Song of Songs 5

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Codex Leningradensis (1008).[5][lower-alpha 1] One fragment containing a part of this chapter was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, assigned as 4Q107 (4QCant^b); 30 BCE-30 CE; extant verse 1).[7][8][9]

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; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^S; 4th century), and Codex Alexandrinus (A; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^A; 5th century).[10]

The start of the 5th chapter, and the end of the 4th chapter are not in the same verse in all versions of the Bible: the Vulgate version starts with the end of the Woman's text (which starts in Song of Solomon 4:16):

The phrase, and variant texts such as antiphons based on it, have been set to music, for instance in Gregorian chant, and by composers including Alessandro Grandi and Pietro Torri.[13][14][15][16]

This part contains the man's closure of the dialogue in end of the previous chapter and the call to eat and drink which may imply consummation.[4]

[The Beloved/the Man]

I have come to 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.

[To His Friends]

Eat, O friends!

Drink, yes, drink deeply,

O beloved ones![17]

• "Spouse" or "bride" (Song 4:8-10, 12) together with "sister" (Song 4:9–10, 12) are terms of affection.[18]

In this part, the woman refuses to welcome her lover into her room at night (either in reality or a dream; cf. 3:1-5), but when she changes her mind, the man already disappears. She looks for him in the city, then the watchmen (the guards) found her and beat her up. She appeals for help to the daughters of Jerusalem about her lovesick condition.[4]

Book cover by Ephraim Moses Lilien for Das Hohelied, depicting the themes of doves and lilies.

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.[19]

• "My love" (or "my [female] friend"; Hebrew: רעיתי, ra'-yā-ṯî[20]) a specific term of endearment used by the man for the woman that is used 9 times in the book (Song 1:9, 15; 2:2,10, 13; 4:1,7; 5:2; 6:4).[21][22] The masculine form of the same root word to call the man ("my [male] friend"; Hebrew: רעי, rê-'î[23]) is used in a parallel construction with "my beloved" (Hebrew: דודי, ḏōḏî[23]) in Song 5:16.[21] The repetition of "my (sister), my (love), my (dove), my (undefiled) is thought to enact the "knocking" of the beloved.[24]
• "Locks": "curls" or "hair"[25]

The "daughters of Jerusalem" want to know what the male lover looks like.[4]

The woman describes her lover from head to toe in a waṣf or descriptive poem, using the imagery of fauna and flora for his head, then metals and precious stones for the rest of his body.[4] This waṣf and the other ones (4:1-8; 6:4-10; 7:2-10a (7:1-9a English)) 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).[26] 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 (Genesis 1:26–28) or redeemed in the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:42, 44)'.[26]

His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.[27]

• "Sweet": refers to a drink in Nehemiah 8:10 (cf. Song 7:10).[28]
• "My friend" ("my [male] friend"; Hebrew: רעי, rê-'î[23]): is a specific term of endearment used by the woman for the man that is only used here in the whole book,[lower-alpha 2] in a parallel construction with "my beloved" (Hebrew: דודי, ḏōḏî[23]).[21] The feminine form of the same root word to call the woman ("my love" or "my [female] friend"; Hebrew: רעיתי, ra'-yā-ṯî[20]) is used 9 times in the book (Song 1:9, 15; 2:2,10, 13; 4:1,7; 5:2; 6:4).[21][22]