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THE MESSAGE

Song of Solomon 8:1

I wish you'd been my twin brother, sharing with me the breasts of my mother, Playing outside in the street, kissing in plain view of everyone, and no one thinking anything of it. I'd take you by the hand and bring you home where I was raised by my mother. You'd drink my wine and kiss my cheeks.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Brother;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Children;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Kiss;   Marriage;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Popery;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Wean;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Gestures;   Kiss;   Song of Solomon;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Kiss;   Song of Songs;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Song of Solomon;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Brother;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Kiss;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Breast;   Kiss;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Aaron;   Giscala;   Greeting, Forms of;   Phylacteries;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
If only I could treat you like my brother,
Hebrew Names Version
Oh that you were like my brother, Who sucked the breasts of my mother! If I found you outside, I would kiss you; Yes, and no one would despise me.
King James Version
O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised.
English Standard Version
Oh that you were like a brother to me who nursed at my mother's breasts! If I found you outside, I would kiss you, and none would despise me.
New American Standard Bible
"Oh that you were like a brother to me Who nursed at my mother's breasts. If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you; No one would despise me, either.
New Century Version
I wish you were like my brother who fed at my mother's breasts. If I found you outside, I would kiss you, and no one would look down on me.
Amplified Bible
"Oh, that you were like a brother to me, Who nursed at the breasts of my mother. If I found you out of doors, I would kiss you; No one would blame me or despise me, either.
World English Bible
Oh that you were like my brother, Who sucked the breasts of my mother! If I found you outside, I would kiss you; Yes, and no one would despise me.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Oh that thou werest as my brother that sucked the brestes of my mother: I would finde thee without, I would kisse thee, then they should not despise thee.
Legacy Standard Bible
"Oh that you were like a brother to meWho nursed at my mother's breasts.If I found you outside, I would kiss you;No one would despise me, either.
Berean Standard Bible
O that you were to me like a brother who nursed at my mother's breasts! If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you, and no one would despise me.
Contemporary English Version
She Speaks: If you were my brother, I could kiss you whenever we happen to meet, and no one would say I did wrong.
Complete Jewish Bible
I wish you were my brother, who nursed at my mother's breast; then, if I met you outdoors, I could kiss you, and no one would look down on me.
Darby Translation
Oh that thou wert as my brother, That sucked the breasts of my mother! Should I find thee without, I would kiss thee; And they would not despise me.
Easy-to-Read Version
If you were a baby, like my little brother nursing at his mother's breasts, and if I found you outside, I could kiss you, and no one would say it was wrong.
George Lamsa Translation
WHO shall give you to me for my brother that sucked the breasts of my mother? When I should find you in the street, I would kiss you; yea, I should not be despised.
Good News Translation
I wish that you were my brother, that my mother had nursed you at her breast. Then, if I met you in the street, I could kiss you and no one would mind.
Lexham English Bible
How I wish that you were my little brother, who nursed upon my mother's breasts! If I met you outside, I would kiss you, and no one would despise me!
Literal Translation
Who can give You to me, as my brother, who sucked the breasts of my mother? When I find You outside, I would kiss You. They also would not despise me.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
O that I might fynde the without & kysse ye, whom I loue as my brother which suckte my mothers brestes: & that thou woldest not be offended,
American Standard Version
Oh that thou wert as my brother, That sucked the breasts of my mother! When I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; Yea, and none would despise me.
Bible in Basic English
Oh that you were my brother, who took milk from my mother's breasts! When I came to you in the street, I would give you kisses; yes, I would not be looked down on.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Oh that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! When I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, and none would despise me.
King James Version (1611)
O that thou wert as my brother that sucked the brests of my mother, when I should find thee without, I would kisse thee, yet I should not be despised.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
O that I might finde thee without and kisse thee, whom I loue as my brother whiche suckt my mothers brestes, and that thou shalt not be dispised,
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
I would that thou, O my kinsman, wert he that sucked the breasts of my mother; when I found thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, they should not despise me.
English Revised Version
Oh that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! [when] I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, and none would despise me.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Who `mai grante to me thee, my brother, soukynge the tetis of my modir, that Y fynde thee aloone without forth, and that Y kisse thee, and no man dispise me thanne?
Update Bible Version
Oh that you were as my brother, That nursed the breasts of my mother! [When] I should find you outside, I would kiss you; Yes, and none would despise me.
Webster's Bible Translation
O that thou [wert] as my brother, that was nourished at the breasts of my mother! [when] I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yes, I should not be despised.
New English Translation

