Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Isaiah 2, The Mountain of the Lord

The apostasy of Judah and its empty rituals are destroying the nation. In the coming darkness, is there hope?

Isaiah 2:1-4, Last days
This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
In the last days
the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established
    as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
    and all nations will stream to it.
Many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
    so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
    the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

He will judge between the nations
    and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
    nor will they train for war anymore.

In the "last days", the temple of God will be visible to all nations.  People will flock to it. This temple will rule all things and wars will cease. This passage is similar to the vision of Micah 4. (See also Joel 3:1-3.)

This image was the goal of the Covenant described in Exodus and Deuteronomy. If Israel had obeyed YHWH then, their nation would have begun to look like Eden and would have attracted people from all nations. This is still to happen, says Isaiah. In a far off time, all people -- not just those of Israel! -- will be drawn to a future beautiful City of Jerusalem.  (See Revelation 21 for a New Testament description of this event.) Grogan points out the contrast between verse 3 above and the earlier 1:7; there people stream into Israel to plunder it; here people stream into Israel to worship the God of Jacob.

Isaiah 2:5, Come descendants of Jacob
Come, descendants of Jacob,
    let us walk in the light of the Lord.

And so Isaiah calls all of Israel to join him in walking in this light.

Isaiah 2:6-9, Embracing pagan customs
You, Lord, have abandoned your people,
    the descendants of Jacob.
They are full of superstitions from the East;
    they practice divination like the Philistines
    and embrace pagan customs.

Their land is full of silver and gold;
    there is no end to their treasures.
Their land is full of horses;
    there is no end to their chariots.
Their land is full of idols;
    they bow down to the work of their hands,
    to what their fingers have made.
So people will be brought low
    and everyone humbled—
    do not forgive them.

Instead of YHWH, the people of Israel embrace the customs of those around them -- superstitions, divination, and so on. Immersed in prosperity and riches, they fill the land with idols. Isaiah calls on God to not forgive them but to hold them accountable.

The message in this passage is similar to that of Joel 5:10-14. In both passages idolatry is described as "bow[ing] down to the work of their hands", an accusation that carries with it a certain insult about the silliness of making something with one's hands and then worshiping what one has made!

Isaiah 2:10-11, That terrible day
Go into the rocks, hide in the ground
    from the fearful presence of the Lord
    and the splendor of his majesty!

The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled
    and human pride brought low;
the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

Before that glorious Last Day there will be an accounting. The wicked will flee; the arrogant will be humbled.

Isaiah 2:12-18, All the arrogance and pride of man...
The Lord Almighty has a day in store
    for all the proud and lofty,
for all that is exalted
    (and they will be humbled),
for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty,
    and all the oaks of Bashan,
for all the towering mountains
    and all the high hills,
for every lofty tower
    and every fortified wall,
for every trading ship
    and every stately vessel.

The arrogance of man will be brought low
    and human pride humbled;
the Lord alone will be exalted in that day,
and the idols will totally disappear.

Against all the arrogance and pride of mankind -- every lofty thing -- God (on that future Day) will bring that pride low and be exalted above it all.

As elsewhere (eg. 1 Kings 10:22), the Hebrew translated "trading ship" is literally "ship of Tarshish."

Isaiah 2:19-21, Flight
People will flee to caves in the rocks
    and to holes in the ground
from the fearful presence of the Lord
    and the splendor of his majesty,
    when he rises to shake the earth.
In that day people will throw away
    to the moles and bats
their idols of silver and idols of gold,
    which they made to worship.

They will flee to caverns in the rocks
    and to the overhanging crags
from the fearful presence of the Lord
    and the splendor of his majesty,
    when he rises to shake the earth.

The catastrophe that occurs in the last days, before the glorious Day of the new Jerusalem, will force people to hide and seek refuge, to give up all their riches and their idols. All of this is because the genuine "presence of the Lord" is a frightening (and splendorous) thing. In this Presence, gold and silver become irrelevant.

Isaiah 2:22, Mere humans
Stop trusting in mere humans,
    who have but a breath in their nostrils.
    Why hold them in esteem?

