שיר השירים 1:7

Hebrew Modern Translation

הגידה לי שאהבה נפשי איכה תרעה איכה תרביץ בצהרים שלמה אהיה כעטיה על עדרי חבריך׃

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Aleppo Codex
הגידה לי שאהבה נפשי איכה תרעה איכה תרביץ בצהרים שלמה אהיה כעטיה על עדרי חבריך

Biblia Hebrica Stuttgartensia (1967/77)
הַגִּ֣ידָה לִּ֗י שֶׁ֤אָהֲבָה֙ נַפְשִׁ֔י אֵיכָ֣ה תִרְעֶ֔ה אֵיכָ֖ה תַּרְבִּ֣יץ בַּֽצָּהֳרָ֑יִם שַׁלָּמָ֤ה אֶֽהְיֶה֙ כְּעֹ֣טְיָ֔ה עַ֖ל עֶדְרֵ֥י חֲבֵרֶֽיךָ ׃

Westminster Leningrad Codex
הַגִּידָה לִּי שֶׁאָהֲבָה נַפְשִׁי אֵיכָה תִרְעֶה אֵיכָה תַּרְבִּיץ בַּֽצָּהֳרָיִם שַׁלָּמָה אֶֽהְיֶה כְּעֹטְיָה עַל עֶדְרֵי חֲבֵרֶֽיךָ ׃

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

O thou: Song of Solomon 2:3, Song of Solomon 3:1-4, Song of Solomon 5:8, Song of Solomon 5:10, Song of Solomon 5:16, Psalms 18:1, Psalms 116:1, Isaiah 5:1, Isaiah 26:9, Matthew 10:37, John 21:17, 1 Peter 1:8, 1 Peter 2:7

thou feedest: Genesis 37:16, Psalms 23:1, Psalms 23:2, Psalms 80:1, Isaiah 40:11, Micah 5:4, John 10:11, John 10:28, John 10:29, Revelation 7:17

for: 1 Samuel 12:20, 1 Samuel 12:21, Psalms 28:1, John 6:67-69, 1 John 2:19

turneth aside: or, is veiled, Colossians 3:14-18

Reciprocal: Genesis 29:2 - there Genesis 29:9 - Rachel Exodus 33:13 - show Ruth 2:8 - neither Ruth 2:21 - Thou shalt Proverbs 2:20 - General Proverbs 13:20 - that Song of Solomon 2:16 - he Song of Solomon 6:2 - feed Song of Solomon 8:13 - the companions Jeremiah 6:16 - Stand Jeremiah 50:6 - have forgotten Ezekiel 34:15 - General Luke 12:32 - little John 1:38 - Rabbi John 8:32 - ye shall Acts 17:4 - some Acts 20:28 - all 1 Corinthians 16:22 - love 1 Peter 2:25 - the Shepherd

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth,.... With all her heart, cordially and sincerely; for, notwithstanding her sinful compliance with others, and neglect of her own affairs, she had not lost her love to Christ; and, being sensible of her sin and folly, whereby she was deprived of his company, and communion with him, applies to him to guide, direct, and restore her wandering soul; and particularly inform her

where, says she,

thou feedest; that is his flock, like a shepherd: for this phrase supposes him to be a shepherd, as he is, of God's choosing, appointing, and setting up, the chief, the good, the great, and only Shepherd of the sheep; and that he has a flock to feed, which is but one, and a little one, is his property, given him by God, purchased by his blood, called a flock of slaughter, and yet a beautiful one, he has undertook to feed; and feeding it includes the whole business of a shepherd, in leading the sheep into pastures, protecting them from all enemies, restoring them when wandering, healing their diseases, watching over them in the night seasons, and making all necessary provisions for them. Or, "tell me how thou feedest" f; the manner of it, and with what; which he does by his ministers, word, and ordinances; with himself, the bread of life; with the doctrines and promises of the Gospel, and with the discoveries of his love;

where thou makest [thy flocks] to rest at noon, either at the noon of temptation, when Satan's fiery darts fly thick and fast; when Christ is a shadow and shelter in his person, grace, blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, Isaiah 25:4; or the noon of affliction, when he makes their bed in it, and gives them rest from adversity; or the noon of persecution, when Christ leads his flocks to cooling shades, and gives them rest in himself, when troubled by others: the allusion, is to shepherds, in hot countries, leading their flocks to some shady place, where they may be sheltered from the scorching heat of the sun; which, as Virgil says g, was at the fourth hour, or ten o'clock, two hours before noon; we read of προβατια μεσημβριαζοντα h, sheep nooning themselves, or lying down at noon, under a shade, by a fountain, asleep;

for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? not real associates with Christ, that keep company with him, and are attached to his word and ordinances; but false friends, hypocrites and heretics i, rivals with him, who set up schemes of worship and doctrine in opposition to his; such as Papists, Socinians, c. now such false teachers have had their flocks in all ages, such as have followed them, and have formed separate societies and therefore the church, sensible of their craftiness, and her own weakness, and liableness to go astray, desires she might not be under, and left to such a temptation, as to apostatize from Christ, and join to such persons and their flocks, or seem to do so: or, "be as one that covereth herself", or "is covered" k; as a harlot; so Tamar,

