A thoughtful guide for your walk of faith Read with context, practice with grace.
Wisdom & Poetry · WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE

Song of Solomon 5

Poetry celebrating desire, beauty, mutual love, longing, and covenant affection.

Old Testament

Song of Solomon 5

1I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride. I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Friends Eat, friends! Drink, yes, drink abundantly, beloved.

2I was asleep, but my heart was awake. It is the voice of my beloved who knocks: “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled; for my head is filled with dew, and my hair with the dampness of the night.”

3I have taken off my robe. Indeed, must I put it on? I have washed my feet. Indeed, must I soil them?

4My beloved thrust his hand in through the latch opening. My heart pounded for him.

5I rose up to open for my beloved. My hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with liquid myrrh, on the handles of the lock.

6I opened to my beloved; but my beloved left, and had gone away. My heart went out when he spoke. I looked for him, but I didn’t find him. I called him, but he didn’t answer.

7The watchmen who go about the city found me. They beat me. They bruised me. The keepers of the walls took my cloak away from me.

8I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, If you find my beloved, that you tell him that I am faint with love.

9How is your beloved better than another beloved, you fairest among women? How is your beloved better than another beloved, that you do so adjure us?

10My beloved is white and ruddy. The best among ten thousand.

11His head is like the purest gold. His hair is bushy, black as a raven.

12His eyes are like doves beside the water brooks, washed with milk, mounted like jewels.

13His cheeks are like a bed of spices with towers of perfumes. His lips are like lilies, dropping liquid myrrh.

14His hands are like rings of gold set with beryl. His body is like ivory work overlaid with sapphires.

15His legs are like pillars of marble set on sockets of fine gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.

16His mouth is sweetness; yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem.

READ IN CONTEXT

Before applying this chapter

Poetry celebrating desire, beauty, mutual love, longing, and covenant affection. Read Song of Solomon 5 within the complete Song of Solomon overview, and use the contextual Bible reading guide before forming a personal application. Chapter divisions aid navigation, but the literary unit may begin earlier or continue into the next chapter.

Observe first

Mark repeated words, changes of speaker, commands, promises, contrasts, questions, and the relationship between paragraphs.

Apply responsibly

Distinguish description from command and immediate audience from later readers before forming a personal application.

TEXT-DERIVED READING NOTES

What to notice in Song of Solomon 5

Song of Solomon 5 contains 16 verses and about 361 words in this translation. These observations come from the chapter itself; they are prompts for close reading, not claims about its only possible meaning.

The opening movement

Verse 1 begins: “I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride. I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk.…” Ask what situation, voice, image, or argument this opening establishes for everything that follows.

The closing movement

Verse 16 closes: “His mouth is sweetness; yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem.” Compare the ending with the opening and note what changed, resolved, intensified, or remained open.

Vocabulary worth tracing

Recurring or prominent content words include beloved, like, myrrh, heart, gold, sister. Follow where each word appears and whether its meaning shifts with the speaker or setting.

COMMON QUESTIONS

About Song of Solomon 5

Which Bible translation is shown here?+

This page reproduces the World English Bible Protestant edition (WEBP), a modern-English translation dedicated to the public domain.

How should I cite a specific verse?+

Use the book, chapter, and verse—for example, Song of Solomon 5:1—and name the World English Bible if the wording matters. Each verse number above is a direct anchor link.

Does the chapter number define the complete literary unit?+

Not always. Chapter and verse numbers were added for navigation. Check the paragraphs, scenes, poetic stanzas, or argument before and after this chapter.

A SMALL NEXT STEP

You do not have to have everything figured out.

Begin with one honest question, one passage read carefully, and one faithful next step.

Start with prayer