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Atomic Bible
Song of Songs

Chapter 6

The Friends and more

Song of Songs 6 gathers several voices into a brief but concentrated sequence of searching, recognition, exclusive praise, and public admiration. The chapter moves from the friends' question to the bride's assurance, then to the bridegroom's renewed praise and the chorus's closing summons, showing love re-established in clarity and honor.

As the sixth chapter of Song of Songs, this passage advances the poem beyond the disorientation of chapter 5 into recognition, belonging, and singular delight. It reinforces the book's central pattern that true love is not merely private feeling but a bond publicly admirable, mutually confessed, and resilient after strain.

6 sections·95 words·~1 min read

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Song of Songs 6

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vv. 1

The Friends

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W1here has your beloved gone,

vv. 2-3

The Bride

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M2y beloved has gone down to his garden, 3I belong to my beloved and he belongs to me;

vv. 4-9

The Bridegroom

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Y4ou are as beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah, 5Turn your eyes away from me, 6Your teeth are like a flock of sheep 7Your brow behind your veil

8There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, 9but my dove, my perfect one, is unique,

vv. 10

The Friends

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W10ho is this who shines like the dawn,

vv. 11-12

The Bridegroom

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I11 went down to the walnut grove 12Before I realized it, my desire had set me

vv. 13

The Friends

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C13ome back, come back, O Shulammite!

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Each section keeps the passage focused, adds summaries and cross references, and gives verse-level links.

  1. 01vv. 1The FriendsThe friends ask where the bride's beloved has gone so they may help seek him with her. Their question shows that her devotion has drawn others into the search and keeps the communal dimension of the poem alive.
  2. 02vv. 2-3The BrideThe bride answers with confidence that the beloved has gone down to his garden and reaffirms their mutual belonging. Her words replace uncertainty with recognition and restore the note of covenant intimacy.
  3. 03vv. 4-9The BridegroomThe bridegroom resumes his praise by comparing the bride to fair cities, recounting her beauty in familiar images, and declaring her unique among queens, concubines, and maidens. His speech emphasizes both the overwhelming force of her presence and her unrivaled place in his eyes.
  4. 04vv. 10The FriendsThe friends answer with a lyrical question comparing the bride to dawn, moon, sun, and a bannered army. Their response turns the bridegroom's private praise into public acclamation.
  5. 05vv. 11-12The BridegroomThe bridegroom speaks of going down to the grove to see whether the valley was budding, but before he understands it, desire has carried him onward. The brief scene conveys the sudden momentum of awakened love.
  6. 06vv. 13The FriendsThe friends call the Shulammite to return so they may gaze upon her, while the closing question hints that what they behold is something like a dance before two camps. The chapter ends with a summons that leaves the bride as a figure of beauty, motion, and public fascination.
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