Song of Songs — Chapter 5
I have come to my garden,My own, my bride;I have plucked my myrrh and spice,Eaten my honey and honeycomb,Drunk my wine and my milk.Eat, lovers, and drink:Drink deep of love!
aIn these verses, the woman apparently relates a dream. I was asleep,But my heart was wakeful.Hark, my beloved knocks!“Let me in, my own,My darling, my faultless dove!For my head is drenched with dew,My locks with the damp of night.”
I had taken off my robe—Was I to don it again?I had bathed my feet—Was I to soil them again?
My beloved took his hand off the latch,btook his hand off the latch Meaning of Heb. uncertain. And my heart was stirred for him.cfor him Many manuscripts and editions read “within me” (ʻalai).
I rose to let in my beloved;My hands dripped myrrh—My fingers, flowing myrrh—Upon the handles of the bolt.
I opened the door for my beloved,But my beloved had turned and gone.I was faint because of what he said.dbecause of what he said Change of vocalization yields “because of him.” I sought, but found him not;I called, but he did not answer.
The watchmen came upon meWhile patrolling the town—They struck me, they bruised me.The guards of the wallsStripped me of my mantle.
I adjure you, O maidens of Jerusalem!If you meet my beloved, tell him this:That I am faint with love.
How is your beloved better than another,eHow is your beloved better than another Or “What sort of beloved is your beloved…?” O fairest of women?How is your beloved better than anotherfHow is your beloved better than another See preceding note. That you adjure us so?
My beloved is clear-skinned and ruddy,Preeminent among ten thousand.
His head is finest gold,His locks are curledAnd black as a raven.
His eyes are like dovesBy watercourses,Bathed in milk,Set by a brimming pool.gSet by a brimming pool Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
His cheeks are like beds of spices,Banks ofhBanks of Septuagint vocalizes as participle, “producing.” perfumeHis lips are like lilies;They drip flowing myrrh.
His hands are rods of gold,Studded with beryl;His belly a tablet of ivory,Adorned with sapphires.
His legs are like marble pillarsSet in sockets of fine gold.He is majestic as Lebanon,Stately as the cedars.
His mouth is deliciousAnd all of him is delightful.Such is my beloved,Such is my darling,O maidens of Jerusalem!
✦ Connected Across Traditions
The Golden Rule
Matthew 7:12
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Hadith (An-Nawawi 13)
“None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.”
Mahabharata 5.1517
“One should never do to another what one regards as injurious to oneself.”
Dhammapada 10:1
“All tremble at violence; all fear death. Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.”
Good vs Evil / Light vs Darkness
Yasna 30:3
“Now the two primal Spirits, who reveal themselves as Twins, are the Better and the Bad, in thought and word and action.”
John 1:5
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Dhammapada 1:1-2
“Mind is the forerunner of all actions. If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows like a shadow.”
Bhagavad Gita 16:21
“There are three gates to self-destructive hell: lust, anger, and greed. Therefore, one must learn to give these up.”