the First Week after Epiphany
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Geneva Bible
Song of Solomon 8:1
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Oh that you were like a brother to me who nursed at my mother's breasts! If I found you outside, I would kiss you, and none would despise me.
If only I could treat you like my brother,
Oh that you were like my brother, Who sucked the breasts of my mother! If I found you outside, I would kiss you; Yes, and no one would despise me.
Oh that thou wert as my brother, That sucked the breasts of my mother! Should I find thee without, I would kiss thee; And they would not despise me.
If you were a baby, like my little brother nursing at his mother's breasts, and if I found you outside, I could kiss you, and no one would say it was wrong.
"Oh, that you were like a brother to me, Who nursed at the breasts of my mother. If I found you out of doors, I would kiss you; No one would blame me or despise me, either.
Oh that thou wert as my brother, That sucked the breasts of my mother! When I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; Yea, and none would despise me.
She Speaks: If you were my brother, I could kiss you whenever we happen to meet, and no one would say I did wrong.
I wish you were my brother, who nursed at my mother's breast; then, if I met you outdoors, I could kiss you, and no one would look down on me.
Oh that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! When I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, and none would despise me.
O that thou wert as my brother that sucked the brests of my mother, when I should find thee without, I would kisse thee, yet I should not be despised.
I would that thou, O my kinsman, wert he that sucked the breasts of my mother; when I found thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, they should not despise me.
Oh that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! [when] I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, and none would despise me.
O that you were to me like a brother who nursed at my mother's breasts! If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you, and no one would despise me.
How I wish that you were my little brother, who nursed upon my mother's breasts! If I met you outside, I would kiss you, and no one would despise me!
Who can give You to me, as my brother, who sucked the breasts of my mother? When I find You outside, I would kiss You. They also would not despise me.
I wish you were like my brother who fed at my mother's breasts. If I found you outside, I would kiss you, and no one would look down on me.
The Beloved to Her Lover:
Oh, how I wish you were my little brother, nursing at my mother's breasts; if I saw you outside, I could kiss you— surely no one would despise me!Oh, that you were like my brother, Who nursed at my mother's breasts! If I should find you outside, I would kiss you; I would not be despised.
Young Woman
Oh, I wish you were my brother, who nursed at my mother's breasts. Then I could kiss you no matter who was watching, and no one would criticize me."O that you were like a brother to me, who nursed from my mother's breasts! If I found you outside, I would kiss you, and no one would hate me.
O that you were like a brother to me, who nursed at my mother's breast! If I met you outside, I would kiss you, and no one would despise me.
Oh that thou hadst been a very brother to me, who had sucked the breasts of my own mother, - Had I found thee without, I had kissed thee, Yea, folk would not have despised me!
Who shall give thee to me for my brother, sucking the breasts of my mother, that I may find thee without, and kiss thee, and now no man may despise me?
WHO shall give you to me for my brother that sucked the breasts of my mother? When I should find you in the street, I would kiss you; yea, I should not be despised.
I wish that you were my brother, that my mother had nursed you at her breast. Then, if I met you in the street, I could kiss you and no one would mind.
"Oh that you were like a brother to me Who nursed at my mother's breasts. If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you; No one would despise me, either.
O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised.
O that I might finde thee without and kisse thee, whom I loue as my brother whiche suckt my mothers brestes, and that thou shalt not be dispised,
Who `mai grante to me thee, my brother, soukynge the tetis of my modir, that Y fynde thee aloone without forth, and that Y kisse thee, and no man dispise me thanne?
Who doth make thee as a brother to me, Sucking the breasts of my mother? I find thee without, I kiss thee, Yea, they do not despise me,
Oh that you were like my brother, Who sucked the breasts of my mother! If I found you outside, I would kiss you; Yes, and no one would despise me.
O that you were like a brother to me, that nursed at my mother's breast! If I met you outside, I would kiss you, and none would despise me.
Oh that you were as my brother, That nursed the breasts of my mother! [When] I should find you outside, I would kiss you; Yes, and none would despise me.
O that thou [wert] as my brother, that was nourished at the breasts of my mother! [when] I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yes, I should not be despised.
Oh that you were my brother, who took milk from my mother's breasts! When I came to you in the street, I would give you kisses; yes, I would not be looked down on.
O that I might fynde the without & kysse ye, whom I loue as my brother which suckte my mothers brestes: & that thou woldest not be offended,
I wish you'd been my twin brother, sharing with me the breasts of my mother, Playing outside in the street, kissing in plain view of everyone, and no one thinking anything of it. I'd take you by the hand and bring you home where I was raised by my mother. You'd drink my wine and kiss my cheeks.
"Oh that you were like a brother to me Who nursed at my mother's breasts. If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you; No one would despise me, either.
"Oh that you were like a brother to meWho nursed at my mother's breasts.If I found you outside, I would kiss you;No one would despise me, either.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
that thou: Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6, Haggai 2:7, Zechariah 9:9, Malachi 3:1, Matthew 13:16, Matthew 13:17, Luke 2:26-32, Luke 2:38, Luke 10:23, Luke 10:24, 1 Timothy 3:16, Hebrews 2:11, Hebrews 2:12
sucked: Isaiah 66:11, Isaiah 66:12, Galatians 4:26
find thee: John 1:14, John 3:13, John 8:42, John 13:3, John 16:28, Hebrews 2:9-14, Hebrews 9:26-28
I would: Song of Solomon 1:2, Psalms 2:12, Psalms 45:10, Psalms 45:11, Luke 7:45-48, Luke 9:26, Luke 12:8, John 7:46-52, John 9:25-38, Galatians 6:14, Philippians 3:3, Philippians 3:7, Philippians 3:8
yea: Psalms 51:17, Psalms 102:16, Psalms 102:17, Mark 12:42-44, Mark 14:6-9
I should not be despised: Heb. they should not despise me, Isaiah 60:14, Luke 10:16, Luke 18:9, 1 Corinthians 1:28
Reciprocal: Proverbs 7:4 - Thou Song of Solomon 4:5 - two breasts Song of Solomon 5:1 - my sister Song of Solomon 8:5 - there she
Cross-References
And sent forth a rauen, which went out going forth and returning, vntill the waters were dried vp vpon the earth.
