Promise me, O women of Jerusalem, not to awaken love until the time is right.
Parallel translations
- WEB I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up, nor awaken love, until it so desires.
- KJV I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please.
- BSB O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.
- NKJV I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, Do not stir up nor awaken love Until it pleases. A Relative
- NASB ¶“Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem: Do not disturb or awaken my love Until she pleases.”
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 charges the daughters of Jerusalem not to awaken love before its proper time. Love is precious and must not be stirred up prematurely.
Overview
This refrain (cf. 2:7; 3:5) counsels patience and restraint, warning against arousing romantic love before the right time and setting of committed marriage. It is wise instruction prizing love too highly to cheapen it. The repeated charge guards the goodness of love by honoring God's order, in which such love finds its right and blessed place.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
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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 8:4 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.