SNG 2:9 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 2:8–3:5: The man called the woman, but later she could not find him

The author began this scene at a different place and time from the ending of the preceding section (1:1–2:7). At the end of that section, the woman and man were together, but at the beginning of this section (2:8) the woman was in her room at home, and the man was coming to her over the hills.

There are two poems in Section 2:8–3:5. In the first poem (2:8–17) the man came and stood outside the woman’s room. She quoted what he said as he invited her to come out with him and enjoy a beautiful spring day. The second poem (3:1–5) describes a time when the woman searched for her beloved at night. This second poem has much in common with Section 5:2–6:3. See the discussion of similarities at the beginning of that section.

Both parts of this section (2:8–17 and 3:1–5) may describe what the woman imagined or what she dreamed. The descriptions may not refer to actual events in the poem.

Paragraph 2:8–17

This beautiful poem (2:8–17) describes springtime. In springtime, new plants begin to grow, flowers bloom, and fruit trees begin to blossom. In these lines springtime symbolizes that love was growing between the woman and the man. The woman first spoke to herself, but then she quoted the man as he invited her to come out of her house and go away with him.

This poem begins and ends in a similar way. At the beginning (2:8–9) the man came to the woman over the mountains like a gazelle or stag. At the end (2:17) he again roamed on the mountains like a gazelle or stag.

In these lines the woman spoke. However, from 2:10b through 2:14 she quoted what the man said. Then she continued speaking in 2:15–17.

2:9a

My beloved is like a gazelle

My true love is a gazelle,
My love reminds me of a beautiful deer,

2:9b

or a young stag.

he is a young stag.
a strong, young deer.

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.Bloch and Bloch, page 59.

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
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.Similar advice is given in A Handbook on the Song of Songs, Ogden and Zogbo, page 69.

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 (GNT)

like a deer, a beautiful deer

2:9c

Look, he stands behind our wall,

Look! He is standing there on the other side of my wall.
There he stands outside our^(excl) family home!

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. (RSV)

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 BSB 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

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:

^8aListen! My beloved approaches. ^9aMy beloved is like a gazelle ^9bor a young stag. ^8bLook! Here he comes

^8cleaping upon the mountains,

^8dbounding 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-elooking in through the window

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

It is a special use of the plural form in Hebrew, and it should be translated as singular.This use of the plural is called “the plural of generalization.” For example:
He looks in at the window, (NJB)
he peers through the opening. (GNT, CEV, GW, NJB, NET, NLT)
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, (NCV)
looking through the blinds. (BSB, NCV, RSV, ESV, NIV, NASB, REB, KJV)

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 BSB follows interpretation (2), the Notes will use the NET as the source line for 2:9d.

2:9d

gazing through the windows,

He peers into the window
He stares through the window

(NET) 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) gazing: The Hebrew word that the NET 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.See Bloch & Bloch, page 154, “When windows, doors, holes, gaps, etc. are involved, min acquires a secondary sense of ‘through.’ ” He hoped to see the woman there.

2:9e

peering through the lattice.

and looks through the openings in the window covering.
to see into the house.

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 BSB 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 BSB 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 CEV says:

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

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

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: translate-unknown

לִ⁠צְבִ֔י

(to)_a,gazelle

See how you translated the plural form, “gazelles,” in [2:7](../02/07.md); then translate this word as the singular form of “gazelles.”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

הָֽ⁠אַיָּלִ֑ים

of,the_deer(s)

The writer assumes that the readers will understand that a stag is an adult male deer. You could include this information if it would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [adult male deer]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

הִנֵּה

see/lo/see!

See how you translated the word Behold in [1:15](../01/15.md) where it occurs with the same meaning.

Note 4 topic: writing-pronouns

זֶ֤ה

this

Here the phrase this one refers to the man whom the woman calls My beloved in the first part of this verse. If this is not clear for your readers, you could specify the person here. Alternate translation: [this man] or [my beloved]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / exclusive

אַחַ֣ר כָּתְלֵ֔⁠נוּ

after wall_of,our

Here the word our refers to the woman and her family and does not include the man, so use the exclusive form of that word in your translation if your language marks that distinction. Alternate translation: [behind the wall of my house] or [on the other side of the wall of my family’s house]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

מַשְׁגִּ֨יחַ֙ מִן־הַֽ⁠חֲלֹּנ֔וֹת מֵצִ֖יץ מִן־הַֽ⁠חֲרַכִּֽים

gazing from/more_than the,windows peering from/more_than the,lattices

These two phrases mean basically the same thing. The second emphasizes the meaning of the first by repeating the same idea with different words. Hebrew poetry was based on this kind of repetition, and it would be good to show this to your readers by including both phrases in your translation rather than combining them. However, if it would be helpful to your readers, you could connect the phrases with a word other than “and” in order to show that the second phrase is repeating the first one, not saying something additional. Alternate translation: [gazing through the windows, yes, looking through the lattices]

Note 7 topic: translate-plural

הַֽ⁠חֲלֹּנ֔וֹת & הַֽ⁠חֲרַכִּֽים

the,windows & the,lattices

Here the words windows and lattices are plural forms and could: (1) have a plural meaning here, indicating that the man was walking around the house and looking into the house through different windows and lattices. (2) be used with singular meanings here, indicating the multiple openings of a single window and lattice. Alternate translation: [the window … the lattice]

Note 8 topic: translate-unknown

הַֽ⁠חֲרַכִּֽים

the,lattices

The lattices are vertical and horizontal strips found inside a window frame. They have spaces between them through which a person could look. If your readers would not be familiar with lattices, you could use the name of something similar in your area, or you could use the wording of the UST. Alternate translation: [the screen]

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 2:9

Hebrew word order