"Who will you trust?" asks Isaiah. "Humans or YHWH?"  The answer should be obvious.

This last verse transitions into the next chapter, where YHWH will rise up to judge the people of Israel, those who one should not hold in esteem.

Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Isaiah 1, Address to a Stubborn Nation

Beginning with the reign of the Judean king Uzziah, a prophet is called to bring the message of YHWH to Judah.

Isaiah 1:1, Introduction
The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Uzziah (Azariah) began his reign about 783 BC at the age of 16. (See this Wikipedia page.) Isaiah probably bdgins his ministry around 745 BC. Motyer argues that the word translated "vision" can also mean "truth" or "revelation". 

Amoz, Isaiah's father, is not the Old Testament prophet Amos. Although both lived in the 8th Century BC, the words (Amots, Amos) are substrantially different in Hebrew.

Isaiah 1: 2-4, A disobedient nation
Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth!
    For the Lord has spoken:
“I reared children and brought them up,
    but they have rebelled against me.
The ox knows its master,
    the donkey its owner’s manger,
but Israel does not know,
    my people do not understand.”

Woe to the sinful nation,
    a people whose guilt is great,
a brood of evildoers,
    children given to corruption!
They have forsaken the Lord;
    they have spurned the Holy One of Israel
    and turned their backs on him.

The animals turn to their master and know where food and home are, but Israel does not. It has spurned the One Who created them. 

This passage opens the book with the message that is not only central to the book but to most of the prophesies of ancient Israel. Grogan points out that verse four includes a "rich Hebrew vocabulary" for the rebellion of Israel. The words are translated by the NIV as "sinful", "guilt", "evildoers", "corruption", "forsaken", "spurned", "turned their backs." The poetic drumbeat of these words magnifies Isaiah's charge.

Isaiah 1:5-7, Desolation
Why should you be beaten anymore?
    Why do you persist in rebellion?
Your whole head is injured,
    your whole heart afflicted.

From the sole of your foot to the top of your head
    there is no soundness—
only wounds and welts
    and open sores,
not cleansed or bandaged
    or soothed with olive oil.

Your country is desolate,
    your cities burned with fire;
your fields are being stripped by foreigners
    right before you,
    laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.

Foreigners raid the fields and pillage the towns. The country is in pain like one covered in wounds and open sores.

Isaiah 1:8-10 Like Sodom and Gomorrah
Daughter Zion is left
    like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a hut in a cucumber field,
    like a city under siege.

Unless the Lord Almighty
    had left us some survivors,
we would have become like Sodom,
    we would have been like Gomorrah.
Hear the word of the Lord,
    you rulers of Sodom;
listen to the instruction of our God,
    you people of Gomorrah!

Isaiah (Zion) is under siege. It has almost been destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah (see Genesis 19), indeed, Israel might as well take up those names! In the New Testament, in Matthew 11: 20-24, Jesus gives a similar warning; there are cities as decadent and stubborn as Sodom and Gomorrah! The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans (Romans 9: 29) quotes this last verse.

Isaiah 1:11-14, Empty religion
“The multitude of your sacrifices—
    what are they to me?” says the Lord.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
    of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
    in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

When you come to appear before me,
    who has asked this of you,
    this trampling of my courts?

Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
    Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
    I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
    I hate with all my being.
They have become a burden to me;
    I am weary of bearing them.

The rituals of religion are empty and useless. Although Karl Marx's claim that "religion ... is the opium of the people" is certainly not based on Isaiah, this passage attacks empty rituals that people use to feel comfortable, unaware that there is a real God observing them. Rituals without true worship are a burden to God!

This passage is consistent with Psalm 51: 16-17; God really wants the sacrifices to accompany a broken and contrite heart 

Isaiah 1:15-17, Spreading out hands full of blood
When you spread out your hands in prayer,
    I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
    I am not listening.
Your hands are full of blood!
Wash and make yourselves clean.
    Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
    stop doing wrong.

Learn to do right; seek justice.
    Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
    plead the case of the widow.

Hands lifted up in prayer are meaningless if they are full of blood due to evil deeds. Instead Israel is to seek just and defend the vulnerable.

