Song of Solomon 6
1 Whither hath thy beloved gone, O fair among women? Whither hath thy beloved turned, And we seek him with thee?
You who are the most beautiful of all the women, where has the one who loves you gone? [If you tell us] which [RHQ] direction he went, we will go with you to search for him.
2 My beloved went down to his garden, To the beds of the spice, To delight himself in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
The one who loves me has now come [to me, who am like] [MET, EUP] his garden, He has come to [enjoy my (charms/physical attractions) which are like] [MET, EUP] spices, to enjoy cuddling up to me [EUP, MET], and [kissing my lips, which are like] [MET] lilies.
3 I [am] my beloved's, and my beloved [is] mine, Who is delighting himself among the lilies.
I belong to the one who loves me, and the one who loves me belongs to me; he [enjoys kissing] my lips like [MET] [a shepherd enjoys] taking care of [his sheep].
4 Fair [art] thou, my friend, as Tirzah, Comely as Jerusalem, Awe-inspiring as bannered hosts.
My darling, you are beautiful, like [SIM] Tirzah [the capital city of Israel] and Jerusalem [the capital city of Judah are beautiful]; you are as exciting [MET] as a [group/battalion of] troops holding up their banners.
5 Turn round thine eyes from before me, Because they have made me proud. Thy hair [is] as a row of the goats, That have shone from Gilead,
Quit looking at me like that, because your eyes excite me very much. Your [long black] hair [moves from side to side] like [SIM] a flock of [black] goats [moving down the slopes] of Gilead [Mountain].
6 Thy teeth as a row of the lambs, That have come up from the washing, Because all of them are forming twins, And a bereaved one is not among them.
Your teeth are [very white] like [SIM] a flock of sheep [whose wool] has just been shorn and that have come up from being washed [in a stream]. You have all of your teeth; none of them is missing.
7 As the work of the pomegranate [is] thy temple behind thy veil.
Beneath your veil, your cheeks are like [SIM] the halves of a pomegranate.
8 Sixty are queens, and eighty concubines, And virgins without number.
Even if a king had 60 queens and 80 (concubines/slave wives) and more young women than anyone can count,
9 One is my dove, my perfect one, One she [is] of her mother, The choice one she [is] of her that bare her, Daughters saw, and pronounce her happy, Queens and concubines, and they praise her.
[none of them would be like] my dove, who is perfect, you who are your mother’s only daughter, whom your mother considers to be very precious. [Other] young women who see you say that you are fortunate, and the queens and concubines recognize that you [are very beautiful].
10 'Who [is] this that is looking forth as morning, Fair as the moon — clear as the sun, Awe-inspiring as bannered hosts?'
Who is [RHQ] this woman who is [as delightful] as [SIM] the dawn, as fair/delightful [to look at] as [the light of] the moon, as exciting as a [group/battalion of] troops holding up their banners?
11 Unto a garden of nuts I went down, To look on the buds of the valley, To see whither the vine had flourished, The pomegranates had blossomed —
I went down to some walnut trees to look at the new plants that were growing in the valley. I wanted to see if the grapevines had budded or if the pomegranate trees were blooming.
12 I knew not my soul, It made me — chariots of my people Nadib.
[But] before I realized it, my desire [to make love caused me to be as excited as] a prince riding in a chariot.
13 Return, return, O Shulammith! Return, return, and we look upon thee. What do ye see in Shulammith?
You who are the perfect one, come back [to us], in order that we may see you! Why do you want to look at this woman who is perfect, like [SIM] you like to watch two rows/lines of people dancing?
