Song of Solomon 1

이 장을 의도를 가지고 읽기

Song of Solomon 1 opens the Bible's book of love poems with the woman's voice: let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine. She praises his name like poured-out perfume, asks the king to take her to his chambers, and tells the daughters of Jerusalem that she is dark and lovely, burned by the sun because her brothers made her work the vineyards. She asks her shepherd where he pastures his flock at noon and is told to follow the tracks of the flock. Then the lovers trade praise: he compares her to a mare among Pharaoh's chariots, her eyes to doves; she calls him a sachet of myrrh, a cluster of henna from En-gedi.

장 주석 열기

Song of Solomon 1 opens the strangest book in the Bible, a book that never mentions prayer, sacrifice, or law and may not mention God at all, and it opens with a woman saying what she wants. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. Your love is better than wine. Your name is perfume poured out; no wonder the girls all love you. Take me away with you, let us run. She is not shy, and the poem is not embarrassed for her. When she turns to the women of Jerusalem it is to head off their stares: yes, she is dark, burned by the sun because her brothers made her tend their vineyards while her own vineyard went neglected, and she is lovely, like the black tents of Kedar and the curtains of Solomon. Then she goes looking for her shepherd, asking where he rests his flock at midday so that she need not wander like a veiled woman past his friends, and is told, perhaps with a smile, to follow the sheep tracks. The man's first words in the book are praise: a mare among Pharaoh's chariots, cheeks and neck made for jewels, eyes like doves. Her answer is that he is a bag of myrrh she wears against her skin, a spray of henna blossoms in the vineyards of En-gedi. The chapter ends outdoors, with the grass for a bed and the cedars for rafters, two people telling each other they are beautiful. Readers have heard God and the soul in this for two thousand years, and they may be right, but the poem starts with a kiss.

핵심 본문

Song of Solomon 1:1-4 Song of Solomon 1:5-6 Song of Solomon 1:7-8 Song of Solomon 1:9-17 Song of Solomon 8:6-7

Historical and literary context

The title "Song of Songs" is a Hebrew superlative, the best of songs, and "of Solomon" may mean by, for, or about him; the poems were probably collected over centuries and reached their final form after the exile. The opening scenes move between a royal court, with its chambers, perfumes, and the king at his table, and the countryside of shepherds, vineyards, and the oasis of En-gedi by the Dead Sea, and readers have long asked whether the king and the shepherd are one man. Kedar was an Arabian tribe whose tents were woven from black goat hair. Comparing a woman to a mare among Pharaoh's stallions was high praise in a world that prized Egyptian horses. Henna and myrrh were perfumes worn in small bags on the body.

How the chapter unfolds

Verse 1 is the title. Verses 2 to 4 are the woman's longing for kisses and her wish to be taken to the king's chambers, with the chorus joining her praise. Verses 5 and 6 are her defense of her sun-darkened skin and her story of the vineyards. Verse 7 is her question to her shepherd, and verse 8 the answer, perhaps teasing, from the chorus or from him. Verses 9 to 11 are his first praise of her, the mare, the jeweled cheeks and neck, and the promise of gold ornaments. Verses 12 to 14 are her praise of him, perfume, myrrh, and henna. Verses 15 to 17 are the exchange of "how beautiful" and "how handsome," ending under the trees.

Why this chapter matters

The Song's first line has been prayed for two thousand years as the soul's longing for God, by Origen, Bernard, Teresa of Avila, and countless others, and its opening has shaped mystical theology more than any other passage of the Old Testament. "I am dark, yet lovely," or in older translations "black but comely," has been claimed by readers of African descent and by anyone whose appearance was held against them, and has been a text about beauty and dignity. The chapter also establishes what makes the Song unusual in ancient literature: the woman speaks first, most, and most boldly, and her desire is presented without shame.

Interpretive tension to watch

Whether the book should be read literally as love poetry, allegorically as God and Israel or Christ and the church, or as both, is the oldest question about it, and the first chapter already forces it: the reader must decide who "the king" is and why this book is in the Bible. The relation of the king to the shepherd, one lover or two, divides interpreters into those who see one couple and those who see a love triangle with Solomon as the unwelcome rival. "I am dark, yet lovely" can also be translated "dark and lovely," and the difference matters for how the line has been heard.

이 장을 위한 질문

The Song begins with a woman asking for what she wants. What does it say about the Bible that this book is in it?
"I am dark, yet lovely." How does she hold together what others judged in her and what she knows about herself?
Christians have read the first verse as the soul longing for God. What is gained and what is risked by reading a love poem that way?

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 This is Solomon’s Song of Songs. 2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is more delightful than wine. 3 The fragrance of your perfume is pleasing; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens adore you. 4 Take me away with you—let us hurry! May the king bring me to his chambers. We will rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. It is only right that they adore you. 5 I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon. 6 Do not stare because I am dark, for the sun has gazed upon me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me a keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have neglected. 7 Tell me, O one I love, where do you pasture your sheep? Where do you rest them at midday? Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your companions? 8 If you do not know, O fairest of women, follow the tracks of the flock, and graze your young goats near the tents of the shepherds. 9 I compare you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots. 10 Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels. 11 We will make you ornaments of gold, studded with beads of silver. 12 While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance. 13 My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts. 14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of En-gedi. 15 How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves. 16 How handsome you are, my beloved! Oh, how delightful! The soft grass is our bed. 17 The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are fragrant firs.

읽기를 실제 공부로 바꾸세요

회원가입하고 구절 즐겨찾기, 노트 작성, AI 학습 도구를 사용해 보세요.

회원가입 로그인

이 장 다음의 단계를 선택하세요 계속 읽거나, 계획을 선택하거나, AI와 함께 계속 공부하세요.

다음 장 읽기 Song of Solomon 2 in Berean Standard Bible.

읽기 플랜

이 장을 반복 가능한 습관으로 만들고 싶다면 계획을 선택하세요.

이 장에 대해 AI에게 묻기

텍스트가 질문을 제기하거나 한 번의 읽기보다 더 깊이 파고들 때 AI 연구를 계속하세요.

이 장이 여는 주제들을 따라가세요 이 장이 열었을 수 있는 더 큰 질문들에 대한 관련 주제 허브.

모든 주제 둘러보기