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Song of Songs 8:5-7
New Catholic Bible
Song of Songs 8:5-7
New Catholic Bible
Epilogue
Love Is as Strong as Death[a]
Companions:
5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness
leaning on her beloved?
Bridegroom:
Under the apple tree[b] I awakened you;
it was there that your mother conceived you,
and there where she who conceived you bore you.
Bride:
6 [c]Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal upon your arm.
For love is as strong as death,[d]
and ardor is as relentless as the netherworld.
Its flames are flashes of fire,
an unending blaze.[e]
7 Flood waters cannot quench love,
nor can torrents drown it.
If one were to offer all his wealth for love,
he would be regarded with contempt.
Footnotes
- Song of Songs 8:5 The chorus no longer recognizes the bride; love has awakened her to a new life. Quite violent is the passion that makes the lovers into one single being. Love seizes them as a force that cannot be resisted. They can no more escape it than they can escape death and the subterranean pit that, in the words of the ancients, one day will snatch all the living, the netherworld. God, who created love, willed this unity that nothing can divide. “And the two shall become one flesh,” declares Paul the Apostle (Eph 5:31) with the Gospel (Mt 19:5) and the Book of Genesis (Gen 2:24). Such a love cannot be acquired at the price of silver.
It is something unheard of that between God and his people there is established a definitive link that holds despite all kinds of trials and dramas. And how can one hide forever from the Lord’s ardor? - Song of Songs 8:6 Under the apple tree: fruit trees were regarded as conducive to lovers’ embraces.
- Song of Songs 8:6 Love is as strong as death: starting with these words, the author gives three climactic wisdom sayings about the awesome power of true love. Love stands its ground against the greatest powers on earth: death, fire, and water, and conquers even great wealth. An unending blaze: another translation may be: “Like the very flame of the Lord,” showing that love is enkindled by God.
- Song of Songs 8:6 Love is as strong as death: starting with these words, the author gives three climactic wisdom sayings about the awesome power of true love. Love stands its ground against the greatest powers on earth: death, fire, and water, and conquers even great wealth. An unending blaze: another translation may be: “Like the very flame of the Lord,” showing that love is enkindled by God.
- Song of Songs 8:6 Love is as strong as death: starting with these words, the author gives three climactic wisdom sayings about the awesome power of true love. Love stands its ground against the greatest powers on earth: death, fire, and water, and conquers even great wealth. An unending blaze: another translation may be: “Like the very flame of the Lord,” showing that love is enkindled by God.
