Poem 4:1–7 The man told his bride how beautiful she is

In 4:1–7 the man used figures of speech to tell his bride how beautiful and majestic she was. He first praised her eyes and hair, then he praised her mouth, lips, and teeth. He described her temples and neck and then her breasts. Poem 4:1–7 begins and ends with similar statements that summarize her beauty:

:1 How beautiful you are, my darling—

how very beautiful!

:7 You are altogether beautiful, my darling;

there is no flaw in you.

Cultures have different ideas about what is beautiful. In some cultures the figures of speech that the man used to describe the woman may seem strange or insulting, but in his culture, they were powerful ways to praise her. Sometimes they described the man’s feelings about her instead of describing her appearance. For example, in 4:4 the man compared the woman’s neck (or her necklaces) to the tower of King David. Her neck did not look like the tower, but to him she seemed as majestic as that tower where warriors’ shields hung to represent their power.

Standards for respectful speech and actions in the Song

In 4:1–7 the man often referred to the woman’s body. In most cultures certain parts of the body are “private” or “sexual,” and those parts should not be uncovered in public. In some cultures, women must be covered from the waist to the ankles. Other cultures have different standards. Scholars are not sure about the specific standards in Israel when the Song was written, but the Song does not violate the standards of modesty in the OT. Two facts about the Song may help to indicate the standards of modesty in Israel’s culture in OT times:

(a) The Song refers to parts of the female body more than 40 times, but only three of these mention areas below the waist. This may imply that the area below the waist was the “private” area, which must be covered in public.

(b) In 8:8–10 both the woman and her brothers spoke casually about her breasts. This probably indicates that in that culture a woman did not always cover her breasts. For example, it was common to breast-feed babies openly (as in 8:1 and other OT verses).

These two facts imply that the author described the woman’s body in a more modest way than some scholars assume. When the man described the woman’s beauty (as in 4:1–7 and 7:1–9), he did it in a proper way. He did not describe “private sexual” parts. In some languages it may be helpful to include a footnote to explain that cultures have different standards of what is proper, decent, and respectful. Translate in a way that does not violate your culture’s standards.

4:1–7 The man spoke

4:1a–c

4:1a–b and the first part of 4:1c are identical to 1:15a–b. The Notes for the two verses are not exactly the same because the context is different. In 4:1 the context is the couple’s wedding day. However, you should translate the similarities in the two verses in the same way (or a very similar way).

4:1a–b

How beautiful you are, my darling—how very beautiful!: These phrases also occurred in 1:15. You may translate them as you did there. Notice that the phrases here in 4:1a–b are repeated in 4:7 to form an inclusio, which indicates the end of Poem 4:1–7.

my darling: See the Notes on 1:9a–b for a discussion of the phrase my darling. You should translate it as you did there and in 1:15. In some languages a direct address like this comes first in the sentence. For example:

My darling, how beautiful you are…

4:1c

Your eyes are like doves: The phrase Your eyes are like doves is a simile. The man compares the woman’s eyes to a small bird called a “dove.” The man did not mean that her eyes looked like doves. He meant that her eyes had a characteristic that reminded him of doves.

Scholars are uncertain about the exact meaning of this simile. Doves are gentle birds, so the simile probably implies that the woman’s eyes revealed that she was gentle like a dove. In the context of 4:1a–b it also implies that her eyes were beautiful. doves probably symbolize love here.

See 1:15c (which has the identical simile) for a more detailed discussion. You should translate this simile in the same way in both verses. In some languages it may be necessary to make the meaning explicit. For example:

Your ⌊lovely⌋ eyes ⌊show that you are as gentle⌋ as a dove

doves: For more information about doves, see the note on 1:15c.

behind your veil: Here in 4:1c the author adds the phrase behind your veil, which was not part of the comparison in 1:15. A veil was a piece of fabric that covered part of the head. In this verse, the author implied that the veil covered the woman’s face.

Probably the veil was partly transparent so that the man could see her eyes through the fabric. Other scholars say that the veil may have covered only the lower part of her face so that her eyes were visible above the veil.

Some other ways to translate behind your veil are:

as you look through your veil (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
inside the cloth that covers your face

4:1d–e

Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead: In 4:1d–e the author describes the way the woman’s hair looks as it moves. It moves in a fascinating way that is constantly changing. He compares it to the way a big group of goats move down mountain slopes in Gilead. Their movements are delightful to watch as they come down the mountain together. A similar simile is found in 6:5.

In many cultures people do not compare a woman’s hair to the movement of goats. If this is true in your language, you may need to make the similarity more explicit. For example:

Your hair dances like a flock of goats bounding down the hills of Gilead. (Good News Translation)
-or-
Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead. (New Century Version)
-or-
Your ⌊dark/black⌋ hair moves like a flock of ⌊dark/black⌋ goats as they leap down the slopes of Gilead.

For more information, see the note on streaming down Mount Gilead in this part of the verse.

4:1d

flock of goats: The phrase flock of goats refers here to a group of goats that are seen from a distance. The individual goats are not in focus. The author compared the woman’s hair to a flock of goats moving down a mountain to imply that her hair was beautiful as it moved.

In some cultures, people do not think of goats as beautiful or graceful. They may think of them as ugly or even associated with evil customs. If that is true in your culture, you may use a more general term. For example:

like flocks/groups of animals dancing down the slopes of Gilead

4:1e

streaming down: Here the Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as streaming describes the way the goats move, or how they look as they go down the mountain slopes and hillsides in Gilead. Some other ways to describe this movement are:

flowing/streaming down
-or-
bounding/dancing down

Use a poetic way in your language to describe their movement.

Mount Gilead: The name Gilead probably refers here to a plateau region on the east side of the Jordan River. That region has many cliffs and mountain slopes. It probably does not refer to a single mountain. However, scholars and English versions differ on this issue. In this context, you may translate the word Mount as either singular or plural, whichever is most natural in your language. For example:

the slopes of Gilead (Revised Standard Version)

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