Song of Solomon 8
1 Who shall give thee to me for my brother, sucking the breasts of my mother, that I may find thee without, and kiss thee, and now no man may despise me?
I wish that you were my brother who (nursed at/drank milk from) my mother’s breasts [when you were a baby], [because, if you were my brother], if I saw you when you were outside [the house], I could kiss you, and no one would say that my doing that was wrong.
2 I will take hold of thee, and bring thee Into my mother’s house: there thou shalt teach me, and I will give thee a cup of spiced wine and new wine of my pomegranates.
[No one would object if] I led you to my mother’s house, to where my mother, who taught me [many things], lives. I would like to take you to my mother’s house because I would [like to make love to you] [EUP], [and that would be as delightful as] [MET] juice [squeezed] from pomegranates.
3 His left hand under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me.
You would put your left arm under my head and with your right arm hold me close.
4 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you stir not up, nor awake my love till she please.
[I would say to] you women of Jerusalem, “Solemnly promise me that you will not disturb us while we are making love until we are ready to quit.”
5 Who is this that cometh up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I raised thee up: there thy mother was corrupted, there she was defloured that bore thee.
Who is that [woman] who is coming up from the desert, (leaning on/clinging close to) the man who loves her? I woke you up [when you were] under the apple tree at the place where your mother conceived you, which is the same place where she gave birth to you.
6 Put me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy as hard as hell, the lamps thereof are fire and flames. (Sheol h7585)
Keep me [close to you], like [SIM] a seal on your heart, [or] like [SIM] a bracelet on your arm. Our love [for each other] is as powerful as death, it is as enduring as the grave. [It is as though] our love [for each other] bursts into flames and burns like a hot fire. (Sheol h7585)
7 Many waters cannot quench charity, neither can the floods drown it: if a man should give all the substance of his house for love, he shall despise it as nothing.
Nothing can extinguish our love [for each other], not [even] a flood. If a man tried to cause a woman to love him by saying he would give her everything that is in his house, she would refuse.
8 Our sister is little, and hath no breasts. What shall we do to our sister in the day when she is to be spoken to?
We have a younger sister, and her breasts are still small. So this is [RHQ] what we should do for her on the day that we promise [some young man] that he can marry her:
9 If she be a wall: let us build upon it bulwarks of silver: if she be a door, let us join it together with boards or cedar.
If [her chest is flat like] [MET] a wall, we will [decorate it by] putting silver [jewels that are like] [MET] towers on it. Or, if she is [flat like] [MET] a door, we will decorate her with bits/pieces of cedar wood.
10 I am a wall: and my breasts are as a tower since I am become in his presence as one finding peace.
My [chest was previously flat like] [MET] a wall, [but now] my breasts are [big] like [SIM] towers. So the one who loves me is delighted with me.
11 The peaceable had a vineyard, in that which hath people: he let out the same to keepers, every man bringeth for the fruit thereof a thousand pieces of silver.
[King] Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-Hamon, and he rented it to people for them to take care of it. He required each one to pay him 1,000 pieces of silver [each year] for the grapes [that they harvested].
12 My vineyard is before me. A thousand are for thee, the peaceable, and two hundred for them that keep the fruit thereof.
[But my body is like] [MET] my own vineyard, and Solomon, I am giving it to you. [You do not need to pay me] 1,000 pieces of silver [to enjoy my body], but I will give 200 pieces of silver to those who take care of me [MET].
13 Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the friends hearken: make me hear thy voice.
You are staying in the gardens and my friends are listening to your voice; [so] allow me to hear it, [too.]
14 Flee away, O my beloved, and be like to the roe, and to the young hart upon the mountains of aromatical spices.
You who love me, come [to me] quickly; [run to me] [MET, EUP] as fast as [SIM] a gazelle or young deer runs across [MET] hills of spices.