The Beloved to Her Lover:

Oh, how I wish you were my little brother, nursing at my mother's breasts; if I saw you outside, I could kiss you— surely no one would despise me!
New King James Version
Oh, that you were like my brother, Who nursed at my mother's breasts! If I should find you outside, I would kiss you; I would not be despised.
New Living Translation

Young Woman

Oh, I wish you were my brother, who nursed at my mother's breasts. Then I could kiss you no matter who was watching, and no one would criticize me.
New Life Bible
"O that you were like a brother to me, who nursed from my mother's breasts! If I found you outside, I would kiss you, and no one would hate me.
New Revised Standard
O that you were like a brother to me, who nursed at my mother's breast! If I met you outside, I would kiss you, and no one would despise me.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Oh that thou hadst been a very brother to me, who had sucked the breasts of my own mother, - Had I found thee without, I had kissed thee, Yea, folk would not have despised me!
Douay-Rheims Bible
Who shall give thee to me for my brother, sucking the breasts of my mother, that I may find thee without, and kiss thee, and now no man may despise me?
Revised Standard Version
O that you were like a brother to me, that nursed at my mother's breast! If I met you outside, I would kiss you, and none would despise me.
Young's Literal Translation
Who doth make thee as a brother to me, Sucking the breasts of my mother? I find thee without, I kiss thee, Yea, they do not despise me,
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Oh that you were like a brother to me Who nursed at my mother's breasts. If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you; No one would despise me, either.

Contextual Overview

1I wish you'd been my twin brother, sharing with me the breasts of my mother, Playing outside in the street, kissing in plain view of everyone, and no one thinking anything of it. I'd take you by the hand and bring you home where I was raised by my mother. You'd drink my wine and kiss my cheeks. 3Imagine! His left hand cradling my head, his right arm around my waist! Oh, let me warn you, sisters in Jerusalem: Don't excite love, don't stir it up, until the time is ripe—and you're ready.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

that thou: Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6, Haggai 2:7, Zechariah 9:9, Malachi 3:1, Matthew 13:16, Matthew 13:17, Luke 2:26-32, Luke 2:38, Luke 10:23, Luke 10:24, 1 Timothy 3:16, Hebrews 2:11, Hebrews 2:12

sucked: Isaiah 66:11, Isaiah 66:12, Galatians 4:26

find thee: John 1:14, John 3:13, John 8:42, John 13:3, John 16:28, Hebrews 2:9-14, Hebrews 9:26-28

I would: Song of Solomon 1:2, Psalms 2:12, Psalms 45:10, Psalms 45:11, Luke 7:45-48, Luke 9:26, Luke 12:8, John 7:46-52, John 9:25-38, Galatians 6:14, Philippians 3:3, Philippians 3:7, Philippians 3:8

yea: Psalms 51:17, Psalms 102:16, Psalms 102:17, Mark 12:42-44, Mark 14:6-9

I should not be despised: Heb. they should not despise me, Isaiah 60:14, Luke 10:16, Luke 18:9, 1 Corinthians 1:28

Reciprocal: Proverbs 7:4 - Thou Song of Solomon 4:5 - two breasts Song of Solomon 5:1 - my sister Song of Solomon 8:5 - there she

Cross-References

Genesis 8:7
He sent out a raven; it flew back and forth waiting for the floodwaters to dry up. Then he sent a dove to check on the flood conditions, but it couldn't even find a place to perch—water still covered the Earth. Noah reached out and caught it, brought it back into the ship.
Genesis 8:20
Noah built an altar to God . He selected clean animals and birds from every species and offered them as burnt offerings on the altar. God smelled the sweet fragrance and thought to himself, "I'll never again curse the ground because of people. I know they have this bent toward evil from an early age, but I'll never again kill off everything living as I've just done.
Genesis 8:22
For as long as Earth lasts, planting and harvest, cold and heat, Summer and winter, day and night will never stop."
Genesis 19:29
And that's the story: When God destroyed the Cities of the Plain, he was mindful of Abraham and first got Lot out of there before he blasted those cities off the face of the Earth.
Genesis 30:22
And then God remembered Rachel. God listened to her and opened her womb. She became pregnant and had a son. She said, "God has taken away my humiliation." She named him Joseph (Add), praying, "May God add yet another son to me."
Exodus 2:24
God listened to their groanings. God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
Exodus 14:21
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and God , with a terrific east wind all night long, made the sea go back. He made the sea dry ground. The seawaters split.
Numbers 22:32
God 's angel said to him: "Why have you beaten your poor donkey these three times? I have come here to block your way because you're getting way ahead of yourself. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she hadn't, I would have killed you by this time, but not the donkey. I would have let her off."
1 Samuel 1:19
Up before dawn, they worshiped God and returned home to Ramah. Elkanah slept with Hannah his wife, and God began making the necessary arrangements in response to what she had asked.
Nehemiah 13:14
Remember me, O my God, for this. Don't ever forget the devoted work I have done for The Temple of God and its worship.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

