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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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
The concept of “please” is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-kure (おくれ) with the respectful prefix o-. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
The Greek, Aramaic and Hebrew that is translated as “leopard” in English was translated in the 1900 Kalaallisut (Greenlandic) translation (a newer version was published in 2000) as milakulâĸ or “one with small spots.” “Milakulâĸ (modern milakulaaq), is derived from the base milak ‘spot, freckle’ followed by a nominalizing suffix with a diminutive sense. This choice provides readers with a vivid description of the animal in question, which would allow them to visualize its appearance even though it is not a feature of the local environment.’” (Source: Lily Kahn & Riitta-Liisa Valijärvi in The Bible Translator 2019, p. 125ff.)
In passages where speed is in the focus (such as Habakkuk 1:8, the Kalanga translation uses “cheetah.” (Source: project-specific notes in Paratext)
Both leopards Panthera pardus and Cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus were fairly common in Israel until the twentieth century. Leopards lived both in the mountains and in the thick undergrowth found in many wadis and along the Jordan Valley. A very few still live in the Negev and in the wadis along the Dead Sea. Cheetahs lived in the semi-desert plains of Egypt the land of Israel Arabia and Syria. They were trained and used in hunting in both the Middle East and Egypt hundreds of years before Christ. They have now been hunted to extinction in these areas.
In the Old Testament it is likely that the one Hebrew word namer and the Aramaic word nemar were used for both animals. The Greek word pardalis means leopard.
Leopards are the most widely distributed of all the great cats. They are found throughout tropical mainland Asia and Africa. They are about 2 meters (6 feet) in length and are a yellowish brown color with black spots arranged in rosettes all over the body and tail. These spots make it very easy for a leopard to blend in with patches of shade and sunlight in or under bushes and trees. They are extremely agile, and this agility and their natural camouflage are used to the full in their hunting methods. They stalk gazelles, antelope, or deer (occasionally goats or sheep) until they are within ten or fifteen meters (30-50 feet) or less. They then break cover and leap onto their prey. They have a slightly different strategy when hunting monkeys and baboons. They drive them to the extreme ends of branches by climbing after them, and when the monkey or baboon finally drops from the tree, the leopard leaps after it and catches it on the ground.
Once a leopard has killed an animal, it carries it into a tree or onto a high rock to eat, possibly to get away from hyenas. Once a leopard has satisfied its appetite, if there is still meat left on the carcass, it will leave the carcass in the fork of a branch and return to feed again later. The exception to this is when a female has cubs. She will then carry the kill to her cubs in a lair under rocks or a log, but she will still carry any leftover meat into a tree to store in the branches. Unlike lions and cheetahs, leopards do not chase their prey over long distances.
Leopards live and hunt alone, coming together only at mating time. Cubs stay with their mothers only until they can hunt on their own; they are usually completely on their own by the time they are one year old. A female leopard with cubs is very protective and extremely dangerous.
Occasionally a leopard will be born completely black (the so-called black panther). This is simply an ordinary leopard with a slight genetic abnormality known as melanism.
Cheetahs or hunting leopards as they are sometimes called are also spotted but are slightly smaller and have longer legs than leopards. They also have a vertical stripe across each eye. Unlike most other members of the cat family cheetahs cannot retract their claws. They are found throughout sub-Saharan Africa but their numbers are greatly reduced now. A few remain in South Asia where they were once plentiful.
Cheetahs live in small family groups and hunt together. They are extremely fast and rely on this speed in their hunting. They live in open grassland on plains and apart from the grass and low bushes there is often not much cover for them to use in stalking. They stalk their prey to within about fifty meters (55 yards) and then break cover and with a tremendous turn of speed chase the prey and attempt to catch it by the throat.
Leopards are often paired with lions in the biblical text and are thus a symbol of violent danger. In Habakkuk 1:8, however, the namer is a symbol of speed. This would fit the cheetah rather than the leopard.
