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Wisdom & Poetry · WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE

Song of Solomon 6

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

Old Testament

Song of Solomon 6

1Where has your beloved gone, you fairest among women? Where has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you?

2My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to pasture his flock in the gardens, and to gather lilies.

3I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine. He browses among the lilies.

4You are beautiful, my love, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners.

5Turn away your eyes from me, for they have overcome me. Your hair is like a flock of goats, that lie along the side of Gilead.

6Your teeth are like a flock of ewes, which have come up from the washing, of which every one has twins; not one is bereaved among them.

7Your temples are like a piece of a pomegranate behind your veil.

8There are sixty queens, eighty concubines, and virgins without number.

9My dove, my perfect one, is unique. She is her mother’s only daughter. She is the favorite one of her who bore her. The daughters saw her, and called her blessed. The queens and the concubines saw her, and they praised her.

10Who is she who looks out as the morning, beautiful as the moon, clear as the sun, and awesome as an army with banners?

11I went down into the nut tree grove, to see the green plants of the valley, to see whether the vine budded, and the pomegranates were in flower.

12Without realizing it, my desire set me with my royal people’s chariots.

13Return, return, Shulammite! Return, return, that we may gaze at you. Lover Why do you desire to gaze at the Shulammite, as at the dance of Mahanaim?

READ IN CONTEXT

Before applying this chapter

Poetry celebrating desire, beauty, mutual love, longing, and covenant affection. Read Song of Solomon 6 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 6

Song of Solomon 6 contains 13 verses and about 277 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: “Where has your beloved gone, you fairest among women? Where has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you?” Ask what situation, voice, image, or argument this opening establishes for everything that follows.

The closing movement

Verse 13 closes: “Return, return, Shulammite! Return, return, that we may gaze at you. Lover Why do you desire to gaze at the Shulammite, as at the dance of Mahanaim?” 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, return, flock, like, gone, down. Follow where each word appears and whether its meaning shifts with the speaker or setting.

COMMON QUESTIONS

About Song of Solomon 6

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 6:1—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