Song of Solomonchapter 8
14 verses · Solomon, by tradition · 10th century BC · Wisdom and poetry
O that you were to me like a brother who nursed at my mother’s breasts! If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you, and no one would despise me.
Introduction
Solomon, by tradition, Wisdom and poetry, Song of Solomon Overview.
This chapter closes the love songs the title gives to Solomon. Its first hearers knew family customs about brothers guarding a young sister, and they knew the vineyards a king leased out for silver. It moves quickly between short scenes. Listen for the third and last charge to the women of Jerusalem. Then listen for the lines about a seal and a flame, which name the strength of love in the strongest words the book uses. The book ends on a call between the lovers, and the last word is left with her.
Context
- Who
- Everyone at the celebration, brothers, guests, and the couple themselves
- What
- The close of the book, with a last charge to wait for love, a statement of love's strength, the brothers' care for their sister and a final call between the lovers.
- Where
- The house of the woman's mother, the road up from the wilderness, and Solomon's vineyard at Baal-hamon.
- When
- The reign of Solomon, about 970 to 930 BC, by the title.
- Why
- To state what love is, as strong as death and beyond price, and to close the book on love still calling.
Historical context
"O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised." Public affection between a man and a woman was not acceptable in that society, but affection between siblings was. She is not confused about who he is; she is complaining about the rules of the street.
Show the rest of the historical context, 4 more paragraphs
"Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm." A seal was the single most personal object a person owned, a carved stone, either a stamp or a cylinder rolled across wet clay, that signed contracts and sealed jars and letters. It was worn on a cord around the neck, resting on the chest, or on a cord at the wrist. Losing it meant someone else could act as you. She is asking to be the thing he never takes off and never hands to anyone.
"Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it." The flood image is the winter torrent that rips down a wadi and carries away everything in its path, the strongest destructive force these hearers ever saw.
"If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned." Marriages in that world involved a bride-price paid to the family. This line says love is outside that market, and any attempt to buy it earns contempt.
The closing vineyard is a business arrangement. Solomon owns a vineyard at Baal-hamon and lets it out to tenant keepers, each of whom owes a thousand pieces of silver from the crop, the standard sharecropping arrangement, where the owner takes his fixed cut and the keepers take the risk. The bride ends by saying, "my vineyard, which is mine, is before me", Solomon can keep his thousand. Hers is not leased to anyone.
Significance
The strongest lines in the book are here: love strong as death, jealousy cruel as the grave, its coals a most vehement flame. In a culture that made marriage a family contract, the song ends by calling love a force on the scale of death itself.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
And the brothers' worry about their little sister, is she a wall or a door?, is answered by her own voice: "I am a wall." She was not delivered to a husband; she gave herself, and the whole book has been her saying so.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
This chapter is heard in the synagogue once a year, when the whole Song is read at Passover on the Sabbath that falls in the festival week. The site's festival table in src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts records the practice and cites Tractate Soferim 14:3 for it. Probed for this lane, the same table printed parashot total 0 and haftarah uses total 0 for the book. No chapter of the Song is a weekly portion, and none is read as a Haftarah.
The commentary ends the book in the synagogue. Rashi reads the towers at the tenth verse as "the synagogues and the study halls, which nurture Yisroel with words of Torah" (Rashi on Song of Songs 8:10:2). At the thirteenth verse God addresses Israel scattered in exile, "sitting in synagogues and study halls" (Rashi on Song of Songs 8:13:1). At the ninth he reads the wall as Israel keeping apart from the nations, "meaning that she will not intermarry with them" (Rashi on Song of Songs 8:9:1).
How it is read
Rashi is the one commentator on this chapter whose English the corpus carries, quoted here from The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001, which Sefaria reports as CC-BY. Each quotation is held to fifty words or fewer because the translation is modern, and the translator's bracketed glosses are kept as the translation prints them.
Rashi reads the last chapter as Israel's plea from exile and God's answer. The wish that the beloved were a brother at the first verse is a wish that God would comfort Israel "in the manner that Yoseif did to his brothers" (Rashi on Song of Songs 8:1:1). The mother's house of the second verse is the Temple, and the teaching she asks for is what God gave "in the Tent of Meeting" (Rashi on Song of Songs 8:2:1 and 8:2:2). The oath at the fourth verse is laid on the nations once more, because "my Beloved holds my hand, and He is my support in my exile" (Rashi on Song of Songs 8:4:1).
