Add parallel Print Page Options

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.
(B)I belong to my lover, and my lover belongs to me;
    he feeds among the lilies.

The Beauty of the Woman

M Beautiful as Tirzah are you, my friend;[b]
    fair as Jerusalem,
    fearsome as celestial visions!

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 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).
  2. 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.

She

My beloved has gone(A) down to his garden,(B)
    to the beds of spices,(C)
to browse in the gardens
    and to gather lilies.
I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;(D)
    he browses among the lilies.(E)

He

You are as beautiful as Tirzah,(F) my darling,
    as lovely as Jerusalem,(G)
    as majestic as troops with banners.(H)

Read full chapter