Song of Solomon 8:11
What does Song of Solomon 8:11 mean?
A plain-English look at Song of Solomon 8:11 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Song of Solomon 8:11 means
The poem introduces an economic picture: Solomon’s vineyard at Baal-hamon is leased to keepers, each owing a thousand pieces of silver. It portrays large-scale wealth, productivity, and transactional arrangements. Against the backdrop of earlier verses, this image sets up a contrast. Love is not like a leased vineyard managed for maximum return. The king’s riches can command labor and profit, but not the heart’s devotion. The mention of Baal-hamon—“owner of a multitude” or a place of many—highlights scale and commerce, preparing the reader to see that what is vast and profitable may still be inferior to the intimate, personal garden of faithful love.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; He let out the vineyard unto keepers; Every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Solomon had a vineyard at Baal–hamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; He let out the vineyard unto keepers; Every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Solomon had a vine-garden at Baal-hamon; he let out the vine-garden to keepers; every one had to give a thousand bits of silver for its fruit.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862Solomon hath a vineyard in Baal-Hamon, He hath given the vineyard to keepers, Each bringeth for its fruit a thousand silverlings;
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752The peaceable had a vineyard, in that which hath people: he let out the same to keepers, every man bringeth for the fruit thereof a thousand pieces of silver.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon: He let out the vineyard unto keepers; Every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand silver-pieces.
Context
Following the declaration of matured, peaceful love (v. 10), the Song employs vineyard imagery to contrast material prosperity with personal devotion. Verse 11 lays out the commercial model associated with Solomon’s grandeur. Verse 12 will answer by asserting the woman’s own “vineyard,” her person and love, as something she herself stewards, not something to be rented or bought. This juxtaposition continues the theme from verses 6–7: love is priceless and cannot be commodified. It prepares the reader to value exclusivity and self-giving over economic impressiveness.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Song of Solomon 7:12
Let us get up early to the vineyards; Let us see whether the vine hath budded, Andits blossom is open, Andthe pomegranates are in flower: There will I give thee my love.
- Genesis 20:16
And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, it is for thee a covering of the eyes to all that are with thee; and in respect of all thou art righted.
- Mark 12:1
And he began to speak unto them in parables. A man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a pit for the winepress, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into another country.
- Luke 20:9
And he began to speak unto the people this parable: A man planted a vineyard, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into another country for a long time.
- Isaiah 7:23
And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, shall be for briers and thorns.
- Ecclesiastes 2:4
I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards;
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