NGET BIBLE

Songofsolomon 6 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

Time Period

Traditionally the reign of Solomon, around 970 to 930 BC

Location

Israel, with comparisons drawn from Tirzah in the north and Jerusalem in the south

Audience

Ancient Israelites, who read and sang this as love poetry belonging to their sacred writings

Situation

The court women ask where her beloved has gone, and she answers that he has gone down to his garden. He then praises her as lovely as the cities of Tirzah and Jerusalem and calls her his one and only among queens and concubines.

Key Background

Tirzah was the early capital of the northern kingdom of Israel and Jerusalem the capital of the south, so pairing them names the two most admired cities the audience knew and reads as a compliment about stately beauty. A royal household in this period held ranked wives and concubines, so singling out one woman above sixty queens and eighty concubines is a deliberate contrast between a harem and exclusive love. The closing reference to the Shulammite and to a dance of two camps is one of the most debated lines in the book, since no such dance is described anywhere else in ancient sources.

1

Where has your lover gone, most women? Which way did your lover turn? We will search for him with you.

2

My lover has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to graze among the gardens and to gather

3

I to my lover and my to me he who grazes among the lilies.

4

You are as beautiful as my darling, as lovely as Jerusalem, as as an with

5

Turn your eyes away from me they me. Your hair cascades like a flock of goats streaming down from

6

Your teeth are like a flock of ewes coming up from washing each one with its twin, not one of them alone.

7

Behind your veil, your cheeks glow like halves of a

8

There may be sixty queens and eighty concubines and young women beyond counting

9

but my my is the only daughter of her mother, the favorite of the who bore her. The young women see her and call her fortunate; queens and concubines praise her:

10

"Who is this that looks out like the dawn, as beautiful as the moon, as radiant as the sun, as awe-striking as an army with banners?"

11

I went down to the of trees to see the in the valley, to see if the vines had budded, if the pomegranates had bloomed.

12

Before I knew it, my desire set me among the of my

13

O Shulammite! Come so we may gaze at you! Why would you gaze at the Shulammite as at the of

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