Where leopards are not known, the word for jaguar, bobcat, puma, mountain lion, or tiger can be used. Elsewhere, a borrowed word or a transliteration will need to be used, taking the Hebrew or the dominant local language as the basis.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Song of Solomon 4:8:
Kupsabiny: “Come with me, my maiden, Get up from this mountain of Lebanon and let us quickly run to the top of Mount Amana. Let us leave from Senir there at the top of Hermon and let us get out from the lairs of lions, and the hills where leopards are not few.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Oh, my bride, come with me from Lebanon. Surely, I say come with me from Lebanon. Come down from the summit of Mount Amana, from the peaks of Senir and Hermon, where the lions have their dens and leopards live among the hills.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “[You (sing.)] come with me from Lebanon, my girlfriend. We (incl.) will-go-down from the top/peak of the mountains of Amana, Senir, and Hermon, where lions/[leon] and leopards/[leopardo] live/reside.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “My bride, it is as though you are in Lebanon far away, where I cannot reach you; come back to me. It is as though you are inaccessible on the top of Hermon Mountain or the nearby peaks. Come from where the lions have their dens and where the leopards live on the mountains.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Among the English versions there seems to be a great deal of confusion and inconsistency in the translation of the various Hebrew words. This is due in large part to the fact that the English translators and the commentators who have guided them have had many mistaken ideas about lions and their behavior. To take Amos 3:4 as an example, Smalley and de Waard (A Handbook on Amos. New York, 1979), commenting on this verse and echoing many others, claim: “The lion’s roar in the first picture is the ferocious roar with which the lion attacks an animal he is going to kill and eat. When someone hears this roar, he knows that the lion has found his victim. In the second picture, however, it is the lion’s contented growl when he has dragged the food to his den.” (see here)
However, lions do not roar as they attack their prey, (in fact they kill very silently as a rule), and lions do not normally live in dens. Moreover, they do not growl contentedly when eating. Instead they growl and snarl at the other lions in the pride who are trying to share the meal.
Click or tap here for the rest of this entry in United Bible Societies’ All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible
In case there are readers who react by thinking that it is unlikely that unsophisticated ancient peoples would have known these details, it should be pointed out that unsophisticated people all over Africa, who live in areas where there are lions, are very familiar with lion behavior, and it is highly likely that the Jewish writers were too. The problem would seem to lie with the mistaken presuppositions of western biblical scholars, rather than those of the Jewish writers. Later in this section evidence will be given that the biblical writers were very familiar with lion behavior.
In a similar vein, it is likely that the many Hebrew words for lions each have a slightly different meaning from one another. A closer study of lions and their behavior may help to define these meanings.
In biblical times lions were found all over the Middle East, in Mesopotamia, in Egypt, and in the area of Sudan and Ethiopia called Cush.
The Greek word leōn and the Latin leo are general words for lion, while the Greek leontēdon means something like “fierce lion”.
In order to dispel many of the wrong presuppositions about lions that are current among biblical scholars, the description of this animal will be more detailed and extensive than for other animals in this book.
Lions Panthera leo are the largest of the great cats, often being about 2.8 meters (9 feet) from nose to tip of tail, standing as high as 1 meter (3 feet 3 inches) at the shoulder. However, the difference in size between lions and Bengal Tigers Panthera tigris is minimal. An adult lion is at least half a meter (20 inches) longer than a LeopardPanthera pardus and weighs twice as much, often reaching 250 kilograms (550 pounds) in weight; it is about 30 centimeters (1 foot) longer and 100 kilograms (220 pounds) heavier than a Jaguar Panthera onca or Mountain Lion (Puma) Puma concolor. Lions are a pale yellowish brown, but at birth they have spots that usually disappear gradually as they grow. Around the neck and shoulders of adult males grows a mane that is darker than the rest of their fur. Some even have black manes. Females and young males do not have manes and look very similar to each other.
