Song of Solomon 2:7
New International Version
Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.

New Living Translation
Promise me, O women of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and wild deer, not to awaken love until the time is right.

English Standard Version
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.

Berean Standard Bible
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.

King James Bible
I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

New King James Version
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the does of the field, Do not stir up nor awaken love Until it pleases.

New American Standard Bible
“Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the does of the field, That you will not disturb or awaken my love Until she pleases.”

NASB 1995
“I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the hinds of the field, That you do not arouse or awaken my love Until she pleases.”

NASB 1977
“I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the hinds of the field, That you will not arouse or awaken my love, Until she pleases.”

Legacy Standard Bible
“I call you to solemnly swear, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the hinds of the field, That you do not arouse or awaken my love Until she pleases.”

Amplified Bible
“I command that you take an oath, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the does of the field [which run free], That you do not rouse nor awaken my love Until she pleases.”

Christian Standard Bible
Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and the wild does of the field, do not stir up or awaken love until the appropriate time.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and the wild does of the field: do not stir up or awaken love until the appropriate time.

American Standard Version
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the roes, or by the hinds of the field, That ye stir not up, nor awake my love, Until he please.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Swear, oh daughters of Jerusalem, by the deer or by the fawns of the field, you will not wake up and you will not wake up the beloved until she pleases

Brenton Septuagint Translation
I have charged you, ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the powers and by the virtues of the field, that ye do not rouse or wake my love, until he please.

Contemporary English Version
Young women of Jerusalem, promise me by the power of deer and gazelles never to awaken love before it is ready.

Douay-Rheims Bible
I adjure you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and the harts of the, fields, that you stir not up, nor make the beloved to awake, till she please.

English Revised Version
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awaken love, until it please.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Young women of Jerusalem, swear to me by the gazelles or by the does in the field that you will not awaken love or arouse love before its proper time.

Good News Translation
Promise me, women of Jerusalem; swear by the swift deer and the gazelles that you will not interrupt our love.

International Standard Version
Swear to me, young women of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the does of the field, that you won't awaken or arouse love before its proper time!

JPS Tanakh 1917
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles, and by the hinds of the field, That ye awaken not, nor stir up love, until it please.'

Literal Standard Version
I have adjured you, daughters of Jerusalem, | By the roes or by the does of the field, | Do not stir up nor wake the love until she pleases!

Majority Standard Bible
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.

New American Bible
I adjure you, Daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and the does of the field, Do not awaken, or stir up love until it is ready.

NET Bible
I adjure you, O maidens of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and by the young does of the open fields: Do not awaken or arouse love until it pleases!

New Revised Standard Version
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the wild does: do not stir up or awaken love until it is ready!

New Heart English Bible
I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles, or by the does of the field, that you not stir up, nor awaken love, until it so desires.

Webster's Bible Translation
I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not, nor awake my love, till he please.

World English Bible
I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, or by the hinds of the field, that you not stir up, nor awaken love, until it so desires.

Young's Literal Translation
I have adjured you, daughters of Jerusalem, By the roes or by the hinds of the field, Stir not up nor wake the love till she please!

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Bride's Admiration
6His left hand is under my head, and his right arm embraces me. 7O 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. 8Listen! My beloved approaches. Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills.…

Cross References
Genesis 49:21
Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.

Psalm 18:33
He makes my feet like those of a deer and stations me upon the heights.

Proverbs 6:5
Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

Song of Solomon 1:5
I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.

Song of Solomon 2:9
My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.

Song of Solomon 2:17
Before the day breaks and shadows flee, turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.

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.


Treasury of Scripture

I charge you, O you daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that you stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

charge you

Matthew 26:63
But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.

o ye

Song of Solomon 1:5
I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.

Song of Solomon 5:8,16
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love…

by the roes

Song of Solomon 3:5
I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

Proverbs 5:19
Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

ye stir

Song of Solomon 8:4
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please.

Ephesians 5:22-33
Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord…

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Adjure Adjured Arouse Awake Awaken Charge Daughters Desires Field Gazelles Hinds Jerusalem Love Moved Please Pleases Roes Stir Wake
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Adjure Adjured Arouse Awake Awaken Charge Daughters Desires Field Gazelles Hinds Jerusalem Love Moved Please Pleases Roes Stir Wake
Song of Solomon 2
1. the mutual love of Christ and his church
8. The hope
10. and calling of the church
14. Christ's care of the church
16. The profession of the church, her faith, and hope














(7) Roes.--Heb., tsebi, tsebiyah; undoubtedly the ghazal of the Arabs; the gazelle. (See 1Chronicles 12:8.)

Hinds.--Heb., ayyalah. (See Genesis 49:21.) The LXX. strangely read, by the powers and virtues of the field.

My love.--Here almost certainly in the concrete, though there is no instance of such use except in this and the corresponding passages. The Authorised Version, "till he please," is a mistake in grammar. Read, till she please. The poet imagines his beloved sleeping in his arms, and playfully bids her companions keep from intruding on her slumbers. This verse (which is repeated in Song of Solomon 3:5; Song of Solomon 8:4) marks natural breaks in the poem and adds to the dramatic effect. But there is no occasion to imagine a real stage, with actors grouped upon it. The "daughters of Jerusalem" are present only in the poet's imagination. It is his manner to fancy the presence of spectators of his happiness and to call on outsiders to share his bliss (comp. Song of Solomon 3:11; Song of Solomon 5:16; Song of Solomon 6:13, &c), and it is on this imaginary theatre which his love conjures up that the curtain falls, here and in other places, on the union of the happy pair. Like Spenser, in his Epithalamium, this poet "unto himself alone will sing;" but he calls on all things bright and beautiful in the world of nature and man to help him to solemnise this joyful rite, and now the moment has come when he bids "the maids and young men cease to sing." . . .

