Song of Solomon 2:5 (DBY)

Passage

Sustain ye me with raisin-cakes, Refresh me with apples; For I am sick of love.

Nearby Context

Song of Solomon 2:3 As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, So is my beloved among the sons: In his shadow have I rapture and sit down; And his fruit is sweet to my taste.

Song of Solomon 2:4 He hath brought me to the house of wine, And his banner over me is love.

Song of Solomon 2:5 Sustain ye me with raisin-cakes, Refresh me with apples; For I am sick of love.

Song of Solomon 2:6 His left hand is under my head, And his right hand doth embrace me.

Song of Solomon 2:7 I charge you, daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles, or by the hinds of the field, That ye stir not up, nor awake [my] love, till he please.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sustain", "raisin-cakes", "refresh", "apples", "sick", and "love". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sustain" and "raisin-cakes", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "He hath brought me to the house..." into verse 6's "His left hand is under my head...", so "sustain" and "raisin-cakes" belong inside that flow. In Song of Solomon context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "sustain" and "raisin-cakes" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.