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The Song of Songs · Chapter 2 of 8

Song of Songs 2

Song of Songs 2 is chapter 2 of 8 in the Song of Songs. Here are all 17 verses in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin of the Clementine Vulgate beside them.

About this chapter

Bp. Challoner’s summary

Christ caresses his spouse: he invites her to him.

Bp. Richard Challoner · chapter summary

Song of Songs 2, Catholic Public Domain Version

Song of Songs 2Song 2
  1. Bride: I am a flower of the open field and a lily of the steep valleys.†

    Ego flos campi, et lilium convallium.

  2. 2

    Groom: Like a lily among the thorns, so is my loved one among the daughters.

    Sicut lilium inter spinas, sic amica mea inter filias.

  3. 3

    Bride to Chorus: Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat beneath the shadow of the one whom I desired, and his fruit was sweet to my palate.

    Sicut malus inter ligna silvarum, sic dilectus meus inter filios. Sub umbra illius quem desideraveram sedi, et fructus ejus dulcis gutturi meo.

  4. 4

    He brought me into the storeroom of wine. He set charity in order within me.

    Introduxit me in cellam vinariam; ordinavit in me caritatem.

  5. 5

    Prop me up with flowers. Close me in with apples. For I languish through love.

    Fulcite me floribus, stipate me malis, quia amore langueo.

  6. 6

    His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me.

    Læva ejus sub capite meo, et dextera illius amplexabitur me.

  7. 7

    Groom to Chorus: I bind you by oath, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the does and the stags of the open field, not to disturb or awaken the beloved, even for as long as she wills.

    Adjuro vos, filiæ Jerusalem, per capreas cervosque camporum, ne suscitetis, neque evigilare faciatis dilectam, quoadusque ipsa velit.

  8. 8

    Bride to Chorus: The voice of my beloved! Behold, he arrives leaping along the mountains, jumping across the hills.†

    Vox dilecti mei; ecce iste venit, saliens in montibus, transiliens colles.

  9. 9

    My beloved is like a doe and like a young stag.

    Similis est dilectus meus capreæ, hinnuloque cervorum. En ipse stat post parietem nostrum, respiciens per fenestras, prospiciens per cancellos.

  10. 10

    Lo, he stands beyond our wall, gazing through the windows, watching through the lattices.

    En dilectus meus loquitur mihi. Surge, propera, amica mea, columba mea, formosa mea, et veni:

  11. 11

    Lo, my beloved speaks to me:

    jam enim hiems transiit; imber abiit, et recessit.

  12. 12

    Groom to Bride: Rise up, quickly, my love, my dove, my shapely one, and advance.

    Flores apparuerunt in terra nostra; tempus putationis advenit: vox turturis audita est in terra nostra;

  13. 13

    For winter has now past; the rain has decreased and gone away.

    ficus protulit grossos suos; vineæ florentes dederunt odorem suum. Surge, amica mea, speciosa mea, et veni:

  14. 14

    The flowers have appeared in our land; the time for pruning has arrived. The voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.

    columba mea, in foraminibus petræ, in caverna maceriæ, ostende mihi faciem tuam, sonet vox tua in auribus meis: vox enim tua dulcis, et facies tua decora.

  15. 15

    The fig tree has brought forth its green figs; the flowering vines bestow their odor. Rise up, my love, my brilliant one, and advance.†

    Capite nobis vulpes parvulas quæ demoliuntur vineas: nam vinea nostra floruit.

  16. 16

    My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hollows of the wall, reveal to me your face. Let your voice sound in my ears. For your voice is sweet, and your face is graceful.

    Dilectus meus mihi, et ego illi, qui pascitur inter lilia,

  17. 17

    Chorus to Groom and Bride: Capture for us the little foxes, which are tearing down the vines; for our vineyard has flourished. Bride to Chorus: My beloved is for me, and I am for him. He pastures among the lilies, until the day rises and the shadows decline. Bride to Groom: Return, O my beloved. Be like a doe and like a young stag upon the mountains of Bether.

    donec aspiret dies, et inclinentur umbræ. Revertere; similis esto, dilecte mi, capreæ, hinnuloque cervorum super montes Bether.

Catholic Public Domain Version (Ronald L. Conte Jr., 2009), public domain · Latin: Clementine Vulgate (1592)

Bishop Challoner’s notes

Bp. Richard Challoner, notes on the Douay-Rheims (1750). They comment on its older English wording, which can differ from the CPDV above; the verse numbers are matched to the CPDV.

  1. Verse 1

    Christ professes himself the flower of mankind, yea, the Lord of all creatures: and, ver. 2, declares the excellence of his spouse, the true church above all other societies, which are to be considered as thorns.

  2. Verse 8

    “The voice of my beloved” … that is, the preaching of the gospel surmounting difficulties figuratively here expressed by mountains and little hills.

  3. Verse 15

    Christ commands his pastors to catch false teachers, by holding forth their fallacy and erroneous doctrine, which like foxes would bite and destroy the vines.

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All 8 chapters of Song of Songs

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