Rashi reads the seal of the sixth verse as a martyr's word. Israel asks to be set as a seal on God's heart so that He will not forget her (Rashi on Song of Songs 8:6:1). The strong love is her own: "The extent of my love that I loved You is to me equal to my death, for I am killed for Your sake" (Rashi on Song of Songs 8:6:2). The many waters that cannot quench it are "The nations" (Rashi on Song of Songs 8:7:2).
The little sister of the eighth verse is Israel, who "humbles herself more than all the nations" (Rashi on Song of Songs 8:8:1). Solomon's vineyard at the eleventh verse is the congregation of Israel (Rashi on Song of Songs 8:11:1). The vineyard before him at the twelfth is God calling the nations to judgement for what they took from it (Rashi on Song of Songs 8:12:1). The book closes on a request, and Rashi gives it in one line: "From this exile, and redeem us from among them" (Rashi on Song of Songs 8:14:1).
The corpus carries one further note on this chapter that it marks linked, so it is named here and never quoted or paraphrased. It stands cited and unquoted because Sefaria holds no English version of the ref, at Ibn Ezra on Song of Songs 8:3:1.
What the rabbis say
The corpus carries forty locators on this chapter and the text of none. Each is cited and linked here, and none is quoted. Thirty-nine of them are Midrash and Talmud, and the rest are named at the end. On the first verse it holds Midrash Lekach Tov on Song of Songs 8:1:1, Midrash Lekach Tov on Song of Songs 8:1:2 and Midrash Lekach Tov on Song of Songs 8:1:3. On the second verse it holds Berakhot 57a:7 and Midrash Lekach Tov on Song of Songs 8:2:1. On the third verse it holds Midrash Lekach Tov on Song of Songs 8:3:1. On the fourth verse it holds Ketubot 111a:4, Midrash Lekach Tov on Song of Songs 8:4:1 and Midrash Lekach Tov on Song of Songs 8:4:2.
On the fifth verse it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Sanhedrin 3:2, Midrash Lekach Tov on Song of Songs 8:5:1 and Midrash Lekach Tov on Song of Songs 8:5:2. On the sixth verse it holds Aggadat Bereshit 44:4, Bamidbar Rabbah 20:20 and Bamidbar Rabbah 5:6. On the seventh verse it holds Aggadat Bereshit 71:5, Aggadat Bereshit 84:3 and Bamidbar Rabbah 2:16. On the eighth verse it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Kiddushin 2:2, Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Sotah 1:35 and Ein Yaakov, Kiddushin 2:2.
On the ninth verse it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Yoma 1:9, Ein Yaakov, Yoma 1:11 and Midrash Lekach Tov on Song of Songs 8:9:1. On the tenth verse it holds Bava Batra 7b:16, Bava Batra 8a:1 and Bereshit Rabbah 39:3. On the eleventh verse it holds Kohelet Rabbah 2:4:1, Midrash Lekach Tov on Song of Songs 8:11:1 and Midrash Lekach Tov on Song of Songs 8:11:2. On the twelfth verse it holds Ein Yaakov, Shevuot 4:9, Midrash Lekach Tov on Song of Songs 8:12:1 and Midrash Lekach Tov on Song of Songs 8:12:2.
On the thirteenth verse it holds Bava Batra 75a:4, Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Bava Batra 5:24 and Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Shabbat 6:4. On the fourteenth verse it holds Midrash Lekach Tov on Song of Songs 8:14:1 and Midrash Lekach Tov on Song of Songs 8:14:2.
The corpus anchors Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Shevuot 4:5 at Song of Songs 8:18, a verse this chapter does not have, and it is cited here as the corpus files it. The corpus also files one passage of Introductions to Tanaitic Literature, a modern reference work, among the locators, anchored at Song of Songs 8:2. Its full ref stands in the sources of this row, and it is cited by ref alone. What each of them teaches is a saying of the rabbis, and is reported as theirs wherever this site quotes one. The quotations wait on a fetch that carries the text.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on Song of Songs 8:1:1 to 8:14:1, The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001, reported CC-BY, 23 notes kept; Ibn Ezra, Ibn Ezra on Song of Songs 8:3:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; Introductions to Tanaitic Literature, a modern reference work the corpus files among its locators, cited by ref alone: Introductions to Tanaitic Literature, Introductions to Tractates of the Mishnah, Kelim 181, anchored at Song of Songs 8:2; The Sefaria corpus, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/song-of-solomon/8.json, the 40 locators of this chapter; The site's own files, src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, the festival entry for the Song at Passover citing Tractate Soferim 14:3 and Mishnah Yadayim 3:5, probed for this book and printing parashot total 0 and haftarah uses total 0.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Love Is Strong as Death; Many Waters Cannot Quench It
Song of Solomon 8:1-4
O that you were to me like a brother: She wishes he were like a brother, whom she could kiss outdoors and bring openly to her mother's house, as at 3:4. The fourth and last charge to the daughters falls here (2:7, 3:5, 5:8, 8:4): "Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right".
