SNG 1:11 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 1:2–2:7: The woman and man admired each other

In Section 1:2–2:7, the woman and man praised each other, and they became more confident that they loved each other. In the introduction (1:2–4) the woman spoke about her desire for the man. Then she spoke of her humble life working in the family vineyard (1:5–6), and she seemed to question whether she was worthy for him to love her. Then he praised her, and she praised him. When she spoke at the end of the section (2:3–6), she felt secure that he loved her.

In this section, the woman used several comparisons to speak of her feelings about the man. She spoke as though he were a shepherd (1:7–8) or a king (1:4; 1:12), implying that he was like a shepherd or king to her in certain ways. He was also like a bag of myrrh (1:13), henna blossoms (1:14), and an apple tree (2:3–4) to her. The woman compared herself to “a rose of Sharon,” and “a lily of the valleys” (2:1). The man compared her to “a mare of Pharaoh’s chariots” (1:9). The Notes will discuss the meaning of each of these comparisons as it occurs in its section.

Lines 1:2–4 are the introduction to Section 1:2–2:7. In these lines, the poet summarizes the Song’s message and introduces its main characters: the woman, the man, and a group of young women. In the Song the woman spoke more often than the man spoke. After the title (1:1), she began the Song by saying that she wanted him to kiss her. She referred to him only as “him” or “you.” In Hebrew poetry, the authors do not introduce their characters as they do in stories, but in some languages it may be more natural to introduce them and identify them. Some ways to do this are:

Provide headings to identify the characters. Some headings may apply only to a verse or part of a verse. For example:
1:4e The Woman commented about the young women of Jerusalem You may need to use a different form the first time a character is introduced. For example:
1:2–4b A woman speaks to the man she loves
Use a speech introducer in the first part of the verse. If you use this option, you may want to indicate in some way that the speech introducer is not in the text itself. For example:
1:4e (The woman said to her beloved,) “Rightly do they love you.”
1:2a [There were a certain woman and man. She said to/about him,] “Let him kiss me…

Choose an option that fits your situation, and use it consistently throughout the book. You should also decide how you will refer to the speakers in the headings. Some ways to do that are:

woman, man, women (GNT)

beloved, lover, friends (NIV)

bride, groom, companions (REB)

she, he, others (ESV)

The woman often referred to the man as “my beloved” (RSV), and she also called him “the one whom my soul loves,” “the king,” and “my friend.” The man often referred to her as “my love” and also as “fairest among women,” “my dove,” “my sister,” “my bride,” and “queenly maiden.”

Paragraph 1:9–11 The man spoke to the woman

In these lines the author introduces new comparisons that use Pharaoh’s chariot horses and jewelry. The man expressed his admiration for the woman. He focused especially on her face adorned with jewelry.

1:11a

We will make you ornaments of gold,

We will make golden jewelry for you^(sing),
I will have/cause expensive earrings to be made for you^(sing). They will be made of gold,

We will make you ornaments of gold: Scholars differ about who the speaker is in 1:11, because the subject shifts from “I” in 1:9–10 to the plural We in 1:11. English versions use headings to suggest who speaks here. The options are:

The speaker is the man. He probably used the form “we” because he himself did not plan to make the jewelry. He probably planned to hire others to make it. For example, the NCV includes 1:11 with 1:9–10 under the heading:
The Man Speaks to the Woman (NCV) (CEV, NCV, NET, NIV, NJB, NLT, GNT)
The speaker is a group of other people. For example, the ESV indicates a new speaker at 1:11 with the heading:
Others (ESV) (BSB, ESV, GW, NASB, REB)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), as a majority of versions and most scholars do. In 1:9 the man was identified as the speaker in this verse.

ornaments of gold: It is uncertain exactly what these ornaments were. It is possible that they were earrings or necklaces. In 1:10a the word for ornaments was used for jewelry that decorated the woman’s cheeks. There are two options for translation:

Use a general term such as “ornaments” or “jewelry.” For example:
Let’s make you some jewelry of gold… (CEV)
Use a more specific term such as “earrings” or “necklace.” For example:
We shall make you golden earrings. (NJB)
a gold necklace/chain

Use an option that sounds natural in your language.

1:11b

studded with beads of silver.

and decorate it with silver.
and decorated/adorned with silver.

studded with beads of silver: This phrase describes the way the man planned for the gold ornaments in 1:11a to be decorated. He probably planned for someone to decorate the gold ornaments (1:11a) with silver. The text does not give details about these silver decorations. There are two options for translation:

Use a general expression that refers to silver decorations. For example:
We will make you earrings of gold and decorate them with silver.
We will make for you a gold necklace with silver ornaments.
Use a more specific expression such as “beads of silver.” For example:
We will make gold ornaments with silver beads for you. (GW)

Use an option that is natural in your language.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: translate-unknown

תּוֹרֵ֤י

ornaments_of

See how you translated the term Earrings in the previous verse.

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / exclusive

תּוֹרֵ֤י זָהָב֙ נַעֲשֶׂה־לָּ֔⁠ךְ

ornaments_of gold make for,you

By we, the writer could mean: (1) that the man will have someone make the Earrings of gold for her. The man is not including the woman, so use the exclusive form of this word if your language marks that distinction. Alternate translation: [Earrings of gold I will have someone make for you] or [I will pay someone to make earrings of gold for you] (2) that though the man is using a plural form, he expects the woman to understand that he means “I.” Alternate translation: [Earrings of gold I will make for you] (3) that a group of people, and not the man, speak here. If you are using section headers, you can place a header above this section to indicate who you think is speaking.

עִ֖ם נְקֻדּ֥וֹת הַ⁠כָּֽסֶף

with studded_of of_(the),silver

Alternate translation: [with beads of silver] or [that are decorated with silver]

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.

OET interlinear SNG 1:11

Hebrew word order

Section 1:2–2:7: The woman and man admired each other

Paragraph 1:9–11 The man spoke to the woman

1:11a

1:11b

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)