Song of Solomon 8:5
What does Song of Solomon 8:5 mean?
A plain-English look at Song of Solomon 8:5 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Song of Solomon 8:5 means
The scene changes to a public wonder: “Who is this” emerging from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? It pictures the couple leaving hardship behind, with the woman resting on her lover in trust. The reference to the apple tree and to the place of her birth weaves together memory, family, and love’s awakening. Love’s story does not erase our beginnings; it dignifies them. The beloved recalls where devotion was stirred, near the place she entered life, linking new joy with old roots. Their union is not a break with the past but its fulfillment, a journey from barrenness to fruitfulness, from wandering to home.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, Leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple-tree I awakened thee: There thy mother was in travail with thee, There was she in travail that brought thee forth.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, Leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple-tree I awakened thee: There thy mother was in travail with thee, There was she in travail that brought thee forth.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Who is this, who comes up from the waste places, resting on her loved one? It was I who made you awake under the apple-tree, where your mother gave you birth; there she was in pain at your birth.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862Who <FI>is<Fi> this coming from the wilderness, Hasting herself for her beloved? Under the citron-tree I have waked thee, There did thy mother pledge thee, There she gave a pledge <FI>that<Fi> bare thee.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Who is this that cometh up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I raised thee up: there thy mother was corrupted, there she was defloured that bore thee.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, Leaning upon her beloved? I awoke thee under the apple-tree: There thy mother brought thee forth; There she brought thee forth [that] bore thee.
Context
This verse bridges private intimacy and public recognition. After the adjuration (v. 4), we hear the crowd’s question and the beloved’s reflection. The imagery of wilderness-to-garden anticipates the high confession about love in verses 6–7. The apple tree motif, often associated with delight in the Song, prepares the ground for love’s permanence and passion to be celebrated. For the reader, verse 5 situates the couple’s love within life’s larger story—birth, family, difficulty, and deliverance—so the coming claims about love’s power feel grounded, not abstract.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Isaiah 43:19
Behold, I will do a new thing; now shall it spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
- Ephesians 1:12
to the end that we should be unto the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ:
- Micah 3:11
The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet they lean upon Jehovah, and say, Is not Jehovah in the midst of us? no evil shall come upon us.
- Galatians 4:19
My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you—
- Romans 7:4
Wherefore, my brethren, ye also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ; that ye should be joined to another, even to him who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God.
- Song of Solomon 8:1
Oh that thou wert as my brother, That sucked the breasts of my mother! WhenI should find thee without, I would kiss thee; Yea, and none would despise me.
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