Mutual Possession and an Invitation to Intimacy
Song 7:10-8:4
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Son.7.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וחכך: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- כיין: ADV
- הטוב: ADJ,m,sg,def
- הולך: VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,sg
- לדודי: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs,poss:1cs
- למישרים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- דובב: VERB,piel,ptc,3,m,sg
- שפתי: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- ישנים: ADJ,m,pl
Parallels
- Song of Songs 1:2 (verbal): Both verses invoke kissing and explicitly link kisses/love with wine (’let him kiss me… for your love is better than wine’), connecting the sensual kiss-image and the wine-metaphor.
- Song of Songs 4:10 (verbal): Declares the beloved’s love as superior to wine (‘how much more pleasing is your love than wine’), paralleling the simile in 7:10 that compares kisses (or mouth/wine) to fine wine.
- Song of Songs 8:1 (thematic): Expresses longing for kisses and intimate contact (‘if I should find you... I would kiss you’), echoing the kissing motif and erotic intimacy of 7:10.
- Song of Songs 5:16 (verbal): Describes the beloved’s mouth as exceedingly sweet (‘his mouth is most sweet’), closely related to 7:10’s emphasis on the sweetness/pleasantness of kisses and the mouth likened to good wine.
Alternative generated candidates
- How pleasing your love—like fine wine; it goes to my beloved, sure for the upright; it moves the lips of sleepers.
- And your kisses are like good wine—how they go down to my beloved, stirring the lips of those who sleep.
Son.7.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אני: PRON,1,sg
- לדודי: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs,poss:1cs
- ועלי: CONJ+NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- תשוקתו: NOUN,f,sg,abs,poss:3,sg
Parallels
- Song of Solomon 6:3 (verbal): Almost identical wording: 'I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine,' expressing mutual belonging and love.
- Song of Solomon 2:16 (verbal): Reciprocal ownership motif—'My beloved is mine, and I am his'—same theme of mutual possession and intimacy.
- Psalm 45:11 (thematic): Royal bridal imagery and the king's longing—'the king will desire your beauty' parallels the beloved's desire toward the beloved.
- Ephesians 5:31-32 (allusion): New Testament application of marriage as mutual belonging (husband and wife one flesh) used as a metaphor for Christ and the church, echoing the Song's language of belonging and desire.
Alternative generated candidates
- I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.
- I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.
Son.7.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- לכה: VERB,qal,imp,2,f,sg
- דודי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,1,sg
- נצא: VERB,qal,impf,1,pl
- השדה: NOUN,m,sg,def
- נלינה: VERB,qal,impf,1,c,pl
- בכפרים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Song of Solomon 2:10-13 (verbal): A close parallel invitation to 'rise up... come away' into the countryside and to the vineyards — similar hortatory language and spring/field imagery.
- Song of Solomon 6:11 (thematic): Speaker goes down into a garden/valley to see the fruits — echoes the pastoral motif of leaving home for fields and orchards to seek or meet the beloved.
- Song of Solomon 4:16 (verbal): Another imperative address 'Come, my beloved' with garden/field imagery (north/south winds, spices) — repeats the recurring summons motif.
- Genesis 24:63 (allusion): Isaac 'went out to meditate in the field' and meets Rebekah — an archetypal field-meeting of lovers that undergirds the romantic meeting-in-the-field motif in Song 7:12.
Alternative generated candidates
- Come, my beloved; let us go out to the fields, let us lodge in the villages.
- Come, my beloved; let us go out into the fields, let us lodge in the villages.
Son.7.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- נשכימה: VERB,qal,imperfect,1,pl
- לכרמים: PREP,NOUN,m,pl,abs
- נראה: VERB,nip,perf,3,m,sg
- אם: CONJ
- פרחה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- הגפן: NOUN,f,sg,def
- פתח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הסמדר: NOUN,f,sg,def
- הנצו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- הרמונים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- שם: ADV
- אתן: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- דדי: NOUN,m,sg,prop
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Song of Solomon 2:11-13 (verbal): Same springtime/vineyard imagery: blossoms appear, the season and singing arrive, and an invitation to go out—echoes the buds/opening of pomegranates and the offer of love.
- Song of Solomon 4:12-15 (thematic): Garden/orchard imagery (enclosed garden, fountain, trees, pomegranates) providing the erotic horticultural setting that parallels 7:13’s vineyard and pomegranate blossoms as the locale of love.
