¶“Hurry, my beloved, And be like a gazelle or a young stag On the mountains of balsam trees!”
Parallel translations
- WEB Come away, my beloved! Be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices!
- KJV Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.
- BSB Come away, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.
- NKJV Make haste, my beloved, And be like a gazelle Or a young stag On the mountains of spices.
- NLT Come away, my love! Be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.
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
The bride answers, urging her beloved to come swiftly to her like a gazelle on the fragrant mountains. The book ends with love's eager, ongoing longing for the beloved.
Overview
The closing call 'make haste' or 'come away' leaves the lovers in a posture of continued desire and anticipation, love still reaching toward its object. The book ends not with possession exhausted but with longing alive. Christians have long heard in this final cry an echo of the church's own prayer, 'Come, Lord Jesus,' as the bride awaits the coming of her Beloved.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Song 2:17Until the day is cool, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be like a roe or a young deer on the mountains of Bether.
- Rev 22:20He who testifies these things says, “Yes, I come quickly.” Amen! Yes, come, Lord Jesus.
- Song 2:9My beloved is like a roe or a young deer. Behold, he stands behind our wall! He looks in at the windows. He glances through the lattice.
- Rev 22:17The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” He who hears, let him say, “Come!” He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the water of life freely.
- Luke 19:12He said therefore, “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.
- Song 4:6Until the day is cool, and the shadows flee away, I will go to the mountain of myrrh, to the hill of frankincense.
- Phil 1:23But I am in a dilemma between the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 8:14 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
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.