Isaiah 1:18-20, Let us reason together
“Come now, let us settle the matter,”
    says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
    they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
    they shall be like wool.

If you are willing and obedient,
    you will eat the good things of the land;
but if you resist and rebel,
    you will be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

God calls Israel to sit down and think about their actions and return to Him.

Isaiah 1:21-23, Once full of justice...
See how the faithful city
    has become a prostitute!
She once was full of justice;
    righteousness used to dwell in her—
    but now murderers!

Your silver has become dross,
    your choice wine is diluted with water.
Your rulers are rebels,
    partners with thieves;
they all love bribes
    and chase after gifts.
They do not defend the cause of the fatherless;
    the widow’s case does not come before them.

The list of sins build up; Israel acts like a prostitute, focusing on riches, bribes, gifts while ignoring the fatherless and the widow. Riches such as silver and special wine will be destroyed. The older prophet, Hosea, equated the northern kingdom's idolatry with prostitution.

Isaiah 1: 24-26, Restoration
Therefore the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    the Mighty One of Israel, declares:
“Ah! I will vent my wrath on my foes
    and avenge myself on my enemies.
I will turn my hand against you;
    I will thoroughly purge away your dross
    and remove all your impurities.
I will restore your leaders as in days of old,
    your rulers as at the beginning.

A time is coming when Israel will be restored, its impurities removed. (In context, the phrase translated "I will turn my hand against you" is a move to begin restoration.)

Isaiah 1: 27, A City of Righteousness
Afterward you will be called
    the City of Righteousness,
    the Faithful City.”
Zion will be delivered with justice,
    her penitent ones with righteousness.

When the Mighty One of Israel begins His restoration, Jerusalem will become a visible City of Righteousness, a place of faithfulness and justice! The dramatic upswing of verse 26, above, finishes with a strong statement of future purpose.

Isaiah 1: 28-31, Sacred oaks decay
But rebels and sinners will both be broken,
    and those who forsake the Lord will perish.
“You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks
    in which you have delighted;
you will be disgraced because of the gardens
    that you have chosen.
You will be like an oak with fading leaves,
    like a garden without water.
The mighty man will become tinder
    and his work a spark;
both will burn together,
    with no one to quench the fire.”

This promised restoration will destroy rebels and sinners. It will destroy the sacred oaks where people worshiped idols. It will destroy their beautiful gardens. Mighty men will end up creating sparks that burn down all their work.

Monday, November 4, 2024

Song of Songs 8, As Strong as Death

Chapter 7 ends with a statement of love-making between the couple, in a private place in the country. Then the Song of Songs ends with a chapter of three short, disconnected poems.

Song of Songs 8:1-2, I only you were my brother
If only you were to me like a brother, 
who was nursed at my mother's breasts! 
Then, if I found you outside, 
I would kiss you, and no one would despise me. 

The woman wishes her dear friend were a brother! Why? So that she could kiss him in the street without society's prohibitions! She wants to be publicly affectionate with him in ways that the public does not accept. (This may be a hint that the couple are not yet married. Or it could simply represent society's prohibition against any affection. Some cultures do not expect even married couples to be affectionate in public.)

Song of Songs 8:2, I would bring you home
 I would lead you 
and bring you to my mother's house-- 
she who has taught me. 
I would give you spiced wine to drink, 
the nectar of my pomegranates.

If her lover were her brother, why she could take him home to her mother's house, to the one who taught her about life and love, and there shower him with treats and affection!  (Speaking as a man -- in this type of situation my thoughts would not be all the "brotherly". The woman may wish that she could give him sisterly affection but I suspect the man is be happy to be lover, not brother!)

As Alter points out, throughout this book, the woman is often the speaker, the initiator of affection.

Song of Songs 8:3-4, Embrace
His left arm is under my head and his right arm embraces me.  

Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you: 
Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.

The poem ends with one more statement of erotic embraces.The statement of caresses by her lover, followed by a call to the daughters of Jerusalem, suggests a conclusion to this first short poem.

Song of Songs 8:5a, Coming up from the desert
Who is this coming up from the desert 
leaning on her lover?