Genesis 38:14; or as a widow in mourning; she chose not to be, or to be thought to be, either as one that left her husband, an unchaste woman; or had lost her husband, or as if she had none, when neither was the case: or, "as one that spreads the tent" l; by the flocks of such; as if in communion with them, and joining with them in feeding their flocks; and therefore desires she might speedily know where Christ was, and go to him, that such an aspersion or suspicion might at once be wiped from her.

f איבה תרעה "quomodo pascas?" Tigurine version; so the Syriac version and Jarchi; see Ainsworth. g "Inde, ubi quarta sitim coeli collegetit hora", Virgil. Georgic. l. 3. v. 327. h Platonis Phaedrus, p. 1230. i So Stockius, p. 302. k כעטיה "quasi operiens se", Piscator; "ut obnubens", Cocceius; "sicut obvelans se", Marckius; "velut operta", Michaelis. l So Junius & Tremellius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This section is made by the Targumist and other Jewish interpreters to adumbrate the condition of Israel in the wilderness; by some Christian expositors, that of the Gentile Church on her first conversion.

Song of Solomon 1:5

I am black ... - Dark-hued, as the tents of Kedar with their black goats’ hair coverings, rough and weather-stained, “but comely (beautiful) as the rich hangings which adorn the pavilion of Solomon. Kedar was the name of an Arab tribe Genesis 25:13; Psalms 120:5. The word itself signifies “dark” or “black.” Possibly “tents of Kedar” stand here poetically for shepherds’ tents in general Isaiah 60:7.

Song of Solomon 1:6

Look not upon me - In wonder or scorn at my swarthy hue. It was acquired in enforced but honest toil: the sun hath scanned me (or “glared upon me”) with his burning eye. The second word rendered “looked” is a word twice found in Job Job 20:9; Job 28:7, and indicates in the latter place the piercing glance of a bird of prey.

My mother’s children, - Or, sons; a more affectionate designation than “brothers,” and implying the most intimate relationship.

Angry - This anger was perhaps but a form of jealous care for their sister’s safety (compare Song of Solomon 8:12). By engaging her in rustic labors they preserved her from idleness and temptation, albeit with a temporary loss of outward comeliness.

Mine own vineyard - A figurative expression for herself or her beauty.

Song of Solomon 1:7

whom my soul loveth - A phrase recurring several times. It expresses great intensity of affection.

Feedest - i. e., “Pursuest thy occupation as a shepherd;” so she speaks figuratively of the Son of David. Compare Song of Solomon 2:16; Song of Solomon 6:3; Psalms 23:1.

Rest - Or, lie down; a term properly used of the couching of four-footed animals: “thy flock” is here therefore easily understood. Compare Ezekiel 34:14-15; Psalms 23:2; Jeremiah 50:6.

As one that turneth aside - Or, goeth astray like an outcast.

Song of Solomon 1:8

The chorus, and not the king, are the speakers here. Their meaning seems to be: If thy beloved be indeed a shepherd, then seek him yonder among other shepherds, but if a king, thou wilt find him here in his royal dwelling.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Song of Solomon 1:7. Tell me - where thou feedest — This is spoken as if the parties were shepherds, or employed in the pastoral life. But how this would apply either to Solomon, or the princes of Egypt, is not easy to ascertain. Probably in the marriage festival there was something like our masks, in which persons of quality assumed rural characters and their employments. See that fine one composed by Milton, called COMUS.

To rest at noon — In hot countries the shepherds and their flocks are obliged to retire to shelter during the burning heats of the noon-day sun. This is common in all countries, in the summer heats, where shelter can be had.

One that turneth aside — As a wanderer; one who, not knowing where to find her companions, wanders fruitlessly in seeking them. It was customary for shepherds to drive their flocks together for the purpose of conversing, playing on the pipe, or having trials of skill in poetry or music. So VIRGIL: -

Forte sub arguta consederat ilice Daphnis

Compulerantque greges Corydon et Thyrsis in unum:

Thyrsis oves, Corydon distentas lacte capellas;

Ambo florentes aetatibus, Arcades ambo,

Et cantare pares, et respondere parati.

ECL,. vii. v. 1.

"Beneath a holm repair'd two jolly swains:

Their sheep and goats together grazed the plains;

Both young Arcadians, both alike inspired

To sing and answer as the song required."

DRYDEN.

This does not express the sense of the original: from the different pastures in which they had been accustomed to feed their flocks, they drove their sheep and goats together for the purpose mentioned in the pastoral; and, in course, returned to their respective pasturages, when their business was over.