Song of Solomon 8
1 I wish that you were my brother who (nursed at/drank milk from) my mother’s breasts [when you were a baby], [because, if you were my brother], if I saw you when you were outside [the house], I could kiss you, and no one would say that my doing that was wrong.
How I wish you were like a brother to me, one who nursed at my mother's breasts! Then if I met you on the street I could kiss you and no one would tell me off.
2 [No one would object if] I led you to my mother’s house, to where my mother, who taught me [many things], lives. I would like to take you to my mother’s house because I would [like to make love to you] [EUP], [and that would be as delightful as] [MET] juice [squeezed] from pomegranates.
Then I could take you home to my mother's house, where she used to teach me. I would give you spiced wine to drink from the juice of my pomegranate.
3 You would put your left arm under my head and with your right arm hold me close.
He supports my head with his left hand, and holds me close with his right.
4 [I would say to] you women of Jerusalem, “Solemnly promise me that you will not disturb us while we are making love until we are ready to quit.”
Women of Jerusalem, swear to me that you won't disturb our love until the right time.
5 Who is that [woman] who is coming up from the desert, (leaning on/clinging close to) the man who loves her? I woke you up [when you were] under the apple tree at the place where your mother conceived you, which is the same place where she gave birth to you.
Who is this coming in from the wilderness holding her love close to her? Woman: I woke you up under the apple tree where your mother conceived you, and where she gave birth to you.
6 Keep me [close to you], like [SIM] a seal on your heart, [or] like [SIM] a bracelet on your arm. Our love [for each other] is as powerful as death, it is as enduring as the grave. [It is as though] our love [for each other] bursts into flames and burns like a hot fire. (Sheol h7585)
Stamp my name as a seal on your heart, like a seal on your arm, for love is strong as death, passion as unyielding as the grave—its arrows flash like fire, a blazing flame of the Lord. (Sheol h7585)
7 Nothing can extinguish our love [for each other], not [even] a flood. If a man tried to cause a woman to love him by saying he would give her everything that is in his house, she would refuse.
Floods of water cannot extinguish love; rivers cannot submerge it. If a man offered everything he owned in order to buy love he would be completely rejected.
8 We have a younger sister, and her breasts are still small. So this is [RHQ] what we should do for her on the day that we promise [some young man] that he can marry her:
We have a younger sister whose breasts are still small. What shall we do for our sister when someone asks to marry her?
9 If [her chest is flat like] [MET] a wall, we will [decorate it by] putting silver [jewels that are like] [MET] towers on it. Or, if she is [flat like] [MET] a door, we will decorate her with bits/pieces of cedar wood.
If she is a wall, we will build a silver tower on it. But if she is a door, we will bar the way with cedar planks.
10 My [chest was previously flat like] [MET] a wall, [but now] my breasts are [big] like [SIM] towers. So the one who loves me is delighted with me.
I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers. So when he looks at me he's happy!
11 [King] Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-Hamon, and he rented it to people for them to take care of it. He required each one to pay him 1,000 pieces of silver [each year] for the grapes [that they harvested].
Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon which he leased to tenant farmers. Each of them paid him one thousand silver coins for the fruit it produced.
12 [But my body is like] [MET] my own vineyard, and Solomon, I am giving it to you. [You do not need to pay me] 1,000 pieces of silver [to enjoy my body], but I will give 200 pieces of silver to those who take care of me [MET].
But I own my vineyard, it is mine alone. One thousand silver coins are for you, Solomon, and two hundred for those who look after it.
13 You are staying in the gardens and my friends are listening to your voice; [so] allow me to hear it, [too.]
My darling, sitting there in the gardens with companions listening to you—please talk to me!
14 You who love me, come [to me] quickly; [run to me] [MET, EUP] as fast as [SIM] a gazelle or young deer runs across [MET] hills of spices.
Come quickly, my love! Be like a gazelle or a young deer on the mountains of spices.
