Song of Songs 2
Song of Songs 2 (abbreviated as Song 2) is the second chapter of the Song of Songs in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book is one of the Five Megillot, a collection of short books, together with Book of Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther, within the Ketuvim, the third and the last part of the Hebrew Bible. Jewish tradition views Solomon as the author of this book, and this attribution influences the acceptance of this book as a canonical text, although this is at present largely disputed. This chapter  contains a dialogue in the open air and several female poems with the main imagery of flora and fauna. Text. The original text is written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 17 verses. Textual witnesses. Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008). Some fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, assigned as 4Q107 (4QCant); 30 BCE-30 CE; extant verses 9–17). There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint , made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; formula_1; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: formula_1; 4th century), and Codex Alexandrinus (A; formula_1; 5th century). Structure. Modern English Version (MEV) groups this chapter into: Female: Love in paradise (1:16–2:1). Verse 1 closes a poetic section providing a 'picture of the bed as a spreading growth', using a theme of nature's floras, starting from the previous chapter with verses 1:16–17 focusing on the subject of trees and verse 2:1 on the subject of flowers. Male: My love is like a  flower (2:2). Verse 2 links to verse 1 on the use of "lily" (or "lotus"), and forms a parallel with verse 3 on the word order and the use of particles ("as" or "like", "so") as well as the 'terms of endearment' ("my love", "my beloved", or "my darling", "my lover"). Female: A pastoral scene (2:3-7). The verse 3 shows an 'excellent synonymous parallelism' with verse 2 on the word order and the use of certain words, such as "as" or "like", "so", "among" or "between", "my love"/"my beloved" or "my darling"/"my lover". Each verse begins with a preposition  of comparison ("as"), followed by three Hebrew words consisting of a singular noun, a preposition ("among" or "between"; "be^n") and a plural common noun with a definite article. Verse 3. The sensual imagery of "apple tree" as a place of romance is still used in modern times in the songs such as "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree" and "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree." Verse 5. The first two lines of this verse form a 'distinctive structure', using verbs and preposition of the same ideas: "refresh (sustain) me"/"revive (refresh) me", "with raisins"/"with apples". The word "apple(s )" links to the first word of verse 3, while the word "love" links to the last word of verse 4. The names of God are apparently substituted with similar sounding phrases depicting 'female gazelles' (, ') for [God of] hosts ( '), and 'does of the field'/'wild does/female deer' (, " ha-") for God Almighty (, " "). Female: Her lover pursues her (2:8–9). This section starts a poetic exposition of lovers who are joined and separated (–). Verses 8–17 form a unity of a poem of the spring by the woman, beginning with 'the voice of my beloved' (" "; or 'the sound of his [approach]'), which signals his presence  before he even speaks. Female: Love affirmed, gratification delayed (2:16-17). Unlike the ambiguity of the speaker (or speakers) in the previous verse, the two verses in this section are no doubt spoken by the woman, affirming the mutual affection with her lover. Verse 16. In reversed order compared to .