Lions live in family groups called “prides”, which are made up of a dominant male lion (often called “the pride male”), plus a group of adult and sub adult females and young males. Males may leave the pride, and occasionally one or two females may go off with a wandering male, but normally the females continue in the pride and develop very close bonds with one another that last a lifetime. The dominant male will often make ritual attacks on the younger males of the pride, who roll over in submission rather than fight.
However, adult males from within and outside the pride challenge the dominant male and one another when a female is in season and will try to mate with her. This results in serious fights. If the dominant male is defeated from within the pride, he leaves the pride to wander alone, but the remainder of the pride remains intact. If a male from outside the pride takes over from the pride male, he usually chases away the other males, which then wander singly or in small groups of three or four. These wandering males will try to take over other prides or steal females from them. Ousted pride males, since they are alone and have no help in hunting, are often hungry, thin, undernourished, and dangerous.
About two or three days before a pregnant female is about to give birth to cubs, she digs a temporary den under a rock or fallen log and visits it with one or two of the other females. After she gives birth in the den, one of the other females will bring her meat from a kill. This enables the mother to remain with her newborn cubs continuously for the first week or two of their lives. The mother lioness moves the newborn cubs to a new den every three or four days. When the cubs are about two weeks old, the mother carries the cubs to where the other pride members are, and the pride makes their acquaintance by licking them. Thereafter the cubs belong to the pride and suckle on any lactating lioness that happens to be near.
Until they are old enough to hunt, cubs hide in thickets while the pride hunters do their work. At a later stage they accompany the hunting lions, but watch the killing from the sidelines. Finally the mother will help them kill small animals, until they are able to kill efficiently. Then they join the pride hunts.
A pride lives together in the same territory. Bushes and tree trunks are marked by spraying a liquid from a gland next to the anus. This marked territory is defended against intruding lions. The pride will come together at feeding time and remain together after a feed, but will scatter across the territory prior to hunting.
Lions utter a variety of sounds, and this should be borne in mind when translating Scripture passages that refer to the noises lions make. The Hebrew words are usually not very specific, but the context will indicate the type of noise intended.
Roaring is the loudest of the lion sounds and is usually produced by the males. It is believed to be territory-marking behavior and a means of maintaining pride solidarity. It is usually done before hunting begins and also functions to help the pride locate the positions of scattered members. This is important for hunting. Roaring consists of a long, very loud moaning sound followed by shorter rhythmic panting moans, which are repeated as many as twenty times, while becoming softer and softer. No two lions roar in exactly the same way, and they can be identified from their roars. Roaring is also a means by which wandering male lions make known their availability as potential mates. Hungry lions roar more frequently than well-fed ones, and this is an indication of how hungry they are.
Growling is a warning sound. It is a very deep rumbling repeated with each breath. It is intended to chase away strange lions or other potential enemies, such as leopards, hyenas, or humans. When a lion or lioness growls, it usually advances towards its enemy. If growling does not have the desired effect, it is replaced with snarling, which is similar to growling but is more intense and is produced with exposed teeth, the body in a low crouch, and ears laid back flat. This behavior is usually the prelude to an attack. When the attack is actually made on an enemy, a deep trembling moan is uttered, and the ensuing fight takes place with a lot of loud snarling and growling.
When lions are feeding together on one carcass, there is usually a lot of growling, snarling, and snapping among the feeding lions.
Other types of sound made by lions are:
woofing sounds when pride members meet after two or three days’ absence from each other. This sound is also used to call cubs from their hiding places;
drawn out yawning moans by females in heat and by both lions and lionesses when mating;
grunting sounds when chasing prey toward other lions waiting in ambush;
contented loud purring, much as cats do.
