5:1a–d The man replied to the woman
5:1
A new chapter begins here, but the original Hebrew text did not indicate chapter breaks. In the final verse of chapter 4, the woman spoke to the man, and in 5:1 he responded. Because of that, it is more natural to include 5:1 in the same section as 4:16. It is recommended that you not begin a new section until the beginning of 5:2.
5:1a–d
In 5:1a–d the man gladly accepted the woman’s invitation to enter her garden. He referred back to the way he described her and the garden in 4:9–15. At that time, the woman was like a locked garden that the man could not enter. But here in 5:1 he said “my” eight times. He implied that now the woman was his wife, and he was free to enjoy the sensual pleasures that she offered him. The garden with its fruit and spices symbolizes the woman.
I have come…I have gathered…I have eaten…I have drunk: There are several ways to translate the Hebrew form of the verbs come, gathered, eaten, and drunk. This form does not indicate whether the actions are past, present or future. Here the verbs probably refer to what the man was about to do. He implied that he will now have sexual relations with his wife to complete their marriage. This interpretation fits well with 5:1e–f, where their wedding guests told them to “eat…and drink deeply.”
Some other ways to translate these verbs are:
I am here in my garden…I gather my myrrh…and eat my honeycomb with my honey. I drink my wine with my milk. (New Living Translation (1996))
-or-
I have entered my garden…I am gathering my spices and myrrh; I am eating my honey and honeycomb; I am drinking my wine and milk. (Good News Translation)
5:1a
I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride: Here the man responded to the woman’s invitation in 4:16. It is the fourth time that he used the phrase my sister, my bride to refer to the woman. The first time is in 4:9a. You should translate the phrase in the same way here. In many languages it is more natural to begin the verse with this phrase. For example:
My bride, my very own, I come to my garden. (Contemporary English Version)
Notice that the Contemporary English Version used the phrase “my very own” instead of my sister, since the woman was not literally his sister. The Contemporary English Version also put the phrase “My bride” first. Use a natural way in your language for a man to address the woman he loves and has just married.
I have come to my garden: The phrase I have come indicates here that the man accepted the woman’s invitation in 4:16. She already opened her locked garden to him, and now he entered. The garden represents the woman herself. When the man said I have come, he accepted her invitation to be intimate with her. In some languages it is necessary to make this meaning more explicit. For example:
I have come to ⌊you⌋, my ⌊private⌋ garden
-or-
⌊ you are like⌋my ⌊own⌋ garden, ⌊and⌋ I have come in
my garden: Here there is a contrast with the way the man used the word garden in 4:12–15. In 4:12 he spoke of the woman as “a locked garden.” He implied that he still could not enter it. Here in 5:1 he spoke of her as my garden. In some languages it may be helpful to indicate that he spoke about the woman as his garden. See the preceding note for examples.
5:1b–d
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: These three clauses use figurative ways to describe the sexual union that the man had with the woman. The man compared it to enjoying the delights of a garden. Scholars differ about when the man and woman had this sexual union. The man implied that they united in this way as he spoke in 5:1b–d. However, it probably happened very soon after he spoke.
In some languages present tense may not be natural for these actions, since they did not happen at exactly the same time as the man spoke. If that is true in your language, it may be more natural to refer to the man’s intention to do the actions instead of referring to the actions themselves. For example:
I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride, to gather my myrrh with my spice, to eat my honeycomb with my honey, to drink my wine with my milk.
I have gathered my myrrh…spice: The phrase I have gathered my myrrh and spice refers literally to harvesting some of the resin of the myrrh tree and the spice tree. The spice tree is the same tree as the frankincense tree from 4:14c. However, in this context the phrase has a figurative meaning. The man used the gathering of myrrh and spice as a figure of speech to refer to enjoying the love of his bride.
In some languages a literal translation may give a wrong meaning. Some other ways to translate the figure of speech are:
• Use a more general figure of speech that refers to enjoying a garden. For example:
I come to my garden and enjoy its spices. (Contemporary English Version)
• Use a simile. For example:
I come to ⌊my love⌋ and delight in her like a man enjoying the sweetest spices.
• Translate the meaning without the figure of speech. For example:
I delight in the sweet kisses/charms of my love.
5:1b
with my spice: The words with my spice refers back to the frankincense in 4:14c. The spices were locked up in the garden, but now they are his to enjoy. The spice probably refers to the fragrance of the woman’s perfume.
5:1c
I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey: This is the second of the three clauses that describe the man partaking of the garden’s delights. The phrase I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey is a metaphor. It refers back to 4:11a–b where honey symbolized the woman’s sweet kisses. So here it probably refers specifically to her sensual kisses and more generally to their lovemaking. The word my indicates that her kisses and her lovemaking are now his to enjoy.
As in 5:1b, there are several ways to translate this metaphor, and you can translate it in a similar way as you translated it there. For example:
I have enjoyed ⌊your charms⌋ like a man eating his honeycomb with its honey.
-or-
⌊ Loving⌋you is as sweet as eating honey with the honeycomb.
-or-
Your ⌊kisses⌋ are as sweet to me as honey and the honeycomb.
I have eaten: The man said I have eaten to respond to what the woman said in 4:16f. She invited him to come to her garden and “eat its choicest fruits.”
