What does the chapter actually say?
Identify the explicit claims before importing later doctrine or assumptions.
SONG OF SOLOMON • CHAPTER 6
Song of Solomon 6
Erotic love poetry, desire, beauty, longing, mutual attraction, separation, and reunion.
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Song of Solomon 6
WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE
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1
Where has your beloved gone, you fairest among women?
Where has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you?
Where has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you?
2
My beloved has gone down to his garden,
to the beds of spices,
to pasture his flock in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
to the beds of spices,
to pasture his flock in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
3
I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.
He browses among the lilies.
He browses among the lilies.
4
You are beautiful, my love, as Tirzah,
lovely as Jerusalem,
awesome as an army with banners.
lovely as Jerusalem,
awesome as an army with banners.
5
Turn away your eyes from me,
for they have overcome me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats,
that lie along the side of Gilead.
for they have overcome me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats,
that lie along the side of Gilead.
6
Your teeth are like a flock of ewes,
which have come up from the washing,
of which every one has twins;
not one is bereaved among them.
which have come up from the washing,
of which every one has twins;
not one is bereaved among them.
7
Your temples are like a piece of a pomegranate behind your veil.
8
There are sixty queens, eighty concubines,
and virgins without number.
and virgins without number.
9
My dove, my perfect one, is unique.
She is her mother’s only daughter.
She is the favorite one of her who bore her.
The daughters saw her, and called her blessed.
The queens and the concubines saw her, and they praised her.
She is her mother’s only daughter.
She is the favorite one of her who bore her.
The daughters saw her, and called her blessed.
The queens and the concubines saw her, and they praised her.
10
Who is she who looks out as the morning,
beautiful as the moon,
clear as the sun,
and awesome as an army with banners?
beautiful as the moon,
clear as the sun,
and awesome as an army with banners?
11
I went down into the nut tree grove,
to see the green plants of the valley,
to see whether the vine budded,
and the pomegranates were in flower.
to see the green plants of the valley,
to see whether the vine budded,
and the pomegranates were in flower.
12
Without realizing it,
my desire set me with my royal people’s chariots.
my desire set me with my royal people’s chariots.
13
Return, return, Shulammite!
Return, return, that we may gaze at you.
Why do you desire to gaze at the Shulammite,
as at the dance of Mahanaim?
Return, return, that we may gaze at you.
Why do you desire to gaze at the Shulammite,
as at the dance of Mahanaim?
POETRY
Where this chapter fits
Song of Solomon belongs to Israel's wisdom/poetic tradition, where literary form matters as much as historical setting.
Chapter numbers were added long after the biblical books were written.
Read this chapter together with what comes immediately before and after it.
ANCIENT TEXT, MODERN QUESTIONS
Historical claims should be compared with historical evidence.
Scientific claims should be compared with science.
Moral claims should be examined morally.
Theological claims require theological and philosophical argument.
QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING
Don't skip the hard parts.
What kind of literature is this?
Narrative, poetry, prophecy, law, letters, wisdom, and apocalypse communicate differently.
What historical evidence matters?
Ask whether names, places, institutions, events, customs, and chronology can be independently investigated.
What are the strongest competing interpretations?
Compare serious Jewish, Christian, academic, and skeptical readings rather than caricatures.
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