Bible Strands
Song of Solomon 8:4
O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The speaker addresses the daughters of Jerusalem immediately after describing physical closeness with a beloved. This occurs at the conclusion of the book's dialogic exchange, serving as a closing directive.
The words — The verb הִשְׁבַּעְתִּי (hishba'ti) literally means "I adjure" or "I swear," establishing a binding command. The paired verbs תָעִירוּ (ta'iru) and תְעֹרְרִי (te'oreri) both translate to "awaken" or "arouse," denoting deliberate provocation.
The thread — This identical adjuration appears in Song of Solomon 2:7 and Song of Solomon 3:5, where the speaker warns against prematurely stirring love. The refrain functions as a structural refrain across the book's romantic sections.
Why it lands — The text commands restraint by forbidding the artificial stimulation of love before its appointed time. It requires the reader to acknowledge that affection operates on its own timeline rather than human compulsion.
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, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please.
Cross-references
- 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.
- 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.