←Song of Solomon 4→BSB

In This Chapter 1 person 8 places

People

David 2

Places

    Solomon Admires His Bride

    The Bridegroom

    ⓘ The marriage is now complete. This poem is...

    • The marriage is now complete.

    • This poem is the first "descriptive poem" in the book (see also Song of Solomon 5:10–16; 6:4–6; 7:2–8). Scholars often call these poems by the Arabic term wasf (meaning "description"). These poems are similar to songs sung at modern Arabic weddings. They are preludes to sexual intimacy. In describing physical beauty, they often start at the head and move downward.
    1How beautiful you are, my darling—how very beautiful!Your eyes are like dovesbehind your veil.Your hair is like a flock of goatsstreaming down Mount Gilead.2Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheepcoming up from the washing;each has its twin,and not one of them is lost.3Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon,and your mouth is lovely.Your brow behind your veilis like a slice of pomegranate.4Your neck is like the tower of David,built with rows of stones;on it hang a thousand shields,all of them shields of warriors.5Your breasts are like two fawns,twins of a gazelle grazing among the lilies.
    6Before the day breaks and the shadows flee,I will make my wayto the mountain of myrrhand to the hill of frankincense.7You are altogether beautiful, my darling;in you there is no flaw.
    8Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,come with me from Lebanon!Descend† from the peak of Amana,from the summits of Senir and Hermon,from the dens of the lions,from the mountains of the leopards.9You have captured my heart,my sister, my bride;you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes,with one jewel of your neck.
    ⓘ wine...perfume...honey and milk: The woman is compared to...

    wine...perfume...honey and milk: The woman is compared to things that are smooth, sweet, and sensual. Her love and their kisses, surrounded by rich fragrances, bring the bridegroom close to ultimate joy.
    10How delightful is your love,my sister, my bride!Your love is much better than wine,and the fragrance of your perfume than all spices.11Your lips, my bride,drip sweetness like the honeycomb;honey and milk are under your tongue,and the fragrance of your garmentsis like the aroma of Lebanon.
    12My sister, my bride, you are a garden locked up,a spring enclosed, a fountain sealed.
    ⓘ The man now describes the most beautiful and...

    The man now describes the most beautiful and pleasurable place between his lover's thighs.
    13Your branches are an orchard of pomegranateswith the choicest of fruits, with henna and nard,14with nard and saffron, with calamus and cinnamon,with every kind of frankincense tree,with myrrh and aloes,with all the finest spices.15You are a garden spring,a well of fresh water†flowing down from Lebanon.

    The Bride

    16Awake, O north wind,and come, O south wind.Breathe on my gardenand spread the fragrance of its spices.Let my beloved come into his gardenand taste its choicest fruits.