Song of Solomon 8:11
in Song of Solomon 8Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon. He leased it to the tenants. For its fruit, each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; He let out the vineyard unto keepers; Every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver.
KJV
Solomon had a vineyard at Baal–hamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver.
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This verse in Song of Solomon 8
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Cyril of AlexandriaFRAGMENTS IN THE COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 8:11 · Written before 444.
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?
This site's exposition
Solomon had a vineyard at Baal–hamon
on Song of Solomon 8:11-12
Solomon's vineyard at Baal-hamon, let out for a thousand pieces of silver a keeper, stands beside the bride's own: my vineyard, which is mine, is before me. Thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand reads differently under the poem's two castings, and both are named: with Solomon the bridegroom, the lines are playful largess, his wealth conceded while her one vineyard, herself, is given freely; under the shepherd reading held by part of the nineteenth-century bench, they are a refusal, the leased estate against the unpurchasable love of 8:7. The verse's own arithmetic carries either way: what is let out for money is exactly what love is not.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
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.
The Medieval Church3 voices
He entrusted it to the keepers, etc. For the keepers of the Church are the prophets, the keepers are the apostles, the keepers are the successors of the prophets and apostles, who in different ages of the world were given to its governance by divine …
Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-Hamon; he leased the vineyard to keepers; everyone was to bring a thousand pieces of silver for its fruit. My own vineyard is before me. You, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those who keep its fruit two hundred. …
A commentator
Robert of TombelaineCommentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 8 · Written in the 11th century.
proposed
He himself is said to be our Peaceful One, because through him all the human race is reconciled to God. This Peaceful One had a vineyard, because in the labor of carnal precepts he planted the Synagogue, of which it is said: "The vineyard of …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon, had a kingdom in the possession of a multitude, a numerous people. As he was a type of Christ, so his vineyard was a type of the church of Christ.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Solomon had a vineyard at Baalhamon,.... The little sister, or Gentile church, goes on to give an account of the success of the Gospel, the planting of churches, and the establishment of the interest of Christ in the Gentile world, together with the advantages that accrued to Christ from it; for not Solomon literally, but a greater than he, is here, Christ, the antitype of him, the Prince of peace; See Gill on Son 3:
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The joint Church speaks of Jesus Christ's vineyard. Transference of it from the Jews, who rendered not the fruits, as is implied by the silence respecting any, to the Gentiles (Mt 21:33-43).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Shlomo had a vineyard. This is the congregation of Yisroel, as it is stated, “For the vineyard of Adonoy, Master of Legions, is the house of Yisroel.” 16 Yeshayahu:7.
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. 5 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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֶּ֣רֶם | kerem | a vineyard | H3754 → | 92 times |
| הָיָ֤ה | hayah | it belonged | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לִשְׁלֹמֹה֙ | lishlomoh | to Solomon | H8010 → | 291 times |
| בְּבַ֣עַל | bevaal | at Baal- | H1174 → | |
| הָמ֔וֹן | hamon | Hamon | H1174 → | |
| נָתַ֥ן | natan | he gave | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַכֶּ֖רֶם | hakerem | the vineyard | H3754 → | 92 times |
| לַנֹּטְרִ֑ים | lanoterim | to <the> [those who] keep | H5201 → | 9 times |
| אִ֛ישׁ | ʾish | each one | H376 → | 1663 times |
| יָבִ֥א | yavi' | he will bring | H935 → | 2568 times |
| בְּפִרְי֖וֹ | befiryo | for fruit its | H6529 → | 119 times |
| אֶ֥לֶף | ʾelef | a thousand | H505 → | 505 times |
| כָּֽסֶף׃ | kasef | silver | H3701 → | 403 times |
כֶּ֣רֶםa vineyard
keremH3754 →92 times
הָיָ֤הit belonged
hayahH1961 →3559 times
לִשְׁלֹמֹה֙to Solomon
lishlomohH8010 →291 times
בְּבַ֣עַלat Baal-
bevaalH1174 →
הָמ֔וֹןHamon
hamonH1174 →
נָתַ֥ןhe gave
natanH5414 →2011 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַכֶּ֖רֶםthe vineyard
hakeremH3754 →92 times
לַנֹּטְרִ֑יםto <the> [those who] keep
lanoterimH5201 →9 times
אִ֛ישׁeach one
ʾishH376 →1663 times
יָבִ֥אhe will bring
yavi'H935 →2568 times
בְּפִרְי֖וֹfor fruit its
befiryoH6529 →119 times
אֶ֥לֶףa thousand
ʾelefH505 →505 times
כָּֽסֶף׃silver
kasefH3701 →403 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 1:6Do not stare because I am dark, for the sun has gazed upon me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me a keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I…
it leads to
- Song of Solomon 8:11–12
Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon. He leased it to the tenants. For its fruit, each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Luke 12:51–53
Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but division.
- Song of Solomon 8:11–12
Through
Mark 12:1Then Jesus began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a wine vat, and built a watchtower. Then he rented it out to…
it leads to
- Isaiah 5:1–4
I will sing for my beloved a song of his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
- Mark 13:34
It is like a man going on a journey who left his house, put each servant in charge of his own task, and instructed the doorkeeper to keep watch.
- Romans 11:17–24
Now if some branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others to share in the nourishment of the olive root,
- Mark 4:2
And He taught them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said,
- Isaiah 5:1–4
Through
Isaiah 7:23And on that day, in every place that had a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver, only briers and thorns will be found.
it leads to
- Isaiah 5:6
I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.”
- Isaiah 5:6
Through
Ecclesiastes 2:4I expanded my pursuits. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 7:1–12
Solomon, however, took thirteen years to complete the construction of his entire palace.
- 1 Kings 7:1–12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
About Song of Solomon

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, The Six Days of Creation; Bede, Commentary on the Song of Songs; Cyril of Alexandria, FRAGMENTS IN THE COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 8:11; 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Robert of Tombelaine, Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 8.