Song of Solomon 8:1
“O that thou wert as my brother,.... Or, "who will give thee as a brother to me?" (q) an usual form of wishing, Deu 5:29, Psa 14:7. The church here not only requests that Christ would be like a brother to her, but appear to be really one, and to act the part of one towards her; with whom she might as freely converse as brother and sister may.”
2 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Song of Solomon 8:1
“It refers to the time after His resurrection, when the previous outward intimacy with Him was no longer allowed, but it was implied it should be renewed at the second coming (Joh 20:17). For this the Church here prays; meanwhile she enjoys inward spiritual communion with Him. The last who ever "kissed" Jesus Christ on earth was the traitor Judas.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Song of Solomon 8:1
“It is rather the wish of all believers for a more intimate communion with him, that they might receive the Spirit of sanctification, and so Christ must be as their brother, that is, that they might be as his brethren, which then they are when by grace they are made partakers of a divine nature, and he that sanctifies, and those that are sanctified, are both of one, Heb. ii.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
the nectar of my pomegranates: Adam Clarke took the mother who taught me as the one who would show her how to behave. He tied the wine to a wedding custom, bride and bridegroom drinking from one cup to share the comforts and hardships. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown heard the marriage cup of Christ's return.
Song of Solomon 8:2
“Would - bring thee into my mother’s house, who would instruct me - She would teach me how to conduct myself towards thee, as she would how to nurse a young child. To drink of spiced wine - Wine rendered peculiarly strong and invigorating. The bride and bridegroom on the wedding day both drank out of the same cup, to show that they were to enjoy and equally bear together the comforts and adversities of life.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Song of Solomon 8:2
“Jesus Christ ought to have our choicest gifts. Spices are never introduced in the song in His absence; therefore the time of His return from "the mountain of spices" (So 8:14) is contemplated. The cup of betrothal was given by Him at the last supper; the cup or marriage shall be presented by her at His return (Mt 26:29).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
His left hand is under my head: This line repeats 2:6 word for word. John Gill weighed whether it is a wish, let his left hand be under my head, or a statement of what she already has. Matthew Henry noted the Hebrew is the same as at 2:6, so the line may record her prayer answered.
Song of Solomon 8:3
“His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace me. That is, when she should have the presence of Christ in her mother's house. Or the words are a petition that so it might be, "let his left hand", &c. (g); or a declaration of what she did enjoy, "his left hand is under my head", &c. (h); see Gill on Son 2:6. (g) Tigurine version, Marckius, some in Michaelis. (h) Mercerus, Piscator, Cocceius, Michaelis.”
1 more voice on this verse
Song of Solomon 8:3
“Thus Christ laid his right hand upon John when he was ready to die away, Rev. i. It may be read as it is ch. ii. 6 , His left hand is under my head (for the words are the same in the original) and so it expresses an immediate answer to her prayer; she was answered with strength in her soul, Ps. cxxxviii.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Do not arouse or awaken love: This last charge drops the gazelles and does of the field sworn by at 2:7 and 3:5. Albert Barnes marked the omission. He reported Hebrew scholars read the refrain as a warning to Israel against seeking its return before the wilderness and the exile had prepared it.
Song of Solomon 8:4
“That ye stir not up - literally, as in the margin. For “my love” read as before love. The omission of “the roes and hinds” here is noticeable. Hebrew scholars regard this charge here and elsewhere Son 2:7; Son 3:5 as an admonition to Israel not to attempt obtaining a possession of, or restoration to, the promised land, and union or reunion there with the Holy One, before being inwardly prepared for it by the trials of the wilderness and the exile. This interpretation comes very near to what appears to be the genuine literal meaning (see Son 2:7 note).”
