Song of Songs 8

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RBT Paraphrase

A Surrounding Helper

1 "Who is giving yourself as a brother to myself? He who sucks the dual breasts of the mother of myself! I am finding yourself in the Outside. I am kissing yourself and yea! they are not despising myself!2 I am driving yourself forth, I am bringing in yourself toward the house of the mother of myself. She is teaching myself. I am kissing yourself from wine, The Spiced-Mix from the pressed juice of the pomegranate of myself.
3 The left of himself is below the head of myself. The right hand of himself, she is embracing myself.4 I have sevened your eternal selves, daughters of Foundation of Peace! What are you arousing and what are you laying bare? The self eternal Love until whom she delights in!5 Who is this one, she who climbs up from out of the Desolate One/Place of Words? She who leans herself against the beloved one of herself under the Apple Tree. I have laid bare yourself! There, your mother tied yourself up, there, she bound up! She has begotten yourself!
6 Set myself as the Seal Ring upon the heart of yourself, as the Seal Ring upon the arm of yourself. For Love is a fierce one like Death, the jealous one is cruel like the underworld. The flaming ones of herself are flaming ones of fire, the flame of He is.

Sell all, as much as you have

7 The abundant dual waters are not able to extinguish the self eternal Love and rivers are not flooding over her. If any man is giving all the self eternal Wealth of the house of himself within the Love, he has despised | they are despising to himself.8 A sister is for ourselves, a little one, and there are no dual breasts to herself. What are we making for the sister of ourselves within the Day whom he is arranging-words within herself?9 If herself is a wall, we are building against herself a surrounding battlement of silver. And if herself is an impoverished one we are besieging against herself with a tablet of a cedar tree!10 I, a wall and the dual breasts of myself are as the Towers ("Magdalenes"). At that time I became within the eyes of himself as she who finds the Complete One.11 He has become a vineyard to Complete One. Within the lord of Roaring-Multitude he has given The eternal self Vineyard to the Guardians. Each man is causing to come in within the fruit of himself a thousand of silver.12 My vineyard whom is to myself, to the faces of myself, the Thousand, to yourself, Complete One, and a dual hundred for the Guardians of the eternal self fruit of himself.
13 The One Who Sits within the Gardens, united-companions are those who incline the ear Make myself hear the voice of yourself!14 Flee/escape beloved one of myself, and be likened to yourself, a glorious one, or a young stag of the Mighty upon mountains within dual heavenly ones!

RBT Hebrew Literal

1 who he is giving yourself as a brother to myself he is sucking breasts mother of myself I am finding yourself within the Outside I am kissing yourself also not they are despising to myself
2 I am driving yourself I am bringing in yourself a god/dont/toward house mother of myself she is teaching myself I am kissing yourself from wine the Spiced from the pressed juice of my pomegranate
3 his left below my head/heads and his right hand she is embracing myself
4 I have sevened your eternal selves daughters/built-ones Foundation of Peace what/why you cause to wake and what/how you are making bare את-self eternal The Love until/perpetually/witness whom she delights
5 who this one climb/climbing one from out of the Word-Wilderness she who reclines herself upon/against/yoke her beloved below the Apple Tree I have exposed yourself there-her bound yourself up mother of yourself there-her she bound up she has begotten yourself
6 Set myself as the Seal Ring upon/against/yoke your heart as the Seal Ring upon/against/yoke your arm for fierce one as the Death love hard/severe as Sheol the jealous one her flaming ones flaming ones fire the flame of Yah
7 dual water multitudes not they are not able to extinguish את-self eternal The Love and rivers not washing off if he is giving a man/each one את-self eternal all wealth his house within The Love he has despised they are despising to himself
8 a sister to ourselves a little one and dual breasts there is not to herself what/why we are making for the sister of ourselves within the Day who is ordering-words within herself
9 if a wall herself we are building upon herself a surrounding battlement silver and if a door/impoverished one herself we are confining upon herself tablet cedar tree
10 myself a wall and my dual breasts like the Towers at that time I have become within his eyes as her who finds Peace
11 vineyard he has become to Complete One within the owner/lord Roaring-Multitude he has given את-self eternal the Vineyard to Those Who Guard a man/each one he is coming within the fruit of himself a thousand silver
12 my vineyard who is to myself to the faces the Thousand to yourself/walk Complete One and dual hundred to Those Who Guard את-self eternal his fruit
13 She who sits within enclosures united-companions those who incline the ear to the voice of yourself cause myself to hear
14 flee!/he fled beloved of myself and be like to yourself/walk to a glorious one or to a dusting one/stag the Powerful ones upon/against/yoke mountains spices/in the dual heavenly ones

