1:15–17 The man and woman praised each other and described their beautiful meeting place

1:15 The man spoke to the woman

1:15a–b

How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how very beautiful!: Here the man spoke directly to the woman with an exclamation that emphasizes her beauty. He repeated the word beautiful to emphasize it. In some languages, this repetition is not natural. If that is true in your language, use a different way to translate the emphasis. For example:

You are a very beautiful woman.
-or-
you are really lovely

1:15a

my darling: See 1:9a–b for a discussion of my darling. In some languages a direct address comes first in the sentence. For example:

My darling, how beautiful you are…

1:15b

Oh: The Hebrew word hinneh that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Oh means “Look!” It calls attention to the woman’s beauty and emphasizes it. Consider how to do that in a natural way in your language. Some languages may use an emphatic word or phrase. For example:

Behold, you are beautiful…! (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
Look at you! You are beautiful…! (God’s Word)
-or-
Wow/Ah, you are so beautiful!

1:15c

Your eyes are like doves: The clause Your eyes are like doves is a simile. It indicates that the woman’s eyes reminded the man of doves in some way. It does not imply that her eyes looked like doves. It implies that her eyes had a quality that reminded him of doves.

Scholars do not know exactly how the woman’s eyes were like doves. But in this context it is obvious that the simile was a compliment to describe her beautiful eyes. Doves are gentle birds, and gentle eyes are beautiful.

Some ways to interpret the compliment are:

(1) Her eyes were gentle and beautiful like doves.

(2) Her eyes caused the man to feel more intense love for her. Doves were sometimes used as symbols of love.

(3) Her eyes were lively or sparkling like a dove’s lively movements.

English versions do not make explicit which interpretation they follow. It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). It seems to be the most natural interpretation based on the common characteristics of doves.

In some languages it may be necessary to make this interpretation explicit so that people will not understand a wrong meaning. For example:

Your eyes ⌊show that you are as gentle⌋ as a dove.
-or-
your eyes, they are ⌊beautiful⌋ like doves.

In some areas doves are not known. If that is true in your language, some other ways to translate it are:

• Use a bird in your area that is known as gentle and beautiful.

• Use a more general phrase. For example:

a shy, beautiful bird

doves: doves are small birds that people raised in that culture for meat. In the Bible doves are often used as a metaphor to describe gentleness, human mourning, or beauty. A man could use “dove” or “my dove” as a name for his beloved as he spoke to her in a loving way.