Song of Solomon 8

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Song of Solomon 8 closes the Song with its most famous words. The bride wishes her beloved were her brother so she could kiss him in public, and for the third time charges the daughters of Jerusalem not to awaken love before its time. Then she speaks the Song's creed: set me as a seal on your heart, for love is as strong as death, its jealousy as hard as the grave, its flames the very flame of God; floods cannot drown it, and a man who offered his whole fortune for it would be laughed at. The brothers' plans for their little sister, the bride's vineyard worth more than Solomon's, and a final call to the beloved to run like a gazelle end the book.

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Song of Solomon 8 ends the Song the way it began, with a woman's voice, and it holds the lines that people who have never read the rest of the book still know. She wishes, first, that her beloved were her brother, so that she could kiss him in the street without anyone talking, and take him home to her mother's house. For the third time she warns the daughters of Jerusalem not to stir up love until it is ready. Then someone asks who is coming up out of the desert leaning on her beloved, and the answer is the poem's heart. Set me as a seal on your heart, she says, a seal on your arm, because love is as strong as death and as unyielding as the grave; its sparks are fire, a flame of the LORD himself; oceans cannot put it out and rivers cannot wash it away, and a man who tried to buy it with everything he owned would be laughed out of the room. After that the chapter remembers the family. Her brothers once planned what to do with their little sister, wall her in or board her up, and she tells them she is a wall and has grown up, and that in her beloved's eyes she is the one who brings peace. Solomon can keep his vineyard with its thousand shekels; hers is her own, and she gives it. The last two verses are a call and an answer that do not quite meet: he asks to hear her voice, and she tells him to run, to be like a gazelle on the mountains of spices. The book does not end with the lovers settled. It ends with love still calling.

핵심 본문

Song of Solomon 8:1-4 Song of Solomon 8:6-7 Song of Solomon 8:8-12 Song of Solomon 8:13-14 Song of Solomon 2:7 Revelation 22:17-20

Historical and literary context

The Song's final chapter gathers several short poems, and its opening reflects a society in which a woman could not kiss a lover in the street but could embrace a brother. The mother's house as the place of love recalls Rebekah and Ruth. Seals were worn on a cord around the neck or as a ring on the arm and stood for identity and ownership. "The very flame of the LORD" in verse 6 may contain the only mention of God's name in the book, in a shortened form. Baal-hamon and the vineyard leased for a thousand shekels evoke Solomon's royal estates, against which the bride sets her own vineyard, herself. The brothers who plan for their sister's marriage appear in chapter 1 as the ones who made her work the vineyards.

How the chapter unfolds

Verses 1 to 4 are the bride's wish for public affection, her mother's house, the embrace, and the third adjuration to the daughters of Jerusalem. Verse 5 has the chorus's question and the bride's memory of the apple tree. Verses 6 and 7 are the great statement on love as seal, death, jealousy, fire, and flood, beyond price. Verses 8 and 9 are the brothers' plan for their little sister, wall or door. Verse 10 is her answer. Verses 11 and 12 contrast Solomon's leased vineyard with hers. Verses 13 and 14 are the closing exchange, his request to hear her voice and her call to him to come away to the mountains of spices.

Why this chapter matters

Verses 6 and 7 are the Bible's definition of love and are read at more weddings than almost any other passage: "love is as strong as death," "many waters cannot quench love," "set me as a seal upon your heart." They have been quoted by Bunyan and Bernard, set to music by Purcell and Walton, and inscribed on rings. The Song's ending with an unanswered call, "come away, my beloved," has been read by the church as the cry of the bride for Christ's return, echoing the end of Revelation, and by others as the poem's refusal to close love off. The "little sister" verses have supplied the language of a wall and a door for talking about a young woman's choices.

Interpretive tension to watch

Who speaks each part is uncertain, especially the question in verse 5 and the brothers' verses, and translations assign them differently. Whether "the very flame of the LORD" names God or is an idiom for an intense fire is disputed, and the answer decides whether God appears in the book at all. The final verse repeats the beloved's flight from chapter 2 rather than a union, which some read as the poem's deliberate open ending and others as a loose collection's last fragment. The allegorical readings, Israel or the church longing for God, and the literal reading, two lovers, remain in tension to the last line.

이 장을 위한 질문

"Love is as strong as death." In what sense is that true, and in what sense does the rest of Scripture say something even stronger?
The bride says a man who offered his whole fortune for love would be scorned. What does that say about what love can and cannot be exchanged for?
The Song ends with "come away, my beloved" rather than with a union. Why might a book about love end with a longing?

Study with context

Use this as a chapter guide, then press deeper into the text itself. The goal is to slow down observation, notice structure, and ask better questions before jumping to conclusions.

노트에 추가

1 네가 내 어미의 젖을 먹은 오라비 같았었더면 내가 밖에서 너를 만날 때에 입을 맞추어도 나를 업신여길 자가 없었을 것이라 2 내가 너를 이끌어 내 어미 집에 들이고 네게서 교훈을 받았으리라 나는 향기로운 술 곧 석류즙으로 네게 마시웠겠고 3 너는 왼손으론 내 머리에 베게하고 오른손으론 나를 안았었으리라 4 예루살렘 여자들아 ! 내가 너희에게 부탁한다 나의 사랑하는 자가 원하기 전에는 흔들지 말며 깨우지 말지니라 5 그 사랑하는 자를 의지하고 거친 들에서 올라오는 여자가 누구인고 너를 인하여 네 어미가 신고한, 너를 낳은 자가 애쓴 그 곳 사과나무 아래서 내가 너를 깨웠노라 6 너는 나를 인 같이 마음에 품고 도장 같이 팔에 두라 사랑은 죽음 같이 강하고 투기는 음부같이 잔혹하며 불같이 일어나니 그 기세가 여호와의 불과 같으니라 7 이 사랑은 많은 물이 꺼치지 못하겠고 홍수라도 엄몰하지 못하나니 사람이 그 온 가산을 다 주고 사랑과 바꾸려 할지라도 오히려 멸시를 받으리라 8 우리에게 있는 작은 누이는 아직도 유방이 없구나 그가 청혼함을 받는 날에는 우리가 그를 위하여 무엇을 할꼬 9 그가 성벽일진대 우리는 은 망대를 그 위에 세울 것이요 그가 문일진대 우리는 백향목 판자로 두르리라 10 나는 성벽이요 나의 유방은 망대 같으니 그러므로 나는 그의 보기에 화평을 얻은 자 같구나 11 솔로몬이 바알하몬에 포도원이 있어 지키는 자들에게 맡겨두고 그들로 각기 그 실과를 인하여서 은 일천을 바치게 하였구나 12 솔로몬 너는 일천을 얻겠고 실과 지키는 자도 이백을 얻으려니와 내게 속한 내 포도원은 내 앞에 있구나 13 너 동산에 거한 자야 동무들이 네 소리에 귀를 기울이니 나로 듣게 하려무나 14 나의 사랑하는 자야 ! 너는 빨리 달리라 향기로운 산들에서 노루와도 같고 어린 사슴과도 같아여라

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