Song of Solomon 8:7 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Song of Solomon 8:7
Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.
abundant (in quantity · adjective, masculine plural absolute
waters
מַ֣יִםMa.yim
H4325
water · noun, common masculine plural absolute
cannot
יֽוּכְלוּ֙yu.khe.Lu
H3201
to be able · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
quench
לְכַבּ֣וֹתle.kha.Bot
H3518
to expire or (causatively) to extinguish (fire · preposition + verb, piel infinitive construct
love
הָֽאַהֲבָ֔הha.'a.ha.Vah
H160
affection (in a good or a bad sense) · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
floods
וּנְהָר֖וֹתu.ne.ha.Rot
H5104
a stream (including the sea · conjunction + noun, common feminine plural absolute
drown
יִשְׁטְפ֑וּהָyish.te.Fu.ha
H7857
to gush · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
man
אִ֜ישׁ'ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
give
יִתֵּ֨ןyi.Ten
H5414
to give · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
substance
ה֤וֹןHon
H1952
wealth · noun, common masculine singular construct
house
בֵּיתוֹ֙bei.To
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
love
בָּאַהֲבָ֔הba.'a.ha.Vah
H160
affection (in a good or a bad sense) · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
utterly
בּ֖וֹזBoz
H936
to disrespect · verb, qal infinitive absolute
contemned
יָב֥וּזוּya.Vu.zu
H936
to disrespect · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
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
Proverbs 6:35 He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.
Proverbs 6:31 But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.
Isaiah 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through t…
Romans 13:8-10 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
Matthew 7:24-25 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
Romans 8:28-39 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
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 8:7
Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it,.... The love of the church to Christ, which is inextinguishable and insuperable, by the many waters and floods of wicked and ungodly men; neither by their flattery and fair promises; nor by their cruel edicts, force and persecution; by neither can they withdraw the love of the saints from Christ, nor tempt them to desert his interest: nor by all the afflictions God is pleased to bring upon them; rather their love is increased thereby, which they consider as effects of the love, wisdom, and faithfulness of God, as designed for their good: nor even by their sins and corruptions; for though, through the aboundings of these, their…
seal over your heart . . . on your arm: In ancient Israel a seal was used for identification or to show ownership by pressing the face of a ring into soft wax. The wife wants her husband to mark her with his identity, privately upon her heart, and publicly upon her arm as well. • love is as strong as death: Though death is inevitable, the bond of love is resolute, unshakable, and broken only in death. • The energy of jealousy moves to protect an exclusive relationship such as that of husband and wife or between God and his people (Nah 1:2; Zech 1:14-17). • as the grave: Hebrew as Sheol. In the Old Testament, Sheol is the abode of the dead. It is not necessarily associated with punishment.
Rashi on Song of Solomon 8:7
Many waters cannot quench the love. Since he refers to them with an expression of coals, the term “cannot quench” is appropriate for them.8The pain and suffering that Bnei Yisroel endured throughout its many exiles, “cannot quench the love [for God],” which remains intact. (Sefer Dudaim)
Many waters. The nations.
And rivers. Their princes and their kings.
Cannot drown it. Through force or terror, or even through enticement and seduction.
If a man would give all the wealth of his house. In exchange for your love.
They would surely scorn him. On all these the Holy One, Blessed Is He, and His Tribunal,9Rashi adds, “and His Tribunal,” because the Verse following begins with “We...”, the plu…
Though weak in body the women were courageous in spirit. "Many waters cannot quench charity, neither can floods drown it." He whom they sought was dead, but their hope of the resurrection was not quenched.
"If a man gives his whole life for love, they will utterly despise him." Those bereft and devoid of love will despise the one giving his life for love; hence blessed Paul also said, "When reviled we bless, when persecuted we put up with it, when blasphemed we are encouraging, we have become the world's refuse, as it were, everyone's off-scouring to this day." This happens, in fact, to people who are dizzy: though they cannot stand up straight, they think everything else is spinning around; similarly also people bereft of love blaspheme the devotees of love as stupid and foolish. Far from undermining love, however, this even rendered it more ardent. When reviled the apostles gave blessings, when blasphemed they were encouraging, and on becoming the world's refuse, as it were, they claimed to be everyone's off-scouring to this day.
Many waters could not extinguish love, etc. He calls the many waters and the rivers the onslaught of temptations, which either visibly or invisibly do not cease to attack the souls of the faithful: for they attempt to overcome them both through open adversaries of faith, and through false brethren, and through the hidden snares of the ancient enemy; yet they are not able in any way to capture with temptations the hearts that are accustomed to being rooted and grounded in love, for the firm promise of truth stands, which says: When you pass through the water, I will be with you, and the rivers will not overwhelm you (Isaiah 43); and in the Gospel about the house built upon the rock: When the flood came, it says, the river burst against that house and could not shake it; for it was founded upon the rock (Matthew 7); and since in whatever mind the love of eternal goods abounds, soon the love of fleeting things diminishes, rightly it is added:
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Love Of Christ, The · Unquenchable. — — Unquenchable. —
Love To Christ · Should be: Unquenchable — Should be: Unquenchable
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
