Bible Strands
Song of Solomon 5:8
O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you, if you find my beloved, tell him I am sick with love.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker addresses the daughters of Jerusalem immediately after being beaten and robbed by city watchmen during her night search. She formally charges them to deliver a message to her beloved if they encounter him.
The words — The verse centers on הִשְׁבַּעְתִּי (hishBa'.ti), translated as "I adjure," and דּוֹדִי (do.D/i), meaning "my beloved." These terms establish a solemn, binding request rather than a casual favor.
The thread — The formal charge repeats the structure of Song of Solomon 2:7, where love is regulated by a sworn directive. The physical toll of longing aligns with Song of Solomon 2:5, while the desperate pursuit mirrors the soul's pursuit in Psalms 42:1.
Why it lands — The text records love as a debilitating condition that forces the speaker to use intermediaries for communication. It requires the reader to note how vulnerability and urgency override social convention in the pursuit of the beloved.
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
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.
Cross-references
- Song of Solomon 2:5 Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love.
- Song of Solomon 2:7 O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you by the gazelles and does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.
- Psalms 42:1 For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God.
- Song of Solomon 3:5 O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you by the gazelles and does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.
- Psalms 63:1 A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water.
- Psalms 77:1 For the choirmaster. According to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph. I cried out to God; I cried aloud to God to hear me.
- Psalms 119:81 My soul faints for Your salvation; I wait for Your word.
- Romans 15:30 Now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.
- Galatians 6:1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
- Song of Solomon 8:4 O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.