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Song of Songs 7:10–13 (Hebrew 7:11–14)

"His desire is toward me": teshuqah and the mandrakes

"I am my beloved's, and his desire (teshuqah) is toward me." Teshuqah occurs only here and in Genesis 3:16 and 4:7. In Genesis 3:16 the woman's desire is for her husband who rules over her; here the man's desire is for her, with no ruling. Then her invitation to the fields, vineyards and mandrakes. The library's Greek and the Vulgate render teshuqah "turning" (epistrophe, conversio).

Read Song of Songs 7:10–13 (Hebrew 7:11–14) in every edition

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
  3. Genesis 3:16 (Masoretic Text, for comparison)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).

    Ego dilecto meo, et ad me conversio ejus. Veni, dilecte mi, egrediamur in agrum, commoremur in villis. Mane surgamus ad vineas: videamus si floruit vinea, si flores fructus parturiunt, si floruerunt mala punica; ibi dabo tibi ubera mea. Mandragoræ dederunt odorem in portis nostris omnia poma: nova et vetera, dilecte mi, servavi tibi.

    Latin numbering: Song 7:10–13. 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.

    אֲנִ֣י לְדוֹדִ֔י וְעָלַ֖י תְּשׁוּקָתֽוֹ׃ לְכָ֤ה דוֹדִי֙ נֵצֵ֣א הַשָּׂדֶ֔ה נָלִ֖ינָה בַּכְּפָרִֽים׃ נַשְׁכִּ֙ימָה֙ לַכְּרָמִ֔ים נִרְאֶ֞ה אִם פָּֽרְחָ֤ה הַגֶּ֙פֶן֙ פִּתַּ֣ח הַסְּמָדַ֔ר הֵנֵ֖צוּ הָרִמּוֹנִ֑ים שָׁ֛ם אֶתֵּ֥ן אֶת־דֹּדַ֖י לָֽךְ׃ הַֽדּוּדָאִ֣ים נָֽתְנוּ־רֵ֗יחַ וְעַל־פְּתָחֵ֙ינוּ֙ כָּל־מְגָדִ֔ים חֲדָשִׁ֖ים גַּם־יְשָׁנִ֑ים דּוֹדִ֖י צָפַ֥נְתִּי לָֽךְ׃

    I am my beloved's, and his desire is for me (v. 10)

    Hebrew numbering: Song 7:11–14. Hebrew numbering 7:11–14.

  4. AD 1008

    Genesis 3:16 (Masoretic Text, for comparison)

    ✓ 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.

    אֶֽל־הָאִשָּׁ֣ה אָמַ֗ר הַרְבָּ֤ה אַרְבֶּה֙ עִצְּבוֹנֵ֣ךְ וְהֵֽרֹנֵ֔ךְ בְּעֶ֖צֶב תֵּֽלְדִ֣י בָנִ֑ים וְאֶל־אִישֵׁךְ֙ תְּשׁ֣וּקָתֵ֔ךְ וְה֖וּא יִמְשָׁל־בָּֽךְ׃

    Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you

    The only other uses of teshuqah are here and Genesis 4:7.

  5. 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).

    I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me. Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves. The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.

  6. 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.

    Je suis à mon frère bien-aimé, et son regard est tourné vers moi. Viens, mon frère bien-aimé, allons aux champs, dormons dans les bourgades. Levons-nous dès l’aurore pour aller aux vignes; voyons si le raisin est en fleur, si les graines sont en fleur, si les grenades fleurissent: c’est là que je te donnerai mes mamelles. Les mandragores ont donné leur senteur, et, au seuil de nos portes, tous les fruits verts et mùrs, ô mon frère bien-aimé, je les ai gardés pour toi.

    Greek (digital file) numbering: Song 7:10–13. 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

The canonical contrast with Genesis 3:16 is widely noted; whether the poet intended it cannot be proved.

Duda'im (mandrakes) recall Rachel and Leah (Genesis 30:14–16) and sound like dodim, "love."

"New and old" fruits stored for him (v. 13): she has prepared; she leads.

What the evidence shows

  • Independently documentedTeshuqah occurs only in Genesis 3:16; 4:7; Song 7:10.
  • Plausible, not confirmedSong 7:10 deliberately reverses Genesis 3:16.

Sources

    Related lessons

    • Song of Songs 7: I Am My Beloved's →In English numbering: the man praises the woman from her sandaled feet upward: thighs like jewels, navel like a bowl of wine, belly like a heap of wheat set about with lilies, breasts like twin fawns, neck like an ivory tower, eyes like the pools of Heshbon, nose like the tower of Lebanon facing Damascus, head like Carmel, hair like purple in which a king is held captive (7:1–5). She is like a palm tree; he will climb it and take hold of its fruit (vv. 6–9). She answers: "I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me" (v. 10), and invites him into the fields and villages, to the vineyards, where "the mandrakes give a smell" and "I will give thee my loves" (vv. 11–13).
    • 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.