Song 1 | EE | STEP | Solomon’s Song of Songs.

Song of Solomon 1

The writer

1 Solomon’s Song of Songs. ^{▼▼1:1 Solomon was a very rich king. He lived more than 900 years before Christ (BC). He had a group of about 1000 songs. This is the most important song. Perhaps he liked this song best.} ^{▼▼1:1 Solomon may have written the book. Or it may be a book about Solomon, or about another rich man. Many people respected King Solomon. So the writer may have used Solomon’s name here. Another person may have written the book. He or she put it with Solomon’s other songs.} ^{▼▼1:1 King Solomon accepted this book. He had a very good mind. He understood many things. This is how it became part of the Bible.} ^{▼▼1:1 The book is more about the woman than about the man. Also, the book is more about how a woman, rather than a man, thinks. And it is more about how a woman feels. So a woman may have written the book.}

Woman

2 I really want him to kiss me with his lips.

Your love makes me happier than wine does.

3 You have put something on your body.

Certainly, it has a lovely smell.

The sound of your name causes me pleasure like that too.

I am not surprised that the young women love you!

4 Take me away with you. Come quickly.

I want the king to take me into his rooms. ^{▼▼1:4 The man may be a king. Or, to her, he may be like a king. This is because she has a lot of respect for him.}

Women friends

We are very happy!

You make us happy.

Your love is better than wine. We will speak and sing about it. ^{▼▼1:4 The woman is with some friends. The women friends are speaking about the man, not about the woman.}

Woman

I agree! They are right to think about you like that. And they are right to love you like that.

5 Daughters of Jerusalem, my skin is dark but lovely.

It is dark like the tents of Kedar.
It is dark but lovely like the curtains in Solomon’s tent.

6 Do not continue to look at me because my skin is dark.

The sun has made my skin like this.

My mother’s sons were angry with me.

They caused me to work in the vineyards. I had to watch over the vineyards.
So I could not watch over my own vineyard. ^{▼▼1:6 The writer calls the friends the ‘Daughters of Jerusalem’. Jerusalem was the capital city where Solomon was king. Kedar was a group of people. They moved from place to place. They lived in tents. They made tents of black goats’ hair.} ^{▼▼1:6 The woman now speaks to the man that she loves.}

Woman

7 I love you.

Tell me where your sheep eat the grass.

Where do you lead your sheep so that they can rest at midday?

When I am near your friends with their animals,

I do not want to wear a veil over my face!

Man

8 You are the most beautiful woman of all.

If you do not know where to find me,

follow the marks from the feet of the sheep.

Let your young goats eat grass by the tents of those who watch over the sheep. ^{▼▼1:8 The woman speaks to the man. She wants to know where he will be. She does not want to look here and there for him. She might wear a veil. Nobody except the man would recognise her. But she does not want to seem like a woman who has sex for money. So she does not want to cover her face.} ^{▼▼1:8 So the man and woman meet as they have agreed.}

Man

9 You are my best friend. I love you more than anyone else.

You seem to me like a female horse that pulls one of Pharaoh‘s chariots.

10 Your face is beautiful with ear-rings.

Round your neck are valuable stones, which make it very pretty.

11 We will make ear-rings for you. We will make them out of gold with pieces of silver in. ^{▼▼1:11 Pharaoh is the name that people use for all the kings of Egypt. Egypt is a country near to where King Solomon lived.} ^{▼▼1:11 The man says that people will see the woman easily in a group of men and women.} ^{▼▼1:11 After this meeting, the woman talks to her friends about her time with the man.}

Woman

12 The king was lying down and he was eating.

I had put something on my skin that has a lovely smell.
This smell moved into the air.

13 To me, the man that I love is like a little bag of myrrh.

He is like the little bag of myrrh that lies between my breasts.

14 To me he is like a group of henna flowers.

He is like flowers that grow in the vineyards at En Gedi. ^{▼▼1:14 En Gedi is the name of a lovely pool of water in a very dry place.}

Man

15 How beautiful you are!

My best friend, you are very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves.

Woman

16 You are very handsome and you love me.

You are very lovely!

This green field of fresh, long grass is our bed.

Man

17 The beams of our house are the cedar trees.

The trees, with green leaves all of the time, are above us like a roof.