Hunting and feeding behavior: After lions have fed well, they rest and relax together for two or three days. Towards the end of this time some of the pride members will begin to move away from the others in the direction of places where prey animals are likely to be grazing. Then, before they begin to hunt, they signal their locations by roaring on and off for an hour or two. They then fall silent and begin to hunt in earnest. Hunting usually takes one of two forms. If there is good cover near the prey, two or three lionesses and young males will stalk the prey using the cover. When they get close enough, one or two will break cover and charge at the prey, while the others maneuver to cut off any escape.
If the terrain is more open, the lionesses and young males will take up ambush positions downwind of the prey animals. Adult males then move fairly openly into upwind positions. They then run toward the prey uttering loud grunts with each breath. With either method, at the first charge the lions try to disable the animal by seizing a leg or by biting the spine. Once they have slowed down the prey, one lion will seize the animal by the throat and suffocate it. Thus death is usually fairly slow and drawn out. If the animal is large, the kill takes a considerable amount of energy, and the lions rest, usually standing, before they begin to feed.
Single wandering male lions are at a great disadvantage in hunting and often go hungry. They thus roar more frequently than pride lions. They often begin to kill domestic animals and sometimes humans.
Among the lions present at the time of the kill, there is a type of seniority, with age being important. The most senior lion or lioness present will begin to feed, and this will be a signal for the others to join in. If the kill is large, they feed in relative silence, but if the prey is small, there is a lot of snarling, growling, and snapping. Whenever a dominant pride male arrives, however, the feeding lions withdraw and leave him to feed alone. A dominant male will sometimes allow an immature cub to feed with him but no mature lions. The pride members will only resume feeding when the dominant male is satisfied. Dominant males are very seldom involved in the chase or the kill. At most they make the charge that drives the prey towards lionesses and young males in ambush.
In the Bible the lion is a symbol of danger and destruction, often being paired with the bear. The lion is also a symbol of great political power and regal majesty.
Before discussing specific passages in detail, it is useful first to try and identify the various Hebrew words with likely lion types. If we examine the verbs and adjectives with which the Hebrew nouns co-occur, we find the following:
’Ari: This, the most frequently used word for lion, is associated with a very wide range of verbs in the Bible, including crouching in ambush, leaping, growling, roaring, killing, destroying, tearing prey to pieces, breaking bones, attacking, breaking from cover, scattering sheep, trampling, and standing on prey. The adjectives used with this noun include strong, destructive, brave, and hungry. From this evidence we can see that ’ari or its feminine form ’aryeh is the general word for lion or lioness.
’ari’el in 2 Samuel 23:20 and 1 Chronicles 11:22 literally means “lion of God” or “mighty lion”, but it is an idiom denoting a human hero or mighty warrior, not a lion.
’Aryeh: Although this is a feminine form, in English versions it is invariably translated as “lion”, because this form usually occurs in the Hebrew phrase gur ’aryeh, which is literally “a cub of lioness”, but which is more naturally translated as “lion cub” in English.
Beney shachats: This expression, which literally means “sons of pride”, occurs only once, in a poetic passage (Job 28:8) as the parallel of “lion” (shachal). Probably, besides having similar sounds, the two expressions both refer to lions. Only KJV reflects this in the translation.
Kefir: The verbs associated with this noun include kill, prowl, hunt, snarl, attack, break cover, tear prey to pieces, roar, and growl. The only adjective associated with the noun is “angry”. Translators often render this as “young lion”. Ezekiel 19:1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 seems to support an identification of kefir with a young male lion that is an efficient killer.
Laviy’: The verbs associated with this noun are growling, devouring, lying down, crouching, and raising cubs. The only descriptive phrase that co-occurs is big teeth. The usual JB rendering of this word as “lioness” seems well founded.
Layish: This noun occurs only three times. The verb phrase that co-occurs is “ dying from lack of prey”. The adjectives that co-occur are “stately in its walk”, and “strong”. The evidence would fit an interpretation such as “lion in its prime time” or “mighty lion”. The reference would seem to be to a dominant male lion or “pride male”. Versions that render this word as “old lion” in some contexts, seem to be slightly misleading.