- Song of Solomon 6:11-12 (verbal): The speaker goes down to orchards/valleys to observe the green growth and blossoms—parallel movement to the vineyards to see if the vine has budded and to offer affection.
- Isaiah 5:1-2 (thematic): The 'Song of the Vineyard' employs cultivated-vineyard imagery and the expectation of fruitfulness; thematically parallels the vineyard as a locus of care, expectation, and resulting yield (here used erotically rather than judicially).
Alternative generated candidates
- Let us rise early to the vineyards; let us see whether the vine has budded, whether the tender grape appears, and the pomegranates are in flower. There I will give you my love.
- Let us rise early to the vineyards; let us see whether the vine has budded, whether the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my love.
Son.7.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הדודאים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- נתנו: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
- ריח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ועל: CONJ+PREP
- פתחינו: NOUN,m,pl,suff1pl
- כל: DET
- מגדים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- חדשים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- גם: ADV
- ישנים: ADJ,m,pl
- דודי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,1,sg
- צפנתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Genesis 30:14-16 (allusion): Same noun duda'im (mandrakes) appears; Genesis episode associates mandrakes with sexuality/fertility, linking Song's erotic/fruitful garden imagery and the mandrake's fragrant/aphrodisiac connotations.
- Song of Songs 4:16 (thematic): Both verses use garden/spice and fruit imagery as erotic invitation — 'blow upon my garden... let my beloved come... and eat its pleasant fruits' parallels the image of abundant, choice fruits stored for the beloved.
- Song of Songs 2:16 (thematic): Theme of mutual possession and exclusive love: 2:16 ('My beloved is mine and I am his') resonates with 7:14's declaration of keeping/storing delights for the beloved (possession/devotion motif).
- Matthew 13:52 (verbal): Uses the exact pairing 'new and old' (things new and old) as a stock expression; echoes 7:14's formula of offering both new and old treasures, highlighting a common idiom of preserved/varied bounty.
Alternative generated candidates
- The mandrakes send forth their fragrance, and at our gateways are all kinds of delights, new and old—my beloved, I have kept them for you.
- The mandrakes give forth fragrance, and at our gates are all manner of choice fruits, new and old; my beloved, I have kept them for you.
Son.8.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- מי: PRON,interr,sg
- יתנך: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- כאח: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- יונק: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שדי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אמי: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אמצאך: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg,pronominal_obj:2,m,sg
- בחוץ: ADV
- אשקך: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg,pronominal_obj:2,m,sg
- גם: ADV
- לא: PART_NEG
- יבוזו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
Parallels
- Song of Solomon 1:2 (verbal): Both verses use kissing as the primary expression of desire/affection (“let him kiss me…” vs. “I would kiss you”), linking erotic longing and physical intimacy.
- Song of Solomon 2:6 (thematic): Both passages depict close bodily intimacy (leaning, embracing, finding one another in private)—themes of physical closeness and sheltered affection.
- Isaiah 49:15 (thematic): Uses nursing/breastfeeding imagery to express intimate, familial care and attachment ("Can a woman forget her nursing child?")—parallels the motif of shared nursing as a marker of kinship and closeness.
- Ezekiel 16:4–5 (allusion): Employs birth and nursing language in describing origins and relationships; Ezekiel’s use of nursing imagery to characterize origin/connection provides a prophetic/poetic contrast to the Song’s use of shared nursing to signify intimate kinship.
Alternative generated candidates
- O that you were to me as a brother, who nursed at my mother’s breast! If I should find you outside, I would kiss you; none would despise me.
- Who will give you to me as a brother, who sucked at my mother’s breasts? If I found you outside, I would kiss you; yes, I would not be despised.
Son.8.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אנהגך: VERB,qal,impf,1,_,sg,obj2ms
- אביאך: VERB,hif,impf,1,_,sg,obj2ms
- אל: NEG
- בית: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אמי: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- תלמדני: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- אשקך: VERB,hif,impf,1,_,sg,obj2ms
- מיין: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- הרקח: NOUN,m,sg,def
- מעסיס: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- רמני: NOUN,m,sg,cstr+1s
Parallels
- Song of Solomon 2:4 (thematic): Both verses depict being led into an intimate, festive inner space (’brought me to the banqueting house’ / ‘I will bring you into my mother’s house’)—an invitation into closeness and celebration.
