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Song of Songs 3

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1 ἐπὶ κοίτην μου ἐν νυξὶν ἐζήτησα ὃν ἠγάπησεν ἡ ψυχή μου ἐζήτησα αὐτὸν καὶ οὐχ εὗρον αὐτόν ἐκάλεσα αὐτόν καὶ οὐχ ὑπήκουσέν μου 2 ἀναστήσομαι δὴ καὶ κυκλώσω ἐν τῇ πόλει ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς καὶ ἐν ταῖς πλατείαις καὶ ζητήσω ὃν ἠγάπησεν ἡ ψυχή μου ἐζήτησα αὐτὸν καὶ οὐχ εὗρον αὐτόν 3 εὕροσάν με οἱ τηροῦντες οἱ κυκλοῦντες ἐν τῇ πόλει μὴ ὃν ἠγάπησεν ἡ ψυχή μου εἴδετε 4 ὡς μικρὸν ὅτε παρῆλθον ἀ{P'} αὐτῶν ἕως οὗ εὗρον ὃν ἠγάπησεν ἡ ψυχή μου ἐκράτησα αὐτὸν καὶ οὐκ ἀφήσω αὐτόν ἕως οὗ εἰσήγαγον αὐτὸν εἰς οἶκον μητρός μου καὶ εἰς ταμίειον τῆς συλλαβούσης με

1 In the night watches, as I lay abed, I searched for my heart’s love, and searched in vain. 2 Now to stir abroad, and traverse the city, searching every alley-way and street for him I love so tenderly! But for all my search I could not find him. 3 I met the watchmen who go the city rounds, and asked them whether they had seen my love; 4 then, when I had scarce left them, I found him, so tenderly loved; and now that he is mine I will never leave him, never let him go, till I have brought him into my own mother’s house, into the room that saw my birth.

1

In lectulo meo, per noctes,
quæsivi quem diligit anima mea:
quæsivi illum, et non inveni. 2
Surgam, et circuibo civitatem:
per vicos et plateas
quæram quem diligit anima mea:
quæsivi illum, et non inveni. 3
Invenerunt me vigiles qui custodiunt civitatem:
Num quem diligit anima mea vidistis? 4
Paululum cum pertransissem eos,
inveni quem diligit anima mea:
tenui eum, nec dimittam,
donec introducam illum in domum matris meæ,
et in cubiculum genetricis meæ.

5 ὥρκισα ὑμᾶς θυγατέρες Ιερουσαλημ ἐν ταῖς δυνάμεσιν καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἰσχύσεσιν τοῦ ἀγροῦ ἐὰν ἐγείρητε καὶ ἐξεγείρητε τὴν ἀγάπην ἕως ἂν θελήσῃ

5 An oath, maidens of Jerusalem! By the gazelles and the wild fawns I charge you, wake never from her sleep my heart’s love, till wake she will!

5
Sponsus. Adjuro vos, filiæ Jerusalem,
per capreas cervosque camporum,
ne suscitetis, neque evigilare faciatis dilectam,
donec ipsa velit.

6 τίς αὕτη ἡ ἀναβαίνουσα ἀπὸ τῆς ἐρήμου ὡς στελέχη καπνοῦ τεθυμιαμένη σμύρναν καὶ λίβανον ἀπὸ πάντων κονιορτῶν μυρεψοῦ

6 Who is this that makes her way up by the desert road, erect as a column of smoke, all myrrh and incense, and those sweet scents the perfumer knows?[1]

6
Chorus. Quæ est ista quæ ascendit per desertum
sicut virgula fumi ex aromatibus myrrhæ,
et thuris, et universi pulveris pigmentarii?

7 ἰδοὺ ἡ κλίνη τοῦ Σαλωμων ἑξήκοντα δυνατοὶ κύκλῳ αὐτῆς ἀπὸ δυνατῶν Ισραηλ 8 πάντες κατέχοντες ῥομφαίαν δεδιδαγμένοι πόλεμον ἀνὴρ ῥομφαία αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ μηρὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ θάμβους ἐν νυξίν 9 φορεῖον ἐποίησεν ἑαυτῷ ὁ βασιλεὺς Σαλωμων ἀπὸ ξύλων τοῦ Λιβάνου 10 στύλους αὐτοῦ ἐποίησεν ἀργύριον καὶ ἀνάκλιτον αὐτοῦ χρύσεον ἐπίβασις αὐτοῦ πορφυρᾶ ἐντὸς αὐτοῦ λιθόστρωτον ἀγάπην ἀπὸ θυγατέρων Ιερουσαλημ 11 ἐξέλθατε καὶ ἴδετε ἐν τῷ βασιλεῖ Σαλωμων ἐν τῷ στεφάνῳ ᾧ ἐστεφάνωσεν αὐτὸν ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ νυμφεύσεως αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ εὐφροσύνης καρδίας αὐτοῦ

7 See now the bed whereon king Solomon lies, with sixty warriors to guard him, none braver in Israel;[2] 8 swordsmen all, well trained for battle, and each with his sword girt about him, against the perils of the night! 9 A litter king Solomon will have, of Lebanon wood; 10 a golden frame it must have, on silver props, with cushions of purple; within are pictured tales of love, for your pleasure, maidens of Jerusalem.[3] 11 Come out, maidens of Sion, and see king Solomon wearing the crown that was his mother’s gift to him on his day of triumph, the day of his betrothal.

7
En lectulum Salomonis sexaginta fortes ambiunt
ex fortissimis Israël, 8
omnes tenentes gladios, et ad bella doctissimi:
uniuscujusque ensis super femur suum
propter timores nocturnos. 9
Ferculum fecit sibi rex Salomon
de lignis Libani; 10
columnas ejus fecit argenteas,
reclinatorium aureum, ascensum purpureum;
media caritate constravit,
propter filias Jerusalem. 11
Egredimini et videte, filiæ Sion,
regem Salomonem in diademate quo coronavit illum mater sua
in die desponsationis illius,
et in die lætitiæ cordis ejus.

[1] It is difficult to see how this verse fits into its surroundings. Some would translate ‘What is it that makes its way up …’ and treat verse 7 as the answer; but the analogy of 8.5 suggests that the reference is somehow to the heroine of the poem.

[2] vv. 7-11: These verses are plainly an interlude, in the form of a song (perhaps chanted by the women of Jerusalem) in honour of king Solomon’s state litter.

[3] Literally, ‘Within, it was inlaid with love, on account of (in the Hebrew text, from) the daughters of Jerusalem’.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd