Song of Solomon 5
Lutheran reading notes
In Song of Solomon chapter 5, the wisdom literature continues to explore love, covenant devotion, and the beauty of faithful relationship. Lutheran interpretation often emphasizes humanity’s limitations and the need to rely on God's grace and promises. The chapter highlights the contrast between human striving and the faithfulness of God.
1
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. {yea...: or, and be drunken with loves}
2
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
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 put in his hand by the hole {of the door}, and my bowels were moved for him. {for him: or, (as some read) in me}
5
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. {sweet...: Heb. passing, or, running about}
6
I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, {and} was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.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 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
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I {am} sick of love. {that ye: Heb. what, etc}
9
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?
10
My beloved {is} white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. {the chiefest: Heb. a standard-bearer}
11
His head {is as} the most fine gold, his locks {are} bushy, {and} black as a raven. {bushy: or, curled}
12
His eyes {are} as {the eyes} of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, {and} fitly set. {fitly...: Heb. sitting in fulness, that is, fitly placed, and set as a precious stone in the foil of a ring}
13
His cheeks {are} as a bed of spices, {as} sweet flowers: his lips {like} lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh. {sweet flowers: or, towers of perfumes}
14
His hands {are as} gold rings set with the beryl: his belly {is as} bright ivory overlaid {with} sapphires.
15
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} most sweet: yea, he {is} altogether lovely. This {is} my beloved, and this {is} my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. {mouth: Heb. palate}