What Does Song of Solomon 1:7 Mean in the King James?
Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?
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 one she loves is not an abstraction: she asks where he tends his flock and gives it rest, because intimacy has a place.
THE MEANING
Love seeks the beloved’s real presence: the speaker’s living soul longs to know where he feeds and settles his flock. Her question holds both closeness and uncertainty, as she does not want to drift among the flocks of his companions.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that longing can remain safely abstract. Here love asks where the beloved actually is, because closeness means seeking a place to meet.
THE ROOT
תִּרְעֶה
tir'eh
GROWS FROM
רעה
ra'ah
Tend, pasture, or shepherd a flock.
“feedest” in this verse is tir'eh. The verb can mean feeding and shepherding, so she seeks not merely a meal but the beloved’s place of tending. The same root names the shepherd and the pasture: care, caregiver, and feeding place share one seed.
ALSO GROWS
ro'eh: Shepherd; one who tends a flock.
רֹעֶה
It makes the beloved’s care an active role, not just a place she wants to find.
mir'eh: Pasture; grazing place.
מִרְעֶה
The place she asks for belongs to the same root as the act of tending.
תַּרְבִּיץ
tarbits
GROWS FROM
רבץ
ravats
Lie down or crouch; settle into a resting place.
“rest” in this verse is tarbits. The flock is not simply brought somewhere; it is caused to lie down. Together with feeding, this describes care that provides both nourishment and repose.
ALSO GROWS
rovets: One lying down or crouching.
רֹבֵץ
It shows the settled posture contained in the flock’s rest.
mirbats: A lying place or lair.
מִרְבָּץ
It extends the root from the act of lying down to the place where rest happens.
נַפְשִׁי
nafshi
GROWS FROM
נפש
n-p-sh
The living self; a living being.
The one who loves is named through her living soul: her whole living self is drawn toward the beloved. This keeps the longing embodied in a person, rather than making “soul” a detached inner part.
ALSO GROWS
nefesh: Living soul; a living person or self.
נֶפֶשׁ
It shows that the love belongs to the speaker as a whole living self.
nafash: Refresh oneself; recover.
נָפַשׁ
This verb shares the root with the living soul and resonates with the scene’s concern for settling and rest.
THE PATTERN
A shepherd’s care becomes tangible where the flock is fed, gathered, and given rest.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.THE THREAD
I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD.Ezekiel brings together the same two actions: feeding and causing the flock to lie down. Its Hebrew uses רעה (ra’ah, shepherd or feed) and רבץ (ravats, lie down), the same roots that hold this verse’s tending and rest together.
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