At the beginning of a second short poem, the narrator introduces the woman as coming out of the desert with her lover, affectionately leaning against him.

Now the woman will speak:

Song of Songs 8:5b-7, Under the quince tree
Under the apple tree I roused you; 
there your mother conceived you, 
there she who was in labor gave you birth.  

Earlier, in 2:5 it was the woman who was faint with love and needed to be aroused by this fruit. Here she awakes him under a similar fruit tree. As before (3:4), a connection is made between the couple's embraces and the very place where a set of parents had sex and conceived a child. In this case, it is the woman invokes the man's parents. (It is possible that such a place might be viewed as "fertile" -- "your mother got pregnant here, maybe I can too!")

Song of Songs 8:5b-6, Seal me
Place me like a seal over your heart, 
like a seal on your arm; 
for love is as strong as death, 
its jealousy unyielding as the grave. 
It burns like blazing fire, 
like a mighty flame.

The woman seeks a "seal" with a lover, to be sealed over his heart and sealed on his arm. (Thus, in our culture, my wedding band represents this seal.) This statement of commitment is followed by a strong pair of lines, synthetic parallelism, that love is as strong as death and jealousy as strong as Sheol. Love and Jealousy (together) are a mighty fire. Here "jealousy" is the legitimate possessiveness of two people sealed together. He is hers alone (forsaking all others) and she is his alone (forsaking all others.)

Song of Songs 8:7, Many waters cannot quench love
Many waters cannot quench love; 
rivers cannot wash it away.
 If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, 
it would be utterly scorned.

Love defeats all other riches.

Song of Songs 8:8-9, A young sister
We have a young sister, 
and her breasts are not yet grown. 
What shall we do for our sister for the day she is spoken for?   
If she is a wall, we will build towers of silver on her. 
If she is a door, we will enclose her with panels of cedar.

This is surely a new poem, a new story. Davidson views the rest of this chapter as a series of curtain calls, with various individuals speaking out about love. Here the woman's brothers reappear (from 1:6) to speak protectively about their sister. In the culture of the ANE, in the absence of a father, the girl's brothers are responsible for the young girl's chastity and, most likely, for arranging her marriage. The brothers are going to wall her in so that no one comes near.

Song of Songs 8:10, My breasts are towers!
I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers. 
Thus I have become in his eyes like one bringing contentment.

Both Alter and Davidson see this verse as the woman's response to her protective brothers. Her breasts have indeed grown and yes, she is now a full adult, not a young girl. Indeed, she has man who views her both with desire and contentment.

Song of Songs 8:11-12, Solomon's vineyard
Solomon had a vineyard in Baal Hamon; 
he let out his vineyard to tenants. 
Each was to bring for its fruit a thousand shekels of silver.  

But my own vineyard is mine to give;
 the thousand shekels are for you, O Solomon,
 and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit.

As a response to the brothers, the woman speaks of Solomon's precious vineyard, worth a thousand shekels of silver. He can rent it out and make even more money. But the woman has her own vineyard. And it is priceless! (See verse 7, above.)

Davidson says that the word translated here as a place name, Baal Hamon, literally means "lord of a crowd" or (suggests Davidson) "husband of a crowd." If so, is there a dig at the rich king who has a crowd of wives and concubines but has no true understanding of love?

Song of Songs 8:13, From the gardens, speak!
You who dwell in the gardens 
with friends in attendance, 
let me hear your voice!

The man speaks out, calling for the woman. As Alter points out, the woman is both in a (literal) garden and is, herself, a (metaphorical) garden.

Song of Songs 8:14, Come away!
Come away, my lover, 
and be like a gazelle or like a young stag 
on the spice-laden mountains.

As in 2:17,  the woman issues an invitation to her lover, an invitation to "come away" to the "spice-laden mountains." 

And so our song ends ends, in two quick tricolons, a man calls to hear her voice and the woman responds with one final invitation. She invites the young man, an energetic young stag, to go away with her, to enjoy what she seeks to offer him.

