Song of Solomon 5

Speaker labels come from the WEB translators, not the Hebrew text. Beloved is the woman, Lover is the man.

Lover

1 I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride. I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Friends Eat, friends! Drink, yes, drink abundantly, beloved.

Beloved

2 I was asleep, but my heart was awake. It is the voice of my beloved who knocks: “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled; for my head is filled with dew, and my hair with the dampness of the night.”

3 I have taken off my robe. Indeed, must I put it on? I have washed my feet. Indeed, must I soil them?

4 My beloved thrust his hand in through the latch opening. My heart pounded for him.

5 I rose up to open for my beloved. My hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with liquid myrrh, on the handles of the lock.

6 I opened to my beloved; but my beloved left, and had gone away. My heart went out when he spoke. I looked for him, but I didn’t find him. I called him, but he didn’t answer.

7 The watchmen who go about the city found me. They beat me. They bruised me. The keepers of the walls took my cloak away from me.

8 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, If you find my beloved, that you tell him that I am faint with love.

Friends

9 How is your beloved better than another beloved, you fairest among women? How is your beloved better than another beloved, that you do so adjure us?

Beloved

10 My beloved is white and ruddy. The best among ten thousand.

11 His head is like the purest gold. His hair is bushy, black as a raven.

12 His eyes are like doves beside the water brooks, washed with milk, mounted like jewels.

13 His cheeks are like a bed of spices with towers of perfumes. His lips are like lilies, dropping liquid myrrh.

14 His hands are like rings of gold set with beryl. His body is like ivory work overlaid with sapphires.

15 His legs are like pillars of marble set on sockets of fine gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.

16 His mouth is sweetness; yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem.

Around Song of Solomon 5

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

About Song of Solomon as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

Spring has come, and a woman hears her beloved before she sees him: he comes leaping on the mountains, looking in at the windows. He says, “the winter is past.” She calls herself “a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys”, and says, “My beloved is mine, and I am his.”

The Song of Solomon is a series of love poems like this one. A woman and a man speak to and about each other with longing and delight, in pictures drawn from gardens, vineyards, spices and the countryside. A chorus of friends joins in at points. There is no clear storyline; the poems circle around seeking, finding and belonging.

Background

The first verse links the book with Solomon, which may mean it was written by him, for him or in his tradition. Its date is debated. Love poetry with similar imagery is known from ancient Egypt.

How Christians read it

For most of history Jews read the Song as a picture of God's love for Israel, and Christians as a picture of Christ's love for the church or for the believer. Most readers today take it first as a celebration of love between a woman and a man, which Scripture calls good. Many hold both together: human love is a gift in its own right and also a reflection of a greater love.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 19 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes