The Power and Permanence of Love
Song 8:5-7
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Son.8.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- מי: PRON,interr,sg
- זאת: DEM,f,sg
- עלה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- מן: PREP
- המדבר: VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,sg
- מתרפקת: VERB,hitpael,ptc,3,f,sg
- על: PREP
- דודה: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,f
- תחת: PREP
- התפוח: NOUN,m,sg,def
- עוררתיך: VERB,qal,perf,1,?,sg+PRON,2,f
- שמה: ADV
- חבלתך: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,2,f
- אמך: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
- שמה: ADV
- חבלה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ילדתך: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
Parallels
- Song of Solomon 2:8-9 (verbal): Very close verbal/thematic parallel: the image of the beloved 'coming up from the wilderness' and the speaker's exultant gaze on the lover recurs almost word-for-word.
- Song of Solomon 6:10 (thematic): Repeats the rhetorical question 'Who is she…?' used to introduce and praise the beloved’s appearance—same courtly/bridal encomium motif.
- Song of Solomon 2:3 (verbal): Uses the apple/fruit-tree imagery and the motif of resting/awakening under a tree ('under his shadow'/'under the apple tree'), linking erotic-sheltering and refreshment themes.
- Isaiah 35:1-2 (thematic): Wilderness imagery as a place of transformation and new life; the motif of the desert coming alive resonates with the bride’s emergence 'from the wilderness' and the birth/renewal language ('there your mother was in travail').
Alternative generated candidates
- Who is this who comes up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I roused you; there your mother conceived you, there she who bore you gave birth.
- Who is this who rises from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I awakened you; there your mother conceived you, there she who bore you was in travail.
Son.8.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- שימני: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,sg
- כחותם: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- לבך: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
- כחותם: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- זרועך: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
- כי: CONJ
- עזה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- כמות: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אהבה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- קשה: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- כשאול: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- קנאה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- רשפיה: NOUN,m,pl,suff
- רשפי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- אש: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- שלהבתיה: NOUN,f,pl,suff
Parallels
- Song of Solomon 4:9 (verbal): Both verses use imagery of the heart being won or held—4:9 'you have captivated my heart' echoes 8:6's request to be 'as a seal upon your heart.'
- Proverbs 27:4 (thematic): Describes jealousy as an overpowering force—'who can stand before jealousy?' parallels 8:6's comparison of love/jealousy to death and Sheol in their intensity.
- Isaiah 49:16 (thematic): Uses bodily marking (engraving on hands) as a sign of permanent remembrance/possession, resonating with 8:6's 'seal upon your arm/heart' imagery.
- Revelation 7:3 (thematic): Speaks of God sealing his servants on the forehead; parallels Song 8:6's sealing language as a mark of ownership/protection and intimate bond.
- Deuteronomy 4:24 (verbal): Declares the LORD as 'a consuming fire,' echoing 8:6's description of love's flashes as 'flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD' and linking divine/fire imagery to overwhelming power.
Alternative generated candidates
- Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD.
- Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is as strong as death, passion as relentless as Sheol. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a consuming flame.
Son.8.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- מים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- רבים: ADJ,m,pl,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- יוכלו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- לכבות: VERB,qal,inf
- את: PRT,acc
- האהבה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- ונהרות: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- ישטפוה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl+PRON,3,f,sg
- אם: CONJ
- יתן: VERB,qal,imperf,3,m,sg
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- כל: DET
- הון: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ביתו: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- באהבה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בוז: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יבוזו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Song of Solomon 8:6 (verbal): Immediate parallel in the same poem — both verses use strong metaphors (love as fire/strong as death; love beyond force of waters) to stress love's overpowering, consuming, and enduring nature.
- Song of Solomon 2:7 (structural): Refrain found elsewhere in the book ('Do not arouse or awaken love') frames the Song's treatment of love as a powerful, sovereign force that must not be provoked or extinguished.
- 1 Corinthians 13:8 (thematic): 'Love never ends' complements the Song's claim that 'many waters cannot quench' love — both affirm love's permanence and irrepressibility.
- Romans 8:38-39 (thematic): Paul's declaration that nothing can separate believers from God's love echoes the Song's image of love as invulnerable to overwhelming forces (many waters/floods).
- Isaiah 54:10 (thematic): God's steadfast love that will not be shaken despite cosmic upheaval parallels the Song's assertion that even overwhelming waters cannot extinguish true love.
Alternative generated candidates
- Many waters cannot quench love, nor can rivers wash it away. If a man should give all the wealth of his house for love, he would be utterly scorned.
- Many waters cannot quench love, nor can rivers drown it. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, he would be utterly scorned.
Who is this who rises from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I roused you; there your mother was in travail with you, there she who bore you was in travail.
Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, jealousy hard as Sheol. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a very flame.
Many waters cannot quench love, neither can rivers wash it away; if a man were to give all the wealth of his house for love, he would be utterly scorned.