Song of Songs 8.1-9
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English Standard Version Chapter 8
for Her Beloved
8 Oh that you were like a brother to me
who nursed at my mother’s breasts!
If I found you outside, I would kiss you,
and none would despise me.
2 I would lead you and bring you
into the house of my mother—
she who used to teach me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
the juice of my pomegranate.
3 His left hand is under my head,
and his right hand embraces me!
4 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
that you not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.
5 Who is that coming up from the wilderness,
leaning on her beloved?
Under the apple tree I awakened you.
There your mother was in labor with you;
there she who bore you was in labor.
6 Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm,
for love is strong as death,
jealousy is fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
the very flame of the LORD.
7 Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.
If a man offered for love
all the wealth of his house,
he would be utterly despised.
Final Advice
OTHERS
8 We have a little sister,
and she has no breasts.
What shall we do for our sister
on the day when she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build on her a battlement of silver,
but if she is a door,
we will enclose her with boards of cedar.
Exegetical
1 Oh that you were like a brother to me who nursed at my mother’s breasts! If I found you outside, I would kiss you, and none would despise me.
()
“Oh that...” מִ֤י
the opening words in Hebrew express a longing or wish
the opening words in Hebrew express a longing or wish. She wishes that the bridegroom was like a brother to her.There is a connection between the husband/wife relationship and the brother/sister relationship. To take a wife was to first adopt her as your sister ( with Issac and Rebekah). We also see this relationship throughout Song of Songs “my sister, my bride” (, , ; , )
She wishes that the bridegroom was like a brother to her
There is a connection between the husband/wife relationship and the brother/sister relationship.
To take a wife was to first adopt her as your sister ( with Issac and Rebekah)
We also see this relationship throughout Song of Songs “my sister, my bride” (, , ; , )
She is also longing for their relationship be one without public distain (If I found you outside, I would kiss you, and none would despise me). She longs for the covenant of marriage where he will adopt her as his sister and they can be united sexually without disgrace
(, , ; , )
She longs for the covenant of marriage where he will adopt her as his sister and they can be united sexually without disgrace
“If I found you...” אֶֽמְצָאֲךָ֤
Steven E. Runge and Joshua R. Westbury, eds., The Lexham Discourse Hebrew Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012–2014), .
The bride is imagining what it would be like if she found the bridegroom and he made her his sister/wife. There would be no shame in their union. If she found him in the בַחוּץ֙ (streets, outside, public) no one would despise her for kissing him (kissing symbolically refers to sexual intercourse)
There would be no shame in their union; if she found him in the בַחוּץ֙ (streets, outside, public) no one would despise her for kissing him (
that the young woman would not be breaking Hebrew cultural or social rules or doing something that would cause her and her family to lose face. Despise, or “reproach, scorn,” indicates how people feel about unacceptable behavior. JB offers “without people thinking ill of me.” TEV suggests “no one would mind,” but this is rather weak. In some contexts the public display of affection, which breaks accepted rules, is punishable under the law, so we may need to use quite a strong word.
Translation possibilities for these clauses are:
• I could touch you and there would be nothing wrong with it.
• I could show you how much I love you and no one would be offended.
• I could kiss you openly and it would not be wrong.
Translation possibilities for these clauses are:
• I could touch you and there would be nothing wrong with it.
Steven E. Runge and Joshua R. Westbury, eds., The Lexham Discourse Hebrew Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012–2014), . streets no one would despise her for kissing him
• I could show you how much I love you and no one would be offended.
• I could kiss you openly and it would not be wrong.
The current context is the couple out in the fields, away from the public eye (7.11-12)
The Desire or longing for her to be united to her beloved as a sister-bride continues through verse 2 as she continues describing her wish.
8.2
2 I would lead you and bring you into the house of my mother— she who used to teach me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the juice of my pomegranate.
The next thing she would do if she was united to her beloved as a sister would be to take him home.
The emphatic use of two verbs next to each other אֶנְהָֽגֲךָ֗ אֲבִֽיאֲךָ֛ (literally “I would lead you, I would bring you”) reinforces her desire to be united to her beloved.