1 more voice on this verse
Song of Solomon 8:4
“The Christian church was raised up from a low and desolate condition by the grace of Christ relied on, Gal. iv. Particular believers are amiable, nay, admirable, and divine grace is to be admired in them, when by the power of that grace they are brought up from the wilderness, leaning with a holy confidence and complacency upon Jesus Christ their beloved.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Who is this coming up from the wilderness: s" repeats the question of 3:6, and the answer is a posture, "leaning on her beloved". The apple tree of 2:3 returns as the place of awakening and birth: "I roused you under the apple tree; there your mother conceived you".
Song of Solomon 8:5
“The scene changes from Jerusalem to the birthplace of the bride, where she is seen coming up toward her mother’s house, leaning on the arm of the great king her beloved. Who is this - Compare and contrast with Son 3:6. In the former scene all was splendor and exaltation, but here condescension, humility, and loving charm. I raised thee up ... - Beneath this apple-tree I wakened thee. The king calls the bride’s attention to a fruit-tree, which they pass, the trysting-spot of earliest vows in this her home and birthplace.”
2 more voices on this verse
Song of Solomon 8:5
“She ascends leaning on the Word of God. For those who are more perfect recline upon Christ, just as John also was reclining at Jesus' bosom. So then she either rested in Christ or reclined upon him or even—since I am speaking of a marriage—as if already given into the power of Christ, she was led to the bridal couch by the bridegroom.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · On Isaac and the Soul 8.72patristic
Song of Solomon 8:5
“Who - This and the next clause are the words of the bridegroom, who proposes the question, that he may give the answer following. Her beloved - He speaks of himself in the third person, which is usual in the Hebrew language.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Song of Solomon 8:6-7
Set me as a seal over your heart: t, as a seal upon your arm" asks for the signet, the mark of its owner. The Hebrew behind "the fiercest blaze of all," shalhebethyah, ends in yah, read as an intensive or as the divine name.
Song of Solomon 8:6
“The Lord Jesus himself, invited by such eager love and by the beauty of comeliness and grace, since now no offences pollute the baptized, says to the church, "Place me as a seal upon your heart, as a signet upon your arm"; that is, you are comely, my beloved, you are all fair, nothing is lacking in you. Place me as a seal upon your heart, so that your faith may shine forth in the fullness of the sacrament. Let your works also shine and set forth the image of God in whose image you were made.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · On the Mysteries 7:41patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Song of Solomon 8:6
“Set me as a seal upon thine heart - It was customary in the Levant and other places to make impressions of various kinds upon the arms, the breast, and other parts. I have seen these often: some slight punctures are made, and the place rubbed over with a sort of blue powder that, getting between the cuticle and cutis, is never discharged; it continues in all its distinctness throughout life. The figures of young women are frequently thus impressed on the arms and on the breasts.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Song of Solomon 8:6
“Set me - These are undoubtedly the words of the bride. Let thy heart be constantly set upon me. He seems to allude to the engraven tablets which are frequently worn upon the breast, and to the signet on a man's arm or hand, which they prized at a more than ordinary rate, and which are continually in their sight.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Mighty waters cannot quench love: John Wesley noted that waters and floods in Scripture often stand for terrors and afflictions. Read so, no trouble can put love out. Adam Clarke pressed the second half against old rich men who hope to buy the affection of a young woman with presents and wealth.
Song of Solomon 8:7
“And so charity ought to be in us, that we may not be called back from Christ by any dangers. For it is written: 'Many waters cannot quench charity, neither can the floods drown it'; because love passes over the torrent. No storm, no deep peril, no fear of death or punishment can diminish the power of charity. In these things we are tested, in these things a happy life is found, even if it is overwhelmed by many dangers.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · On Jacob and the Blessed Life, 1.7.27-28patristic
3 more voices on this verse
Song of Solomon 8:7
“The overflowing of these waters will strike no damp upon it, but it will enable a man to rejoice in tribulation. Though he slay me, I will love him and trust in him. No waters could quench Christ's love to us, nor any floods drown it; he waded through the greatest difficulties, even seas of blood.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Song of Solomon 8:7
“Many waters - Neither common nor uncommon adversities, even of the most ruinous nature, can destroy love when it is pure; and pure love is such that nothing can procure it. If it be not excited naturally, no money can purchase it, no property can procure it, no arts can persuade it. How vain is the thought of old rich men hoping to procure the affections of young women by loading them with presents and wealth! No woman can command her affections; they are not in her power.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Song of Solomon 8:7
“Many waters - My love to thee cannot be taken off, either by terrors and afflictions, which are commonly signified in scripture by waters and floods; or by temptations and allurements.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
We Have a Little Sister: Make Haste, My Beloved
Song of Solomon 8:8-10
We have a little sister: The brothers of 1:6 return with a council about their sister: "If she is a wall, we will build a tower of silver upon her." She answers for herself, "I am a wall," and adds, "So I have become in his eyes like one who brings peace".
