Set Me as a Seal upon Thine Heart
The Song reaches its theological and poetic summit. The woman asks to be set as a seal on heart and arm because love is strong as death, jealousy or ardor is fierce as the grave, its flashes are fiery, and many waters cannot quench it. Even a household’s entire wealth cannot purchase love.
The Hebrew final phrase in verse 6 is famously difficult. It can be understood as an intense or “mighty” flame, and many scholars see the divine element -yah, yielding “a flame of Yah.” Even if that reading is accepted, the verse is still speaking about the fierce power of human love; one divine-name element does not automatically transform the entire Song into allegory.