Passage

Song of Solomon 8.6-7

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"4. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, That ye stir not up, nor awake my love, Until he please. 5. Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, Leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple-tree I awakened thee: There thy mother was in travail with thee, There was she in travail that brought thee forth."

"6. Set me as a seal upon thy heart, As a seal upon thine arm: For love is strong as death; Jealousy is cruel as Sheol; The flashes thereof are flashes of fire, A very flame of Jehovah. 7. Many waters cannot quench love, Neither can floods drown it: If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, He would utterly be contemned."

"8. We have a little sister, And she hath no breasts: What shall we do for our sister In the day when she shall be spoken for? 9. If she be a wall, We will build upon her a turret of silver: And if she be a door, We will inclose her with boards of cedar." (Song of Solomon 8:4-9, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"4. I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up, nor awaken love, until it so desires. 5. Who is this who comes up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? Under the apple tree I aroused you. There your mother conceived you. There she was in labor and bore you."

"6. Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm; for love is strong as death. Jealousy is as cruel as Sheol. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a very flame of Yahweh. 7. Many waters can’t quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love, he would be utterly scorned."

"8. We have a little sister. She has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister in the day when she is to be spoken for? 9. If she is a wall, we will build on her a turret of silver. if she is a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar." (Song of Solomon 8:4-9, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"4. I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please. ^{that: Heb. why should ye stir up, or, why, etc} 5. Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee."

"6. Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. ^{cruel: Heb. hard} 7. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned."

"8. We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? 9. If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar." (Song of Solomon 8:4-9, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"4. I have adjured you, daughters of Jerusalem, How ye stir up, And how ye wake the love till she please! 5. Who [is] this coming from the wilderness, Hasting herself for her beloved? Under the citron-tree I have waked thee, There did thy mother pledge thee, There she gave a pledge [that] bare thee."

"6. Set me as a seal on thy heart, as a seal on thine arm, For strong as death is love, Sharp as Sheol is jealousy, Its burnings [are] burnings of fire, a flame of Jah! 7. Many waters are not able to quench the love, And floods do not wash it away. If one give all the wealth of his house for love, Treading down, they tread upon it."

"8. We have a little sister, and breasts she hath not, What do we do for our sister, In the day that it is told of her? 9. If she is a wall, we build by her a palace of silver. And if she is a door, We fashion by her board-work of cedar." (Song of Solomon 8:4-9, 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.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Argument from Love

Notes

Your annotations.

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.