Shachal: The verbs that co-occur are roaring, hunting, and tearing prey to pieces. Some scholars, using evidence from Assyrian and classical Arabic, believe that this Hebrew word is derived from an older Semitic root meaning “to roar” or “to produce a call”. All available evidence would seem to allow for the interpretation of shachal as “male lion”. It may possibly be a word for a wandering male lion rather than a male that is a member of a pride.
In some English versions of Maccabees the Greek word skumnos is incorrectly translated as “cub” or “whelp”. The context refers to this creature roaring, which lion cubs do not do. The word seems rather to refer to a virile young adult lion. It is better translated as lion in its prime.
In areas where lions are completely unknown, it is better to borrow a word from a dominant language or from Hebrew or Greek, rather than to try and find a local equivalent. This is because the biblical references to the behavior of lions are fairly specific, and if a word for a local animal is used, it will not fit the behavior mentioned in the text. This is especially so because the lion is the only great cat (apart from the cheetah) that lives and hunts in large family groups.
Some attempt should be made to maintain the slight differences in meaning of the various Hebrew words for lions, when the context requires this. This can often be done by using short, natural-sounding descriptive phrases. Often, however, in contexts where only one of the Hebrew words for lion is used, there is no need to maintain a difference, and a simple word for lion or lioness will suffice.
The most common Hebrew phrases used for the sounds lions make are sha’ag, (natan) qol, naham. When sha’ag is used in contexts of human vocal behavior, it indicates cries of pain or distress. In contexts of animal vocal behavior, however, it can signal pain and distress but can also be an aggressive sound and can be translated “bellow, roar, moan, snarl, growl” or sometimes “bark”. A similar Arabic word usually refers to the lowing of cattle or the bleating of goats. For lions English translators have consistently chosen “roar”, because of their mistaken preconception that a lion’s “roar” is an aggressive sound. In most contexts it is best interpreted as “growl” or “snarl”.
(Natan) qol, on the other hand, is a more general expression and can mean any sort of vocalization, from calling, to groaning or singing. English translators of Amos 3:4 have chosen “growl” and “cry out”. In this text this word is the parallel of sha’ag, so the reason for these interpretations is plain. However, a neutral translation, such as “make a sound”, would be equally valid. Of all the Hebrew expressions for lion sounds, this is the one most likely to mean roar, especially in contexts where the noun shachal occurs for “lion”, as for example in Job 4:10.
Naham means to moan in sorrow or pain when used of humans and is usually translated as to growl when used of animals.
Lion habitats and the meaning of ma‘on in the context of lions: Generally the word ma‘on means dwelling place, hiding place, or refuge. In one or two places it refers to a military refuge or fortress. When used of animals, it can mean “lair” (as for jackals), “hiding place”, “territory”, or simply “place where the animals are found”. The choice in translating this Hebrew word has been either “lair” or “den” in all English translations. This choice again seems to be related to the misconceptions about the behavior of lions. Lions do not usually live in dens or lairs, and it is better to translate ma‘on as “territory” or “place where lions live”.
The speaker in this subsection is again the young man, so we need no change in the notes in the margin to identify a change of speaker.
This verse is probably the most difficult one to understand in this section. Some of the problems lie with the text itself, and others with its interpretation. The first problem is that the Hebrew text does not have the verb Come in the first line but rather the word ʾitti, with me. With the exception of Traduction œcuménique de la Bible and New Jerusalem Bible, most versions prefer to take this word as ʾethi “come.” We recommend following this view here. The meaning of this verse is not greatly affected one way or the other, since even reading with me, we would need to provide a verb such as Come. The sense is “Come [to be] with me.”
