What Does Song of Solomon 1:2 Mean in the King James?
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew calls his affection “loves” in the plural: what surpasses wine is not an abstraction but the beloved’s many expressions of closeness.
THE MEANING
Desire speaks plainly: she wants his kisses, and his affection gives her more delight than wine. Love is present here as something bodily, received, and enjoyed.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that desire becomes less meaningful when it is bodily: here touch and taste give love its language.
THE ROOT
דֹּדֶיךָ
dōdeykha
GROWS FROM
ד־ו־ד
d-w-d
affection; beloved-love and caress
The word translated “love” is plural, carrying the sense of caresses or expressions of affection. The comparison with wine is therefore tactile: what delights her is the beloved’s many forms of closeness.
ALSO GROWS
dōd: beloved; lover
דּוֹד
The same root can name the loved one, folding the person and the affection directed toward him together.
dōdîm: caresses; expressions of love
דּוֹדִים
This plural form makes love concrete and multiple, as affection given through acts of closeness.
יִשָּׁקֵנִי
yiššāqēnî
GROWS FROM
נ־ש־ק
n-sh-q
to kiss; to touch mouth to mouth
The verse begins with the direct wish for a kiss, then repeats the same root in “kisses.” The repeated root lets one desired touch open into many, making intimacy the sentence’s first and final image.
ALSO GROWS
nāshaq: to kiss
נָשַׁק
The verb names the bodily contact she desires, rather than leaving affection as a general feeling.
neshīqōt: kisses
נְשִׁיקוֹת
The plural noun grows from the same root, echoing the opening wish as a fullness of kisses.
THE PATTERN
Scripture gives delight a bodily texture, using touch, taste, and affection to make love tangible.
How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart.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.THE THREAD
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.The same Hebrew root נ־ש־ק (n-sh-q), meaning “to kiss,” appears in both verses. Here the speaker longs for kisses in intimacy; later, she imagines giving that same kiss openly, without fear of contempt.
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