The Bridegroom Enters the Garden
Study note
The bridegroom responds to the bride's invitation at the end of chapter 4. He has come into his garden and enjoyed all its delights. He then invites his friends to share in the celebration. Many scholars see this verse as the joyful heart of the entire poem, the moment when love is fully welcomed and shared.
1 I have entered my garden, my sister, my bride. I have gathered my myrrh and my spices. I have tasted my honeycomb and my honey. I have sipped my wine and my milk. Eat and drink deeply, dear friends! Be filled with love! I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.
The Bride's Dream of Loss
Study note
The bride describes a troubling dream or night vision. Her beloved knocks at the door, his hair wet with the night dew, but she hesitates to get up. By the time she opens the door, he has gone. She runs through the dark city searching for him. This time, the city watchmen are not kind. They beat her and take away her veil, which was a sign of her dignity. Desperate, she asks the daughters of Jerusalem to tell her beloved that she is lovesick for him. This scene shows that love can involve both longing and painful separation.
2 I had drifted off to sleep, but my heart was wide awake. Then I heard my beloved knocking, saying, "Please open for me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one! My hair is damp with dew and the moisture of the night." I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.
3 But I had already changed into my nightclothes. Did I want to get dressed again? I had already washed my feet. Did I want to get them dirty again? I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?
4 My beloved slid his hand through the opening, and deep inside, my heart raced for him. My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him.
5 I jumped up to open the door for him. Fragrant myrrh dripped from my hands and my fingers onto the bolt of the lock. I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.
6 I swung open the door for my beloved, but he was already gone. My heart dropped the moment I realized he had left. I called his name again and again, but there was no reply. I searched everywhere but could not find him. I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.
7 The watchmen patrolling the city found me and treated me roughly. They hit me and hurt me. The guards at the wall ripped off my veil. The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.
8 Please, daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my love anywhere, tell him this: I am sick with love for him. I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.
The Daughters Ask About the Beloved
Study note
The daughters of Jerusalem now ask the bride a question. They want to know what makes her beloved so special that she would search so desperately and suffer so much for him. This sets up the bride's beautiful description that follows.
9 What is so special about your beloved compared to anyone else, most beautiful of women? Why is he so extraordinary that you would beg us like this? What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?
The Bride Describes Her Beloved
Study note
The bride gives a dazzling description of her beloved from head to toe. Just as the bridegroom praised her beauty in chapter 4, she now praises his. His skin glows with health. His hair is dark as a raven. His eyes are like doves by streams of water. His body is compared to precious metals, ivory, and sapphires. His legs are like marble pillars set on gold bases. His appearance is as majestic as the mountains of Lebanon and its great cedar trees. She ends by calling him her beloved and her friend, the deepest form of praise.
10 My beloved is radiant and full of life. He would stand out in a crowd of ten thousand. My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.
11 His head gleams like the purest gold. His hair falls in dark, wavy curls, black as a raven's wing. His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves resting beside gently flowing streams. They look as if they have been washed in milk, set perfectly in place. His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set.
13 His cheeks are like fragrant beds of spices releasing their sweet aroma. His lips are like lilies, rich with the scent of myrrh. His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.
14 His arms are like cylinders of gold studded with precious gems. His torso is smooth like polished ivory decorated with brilliant sapphires. His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.
15 His legs are like marble columns rising from pedestals of pure gold. His presence is as majestic as Lebanon and as stately as its towering cedars. His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.
16 His mouth is pure sweetness itself. Everything about him is altogether wonderful and desirable. This is who my beloved is. This is who my closest friend is, daughters of Jerusalem. His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.