Passage
Song of Solomon 5.10
Book: Song of Solomon · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT
Immediate context (±2 verses)
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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." (Song of Solomon 5:8-12, 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." (Song of Solomon 5:8-12, 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" (Song of Solomon 5:8-12, 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." (Song of Solomon 5:8-12, YLT)
Setting
- Speaker: the bridegroom, the bride, and the chorus (multi-voiced)
- Audience: Israel; theological-allegorical reading: the believing soul + Christ
- Location: Israel + Lebanon (Solomonic court)
- Time period: traditionally c. 970-930 BC (Solomon)
Theological reading
Key words
No Strong's-tagged lexicon matches found in this passage. (Lexicon coverage is curated, ~159 of the most apologetically-loaded Greek/Hebrew terms.)
Quoted in
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.