Song of Solomon 5

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

The male speaker enters his garden to gather his spices, honeycomb, and wine, while friends are invited to eat and drink freely. The female speaker recounts lying asleep while her beloved knocks at the door, speaking to her through the night. Reluctant to soil her washed feet and put her robe back on, she delays opening the door. When she finally rises to let him in, her hands covered in myrrh, she discovers that he has already turned away and departed. She searches the city for him, during which city watchmen beat, bruise, and strip off her cloak. She appeals to the daughters of Jerusalem to inform her beloved that she is lovesick, and in response to their inquiry about his identity, she describes his appearance in detail, praising his features from his gold head to his majestic stance.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. The Friends Eat, O friends, and drink; drink freely, O beloved. ²I sleep, but my heart is awake. A sound! My beloved is knocking: “Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night.” ³I have taken off my robe— must I put it back on? I have washed my feet— must I soil them again? ⁴My beloved put his hand to the latch; my heart pounded for him. ⁵I rose up to open for my beloved. My hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh on the handles of the bolt. ⁶I opened for my beloved, but he had turned and gone. My heart sank at his departure. I sought him but did not find him. I called, but he did not answer. ⁷I encountered the watchmen on their rounds of the city. They beat me and bruised me; they took away my cloak, those guardians of the walls. ⁸O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you, if you find my beloved, tell him I am sick with love. ⁹How is your beloved better than others, O most beautiful among women? How is your beloved better than another, that you charge us so? ¹⁰My beloved is dazzling and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand. ¹¹His head is purest gold; his hair is wavy and black as a raven. ¹²His eyes are like doves beside the streams of water, bathed in milk and mounted like jewels. ¹³His cheeks are like beds of spice, towers of perfume. His lips are like lilies, dripping with flowing myrrh. ¹⁴His arms are rods of gold set with beryl. His body is polished ivory bedecked with sapphires. ¹⁵His legs are pillars of marble set on bases of pure gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, as majestic as the cedars. ¹⁶His mouth is most sweet; he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.