The speaker in verse 1 is now the young man, so we may add a marginal note to identify him. Reading the opening words of this description of his beloved’s physical features, we recall that in 1.15 the young man has once before addressed her in this same way. He repeats what he said there. Repetition is one of the many literary features of the Song. Translators can refer back to notes on 1.15 for interpretation and translation suggestions. We can say “You are beautiful, my love, so beautiful!” or “Look at you, my darling, you are beautiful, so beautiful.”

Your eyes are doves behind your veil: as was noted in 1.15, the woman’s eyes are not actually doves; they are similar to a dove in that they have its qualities of softness and gentleness. In many languages this metaphor will have to be turned into a simile, with words of comparison: “Your eyes are like doves.” In some instances it will also be necessary to add the basis for the comparison: “Your eyes, gentle as doves….”

Behind your veil: in 2.14 the dove represents a bird generally preferring to hide away in rocky places where it cannot be reached. In comparing his lover’s eyes to the dove, the young man is speaking of her soft, gentle eyes and the way they look out from behind the veil she wears. Some commentators and translators consider the phrase to mean that he is looking at her eyes “through her veil”; alternatively she is the one looking out from behind the veil. We prefer the view that the young woman is peeking out from behind the veil, which covers part of her face. We can say “Your eyes, gentle like doves, look out from behind your veil.”

Good News Translation ignores the metaphor and translates “How your eyes shine with love behind your veil.” But it is not clear that this is the true meaning. Since the figure of the “dove” occurs throughout the Song, it is preferable to preserve it if possible.

A veil is a covering generally made of fine cloth, worn on the head. It covers the hair and at least the lower part of the face. In some Middle Eastern cultures the veil covers the entire face, but this does not seem to have been the practice in Israel. In many cases the cloth is so fine that what is behind it is still partly visible. If the veil is not known, we can give its meaning as “the fine cloth with which you cover [part of] your face.” A general word such as “covering” or “head covering” can also be used, though it may be necessary to include a footnote explaining this practice. This is a place where an illustration would be especially appropriate.

Your hair is like a flock of goats: as goats were usually black in color, the phrase refers to the woman’s black hair (compare 5.11). We may have to make this fact clear, because in many parts of the world goats are not black but white or spotted, so the point of the comparison would not be clear. This comparison can present other problems as well. In some parts of the world, comparing a woman to a goat is certainly not a compliment. In some cultures a “goat” can even refer to an immoral male! When such a clash in associated meanings occurs, it is better not to use the original image but to translate the meaning. We can say, for example, “your beautiful black hair,” or make another natural comparison, “Your hair, dark as night” or “Your hair, dark as the storm clouds….”

This same description reappears in 6.5.

Moving down the slopes of Gilead refers to the way her hair moves as she walks or moves her head. Her hair is presumably long and flows down her back. As she moves her head, the movement of her hair reminds her lover of a flock of black goats as they move together down the side of a mountain. The slopes of Gilead is literally “from the mountain of Gilead.” The region of Gilead is in northern Jordan and is extremely fertile pasture land. The imagery can be conveyed by “mountain slopes” if translators feel the literal rendering of the phrase slopes of Gilead will not have much meaning.

Moving down translates a Hebrew verb that is normally associated with bubbling water, or with washing. The verb occurs only twice in Scripture, here and in 6.5, so we must discover its meaning from context. The verb modifies goats not hair, so we can use words describing the movement of these animals: “bounding down” (Good News Translation), “frisking down” (Jerusalem Bible). However, since the point of the comparison is to describe the young woman’s hair, we may prefer an adjective that is more applicable to hair than goats: “streaming down” (Revised English Bible, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible) or “flowing down.” Revised Standard Version “moving down” is acceptable but not very poetic.

We can translate as:

• Your hair is like a flock of black goats flowing down Mount Gilead.

Alternatively we can use a verb like “flow” to qualify “hair”:

• Your black hair flows down like goats coming down the mountain slopes [of Gilead].

For a translation that makes clear the basis of the simile, we may say:

• Your hair, dark and full, flows down, like a flock of goats descending Mount Gilead.

If reference to goats is unsuitable:

• Your hair is black and rich, like the deepest night.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Zogbo, Lynell. A Handbook on the Book of Song of Songs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1998. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .