What Does Song of Solomon 2:14 Mean in the King James?
O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
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
Even in the cleft where you hide, the one who calls you names your voice sweet and your face lovely.
THE MEANING
You are addressed tenderly from within your shelter, still held in the beloved’s attention. Your voice and face are welcomed as sweet and lovely; intimacy arrives as a request to be seen and heard.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that hiddenness makes you unwanted is undone here: the concealed beloved is met with desire and called lovely.
THE ROOT
סֵתֶר
sēter
GROWS FROM
סתר
s-t-r
to hide, conceal
“secret places” in this verse is sēter. The secret place is named by the very action of concealment. Against that root, “let me see” becomes an invitation from hiddenness into visible presence, without making the shelter disappear.
ALSO GROWS
satar: to hide, conceal
סָתַר
This verb names the action that gives the beloved’s shelter its hiddenness.
nistar: hidden, concealed
נִסְתָּר
This form names the state of being hidden, the place from which the invitation to be seen comes.
הַרְאִינִי
harʾini
GROWS FROM
ראה
to see, look, perceive
The Hebrew repeats this seeing-family in “let me see” and “thy countenance” (מַרְאָיִךְ, marʾayikh). English makes the seeing and the face look like separate ideas; the Hebrew holds them together as a desire to behold the beloved’s presence.
ALSO GROWS
marʾeh: appearance, vision
מַרְאֶה
The beloved’s countenance comes from the same root as the speaker’s request to see.
roʾeh: one who sees; a seer
רֹאֶה
This branch keeps the focus on the one who perceives, echoing the speaker’s longing to behold her.
הַשְׁמִיעִינִי
hashmiʿini
GROWS FROM
שמע
to hear, listen, attend
“let me hear” in this verse is hashmiʿini. The verb carries the sense “cause me to hear”: the speaker longs to receive the beloved’s voice. The verse pairs hearing with seeing, and then names the voice itself sweet, her presence reaches the speaker through sound as well as sight.
ALSO GROWS
shamaʿ: to hear, listen
שָׁמַע
This basic verb is the seed of the request to hear her voice.
shemuʿah: report, tidings; something heard
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch shows how what is heard can carry a message or presence beyond sound alone.
THE PATTERN
Love calls the hidden into presence by seeking both sight and sound.
And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.THE THREAD
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:The same שׁמע (sh-m-ʿ, shamaʿ: hear, listen) root stands behind “let me hear thy voice” and “Hear, O Israel.” In Deuteronomy, hearing carries response; here, hearing is the beloved’s voice received as presence.
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