From Lebanon may be translated literally, or expanded as in Good News Translation to “Lebanon Mountains,” even though Lebanon is not intended as a geographical reference here—the young woman is not in a foreign country. Lebanon is mentioned together with Amana, Senir, and Hermon (Senir is another name for Hermon, see Deut 3.9), all of which are peaks in this mountain area. Together they picture a region that is rough and inhospitable. Thus they not only indicate that she is somehow far away from her lover, but also that he cannot get close to her. It indicates how inaccessible she is to him. Our translation ought to make clear that she is out of reach. One way of doing this is to preserve Lebanon in the first phrase, and render Lebanon in the second line as “where I cannot reach you.”
My bride brings us to a Hebrew term that is used six times in this brief unit but is not found anywhere else in the Song. Reference to the young woman as bride (King James Version “spouse”) does not mean that the two are married or that this is a wedding song. The term bride is used in a similar way to “sister,” another affectionate term for his beloved; their use together in verse 9 makes that clear. Jerusalem Bible suggests “promised bride,” and Bible en français courant “my promised one” or “fiancée,” but there is no evidence in the text to suggest that this is correct. There are, however, a number of languages in the world where the term “wife” is the same as that for “fiancée”; speakers of these languages naturally understand the term “bride” as “young woman promised in marriage.”
This way of speaking about the young woman may raise some difficulty for the translator, but we can look for a term of endearment that has not been used up until now, such as “sweetheart,” “darling,” or “dearest.” Many cultures, however, have no special terms that can be used publicly. Despite this, translators should be able to find a word or term that can express the man’s deep love for the young woman.
Depart from the peak of Amana: Revised Standard Version has a footnote at this point indicating that the opening imperative may also be rendered “Look.” Although the word itself has both meanings, the context appears to rule out the sense “Look” in favor of its other meaning “Leave,” “Come down.” Jerusalem Bible does not agree with this conclusion and prefers “Lower your gaze.” We believe Good News Translation “Come down” is the best way to convey the sense here. New Jerusalem Bible “trip” may be inspired by the jumping of the gazelles and stags in previous verses, but it creates an odd image, if we imagine the young woman to be at the top of a mountain! A neutral verb such as “Descend” or “Come down” is more appropriate.
From the peak of Amana is parallel to [the mountains of] Lebanon in the previous clause. The word peak is literally “the head” of the mountain, so we are referring to the very top.
From the peak of Senir and Hermon: Senir in Deut 3.9 is the Amorite name for Hermon, so the two names are probably used as alternative names for the same mountain. Because they refer to the same place, it is possible to omit one of the names in translation, or to indicate in a footnote that the same place is designated. Mention of these other mountains to the north of Israel further makes obvious that they are not geographical references but are together images to show the young woman is so far from her lover that he cannot reach her. What separates them is not distance but other barriers both physical and social. In 2.9, 14 she is pictured in her own home behind a wall, out of his reach. If she is to come to him, then she will have to leave her home. Her “home” is therefore a possible meaning present in these references to mountains. Though it is theoretically possible to translate these verses without keeping the place names, most versions do keep them. We can make the underlying theme more obvious by adding a descriptive term like “far away”: “Come down from the top of Amana, Senir, and Hermon, mountains [or, places] so far away from me.”
From the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards describes the hideouts where wild animals live, and adds to the feeling that the young man is cut off from his beloved. A minor textual change is suggested in the case of the mountains [of leopards]. The parallelism of the verse indicates that dens should have a balancing term in the following clause. By changing the Hebrew hrry “mountains of…” to hry “lairs of…,” this is achieved. Good News Translation simplifies the references with “where the lions and leopards live.” These animals probably have no special significance other than the fact that they live in places hard for people to reach or dangerous to be in. However, some see this as a possible reference to the woman’s family who would oppose the young couple being together; this too seems an unlikely explanation.
Translation can be “Come down from the mountain tops of Amana, of Senir and Hermon, [come away] from the lions’ dens and leopards’ lair.”
Rhythm, alliteration, and repetition in this passage are striking. The Hebrew preposition for “from” occurs six times.
