Passage

Song of Solomon 4

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; Thine eyes are as doves behind thy veil. Thy hair is as a flock of goats, That lie along the side of mount Gilead. 2. Thy teeth are like a flock of ewes that are newly shorn, Which are come up from the washing, Whereof every one hath twins, And none is bereaved among them. 3. Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, And thy mouth is comely. Thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate behind thy veil. 4. Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armory, Whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, All the shields of the mighty men. 5. Thy two breasts are like two fawns That are twins of a roe, Which feed among the lilies. 6. Until the day be cool, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, And to the hill of frankincense. 7. Thou art all fair, my love; And there is no spot in thee. 8. Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, With me from Lebanon: Look from the top of Amana, From the top of Senir and Hermon, From the lions' dens, From the mountains of the leopards. 9. Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my bride; Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, With one chain of thy neck. 10. How fair is thy love, my sister, my bride! How much better is thy love than wine! And the fragrance of thine oils than all manner of spices! 11. Thy lips, O my bride, drop as the honeycomb: Honey and milk are under thy tongue; And the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon. 12. A garden shut up is my sister, my bride; A spring shut up, a fountain sealed. 13. Thy shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits; Henna with spikenard plants, 14. Spikenard and saffron, Calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; Myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices. 15. Thou art a fountain of gardens, A well of living waters, And flowing streams from Lebanon. 16. Awake, O north wind; And come, thou south; Blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, And eat his precious fruits." (Song of Solomon 4:1-16, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is as a flock of goats, that descend from Mount Gilead. 2. Your teeth are like a newly shorn flock, which have come up from the washing, where every one of them has twins. None is bereaved among them. 3. Your lips are like scarlet thread. Your mouth is lovely. Your temples are like a piece of a pomegranate behind your veil. 4. Your neck is like David’s tower built for an armory, whereon a thousand shields hang, all the shields of the mighty men. 5. Your two breasts are like two fawns that are twins of a roe, which feed among the lilies. 6. Until the day is cool, and the shadows flee away, I will go to the mountain of myrrh, to the hill of frankincense. 7. You are all beautiful, my love. There is no spot in you. 8. Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, with me from Lebanon. Look from the top of Amana, from the top of Senir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards. 9. You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride. You have ravished my heart with one of your eyes, with one chain of your neck. 10. How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine! The fragrance of your perfumes than all kinds of spices! 11. Your lips, my bride, drip like the honeycomb. Honey and milk are under your tongue. The smell of your garments is like the smell of Lebanon. 12. A locked up garden is my sister, my bride; a locked up spring, a sealed fountain. 13. Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits: henna with spikenard plants, 14. spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree; myrrh and aloes, with all the best spices, 15. a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, flowing streams from Lebanon. 16. Awake, north wind; and come, you south! Blow on my garden, that its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and taste his precious fruits." (Song of Solomon 4:1-16, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead. ^{that: or, that eat of, etc} 2. Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them. 3. Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks. 4. Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men. 5. Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies. 6. Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense. ^{break: Heb. breathe} 7. Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee. 8. Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards. 9. Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck. ^{ravished: or, taken away} 10. How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices! 11. Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon. 12. A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. ^{inclosed: Heb. barred} ^{shut up: Heb. barred} 13. Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, ^{camphire: or, cypress} 14. Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices: 15. A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. 16. Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits." (Song of Solomon 4:1-16, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. Lo, thou [art] fair, my friend, lo, thou [art] fair, Thine eyes [are] doves behind thy veil, Thy hair as a row of the goats That have shone from mount Gilead, 2. Thy teeth as a row of the shorn ones That have come up from the washing, For all of them are forming twins, And a bereaved one is not among them. 3. As a thread of scarlet [are] thy lips, And thy speech [is] comely, As the work of the pomegranate [is] thy temple behind thy veil, 4. As the tower of David [is] thy neck, built for an armoury, The chief of the shields are hung on it, All shields of the mighty. 5. Thy two breasts [are] as two fawns, Twins of a roe, that are feeding among lilies. 6. Till the day doth break forth, And the shadows have fled away, I will get me unto the mountain of myrrh, And unto the hill of frankincense. 7. Thou [art] all fair, my friend, And a blemish there is not in thee. Come from Lebanon, O spouse, 8. Come from Lebanon, come thou in. Look from the top of Amana, From the top of Shenir and Hermon, From the habitations of lions, From the mountains of leopards. 9. Thou hast emboldened me, my sister-spouse, Emboldened me with one of thine eyes, With one chain of thy neck. 10. How wonderful have been thy loves, my sister-spouse, How much better have been thy loves than wine, And the fragrance of thy perfumes than all spices. 11. Thy lips drop honey, O spouse, Honey and milk [are] under thy tongue, And the fragrance of thy garments [Is] as the fragrance of Lebanon. 12. A garden shut up [is] my sister-spouse, A spring shut up, a fountain sealed. 13. Thy shoots a paradise of pomegranates, With precious fruits, 14. Cypresses with nard, nard and saffron, Cane and cinnamon, With all trees of frankincense, Myrrh and aloes, with all chief spices. 15. A fount of gardens, a well of living waters, And flowings from Lebanon! 16. Awake, O north wind, and come, O south, Cause my garden to breathe forth, its spices let flow, Let my beloved come to his garden, And eat its pleasant fruits!" (Song of Solomon 4:1-16, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

H5650 - ebed

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.