O that thou [wert] as my brother,.... Or, "who will give thee as a brother to me?" q an usual form of wishing, Deuteronomy 5:29

Psalms 14:7. The church here not only requests that Christ would be like a brother to her, but appear to be really one, and to act the part of one towards her; with whom she might as freely converse as brother and sister may. Several Jewish r writers own, that the King Messiah is intended here; and in such a relation Christ does stand to his church and people, by virtue of his incarnation, Hebrews 2:11; hence many of the ancients take this to be a wish of the Jewish church, for the coming of Christ in the flesh; and also through their adoption, he and they having one Father, John 20:17; and by being of a like nature, disposition, and practice, Matthew 12:50; as well as on the score of love and friendship, Proverbs 18:24; and this relation Christ fills up, by the intimacy and familiarity he uses them with; by his compassion on them, and sympathy with them, in all their afflictions; by the help, aid, and relief, he gives them; by his condescension to their weaknesses, and by his great love and affection for them. As a further description of him as a brother, it is added,

that sucked the breasts of my mother; which may denote the truth and reality of Christ's incarnation, being a sucking infant: and the near relation of Christ to his people, being a brother by the mother's side, reckoned the nearest, and their affection to each other the strongest: by her "mother" may be meant Jerusalem above, the mother of us all; and, by her "breasts", the ordinances, of which Christ, as man, partook when on earth, and now may be said to suck, as formed in the hearts of his people;

[when] I should find thee without; or, "in the street" s; in public ordinances, where Christ is to be found; or outside of Judea, in the Gentile world, where, after his coming in the flesh, his Gospel was preached, the ordinances administered, and he was there to be found; or in the most public place and manner, where she should not be ashamed to own him, his truths and ordinances, before men;

I would kiss thee; not only with a kiss of approbation, Proverbs 24:16; but of love and affection, of faith and confidence, of homage and subjection, of worship and adoration; see Psalms 2:12; this is an usage with relations and friends, brothers and sisters, at meeting; hence Heunischius refers this to the time when the saints shall meet Christ in the clouds, who will be admitted to the nearest embraces of him, with unspeakable pleasure, and enjoy him to all eternity;

yea, I should not be despised; for taking such freedom with Christ, her brother. Or, "they would not despise me" t; neither men nor angels, for such an action, and still less God, the Father, Son, and Spirit; which she might conclude from the relation between them, it being no more unseemly than for a sister to use such freedom with an own brother, even in the street; and from the reception she had reason to believe she should meet with from Christ: who would not turn away his face from her, when she offered to kiss him, which would occasion shame and blushing. The whole expresses her boldness in professing Christ, without fear or shame, in the most public manner.

q מי יתנך "quis det te?" Pagninus, Montanus, Marckius. r Targum in loc. Zohar in Gen. fol. 104. 1. Tzeror Hammor, fol. 73. 3. Caphtor Uperah, fol. 5. 2. s בחוץ "in platen", Montanus, Brightman, Marckius; "in publico", Cocceius, Michaelis. t לא יבזי לי "non contemnent, vel contemnerent me", Montanus, Brightman, Marckius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Royal rank and splendor are grown wearisome. The king once called her “sister” and “sister-bride.” Would he were indeed as a “brother,” her mother’s own child whom she might meet, embrace, and welcome everywhere without restraint or shame. Her love for him is simple, sacred, pure, free from the unrest and the stains of mere earthly passion.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER VIII

The love of the bride to her spouse, and the nature of that

love, 1-7.

The younger sister, 8-10.

Solomon's vineyard, 11, 12.

The confidence of the bride and bridegroom in each other,

13, 14.

NOTES ON CHAP. VIII

Verse Song of Solomon 8:1. O that thou wert as my brother — The bride, fearing that her fondness for her spouse might be construed into too great a familiarity, wishes that he were her little brother; and then she might treat him in the most affectionate manner, and kiss him even in the streets without suspicion, and without giving offense to any one.


 
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