5:1d
I have drunk my wine with my milk: Here the man used a third clause to describe how he enjoyed the garden’s delights. It is a figurative way to speak about enjoying the woman’s charms. You should continue to use the same tense of the verb have drunk as you used for the verbs “have gathered” and “have eaten” in 5:1b and 5:1c.
As in 5:1b and 5:1c, there are several ways to translate this metaphor. It is probably good to translate it in a similar way as you translated the metaphors there. Some ways to translate it are:
I have drunk in ⌊the charms of my loved-one⌋ like someone drinking the best wine and milk.
-or-
⌊ My love⌋⌊nourishes⌋ me like the best milk and wine.
my wine with my milk: wine was mentioned in 4:10 and milk in 4:11. The man used drinking wine and milk in a figurative way. He described how he felt when he and the woman showed their love to each other. He felt joyful and refreshed as if he were drinking wine and milk. In the Song wine is a symbol of love (see, for example, 1:2 and 4:10). The word my indicates that now the woman’s lovemaking belonged to the man to enjoy.
5:1e–f The women of Jerusalem gave their blessing to the couple
5:1e–f
At the end of 5:1d the man finished speaking. The author did not indicate explicitly who spoke in 5:1e–f and to whom they spoke. Some English versions indicate the speakers in the margin or in footnotes, and some versions do not identify the speakers. The main views about the speakers and who they spoke to here are:
(1) A group of wedding guests (probably the Jerusalem women or other friends) spoke to the couple. For example:
Their Friends Speak (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Young Women of Jerusalem (New Living Translation (2004))
(2) The author of the Song spoke to the couple. For example:
The Poet to the Couple (NET Bible)
(3) The man (groom) spoke to the wedding guests. The versions that follow this view generally indicate it without a heading. For example:
Eat, my friends! (God’s Word)
It is recommended that you follow option (1), along with the majority of English versions. Some commentators and versions identify these guests specifically as the Jerusalem women. Others suggest friends or other guests. It is likely that the women of Jerusalem were the speakers, since they spoke to the woman in other parts of the Song (for example, in 1:5; 2:7; 3:5; 3:11; 5:8–16; and 6:1–3).
5:1e
Eat, O friends, and drink: Here the wedding guests encouraged the newly married couple to eat and drink to celebrate their marriage. The words Eat and drink have the same meaning as in 5:1b–d. The verbs are a tactful way to say, “enjoy sexual relations with each other.” The guests encouraged the couple to enjoy their love-making. Translate this meaning in an appropriate way for your culture.
In some languages it is more natural to put the direct address to the couple in a different place in the sentence. For example:
Friends, eat and drink…
-or-
Eat, lovers, and drink (Good News Translation)
O friends: The word friends refers here to the newly married couple, and you should make that clear in a natural way in your language. The word O is not in the Hebrew text, but some English versions add it to indicate that the wedding guests spoke directly to the bride and groom and called them friends.
5:1f
drink freely, O beloved: The meaning of 5:1f is similar to the meaning of 5:1e, and the author repeats the meaning to emphasize it. However, in this context there are two different ways to interpret the Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as beloved. In other verses of the Song and in other books of the OT, this plural form of the word means “love, expressions of affection.” There are two ways to interpret it here:
(1) The word means “love” or “lovemaking.” For example:
Drink deep of love! (Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures)
(2) The word means “lovers.” For example:
…drink your fill, O lovers. (New International Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with the majority of English versions. In Song 1:2, 1:4, 4:10, and 7:12 the Berean Standard Bible also translates it as “love” rather than “lovers.”
Since the Berean Standard Bible follows interpretation (2) here, the Display will use the New International Version as the source line for 5:1f.
(New International Version) drink your fill of love: This phrase is a figure of speech. It indicates that the bride and groom should delight in making fervent love with each other. Some ways to translate the figure are:
• Translate the figure of speech directly (drinking love). For example:
Yes, drink deeply of your love! (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Drink deep of love! (Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures)
• Use a figure of speech that has the same meaning in your language. For example:
make love with each other to your heart’s content
• Translate the meaning directly. For example:
love each other freely
-or-
delight yourselves in loving each other
Some English versions translate the idea of being “drunk” with love (for example, God’s Word and New Revised Standard Version). However, such a comparison may cause problems, since the point of comparison is not clear. Because of that, it may cause people to misunderstand the verse, especially in cultures where drinking too much wine has damaged people’s lives.
(New International Version) love: The word love can also be translated as “lovemaking” in this context. For more information, see the note on “your love” in 1:2b. It is also helpful to read the note there on “your love is better than wine.”
General Comment on 5:1
When the wedding guests told the man and woman to “drink freely of love (New International Version),” it was their blessing on their sexual relationship as husband and wife. This verse (5:1) is a climax to this section and to the book. There is another type of climax in 8:6–7.
Remember that the language in 4:1–5:1 describes the feelings of love and lovemaking in beautiful and delicate ways. The author describes romantic love in a powerful way, but he does not use vulgar words or phrases that would make modest people feel ashamed. It is important for translators also to find artistic ways to communicate the beauty of the Song and to use modest language that is appropriate for the cultural context.
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