1 Solomon and His Bride Extol Each Other “ 6:1 CHORUS Where has your beloved gone,O most beautiful among women?Where has your beloved turned,That we may seek him with you?”
2 ¶“ 6:2BRIDE My beloved has gone down to his garden,To the beds of spices,To shepherdhis flockin the gardensAnd gather lilies.
3 “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,He who shepherdshis flockamong the lilies.”
4 ¶“ 6:4BRIDEGROOM You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,As lovely as Jerusalem,As majestic as 6:4Lit bannered ones an army with banners.
5 “Turn your eyes away from me,For they have overwhelmed me;Your hair is like a flock of goatsThat have leapt down from Gilead.
6 “Your teeth are like a flock of ewesWhich have come up fromtheirwashing,All of which bear twins,And not one among them has 6:6Or miscarried lost her young.
7 “Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranateBehind your veil.
8 “There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,And 6:8 Or virgins maidens without number;
9 She is the only one—my dove, my perfect one;She is the only one of her mother;She is the pure one of her who bore her.The daughters saw her and called her blessed,The queens and the concubinesalso, and they praised her,saying,
10 ‘Who is this that looks down like the dawn,As beautiful as the full moon,As pure as the sun,As majestic as 6:10Lit bannered ones an army with banners?’
11 ¶“ 6:11Possibly BRIDE, cf.6:2; 7:13 I went down to the garden of nut treesTo see the blossoms of the valley,To see whether the vine had flourishedOrthe pomegranates had bloomed.
12 “I did not knowit,butmy soul set meAmongthe chariots of 6:12 Or Ammi-nadib my noble people.”
13 ¶“ 6:13CHORUS 6:13Ch7:1in Heb Come back, come back, O Shulammite;Come back, come back, that we may behold you!”“ 6:13BRIDEGROOM Why should you behold the Shulammite,As at the dance of 6:13Heb Mahanaim the two companies?