard, Solomon had at Baal Hamon he gave the vineyard to the keepers someone brought for its fruit a thousand in silver | It seems to me this is a repudiation of e.g. Simony |
יב | כַּרְמִי שֶׁלִּי לְפָנָי הָאֶלֶף לְךָ שְׁלֹמֹה וּמָאתַיִם לְנֹטְרִים אֶת פִּרְיוֹ | My vineyard that is mine is before me The thousand is for you, Solomon and two hundred for the keepers of its fruit | There can be no abusive or even controlling power taken to control the vineyard. The phrase to you (masculine) occurs only twice. Here and in Song 2:14 |
יג | הַיּוֹשֶׁבֶת בַּגַּנִּים חֲבֵרִים מַקְשִׁיבִים לְקוֹלֵךְ הַשְׁמִיעִנִי | The one sitting in the gardens companions who pay attention your voices let me hear | |
יד | בְּרַח דּוֹדִי וּדְמֵה לְךָ לִצְבִי אוֹ לְעֹפֶר הָאַיָּלִים עַל הָרֵי בְשָׂמִים | O haste, my beloved and be like yourself the hosts of roe or the young of the goodly hart on the mountains of spices. | Revelation 22:20. The resumption of wordplay ends the song. |
For there is a language of flowers
for flowers are peculiarly, the poetry of Christ (Christopher Smart)
א ב ג ד ה ו ז ח ט י כ ל מ נ ס ע פ צ ק ר ש ת
Monday, 22 March 2010
The Song of Songs which is of Solomon - Part V
Because I divided the Song by the charges, Part V is short. It completes several themes. The desert, a rebuke of Solomon, and the hidden imagery of the animals that was missing from the charge in parts III and IV.
This series on the Song I | 2:4 II 3:5 | III | 5:10 IV 8:4 V
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