Song of Songs 6

The original text is written in Hebrew. This chapter is divided into 13 verses.

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Codex Leningradensis (1008).{{sfn|Würthwein|1995|pp=36-37}}{{efn|Since 1947 the current text of Aleppo Codex is missing Song of Songs 3:11, after the word {{lang|he|ציון}} ("Zion"), to the end.{{citation | author=P. W. Skehan | contribution=BIBLE (TEXTS) | title=New Catholic Encyclopedia | edition=2nd | volume=2 | publisher=Gale | year=2003 | pages=355–362}}}} Some fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls: 4Q106 (4QCant^a); 30 BCE-30 CE; extant verses 11(?)-12).{{Cite book | editor-last = Ulrich | editor-first = Eugene | editor-link = Eugene Ulrich | title = The Biblical Qumran Scrolls: Transcriptions and Textual Variants | year = 2010 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/TheBiblicalQumranScrolls/page/n760 744] | publisher = Brill | url = https://archive.org/details/TheBiblicalQumranScrolls |access-date= May 15, 2017 | isbn= 9789004181830}}[https://thewaytoyahuweh.com/dead-sea-scrolls/general-info/#song_of_songs Dead sea scrolls - Song of Songs].{{Cite book|last = Fitzmyer|first = Joseph A. |title = A Guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature| authorlink = Joseph Fitzmyer | publisher = William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=TILXeWJ2eNAC | year = 2008 | pages = 42 |isbn = 9780802862419 | location = Grand Rapids, MI | access-date= February 15, 2019}}

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; $\backslash mathfrak\{G\}$^B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: $\backslash mathfrak\{G\}$^S; 4th century), and Codex Alexandrinus (A; $\backslash mathfrak\{G\}$^A; 5th century).{{sfn|Würthwein|1995|pp=73-74}}

The Modern English Version (MEV) identifies the speakers in this chapter as:

• {{bibleref2|Song|6:1|MEV}} = Friends of the Woman
• {{bibleref2|Song|6:2-3|MEV}} = The Woman
• {{bibleref2|Song|6:4-12|MEV}} = The Man
• {{bibleref2|Song|6:13|MEV}}a = Friends of the Woman
• {{bibleref2|Song|6:13|MEV}}b = The Man

Continuing from chapter 5, the daughters of Jerusalem agree to look for the man.{{sfn|Brenner|2007|p=431}}

:Where has your beloved gone,

::O fairest among women?

:Where has your beloved turned aside,

::that we may seek him with you?{{bibleverse|Song|6:1|MEV}} MEV

The words in this verse parallel those in {{bibleverse|Song|5:9|KJV}}.Harper, A. (1902), Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/songs/6.htm Song of Solomon 6], accessed 28 April 2019.

This part contains the woman's affirmation of her love, when she finds him enjoying his garden.{{sfn|Brenner|2007|p=431}}

:My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.{{bibleverse|Song|6:2|KJV}} KJV

This could be related to {{bibleverse|Ecclesiastes|2:5, 6|KJV}} where Solomon says, "I planted me vineyards; I made me gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit; I made me pools of water, to water therefrom the forest where trees were reared."Exell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors). [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/pulpit/songs/6.htm On "Song of Solomon 6".] In: The Pulpit Commentary. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890, accessed 24 April 2019. Franz Delitzsch suggests that she locates him in the garden because this is where he is inclined to spend his time, "where he delights most to tarry".Delitzsch, F. and Keil, C. F., [https://biblehub.com/commentaries/kad/songs/6.htm Keil and Delitzsch OT Commentary] on Song of Solomon 6, accessed 15 January 2023

File:Weidend Temidden Der Leliën.JPG

:I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies.{{bibleverse|Song|6:3|KJV}}: KJV

In reversed order compared to Song 2:16.Jamieson, Robert; Fausset, Andrew Robert; Brown, David. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary On the Whole Bible. [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/jfb/songs/6.htm "Song of Solomon 6"]. 1871. He feeds his flock among the lilies: reference to the flock is added in the New King James Version and other texts.{{bibleverse|Song of Songs|6:3|NKJV}}: NKJV

