Song of Solomon 5 KJV
The Bride Seeks Her Beloved
Song of Solomon Chapter 5: The Bride Seeks Her Beloved
The narrative of the bride's nocturnal search and encounter with the watchmen illustrates the tension between private desire and public social order in ancient Jerusalem.
1 am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.
2 I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.
3 I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?
4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him.
5 I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.
6 I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.
7 The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.
8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.
9 What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?
10 My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.
11 His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set.
13 His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.
14 His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.
15 His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.
16 His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
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Did You Know?
The narrative of the bride's nocturnal search and encounter with the watchmen illustrates the tension between private desire and public social order in ancient Jerusalem.
Scholarly analysis notes parallels between the beloved's physical description and divine theophany imagery found in texts like Daniel and Ezekiel, suggesting an underlying theological layer.
The use of myrrh dripping from the beloved's hands symbolizes both literal perfume and the bitter suffering motif, foreshadowing later Passion allegories in Christian exegesis.
This chapter uniquely presents the female voice describing male beauty in exhaustive detail, a literary feature uncommon in biblical texts dominated by male perspectives.
The phrase open to me in verse 2 resonates with the Johannine behold, I stand at the door and knock, creating an intertextual link exploited in Christian devotional literature.