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7
1 Return, return, O Shulamite;
return, return, that we may gaze upon thee.
What will ye see in the Shulamite?
As it were the mecholat Machanayim (dance of the Machanayim).*See Gn 32:3
2 How beautiful are thy feet in sandals,
O princeʼs daughter!
Thy graceful legs are like jewels,
ma'aseh yedei amon (the work of the hands of an artist).†See Prov 8:30
3 Thy navel is like a round goblet,
which wanteth not wine:
thy waist is like a mound of chittim (wheat)
encircled by shoshanim (lilies).
4 Thy two breasts are like two fawns
that are twins of a gazelle.
5 Thy tzavar (neck) is like a migdal of ivory;
thine eyes like the pools of Cheshbon,
by the sha'ar (gate) of Bat-Rabbim;
thy nose is like the migdal of the Levanon
which looketh toward Damascus.
6 Thine head upon thee is like Carmel,
and the hair of thine head like royal tapestry;
Melech is held captive in its tresses.
7 How fair and how pleasant art thou,
O Ahavah, for delights!
8 This thy stature is like a tamar (palm tree),
and thy breasts eshkolot (clusters [of fruit]).
9 I said: I will climb up to the tamar,
I will take hold of the branches thereof;
now also thy breasts shall be as eshkelot hagefen (clusters of the vine),
and the scent of thy breath like apples;
10 And the roof of thy mouth like the best yayin of dodi (my beloved),
that goeth down sweetly,
causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak.
11 I am my belovedʼs,
and to me goeth forth his teshukah (desire).
12 Come, dodi (my beloved),
let us go forth into the sadeh;
let us lodge in the villages.
13 Let us get up early to the kramim (vineyards);
let us see if the gefen budded,
whether the tender grape appears,
and the pomegranates bloom;
there will I give thee my love.
14 The mandrakes send out their fragrance,
and at our doors are all manner of pleasant fruits,
chadashim (new ones) and yeshanim (old ones),
which I have stored up and kept for thee, O dodi (my beloved).‡T.N. Just as there are different classes of women in the harem — so there are different residences in the book of Esther, for the malkah, for the pilegesh and for the almah or betulah; cf Song 6:8 and Esther chp 2.

- SHIR HASHIRIM
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*7:1 See Gn 32:3

†7:2 See Prov 8:30

‡7:14 T.N. Just as there are different classes of women in the harem — so there are different residences in the book of Esther, for the malkah, for the pilegesh and for the almah or betulah; cf Song 6:8 and Esther chp 2.

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