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Journey of a Passage

Song of Songs 5:10–16

"This is my beloved, and this is my friend"

The woman's praise of the man, the only praise poem of a male body in the Song: white and ruddy, head of gold, black curls, dove eyes, spice-bed cheeks, lily lips dripping myrrh, arms of gold set with tarshish, body of ivory with sappir, legs of alabaster on gold bases, appearance like Lebanon. The gem names differ across the witnesses ("beryl," "hyacinths," "sapphires").

Same letters, different readings: the consonants agree, but ancient readers vocalized or interpreted them differently

The family tree

Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.

✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives

  • Same line, through lost copies
  • Translation
Hebrew
  1. The poem as first composedUnknown (proposals from the 10th to the 3rd century BC)
  2. Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from The poem as first composed
Greek
  1. Greek Song of Songs (library: Giguet's French)Greek translation 1st century BC – 1st century AD (debated); French 1872Translated from the Greek Song (Asma)
Latin
  1. Latin Vulgate (Clementine)Jerome c. AD 390s, from Hebrew; edition 1592Translated from the Hebrew text Jerome used
English
  1. King James Bible1611Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

Every witness, in order

  1. Unknown (proposals from the 10th to the 3rd century BC)

    The poem as first composed

    – No copy survives

    No original survives. The oldest Hebrew copies of the Song are four Qumran manuscripts: 4Q106, 4Q107, 4Q108 (Cave 4) and 6Q6 (Cave 6), late 1st century BC to 1st century AD (reported).

  2. Jerome c. AD 390s, from Hebrew; edition 1592

    Latin Vulgate (Clementine)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Hebrew text Jerome used

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).

    Dilectus meus candidus et rubicundus; electus ex millibus. Caput ejus aurum optimum; comæ ejus sicut elatæ palmarum, nigræ quasi corvus. Oculi ejus sicut columbæ super rivulos aquarum, quæ lacte sunt lotæ, et resident juxta fluenta plenissima. Genæ illius sicut areolæ aromatum, consitæ a pigmentariis. Labia ejus lilia, distillantia myrrham primam. Manus illius tornatiles, aureæ, plenæ hyacinthis. Venter ejus eburneus, distinctus sapphiris. Crura illius columnæ marmoreæ quæ fundatæ sunt super bases aureas. Species ejus ut Libani, electus ut cedri. Guttur illius suavissimum, et totus desiderabilis. Talis est dilectus meus, et ipse est amicus meus, filiæ Jerusalem.

    Latin numbering: Song 5:10–16. Jerome translated the Song from Hebrew (c. AD 390s); the Clementine edition prints the title outside the verses and joins English 1:1-2.

  3. AD 1008

    Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

    ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from The poem as first composed

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

    דּוֹדִ֥י צַח֙ וְאָד֔וֹם דָּג֖וּל מֵרְבָבָֽה׃ רֹאשׁ֖וֹ כֶּ֣תֶם פָּ֑ז קְוּצּוֹתָיו֙ תַּלְתַּלִּ֔ים שְׁחֹר֖וֹת כָּעוֹרֵֽב׃ עֵינָ֕יו כְּיוֹנִ֖ים עַל־אֲפִ֣יקֵי מָ֑יִם רֹֽחֲצוֹת֙ בֶּֽחָלָ֔ב יֹשְׁב֖וֹת עַל־מִלֵּֽאת׃ לְחָיָו֙ כַּעֲרוּגַ֣ת הַבֹּ֔שֶׂם מִגְדְּל֖וֹת מֶרְקָחִ֑ים שִׂפְתוֹתָיו֙ שֽׁוֹשַׁנִּ֔ים נֹטְפ֖וֹת מ֥וֹר עֹבֵֽר׃ יָדָיו֙ גְּלִילֵ֣י זָהָ֔ב מְמֻלָּאִ֖ים בַּתַּרְשִׁ֑ישׁ מֵעָיו֙ עֶ֣שֶׁת שֵׁ֔ן מְעֻלֶּ֖פֶת סַפִּירִֽים׃ שׁוֹקָיו֙ עַמּ֣וּדֵי שֵׁ֔שׁ מְיֻסָּדִ֖ים עַל־אַדְנֵי־פָ֑ז מַרְאֵ֙הוּ֙ כַּלְּבָנ֔וֹן בָּח֖וּר כָּאֲרָזִֽים׃ חִכּוֹ֙ מַֽמְתַקִּ֔ים וְכֻלּ֖וֹ מַחֲמַדִּ֑ים זֶ֤ה דוֹדִי֙ וְזֶ֣ה רֵעִ֔י בְּנ֖וֹת יְרוּשָׁלָֽ͏ִם׃

