I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of 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.
- BSB O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you, if you find my beloved, tell him I am sick with 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 2:7I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.
- Song 2:5Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.
- Ps 42:1–3As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
- Song 3:5I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.
- Gal 6:1–2Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
- Ps 63:1–3O 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;
- Ps 77:1–3I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me.
- Rom 15:30Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me;
- Ps 119:81–83My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word.
- Jas 5:16Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
- Song 8:4I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please.
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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.