Sunday, November 3, 2024

Song of Songs, as a Play with Three Characters

 Song of Solomon, as a play with 3 characters:

Some argue that this book is either a collection of love poems or a play with a number of different acts or scenes. Let's see what this might look like. (Recall that the Hebrew text has no breaks or grammatical markings, besides end marking on some words. But the language does have gender markings and we can guess who is speaking by the gender of certain words.)

Narrator:
Solomon's Song of Songs.

ACT I


Woman:
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth-- for your love is more delightful than wine.  Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens love you! 
Take me away with you--let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers. We rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. How right they are to adore you!
Dark am I, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, dark like the tents of Kedar, like the tent curtains of Solomon. Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by the sun. My mother's sons were angry with me and made me take care of the vineyards; my own vineyard I have neglected. 
Tell me, you whom I love, where you graze your flock and where you rest your sheep at midday. Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your friends?

Man:
If you do not know, most beautiful of women, follow the tracks of the sheep and graze your young goats by the tents of the shepherds.
I liken you, my darling, to a mare harnessed to one of the chariots of Pharaoh.  Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, your neck with strings of jewels.  We will make you earrings of gold, studded with silver.

Woman:
While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.  My lover is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts.  My lover is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi.

Man:
How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes are doves.

Woman:
How handsome you are, my lover! Oh, how charming! And our bed is verdant.  The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are firs.
I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.

Man:
Like a lily among thorns is my darling among the maidens.

Woman:
Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my lover among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.  He has taken me to the banquet hall, and his banner over me is love.
Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love.  His left arm is under my head, and his right arm embraces me.  
Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.

ACT II


Woman:
Listen! My lover! Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills.  My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look! There he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.  
My lover spoke and said to me, "Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me.  See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.  Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.  The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me."

Man:
My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.
Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.

Woman:
My lover is mine and I am his; he browses among the lilies.  Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, turn, my lover, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the rugged hills.

ACT III


Woman:
All night long on my bed I looked for the one my heart loves; I looked for him but did not find him.  I will get up now and go about the city, through its streets and squares; I will search for the one my heart loves. So I looked for him but did not find him.  The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. "Have you seen the one my heart loves?" 
Scarcely had I passed them when I found the one my heart loves. I held him and would not let him go till I had brought him to my mother's house, to the room of the one who conceived me.  
Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.

ACT IV

Daughters of Jerusalem:
Who is this coming up from the desert like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and incense made from all the spices of the merchant?  Look! It is Solomon's carriage, escorted by sixty warriors, the noblest of Israel,  all of them wearing the sword, all experienced in battle, each with his sword at his side, prepared for the terrors of the night.  King Solomon made for himself the carriage; he made it of wood from Lebanon.  Its posts he made of silver, its base of gold. Its seat was upholstered with purple, its interior lovingly inlaid by the daughters of Jerusalem.

Woman:
Come out, you daughters of Zion, and look at King Solomon wearing the crown, the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, the day his heart rejoiced.

Man:
How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil are doves.
Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead.  
Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, coming up from the washing. Each has its twin; not one of them is alone.  
Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon; your mouth is lovely.
Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate. 
Your neck is like the tower of David, built with elegance; on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors.
Your two breasts are like two fawns, like twin fawns of a gazelle that browse among the lilies.  Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of incense. 
All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you.
Come 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.  You 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.
How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much more pleasing is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice!  Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride; milk and honey are under your tongue. The fragrance of your garments is like that of Lebanon.  You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride; you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.  Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with choice fruits, with henna and nard, nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree, with myrrh and aloes and all the finest spices.  You are a garden fountain, a well of flowing water streaming down from Lebanon.

Woman:
Awake, north wind, and come, south wind! Blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread abroad. Let my lover come into his garden and taste its choice fruits.

Man:
I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; I have drunk my wine and my milk.

Narrator:
Eat, O friends, and drink; drink your fill, O lovers.

ACT V


Woman:
I slept but my heart was awake. Listen! My lover is knocking: "Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night."  
I have taken off my robe-- must I put it on again? I have washed my feet-- must I soil them again?  