    His mouth is sweetness and all of him desirable: this is my beloved and this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem (v. 16)

    Hebrew numbering: Song 5:10–16.

  4. 1611

    King James Bible

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

    My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven. His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set. His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh. His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.

  5. Greek translation 1st century BC – 1st century AD (debated); French 1872

    Greek Song of Songs (library: Giguet's French)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Greek Song (Asma)

    How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

    Mon frère bien-aimé est blanc et rose, choisi entre dix mille. Sa tête est de l’or fin de Céphaz; ses cheveux sont souples, et noirs comme le corbeau. Ses yeux sont comme ceux des colombes sur des étangs pleins d’eau, lavées dans le lait, se reposant sur les étangs. Ses joues sont comme des vases d’aromates exhalant des parfums; ses lèvres sont des lis distillant la myrrhe la plus pure. Ses mains sont gracieuses et d’or, et pleines de béryl; sa poitrine est une tablette d’ivoire sur une pierre de saphir. Ses jambes sont des colonnes de marbre posées sur des bases d’or; sa beauté est celle du Liban elle excelle comme le cèdre. Sa bouche est pleine de douceur, et fait naître les désirs; tel est mon frère bien-aimé, tel est mon ami, filles de Jérusalem.

    Greek (digital file) numbering: Song 5:10–16. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text (D check). Giguet also inserts speaker labels such as (Épouse) and (Époux); these are interpretation, not Greek text. A C check needs a critical Greek edition.

What changed, and why

Tarshish (v. 14) is a gem named after a distant place; beryl, topaz and chrysolite are guesses (the Vulgate: hyacinthis). Sappir is probably lapis lazuli, not the modern sapphire. Shesh (v. 15) is alabaster or marble.

The description resembles a precious statue of gold and ivory, a common luxury art form in Egypt and the Levant.

Re'a (v. 16), "friend, companion": love joined with friendship. Christian hymnody later applied "altogether lovely" and "chiefest among ten thousand" to Christ.

What the evidence shows

  • Strongly supportedSappir is probably lapis lazuli.
  • Independently documentedTarshish (the gem) is unidentified.

Sources

    Related lessons

    • Song of Songs 5: I Sleep, but My Heart Waketh →The man answers her invitation: "I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse"; someone says, "eat, O friends; drink" (5:1). Then a night scene: "I sleep, but my heart waketh"; her beloved knocks, wet with dew; she hesitates; when she opens, myrrh dripping from her hands on the lock, he is gone (vv. 2–6). The watchmen find her, strike her, wound her and take her cloak (v. 7). She charges the daughters of Jerusalem to tell him she is lovesick (v. 8). They ask what makes her beloved better than others (v. 9). She answers with a head-to-foot praise of him (vv. 10–16): "This is my beloved, and this is my friend."
    • Investigation: The Garden and Its Fragrances →The Song names more plants and aromatics than any other book of the Bible: some native (pomegranate, fig, vine, palm, henna, lily), some imported from Arabia, Africa and India (myrrh, frankincense, nard, cinnamon, calamus, aloes-wood, saffron). This investigation identifies what can be identified, says which names are uncertain, and explains the trade behind the luxury.