This descriptive poem by the man still belongs to a long section concerning the desire and love in the country which continues until 8:4,{{sfn|Hess|2005|p=36}} and partly parallel to the one in chapter 4.{{sfn|Brenner|2007|p=431}} The man's waṣf and the other ones (4:1-8; 5:10-16; 7:1-9) theologically demonstrate the heart of the Song that values the body as not evil but good even worthy of praise, and respects the body with an appreciative focus (rather than lurid).{{sfn|Hess|2005|p=127}} Hess notes that this reflects 'the fundamental value of God's creation as good and the human body as a key part of that creation, whether at the beginning ({{bibleverse|Genesis|1:26-28|KJV}}) or redeemed in the resurrection ({{bibleverse|1 Corinthians|15:42|KJV}}, {{bibleverse|1 Corinthians|15:44|KJV|44}})'.{{sfn|Hess|2005|p=127}}

:You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love,

::comely as Jerusalem,

::awesome as an army with banners!{{bibleref2|Song|6:4|MEV}} MEV

• Tirzah: the capital of the Kingdom of Northern Israel in the late 10th and early 9th BCE; likely identified with Tell el-Farah North.{{sfn|Coogan|2007|p=965 Hebrew Bible}}
• "My love" (or "my [female] friend"; Hebrew: {{lang|he|רעיתי}}, {{Strong-number|ra‘-yā-ṯî|H|7474}}[https://biblehub.com/text/songs/6-4.htm Hebrew Text Analysis: Song of Solomon 6:4]. Biblehub) a specific term of endearment used by the man for the woman that is used 9 times in the book (Song 1:9, 15; 2:2,{{bibleverse|Song|2:10|KJV|10}}, 13; {{bibleverse-nb|Song|4:1|KJV}},{{bibleverse|Song|4:7|KJV|7}}; 5:2; 6:4).{{sfn|Bergant|2001|p=19}}[https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7474.htm Strong's Concordance: 7474. rayah]. Biblehub The masculine form of the same root word to call the man ("my [male] friend"; Hebrew: {{lang|he|רעי}}, {{Strong-number|rê-‘î|H|7453}}[https://biblehub.com/text/songs/5-16.htm Hebrew Text Analysis: Song of Solomon 5:16]. Biblehub){{efn|Another use of rê·‘î in the Hebrew Bible is in {{bibleverse|Job|31:9|KJV}}.[https://biblehub.com/hebrew/rei_7453.htm Englishman's Concordance: rê·‘î — 2 Occurrences]. Biblehub}} is used in a parallel construction with "my beloved" (Hebrew: {{lang|he|דודי}}, {{Strong-number|ḏōḏî|H|1730}}) in Song 5:16.{{sfn|Bergant|2001|p=19}}

The woman's voice in this part contains ambiguity in the meaning of some words, that poses difficulty in assigning it to either of the main speakers (NIV assigns this part to the man).{{sfn|Longman|2001|p=184}}

File:En mon jardin 04226.jpg (17th century).]]

:I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished and the pomegranates budded.{{bibleverse|Song|6:11|KJV}} KJV

• "Nuts" (Hebrew: {{lang|he|אֱגוֹז}}, {{Strong-number|’ĕ-ḡōz|H|93}}[https://biblehub.com/text/songs/6-11.htm Hebrew Text Analysis: Song of Solomon 6:11]. Biblehub): only found here in Hebrew Bible, but more in the Talmud; may specifically refer to the walnut tree (Juglans regia).{{sfn|Longman|2001|p=184}}

:Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib.{{bibleverse|Song|6:12|KJV}} KJV

• "Amminadib": or "my noble people".Note on Song of Solomon 6:12 in NKJV The Septuagint and Vulgate, as in the King James Bible refer this last part of the verse to an individual named Amminadib (or variant spelling "Aminadab").{{sfn|Longman|2001|p=185}} K. Froehlich notes that "Amminadab's chariot" was interpreted as a four-horse chariot or quadriga during the Middle Ages, and considered 'a cipher for the fourfold meaning and interpretation of Scripture'.Froehlich, K. "Amminadab's Chariot: The Predicament of Biblical Interpretation," Princeton Seminary Bulletin 18 (1997): 262-78, apud Longman 2001, p. 185

This verse does not indicate clearly who the speaker is, but there must be either multiple persons concerned in it or a quotation, because 'there is an evident interchange of question and answer'.

[Friends of the Woman]

:Return, return, O Shulammite!

