Song of Solomon 2:14
in Song of Solomon 2O my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the crevices of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your countenance is lovely.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, In the covert of the steep place, Let me see thy countenance, Let me hear thy voice; For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
KJV
O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
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This verse in Song of Solomon 2
Commentary
15 notes on this verse"Because your voice is sweet." And who would not profess that voice of the catholic church confessing the true faith is sweet, but the voice of the heretics is rough and unpleasant, which does not speak the teachings of truth but blasphemies against God and iniquity against the Most High? Thus also the appearance of the church is comely, but that of the heretics is ugly and foul—that is, if there is someone who knows how to test the beauty of the face, that is, if there is some spiritual person who knows how to examine all things.
This site's exposition
in the clefts of the rock
on Song of Solomon 2:14-15
"O my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the crevices of the cliff" calls a dove hidden in a cliffside into view. The charge to catch "the little foxes that ruin the vineyards" names a real pest of vineyards "in bloom."
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Immediately the turtle says to its fellow, "The fig tree has put forth its green figs," that is, the commandments of the old law have fallen, and the blossoming vines of the gospel give forth their fragrance.… While you covered your countenance like Moses and the veil of the law remained, I neither saw your face, nor did I condescend to hear your voice. I said, "Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear." But now, with unveiled face behold my glory, and shelter yourself in the cleft and steep places of the solid rock.
It makes sense, therefore, for the bridegroom to call the bride, mature in virtue as she is, "dove," that is, spiritual and filled with the Holy Spirit.…The bridegroom encourages and consoles his church in its struggle with trials, "peeps through the windows and looks in …
A commentator
Cyril of AlexandriaFRAGMENTS IN THE COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 2:14 · Written before 444.
proposed
The rock is Christ. He is a wall and a shelter to us who believe and a perfect guardian, which is denoted by the wall. When you arrive, he says, you will be protected with every defense.
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Robert of TombelaineCommentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 2 · Written in the 11th century.
proposed
By the holes of the rock, moreover, I would gladly understand the wounds of the hands and feet of Christ hanging on the cross. And the cavity of the wall I would interpret in the same sense as the wound in his side made by …
A commentator
Bernard of ClairvauxSermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 62 · Written before 1153.
proposed
"My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hollows of the wall" (Song 2:14). Not only in the clefts of the rock does the dove find a safe refuge; she finds it also in the hollows of the wall. But if by the …
8 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church3 voices
A commentator
Bernard of ClairvauxSermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 61 · Written before 1153.
proposed
There follows: "My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hollows of the wall, show me your face, let your voice sound in my ears." He loves and continues to speak words of love. Again he calls her dove as a term of …
Show me your face, etc. You who in the hidden recesses of quiet, like a dove in the clefts of the rock, or in the hole of the wall, desire to be concealed, I pray that you come forth into the public sphere of action, …
Because your voice is sweet, etc. Indeed, the voice of that soul is sweet to the Lord, which knows how either to announce the words of the Lord to neighbors or to resound praises to the Lord Himself sweetly with the prophet, How sweet are …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
My dove - So the church is called, for her dove-like temper, and for her dove-like condition, because she is weak, and exposed to persecution, and therefore forced to hide herself in rocks.
He has assured us that the prayer of the upright is his delight; he smelled a sweet savour from Noah's sacrifice, and the spiritual sacrifices are no less acceptable, 1 Pet. ii. This does not so much commend our services as God's gracious condescension in making the best of them, and the efficacy of the much incense which is offered with the prayers of saints, Rev. viii.
O my dove,.... An epithet sometimes used by lovers (q), and is a new title Christ gives to his church, to express his affection for her and interest in her; and to draw her out of her retirement, to go along with him.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Ho 11:11); gregarious, flocking together to the kingdom of Jesus Christ (Isa 60:8); harmless simplicity (Mt 10:16). clefts--the refuge of doves from storm and heat (Jer 48:28; see Jer 49:16). GESENIUS translates the Hebrew from a different root, "the refuges." But see, for "clefts," Ex 33:18-23. It is only when we are in Christ Jesus that our "voice is sweet (in prayer, So 4:3, 11;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
My dove - in the clefts of the rock - He compares his bride hiding herself in her secret chambers and closets to a dove in the clefts of the rock.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
My dove, in the clefts of the rock. This is said regarding the time when Pharaoh pursued them and overtook them camping by the sea.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The fig tree has produced its green figs. [To be understood] according to its apparent meaning.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יוֹנָתִ֞י | yonati | O dove my | H3123 → | 31 times |
| בְּחַגְוֵ֣י | bechagvei | in [the] clefts of | H2288 → | |
| הַסֶּ֗לַע | hasela' | the rock | H5553 → | |
| בְּסֵ֙תֶר֙ | beseter | in [the] hiding place of | H5643 → | |
| הַמַּדְרֵגָ֔ה | hamadregah | the steep place | H4095 → | |
| הַרְאִ֙ינִי֙ | harini | let see me | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מַרְאַ֔יִךְ | marayikh | form your | H4758 → | 103 times |
| הַשְׁמִיעִ֖ינִי | hashmiini | cause to hear me | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| קוֹלֵ֑ךְ | kolekh | voice your | H6963 → | 506 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| קוֹלֵ֥ךְ | kolekh | voice your | H6963 → | 506 times |
| עָרֵ֖ב | ʾarev | [is] sweet | H6156 → | |
| וּמַרְאֵ֥יךְ | umareikh | and form your | H4758 → | 103 times |
| נָאוֶֽה׃ ס | naveh | [is] lovely | H5000 → | 10 times |
יוֹנָתִ֞יO dove my
yonatiH3123 →31 times
בְּחַגְוֵ֣יin [the] clefts of
bechagveiH2288 →
הַסֶּ֗לַעthe rock
hasela'H5553 →
בְּסֵ֙תֶר֙in [the] hiding place of
beseterH5643 →
הַמַּדְרֵגָ֔הthe steep place
hamadregahH4095 →
הַרְאִ֙ינִי֙let see me
hariniH7200 →1300 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מַרְאַ֔יִךְform your
marayikhH4758 →103 times
הַשְׁמִיעִ֖ינִיcause to hear me
hashmiiniH8085 →1159 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
קוֹלֵ֑ךְvoice your
kolekhH6963 →506 times
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
קוֹלֵ֥ךְvoice your
kolekhH6963 →506 times
עָרֵ֖ב[is] sweet
ʾarevH6156 →
וּמַרְאֵ֥יךְand form your
umareikhH4758 →103 times
נָאוֶֽה׃ ס[is] lovely
navehH5000 →10 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 3:6Then He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to…
it leads to
- Luke 20:37
Even Moses demonstrates that the dead are raised, in the passage about the burning bush. For he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’
- Matthew 22:32
‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
- Mark 12:26
But concerning the dead rising, have you not read about the burning bush in the Book of Moses, how God told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the…
- Exodus 4:5
“This is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”
- Genesis 28:13
And there at the top the LORD was standing and saying, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the…
- Luke 20:37
Through
Song of Solomon 1:5I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
it leads to
- Luke 15:22
But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
- 2 Corinthians 5:21
God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
- Luke 15:22
Through
Song of Solomon 5:2I sleep, but my heart is awake. A sound! My beloved is knocking: “Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with…
it leads to
- Revelation 3:20
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me.
- Revelation 3:20
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Song of Solomon
This page draws on 15 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on the Song of Songs; Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 62; Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 61; Cyril of Alexandria, FRAGMENTS IN THE COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 2:14; Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Against Jovinianus 1.30; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 3:15; Robert of Tombelaine, Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 2 and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 2.