Bible Strands
Song of Solomon 1:7
Tell me, O one I love, where do you pasture your sheep? Where do you rest them at midday? Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your companions?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker addresses her beloved, asking where he pastures his sheep and rests them at midday, while questioning why she must appear veiled among his companions' flocks.
The words — הַגִּידִי (ha.Gi.da/h) literally means "tell me," and תַּרְבִּיצִי (tar.Bitz) literally means "will you make [them] lie down," framing a direct request for location and rest.
The thread — The active grazing imagery in this verse stands in contrast to Isaiah 13:20, where no shepherd will pitch a tent in an abandoned land, while echoing the pastoral care motif found in Psalm 23:1.
Why it lands — The text demands a practical search for the beloved's whereabouts and challenges the speaker's current state of concealment, requiring immediate movement rather than passive waiting.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?
Cross-references
- Song of Solomon 3:1 On my bed at night I sought the one I love; I sought him, but did not find him.
- Isaiah 13:20 She will never be inhabited or settled from generation to generation; no nomad will pitch his tent there, no shepherd will rest his flock there.
- Psalms 23:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
- Genesis 37:16 “I am looking for my brothers,” Joseph replied. “Can you please tell me where they are pasturing their flocks?”
- Psalms 28:1 Of David. To You, O LORD, I call; be not deaf to me, O my Rock. For if You remain silent, I will be like those descending to the Pit.
- 1 Samuel 12:20 “Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “Even though you have committed all this evil, do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.
- Psalms 18:1 For the choirmaster. Of David the servant of the LORD, who sang this song to the LORD on the day the LORD had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: I love You, O LORD, my strength.
- Psalms 80:1 For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” A Psalm of Asaph. Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, who leads Joseph like a flock; You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth
- Psalms 116:1 I love the LORD, for He has heard my voice—my appeal for mercy.
- Song of Solomon 2:3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.