Passage

Song of Solomon 1

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"2. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; For thy love is better than wine. 3. Thine oils have a goodly fragrance; Thy name is as oil poured forth; Therefore do the virgins love thee. 4. Draw me; we will run after thee: The king hath brought me into his chambers; We will be glad and rejoice in thee; We will make mention of thy love more than of wine: Rightly do they love thee. 5. I am black, but comely, Oh ye daughters of Jerusalem, As the tents of Kedar, As the curtains of Solomon. 6. Look not upon me, because I am swarthy, Because the sun hath scorched me. My mother's sons were incensed against me; They made me keeper of the vineyards; But mine own vineyard have I not kept. 7. Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, Where thou feedest thy flock, Where thou makest it to rest at noon: For why should I be as one that is veiled Beside the flocks of thy companions? 8. If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, Go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, And feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents. 9. I have compared thee, O my love, To a steed in Pharaoh's chariots. 10. Thy cheeks are comely with plaits of hair, Thy neck with strings of jewels. 11. We will make thee plaits of gold With studs of silver. 12. While the king sat at his table, My spikenard sent forth its fragrance. 13. My beloved is unto me as a bundle of myrrh, That lieth betwixt my breasts. 14. My beloved is unto me as a cluster of henna-flowers In the vineyards of En-gedi. 15. Behold, thou art fair, my love; Behold thou art fair; Thine eyes are as doves. 16. Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: Also our couch is green. 17. The beams of our house are cedars, And our rafters are firs." (Song of Solomon 1:1-17, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. The Song of songs, which is Solomon’s. 2. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; for your love is better than wine. 3. Your oils have a pleasing fragrance. Your name is oil poured out, therefore the virgins love you. 4. Take me away with you. Let us hurry. The king has brought me into his rooms. We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will praise your love more than wine! They are right to love you. 5. I am dark, but lovely, you daughters of Jerusalem, like Kedar’s tents, like Solomon’s curtains. 6. Don’t stare at me because I am dark, because the sun has scorched me. My mother’s sons were angry with me. They made me keeper of the vineyards. I haven’t kept my own vineyard. 7. Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you graze your flock, where you rest them at noon; For why should I be as one who is veiled beside the flocks of your companions? 8. If you don’t know, most beautiful among women, follow the tracks of the sheep. Graze your young goats beside the shepherds’ tents. 9. I have compared you, my love, to a steed in Pharaoh’s chariots. 10. Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, your neck with strings of jewels. 11. We will make you earrings of gold, with studs of silver. 12. While the king sat at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance. 13. My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh, that lies between my breasts. 14. My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi. 15. Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are doves. 16. Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, yes, pleasant; and our couch is verdant. 17. The beams of our house are cedars. Our rafters are firs." (Song of Solomon 1:1-17, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. The song of songs, which is Solomon's. 2. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. ^{thy: Heb. thy loves} 3. Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee. 4. Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee. ^{the upright: or, they love thee uprightly} 5. I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. 6. Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept. 7. Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? ^{as one: or, as one that is veiled} 8. If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents. 9. I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots. 10. Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold. 11. We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver. 12. While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. 13. A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts. 14. My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi. ^{camphire: or, cypress} 15. Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes. ^{my love: or, my companion} 16. Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green. 17. The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir. ^{rafters: or, galleries}" (Song of Solomon 1:1-17, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. The Song of Songs, that [is] Solomon's. 2. Let him kiss me with kisses of his mouth, For better [are] thy loves than wine. 3. For fragrance [are] thy perfumes good. Perfume emptied out, thy name, Therefore have virgins loved thee! 4. Draw me: after thee we run, The king hath brought me into his inner chambers, We do joy and rejoice in thee, We mention thy loves more than wine, Uprightly they have loved thee! 5. Dark [am] I, and comely, daughters of Jerusalem, As tents of Kedar, as curtains of Solomon. 6. Fear me not, because I [am] very dark, Because the sun hath scorched me, The sons of my mother were angry with me, They made me keeper of the vineyards, My vineyard, my own, I have not kept. 7. Declare to me, thou whom my soul hath loved, Where thou delightest, Where thou liest down at noon, For why am I as one veiled, By the ranks of thy companions? 8. If thou knowest not, O fair among women, Get thee forth by the traces of the flock, And feed thy kids by the shepherds' dwellings! 9. To my joyous one in chariots of Pharaoh, I have compared thee, my friend, 10. Comely have been thy cheeks with garlands, Thy neck with chains. 11. Garlands of gold we do make for thee, With studs of silver! 12. While the king [is] in his circle, My spikenard hath given its fragrance. 13. A bundle of myrrh [is] my beloved to me, Between my breasts it lodgeth. 14. A cluster of cypress [is] my beloved to me, In the vineyards of En-Gedi! 15. Lo, thou [art] fair, my friend, Lo, thou [art] fair, thine eyes [are] doves! 16. Lo, thou [art] fair, my love, yea, pleasant, Yea, our couch [is] green, 17. The beams of our houses [are] cedars, Our rafters [are] firs, I [am] a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys!" (Song of Solomon 1:1-17, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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TBD
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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.