AI Commentary

This final chapter encapsulates the text’s dynamic interplay of erotic imagery, ritualized language, and mystical union. It is a culminating declaration where the self both gives and receives, enacting the roles of lover, brother, and guardian in a complex relational network. The language is dense with symbolic gestures and vivid metaphors that invite multiple readings:

Kinship and Intimacy

The chapter opens with an evocative question—“Who is giving yourself as a brother to myself?”—which challenges the boundaries of relational identity. The act of “sucking the dual breasts of the mother of myself” connotes both nourishment and an intimate, almost primal, bond. This intertwining of kinship (brotherhood) with erotic consumption speaks to a union where familial, erotic, and spiritual ties dissolve into one another. It suggests that in the consummation of love, the divisions between giver and receiver, self and other, are obliterated.

External Discovery and Ritual Embrace

The speaker proclaims, “I am finding yourself in the Outside. I am kissing yourself…” which indicates a movement beyond an inward, isolated self. The act of kissing, as well as the subsequent driving and bringing in of the beloved toward the “house of the mother of myself,” underscores a ritual reorientation: one where the external world becomes an extension of inner divine education. The maternal figure, teaching and binding the self, represents the continuity of lineage and the preservation of sacred knowledge, imbuing the encounter with both tenderness and formality.

Symbolic Architecture and the Seal Ring

One of the most striking images in this chapter is the command to “Set myself as the Seal Ring upon the heart of yourself, as the Seal Ring upon the arm of yourself.” The seal ring here functions as a mark of authority, commitment, and protection. It recalls ancient practices where a seal served not only as an authentication of identity but also as a binding covenant. This gesture reaffirms the identity of the self as one irrevocably intertwined with love—a love that is “fierce as Death” and as relentless as the flames of the underworld. In this context, the seal is both a mark of possession and an emblem of the transformative power of love.

Abundance, Exchange, and the Vineyard

The passage then shifts to economic and agricultural imagery, speaking of “the abundant dual waters,” “rivers,” and the giving of “all the self eternal Wealth of the house of himself within The Love.” The vineyard, repeatedly invoked, stands as a central symbol of fertility, growth, and the fruitfulness of union. The meticulous accounting—“a thousand of silver” for the fruit, dual hundreds for the guardians—hints at an almost ritualistic economy of love, where the value of union is measured in both material and metaphysical currencies.

Exhortation and Flight Toward the Transcendent

Finally, the text calls upon the listener to “Make myself hear the voice of yourself! Flee beloved one of myself, and be likened to yourself, a glorious one…” This exhortation is both a summons and a departure—a call to transcend the mundane through the pursuit of the sublime. The imagery of fleeing or escaping, contrasted with the earlier intimate embraces, suggests that the journey toward union with the divine beloved is fraught with both urgency and liberation. It is an invitation to ascend, like “a young stag of the Mighty upon mountains within dual heavenly ones,” toward a realm where the boundaries between earth and spirit are dissolved.

Concluding Reflection

In its totality, this final chapter serves as an intricate tapestry weaving together the themes of kinship, eroticism, ritual, and divine union. The intermingling of familial and erotic imagery, the ritualistic marking of the self, and the economic symbolism of the vineyard all converge to assert that love—in its agape dimension—is not a mere emotion but the very identity of the self. It is an active, transformative force that binds, enriches, and ultimately redefines the human experience as a sacred communion with the divine.