to seven oneself · verb, hiphil perfect, 1st person common singular
daughters
בְּנ֣וֹתbe.Not
H1323
a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms… · noun, common feminine plural construct
Jerusalem
יְרוּשָׁלִָ֑םye.ru.sha.Lim
H3389
Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · proper noun, a place name
find
תִּמְצְאוּ֙tim.tze.'U
H4672
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
beloved
דּוֹדִ֔יdo.Di
H1730
(figuratively) to love · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
tell
תַּגִּ֣ידוּta.Gi.du
H5046
properly · verb, hiphil imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
sick
שֶׁחוֹלַ֥תshe.cho.Lat
H2470
properly · relative particle + verb, qal active participle, feminine singular construct
love
אַהֲבָ֖ה'a.ha.Vah
H160
affection (in a good or a bad sense) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Song of Solomon 2:5 Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.
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 pleas…
Psalms 42:1-3 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
Song of Solomon 3:5 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 pleas…
Psalms 63:1-3 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no wa…
Psalms 77:1-3 I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me.
Psalms 119:81-83 My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word.
Romans 15:30 Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your praye…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
John Gill on Song of Solomon 5:8
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,.... Young converts, as before observed; who, upon the hideous outcry the church made in the streets, came to her to know what was the matter, whom she addressed as after related; this shows the humility and condescension of the church, in desiring the assistance of weaker saints in her present case, and her earnestness and resolution to make use of all ways and means she could to find her beloved; and it becomes saints to be assisting to one another; and conversation with one another, even with weak believers, is often useful. And these the church "adjures", or "causes to swear" (p); charged them on oath, as they would answer it to God; which shows the…
The woman enlists the young women of Jerusalem to help her find her lover. They ask her to describe him, and this leads into the second descriptive poem (wasf) of the Song (see study note on 4:1–5:1).
5:8 I am weak with love: The woman’s trauma is an image for her lovesickness (cp. 2:5).
Rashi on Song of Solomon 5:8
I bind you under oath. The nations, Nevuchadnetzar’s men, who saw Chananyah, Misha’eil, and Azaryah submit themselves to the fiery furnace,33See Daniyeil 3:20-23. and Doniyeil to the lions’ den34See Ibid. 6:17-18. because of prayer, and Mordechai’s generation in the days of Haman.
When you find my beloved. In the future, on the Day of Judgement, when it will be requested of you to testify about me, as the matter is stated, “Let them present their witnesses, and they will be vindicated.”35Yeshayahu 43:9. See Maseches Avodah Zarah 3a.
What will you tell him. You will testify on my behalf that because of love for Him, I suffered harsh afflictions among you. Let Nevuchadnetzar come and testify…
I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, if you find, etc. Worthily, the bride languishes with love, having been struck and wounded by the sword of the Spirit, she casts off the garment of carnal desire, for as much as the holy soul gains strength in God, so much is she made weak and infirm towards the affection of this world, as if debilitated. Nor is it surprising if a perfect soul is said to languish for those things that are of the world, since the Apostle does not hesitate to call those who have perfectly left the world dead: For you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God (Galatians VI); and concerning himself: The world is crucified to me, and I to the world (ibid.). The daughters of Jerusalem are citizens of the heavenly homeland, who partly still wander on earth, partly already reign there. But in this place, when it is said: I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him that I languish with love, it seems to address that part of them which, having been on earth, has not yet deserved to see the Lord perfectly, whom nevertheless they often find when they receive Him in their heart through love. Therefore the bride adjures these daughters of Jerusalem that if they find her beloved, they announce to him that she languishes: for we are indeed this bride, and the girlfriend of our God and Lord, inasmuch as by adhering to Him we become one spirit with Him, and being inflamed with desires for eternal things, and sighing for the face of our Creator whom we do not yet see, we come to His servants, whom we believe to lead an angelic life on earth, and we humbly ask them to commend us also to the Lord during their devoted prayer time, and to intercede for us so that we may deserve to see His face. This is indeed what we do, adjuring the daughters of Jerusalem to refer the magnitude of our love to God, and for us to equally petition for heavenly help so that we may see His glory. Whence also, such a response is universally given by these daughters of Jerusalem, which clearly corresponds to the devoted exchange of the faithful. For it follows:
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
