Song of Songs 6 in the early church
[also Song of Solomon; Vulgate: Canticle of Canticles]
104 passages quote, allude to, or echo Song of Songs 6, grouped by verse; passages on the same verse are in date order. Verse text from the Berean Standard Bible (public domain). References use the Protestant English Bible's numbering, with a writer's own numbering in brackets where it differs.
Verses: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 · 13
Song of Songs 6:1
Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? Which way has he turned? We will seek him with you.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Song 6:1–9 | Homily 15 · Gregory of Nyssa | quotation, high confidence | ca. 390–394 |
Song of Songs 6:2
My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to pasture his flock in the gardens and to gather lilies.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Song 6:2 | Catechetical Lecture 13.31 · Cyril of Jerusalem | allusion, medium confidence | ca. 350 |
| Song 6:2 | Ancoratus 54.7 · Epiphanius of Salamis | quotation, high confidence | 374 |
| Song 6:2 | On Virgins 1.9 · Ambrose | quotation, high confidence | ca. 377 |
Song of Songs 6:3
I belong to my beloved and he belongs to me; he pastures his flock among the lilies.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Song 6:3 | Fragments on the Song of Songs, chapter 2 · Origen | quotation, high confidence | ca. 220-254 |
Song of Songs 6:4
You are as beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah, as lovely as Jerusalem, as majestic as troops with banners.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Song 6:4 | Fragments on the Song of Songs, chapter 6 · Origen | quotation, high confidence | ca. 220-254 |
| Song 6:4 | On Virgins 1.9 · Ambrose | quotation, high confidence | ca. 377 |
Song of Songs 6:5
Turn your eyes away from me, for they have overcome me. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down from Gilead.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Song 6:5 | Fragments on the Song of Songs, chapter 6 · Origen | quotation, high confidence | ca. 220-254 |
Song of Songs 6:6
Your teeth are like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing; each has its twin, and not one of them is lost.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Song 6:6 | Fragments on the Song of Songs, chapter 6 · Origen | quotation, high confidence | ca. 220-254 |
Song of Songs 6:8
There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and maidens without number,
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Song 6:8 | Fragments on the Song of Songs, chapter 6 · Origen | quotation, high confidence | ca. 220-254 |
| Song 6:8–9 | Homilies on Numbers 20.3 · Origen | quotation, high confidence | ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) |
| Song 6:8 | Commentary on the Song of Songs 1.103 · Origen | allusion, high confidence | ca. 240–245 (Rufinus's translation ca. 410) |
| Song 6:8 | Commentary on the Song of Songs 2.134 · Origen | allusion, high confidence | ca. 240–245 (Rufinus's translation ca. 410) |
| Song 6:8 | Commentary on the Song of Songs 2.135 · Origen | allusion, high confidence | ca. 240–245 (Rufinus's translation ca. 410) |
| Song 6:8 | Commentary on the Song of Songs 2.149 · Origen | allusion, high confidence | ca. 240–245 (Rufinus's translation ca. 410) |
| Song 6:8 | Commentary on the Song of Songs 3.175 · Origen | allusion, high confidence | ca. 240–245 (Rufinus's translation ca. 410) |
| Song 6:8 | Homily on the Song of Songs 1 · Origen | quotation, high confidence | ca. 240–250 |
| Song 6:8–9 | Symposium 7.3 · Methodius of Olympus | quotation, high confidence | late 3rd century |
| Song 6:8 | Symposium 7.5 · Methodius of Olympus | allusion, high confidence | late 3rd century |
