Song of Songs 6:2-4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
2 W(A) My lover has come down to his garden,[a]
to the beds of spices,
To feed in the gardens
and to gather lilies.
3 (B)I belong to my lover, and my lover belongs to me;
he feeds among the lilies.
The Beauty of the Woman
4 M Beautiful as Tirzah are you, my friend;[b]
fair as Jerusalem,
fearsome as celestial visions!
Footnotes
- 6:2–3 The woman implies here that she had never really lost her lover, for he has come down to his garden (cf. 2:16; 4:5). Feed…lilies: the imagery here evokes both a shepherd pasturing his flocks and erotic play between the lovers (2:16; 4:5, 12, 16).
- 6:4–9 The man again celebrates the woman’s beauty. Tirzah: probably meaning “pleasant”; it was the early capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (1 Kgs 16). Celestial visions: the meaning is uncertain. Military images may be implied here, i.e., the “heavenly hosts” who fight along with God on Israel’s behalf (cf. Jgs 5:20), or perhaps a reference to the awesome goddesses of the region who combined aspects of both fertility and war.
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