My lover thrust his hand through the latch-opening; my heart began to pound for him.  I arose to open for my lover, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh, on the handles of the lock.
I opened for my lover, but my lover had left; he was gone. My heart sank at his departure.  I looked for him but did not find him. I called him but he did not answer.  The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. They beat me, they bruised me; they took away my cloak, those watchmen of the walls!
O daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you-- if you find my lover, what will you tell him? Tell him I am faint with love.

Daughters of Jerusalem:
How is your beloved better than others, most beautiful of women? How is your beloved better than others, that you charge us so?

Woman:
My lover is radiant and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand.
His head is purest gold; his hair is wavy and black as a raven.
His eyes are like doves by the water streams, washed in milk, mounted like jewels.
His cheeks are like beds of spice yielding perfume. His lips are like lilies dripping with myrrh.
His arms are rods of gold set with chrysolite.
His body is like polished ivory decorated with sapphires.
His legs are pillars of marble set on bases of pure gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as its cedars.
His mouth is sweetness itself; he is altogether lovely.
This is my lover, this my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.

Daughters of Jerusalem:
Where has your lover gone, most beautiful of women? Which way did your lover turn, that we may look for him with you?

Woman:
My lover has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to browse in the gardens and to gather lilies.  
I am my lover's and my lover is mine; he browses among the lilies.

ACT VI


Man:
You are beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, majestic as troops with banners. Turn your eyes from me; they overwhelm me. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing. Each has its twin, not one of them is alone. Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate.
Sixty queens there may be, and eighty concubines, and virgins beyond number;  but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the only daughter of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her. The maidens saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines praised her.
Who is this that appears like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, majestic as the stars in procession?  
I went down to the grove of nut trees to look at the new growth in the valley, to see if the vines had budded or the pomegranates were in bloom.   Before I realized it, my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people.  


ACT VII


Narrator:
Come back, come back, O Shulammite; come back, come back, that we may gaze on you!

Woman:
Why would you gaze on the Shulammite as on the dance of Mahanaim?

Man: 
How beautiful your sandaled feet, O prince's daughter!
Your graceful legs are like jewels, the work of a craftsman's hands.
Your navel is a rounded goblet that never lacks blended wine.
Your waist is a mound of wheat encircled by lilies.
Your breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle.
Your neck is like an ivory tower.
Your eyes are the pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath Rabbim.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon looking toward Damascus.
Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel.
Your hair is like royal tapestry; the king is held captive by its tresses.
How beautiful you are and how pleasing, O love, with your delights!
Your stature is like that of the palm, and your breasts like clusters of fruit.  I said, "I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of its fruit." May your breasts be like the clusters of the vine, the fragrance of your breath like apples and your mouth like the best wine.

Woman:
May the wine go straight to my lover, flowing gently over lips and teeth.

I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me.  
Come, my lover, let us go to the countryside, let us spend the night in the villages.  Let us go early to the vineyards to see if the vines have budded, if their blossoms have opened, and if the pomegranates are in bloom-- there I will give you my love.  The mandrakes send out their fragrance, and at our door is every delicacy, both new and old, that I have stored up for you, my lover.

If only you were to me like a brother, who was nursed at my mother's breasts! Then, if I found you outside, I would kiss you, and no one would despise me.  I would lead you and bring you to my mother's house-- she who has taught me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the nectar of my pomegranates.

His left arm is under my head and his right arm embraces me.  Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.

ACT VIII


Narrator:
Who is this coming up from the desert leaning on her lover?

Woman:
Under the apple tree I roused you; there your mother conceived you, there she who was in labor gave you birth.  Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave.  It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.  Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.

Brothers:
We have a young sister, and her breasts are not yet grown. What shall we do for our sister for the day she is spoken for?   If she is a wall, we will build towers of silver on her. If she is a door, we will enclose her with panels of cedar.

Woman:
I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers. Thus I have become in his eyes like one bringing contentment.
Solomon had a vineyard in Baal Hamon; he let out his vineyard to tenants. Each was to bring for its fruit a thousand shekels of silver.  But my own vineyard is mine to give; the thousand shekels are for you, O Solomon, and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit. 

Man: 
You who dwell in the gardens with friends in attendance, let me hear your voice!

Woman:
Come away, my lover, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the spice-laden mountains.