| Song 6:8 | Symposium 7.6 · Methodius of Olympus | allusion, high confidence | late 3rd century |
| Song 6:8–9 | Symposium 7.7 · Methodius of Olympus | quotation, high confidence | late 3rd century |
| Song 6:8 | Prophetic Extracts 3.6 · Eusebius of Caesarea | allusion, high confidence | before 325 (probably ca. 310–320) |
| Song 6:8 (6:7 Vulg.) | Three Letters to Sympronianus 1.4 · Pacian of Barcelona | quotation, high confidence | ca. 360-390 |
| Song 6:8 (6:7 Vulg.) | Three Letters to Sympronianus 3.2 · Pacian of Barcelona | allusion, high confidence | ca. 360-390 |
| Song 6:8 (6:7 Vulg.) | Three Letters to Sympronianus 3.25 · Pacian of Barcelona | allusion, high confidence | ca. 360-390 |
| Song 6:8–9 | Letter 65.20 · Jerome | quotation, high confidence | ca. 370–419 |
| Song 6:8 | Letter 123.11 · Jerome | quotation, high confidence | ca. 370–419 |
| Song 6:8 | Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 35.3.5 · Epiphanius of Salamis | allusion, high confidence | 374-377 |
| Song 6:8 | Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 35.3.6 · Epiphanius of Salamis | quotation, high confidence | 374-377 |
| Song 6:8 | Book of Heresies 150.1 · Philastrius of Brescia | quotation, high confidence | ca. 380s |
| Song 6:8 | Against Jovinianus 1.24 · Jerome | quotation, high confidence | 393 |
| Song 6:8 | Against Faustus the Manichaean 22.5 · Augustine of Hippo | echo, low confidence | ca. 398–400 |
| Song 6:8 | Retractations 1.25 · Augustine of Hippo | quotation, high confidence | 426-427 |
Song of Songs 6:9
but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the favorite of the mother who bore her. The maidens see her and call her blessed; the queens and concubines sing her praises.
Song of Songs 6:10
Who is this who shines like the dawn, as fair as the moon, as bright as the sun, as majestic as the stars in procession?
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Song 6:10 | Sang. 9 · Methodius of Olympus | quotation, high confidence | late 3rd cent. (disputed) |
| Song 6:10 (6:9 Vulg.) | Letter 22.41 · Jerome | quotation, high confidence | ca. 370–419 |
| Song 6:10 | Letter 199.39 · Augustine of Hippo | quotation, high confidence | ca. 386–430 |
| Song 6:10 | Hexameron (Exameron) 4.32 · Ambrose | quotation, high confidence | ca. 387-390 |
| Song 6:10 (6:9 LXX) | On the Blessings of the Patriarchs 45 · Ambrose | quotation, high confidence | ca. 387-392 |
Song of Songs 6:11
I went down to the walnut grove to see the blossoms of the valley, to see if the vines were budding or the pomegranates were in bloom.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Song 6:11 | Fragments on the Song of Songs, chapter 6 · Origen | quotation, high confidence | ca. 220-254 |
| Song 6:11 | Homilies on Numbers 9.7 · Origen | allusion, high confidence | ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) |
| Song 6:11 | Catechetical Lecture 14.4 · Cyril of Jerusalem | quotation, high confidence | ca. 350 |
Song of Songs 6:12
Before I realized it, my desire had set me among the royal chariots of my people.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Song 6:12 | Fragments on the Song of Songs, chapter 6 · Origen | quotation, high confidence | ca. 220-254 |
| Song 6:12 (6:11 LXX) | On Naboth 64 · Ambrose | quotation, high confidence | ca. 386-390 |
| Song 6:12 | Exposition of Psalm 118 2.34.1 · Ambrose | quotation, high confidence | ca. 386-397 |
Song of Songs 6:13
Come back, come back, O Shulammite! Come back, come back, that we may gaze upon you. Why do you look at the Shulammite, as on the dance of Mahanaim?
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Song 6:13 (7:1 LXX) | Fragments on the Song of Songs, chapter 6 · Origen | quotation, high confidence | ca. 220-254 |
| Song 6:13 (7:1 LXX) | Fragments on the Song of Songs, chapter 7 · Origen | quotation, high confidence | ca. 220-254 |