Come to me from Lebanon, sweetheart From Lebanon, [you will] come
[You will] come down from the top of Amana From the top of Senir [which is] Hermon From the dens of lions From the lairs of leopards.
The translator may be able to retain some of the poetic features through the use of repetitive words or phrases, or through simple rhythm:
• Come with me from Lebanon, my sweetest
Come with me, oh, come!
Come down from the far away mountain tops
of Amana, Senir, and Hermon.
Come away from the lions’ dens and the leopards’ lair.
Come, my sweetest, oh, come!
The last line does not appear in the Hebrew, but we use this example to show that translators may take the liberty of repeating phrases and lines to fit the rhythm of poetic forms in their language.
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 .
Poem 4:8–15 The man called his bride from Lebanon; and compared her to a private garden
In these lines the man continued to use figurative language to praise his bride (4:8–15). First, he spoke to her as if he and she were in Lebanon. Lebanon is a region north of Israel. It is far from Jerusalem (Zion), where they celebrated their wedding. In Lebanon the rugged mountains and wild animals make it dangerous for people to travel. The man calling the woman from Lebanon symbolizes that he thought the woman was wonderful and mysterious (like Lebanon), but perhaps she was reluctant to fully surrender herself to him. She seemed beyond his reach, as though she was up in the mountains, guarded by wild animals. Because he loved her, he was gentle as he wooed her, preparing her to surrender herself to him.
As you translate these lines, it is important to remember that the author used figurative language. The woman was not actually in Lebanon, and the man did not refer to a real journey from there. The garden descriptions in 4:12–15 are also figurative. They do not describe an actual garden.
Several poetic themes help to unify 4:8–15 and 4:16–5:1:
(a) Lebanon (4:8, 11, 15): In the OT, Lebanon is often portrayed as a remote, beautiful, and fragrant place with mountains and cedar forests. (For example, see Psalm 72:16; Isaiah 35:2; 60:13; and Hosea 14:5–7.)
(b) fragrances (4:10–11, 13–14, 16, 5:1, and maybe implied in 4:8)
(c) tastes (4:10–11, 13–14, 16, 5:1)
(d) the garden metaphor (especially in focus in 4:12–5:1)
The context of 4:8–5:1, as well as 3:6–4:7, is probably the day of the couple’s wedding. In 5:1, the women of Jerusalem encouraged them to consummate their love as husband and wife.
4:8–15 The man continued to speak
4:8–11
In 4:8–11 the man used figurative language to invite the woman to come and be intimate with him. He spoke as if she were in far-away Lebanon. This figure of speech is similar to the one in 2:14, where he spoke of her being like a dove hidden high on rocky cliffs. She was not on literal cliffs, and here in 4:8–11 she was not literally on the tops of mountains in Lebanon. The figurative language may suggest that the man perceived the woman as being reluctant to fully surrender herself to him. The love that the man expressed here in 4:8–11 is more intense than in 2:14. He wanted to have marital relations with his new bride.
4:8a–b
There is a textual issue in this part of the verse, but the two textual variations have the same general meaning. The text that the Notes follows is literally, “With me from Lebanon, bride, with me from Lebanon come.” In some languages, it is more natural to begin the sentence with the verb “come,” as in the Berean Standard Bible, or with the word “bride.” For example:
Come with me from Lebanon, my bride…. -or-
My bride, come from Lebanon with me….
Come with me from Lebanon, my bride: Here the man used a figurative way to tell his bride that he wanted her to be with him. He wanted the two of them to begin to experience the joys of physical love in their marriage.
The phrase Come with me is figurative. He and she were not actually in Lebanon, so he did not mean that he literally wanted her to leave Lebanon with him.
Some other ways to translate this metaphor are:
• Use a simile or other comparison. It is helpful if the comparison implies marital relations between the man and his bride. For example:
My bride, come with me, as if we were coming from the remote Lebanon mountains.
