| 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 love is strong as death jealousy 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 cannot quench love nor will torrents drown it if a man 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 | we have a little sister and her breasts, they are not much What will we do for our sister on the day 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 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 | Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon he gave the vineyard to keepers a man brought for its fruit a thousand pieces of 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 make me hear your voice | |
| יד | בְּרַח דּוֹדִי וּדְמֵה לְךָ לִצְבִי אוֹ לְעֹפֶר הָאַיָּלִים עַל הָרֵי בְשָׂמִים | Haste, my beloved and be as the host of roe or the young of the goodly hart on the mountains of spices. | Revelation 22:20. The resumption of wordplay ends the song. |
Monday, March 22, 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
Labels:
Five Megillot,
Song of Songs
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