Where has your beloved gone O fairest among women? Where has your beloved turned that we may seek him with you?

Where is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? where has thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee.

[The nations taunt Israel:] Where did your Beloved go, you loveliest among the women" [Why has He left you widowed and forsaken?] [When He returned and reposed His spirit on Koresh (who permitted the rebuilding of the Temple), when they began to build, they came and said to them:] Whither has your Beloved turned? [If He is returning to you,] let us seek Him with you [(their intention being to subvert the building of the Temple, viz. Ezra 4:2)].

My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices; to graze in the gardens and to gather roses.

My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.

[And Israel replies:] My Beloved has gone down to His garden [(He has commanded us to rebuild His sanctuary, and He will be there with us)], [He has gone down] to the beds of spices [(where the incense is burned.) And He has further gone down] to graze [His flock] in the "gardens" [of exile whither they are dispersed, to repose His Shechinah in the synagogues and the study halls] and to gather "lilies" [i.e., to savor their Torah converse, viz. Malachi 3:16. And, as to your wishing to seek Him with us],

I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine, who grazes among the roses.

I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine: he feeds among the lilies.

I am my Beloved's, and my Beloved is mine, who grazes His flock among the lilies [(and you shall not build the house of our G-d with us in Jerusalem, viz. Ezra 4:3)].

You are beautiful, my beloved, as Tirtzah, comely as Yerusholayim, awesome as the hosts [of angels].

Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirża, comely as Yerushalayim, terrible as an army with banners.

[G-d says:] You are beautiful, My love, when [you are thus] reconciled [to Me], fair as Jerusalem [of yore], awesome [to the enemy] as [angelic] hosts.

Turn your eyes away from me, for they made me haughty; your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilad.

Turn away thy eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair is like a flock of goats cascading down from Gil῾ad.

Turn your eyes away from Me, for they emboldened Me [in the first Temple] to show you too much love, wherefore you were faithless to Me (so that in this Temple I cannot restore to you the ark, the kaporeth [the ark-lid], and the cherubs, which intensified this "emboldenment")]. Your hair [i.e., the "slightest" among you] (sparkles) like a flock of goats sliding down [Mount] Gilead.

Your teeth are like a counted flock which have come up from the washing; all of which are perfect and none are blemished among them.

Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, of which all bear twins, and not one of them miscarries.

Your teeth are like a flock of ewe-lambs, rising from the washing, all perfect, no blemish among them.

Like a slice of pomegranate are your cheeks from within your kerchief.

As a piece of a pomegranate is thy cheek within thy veil.

Like a pomegranate-half is your cheek-top behind your beads.

There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and young maidens without number.

There are sixty queens, and eighty concubines and young women without number.

Sixty are the queens [(Abraham and his descendants)]; and eighty, the concubines [(Noach and his sons, the generations of those who left the ark)]; and young maidens [i.e., the families which descended from them], without number.

But she is unique, my dove, my perfect one, she is unique to her mother, she is pure to her who begot her; daughters saw her and acclaimed her, queens and concubines, and they praised her.

My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bore her. The daughters saw her, and called her happy; and the queens and the concubines praised her.

[But] one [i.e., unique] is My dove, My perfect one; one to her mother, clear [i.e., without blemish] to her begetter. Daughters [i.e., the nations] saw her [(Israel in her grandeur)]; queens and concubines [saw her], and they praised her.

Who is this that gazes down like the [breaking] dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awesome as the hosts [of angels]?

Who is she that looks out like the dawn, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?

Who is this that is seen [(rising gradually in splendor)] like the morning star [(an allusion to Israel's ascent from subjugation to dominance during the second Temple period)], beautiful as the moon, clear as the sun, awesome among the legions?

I went down to the garden of nuts, to see the moist plants of the valley; to see whether the vine had blossomed, if the pomegranates had sprouted.

I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine had blossomed, whether the pomegranates were in flower.

To a nut-garden [(the second Temple)] did I go down, to see the flowering of the stream [i.e., what good deeds "flowed" within you] — Had the vine [i.e., Torah scholars, scribes, and teachers] blossomed? Had the pomegranates [i.e., doers of mitzvoth] bloomed?

I did not know, my soul set me like chariots of a noble people.

Without my knowing it, my soul set me among the chariots of a princely people.

[Israel responds:] I did not know my soul [i.e., I could not keep from sinning]. It [(my soul)] made me the chariot of a patronizing people (Rome) [i.e., it made me tributary to them, to receive their doles.]