But the doue found no rest for the sole of her foote: therefore she returned vnto him into the Arke (for the waters were vpon the whole earth) and he put forth his hand, and receiued her, and tooke her to him into the Arke.
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord & tooke of euery cleane beast, & of euery cleane foule, and offered burnt offerings vpon the altar.
Hereafter seede time & haruest, & colde and heate, and sommer and winter, and day and night shal not cease, so long as ye earth remaineth.
But yet when God destroyed the cities of the plaine, God thought vpon Abraham, and sent Lot out from the middes of the destruction, when he ouerthrewe the cities, wherein Lot dwelled.
And God remembred Rahel, and God heard her, and opened her wombe.
Then God heard their mone, and God remembred his couenant with Abraham, Izhak, and Iaakob.
And Moses stretched forth his hande vpon the Sea, & the Lord caused the sea to runne backe by a strong East winde all the night, & made the Sea dry land: for the waters were deuided.
And the Angel of the Lord said vnto him, Wherefore hast thou nowe smitten thine asse three times? beholde, I came out to withstande thee, because thy way is not straight before me.
Then they rose vp early, and worshipped before the Lord, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah. Nowe Elkanah knewe Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembred her.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
O that thou [wert] as my brother,.... Or, "who will give thee as a brother to me?" q an usual form of wishing, Deuteronomy 5:29
Psalms 14:7. The church here not only requests that Christ would be like a brother to her, but appear to be really one, and to act the part of one towards her; with whom she might as freely converse as brother and sister may. Several Jewish r writers own, that the King Messiah is intended here; and in such a relation Christ does stand to his church and people, by virtue of his incarnation, Hebrews 2:11; hence many of the ancients take this to be a wish of the Jewish church, for the coming of Christ in the flesh; and also through their adoption, he and they having one Father, John 20:17; and by being of a like nature, disposition, and practice, Matthew 12:50; as well as on the score of love and friendship, Proverbs 18:24; and this relation Christ fills up, by the intimacy and familiarity he uses them with; by his compassion on them, and sympathy with them, in all their afflictions; by the help, aid, and relief, he gives them; by his condescension to their weaknesses, and by his great love and affection for them. As a further description of him as a brother, it is added,
that sucked the breasts of my mother; which may denote the truth and reality of Christ's incarnation, being a sucking infant: and the near relation of Christ to his people, being a brother by the mother's side, reckoned the nearest, and their affection to each other the strongest: by her "mother" may be meant Jerusalem above, the mother of us all; and, by her "breasts", the ordinances, of which Christ, as man, partook when on earth, and now may be said to suck, as formed in the hearts of his people;
[when] I should find thee without; or, "in the street" s; in public ordinances, where Christ is to be found; or outside of Judea, in the Gentile world, where, after his coming in the flesh, his Gospel was preached, the ordinances administered, and he was there to be found; or in the most public place and manner, where she should not be ashamed to own him, his truths and ordinances, before men;
I would kiss thee; not only with a kiss of approbation, Proverbs 24:16; but of love and affection, of faith and confidence, of homage and subjection, of worship and adoration; see Psalms 2:12; this is an usage with relations and friends, brothers and sisters, at meeting; hence Heunischius refers this to the time when the saints shall meet Christ in the clouds, who will be admitted to the nearest embraces of him, with unspeakable pleasure, and enjoy him to all eternity;
yea, I should not be despised; for taking such freedom with Christ, her brother. Or, "they would not despise me" t; neither men nor angels, for such an action, and still less God, the Father, Son, and Spirit; which she might conclude from the relation between them, it being no more unseemly than for a sister to use such freedom with an own brother, even in the street; and from the reception she had reason to believe she should meet with from Christ: who would not turn away his face from her, when she offered to kiss him, which would occasion shame and blushing. The whole expresses her boldness in professing Christ, without fear or shame, in the most public manner.
q מי יתנך "quis det te?" Pagninus, Montanus, Marckius. r Targum in loc. Zohar in Gen. fol. 104. 1. Tzeror Hammor, fol. 73. 3. Caphtor Uperah, fol. 5. 2. s בחוץ "in platen", Montanus, Brightman, Marckius; "in publico", Cocceius, Michaelis. t לא יבזי לי "non contemnent, vel contemnerent me", Montanus, Brightman, Marckius.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Royal rank and splendor are grown wearisome. The king once called her “sister” and “sister-bride.” Would he were indeed as a “brother,” her mother’s own child whom she might meet, embrace, and welcome everywhere without restraint or shame. Her love for him is simple, sacred, pure, free from the unrest and the stains of mere earthly passion.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER VIII
The love of the bride to her spouse, and the nature of that
love, 1-7.
The younger sister, 8-10.
Solomon's vineyard, 11, 12.
The confidence of the bride and bridegroom in each other,
13, 14.
NOTES ON CHAP. VIII
Verse Song of Solomon 8:1. O that thou wert as my brother — The bride, fearing that her fondness for her spouse might be construed into too great a familiarity, wishes that he were her little brother; and then she might treat him in the most affectionate manner, and kiss him even in the streets without suspicion, and without giving offense to any one.
