Song of Solomon 8:4 (DRB)

Passage

I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you stir not up, nor awake my love till she please.

Nearby Context

Song of Solomon 8:2 I will take hold of thee, and bring thee into my mother's house: there thou shalt teach me, and I will give thee a cup of spiced wine and new wine of my pomegranates.

Song of Solomon 8:3 His left hand under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me.

Song of Solomon 8:4 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you stir not up, nor awake my love till she please.

Song of Solomon 8:5 Who is this that cometh up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I raised thee up: there thy mother was corrupted, there she was defloured that bore thee.

Song of Solomon 8:6 Put me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy as hard as hell, the lamps thereof are fire and flames.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "adjure", "daughters", "jerusalem", "stir", "awake", "love", "till", and "please". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "adjure" and "daughters", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "His left hand under my head and..." into verse 5's "Who is this that cometh up from...", so "adjure" and "daughters" 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 "adjure" and "daughters" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.