What Does Song of Solomon 6:3 Mean?

I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine; he pastures among the lilies.

Song of Solomon 6:3 · SDV

Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.

Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.

This verse in the King James

King James wording

King James Version

I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies.

THE KEY

The beloved belongs both ways, and the same Hebrew word-family holds the beloved person and the caresses of love together.

THE MEANING

Belonging moves both ways: you are your beloved’s, and your beloved is yours. The beloved feeds among lilies, near and at home in the flowering place.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The belief that love must remain one-sided longing is undone: the beloved is not only desired, but also yours.

THE ROOT

דּוֹדִי

dodi

GROWS FROM

דּוֹד

dod

Beloved; intimate affection.

The word rendered “beloved” belongs to the ⁨דוד⁩ family, which also names loves or caresses. Hebrew keeps the beloved person and the affection between them in one word-family, so the bond is present in the name of the beloved.

ALSO GROWS

dod: Beloved; also a close male relative, such as an uncle.

דּוֹד

The word’s kinship sense lets belovedness carry the warmth of close relation.

dodim: Loves; caresses.

דּוֹדִים

This branch names the affection itself, joining the beloved in this verse to the intimacy expressed elsewhere in the Song.

THE PATTERN

Love becomes visible as belonging and shared presence.

My beloved is mine, and I am his; he pastures among the lilies.

Song of Solomon 2:16 · SDVThe same belonging appears in reversed order, with the beloved present among the lilies.

But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, and who shaped you, O Israel. Do not fear, for I have bought you back; I have called you by your name; you are mine.

Isaiah 43:1 · SDVBelonging is spoken as a personal claim: the one addressed is known by name and held as the LORD’s.

And we have known and leaned our weight upon the love that God holds in us. God is love, and the one who remains in love stays in God, and God remains in him.

1 John 4:16 · SDVLove appears as shared dwelling, with the one who dwells in love and God present in one another.

THE THREAD

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine.

Song of Solomon 1:2 · SDV

The Hebrew word translated “love” here, ⁨דּוֹדִים⁩ (dodim), comes from the same ⁨דּוֹד⁩ (dod) word-family as “beloved” in Song 6:3. The language keeps the beloved person and the caresses of love joined at the root.

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