Song of Solomon 8

The Song closes with its great statement about love: it is as strong as death and cannot be bought or drowned. The lovers long to be together openly, she is led by her beloved and affirms her own worth, and the poem ends with her calling him to come away. Many Christians also read this love as a picture of God’s love for his people.

Song of Solomon 8:1-2

The bride wishes her beloved were like a brother, so she could kiss him in public without shame. In that culture open affection between a couple was frowned on. She pictures bringing him home to her mother’s house, to be honored and refreshed with spiced wine and pomegranate juice.

Song of Solomon 8:3

She describes the embrace she longs for, his left hand under her head and his right arm around her. It repeats what she said earlier in the Song. It is a picture of tender, secure closeness between two people who belong to each other.

Song of Solomon 8:4

Again she charges the daughters of Jerusalem not to stir up love before its proper time. Love is powerful and cannot be played with. It is meant to ripen in its own season and be welcomed when it is right.

Song of Solomon 8:5

The couple come up from the wilderness, she leaning on him in trust. The second half of the verse recalls the place where he first awakened her love, under the apple tree, where he was born. The speaker is not named. The picture is of a love that began quietly and now rests secure.

Song of Solomon 8:6

She asks to be set like a seal over his heart and on his arm. A seal marked ownership and was kept close and safe. She wants a permanent place with him. Love is as strong as death and as fierce as the grave, and its flame burns without letting go.

See also: Isaiah 49:16; Romans 8:38-39.

Song of Solomon 8:6

Jealousy here does not mean petty suspicion. It is the fierce, protective claim of true love, which will not share what is covenanted. Its sparks are a fire that no one can ignore. Some translations read the last phrase as a flame of the LORD, which would link love’s fire to God himself.

Song of Solomon 8:7

Floods cannot put out true love, and rivers cannot carry it away. Nor can it be bought. If someone offered all his wealth to get it, the offer would be treated with contempt. Real love is a gift and cannot be purchased.

See also: 1 Corinthians 13:8.

Song of Solomon 8:8-9

Her brothers speak of their young sister. If she stays pure and guarded like a wall, they will honor her with a silver tower. If she is open like a door, they will shut her in with cedar boards. They are concerned for her protection until she is ready to marry.

Song of Solomon 8:10

The bride answers that she is a wall, and she has come of age. Her breasts are like towers, so she is mature and secure. In his eyes she has found peace, meaning welcome and wholeness. She stands on her own worth, not on her brothers’ decisions.

Song of Solomon 8:11

She speaks of Solomon’s vineyard at Baal-hamon, which he rented out to tenants. Each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver from its fruit. It was a rich estate, run for profit, with many hands and much money involved.

See also: Isaiah 5:1.

Song of Solomon 8:12

She contrasts her own vineyard, which is herself, with Solomon’s. She is not for hire, and she gives herself freely. Solomon may keep his thousand shekels, and the tenants their two hundred. Her love is a gift, not a transaction.

Song of Solomon 8:13

He speaks as one who dwells in the gardens, and says that friends are listening for her voice. He asks to hear it. Her voice is precious to him, and he wants to hear it again.

Song of Solomon 8:14

She ends the Song by calling him to hurry away to the mountains of spices, as swift as a gazelle or young stag. The Song closes with love still moving and longing, and with a call to come. Many Christians hear in it the longing of God’s people for Christ.

See also: Revelation 22:17; Revelation 22:20.