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Song of Solomon 4 Bible study: My sister, my bride
The Song calls her bride only in this part: six times, all between 4:8 and 5:1, four of them "my sister, my bride". And the chapter opens with every word of 1:15, then says to a woman, in almost the words 1:2 said to a man, "How much better is your love than wine" (4:10).
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“How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, the fragrance of your perfumes than all kinds of spices!”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“Song of Solomon 4:1 begins with the same words as 1:15: "Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful."”
Is that in Song of Solomon 4, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
Beautiful, first and last
The chapter opens with words you have read before: "Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are like doves" (4:1). That is all of 1:15, word for word in the WEB and in the Hebrew, and then 4:1 goes on: "behind your veil". From there the praise goes part by part: the eyes and the hair (4:1), the teeth (4:2), the lips, the mouth and the temples (4:3), the neck (4:4), and on through 4:5. It closes, "You are all beautiful, my love. There is no spot in you" (4:7). In Hebrew beautiful, my love is the same two words, yafah ra'yati, in 4:1 and in 4:7 (tap love): the praise begins and ends with them. The Hebrew shows that the words are said to a woman, since its you and your are feminine. The chapter doesn't explain its likenesses, and these notes don't either.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Song of Solomon 4
That was a taste
The rest of Song of Solomon 4 is waiting in Favor
- Come with me from Lebanon
- My sister, my bride
- Better than wine, again
- A garden, a spring, a fountain, a well
- Where 4:8-12 stand in chapter 1's question
- 8 questions as you read
- 11 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Song of Solomon 4 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
כַּלָּהkallahsay kal-LAH
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "daughter-in-law, bride". "Come with me from Lebanon, my bride" (4:8). The Song has it six times, and all six are in 4:8-5:1; four of them are "my sister, my bride" (4:9, 4:10, 4:12, 5:1). The Hebrew Bible has it 34 times. Ruth has it seven times, and the WEB gives it there as daughter-in-law: "Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law" (Ruth 1:8). Genesis has it too: "Sarai his daughter-in-law" (Genesis 11:31).
For your group
Song of Solomon 4 Bible study questions
- 1The praise opens with "Behold, you are beautiful, my love" (4:1) and closes with "You are all beautiful, my love. There is no spot in you" (4:7). What does the chapter add by saying the whole, and not only the parts?
- 2Four times the Song sets two names side by side: "my sister, my bride" (4:9, 4:10, 4:12, 5:1). What do the two together say that either one alone wouldn't?
- 3Chapter 1's honest question sets out how Christians read the Song. Now that you've read chapter 4, which of its verses would you most want to set beside that question, and why?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Song of Solomon 4 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach Song of Solomon 4 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.
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The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home