O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you, if you find my beloved, tell him I am sick with love.
Parallel translations
- WEB I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, If you find my beloved, that you tell him that I am faint with love.
- KJV I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.
- NKJV I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, If you find my beloved, That you tell him I am lovesick! The Daughters of Jerusalem
- NASB “Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem, If you find my beloved, As to what you will tell him: For I am lovesick.”
- NLT Make this promise, O women of Jerusalem— If you find my lover, tell him I am weak with love.
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 charges the daughters of Jerusalem to tell her beloved she is faint with love. It expresses her consuming longing for him.
Overview
Enlisting others' help, she asks that they tell her beloved she is sick with love for him. Her single-minded yearning persists despite her suffering. Such love-sickness pictures the soul wholly given to longing for the Lord, unsatisfied with anything less than His presence (Ps. 42:1-2; 73:25).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Song 2:7O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you by the gazelles and does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.
- Song 2:5Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love.
- Ps 42:1–3For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God.
- Song 3:5O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you by the gazelles and does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.
- Gal 6:1–2Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
- Ps 63:1–3A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water.
- Ps 77:1–3For the choirmaster. According to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph. I cried out to God; I cried aloud to God to hear me.
- Rom 15:30Now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.
- Ps 119:81–83My soul faints for Your salvation; I wait for Your word.
- Jas 5:16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.
- Song 8:4O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.
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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 5:8 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.