Song of Solomon 8:8
“We have a little sister - This young girl belonged most probably to the bride. She hath no breasts - She is not yet marriageable. What shall we do for our sister - How shall we secure her comfort and welfare? In the day when she shall be spoken for? - When any person shall demand her in marriage.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Song of Solomon 8:8
“We - These are still the words of the bride. The present church, which was that of the Jews, speaks of a future church, which was to consist of the Gentiles, which she calls little, because she was the younger sister, and then scarce had a being; and she calls her sister to intimate that the Gentile-church should be admitted to the same privileges with the Jews.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Song of Solomon 8:8
“The Gentile Church (Eze 16:48). "We," that is, the Hebrew Church, which heretofore admitted Gentiles to communion, only by becoming Judaic proselytes. Now first idolatrous Gentiles are admitted directly (Ac 11:17-26).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
we will build a tower of silver upon her: Adam Clarke followed Calmet in reading the figures as marriage plans. A girl without a husband was likened to a wall without towers or a door without a bar, so the brothers would seek a husband. Silver and cedar stood for his wealth and standing.
Song of Solomon 8:9
“If she be a wall - All these expressions, says Calmet, show that it was necessary to provide a husband for this young sister. For a woman without a husband is like a wall without towers, and without defense; is like a gate or door without bar or lock; and like a city without walls. They must therefore provide for their sister a rich, powerful, and illustrious man; qualities here figured by towers or palaces of silver, and doors of cedar.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
like one who brings peace: Adam Clarke heard her answer from her own story. She had grown to womanhood, found favour in his eyes and married, and her sister should be matched the same way when her time came. John Wesley saw towers standing above a wall as both ornament and defence.
Song of Solomon 8:10
“I am a wall, and my breasts like towers - I am become marriageable, and I stood in need of the defense I have now in my beloved; and as soon as I was so, and became pleasing in the eyes of my beloved, I was given to him in marriage, and have ever since found favor in his sight. As soon then as my sister is in my state, let a proper match be sought out for her.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Song of Solomon 8:10
“Hence, in the Song of Songs it is said: "I am a wall, and my breasts are towers." The wall is the Church and its towers are the priests, who abound in both the word of nature and moral discipline.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · The Six Days of Creationpatristic
Song of Solomon 8:10
“O Lord, by thy grace I am what thou wouldst have my sister to be, and therefore humbly hope, according to thy promise to her in that case, thou wilt build upon me a palace of silver. Towers - Which stand out from and above the wall, and are an ornament and defense to it. Then - When by his grace I was made a wall, he was well-pleased with me, and with his own workmanship in me.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Song of Solomon 8:11-12
Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon: n," leased for "a thousand shekels of silver," stands beside her own: "my own vineyard is mine to give". With Solomon as the bridegroom, the lines concede his wealth; under the shepherd reading they set the leased estate against the love of 8:7.
Song of Solomon 8:11
“Solomon had a vineyard - Calmet translates and paraphrases the Hebrew of these two verses thus: “Son 8:11: Solomon has a vineyard at Baal-hamon: he has let it out to keepers, each of whom for the fruit of it was to bring a thousand pieces of silver. Son 8:12: As for me, my vineyard is before me; that is, it is my own; I am its proprietor. Keep thyself, O Solomon, thy thousand pieces of silver, and let those who dress (thy vineyard) have two hundred for their trouble. I neither envy thee thy vineyard, nor them their profits.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Song of Solomon 8:11
“The vineyard which, it says, was given to the spiritual Solomon is surely the church. And we have already said that Baal-hamon means "in believers." For who believed, apart from those who accepted his commandments?”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Fragments in the Commentary on the Song of Songs 8:11patristic
Song of Solomon 8:11
“Baal-hamon - A place not far from Jerusalem. A thousand - Whereby he signifies both the vast extent of the vineyard which required so many keepers, and its singular fertility.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
my own vineyard is mine to give: The tenants keep two hundred, a fifth of Solomon's sum. Adam Clarke, following Calmet, heard her tell Solomon to keep his silver, envying neither him nor his tenants. John Wesley gave the first clause to Christ, whose vineyard, the church, was bought with blood instead of money.
