gazelle

Both the Hebrew and Greek names are probably general terms for gazelle. At least two types of gazelle the Dorcas Gazelle Gazella dorcas and the Palestine or Arabian Gazelle Gazella arabica were found in the Middle East. They are still to be found in secluded areas.

Gazelles are small to medium sized plains antelopes, inhabiting savannah plains and semideserts. Both sexes have horns, except for the female impala, which is without horns. The horns of the gazelle species mentioned above are lyre-shaped about 25-50 centimeters (10-20 inches) in length. Gazelles are reddish brown with almost white underparts. They are long-legged and graceful and are expert jumpers. They live in small herds of up to about thirty. Females become sexually active at one year and bear young every year. This high rate of reproduction ensures their survival. They feed on both grass and the leaves of acacia and other bushes.

A breeding herd consists of one dominant breeding male and a group of females. The other males are chased from the herd when they become sexually active and they then form bachelor herds. These bachelor herds are the prime target for human and animal hunters since they provide a convenient source of meat while leaving the breeding cycle intact. In biblical times gazelles were trapped in nets or snares or were shot with bows and arrows.

The gazelle was seen as the cleanest of game animals since it met all the requirements of the Law concerning cloven hooves and cud-chewing. It was also a symbol of speed grace and beauty (the Hebrew root means beauty) and of female sexuality and fertility.

Where a language distinguishes between male and female animals, tsvi should be translated by the male form and tsviyah by the female form.

In East Africa where gazelles are well-known, a generic word for gazelles or the specific word for one of the smaller gazelles, such as the Thompson’s Gazelle Gazella thompsonii, is suitable. Elsewhere in Africa where the impala is known, the word for this antelope can be used.

Elsewhere, the word for a small antelope or deer that lives in herds can be used for the references that are literal, and the word for some swift, graceful antelope or deer can be used in the contexts where speed, grace, or beauty are being symbolized. As usual, in areas where gazelles, antelopes, and deer are unknown, a transliteration from the dominant international language or from the Hebrew original can be used. In such cases a description should be given in the glossary.

Gazella dorcas, Wikimedia Commons

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

complete verse (Song of Solomon 2:9)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Song of Solomon 2:9:

  • Kupsabiny: “My beloved is like an antelope
    of a young bush duiker.
    He is leaning against a wall,
    peering through a window hole
    and looking through the grating/grid.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Hey My beloved, you are like a young gazelle or a deer.
    Look here! He is standing below the wall
    and he is looking through the window,
    peering through the lattice window.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “like a deer. Look, he (is) outside standing beside our (excl.) wall and peeking at me through the window.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “like a deer or a gazelle.
    Now he is standing outside the wall of our house,
    looking in the window,
    and peering through the lattice/wooden strips inside the window frame.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Song of Songs 2:9

My beloved: see notes on 1.13.

On gazelle see comments in 2.7. In describing the beloved in this way, this verse forms the opening element of an inclusio that brackets this section. The inclusio ends in verse 17. The expression young stag is literally “young of stags.” The word stag is the masculine counterpart of the form used in 2.7, “hinds.”

If deer-like animals are not known, we may want to substitute another animal, especially one that represents the best in male qualities. But we must be very careful that the imagery of the poem is preserved. We are asked to imagine these animals as they are seen against the sky, standing on the craggy mountains and then leaping and bounding away. The features of speed, agility, beauty, and perhaps even freedom may come into the picture. An inappropriate choice, such as a panther, for example, could undermine the joyful spirit of the Song. So we may have to use a general expression, “like a graceful, swift animal,” even though this robs the poem of an important figure.

A translation model is “My lover is like the wild deer.”

Behold, there he stands behind our wall: in verse 8 we noted the use of the interjection “Behold”; we see it again here with the participle form of the verb following. Her lover has reached her home but apparently dares not enter; he waits outside in the hope of catching a glimpse of her. Translating Behold as “Look” does not fit the context here. We know that this is an emotive word, so we should look for some way to show how close to her he is now, and how excited she is. We may use a demonstrative, “Here he is….” A word like “just” may stress the closeness: “Here he is, just outside….” Behind our wall means “outside the wall” of the house as she looks out from inside. The Hebrew term translated wall is used only this once in the Old Testament. It probably refers to the wall of the house.

Gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice: here a balanced pair of phrases follows the “behold” construction as in verse 8. Windows and lattice refer to openings in the wall, with lattice indicating the decoration inside the window frame. As with so many terms in this section, this word occurs only here in the entire Old Testament. It can be rendered “screen.” When translating such items the translator should be as general as possible; that is, we should avoid referring to items that could not have existed at the time the Song was written, or that do not belong to the ancient Israelite culture.

The Hebrew verbs used, rendered as gazing and looking, are rare terms. We understand them to suggest that the young man is “peering in,” looking for the young woman. Since these forms are participles in Hebrew, we need to find a verb form that stresses present action. Some languages have particles that mark sentences as being highlighted or especially intense in emotion.

These two phrases form parallel lines, so if we cannot find terms for both “window” and “lattice,” and for “gazing” and “looking,” it is best to reduce the two items in each clause to one. If we do this, however, we will lose some of the rhythm that is characteristic of the passage.

For translation we may suggest:

• There he stands now, outside the wall, peering in at the windows, looking through the lattice [or, screen].

• Here he is! Just outside the wall!
Peering through the windows,
Gazing through the screen.

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 .

3rd person pronoun with high register (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a third person singular and plural pronoun (“he,” “she,” “it” and their various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. While it’s not uncommon to avoid pronouns altogether in Japanese, there are is a range of third person pronouns that can be used.

In these verses a number of them are used that pay particularly much respect to the referred person (or, in fact, God, as in Exodus 15:2), including kono kata (この方), sono kata (その方), and ano kata (あの方), meaning “this person,” “that person,” and “that person over there.” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also third person pronoun with exalted register.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Song of Songs 2:9

2:9a–b

In this clause the woman continued the comparison that she began in 2:8c. In 2:9 she mentioned two animals that her beloved was like. In some languages it may be helpful to mention the animals earlier in 2:8. See the General Comment on 2:8–9 after the notes on 2:9c for an example.

My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag: Here the author used a simile to compare the man to a gazelle and a young stag. The man moved fast and gracefully like a gazelle and a stag move. In some languages it may be necessary to make explicit how the man was like a gazelle or stag. For example:

My beloved is ⌊as fast/strong and graceful⌋ as a gazelle, as a young stag.

In other languages it may be more natural to use a metaphor. For example:

My love is a gazelle, a wild stag.

a gazelle or a young stag: The words gazelle and stag refer to two animals that belong to the antelope family. A stag is a male deer. The female deer, called a “doe,” was mentioned in 2:7. Gazelles and stags are fast, graceful, and beautiful. If two similar animals like these are unknown in your area, you can compare the man to one animal with these characteristics. For example:

My beloved is like a young deer.

In some cultures there are no animals like the gazelle and stag. If that is true in your language, some ways to translate the words are:

• Use a general word that refers to a graceful animal that runs and jumps on rocky hillsides. For example:

like a fast-moving, beautiful animal
-or-
like an animal that is swift and beautiful

• Use a loan word from the national language with a descriptive word. For example:

a graceful gazelle

• Substitute an animal with similar characteristics that is known in your area. It should also fit the joyful tone that the woman used to describe the man. Some dangerous animals (like lions) are fast and graceful, but they would not fit this context.

Gazelles were also mentioned in 2:7b, but their specific characteristics were not in focus.

or a young stag: There is an ellipsis in the phrase or a young stag. The full form is:

or ⌊he is like⌋ a young stag.

The word or introduces an animal that is similar to the gazelle in 2:8. The woman implied that her beloved was like both a deer and a young stag. Comparing him to both of these animals emphasizes the comparison. Other ways to connect 2:9a and 2:9b are:

like a gazelle, like a young stag (Good News Translation)
-or-
like a deer, a ⌊beautiful⌋ deer

2:9c

Look, he stands behind our wall: In this clause the woman was excited and joyful that her beloved was there, standing near the wall of her house. She emphasized this excitement by using the word Look. Some other ways to translate her excitement are:

Behold, there he stands behind our wall. (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
There he is standing behind our wall!

