Song of Solomon 8
1 Oh that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! [when] I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, and none would 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 would lead thee, [and] bring thee into my mother’s house, who would instruct me; I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine, of the juice of my pomegranate.
[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 [should be] under my head, and his right hand should 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 ye stir not up, nor awaken love, until it 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 wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I awakened thee: there thy mother was in travail with thee, there was she in travail that brought thee forth.
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 Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the flashes thereof are flashes of fire, a very flame of the LORD. (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 love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, he would utterly be contemned.
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 We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?
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, we will build upon her a turret of silver: and if she be a door, we will enclose her with boards of 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 like the towers [thereof]: then was I in his eyes as one that found 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 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring 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, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, shalt have the thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred.
[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 companions hearken for thy voice: cause me to hear it.
You are staying in the gardens and my friends are listening to your voice; [so] allow me to hear it, [too.]
14 Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of 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.
