The Bride's Independence and the Vineyard Metaphor
Song 8:10-12
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Son.8.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אני: PRON,1,sg
- חומה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ושדי: CONJ+NOUN,f,pl,abs+PRS,1,sg
- כמגדלות: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- אז: ADV
- הייתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,sg
- בעיניו: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs+3ms
- כמוצאת: PREP+VERB,qal,ptc,f,sg
- שלום: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Song of Solomon 4:4 (verbal): Both verses employ tower imagery to describe parts of the beloved's body (8:10 'breasts like towers' parallels 4:4 'your neck is like the tower of David'), linking strength and stateliness to erotic praise.
- Song of Solomon 4:5 (verbal): Both speak of the beloved's breasts—4:5 compares 'your two breasts' to fawns, while 8:10 likens them to towers; together they form a cluster of bodily metaphors celebrating beauty and desirability.
- Song of Solomon 3:4 (thematic): 3:4's language of finding the beloved ('I found him whom my soul loves') resonates with 8:10's closing clause ('then was I in his eyes as one that found peace/ favor'), connecting discovery/possession with security and favor in the lover's sight.
- Psalm 61:3 (thematic): Psalmic imagery of God as a refuge or strong tower ('for you have been a refuge for me, a strong tower') parallels the metaphorical use of walls/towers in 8:10 to convey protection, stability, and safety associated with the beloved.
Alternative generated candidates
- I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers; then I was, in his eyes, as one who has found peace.
- I am a wall, and my breasts like towers; then in his eyes I was as one who had found peace.
Son.8.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כרם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- היה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- לשלמה: PREP+NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- בבעל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- המון: NOUN,m,sg,def
- נתן: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- הכרם: NOUN,m,sg,def
- לנטרים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יבא: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- בפריו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- אלף: NUM,m,sg
- כסף: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Isaiah 5:1-7 (structural): Song and Isaiah both use the image of a vineyard belonging to an owner and entrusted to caretakers; Isaiah's 'Song of the Vineyard' frames expectations of fruit and judgment for failure to produce, echoing the vineyard motif and its social/ownership dynamics.
- Matthew 21:33-41 (thematic): Jesus' Parable of the Wicked Tenants features an owner who gives a vineyard to tenants/keepers and expects fruit, closely paralleling the Song's language of a royal vineyard entrusted to guardians.
- John 15:1-8 (verbal): John develops vine-and-fruit imagery (the true Vine, bearing fruit) that thematically parallels the Song's concern with a vineyard's fruit and the relationship between owner, vine, and fruitfulness.
- Psalm 80:8-16 (thematic): The psalm portrays Israel as a vine transplanted and tended by God, lamenting loss of its fruit; it shares the vineyard-as-national/royal-symbol theme and concern for fruit/production found in Song 8:11.
- Hosea 10:1 (allusion): Hosea calls Israel a luxuriant vine whose fruit leads to pride and impending punishment; the prophetic use of vineyard/fruit imagery resonates with Solomon's vineyard as a symbol of prosperity and its caretaking.
Alternative generated candidates
- Solomon had a vineyard at Baal‑hamon; he gave the vineyard to keepers—each was to bring from its fruit a thousand pieces of silver.
- Solomon had a vineyard at Baal‑hamon; he gave the vineyard to keepers—each was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver.
Son.8.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כרמי: NOUN,prop,m,sg
- שלי: PRON,poss,1,sg
- לפני: PREP
- האלף: NOUN,m,sg,def
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- שלמה: ADJ,f,sg,abs
- ומאתים: NUM,card,pl
- לנטרים: PREP+PTCP,qal,act,pl
- את: PRT,acc
- פריו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Song of Songs 7:12-13 (verbal): Uses the same vineyard imagery and invites movement into the vineyards as the locus of love and fruit—parallels the vineyard-as-love/fruit metaphor in 8:12.
- Song of Songs 3:7-11 (structural): Also names Solomon and depicts his royal retinue and resources; resonates with 8:12’s address to Solomon and the allocation of wealth/servants.
- Isaiah 5:1-2 (Song of the Vineyard) (thematic): The prophetic 'song of the vineyard' frames a vineyard-owner’s expectations and disappointment about fruit—thematically parallel to the owner/ vineyard language in 8:12.
- Jeremiah 2:21 (allusion): God’s image of planting a 'noble vine' (Israel) and expecting faithful fruit echoes the ownership and fruit-bearing expectations implied by 'my vineyard' in 8:12.
- Psalm 80:8-9 (verbal): Uses vine/vineyard language ('brought a vine out of Egypt... planted it') to express God’s care and possession of the vine—verbal parallel to the vineyard-as-possession motif in 8:12.
Alternative generated candidates
- My vineyard is mine before me; you, O Solomon, shall have the thousand, and those who keep its fruit two hundred.
- My vineyard is my own to me; before me—O Solomon, you shall have a thousand, and to the keepers two hundred for its fruit.
I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers; then in his sight I was as one who had found peace.
Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he gave the vineyard to the keepers—each was to bring from its fruit a thousand pieces of silver.
My vineyard is my own before me; you, Solomon, shall have the thousand, and two hundred for the keepers who tend its fruit.