The phrase Look, he stands is similar to “Look! Here he comes” in 2:8b. It is good to translate these two phrases in a similar way. That emphasizes the contrast between the man’s leaping on the hills as he comes to the woman (2:8b–d) and his quiet waiting as he stands by her window (2:9d–e).

he stands behind our wall: Here the woman continued to compare the man to a gazelle or stag. She thought of him and the gazelle/stag at the same time.

In some languages it may be difficult to refer to both a man and a deer in the same way (as English does with the pronoun he). If you must choose to refer either to the man or the deer, it is better to refer to the man. It is he who stood outside and invited the woman to come with him. For example:

There my beloved stands behind our wall

behind our wall: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as wall occurs only here in the Old Testament. It probably refers to a wall of the house rather than to a courtyard wall. The phrase behind our wall indicates that the man was outside the house near one of its walls. The woman was inside the house. In 2:9d–e the man spoke to her from outside the wall of the house near her window. The house was probably her family’s home.

Some other ways to translate behind our wall are:

outside the wall ⌊of our (excl.) house⌋
-or-
beside the ⌊house⌋ wall

The wall probably refers to a wall in her family’s home. Be careful not to imply that the house belonged to the man and woman. In some languages it may be necessary to make the meaning more explicit. For example:

the wall ⌊of my family home⌋

General Comment on 2:8–9

In 2:8–9 the woman compared her beloved to a gazelle or young stag. However, she did not mention those animals until verse 9. In some languages it is clearer to introduce the animals in verse 8. One way to do this is to combine 2:8–9 and move 2:9a–b before 2:8c–d. For example:

8a Listen! My beloved approaches. 9a My beloved is like a gazelle 9b or a young stag. 8b Look! Here he comes

8c leaping upon the mountains,

8d bounding over the hills.

2:9d–e

There is parallelism in 2:9d and 2:9e:

9d
gazing through the windows,

9e
peering through the lattice.

The lines have similar meanings. The parallel parts are marked in similar ways. In some languages it may be more natural to express the meaning only once. For example:

9d-e looking in through the window

windows…lattice: The Hebrew words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as windows and lattice (2:9e) are both plural in Hebrew. There are at least two ways to interpret these plural forms:

(1) It is a special use of the plural form in Hebrew, and it should be translated as singular. For example:

He looks in at the window, (New Jerusalem Bible)

he peers through the opening.

(2) It indicates that the man was moving around the house looking into different windows and lattices. He was trying to see the woman. For example:

peeking through the windows, (New Century Version)

looking through the blinds.

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). The text says that the man was standing there. It does not indicate that he was moving from one window to another. However, both (1) and (2) have support from versions and commentaries, and either is acceptable.

Since the Berean Standard Bible follows interpretation (2), the Notes will use the NET Bible as the source line for 2:9d.

2:9d

(NET Bible) gazing through the window: The phrase gazing through the window indicates that the man was looking through the window into the house. The author had just compared the man to a gazelle or stag, so readers can imagine either the man or a curious gazelle or stag standing beside the window.

The man looked into the window to attract the woman’s attention. He wanted to invite her to come outside and be with him. There was nothing improper in his actions.

(NET Bible) gazing: The Hebrew word that the NET Bible translates as gazing means “staring at” or “looking at intently.” The man stood outside the house and looked through the window into the inside of the house. He hoped to see the woman there.

2:9e

peering through the lattice: This phrase has almost the same meaning as 2:9d. For a suggestion on combining these parts of the verse, see the General Comment on 2:9d–e at the end of the notes for 2:9e.

peering: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as peering occurs only here in the Old Testament. It means “to gaze” or “to peer.” It has almost the same meaning as “gazing” in 2:9d. The Hebrew verb form implies that the man was peering through the window as the woman spoke.

lattice: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as lattice occurs only here in the OT. A lattice is a small framed opening in the wall. It has almost the same meaning as windows in 2:9d. Sometimes, a lattice had small wooden bars across it to make it stronger.

General Comment on 2:9d–e

The lines in 2:9d–e have similar meanings. In some languages it may be more natural to combine the two parallel lines into one line. For example, the Contemporary English Version says:

Now he stands outside our wall, (2:9c)

looking in through the window (2:9d–e)

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