Song of Solomon 5: I am come into my garden

Song Page for Song of Solomon 5

Lyrics

Lover
1 I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk:

Friends
eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.

Beloved
2 I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.
3 I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?
4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him.
5 I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.
6 I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.
7 The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.
8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.

Friends
9 What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?

Beloved
10 My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.
11 His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven. 12 His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set.
13 His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.
14 His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.
15 His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.
16 His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.¹

Bible Commentary

1. Into my garden. This verse belongs properly in the preceding chapter. It is Solomon's response to the maid's consent to marriage.
Eat, O friends. Evidently spoken to the guests at the wedding feast.

2. I sleep. Here begins a new section. The bride relates a troubled dream. She dreams that her beloved came to her at night, and by a moment's delay she lost him. This is similar to the dream related in ch. 3:1-5, only here the emphasis is on the trouble rather than on the happy outcome.

3. I have put off my coat. She seems to be saying, "I have retired for the night; do not disturb me."

4. Of the door. These words are supplied and perhaps correctly so. Some think he may have extended has hand through the latticed window of her home.

5. I rose. Presumably still in her dream.

6. When he spake. We may suppose an expression of disappointment as the lover goes away.
I sought him. Probably still in her troubled dream.

7. Took away my veil. Evidently to see who she was.

8. Daughters of Jerusalem. In her dream she finds herself accosting the daughters of Jerusalem to help her find her beloved.

10. Chiefest among ten thousand. A fitting title of Christ. The description of the bridegroom continues through v. 16 and reaches a climax in the expression "He is altogether lovely." This description is frequently coupled with the title, "chiefest among ten thousand," when referring to Christ.⁴
References and notes
1. King James Authorized Version
2. John Wesley's Notes on the Bible - http://eword.gospelcom.net/comments/song/wesley/song5.htm
3. John Gill's Exposition of the Bible - http://eword.gospelcom.net/comments/song/gill/song5.htm
4. SDA Bible Commentary - Vol. 3 pg. 1120