Song of Solomon 2:8

The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.

Song of Solomon 2:8, King James Version

Song of Solomon 2:8 in other translations

BSB	Listen! My beloved approaches. Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills.
WEB	The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes, leaping on the mountains, skipping on the hills.
ASV	The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh, Leaping upon the mountains, Skipping upon the hills.
YLT	The voice of my beloved! lo, this--he is coming, Leaping on the mountains, skipping on the hills.
DARBY	The voice of my beloved! Behold, he cometh Leaping upon the mountains, Skipping upon the hills.
BBE	The voice of my loved one! See, he comes dancing on the mountains, stepping quickly on the hills.
Webster	The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.

What does Song of Solomon 2:8 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

8. voice--an exclamation of joyful surprise, evidently after a long silence. The restlessness of sin and fickleness in her had disturbed His rest with her, which she had professed not to wish disturbed "till He should please." He left her, but in sovereign grace unexpectedly heralds His return. She awakes, and at once recognizes His voice (1Sa 3:9, 10; Joh 10:4); her sleep is not so sinfully deep as in So 5:2. leaping--bounding, as the roe does, over the roughest obstacles (2Sa 2:18; 1Ch 12:8); as the father of the prodigal "had compassion and ran" (Lu 15:20). upon the hills--as the sunbeams glancing from hill to hill. So Margin, title of Jesus Christ (Psa 22:1), "Hind of the morning" (type of His resurrection). Historically, the coming of the kingdom of heaven (the gospel dispensation), announced by John Baptist, is meant; it primarily is the garden or vineyard; the bride is called so in a secondary sense. "The voice" of Jesus Christ is indirect, through "the friend of the bridegroom" (Joh 3:29), John the Baptist. Personally, He is silent during John's ministration, who awoke the long slumbering Church with the cry. "Every hill shall be made low," in the spirit of Elias, on the "rent mountains" (1Ki 19:11; compare Is 52:7). Jesus Christ is implied as coming with intense desire (Lu 22:15; He 10:7), disregarding the mountain hindrances raised by man's sin.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 8 Behold, he cometh leaping - This appears to be highly characteristic of the gambols of the shepherds, and points out the ecstasy with which those who were enamoured ran to their mates. It is supposed that the second day's eclogue begins at this verse. The author of what was then called A New Translation of Solomon's Song, observes, 1. The bride relates how the bridegroom, attended by his companions, had come under her window, and called upon her to come forth and enjoy the beauties of the spring, Sol 2:9-11, etc. 2. She then returns to her narration, Sol 3:1. The bridegroom did not come according to her wishes. Night came on; she did not find him in her bed; she went out to seek him; found him, and brought him to her mother's pavilion, Sol 3:4; and then, as before, conjures the virgins not to disturb his repose, Sol 3:5.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Song of Solomon 2:8-13

The church pleases herself with thoughts of further communion with Christ. None besides can speak to the heart. She sees him come. This may be applied to the prospect the Old Testament saints had of Christ's coming in the flesh. He comes as pleased with his own undertaking. He comes speedily. Even when Christ seems to forsake, it is but for a moment; he will soon return with everlasting loving-kindness. The saints of old saw him, appearing through the sacrifices and ceremonial institutions. We see him through a glass darkly, as he manifests himself through the lattices. Christ invites the new convert to arise from sloth and despondency, and to leave sin and worldly vanities, for union and communion with him. The winter may mean years passed in ignorance and sin, unfruitful and miserable, or storms and tempests that accompanied his conviction of guilt and danger. Even the unripe fruits of holiness are pleasant unto Him whose grace has produced them. All these encouraging tokens and evidences of Divine favour, are motives to the soul to follow Christ more fully. Arise then, and come away from the world and the flesh, come into fellowship with Christ. This blessed change is owing wholly to the approaches and influences of the Sun of righteousness.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Song of Solomon 2:8 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.

ק֣וֹלKol[the] sound ofH6963

דּוֹדִ֔יdo.Dilover myH1730

הִנֵּה\־hi.neh-there!H2009

זֶ֖הzehthisH2088

בָּ֑אBa'[is] comingH935

מְדַלֵּג֙me.da.Leg[is] leapingH1801

עַל\־'al-overH5921

הֶ֣הָרִ֔יםhe.ha.Rimthe mountainsH2022

מְקַפֵּ֖ץme.ka.Petz[is] boundingH7092

עַל\־'al-overH5921

הַגְּבָעֽוֹת\׃ha.ge.va.'otthe hillsH1389

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

Cross references for Song of Solomon 2:8

John 10:27
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Isaiah 52:7
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
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.
John 3:29
He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
Revelation 3:20
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
John 10:4-5
And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
Acts 14:10
Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.
Isaiah 44:23
Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.
Isaiah 55:12-13
For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
Isaiah 35:6
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
Isaiah 40:3-4
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
Luke 3:4-6
As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

voice.
5:2; Joh 3:29; 10:4,5,27; Re 3:20
leaping.
2Sa 6:16; Isa 35:6; Jer 48:27; Lu 6:23; Ac 3:8; 14:10
the mountains.
Isa 40:3,4; 44:23; 49:11-13; 55:12,13; Lu 3:4-6

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

Context

Song of Solomon 2:7
I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.
Song of Solomon 2:8
The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
Song of Solomon 2:9
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.

Read all of Song of Solomon 2

Song of Solomon 2:8 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	¡La voz de mi amado! He aquí él viene saltando sobre los montes, brincando sobre los collados.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	*La voix de mon bien-aimé! le voici qui vient, sautant sur les montagnes, bondissant sur les collines.
German Elberfelder 1871	Horch! mein Geliebter! Siehe, da kommt er, springend über die Berge, hüpfend über die Hügel.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Vox dilecti mei; ecce iste venit, saliens in montibus, transiliens colles.