• Use a comparison and make the meaning more explicit. For example:
My bride, come ⌊and be secure⌋ with me, as if we are descending Lebanon’s ⌊rugged⌋ mountains, coming ⌊down⌋ from Lebanon.
Translate the meaning in a poetic way in your language.
from Lebanon:Lebanon was a mountainous region north of Israel. It was a beautiful place, but it was also rugged and dangerous. It was far from Jerusalem, and the man implied that in a figurative way, the woman, though wonderful and beautiful ⌊like Lebanon⌋, seemed far away from him ⌊like Lebanon⌋. Her distance from him is a poetic way that may imply that she was reluctant to fully surrender herself to him. He also may have seen her as beyond his reach, like a beautiful queen.
Such figurative themes are common throughout the Song. For example, see 2:14; 3:6–11; 5:2–7; and 6:10.
my bride: The Hebrew word that is translated as bride is used to refer to a woman during the time right before she marries, as she marries, and for some time after the marriage. The phrase my bride is one word in Hebrew—simply bride. It is used only in 4:8–5:1, where it is used five times. It is appropriate for that section of the Song, which focuses on the wedding celebration and the days immediately after it.
In 4:8–5:1 the man seemed to use the word bride to show his delight that the woman was now his wife. It is not used anywhere else in the Song. Use an appropriate way in your language for a husband to speak to his new wife. For example:
⌊ beloved⌋wife -or-
you the one I married
4:8b
come with me from Lebanon: Here the clause in 4:8a is repeated to add emphasis to what the man said to his bride. It emphasizes that he greatly desired to be with the woman he loved. In some languages it may not be natural to repeat this phrase or to repeat it in exactly the same words. It may be necessary to use a different way to indicate that the man was emphasizing what he just said. For example:
yes, please come with me from there! -or-
come, let’s descend those peaks!
4:8c–f
Descend from the peak of Amana, from the summits of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of the lions, from the mountains of the leopards: In 4:8c–f the man continued to invite the woman to come with him. In some languages his command to the woman to “descend” may wrongly imply that he wanted her to come down those peaks alone. Translate in a way that implies that the man will descend the peaks with her. For example:
You will travel with me from the peak of Mount Amana, from the mountain peaks in Senir and Hermon, from the lairs of lions, from the mountains of leopards. (God’s Word) -or-
We will come down from the top of Mount Amana. We will descend from the tops of Mount Senir and Mount Hermon, where lions and leopards live/roam. -or-
Let’s go down from the tops of Amana, Senir, and Hermon mountains, where lions and leopards have their homes.
from the summits of Senir and Hermon: In 4:8c–d the author gave the names of three peaks in the Lebanon mountains—“Amana,” Senir, and Hermon. Some scholars believe that the names Senir and Hermon refer to the same peak. However, you should include all three names in your translation.
General Comment on 4:8c–d
The list of three mountain peaks in 4:8c–d seems to imply that the woman was on several mountain peaks. But she was not actually in the Lebanon mountains or on top of any mountain peak. The author used a figurative way to describe her as remote and mysterious. The two lines, 4:8c–d, are parallel and have the same meaning. The man figuratively encouraged the woman to come and be intimate with him.
4:8e–f
from the dens of the lions, from the mountains of the leopards: The lines of 4:8e and 4:8f are parallel to 4:8c and 4:8d. In 4:8e–f, the man continued to speak to his bride in a figurative way about their love. He invited her to come share in the security and joys of married love.
Some other ways to translate 4:8e–f are:
where the lions and leopards live. (Good News Translation) -or-
where the lions have their dens and leopards live among the hills. (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
⌊ dangers lurk/hide⌋there ⌊like⌋ lions and leopards ⌊lurk/hide to catch their prey⌋.
from the dens of the lions: The phrase dens of the lions refers to the homes of lions where they take care of their young cubs. Some other ways to translate the phrase are:
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