Song of Solomon 5:8
in Song of Solomon 5O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you, if you find my beloved, tell him I am sick with love.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, If ye find my beloved, That ye tell him, that I am sick from love.
KJV
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.
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This verse in Song of Solomon 5
Commentary
11 notes on this verseI charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,.... Young converts, as before observed; who, upon the hideous outcry the church made in the streets, came to her to know what was the matter, whom she addressed as after related; this shows the humility and condescension of the church, in desiring the assistance of weaker saints in her present case, and her earnestness and resolution to make use of all ways and means she could to find her beloved; and it becomes saints to be assisting to one another; and conversation with one another, even with weak believers, is often useful.
This site's exposition
I encountered the watchmen on their rounds of the city
on Song of Solomon 5:7-8
The watchmen of 3:3 meet her again, "They beat me and bruised me; they took away my cloak". She charges the daughters: "if you find my beloved, tell him I am sick with love". Franz Delitzsch notes the refrain carries a message, since the beloved is the one being sought.
This site's exposition
tell him I am sick with love
At 2:5 she was faint with love while he was near. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown saw the cause reversed here: there it was delight in his presence, and now it is pain at his absence. Matthew Henry noted she turns to her neighbours and asks them to plead with him.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Robert of TombelaineCommentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 5 · Written in the 11th century.
proposed
For when we disclose our thoughts to holy men, when we spread out our desire to them—whether they are still living among us or have already entered eternal life—and pray through God that by praying for us they may offer to the Lord Christ the …
I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, if you find, etc. Worthily, the bride languishes with love, having been struck and wounded by the sword of the Spirit, she casts off the garment of carnal desire, for as much as the holy soul gains strength in …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
It is better to be sick of love to Christ than at ease in love to the world. (2.) What course she took in this condition. She did not sink into despair, and conclude that she should die of her disease, but she sent after her beloved; she asked the advice of her neighbours, and begged their prayers for her, that they would intercede with him on her behalf.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
I am sick of love - “I am exceedingly concerned for his absence; and am distressed on account of my thoughtless carriage towards him.” The latter clause may be well translated, “What should ye tell him?” Why, “that I am sick of love.” This ends the transactions of the third day and night.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Historically, His secret friends in the night of His withdrawal (Lu 23:27, 28). Inquirers may find ("if ye find") Jesus Christ before she who has grieved His Spirit finds Him again. tell--in prayer (Jas 5:16). sick of love--from an opposite cause (So 2:5) than through excess of delight at His presence; now excess of pain at His absence.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
SICK! That is a sad thing. It moves your pity. Sick of love—lovesick! That stirs up other emotions which we shall presently attempt to explain. No doubt certain sicknesses are peculiar to the saints—the ungodly are never visited with them. Strange to say, these sicknesses, to which the refined sensibilities of the children of God render them peculiarly liable, are signs of vigorous health.
SICK! That is a sad thing. It moves your pity. Sick of love—lovesick! That stirs up other emotions which we shall presently attempt to explain. No doubt certain sicknesses are peculiar to the saints—the ungodly are never visited with them. Strange to say, these sicknesses, to which the refined sensibilities of the children of God render them peculiarly liable, are signs of vigorous health. Who but the Beloved of the Lord ever experience that sin sickness in which the soul loathes the very name of transgression, is unmoved by the enchantments of the Tempter, finds no sweetness in its besetting sins, and turns with detestation and abhorrence from the very thought of iniquity? No less is it for these, and these alone, to feel that self sickness whereby the heart revolts from all creature confidence and strength, having been made sick of self, self-seeking, self-exalting, self-reliance, and self of every sort. The Lord afflicts us more and more with such self sickness till we are dead to self, its puny conceits, its lofty aims, and its unsanctified desires. Then there is a twofold lovesickness. Of the one kind is that lovesickness which comes upon the Christian when he is transported with the full enjoyment of Jesus, even as the bride elated by the favor, melted by the tenderness of her Lord, says in the fifth verse of the second chapter of the Song, "Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love." The soul, overjoyed with the Divine communications of happiness and bliss which came from Christ, the body scarcely able to bear the excessive delirium of delight which the soul possessed, she was so glad to be in the embraces of her Lord that she needed to be stayed under her overpowering weight ofjoy.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The bride, now awake, is seeking her beloved. The dream of his departure and her feelings under it have symbolized a real emotion of her waking heart.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִשְׁבַּ֥עְתִּי | hishba'ti | I adjure | H7650 → | 186 times |
| אֶתְכֶ֖ם | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּנ֣וֹת | benot | O daughters of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| יְרוּשָׁלִָ֑ם | yerushalim | Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| אִֽם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| תִּמְצְאוּ֙ | timtzeu | you will find | H4672 → | 455 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| דּוֹדִ֔י | dodi | lover my | H1730 → | 61 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| תַּגִּ֣ידוּ | tagidu | will you tell | H5046 → | |
| ל֔וֹ | lo | to him | ||
| שֶׁחוֹלַ֥ת | shecholat | that [am] weak of | H2470 → | |
| אַהֲבָ֖ה | ʾahavah | love | H160 → | 38 times |
| אָֽנִי׃ | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
הִשְׁבַּ֥עְתִּיI adjure
hishba'tiH7650 →186 times
אֶתְכֶ֖ם<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
בְּנ֣וֹתO daughters of
benotH1323 →588 times
יְרוּשָׁלִָ֑םJerusalem
yerushalimH3389 →643 times
אִֽם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
תִּמְצְאוּ֙you will find
timtzeuH4672 →455 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
דּוֹדִ֔יlover my
dodiH1730 →61 times
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
תַּגִּ֣ידוּwill you tell
tagiduH5046 →
ל֔וֹto him
lo
שֶׁחוֹלַ֥תthat [am] weak of
shecholatH2470 →
אַהֲבָ֖הlove
ʾahavahH160 →38 times
אָֽנִי׃I
ʾaniH589 →874 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
Song of Solomon 3:5O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you by the gazelles and does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.
it leads to
- Song of Solomon 8:4
O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Song of Solomon 2:7
O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you by the gazelles and does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.
- Song of Solomon 8:4
Through
Song of Solomon 2:7O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you by the gazelles and does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.
it leads to
- Song of Solomon 3:5
O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you by the gazelles and does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.
- Song of Solomon 1:5
I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
- Song of Solomon 3:5
Through
Song of Solomon 2:5Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love.
it leads to
- Hosea 3:1
Then the LORD said to me, “Go show love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn…
- 2 Samuel 6:19
Then he distributed to every man and woman among the multitude of Israel a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake. And all the people departed, each for his own home.
- Psalms 63:8
My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.
- Psalms 4:6–7
Many ask, “Who can show us the good?” Shine the light of Your face upon us, O LORD.
- Hosea 3:1
About Song of Solomon
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on the Song of Songs; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 539: “Heavenly Lovesickness!” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); 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 (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Robert of Tombelaine, Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 5.