1 I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys. 2 As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. 3 As an apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. Under its shadow I delighted to sit, and its fruit was sweet to my taste. 4 He hath brought me to the banqueting-house, and his banner over me is love. 5 'Stay ye me with dainties, refresh me with apples; for I am love-sick.' 6 Let his left hand be under my head, and his right hand embrace me. 7 'I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles, and by the hinds of the field, that ye awaken not, nor stir up love, until it please.' 8 Hark! my beloved! behold, he cometh, leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. 9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young hart; behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh in through the windows, he peereth through the lattice. 10 My beloved spoke, and said unto me: 'Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. 11 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; 12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; 13 The fig-tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines in blossom give forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. 14 O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the cliff, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.' 15 'Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vineyards; for our vineyards are in blossom.' 16 My beloved is mine, and I am his, that feedeth among the lilies. 17 Until the day breathe, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a gazelle or a young hart upon the mountains of spices.
Song of Songs · JPS Tanakh (1917)
Song of Songs 2 JPS Tanakh (1917)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (1)
- Numbers like (22-2) in the text give the Hebrew verse numbering where it differs.
Cross references (17)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Hosea 14:5; Isaiah 57:15; Isaiah 35:1–2; Song of Songs 5:13; Song of Songs 6:3
- 2 1 Peter 2:12; Isaiah 55:13; Philippians 2:15–16; Matthew 6:28–29; Matthew 10:16
- 3 Song of Songs 8:5; Isaiah 32:2; Isaiah 25:4; Hebrews 1:1–6; Hebrews 12:2
- 4 Romans 8:28–39; John 15:9–15; Romans 5:8–10; Song of Songs 1:4; Revelation 3:20
- 5 Song of Songs 5:8; Hosea 3:1; 2 Samuel 6:19; Psalm 42:1–2; Luke 24:32
- 6 Isaiah 54:5–10; Zephaniah 3:17; Jeremiah 32:41; Song of Songs 8:3–5; John 3:29
- 7 Song of Songs 3:5; Song of Songs 8:4; Song of Songs 1:5; Song of Songs 5:8–9; Proverbs 5:19
- 8 John 10:27; Isaiah 52:7; Song of Songs 2:17; John 3:29; Revelation 3:20
- 9 Song of Songs 8:14; Song of Songs 2:17; Ephesians 2:14–15; Colossians 2:17; Hebrews 10:1
- 10 Song of Songs 2:13; Song of Songs 4:7–8; Revelation 22:17; Psalm 45:10–11; 2 Corinthians 11:2
- 11 Isaiah 60:1–2; Ecclesiastes 3:11; Ephesians 5:8; Isaiah 54:6–8; Revelation 11:14–15
- 12 Isaiah 55:12; Psalm 89:15; Psalm 148:7–13; Jeremiah 8:7; Colossians 3:16
- 13 Song of Songs 2:10; Isaiah 55:10–11; Isaiah 61:11; Luke 13:6–7; 2 Corinthians 6:1–2
- 14 Ezra 9:5–6; Song of Songs 1:5; Song of Songs 5:2; Exodus 3:6; Song of Songs 8:13
- 15 Luke 13:32; 2 Peter 2:1–3; Song of Songs 7:12; Psalm 80:13; Ezekiel 13:4–16
- 16 Song of Songs 6:3; Song of Songs 7:10; Psalm 63:1; Psalm 48:14; Jeremiah 31:33
- 17 Song of Songs 4:6; 2 Peter 1:19; Romans 13:12; Luke 1:78; Hebrews 10:1
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).
… mother of the wicked,--until the anger of the Lord be overpast, whereof we also were once children who were sometimes darkness, the remains whereof we carry about us in our body, dead on account of sin, "until the day break and the shadows flee away." "Hope thou in the Lord." In the morning I shall stand in Thy presence, and …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
In the same Canticles immediately before the words quoted He says, The winter is past, the rain is past and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the pruning is come.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
… us in the dark image of the clouds, and through the glass of the heavens, not as it is; because we also, although we be the well-beloved of Thy Son, yet it hath not yet appeared what we shall be. He looketh through the lattice of our flesh, and He is fair-speaking, and hath inflamed us, and we run after …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
For by what other arrows was she stricken, who saith, "Bring me into the house of wine, place me among perfumes, crowd me among honey, for I have been wounded with love"? By what other arrows is he kindled, who, desirous of returning to God, and coming back from wandering, asketh for help against crafty tongues, and to whom it …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)