12Hb. chabatz tzeleth, the autumn crocus.
13Or, the plain,
2: 2 As a lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters.
2: 3 As the apple-tree among trees of the wood, So is my beloved among the sons. I 14sat down under his shadow with great delight, And his fruit was sweet to my taste.
14Hb. delighted and sat down under his shadow,
2: 4 He brought me to the 15banqueting-house, And his banner over me was love.
15Hb. house of wine,
2: 5 Stay ye me with 16raisins, refresh me with apples; For I am sick from love.
16Hb. the cakes of raisins,
2: 6 17His left hand is under my head, And his right hand doth embrace me.
17Or, Let his left hand be under my head,
2: 7 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the 18roes, or by the hinds of the field, That ye stir not up, nor awake my love, Until 19it please.
18Or, gazelles,
19Lit. she or, he or, it be pleasing.
2: 8 The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh, Leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
2: 9 My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: Behold, he standeth behind our wall; He looketh in at the windows; He glanceth through the lattice.
2: 10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
2: 11 For, lo, the winter is past; The rain is over and gone;
2: 12 The flowers appear on the earth; The time of the 20singing of birds is come, And the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land;
20Or, pruning of vines is come,
2: 13 The fig-tree ripeneth her green figs, And the vines are in blossom; They give forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
2: 14 O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the steep place, Let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
2: 15 Take us the foxes, 21the little foxes, that spoil the vineyards; For our vineyards are in blossom.
21So Massoretic, Aram. But some Massoretic mss. 4QCantb Sept. (Vg.) omit the little foxes
2: 16 My beloved is mine, and I am his: He feedeth his flock among the lilies.
2: 17 22Until the day 23be cool, and the shadows flee away, Turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart Upon the 24mountains of 25Bether.
22Or, While the day is cool, And in ch. 4:6.
23Or, break, Hb. breathe
24Or, mountains of separation.
25Perhaps the spice malobathron.