- Song of Solomon 4:3 (verbal): Shares the pomegranate motif and erotic/ornamental fruit imagery (’your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate’), linking fruit symbolism with the beloved’s beauty and fertility.
- Proverbs 9:5 (thematic): Proverbs’ invitation to ‘eat my bread and drink the wine I have mixed’ parallels the Song’s offer of spiced wine and pomegranate juice—both use food and drink as metaphors for welcome, intimacy, and shared pleasure.
- Proverbs 1:8 (thematic): ’Hear, my son, your father's instruction…’ resonates with the Song’s phrase ‘she taught me,’ connecting maternal instruction and transmitted wisdom/experience as context for relationship and conduct.
- Exodus 28:33–34 (verbal): The use of pomegranate imagery elsewhere in Scripture (pomegranates on the priestly hem) provides an intertextual echo of the fruit’s symbolic functions—decoration, fertility, and cultic/poetic significance—seen in the Song’s pomegranate juice reference.
Alternative generated candidates
- I would lead you, bring you into my mother’s house; she would teach me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the juice of my pomegranate.
- I would lead you and bring you into my mother’s house; she would instruct me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the juice of my pomegranate.
Son.8.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- שמאלו: NOUN,m,sg,suff-3ms
- תחת: PREP
- ראשי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,1,sg
- וימינו: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,poss3ms
- תחבקני: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg,obj1s
Parallels
- Song 2:6 (verbal): Nearly identical wording earlier in the poem—'Let his left hand be under my head, and his right hand embrace me'—showing deliberate repetition of the intimate embrace motif.
- Song 3:4 (thematic): 'I found him whom my soul loves... I held him and would not let him go'—shares the theme of close physical possession and clinging between lovers.
- Song 5:4 (thematic): The beloved's physical action at the door ('my beloved put his hand to the latch') evokes the motif of touch and bodily contact as the means of intimate encounter.
- Genesis 2:24 (thematic): The marital union image ('they become one flesh') provides a broader covenantal context for the bodily closeness and embrace celebrated in the Song.
- Isaiah 49:16 (allusion): God's imagery of holding/inscribing in the palm of the hand echoes the language of possession and protection implicit in a lover's hand beneath the head and an embracing right hand.
Alternative generated candidates
- His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.
- His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.
Son.8.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- השבעתי: VERB,hiph,perf,1,com,sg
- אתכם: PRT+PRON,2,m,pl
- בנות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- ירושלם: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- מה: PRON,int
- תעירו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- ומה: CONJ+PRON,int
- תעררו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- את: PRT,acc
- האהבה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- עד: PREP
- שתחפץ: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Song of Solomon 2:7 (quotation): Exact refrain: the speaker adjures the daughters of Jerusalem 'do not stir up or awaken love until it pleases,' using the same oath-formula.
- Song of Solomon 3:5 (quotation): Repeats the same adjuration verbatim as a recurring refrain, warning not to awaken love prematurely.
- Song of Solomon 5:8 (allusion): Uses the same introductory adjuration 'I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem' though applied to a different request—echoes the rhetorical/legal oath motif.
- Song of Solomon 2:9 (verbal): Shares the imagery of 'gazelles and does of the field' invoked in the adjuration, linking the natural/animal motifs that frame the oath.
Alternative generated candidates
- I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and by the does of the field: do not stir up, do not awaken love until it pleases.
- I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem: do not stir up, do not awaken love until it pleases.
Your kisses are like the best wine; they go down to my beloved, stirring the lips of sleepers.
I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me.
Come, my beloved, let us go out into the fields; let us lodge in the villages.
Let us rise early to the vineyards; let us see whether the vine has budded, whether the pomegranates have bloomed—there I will give you my love.
The mandrakes give forth their fragrance, and at our gates are all kinds of delights, both new and old; my beloved, I have kept them for you.
O that you were as my brother, who sucked at my mother's breast! If I should find you outside, I would kiss you; yes, I would not be despised.
I would lead you and bring you into my mother's house; she would instruct me— I would give you spiced wine to drink, the juice of my pomegranates.
His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem: do not stir up, do not awaken love until it pleases.