Song of Solomon 2 · Verse 17

Song of Solomon 2:17

Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.

Song of Solomon 2:17, King James Version

Song of Solomon 2:17 in other translations

BSB	Before the day breaks and shadows flee, turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.
WEB	Until the day is cool, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be like a roe or a young deer on the mountains of Bether.
ASV	Until the day be cool, and the shadows flee away, Turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart Upon the mountains of Bether.
YLT	Till the day doth break forth, And the shadows have fled away, Turn, be like, my beloved, To a roe, or to a young one of the harts, On the mountains of separation!
DARBY	Until the day dawn, and the shadows flee away. Turn, my beloved: be thou like a gazelle or a young hart, Upon the mountains of Bether.
BBE	Till the evening comes, and the sky slowly becomes dark, come, my loved one, and be like a roe on the mountains of Bether.
Webster	Until the day shall break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.

What does Song of Solomon 2:17 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

17. Night--is the image of the present world (Ro 13:12). "Behold men as if dwelling in subterranean cavern" [Plato, Republic, 7.1]. Until--that is, "Before that," &c. break--rather, "breathe"; referring to the refreshing breeze of dawn in the East; or to the air of life, which distinguishes morning from the death-like stillness of night. Maurer takes this verse of the approach of night, when the breeze arises after the heat of day (compare Ge 3:8, Margin, with Ge 18:1), and the "shadows" are lost in night (Psa 102:11); thus our life will be the day; death, the night (Joh 9:4). The English Version better accords with (So 3:1). "By night" (Ro 13:12). turn--to me. Bether--Mountains of Bithron, separated from the rest of Israel by the Jordan (2Sa 2:29), not far from Bethabara, where John baptized and Jesus was first manifested. Rather, as Margin, "of divisions," and Septuagint, mountains intersected with deep gaps, hard to pass over, separating the bride and Jesus Christ. In So 8:14 the mountains are of spices, on which the roe feeds, not of separation; for at His first coming He had to overpass the gulf made by sin between Him and us (Zec 4:6, 7); in His second, He will only have to come down from the fragrant hill above to take home His prepared bride. Historically, in the ministry of John the Baptist, Christ's call to the bride was not, as later (So 4:8), "Come with me," but "Come away," namely, to meet Me (So 2:2, 10, 13). Sitting in darkness (Mt 4:16), she "waited" and "looked" eagerly for Him, the "great light" (Lu 1:79; 2:25, 38); at His rising, the shadows of the law (Col 2:16, 17; He 10:1) were to "flee away." So we wait for the second coming, when means of grace, so precious now, shall be superseded by the Sun of righteousness (1Co 13:10, 12; Re 21:22, 23). The Word is our light until then (2Pe 1:19).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 17 Until the day break - Literally, until the day breathe; until the first dawn, which is usually accompanied with the most refreshing breezes. The shadows flee away - Referring to the evening or setting of the sun, at which all shadows vanish. The mountains of Bether - Translated also mountains of division, supposed to mean the mountains of Beth-horon. There was a place called Bithron, 2Sam 2:29, on the other side of Jordan; and as the name signifies Partition, it might have had its name from the circumstance of its being divided or separated from Judea by the river Jordan. With this chapter the second night is supposed to end.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Song of Solomon 2:14-17

The church is Christ's dove; she returns to him, as her Noah. Christ is the Rock, in whom alone she can think herself safe, and find herself easy, as a dove in the hole of a rock, when struck at by the birds of prey. Christ calls her to come boldly to the throne of grace, having a great High Priest there, to tell what her request is. Speak freely, fear not a slight or a repulse. The voice of prayer is sweet and…

Read the full comment on Song of Solomon 2:14-17 →

Song of Solomon 2:17 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

עַ֤ד'aduntilH5704

שֶׁיָּפ֙וּחַ֙shei.ya.Fu.achthat <it> will breatheH6315

הַיּ֔וֹםhai.Yomthe dayH3117

וְנָ֖סוּve.Na.suand they will fleeH5127

הַצְּלָלִ֑יםha.tze.la.Limthe shadowsH6752

סֹב֩soturnH5437

דְּמֵה\־de.meh-be likeH1819

לְךָ֨le.Kha<for> yourself

דוֹדִ֜יdo.DiO lover myH1730

לִצְבִ֗יlitz.Vi<to> a gazelleH6643

א֛וֹ'oorH176

לְעֹ֥פֶרle.'O.fer<to> [the] fawn ofH6082

הָאַיָּלִ֖יםha.'ai.ya.Limthe deer<s>H354

עַל\־'al-onH5921

הָ֥רֵיHa.rei[the] mountains ofH2022

בָֽתֶר\׃\ \סVa.terravine[s]H1336

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Song of Solomon 2:17

Song of Solomon 4:6
Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.
2 Peter 1:19
We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
Romans 13:12
The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Luke 1:78
Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
Hebrews 10:1
For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
Hebrews 8:5
Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
Song of Solomon 2:8-9
The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.
Song of Solomon 8:14
Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

the day.
4:6; Lu 1:78; Ro 13:12; 2Pe 1:19
the shadows.
Heb 8:5; 10:1
beloved.
9; 8:14
Bether. or, division.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Song of Solomon 2:16
My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.
Song of Solomon 2:17
Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.

Read all of Song of Solomon 2

Song of Solomon 2:17 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Hasta que apunte el día, y huyan las sombras, tórnate, amado mío; sé semejante al gamo, ó al cabrito de los ciervos, sobre los montes de Bether.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	jusqu’à ce que l’aube se lève et que les ombres fuient. – Tourne-toi; sois semblable, mon bien-aimé, à la gazelle ou au faon des biches sur les montagnes de Béther.
German Elberfelder 1871	Bis der Tag sich kühlt und die Schatten fliehen, wende dich, sei, mein Geliebter, gleich einer Gazelle oder einem Jungen der Hirsche auf den zerklüfteten Bergen!
Latin Clementine Vulgate	donec aspiret dies, et inclinentur umbræ. Revertere; similis esto, dilecte mi, capreæ, hinnuloque cervorum super montes Bether.