Page:04.BCOT.KD.PoeticalBooks.vol.4.Writings.djvu/2164

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Verse 2


From these words with which as a solo the first strophe begins:
Let him kiss me with kisses of his mouth,
We at once perceive that she who here speaks is only one of many among whom Solomon's kisses are distributed; for min is partitive, as e.g., Exo 16:27 (cf. Jer 48:32 and Isa 16:9), with the underlying phrase נשׁיקה נשׁק, osculum osculari = figere, jungere, dare. Nashak properly means to join to each other and to join together, particularly mouth to mouth. פּיהוּ is the parallel form of פּיו, and is found in prose as well as in poetry; it is here preferred for the sake of the rhythm. Böttcher prefers, with Hitzig, ישׁקני (“let him give me to drink”); but “to give to drink with kisses” is an expression unsupported.