Song 8 | HCSB | STEP | If only I could treat you like my brother , one who nursed at my mother’s breasts , I would find you in public and kiss you, and no one would scorn me.

p Vv. 8-9 may record what the girl’s brothers used to say.

q 1Kg 6:15

t Ecc 2:4

u Mt 21:33

Song of Solomon 8

1 If only I could treat you like my brother, ^{▼▼Lit Would that you were like a brother to me}

one who nursed at my mother’s breasts,
I would find you in public and kiss you,
and no one would scorn me.
2 I would lead you, I would take you,
to the house of my mother ^b who taught me. ^{▼▼LXX adds and into the chamber of the one who bore me}
I would give you spiced wine to drink
from my pomegranate juice.
3 His left hand is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me. ^d
4 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you:
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time. ^e

5 Y : Who is this ^f coming up from the wilderness,
leaning on the one she loves?

W : I awakened you under the apricot tree. ^g
There your mother conceived you;
there she conceived and gave you birth.
6 Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal on your arm. ^h
For love is as strong as death; ⁱ
ardent love is as unrelenting as ^{▼▼Sheol: A Hebrew word for either the grave or the realm of the dead}Sheol.
Love’s flames are fiery flames ^k –
the fiercest of all. ^{▼▼Or the blaze of the Lord}
7 Mighty waters cannot extinguish love;
rivers cannot sweep it away.
If a man were to give all his wealth ^{▼▼Lit all the wealth of his house} for love ⁿ
it would be utterly scorned.

8 B : Our sister is young;
she has no breasts. ^o
What will we do for our sister
on the day she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build a silver parapet on it.
If she is a door,
we will enclose it with cedar planks. ^{p
,} ^q

10 W : I am ^{▼▼Or was} a wall
and my breasts like towers.
So in his eyes I have become
like one who finds peace. ^{▼▼In Hb, the word for peace sounds similar to Solomon and Shulammite.}

11 Solomon owned a vineyard in Baal-hamon. ^t
He leased the vineyard to tenants. ^u
Each was to bring for his fruit
1,000 pieces of silver. ^v
12 I have my own vineyard. ^{▼▼Lit My vineyard, which is mine, is before me; Sg 1:6
,} ^x
The 1,000 are for you, Solomon,
but 200 for those who guard its fruits.

13 M : You ^{▼▼In Hb, the word for You is feminine.} who dwell in the gardens –
companions ^z are listening for your voice –
let me hear you! ^aa

14 W : Hurry to me, my love,
and be like a gazelle
or a young stag
on the mountains of spices. ^ab