Song of Songs 4

The Wedding Night: Praise of the Bride#sn Song 4:1-7 is often compared to ancient Near Eastern wasfs songs sung by the groom to his new bride, praising her beauty from head to foot. Examples have been found in Egyptian, Syrian, Sumerian, and Arabic love literature. The wasfs song is a poetic celebration by the groom of his bride’s physical beauty. The typical form has three parts: (1) introductory words by the wedding guests, (2) invitation by the bride to the groom to celebrate her physical beauty, and (3) the groom’s poetic comparative praise of his bride’s beauty from head to foot – comprising the bulk of the song. The groom’s praise typically is characterized by three movements: (1) introductory summary praise of his bride’s beauty, (2) lengthy and detailed figurative description of her physical beauty, and (3) concluding summary praise which reiterates the introductory words of the song. Although the introductory words of the wedding guests and the invitation by the bride are absent, the form of the Lover’s praise of his bride is identical, as are the types of comparative praise. His song falls into the same three movements: (1) introductory summary praise of his bride’s beauty in 4:1a, (2) lengthy and detailed figurative description of her beauty in 4:1b-6, and (3) concluding summary praise in 4:7. See K&D 18:174-76; S. Krauss, “The Archaeological Background of Some Passages in the Song of Songs,” JQR 32 (1941-42): 125.

The Lover to His Beloved:

1Oh, you are beautiful, my darling! Oh, you are beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are like doves. Your hair is like a flock of female goats descending from Mount Gilead.

2Your teeth are like a flock of newly-shorn sheep coming up from the washing place; each of them has a twin, and not one of them is missing.

3Your lips are like a scarlet thread; your mouth is lovely. Your forehead behind your veil is like a slice of pomegranate.

4Your neck is like the tower of David built with courses of stones; one thousand shields are hung on it – all shields of valiant warriors.

5Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of the gazelle grazing among the lilies.

6Until the dawn arrives and the shadows flee, I will go up to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.

7You are altogether beautiful, my darling! There is no blemish in you!

The Wedding Night: Beautiful as Lebanon

8Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, come with me from Lebanon. Descend from the crest of Amana, from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon, from the lions’ dens and the mountain haunts of the leopards.

9You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride! You have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.

10How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine; the fragrance of your perfume is better than any spice!

11Your lips drip sweetness like the honeycomb, my bride, honey and milk are under your tongue. The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

The Wedding Night: The Delightful Garden

The Lover to His Beloved:

12You are a locked garden, my sister, my bride; you are an enclosed spring, a sealed-up fountain.

13Your shoots are a royal garden full of pomegranates with choice fruits: henna with nard,

14nard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon with every kind of spice, myrrh and aloes with all the finest spices.

15You are a garden spring, a well of fresh water flowing down from Lebanon.

The Beloved to Her Lover:

16Awake, O north wind; come, O south wind! Blow on my garden so that its fragrant spices may send out their sweet smell. May my beloved come into his garden and eat its delightful fruit!