Song of Solomon 6
Expanded Bible
The Friends Speak to the Woman
6 Where has your lover gone,
most beautiful of women?
Which way did your lover turn?
We will ·look [search] for him with you.
The Woman Answers the Friends
2 My lover has gone down to his garden,
to the beds of spices,
to ·feed [graze] in the gardens
and to ·gather [pluck] lilies.
3 I belong to my lover,
and my lover belongs to me [2:16; 7:11].
He ·feeds [grazes] among the lilies.
The Man Speaks to the Woman
4 My darling, you are as beautiful as the city of Tirzah [C onetime capital of the northern kingdom of Israel; the name means “pleasant”; 1 Kin. 14:17; 15:21],
as lovely as the city of Jerusalem [C the capital of the southern kingdom of Judah; Ps. 122],
·like an army flying flags [L awesome like an army under banners].
5 Turn your eyes from me,
because they ·excite me too much [unsettle me].
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down Mount Gilead [4:1].
6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
just coming from ·their bath [a washing; C white];
each one has a twin,
and none of them is missing [4:2].
7 Your ·cheeks [or temple] behind your veil
are like slices of a pomegranate [reddish orange; 4:3].
8 There may be sixty queens and eighty ·slave women [concubines; C secondary wives]
and so many girls you cannot count them,
9 but there is only one like my dove, my ·perfect [flawless] one.
She is her mother’s only daughter,
the ·brightest [favored] of the one who gave her birth.
The ·young women [L daughters] saw her and called her ·happy [blessed];
the queens and the ·slave women [concubines, v. 8] also praised her.
The Young Women Praise the Woman
10 Who is that young woman
that ·shines out [L looks down] like the dawn?
She is as ·pretty [beautiful] as the moon,
as bright as the sun,
·as wonderful as an army flying flags [awesome like an army under banners; v. 4].
The Man Speaks
11 I went down into the ·orchard [grove] of nut trees
to see the ·blossoms [new growth] of the valley,
to look for buds on the vines,
to see if the pomegranate trees had bloomed.
12 Before I realized it, my desire ·for you made me feel
like a prince in a chariot [or placed me in the chariots of Amminadab; C perhaps a well-known lover like Romeo].
The Friends Call to the Woman
13 ·Come back [or Turn around], ·come back [or turn around], woman of Shulam [C feminine form of Solomon, both based on the Hebrew root meaning “peace”; their union brings contentment].
·Come back [or Turn around], ·come back [or turn around],
so we may look at you!
The Woman Answers the Friends
Why do you want to look at the woman of Shulam
as you would at the dance of two armies [C as at a mesmerizing sight]?
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