Song of Solomon 8:12
“Possibly we may ascribe the first clause to Christ, and the latter to the spouse: such interlocutions being familiar in this book. Mine - This repetition is very emphatical, to shew that Christ had a more eminent title to his vineyard, the church, than Solomon had to his vineyard, because it was purchased not by his money, but by his blood.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Song of Solomon 8:13-14
You who dwell in the gardens: The poem ends with two voices calling, as he says that "my companions are listening for your voice". She sends him running, the gazelle figure of 2:9 and 2:17. The church heard in "Come away" its own cry of Revelation 22:20, and the poem closes still calling.
Song of Solomon 8:13
“THE Song is almost ended—the bride and Bridegroom have come to their last stanzas—and they are about to part for a while. They utter their adieus and the Bridegroom says to His beloved, "You that dwells in the gardens, the companions hearken to your voice: cause Me to hear it." In other words, when I am far away from you, fill this garden with My name and let your heart commune with Me.”
2 more voices on this verse
Song of Solomon 8:13
“Note, Christ not only accepts and answers, but even courts his people's prayers, not reckoning them a trouble to him, but an honour and a delight, Prov. xv. We cause him to hear our prayers when we not only pray, but wrestle and strive in prayer. He loves to be pressingly importuned, which is not the manner of men.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Song of Solomon 8:13
“The poem having opened with the song of a chorus in praise of the king Son 1:2-4, concludes with a versicle recited by the bride, repeating the last words of her former strain Son 2:17, with one significant change. She no longer thinks of the possibility of separation. The “Mountains of Bether” (division) of Son 2:17, are now “Mountains of Besamim” (spices). His haunts and hers are henceforth the same (compare Son 4:6).”
Come away, my beloved: Albert Barnes heard this closing line repeat 2:17 with one change. There the mountains were Bether, a name he took to mean division; here they are mountains of spices. He read the change as the end of any thought of separation.
Song of Solomon 8:14
“Make haste, my beloved - These appear to be the words of the bride giving permission, but entreating him to speed his return. What these mountains of spices were, we cannot particularly tell; but they must have been thus named from their producing the trees on which the spices grew. They might have been the same as the mountains of Bether, Son 2:17 (note), or the mountains of myrrh, Son 4:6 (note); where see the notes. Here ends the seventh night of the marriage week.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Song of Solomon 8:14
“Christ, detested by coiling snakes and beset by reptiles crawling on the earth, flees from the barren plain; he knows no dwelling except the heights of virtue; he knows no home except among those daughters of the church who can say, "We are a sweet fragrance of Christ to God." For some indeed, it is an odor of death, leading to death, for those who perish; but to others, it is an odor of life, leading to life—in those namely, who with living faith, breathe the fragrance of the Lord's resurrection.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Concerning Virginity 9:49patristic
Song of Solomon 8:14
“THE Song of Songs describes the love of Jesus Christ to His people and it ends with an intense desire on the part of the Church that the Lord Jesus should come back to her. The last word of the lover to the Beloved One is, "Speed Your return; make haste and come back." Is it not somewhat singular that, as the last verse of the Book of Love has this note in it, so the last verses of the whole Book of God, which I may also call the Book of Love, have that same thought in them?”
How this psalm is built
The form: The close of a song at verse 4, then a set of short closing scenes that end the book, as Delitzsch classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| The third charge | Verse 4 is the last of the three charges to the daughters of Jerusalem, after 2:7 and 3:5. Albert Barnes notes that it leaves out the gazelles and does of the field that the first two carry.Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, on Song of Solomon 8:4. | Song of Solomon 2:7, Song of Solomon 3:5, Song of Solomon 8:4 |
| Who is this coming up from the wilderness | Verse 5 asks the question first asked at 3:6. There it announced the king's procession, and here it shows the woman coming up leaning on the man she loves.the Berean text, counted, the store's Berean Standard Bible, Song of Solomon 3:6 and 8:5. | Song of Solomon 3:6, Song of Solomon 8:5 |
How this chapter is built
2 more paragraphs on the patterns
Verses 1 to 4 close the section that began at 6:4, ending with the third charge to the daughters of Jerusalem. Verse 5 repeats the question of 3:6 and opens the book's last section. Verses 6 and 7 are the one place the book states what love is. The brothers speak at verses 8 and 9, the woman answers at verses 10 to 12, and the book ends at verses 13 and 14 with the two lovers calling to each other.
Sources: Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, on 8:4; Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes, 1875.
Keep studying
People1
Places1
Words12
Subjects1
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes, 1875 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.