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Shir Hashirim 7

Return, return, O Shulamite;

return, return, that we may gaze upon thee.

What will ye see in the Shulamite?

As it were the mecholat Machanayim (dance of the Machanayim).1

How beautiful are thy feet in sandals,

O princeʼs daughter!

Thy graceful legs are like jewels,

ma'aseh yedei amon (the work of the hands of an artist).2

Thy navel is like a round goblet,

which wanteth not wine:

thy waist is like a mound of chittim (wheat)

encircled by shoshanim (lilies).

Thy two breasts are like two fawns

that are twins of a gazelle.

Thy tzavar (neck) is like a migdal of ivory;

thine eyes like the pools of Cheshbon,

by the sha'ar (gate) of Bat-Rabbim;

thy nose is like the migdal of the Levanon

which looketh toward Damascus.

Thine head upon thee is like Carmel,

and the hair of thine head like royal tapestry;

Melech is held captive in its tresses.

How fair and how pleasant art thou,

O Ahavah, for delights!

This thy stature is like a tamar (palm tree),

and thy breasts eshkolot (clusters [of fruit]).

I said: I will climb up to the tamar,

I will take hold of the branches thereof;

now also thy breasts shall be as eshkelot hagefen (clusters of the vine),

and the scent of thy breath like apples;

And the roof of thy mouth like the best yayin of dodi (my beloved),

that goeth down sweetly,

causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak.

I am my belovedʼs,

and to me goeth forth his teshukah (desire).

Come, dodi (my beloved),

let us go forth into the sadeh;

let us lodge in the villages.

Let us get up early to the kramim (vineyards);

let us see if the gefen budded,

whether the tender grape appears,

and the pomegranates bloom;

there will I give thee my love.

The mandrakes send out their fragrance,

and at our doors are all manner of pleasant fruits,

chadashim (new ones) and yeshanim (old ones),

which I have stored up and kept for thee, O dodi (my beloved).3

Source notes (3)
  1. Footnote See Gn 32:3
  2. Footnote See Prov 8:30
  3. Footnote T.N. Just as there are different classes of women in the harem — so there are different residences in the book of Esther, for the malkah, for the pilegesh and for the almah or betulah; cf Song 6:8 and Esther chp 2 .

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Full source notice & licence · CC BY 4.0 · SourceEdition imported 2026-10-25.

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