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Song of Songs 2:14

O my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the crevices of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your countenance is lovely.
Song of Songs 2:14 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB My dove in the clefts of the rock, In the hiding places of the mountainside, Let me see your face. Let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.
  • KJV O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
  • NKJV “O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret places of the cliff, Let me see your face, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, And your face is lovely.” Her Brothers
  • NASB ¶“My dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the hiding place of the mountain pathway, Let me see how you look, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is pleasant, And you look delightful.”
  • NLT My dove is hiding behind the rocks, behind an outcrop on the cliff. Let me see your face; let me hear your voice. For your voice is pleasant, and your face is lovely.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

He longs to see her face and hear her voice, both sweet and lovely to him. It expresses his desire for her presence and fellowship.

Overview

Calling her his dove hidden in the cliffs, he asks to see her face and hear her voice, prizing both. The verse honors the desire for nearness and open communion. So the Lord delights in the prayers and presence of His people, whose voice is sweet to Him (Ps. 141:2; Prov. 15:8).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 40

  • Ezra 9:5–6At the evening offering, I got up from my humiliation with my tunic and cloak torn, and I fell on my knees, spread out my hands to the LORD my God,
  • Song 1:5I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
  • Song 5:2I sleep, but my heart is awake. A sound! My beloved is knocking: “Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night.”
  • Song 8:13You who dwell in the gardens, my companions are listening for your voice. Let me hear it!
  • Exod 3:6Then He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
  • Exod 33:22–23and when My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.
  • Isa 60:8Who are these who fly like clouds, like doves to their shelters?
  • Luke 8:47–48Then the woman, seeing that she could not escape notice, came trembling and fell down before Him. In the presence of all the people, she explained why she had touched Him and how she had immediately been healed.
  • Jer 48:28Abandon the towns and settle among the rocks, O dwellers of Moab! Be like a dove that nests at the mouth of a cave.
  • Isa 51:3For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song.
  • Ezek 7:16The survivors will escape and live in the mountains, moaning like doves of the valley, each for his own iniquity.
  • Song 1:15How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves.
  • Obad 1:3The pride of your heart has deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks whose habitation is the heights, who say in your heart, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
  • Exod 4:11–13And the LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, the sighted or the blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
  • Jer 49:16The terror you cause and the pride of your heart have deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks, O occupiers of the mountain summit. Though you elevate your nest like the eagle, even from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.
  • Heb 4:16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
  • Rev 5:8When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
  • Ps 110:3Your people shall be willing on Your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn, to You belongs the dew of Your youth.
  • Prov 15:8The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.
  • Ps 45:11and the king will desire your beauty; bow to him, for he is your lord.
  • Ps 50:14–15Sacrifice a thank offering to God, and fulfill your vows to the Most High.
  • Ps 74:19Do not deliver the soul of Your dove to beasts; do not forget the lives of Your afflicted forever.
  • Matt 10:16Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
  • Heb 10:22let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
  • Rev 4:8–10And each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around and within. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
  • Ps 50:23He who sacrifices a thank offering honors Me, and to him who rights his way, I will show the salvation of God.”
  • Ps 68:13Though you lie down among the sheepfolds, the wings of the dove are covered with silver, and her feathers with shimmering gold.”
  • Col 1:22But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in His presence—
  • Job 9:16If I summoned Him and He answered me, I do not believe He would listen to my voice.
  • Dan 9:7To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and all Israel near and far, in all the countries to which You have driven us because of our unfaithfulness to You.
  • Ps 22:3Yet You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
  • Rev 7:9–10After this I looked and saw a multitude too large to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.
  • Song 6:9–10but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the favorite of the mother who bore her. The maidens see her and call her blessed; the queens and concubines sing her praises.
  • Eph 5:27and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.
  • Isa 6:5Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.”
  • Isa 2:21They will flee to caverns in the rocks and crevices in the cliffs, away from the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth.
  • Song 1:8If you do not know, O fairest of women, follow the tracks of the flock, and graze your young goats near the tents of the shepherds.
  • Matt 3:16As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him.
  • Jude 1:24Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy—
  • 1 Pet 3:4but from the inner disposition of your heart, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in God’s sight.

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Christ at the center

The poetry of covenant love between bride and bridegroom pictures, at its highest, the love of Christ for his church — the Bridegroom who gave himself for his bride.

How Song of Songs 2:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

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