Song of Solomon 2:15

New King James Version

Catch us the foxes, The little foxes that spoil the vines, For our vines have tender grapes.

Parallel Translations

New Living Translation

Young Women of Jerusalem

Catch all the foxes, those little foxes, before they ruin the vineyard of love, for the grapevines are blossoming!

Update Bible Version
Take for us the foxes, the little foxes, That spoil the vineyards; For our vineyards are in blossom.

New Century Version
Catch the foxes for us— the little foxes that ruin the vineyards while they are in blossom.

New English Translation

The Beloved to Her Lover:

Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes, that ruin the vineyards— for our vineyard is in bloom.

Webster's Bible Translation
Take for us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines [have] tender grapes.

World English Bible
Catch for us the foxes, The little foxes that spoil the vineyards; For our vineyards are in blossom. Beloved

Amplified Bible
"Catch the foxes for us, The little foxes that spoil and ruin the vineyards [of love], While our vineyards are in blossom."

English Standard Version
Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Catche ye litle foxis to vs, that destrien the vyneris; for oure vyner hath flourid.

English Revised Version
Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vineyards; for our vineyards are in blossom.

Berean Standard Bible
Catch for us the foxes-the little foxes that ruin the vineyards-for our vineyards are in bloom.

Contemporary English Version
Our vineyards are in blossom; we must catch the little foxes that destroy the vineyards.

American Standard Version
Take us the foxes, the little foxes, That spoil the vineyards; For our vineyards are in blossom.

Bible in Basic English
Take for us the foxes, the little foxes, which do damage to the vines; our vines have young grapes.

Complete Jewish Bible

[She]

"Catch the foxes for us, yes, the little foxes! They are ruining the vineyards when our vineyards are in bloom!"

Darby Translation
Take us the foxes, The little foxes, that spoil the vineyards; For our vineyards are in bloom.

Easy-to-Read Version
Catch the foxes for us— the little foxes that spoil the vineyard. Our vineyard is now in bloom.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
'Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vineyards; for our vineyards are in blossom.'

King James Version (1611)
Take vs the foxes, the litle foxes, that spoile the vines: for our vines haue tender grapes.

New Life Bible
‘Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that are destroying our grape-fields, for the flowers are on the vines.

New Revised Standard
Catch us the foxes, the little foxes, that ruin the vineyards— for our vineyards are in blossom."

Geneva Bible (1587)
Take vs the foxes, the little foxes, which destroy the vines: for our vines haue small grapes.

George Lamsa Translation
Let us catch the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vines have tender shoots.

Good News Translation
Catch the foxes, the little foxes, before they ruin our vineyard in bloom.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
BOTHTake ye for us, the foxes, the little foxes that are spoiling the vines, - and, our vines, are all blossom!

Douay-Rheims Bible
Catch us the little foxes that destroy the vines: for our vineyard hath flourished.

Revised Standard Version
Catch us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom."

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Get vs the foxes, yea the litle foxes that hurt the vines: for our vines beare blossomes.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Take us the little foxes that spoil the vines: for our vines put forth tender grapes.

Christian Standard Bible®
Catch the foxes for us—the little foxes that ruin the vineyards—for our vineyards are in bloom.

Hebrew Names Version
Catch for us the foxes, The little foxes that spoil the vineyards; For our vineyards are in blossom. Beloved

King James Version
Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

Lexham English Bible
Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes destroying vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom!

Literal Translation
Take for us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, even our vineyards with blossoms.

Young's Literal Translation
Seize ye for us foxes, Little foxes -- destroyers of vineyards, Even our sweet-smelling vineyards.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Gett vs the foxes, yee the litle foxes that hurte ye vynes, for oure vynes beare blossoms.

THE MESSAGE

The Woman

Then you must protect me from the foxes, foxes on the prowl, Foxes who would like nothing better than to get into our flowering garden.

New American Standard Bible
"Catch the foxes for us, The little foxes that are ruining the vineyards, While our vineyards are in blossom."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Catch the foxes for us, The little foxes that are ruining the vineyards, While our vineyards are in blossom."

Legacy Standard Bible
"Seize the foxes for us,The little foxes that are wreaking destruction on the vineyards,While our vineyards are in blossom."

Contextual Overview

¹⁴ "O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret places of the cliff, Let me see your face, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, And your face is lovely." ¹⁵ Catch us the foxes, The little foxes that spoil the vines, For our vines have tender grapes. ¹⁶ My beloved is mine, and I am his. He feeds his flock among the lilies. ¹⁷ 17 (To Her Beloved)Until the day breaksAnd the shadows flee away,Turn, my beloved,And be like a gazelleOr a young stagUpon the mountains of Bether. [fn]

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the foxes: Psalms 80:13, Ezekiel 13:4-16, Luke 13:32, 2 Peter 2:1-3, Revelation 2:2

tender: Song of Solomon 2:13, Song of Solomon 7:12

Reciprocal: Judges 15:4 - caught three Psalms 63:10 - a portion Isaiah 18:5 - General Ezekiel 15:2 - What Colossians 2:8 - spoil

Cross-References

Genesis 2:2
And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

Genesis 2:8
The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.

Job 31:33
If I have covered my transgressions as Adam, By hiding my iniquity in my bosom,

Psalms 128:2
When you eat the labor of your hands, You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.

Ephesians 4:28
Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Take us the foxes,.... Of which there were great numbers in Judea; see Judges 15:4; these words are directed not to angels, nor to civil magistrates, but to ministers of the word; but whether the words of Christ, or the church, is not easy to determine; some think they are the words of the church, who had hitherto been relating what Christ said to her, and who, having neglected her vineyard, Song of Solomon 1:6; and now stirred up by Christ to a greater care of it, expresses her concern for its flourishing; and therefore calls upon her attendants and companions, to assist in taking and destroying those which were harmful to it: but rather they seem to be the words of Christ continued; since they not only show the care of his vines, the churches; but express power and authority over those they are spoken to: and perhaps they may be the words of them both jointly; since the church, with Christ, and under him, has a right to stir up her officers to do their work, and fulfil their ministry, they have received of Christ for her service. By foxes may be meant false teachers, to whom the false prophets of old were compared, Ezekiel 13:3; foxes are crafty and subtle creatures, malignant and mischievous, hungry and voracious, full of deceit and dissimulation, are of an ill smell, and abominably filthy; so false teachers walk in craftiness, use good words and fair speeches, and thereby deceive the hearts of the simple; their doctrines are pernicious, their heresies damnable, and they bring destruction on themselves and others; they are hungry after worldly substance, are greedy of it, and can never have enough; devour widows' houses, and make merchandise of men, to enrich themselves; they put on sheep's clothing, transform themselves into angels of light, mimic the voice of Gospel ministers, use their phrases and expressions, that they may not be easily discovered; and are abominable in their principles and practices, and to be shunned by all good men. Now ministers of the Gospel are ordered to take these, to detect them, and refute their errors, and reprove them sharply for them; and, after proper steps taken, to reject them, to cast them out of the vineyards, the churches, and keep them out. Even

the little foxes; heresies and heretics are to be nipped in the bud, before they increase to more ungodliness; otherwise errors, which may seem small at first, soon grow larger and spread themselves, and become fatal to the churches:

that spoil the vines; as foxes do, by gnawing the branches, biting the bark, making bare the roots, devouring the ripe grapes, and infecting all with their noxious teeth and vicious breath x: so false teachers make divisions and schisms in churches; disturb their peace; unsettle some, and subvert others; sap the foundation of religion, and corrupt the word of God; and therefore by all means to be taken, and the sooner the better;

for our vines [have] tender grapes: or "flowers";

Ezekiel 13:3- :. The "vines" are the churches; the "tender grapes", or "flowers", young converts, which Christ has a particular regard unto, Isaiah 40:11; and these, having but a small degree of knowledge, are more easily imposed upon and seduced by false teachers; and therefore, for their sakes, should be carefully watched, and vigorously opposed, since otherwise a promising vintage is in danger of being spoiled. Christ, in this address, intimates, that not only he and the church, but, he ministers also, had an interest in the vines and tender grapes, as they have; see Song of Solomon 8:11; and therefore should be the more concerned for their welfare; hence he calls them "ours"; interest carries a powerful argument in it.

x Vid. Theocrit. Idyll. 1. v. 48, 49. & Idyll. 5. v. 112, 113. So soldiers are compared to foxes, because they eat the grapes in the countries they come into, Aristoph. Equites, Act 3. Sc. 1. p. 350.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The bride relates to the chorus a visit which the beloved had paid her some time previously in her native home. He on a fair spring morning solicits her company. The bride, immersed in rustic toils, refuses for the present, but confessing her love, bids him return at the cool of day. It is a spring-time of affection which is here described, still earlier than that of the former chapter, a day of pure first-love, in which, on either side, all royal state and circumstance is forgotten or concealed. Hence, perhaps, the annual recitation of the Song of Songs by the synagogue with each return of spring, at the Feast of Passover, and special interpretations of this passage by Hebrew doctors, as referring to the paschal call of Israel out of Egypt, and by Christian fathers, as foreshadowing the evangelic mysteries of Easter - Resurrection and Regeneration. The whole scene has also been thought to represent the communion of a newly-awakened soul with Christ, lie gradually revealing Himself to her, and bidding her come forth into fuller communion.

Song of Solomon 2:8

Voice - Better, “sound.” Not a voice, but the sound of approaching footsteps is meant (compare “noise,” Isaiah 13:4).

Song of Solomon 2:9

Like a roe - Gazelle (compare Proverbs 5:19 note). The points of comparison here are beauty of form, grace, and speed of movement. In 2 Samuel 2:18; 1 Chronicles 12:8, princes are compared to “gazelles.”

Wall - The clay-built wall of the house or vineyard of the bride’s family, different from the strong wall of a city or fortress Song of Solomon 5:7; Song of Solomon 8:9-10.

Looketh forth at the windows - The meaning evidently is, that he is looking in at, or through, the window from the outside. Compare Song of Solomon 5:4 note.

Shewing himself - Or, peering. Some, taking the marginal rendering, imagine that the radiant face of the beloved is thus compared to some beautiful flower entangled in the lattice-work which protects the opening of the window, from where he gazes down upon the bride.

Song of Solomon 2:10-13

Arise, my friend, my beautiful one, and come away - The stanza begins and ends with this refrain, in which the bride reports the invitation of the beloved that she should come forth with him into the open champaign, now a scene of verdure and beauty, and at a time of mirth and mutual affection. The season indicated by six signs Song of Solomon 2:11-13 is that of spring after the cessation of the latter rain in the first or paschal month Joel 2:23, i. e., Nisan or Abib, corresponding to the latter part of March and early part of April. Cyril interpreted Song of Solomon 2:11-12 of our Lord’s Resurrection in the spring.

Song of Solomon 2:12

The time of the singing ... - i. e., The song of pairing birds. This is better than the rendering of the ancient versions, “the pruning time is come.”

Song of Solomon 2:13

The vines ... - The vines in blossom give forth fragrance. The fragrance of the vine blossom (“semadar”), which precedes the appearance of “the tender grape,” is very sweet but transient.

Song of Solomon 2:14

The secret places of the stairs - A hidden nook approached by a zig-zag path. The beloved urges the bride to come forth from her rock-girt home.

Song of Solomon 2:15

The bride answers by singing what appears to be a fragment of a vine-dresser’s ballad, insinuating the vineyard duties imposed on her by her brethren Song of Solomon 1:6, which prevent her from joining him. The destructive propensities of foxes or jackals in general are referred to, no grapes existing at the season indicated. Allegorical interpretations make these foxes symbolize “false teachers” (compare Ezekiel 13:4).

Song of Solomon 2:16

Feedeth among the lilies - Pursues his occupation as a shepherd among congenial scenes and objects of gentleness and beauty.

Song of Solomon 2:17

Until the day break - Or, rather, until the day breathe, i. e., until the fresh evening breeze spring up in what is called Genesis 3:8 “the cool” or breathing time of the day.

And the shadows flee - i. e., Lengthen out, and finally lose their outlines with the sinking and departure of the sun (compare Jeremiah 6:4). As the visit of the beloved is most naturally conceived of as taking place in the early morning, and the bride is evidently dismissing him until a later time of day, it seems almost certain that this interpretation is the correct one which makes that time to be evening after sunset. The phrase recurs in Song of Solomon 4:6.

Mountains of Bether - If a definite locality, identical with Bithron, a hilly district on the east side of the Jordan valley 2 Samuel 2:29, not far from Mahanaim (Song of Solomon 6:13 margin). If used in a symbolic sense, mountains of “separation,” dividing for a time the beloved from the bride. This interpretation seems to be the better, though the local reference need not be abandoned.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 15. Take us the foxes — That these were ruinous to vines all authors allow. They love the vine, and they are eaten in autumn in some countries, according to Galen, when they are very fat with eating the grapes. They abounded in Judea; and did most damage when the clusters were young and tender. It is likely that these are the words of the bridegroom to his companions, just as he was entering the apartment of his spouse. "Take care of the vineyard: set the traps for the foxes, which are spoiling the vines; and destroy their young as far as possible."