The Hebrew use of two verbs next to each other (literally “I would lead you, I would bring you”)
(literally “I would lead you, I would bring you”)
Steven E. Runge and Joshua R. Westbury, eds., The Lexham Discourse Hebrew Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012–2014), . (literally “I would lead you, I would bring you”)
My mothers house, she who used to teach me
Fox notes, however, that my mother’s house seems to be a typical expression for an unmarried woman’s home. He cites examples in Gen 24:28 and Ruth 1:8, and shows Egyptian parallels. Its meaning is well indicated by “my home.”
Some commentators have connected the mothers house as being a typical expression for an unmarried woman’s home ( and .) Another possible meaning is that the mothers house represents the secret desires of the women. Various lovemaking spots are identified in the book and are likewise connected to the woman’s body: the vineyard (2:14–15); the garden (4:16); the mother’s house (8.2).
Another possible meaning is that the mothers house represents the secret desires of the women. Various lovemaking spots are identified in the book and are likewise connected to the woman’s body: the vineyard (2:14–15); the garden (4:16); the mother’s house (8.2).
Ogden, Graham S., and Lynell Zogbo. A Handbook on the Song of Songs. UBS Handbook Series. New York: United Bible Societies, 1998.
Various lovemaking spots are identified in the book: the vineyard (2:14–15); the garden (4:16); the mother’s house.
There is discussion around the phase, “who used to teach me”
3.4 is a parallel verse but it says, “I had brought him into my mothers house, and into the chamber of her who conceived me.” The LXX translation of 8.2 follows the reading of 3.4 where the description of the mother is not one who instructs, but one who conceived. If we take 8.2 to be instruct rather than conceive as with the LXX , we can assume the daughter was instructed by the mother in matters of love and romance which then clarifies the mothers inclusion in this verse.
The LXX of 8.2 follows the reading of 3.4 where the description of the mother is not one who taught, but one who conceived. If we take 8.2 to be instruct rather than conceive as the LXX does, we can assume the daughter was instructed by the mother in matters of love and romance which then clarifies the mothers inclusion in this verse.
If we take 8.2 to be instruct rather than conceive as the LXX does, we can assume the daughter was instructed by the mother in matters of love and romance which then clarifies the mothers inclusion in this verse.
I would give you spiced wine to drink, the Juice of my pomegranate
This is a parallel phrase, in that the second phrase glorifies and expounds the first. The combination of wine and spices speaks of the pleasures of sexual intercourse (1:2; 4:10–14; 5:1). Hebrew drink אַשְׁקְ is similar in sound to the verb “kiss” אֶשָּׁ֣קְ and so is a play on words, both of them correspond to the pleasures of sex.
The combination of wine and spices speaks of the pleasures of sexual intercourse (1:2; 4:10–14; 5:1). Hebrew drink אַשְׁקְ is similar in sound to the verb “kiss” אֶשָּׁ֣קְ and so is a play on words, both of them to the pleasures of sex.
I would give you spiced wine to drink: the combination of wine and spices speaks of the pleasures of lovemaking (1:2; 4:10–14; 5:1). Hebrew drink is similar in sound to the verb “kiss” and so is a play on words, both of them relating to making love
There have been many references to pomegranates throughout the Song (4:3; 6:7; 7:12), however this is the first time we see the possessive “my pomegranates”. The phrase links us back to the promises that the young woman made in 7:12–13. She is clearly offering herself to her beloved for sexual pleasure.
8.3-4
Verse three concludes the fifth poem the same way the first poem was concluded (2.6). The refrain “I adjure you O daughters of Jerusalem” closes other sections (2:7; 3:5; 5:8; 8:4), However, it is only the first and last sections that share this reference to the young man’s arms enclosing his loved one.
It is interesting to note that, though the refrain closes many units (2:7; 3:5; 5:8; 8:4), it is only the first and last sections that share this reference to the young man’s arms enclosing his loved one.
Graham S. Ogden and Lynell Zogbo, A Handbook on the Song of Songs (UBS Handbook Series; New York: United Bible Societies, 1998), 60.
The wish or desire of the women in 8.1 find its climax as she is embraced in the arms of her beloved.
Typological
Characters
Bride and Bridegroom
The covenant of marriage is seen throughout the scripture as a type of God’s covenant love for his people. YHWH took Israel as a bride (), and likewise the church is seen as the bride of Christ (, )
Bride of the nations?
