1“I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride;
         I have gathered my myrrh along with my balsam.
         I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;
         I have drunk my wine and my milk.
         Eat, friends;
         Drink and imbibe deeply, O lovers.”

2“I was asleep but my heart was awake.
         A voice! My beloved was knocking:
         ‘Open to me, my sister, my darling,
         My dove, my perfect one!
         For my head is drenched with dew,
         My locks with the damp of the night.’

3“I have taken off my dress,
         How can I put it on again?
         I have washed my feet,
         How can I dirty them again?

4“My beloved extended his hand through the opening,
         And my feelings were aroused for him.

5“I arose to open to my beloved;
         And my hands dripped with myrrh,
         And my fingers with liquid myrrh,
         On the handles of the bolt.

6“I opened to my beloved,
         But my beloved had turned away and had gone!
         My heart went out to him as he spoke.
         I searched for him but I did not find him;
         I called him but he did not answer me.

7“The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me,
         They struck me and wounded me;
         The guardsmen of the walls took away my shawl from me.

8“I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
         If you find my beloved,
         As to what you will tell him:
         For I am lovesick.”

9“What kind of beloved is your beloved,
         O most beautiful among women?
         What kind of beloved is your beloved,
         That thus you adjure us?”

Admiration by the Bride

10“My beloved is dazzling and ruddy,
         Outstanding among ten thousand.

11“His head is like gold, pure gold;
         His locks are like clusters of dates
         And black as a raven.

12“His eyes are like doves
         Beside streams of water,
         Bathed in milk,
         And reposed in their setting.

13“His cheeks are like a bed of balsam,
         Banks of sweet-scented herbs;
         His lips are lilies
         Dripping with liquid myrrh.

14“His hands are rods of gold
         Set with beryl;
         His abdomen is carved ivory
         Inlaid with sapphires.

15“His legs are pillars of alabaster
         Set on pedestals of pure gold;
         His appearance is like Lebanon
         Choice as the cedars.

16“His mouth is full of sweetness.
         And he is wholly desirable.
         This is my beloved and this is my friend,
         O daughters of Jerusalem.”

Parallel Verses

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh along with my balsam. I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; I have drunk my wine and my milk. Eat, friends; Drink and imbibe deeply, O lovers."

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
My bride, my sister, I will come to my garden. I will gather my myrrh with my spice. I will eat my honeycomb with my honey. I will drink my wine with my milk. Eat, my friends! Drink and become intoxicated with expressions of love!

King James Bible
I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat the fruit of his apple trees. I am come into my garden, O my sister, my spouse, I have gathered my myrrh, with my aromatical spices: I have eaten the honeycomb with my honey, I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends, and drink, and be inebriated, my dearly beloved.

Darby Bible Translation
I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, beloved ones!

English Revised Version
I AM come into my garden, my sister, my bride: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.

Webster's Bible Translation
I have come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh, with my spice; I have eaten my honey-comb with my honey; I have drank my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yes, drink abundantly, O beloved.

World English Bible
I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride. I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Friends Eat, friends! Drink, yes, drink abundantly, beloved. Beloved

Young's Literal Translation
I have come in to my garden, my sister-spouse, I have plucked my myrrh with my spice, I have eaten my comb with my honey, I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends, drink, Yea, drink abundantly, O beloved ones!

Cross References

John 3:29 "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine has been made full.

Judges 14:11 When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.

Judges 14:20 But Samson's wife was given to his companion who had been his friend.

Proverbs 9:5 "Come, eat of my food And drink of the wine I have mixed.

Proverbs 24:13 My son, eat honey, for it is good, Yes, the honey from the comb is sweet to your taste;

Ecclesiastes 2:5 I made gardens and parks for myself and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees;

Song of Solomon 1:13 "My beloved is to me a pouch of myrrh Which lies all night between my breasts.

Song of Solomon 4:8 "Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, May you come with me from Lebanon. Journey down from the summit of Amana, From the summit of Senir and Hermon, From the dens of lions, From the mountains of leopards.

Song of Solomon 4:9 "You have made my heart beat faster, my sister, my bride; You have made my heart beat faster with a single glance of your eyes, With a single strand of your necklace.

Song of Solomon 4:11 "Your lips, my bride, drip honey; Honey and milk are under your tongue, And the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

Song of Solomon 4:14 Nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, With all the trees of frankincense, Myrrh and aloes, along with all the finest spices.

Song of Solomon 4:16 "Awake, O north wind, And come, wind of the south; Make my garden breathe out fragrance, Let its spices be wafted abroad. May my beloved come into his garden And eat its choice fruits!"

Song of Solomon 6:2 "My beloved has gone down to his garden, To the beds of balsam, To pasture his flock in the gardens And gather lilies.

Isaiah 55:1 "Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost.

