Canticum Canticorum 8
1 quis mihi det te fratrem meum sugentem ubera matris meae ut inveniam te foris et deosculer et iam me nemo despiciat
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 adprehendam te et ducam in domum matris meae ibi me docebis et dabo tibi poculum ex vino condito et mustum malorum granatorum meorum
[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 leva eius sub capite meo et dextera illius amplexabitur me
You would put your left arm under my head and with your right arm hold me close.
4 adiuro vos filiae Hierusalem ne suscitetis et evigilare faciatis dilectam donec ipsa velit
[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 quae est ista quae ascendit de deserto deliciis affluens et nixa super dilectum suum sub arbore malo suscitavi te ibi corrupta est mater tua ibi violata est genetrix tua
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 pone me ut signaculum super cor tuum ut signaculum super brachium tuum quia fortis est ut mors dilectio dura sicut inferus aemulatio lampades eius lampades ignis atque flammarum (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 aquae multae non poterunt extinguere caritatem nec flumina obruent illam si dederit homo omnem substantiam domus suae pro dilectione quasi nihil despicient eum
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 soror nostra parva et ubera non habet quid faciemus sorori nostrae in die quando adloquenda est
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 si murus est aedificemus super eum propugnacula argentea si ostium est conpingamus illud tabulis cedrinis
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 ego murus et ubera mea sicut turris ex quo facta sum coram eo quasi pacem repperiens
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 vinea fuit Pacifico in ea quae habet populos tradidit eam custodibus vir adfert pro fructu eius mille argenteos
[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 vinea mea coram me est mille tui Pacifice et ducenti his qui custodiunt fructus eius
[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 quae habitas in hortis amici auscultant fac me audire vocem tuam
You are staying in the gardens and my friends are listening to your voice; [so] allow me to hear it, [too.]
14 fuge dilecte mi et adsimilare capreae hinuloque cervorum super montes aromatum
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.