If we see chapter 8 referring to the bride of Christ, it could reference her as the bride of the nations. The nations long for their redemption, they long to be brought into the covenant. This lost bride longs for the day when she will be able to embrace her beloved without being despised (as the gentiles were) This desire is finds its fulfillment when nations are grafted in and made one with Christ (v.3). They receive the seal of baptism (v.6)
Mother
Verse 5 could also be an announcement of this “lost bride” coming from the wilderness (gentile nations) leaning (or strengthened) on her beloved. This is a second exodus theme that perhaps corresponds to .
Sister
Two women: Mother and Bride
Within the poem we see two women who seem to take a prominent role. The bride, who is speaking, and the mother. The mother is referred to twice as the bride’s mother (8.1, 2) and once as the man’s mother (8.5).
If the bridegroom is Jesus we could see the bride as the church () and the mother of 8.5 as Mary and the mother of vv.1-2 as the Spirit (John 3).
If we interpret the mother of 8.5 in light of we could see her as Israel giving birth to the Messiah, the bridegroom who would take for himself a bride, the church.
Ambrose suggests that the mother of verse 1-2 is the church and her breasts represent baptism. This could be adjusted in light of where the mother is the Spirit of whom we are born and we are baptised by water.
Jesus has both a mother Mary, and a bride, the church. The church echoes
Temple/Garden
8.1 nursed at my mother’s breasts
breasts in ch.7 is erotic however here
The breasts of the church is the sacrament of baptism.
The song abounds with references to gardens (4.12, 6.2, 8.13. etc.) and these gardens recall the Edenic paradise which God planted and prepared for Adam. In verse 5 we see the beloved having fallen asleep under the apple tree, and he is awakened by his bride. This could be a reference to Adam being put to sleep for God to tear him open and form a bride out of his side. YHWH then presents Eve to Adam in a sort of awakening sense.
8.2 The house of my mother
This could also refer to Christ being put to sleep in the grave as God formed a bride out of his side. He is then presented with a bride upon his awakening. Jesus tomb was in a garden in the same way Adam was put to sleep in a garden.
8.5 Your (mans) mother was in labor with you (under the apple tree)
Temple/Garden
Love, The Flame of YAH
It is like a seal
The seal is a mark of ownership, those who are in Christ have been sealed by the Spirit at Baptism. Baptism is the seal that God owns us. However, here we see that it is the Bride that wants to put her seal upon the bridegroom. It she that wants to own him. If the bridegroom is Christ and the church is the bride, it is the Jesus who receives the seal of ownership from the church. The incarnation demonstrates this truth, that Jesus put on flesh, he put on like a seal humanity. He will forever have the wholes in his hands and side as a seal that he belongs to his church.
The church is likewise the body of Christ, his body has our seal, our identity, we are his arms and we are his heart.
hurch. The incarnation demonstrates this truth, that Jesus put on flesh, he put on like a seal humanity. He will forever have the wholes in his hands and side as a seal that he belongs to his church.
As strong as death
This is perfectly demonstrated on the cross. Jesus love for his bride was as strong as death.
Burns like blazing fire
There is transfigured language here. When Jesus was transfigured he was like blazing fire. When we see Jesus in Revelation he has eyes of fire. Upon our complete glorification we will be brought completely into the love of YAH, and we will be made like him, we will be changed, transfigured, we will burn with the flame of YAH.
The Love of YHWH that flashes fire images his throne room and glory cloud which are described as flashing fire (lightening) ( and )
Exodus
Verses 6 and 7 have an Exodus motif. The Flame of YHWH guided Israel out of Egypt, and the waters of the red sea were unable to quench nor drown his love
The nations are associated with water, yet the water is unable to quench the flame of the gospel as it goes out transfiguring the who world into the kingdom of Christ.
Moving up the body
Ascending up to God
Ascending into the inner sanctuary of the temple
Sacrificial smoke ascends up to heaven - or taken up the palm tree
The bride and bride groom imagery is inverted
Wine
There is a movement toward drinking wine
rest, kingship, fa
In the beginning the bride is longing for the wine, but in 7.9 the bridegroom is longing for the wine of his bridef8.2 she is offering wine to him
8.2 she is offering wine to him
This is a glorification of the bride which is also a glorification of the bridegroom
Eyes