What Does Song of Solomon 8:13 Mean in the King James?
Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it.
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 voice has an audience, yet the beloved still asks to hear it: intimacy is receiving the other as present.
THE MEANING
You dwell among gardens, alive within a place of cultivated abundance, and companions listen for your voice. Yet the beloved asks you to let that voice reach him too. Being heard by many does not erase the singular closeness of being received by one.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This dissolves the belief that being surrounded by listeners is the same as being truly heard: the beloved still longs for your particular voice.
THE ROOT
הַשְׁמִיעִנִי
hashmiʿini
GROWS FROM
שׁמע
to hear, heed, or listen
“cause me to hear” in this verse is hashmiʿini. The speaker asks for the beloved’s voice to be made audible to him. This root can describe both hearing and what is heard, joining her voice and his reception of it in one movement.
ALSO GROWS
shamaʿ: to hear or heed
שָׁמַע
It shows the listening at the heart of the request as attentive reception, not merely sound reaching an ear.
shemuʿah: a report or tidings, what is heard
שְׁמוּעָה
The root can name not only the act of hearing but also the message received, linking voice with presence.
THE PATTERN
A voice becomes a meeting when someone listens and receives it.
And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.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.My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:THE THREAD
And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.Both verses turn on שׁמע (shamaʿ, to hear or heed): here the beloved asks, “cause me to hear,” while Samuel answers, “thy servant heareth.” The shared root makes listening feel like an open relation between a voice and the one who receives it.
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