Song of Solomon 8 · a question people ask
Who is the little sister of 8:8, and what do the wall and the door mean?
The chapter doesn't say. "We have a little sister" (8:8), say speakers who speak as we, and they ask, "What shall we do for our sister in the day when she is to be spoken for?" (8:8) (tap sister). They give their own answer in two likenesses: "If she is a wall, we will build on her a turret of silver. If she is a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar" (8:9). Then a voice answers with the same word: "I am a wall" (8:10) (tap wall). In Hebrew like one who found in 8:10 is feminine, so a woman speaks there. The chapter doesn't name those who say we, or the sister, and doesn't say whether the woman of 8:10 is the sister of 8:8. It doesn't explain the wall, the door, the turret or the boards, and these notes don't either. 8:10 ends, "then I was in his eyes like one who found peace" (8:10): peace is shalom, its only time in the Song.
The verses
“We have a little sister. She has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister in the day when she is to be spoken for? If she is a wall, we will build on her a turret of silver. If she is a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar. I am a wall, and my breasts like towers, then I was in his eyes like one who found peace.”