Verse 7. - I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the toes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awaken love, until it please. The fact that these words occur again in Song of Solomon 3:5 and Song 8:4 shows that they are a kind of chorus or refrain. It is also evident that they are in the lips of Shulamith the bride. Some have suggested that they are uttered by some one else, e.g. the queen-mother subsequently referred to, Solomon himself, the heavenly Bridegroom, the shepherd lover from whom Shulamith had been taken. But all these suggestions are unnecessary and unsupported. The natural and simple view is that the same voice is speaking as in ver. 6. But what is the meaning of this adjuration? Is it merely, "I throw myself on the sympathy you have already expressed"? Ewald well remarks, "In common life people swore by things which belonged to the subject of conversation or were especially dear to the speaker. As, therefore, the warrior swears by his sword; as Mohammed by th e soul, of which he is just about to speak (see Koran, ch. 91:7); so here Shulamith by the lovely gazelles, since she is speaking of love." The Israelites were permitted to adjure by that which is not God, but they would only solemnly swear by God himself. Delitzsch thinks this is the only example of direct adjuration in Scripture without the name of God. The meaning has probably been sought too far away. The bride is perfectly happy, but she is conscious that such exquisite happiness may be disturbed, the dream of her delight broken through. She compares herself to a roe or a gazelle, the most timorous and shy of creatures (see Proverbs 5:19). The Septuagint has a peculiar rendering; which points to a different reading of the orignial ἐν δυναμέσι καὶ ἰσχυσέσι τοῦ ἀγροῦ "by the power and virtues of the field." Perhaps the meaning is the same - By the purity and blessedness of a simple country life, I adjure you not to interfere with the course of true love. It is much debated whether the meaning is, "Do not excite or stir up love," or, "Do not disturb love in its peaceful de light." It certainly must be maintained that by "love" is meant "the lover." The refer once is to the passion of love itself. A similar expression is used of the feeling of jealousy (Isaiah 42:13). The verb עורר (piel) is added to strengthen the idea, and is always used in the sense "to excite or awaken," as Proverbs 10:12 of strife; Psalm 80:3 of strength or power. We must not for a moment think of any artificial excitement of love as referred to. The idea is - See what a blessed thing is pure and natural affection: let not love be forced or unnatural. But there are those who dispute this interpretation. They think that the main idea of the whole poem is not the spontaneity of love, but a commendation of pure and chaste conjugal affection, as opposed to the dissoluteness and sensuality fostered by polygamy. They would therefore take the abstract "love" for the concrete "loved one," as in Song of Solomon 7:6 The bride would not have the beloved one aroused by the intrusion of others; or the word "love" may be taken to mean "the dream of love." Which ever explanation is chosen, the sense is substantially the same - Let me rejoice in my blessedness. The bride is seen at the close of this first part of the poem in the arms of the bridegroom. She is lost in him, and his happiness is hers. She calls upon the daughters of Jerusalem to rejoice with her. This is, in fact, the keynote of the song. The two main thoughts in the poem are the purity of love and the power of love. The reference to the toes and gazelles of the field is not so much to their shyness and timidity as to their purity, as distinguished from the creatures more close to cities; hence the appeal to the daughters of Jerusalem, who, as being ladies of the metropolis, might not sympathize as they should with the country maiden. The rest of the poem is a remembrance of the part which illustrates and confirms the sentiment of the refrain - Let the pure love seek its own perfection; let its own pleasure be realized. So, spiritually, let grace complete what grace begins. "Blessed are all those who trust in him."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
O daughters
בְּנ֤וֹת (bə·nō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 1323: A daughter

of Jerusalem,
יְרוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙ (yə·rū·šā·lim)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 3389: Jerusalem -- probably 'foundation of peace', capital city of all Israel

I adjure
הִשְׁבַּ֨עְתִּי (hiš·ba‘·tî)
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 7650: To seven oneself, swear

you
אֶתְכֶ֜ם (’eṯ·ḵem)
Direct object marker | second person masculine plural
Strong's 853: Untranslatable mark of the accusative case

by the gazelles
בִּצְבָא֔וֹת (biṣ·ḇā·’ō·wṯ)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 6643: Splendor, a gazelle

and
א֖וֹ (’ōw)
Conjunction
Strong's 176: Desire, if

does
בְּאַיְל֣וֹת (bə·’ay·lō·wṯ)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 355: A doe, female deer

of the field:
הַשָּׂדֶ֑ה (haś·śā·ḏeh)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7704: Field, land

Do not
אִם־ (’im-)
Conjunction
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

arouse
תָּעִ֧ירוּ ׀ (tā·‘î·rū)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 5782: To rouse oneself, awake

or
וְֽאִם־ (wə·’im-)
Conjunctive waw | Conjunction
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

awaken
תְּעֽוֹרְר֛וּ (tə·‘ō·wr·rū)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 5782: To rouse oneself, awake

love
הָאַהֲבָ֖ה (hā·’a·hă·ḇāh)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 160: Love (noun)

until
עַ֥ד (‘aḏ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 5704: As far as, even to, up to, until, while

the time is right.
שֶׁתֶּחְפָּֽץ׃ (šet·teḥ·pāṣ)
Verb
Strong's 2654: To incline to, to bend, to be pleased with, desire


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OT Poetry: Song of Solomon 2:7 I adjure you daughters of Jerusalem (Song Songs SS So Can)
Song of Solomon 2:6
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