Passage

Song of Solomon 5.10-16

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"8. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, If ye find my beloved, That ye tell him, that I am sick from love. 9. What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? What is thy beloved more than another beloved, That thou dost so adjure us?"

"10. My beloved is white and ruddy, The chiefest among ten thousand. 11. His head is as the most fine gold; His locks are bushy, and black as a raven. 12. His eyes are like doves beside the water - brooks, Washed with milk, and fitly set. 13. His cheeks are as a bed of spices, As banks of sweet herbs: His lips are as lilies, dropping liquid myrrh. 14. His hands are as rings of gold set with beryl: His body is as ivory work overlaid with sapphires. 15. His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: His aspect is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. 16. His mouth is most sweet; Yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem." (Song of Solomon 5:8-16, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"8. I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, If you find my beloved, that you tell him that I am faint with love. 9. How is your beloved better than another beloved, you fairest among women? How is your beloved better than another beloved, that you do so adjure us?"

"10. My beloved is white and ruddy. The best among ten thousand. 11. His head is like the purest gold. His hair is bushy, black as a raven. 12. His eyes are like doves beside the water brooks, washed with milk, mounted like jewels. 13. His cheeks are like a bed of spices with towers of perfumes. His lips are like lilies, dropping liquid myrrh. 14. His hands are like rings of gold set with beryl. His body is like ivory work overlaid with sapphires. 15. His legs are like pillars of marble set on sockets of fine gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. 16. His mouth is sweetness; yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem." (Song of Solomon 5:8-16, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"8. I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love. ^{that ye: Heb. what, etc} 9. What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?"

"10. My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. ^{the chiefest: Heb. a standard bearer} 11. His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven. ^{bushy: or, curled} 12. His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set. ^{fitly: Heb. sitting in fulness, that is, fitly placed, and set as a precious stone in the foil of a ring} 13. His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh. ^{sweet flowers: or, towers of perfumes} 14. His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. 15. His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. 16. His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. ^{mouth: Heb. palate}" (Song of Solomon 5:8-16, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"8. I have adjured you, daughters of Jerusalem, If ye find my beloved, What do ye tell him? that I [am] sick with love! 9. What [is] thy beloved above [any] beloved, O fair among women? What [is] thy beloved above [any] beloved, That thus thou hast adjured us?"

"10. My beloved [is] clear and ruddy, Conspicuous above a myriad! 11. His head [is] pure gold, fine gold, His locks flowing, dark as a raven, 12. His eyes as doves by streams of water, Washing in milk, sitting in fulness. 13. His cheeks as a bed of the spice, towers of perfumes, His lips [are] lilies, dropping flowing myrrh, 14. His hands rings of gold, set with beryl, His heart bright ivory, covered with sapphires, 15. His limbs pillars of marble, Founded on sockets of fine gold, His appearance as Lebanon, choice as the cedars. 16. His mouth is sweetness, and all of him desirable, This [is] my beloved, and this my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem!" (Song of Solomon 5:8-16, 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.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Muhammad Not in Bible Objection Defeater

Notes

Your annotations.

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.