Song of Solomon 5:7
What does Song of Solomon 5:7 mean?
A plain-English look at Song of Solomon 5:7 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Song of Solomon 5:7 means
Out in the city, the watchmen find her—not to guide but to strike and wound. The keepers of the walls strip away her mantle, leaving her exposed and shamed. In a world where a lone woman at night could be suspected or mistreated, her pursuit meets harsh misunderstanding. The verse shows love’s quest colliding with societal roughness and the dangers of the dark streets. The contrast is sharp: the tenderness of the chamber gives way to brutality outside. Her suffering heightens the urgency of reunion and demonstrates that longing can bear real, painful costs.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000The watchmen that go about the city found me, They smote me, they wounded me; The keepers of the walls took away my mantle from me.
KJV
King James Version · 1611The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901The watchmen that go about the city found me, They smote me, they wounded me; The keepers of the walls took away my mantle from me.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949The keepers who go about the town overtook me; they gave me blows and wounds; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862The watchmen who go round about the city, Found me, smote me, wounded me, Keepers of the walls lifted up my veil from off me.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752The keepers that go about the city found me: they struck me: and wounded me: the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890The watchmen that went about the city found me; They smote me, they wounded me; The keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.
Context
This verse follows her fruitless calling. The civic guardians, earlier neutral or helpful in the Song, now become instruments of harm. Their violence marks a low point in the narrative and forces the bride to change tactics. Rather than relying on city authorities, she will appeal to the daughters of Jerusalem—the chorus of women within the poem—in the next verse, seeking their help to carry a message to her Beloved and thereby keep hope alive.
v.6I opened to my beloved; But my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone. My soul had failed me when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.
v.7This passage
v.8I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, If ye find my beloved, That ye tell him, that I am sick from love.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- 1 Peter 4:14
If ye are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are ye; because the Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God resteth upon you.
- Hebrews 11:36
and others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
- Matthew 23:29
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and garnish the tombs of the righteous,
- Hosea 6:5
Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.
- Revelation 17:5
and upon her forehead a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
- Isaiah 62:6
I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that are Jehovah’s remembrancers, take ye no rest,
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