1 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; Thine eyes are [as] doves behind thy veil. Thy hair is as a flock of goats, That lie along the side of mount Gilead. 2 Thy teeth are like a flock [of ewes] that are [newly] shorn, Which are come up from the washing, Whereof every one hath twins, And none is bereaved among them. 3 Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, And thy mouth is comely. Thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate Behind thy veil. 4 Thy neck is like the tower of David Builded for an armory, Whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, All the shields of the mighty men. 5 Thy two breasts are like two fawns That are twins of a roe, Which feed among the lilies. 6 Until the day be cool, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, And to the hill of frankincense. 7 Thou art all fair, my love; And there is no spot in thee. 8 Come with me from Lebanon, [my] bride, With me from Lebanon: Look from the top of Amana, From the top of Senir and Hermon, From the lions’ dens, From the mountains of the leopards. 9 Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, [my] bride; Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, With one chain of thy neck. 10 How fair is thy love, my sister, [my] bride! How much better is thy love than wine! And the fragrance of thine oils than all manner of spices! 11 Thy lips, O [my] bride, drop [as] the honeycomb: Honey and milk are under thy tongue; And the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon. 12 A garden shut up is my sister, [my] bride; A spring shut up, a fountain sealed. 13 Thy shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits; Henna with spikenard plants, 14 Spikenard and saffron, Calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; Myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices. 15 [Thou art] a fountain of gardens, A well of living waters, And flowing streams from Lebanon. 16 Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; Blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, And eat his precious fruits.
Song of Songs · American Standard Version (1901)
Song of Songs 4 American Standard Version (1901)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Cross references (16)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Song of Songs 6:5; Song of Songs 1:15; Song of Songs 6:7; Song of Songs 2:14; Song of Songs 7:5
- 2 Song of Songs 6:6; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; Colossians 1:4–6; 2 Peter 1:5–8; Deuteronomy 7:13–14
- 3 Song of Songs 6:7; Song of Songs 5:16; Joshua 2:18; Psalm 119:13; Proverbs 10:20–21
- 4 Song of Songs 7:4; Ephesians 4:15–16; Ezekiel 27:10–11; 1 Peter 1:5; Nehemiah 3:19
- 5 Song of Songs 7:3; Song of Songs 6:3; Song of Songs 2:16; 1 Peter 2:2; Song of Songs 8:10
- 6 Song of Songs 2:17; Song of Songs 4:14; Luke 1:78; Malachi 4:2; Isaiah 2:2
- 7 Song of Songs 1:15; Song of Songs 4:1; Ephesians 5:25–27; Jude 24; Colossians 1:22
- 8 Deuteronomy 3:9; Song of Songs 2:13; Psalm 45:10; 1 Chronicles 5:23; Isaiah 62:5
- 9 Song of Songs 5:1–2; Song of Songs 4:12; Proverbs 5:19–20; Hosea 2:19–20; 2 Corinthians 11:2
- 10 Song of Songs 1:2–4; Galatians 5:22; Song of Songs 7:6; Song of Songs 5:5; Song of Songs 1:12
- 11 Song of Songs 5:1; Hosea 14:6–7; Song of Songs 5:13; Song of Songs 7:9; Genesis 27:27
- 12 Proverbs 5:15–18; Revelation 21:27; 1 Corinthians 6:13; Isaiah 61:10–11; Revelation 7:3
- 13 Song of Songs 1:14; Ecclesiastes 2:5; Song of Songs 6:11; Song of Songs 1:12; Song of Songs 8:2
- 14 Exodus 30:23; Song of Songs 4:6; Song of Songs 3:6; Song of Songs 6:2; Proverbs 7:17
- 15 John 4:10; John 7:38; John 4:14; Jeremiah 2:13; Revelation 22:1
- 16 Song of Songs 6:2; Song of Songs 5:1; Ezekiel 37:9; Song of Songs 4:13–14; 1 Peter 2:5
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… is said of the Church, when it is being praised under the figure of a beautiful woman, "Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are shorn which came up from the washing, whereof every one bears twins, and none is barren among them?" Does the hearer learn anything more than when he listens to the same thought expressed …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
For though it has now been most highly adorned with royal gifts, yet formerly it was a garden, and the signs and the remnants of this remain. A garden enclosed, a fountain sealed, by the Jews who said, We remember that that deceiver said while He was yet alive, After three days, I will rise: command, therefore, that the …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
Of these teeth too of the Church it is said, "Thy teeth are as a flock of shorn sheep, coming up from the bath, whereof every one beareth twins, and there is not one barren among them." These are they who prescribe rightly, and as they prescribe, live; who do what is written, "Let your works shine before men, that …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
But who is the fountain that is sealed, or who is interpreted as being a well-spring of living water?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)