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Song of Solomon 8 Bible study: Love is strong as death
Right after the last charge not to awaken love (8:4), the next verse has "Under the apple tree I awakened you" (8:5), with the same Hebrew verb. And the Song's last two verses speak first to a woman and then to a man, ending with "Come away, my beloved!" (8:14), whose likeness of a gazelle on the mountains shares its Hebrew words with 2:17.
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“Many waters can’t quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love, he would be utterly scorned.”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“In Song of Solomon 8, the verse right after the charge not to awaken love says, "Under the apple tree I awakened you."”
Is that in Song of Solomon 8, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
The charge, a third time
The chapter opens with a wish: "Oh that you were like my brother" (8:1). In Hebrew the you there is masculine: the one spoken to is a man, and the speaker's own words don't mark whether the speaker is a man or a woman. 8:3 has the words of 2:6 again, almost word for word, and chapter 2 looks at the pair. Then, as 2:7 follows 2:6, the charge follows: "I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up, nor awaken love, until it so desires" (8:4) (tap love). It is the third time the Song has said it (2:7, 3:5), and the last. Here is something easy to miss: 2:7 and 3:5 have "by the roes, or by the hinds of the field" (2:7, 3:5) in the middle, and 8:4 leaves those words out. Chapters 2 and 3 look at the charge itself. And the next verse picks up the charge's verb: "Under the apple tree I awakened you" (8:5) (tap awaken).
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Song of Solomon 8
- "Its flashes are flashes of fire, a very flame of the LORD" (8:6). The Song names the LORD only here. What does the verse say, and what does it leave open?
- Who is the little sister of 8:8, and what do the wall and the door mean?
- "Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon" (8:11). Is that the same vineyard as "My own vineyard" in the next verse?
That was a taste
The rest of Song of Solomon 8 is waiting in Favor
- Who is this, again?
- Strong as death, cruel as Sheol
- The last two voices
- Words that come back
- Where 8:6-7 stand in chapter 1's question
- 7 questions as you read
- 14 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 8 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
אַהֲבָהahavahsay a-ha-VAH
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "love". The Song has this noun eleven times, and chapter 8 has the last four: "nor awaken love" (8:4), "for love is strong as death" (8:6), and twice in "Many waters can’t quench love … If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love" (8:7). Its first time in the Song is "His banner over me is love" (2:4). The charge of 8:4 has it with the same words as 2:7 and 3:5: nor awaken love, until it so desires.
For your group
Song of Solomon 8 Bible study questions
- 1"for love is strong as death. Jealousy is as cruel as Sheol" (8:6). Why do you think the Song sets love beside death and Sheol to say how strong it is?
- 2"Many waters can’t quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love, he would be utterly scorned" (8:7). What do you think 8:7 is saying about love and wealth?
- 3The Song ends, "Come away, my beloved!" (8:14). Now that you have read all eight chapters, which of the Song's words about love would you want your group to remember, and why?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Song of Solomon 8 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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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