::Return, return, that we may look upon you.

[The Man]

:Why should you look upon the Shulammite,

::as upon a dance before two armies?{{bibleref2|Song|6:13|MEV}} MEV or {{bibleref2|Song|7:1|HE}} in Hebrew Bible (Note [a] on Song of Solomon 6:13 in MEV)

• "Shulammite": The name for the bride which only occurs here in the whole book, but 'it cannot be a proper name, otherwise even in the vocative there would be no article, as there is here', so it can be interpreted as 'maiden of Shulam' (cf. the Shunammite, {{bibleverse|1 Kings|1:3|KJV}}). It could be how the courtiers call her, not knowing her true name, so they use 'the name of the village near which they were when they saw her'.
• "A dance before two armies" (KJV: "the company of two armies"): or "dance of Mahanaim".Note [b] on Song of Solomon 6:13 in MEV

• Jerusalem
• Lebanon
• Related Bible parts: Song of Songs 5

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book|last= Bergant |first= Dianne |title= The Songs of Songs |series= Berit Olam (The Everlasting Covenant): Studies In Hebrew Narrative And Poetry |editor1-first=David W. |editor1-last= Cotter|editor2-first= Jerome T. |editor2-last= Walsh|editor3-first= Chris |editor3-last= Franke |publisher= Liturgical Press |date= 2001|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=xkwtwLQ_QCQC |isbn= 9780814650691}}
• {{cite book|last= Brenner | first= Athalya |chapter = 21. The Song of Solomon | title=The Oxford Bible Commentary | editor-first1=John| editor-last1=Barton | editor-first2=John| editor-last2= Muddiman | publisher = Oxford University Press |edition= first (paperback) | date = 2007 | pages = 429–433 | isbn = 978-0199277186 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZJdVkgEACAAJ| access-date=February 6, 2019}}
• {{cite book|last= Coogan|first = Michael David| authorlink= Michael D. Coogan |title = The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version, Issue 48 |editor-last1=Coogan |editor-first1=Michael David |editor-first2=Marc Zvi |editor-last2= Brettler |editor-first3=Carol Ann |editor-last3= Newsom |editor-first4= Pheme |editor-last4= Perkins |edition= Augmented 3rd |publisher = Oxford University Press |year =2007 |isbn = 9780195288810 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=HmpMPgAACAAJ}}
• {{cite book|last= Exum |first= J. Cheryl |title= Songs of Songs: A Commentary |series= Old Testament library |edition= reprint|publisher= Westminster John Knox Press |date= 2005 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=mLKBcC5ND30C |isbn= 9780664221904}}
• {{cite book|last= Halley| first= Henry H.| authorlink= Henry Hampton Halley| title= Halley's Bible Handbook: an abbreviated Bible commentary |edition=24th (revised)|publisher= Zondervan Publishing House |date= 1965 |url= https://archive.org/details/halleysbiblehand00henr |url-access= registration| isbn= 0-310-25720-4}}
• {{cite book|last= Hess |first= Richard S. |title= Songs of Songs |series= Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Series |publisher= Baker Academic |date= 2005 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=AWoEZ2bWauAC |isbn= 9780801027123}}
• {{cite book|last= Longman |first= Tremper |title= Songs of Songs |volume= 26 |series= The New International Commentary on the Old Testament |publisher= Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |date= 2001 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=PDnMuOcIUjEC |isbn= 9780802825438}}
• {{cite book | last = Würthwein | first = Ernst | authorlink = Ernst Würthwein | title = The Text of the Old Testament | publisher = Wm. B. Eerdmans |location = Grand Rapids, MI | year= 1995 | translator-first1 = Erroll F.| translator-last1 = Rhodes |isbn = 0-8028-0788-7 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=FSNKSBObCYwC | access-date= January 26, 2019}}

• Jewish translations:
• [https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/16450 Shir Hashirim - Song of Songs - Chapter 6 (Judaica Press)] translation [with Rashi's commentary] at Chabad.org
• Christian translations:
• [http://www.gospelhall.org/bible/bible.php?passage=Song+6 Online Bible at GospelHall.org] (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
• [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=26&chapter=6&version=9 Song of Solomon Chapter 6 King James Version]
• {{librivox book | title=Song of Solomon}} Various versions

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