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Song of Songs 2:16

WEBKJVBSBESVNKJVNASBNLT
My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.
Song of Songs 2:16 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB My beloved is mine, and I am his. He browses among the lilies.
  • BSB My beloved is mine and I am his; he pastures his flock among the lilies.
  • NKJV My beloved is mine, and I am his. He feeds his flock among the lilies. (To Her Beloved)
  • NASB ¶“My beloved is mine, and I am his; He pastures his flock among the lilies.
  • NLT My lover is mine, and I am his. He browses among the lilies.

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

She declares mutual belonging: my beloved is mine and I am his. It is a treasured affirmation of covenant love.

Overview

This refrain of mutual possession expresses the security and exclusivity of true love, each wholly the other's. It captures the heart of covenant union. Believers have found here a beautiful expression of belonging to the Lord and He to them, the essence of the covenant: "I will be their God, and they shall be my people" (Jer. 31:33; 1 Cor. 6:19-20).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • Song 6:3I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies.
  • Song 7:10I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.
  • Ps 63:1O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
  • Jer 31:33But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
  • Ps 48:14For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.
  • Song 7:13The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.
  • 1 Cor 3:21–23Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
  • Gal 2:20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
  • Song 1:7Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?
  • Rev 21:2–3And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
  • Song 2:1I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
  • Song 4:5Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies.

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Commentaries & study tools

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 2:16 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.

My belovedדּוֹדis mine, and I am his: he feedethרָעָהamong the liliesשׁוּשַׁן
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