hebrew · literary

Song of Songs (Song of Solomon)

c. 950–450 BCE · Iron Age to Persian Period · Ancient Israel

Chapter 1 — The Opening

1The song of songs, which is Solomon's.
2Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth:
3For thy love is better than wine.
4Because of the savour of thy good ointments
5Thy name is as ointment poured forth;
6Therefore do the virgins love thee.
7Draw me, we will run after thee:
8The king hath brought me into his chambers.
9I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem,
10As the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
11Look not upon me, because I am black,
12Because the sun hath looked upon me.
13Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth,
14Where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon:
15For why should I be as one that turneth aside
16By the flocks of thy companions?

Chapter 2 — The Coming of the Beloved

17I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
18As the lily among thorns,
19So is my love among the daughters.
20As the apple tree among the trees of the wood,
21So is my beloved among the sons.
22I sat down under his shadow with great delight,
23And his fruit was sweet to my taste.
24The voice of my beloved! Behold, he cometh,
25Leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
26My beloved is like a roe or a young hart.
27Behold, he standeth behind our wall,
28He looketh forth at the windows, showing himself through the lattice.
29My beloved spake, and said unto me,
30Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
31For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
32The flowers appear on the earth;
33The time of the singing of birds is come,
34And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.

Chapter 3 — Seeking in the Night

35By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth:
36I sought him, but I found him not.
37I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets,
38And in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth.
39I sought him, but I found him not.
40The watchmen that go about the city found me:
41To whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?
42It was but a little that I passed from them,
43But I found him whom my soul loveth:
44I held him, and would not let him go.

Chapter 4 — The Beloved Praised

45Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair;
46Thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks:
47Thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.
48Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn,
49Which came up from the washing;
50Whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them.
51Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely.
52Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins,
53Which feed among the lilies.
54Until the day break, and the shadows flee away,
55I will get me to the mountain of myrrh,
56And to the hill of frankincense.

Chapter 8 — Love Strong as Death

57Set me as a seal upon thine heart,
58As a seal upon thine arm:
59For love is strong as death;
60Jealousy is cruel as the grave:
61The coals thereof are coals of fire,
62Which hath a most vehement flame.
63Many waters cannot quench love,
64Neither can the floods drown it:
65If a man would give all the substance of his house for love,
66It would utterly be contemned.

notes

The Song of Songs (Hebrew: Shir HaShirim) is a collection of love poems in the Hebrew Bible, attributed to Solomon. It is unique in the biblical canon: it contains no reference to God, no theology, no history, and no moral instruction. It is simply and powerfully erotic poetry — two lovers addressing each other, celebrating the beauty of the human body and the intensity of desire. Its inclusion in the Hebrew Bible was controversial; Rabbi Akiva (c. 50–135 CE) defended it: "All the writings are holy, but the Song of Songs is the holy of holies." The rabbis read it as an allegory of the relationship between God and Israel; Christian interpreters read it as the relationship between Christ and the Church. Modern scholarship tends to read it as what it appears to be: the finest love poetry in the ancient Near East. Its imagery — the beloved as garden, as vineyard, as anointed one — may connect it to earlier Sumerian love poetry addressed to Inanna and Dumuzi. Translation from the King James Version (1611). Public domain.

currently held: Manuscript tradition (Dead Sea Scrolls, Masoretic text)

Inanna / IshtarHebrew BibleRitualMortality

related texts

Descent of Inanna to the Underworldsumerian · c. 1900–1700 BCE

## Prologue — Inanna Abandons Heaven and Earth [1] From the great above she opened her ear to the great below. [2] From the great above the goddess opened her ear to the great below. [3] From the great above Inanna opened her ear to the great below. [4] My lady abandoned heaven and earth to desce…