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Song of Solomon 5 · a question people ask

5:2 begins, "I was asleep." Is what follows a dream?

In the text

The chapter doesn't say. It begins, "I was asleep, but my heart was awake" (5:2), and goes on to the voice of the beloved and to rising to open (5:2-5), then to looking and calling for him, and to the watchmen who go about the city (5:6-7). The Song has no word for a dream, in the WEB or in Hebrew, and the chapter doesn't say where the night ends. These notes don't decide it for the text. What the chapter does say is plain: "I looked for him, but I didn’t find him. I called him, but he didn’t answer" (5:6).

From Favor's study of Song of Solomon 5

Song of Solomon 5: My beloved and my friend

The WEB's heart comes three times in 5:2-6, and in Hebrew each is a different word; "My heart went out when he spoke" (5:6) has nefesh, the soul of "whom my soul loves" (3:1). And "Eat, friends!" (5:1) and "this is my friend" (5:16) are the Song's only two uses of rea, friend.

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