I am my beloved’s: see comments on 2.16; 6.3.

His desire is for me echoes Gen 3.16. In Hebrew the phrase for (or, toward) me appears at the beginning of the sentence and so may be emphasized. Bible en français courant catches this note when it says “and it’s me he desires.” Desire is a noun but it can be given a verbal form, “he yearns,” as in New American Bible. Whereas in Gen 3.16 it was the woman who longed for her husband, here it is the reverse.

For translation we can have:

• I belong to my lover; he longs to have me.

Or as in Good News Translation:

• … he desires me.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Zogbo, Lynell. A Handbook on the Book of Song of Songs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1998. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .