Song of Solomon 7

General context

A voice praises the prince's daughter from the feet upward: her feet with shoes are beautiful, the joints of her thighs are like jewels made by a cunning workman, her navel like a round goblet not lacking liquor, her belly like a heap of wheat set about with lilies, her two breasts like two young roes that are twins, her neck a tower of ivory, her eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon by the gate of Bath-rabbim, her nose as the tower of Lebanon looking toward Damascus, her head like Carmel and her hair like purple, and the king is held in the galleries. How fair and pleasant she is, O love, for delights; her stature is like a palm tree and her breasts like clusters of grapes. The speaker says he will go up to the palm tree and take hold of its boughs, and that her breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, the smell of her nose like apples, and the roof of her mouth like the best wine. That wine is described, in the woman's words, as for my beloved, going down sweetly and causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak. She says she is her beloved's and his desire is toward her. She calls him to go out into the field, lodge in the villages, rise early to the vineyards and see whether the vine flourishes, the tender grape appears and the pomegranates bud; there she will give him her loves. The mandrakes give a smell, and at their gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which she has laid up for him, O my beloved.

Cited passages: Song of Solomon 7:1, Song of Solomon 7:2, Song of Solomon 7:3, Song of Solomon 7:4, Song of Solomon 7:5, Song of Solomon 7:6, Song of Solomon 7:7, Song of Solomon 7:8, Song of Solomon 7:9, Song of Solomon 7:10, Song of Solomon 7:11, Song of Solomon 7:12, Song of Solomon 7:13

Song of Solomon 7 (KJV)

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

Verses 1 to 9 address the woman, first as O prince's daughter and then as O love; the text gives no name for her or her father, and prince's daughter is the only place the book calls her that. The change of speaker falls inside verse 9: the best wine is described as for my beloved, the woman's term for the man, so the closing words of his praise are already hers, and from verse 10 she speaks in her own voice. The king who is held in the galleries is unnamed, and the text does not say whether the king is the speaker of the praise. Heshbon, the gate of Bath-rabbim, the tower of Lebanon, Damascus and Carmel appear as comparisons for her eyes, nose and head, and nothing further is said of them. The description runs upward from feet through thighs, navel, belly, breasts, neck, eyes, nose, head and hair, and the text states each part with its comparison; this guide reports them as the text gives them. The intention I said, I will go up to the palm tree is stated speech, and the woman's invitation names the field, villages and vineyards without any place name.

Cited passages: Song of Solomon 7:1, Song of Solomon 7:6, Song of Solomon 7:9, Song of Solomon 7:10, Song of Solomon 7:5, Song of Solomon 7:4, Song of Solomon 7:2, Song of Solomon 7:8, Song of Solomon 7:11

Literary context

The praise climbs from feet to head, the reverse of chapter 4's descent from eyes to breasts, and it uses the same part-and-comparison form with made objects and landmarks: jewels, a goblet, a heap of wheat, an ivory tower, pools, a tower, Carmel, purple. The twin roes of chapter 4 return unchanged for her breasts. After a summary line, how fair and how pleasant art thou, the praise gathers into one image, the palm tree, and turns from description to stated intention, I will go up to the palm tree. The wine simile passes from his mouth to hers without a break, so that her first words, for my beloved, are the end of his sentence. Her possession formula is varied a third time, now with his desire is toward me in place of he is mine. Her invitation to the vineyards repeats the check on the vine and the pomegranates from chapter 6 and takes the poem back to the fields and vineyards of chapter 1, and the chapter closes on fruits laid up, new and old, held for the beloved.

Cited passages: Song of Solomon 7:1, Song of Solomon 7:5, Song of Solomon 4:1, Song of Solomon 7:3, Song of Solomon 4:5, Song of Solomon 7:6, Song of Solomon 7:8, Song of Solomon 7:9, Song of Solomon 7:10, Song of Solomon 2:16, Song of Solomon 7:12, Song of Solomon 6:11, Song of Solomon 1:6, Song of Solomon 7:13

Key moments

1. O prince's daughter (Song of Solomon 7:1). The praise begins at her shod feet and calls her a prince's daughter.
2. Eyes like the pools of Heshbon (Song of Solomon 7:4). Her neck, eyes and nose are compared to an ivory tower, fishpools and the tower of Lebanon.
3. The king held in the galleries (Song of Solomon 7:5). Her head is likened to Carmel, and the king is said to be held in the galleries.
4. I will go up to the palm tree (Song of Solomon 7:8). The speaker states his intention to climb the palm tree and take hold of its boughs.
5. His desire is toward me (Song of Solomon 7:10). She says she is her beloved's and his desire is toward her.
6. Let us go into the field (Song of Solomon 7:11). She invites her beloved to the field, the villages and the vineyards.
7. Fruits new and old (Song of Solomon 7:13). She says pleasant fruits new and old are laid up at their gates for him.

For reflection

The man's praise ends inside a sentence that the woman finishes, the best wine for my beloved. What does the poem do by letting one speaker's praise pass into the other's answer without a pause or a marker?