8
1 O that thou were like my brother,
that nursed the breasts of immi (my mother)!
Then, if I should find thee outside, I would kiss thee;
yea, and no one would look down on me.
2 I would lead thee,
and bring thee into bais immi.* Thou wouldest instruct me;
I would cause thee to drink of spiced yayin
and the nectar of my pomegranate.
3 His left hand should be under my rosh,
and his right hand embrace me.
4 I charge you, O banot Yerushalayim,
that ye arouse nor awake HaAhavah (the Love)
till it pleases.†
5 Who is this that cometh up from the midbar,
leaning upon her beloved?
Under the tapuach (apple tree) I awakened thee;
it was there thy em conceived thee;
there she who brought thee forth conceived thee.
6 Set me as a chotam (seal) upon thine lev,
as a chotam upon thine zero'a (arm);
for ahavah is strong as mavet (death);
kinah (jealousy) as unyielding as Sheol;
the flames thereof are flames of eish,
the flame of Hashem.
7 Mayim rabbim (many waters) cannot quench HaAhavah,
neither can the floods drown it;
if a man would give
all the wealth of his bais for ahavah,
it would be utterly scorned.
8 We have an achot ketannah (little sister),
and she hath as yet no breasts.
What shall we do for achoteinu (our sister)
in the day when she shall be spoken for?
9 If she be a chomah (wall),
we will build upon her a pinnacle of kesef;
and if she be a delet (door),
we will enclose her with panels of cedar.
10 I am a chomah (wall), and my breasts, like migdalot;
then was I in his eyes
like one that findeth shalom.
11 Sh'lomo had a kerem (vineyard) at Ba'al-Hamon;
he gave over the kerem (vineyard) unto caretakers;
each had to pay a thousand pieces of kesef for the p'ri (fruit) thereof.
12 My kerem (vineyard), which is mine, is at my own disposal;‡
thou, O Sh'lomo, the thousand are for thee,
and two hundred for those that tend the p'ri thereof!
13 Thou that dwellest in the ganim (gardens),
the chaverim are listening for thy voice;
cause me to hear it.
14 Make haste, dodi (my beloved),
and be thou like to a gazelle
or a young deer upon the mountains where spices grow.
* 8:2 see 3:4 † 8:4 i.e., until its own time, see 2:7; 3:5 ‡ 8:12 see 7:13 [14]