Christianity
Song of Solomon 7His Desire Is Toward Me
Summary
Song of Solomon 7 contains a detailed praise of the woman, moving from her feet in sandals upward to her thighs, navel, neck, eyes, and hair like purple. He compares her stature to a palm tree and resolves to climb it and take hold of its branches. She answers, I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me, and invites him into the fields and vineyards to see whether the vines have budded and the pomegranates blossomed. There, she says, she will give him her love.
Key verse
“I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.”
Song of Solomon 7:10
Themes
- Desire
- Delight in the Body
- Mutual Love
- Invitation to Nature
Text
How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince’s daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman.
Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor: thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies.
Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins.
Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim: thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus.
Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king is held in the galleries.
How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!
This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes.
I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples;
And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved, that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak.
I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.
Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages.
Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves.
The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.
Text: King James Version (1611/1769), public domain.
Across traditions
Christianity
Genesis 3: Thy Desire Shall Be to Thy HusbandThe Hebrew word for desire in Song of Solomon 7:10 appears elsewhere in the Bible only in Genesis 3:16 and 4:7. Many interpreters see the Song reversing the curse of Genesis 3:16, as the man's desire now runs toward the woman in mutual love.
Islam
Surah Ar-Rum (30): Rest in One AnotherQuran 30:21 presents spouses as created to find rest in one another, with love and mercy placed between them as a sign of God. The Song celebrates the same mutual delight in far more vivid poetry.
Questions about Song of Solomon 7
Why is the Song of Solomon so sensual?
It is love poetry that celebrates physical beauty and desire within a committed relationship. Jewish and Christian traditions have defended its place in scripture both as an affirmation of human love and as an allegory of divine love.
What are mandrakes in Song of Solomon 7:13?
Mandrakes were plants associated in the ancient world with love and fertility. They also appear in Genesis 30:14 to 16, where Rachel and Leah bargain over them.