Commentary

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

Chapter 5

In this chapter we have, I. Christ's gracious acceptance of the invitation which his church had given him, and the kind visit which he made to her (v. 1). II. The account which the spouse gives of her own folly, in putting a slight upon her beloved, and the distress she was in by reason of his withdrawings (v. 2-8). III. The enquiry of the daughters of Jerusalem concerning the amiable perfections of her beloved (v. 9), and her particular answer to that enquiry (v. 10-16). "Unto you that believe he is thus precious."

Verse 1

These words are Christ's answer to the church's prayer in the close of the foregoing chapter, Let my beloved come into his garden; here he has come, and lets her know it. See how ready God is to hear prayer, how ready Christ is to accept the invitations that his people give him, though we are backward to hear his calls and accept his invitations. He is free in condescending to us, while we are shy of ascending to him. Observe how the return answered the request, and outdid it. 1. She called him her beloved (and really he was so), and invited him because she loved him; in return to this, he called her his sister and spouse, as several times before, ch. 4. Those that make Christ their best beloved shall be owned by him in the nearest and dearest relations. 2. She called the garden his, and the pleasant fruits of it his, and he acknowledges them to be so: It is my garden, it is my spice. When God was displeased with Israel he turned them off to Moses (They are thy people, Ex. 32:7); and he called the appointed feasts of the Lord their appointed feasts (Isa. 1:14); but now that they are in his favour he owns them for his garden. "Though of small account, yet it is mine." Those that are in sincerity give up themselves and all they have and can do to Jesus Christ, he will do them the honour to stamp them, and what they have and do for him, with his own mark, and say, It is mine. 3. She invited him to come into his garden, and he says, I have come. Isa. 58:9, Thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. When Solomon prayed that God would come and take possession of the house he had built for him, he did come; his glory filled the house (2 Chr. 7:2), and (v. 16) he let him know that he had chosen and sanctified this house, that his name might be there for ever. Those that throw open the door of their souls to Jesus Christ shall find him ready to come in to them; and in every place where he records his name he will meet his people, and bless them, Ex. 20:24. 4. She desired him to eat his pleasant fruits, to accept of the sacrifices offered in his temple, which were as the fruits of his garden, and he does so, but finds they are not gathered and ready for eating, therefore he does himself gather them. As the fruits are his, so is the preparation of them; he finds his heart unready for his entertainment, but does himself draw out into exercise those gracious habits which he had planted there. What little good there is in us would be shed and lost if he did not gather it, and preserve it to himself. 5. She only desired him to eat the fruits of the garden, but he brought along with him something more, honey, and wine, and milk, which yield substantial nourishment, and which were the products of Canaan, Immanuel's land. Christ delights himself greatly in that which he has both conferred upon his people and wrought in them. Or we may suppose this to have been prepared by the spouse herself, as Esther prepared for the king her husband a banquet of wine; it is but plain fare, and what is natural, honey and milk, but, being kindly designed, it is kindly accepted; imperfections are overlooked; the honey-comb is eaten with the honey, and the weakness of the flesh passed by and pardoned, because the spirit is willing. When Christ appeared to his disciples after his resurrection he did eat with them a piece of a honey-comb (Lu. 24:42, 43), in which this scripture was fulfilled. He did not drink the wine only, which is liquor for men, for great men, but the milk too, which is liquor for children, little children, for he was to be the holy child Jesus, that had need of milk. 6. She only invited him to come himself, but he, bringing his own entertainment along with him, brings his friends too, and invites them to share in the provisions. The more the merrier, we say; and here, where there was so great a plenty, there was not the worse fare. When our Lord Jesus fed 5000 at once they did all eat and were filled. Christ invites all his friends to the wine and milk which he himself drinks of (Isa. 55:1), to the feast of fat things and wines on the lees, Isa. 25:6. The great work of man's redemption, and the riches of the covenant of grace, are a feast to the Lord Jesus and they ought to be so to us. The invitation is very free, and hearty, and loving: Eat, O friends! If Christ comes to sup with us, it is we that sup with him, Rev. 3:20. Eat, O friends! Those only that are Christ's friends are welcome to his table; his enemies, that will not have him to reign over them, have no part nor lot in the matter. Drink, yea, drink abundantly. Christ, in his gospel, has made plentiful provision for poor souls. He fills the hungry with good things; there is enough for all, there is enough for each; we are not straitened in him or in his grace, let us not therefore be straitened in our own bosoms. Open the mouth widely, and Christ will fill it. Be not drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit, Eph. 5:18. Those that entertain Christ must bid his friends welcome with him; Jesus and his disciples were called together to the marriage (Jn. 2:2), and Christ will have all his friends to rejoice with him in the day of his espousals to his church, and, in token of that, to feast with him. In spiritual and heavenly joys there is no danger of exceeding; there we may drink abundantly, drink of the river of God's pleasures (Ps. 36:8), and be abundantly satisfied, Ps. 65:4.

Links

Song of Solomon 5 Commentaries: Barnes • Clarke • Darby • Gill • Geneva • Guzik • JFB • Keil / Delitzsch • KJV Translators' • Henry's Concise • Matthew Henry • Scofield • TSK • Wesley

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New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org.

GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Quotations are used by permission. Copyright 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved.

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