SNG 4:11 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 3:6–5:1: The man and woman married and the man praised her

In 3:6 a new section begins. The author indicates this by several obvious changes from (3:1–5):

The scene changes from a nighttime dream to a public daytime event.
There is a change of speaker.
The search theme in the preceding verses changes to a wedding theme in this section.
The mood changes from anxious searching to joyful celebration.

In this section the author describes the couple’s wedding day. The section has several parts:

3:6–11 The man and woman came to their wedding in a grand procession

4:1–15 The man described his beautiful bride

4:16–5:1 The man and woman consummated their marriage

Paragraph 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:

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.)
fragrances (4:10–11, 13–14, 16, 5:1, and maybe implied in 4:8)Lebanon was especially known for its fragrant cedar trees. So fragrance is probably implied in 4:8.
tastes (4:10–11, 13–14, 16, 5:1)
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.

4:11a

Your lips, my bride, drip sweetness like the honeycomb;

Your lips are as sweet as wild honey, my bride.
My bride, your kisses are like honey.

Your lips, my bride, drip sweetness like the honeycomb: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as drip has several meanings. Here it means “to drip” or “to drop.” Literally, it indicates that sweet nectar dripped from the bride’s lips. Figuratively, it indicates that the bride’s kisses were very sweet. Some other ways to translate the meaning are:

Your lips are as sweet as nectar, my bride. (NLT)

The taste of honey is on your lips, my darling; (GNT)

Your lips, my bride, drip sweetness: The phrase Your lips…drip sweetness is a metaphor that describes how “sweet” the bride’s kisses are.Some scholars interpret 4:11a–b as referring to the bride’s sweet words. Pope (page 484) says, “…the preferred reference is to friendly and sweet conversation. This seems plausible in the light of Proverbs 5:3 and the use of the verb…elsewhere for speech.” However, the context focuses on sensory experience. The man meant that her kisses gave him great pleasure. Some ways to translate the metaphor are:

Keep the metaphor. For example:
My bride, your lips drip honey (NCV)
Your lips are a honeycomb (CEV)
Use a simile. For example:
Your lips, my bride, are as sweet as honey. (NLT96)
Your lips taste like honey
Translate the meaning without a figure of speech. For example:
Your lips/kisses are wonderfully sweet.

Your lips: The phrase Your lips is probably a figure of speech that uses lips to represent kisses. Some ways to translate this figure of speech are:

When I kiss you

Your lips/kisses

my bride: For information on how to translate my bride, see the notes on 4:8a–b.

drip sweetness: The words drip sweetness are a figure of speech. Since the woman’s “lips” refer figuratively to kisses here, the phrase drip sweetness indicates that the woman’s kisses gave the man great pleasure

sweetness: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as sweetness refers specifically to “honey” or to a “honeycomb.” It does not refer to the nectar of flowers. However, if honey is unknown in your area, you may use a word that refers to the nectar of flowers.

4:11b

honey and milk are under your tongue,

There is a sweetness of honey and milk under your tongue.
Your kisses/mouth tastes like the sweetest honey and the richest/creamiest milk.

This part of the verse is parallel to 4:11a and has a similar meaning.

honey and milk are under your tongue: The phrase honey and milk are under your tongue is a metaphor. It indicates that the woman’s mouth was delightful. As with “lips” in 4:11a, the phrase under your tongue refers to the sweetness and pleasure that the woman’s kisses gave the man. It probably does not refer to her sweet speech, and it does not indicate that she was literally holding honey and milk in her mouth.

Honey and milk were luxury items. Here they imply that the woman’s love was an experience of luxurious delight.

Some ways to translate the metaphor are:

Use a metaphor. For example:
Your tongue is milk and honey for me. (GNT)
Use a simile. For example:
Your mouth is as delightful as milk and honey.
Your tongue is like milk and honey.
Translate the meaning more directly. For example:
Your mouth is full of delights.

Translate the meaning in a natural way in your language.

honey and milk: In other parts of the OT the phrase “milk and honey” was used to describe the land of Israel as a fruitful place with abundant food. Here in the Song the word order is changed to honey and milk. These terms were also used in other love poetry of the Near East to express the joy and beauty of love. See the preceding note for translation examples.

honey: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as honey is a general word that refers to sweet substances. These substances can be added to food to make it sweeter. These sweeteners include bees’ honey from honeycombs as well as date or grape syrups. Use an appropriate word in your language.

4:11c

and the fragrance of your garments is like the aroma of Lebanon.

The scent of your clothing is like the pleasing scents of Lebanon.
Your clothes smell like the sweet fragrance of Lebanon.

the fragrance of your garments is like the aroma of Lebanon: Here the man compared the fragrance of the woman’s clothing to the pleasant scent of the region of Lebanon. Lebanon was famous for its cedar trees, so some scholars think the fragrance refers to the fragrance of the cedar trees. Others think that it refers more generally to the many pleasing scents of Lebanon.

Some ways to translate this clause are:

Use a general way in your language to refer to a pleasant smell. For example:
Your clothes smell sweet/good like the region of Lebanon.
Use a more specific comparison that refers to the mountains or cedars of Lebanon. For example:
Your clothes smell like the cedars of Lebanon. (NCV)
The scent of your clothing is like that of the mountains and the cedars of Lebanon.

Choose a comparison that is pleasing in your language.

Lebanon: The land of Lebanon represented what was beautiful and fragrant. It was especially famous for its fragrant cedar trees. Refer to the notes on Lebanon in 4:8a–b and 4:8b for more information. It is important to notice the fragrance theme that is prominent throughout the Song.

garments: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as garments refers in general to clothing. It is good to use a general term in your language. For example:

clothing

clothes

like the aroma of Lebanon: The region of Lebanon is mentioned several times in 4:8–15. It forms a poetic Lebanon theme that helps give unity to lines 4:8–15. Here in 4:11 it forms an inclusio with 4:8, where the man said to the woman, “Come with me from Lebanon.” In 4:11, the man implied that the woman figuratively came from Lebanon, and she still smelled like that wonderful place.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

נֹ֛פֶת תִּטֹּ֥פְנָה שִׂפְתוֹתַ֖יִ⁠ךְ

nectar drip lips_of,your

Here the woman’s lips refer to the kisses from her lips. The man says that her lips drip with nectar to indicate the pleasantness of her kisses. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [Your kisses are so pleasant that it is as if your lips drip with nectar] or [Your kisses are delightfully sweet] or [Being kissed by you is as enjoyable as eating honey]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

נֹ֛פֶת

nectar

The word translated as nectar refers specifically to honey which drips or flows from a honeycomb. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could indicate that explicitly by translating it as “honey”.

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

דְּבַ֤שׁ וְ⁠חָלָב֙ תַּ֣חַת לְשׁוֹנֵ֔⁠ךְ

honey and,milk below/instead_of tongue_of,your

The phrase honey and milk are under your tongue could mean: (1) that the taste of the woman’s kisses were as pleasant as milk and honey. Alternate translation: [your kisses are like milk and honey to me] or [your kisses are as pleasant and delightful as milk and honey] (2) that the woman’s words were as pleasant as milk and honey. Alternate translation: [your words are as pleasant as milk and honey] (3) that both the woman’s kisses and her words were as pleasant as milk and honey. Alternate translation: [the kisses from your mouth and your words are as pleasant as milk and honey to me]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

וְ⁠רֵ֥יחַ שַׂלְמֹתַ֖יִ⁠ךְ כְּ⁠רֵ֥יחַ לְבָנֽוֹן

and,the_odor_of your(pl)_garments_of,your [is]_like,the_odor_of Ləⱱānōn

Lebanon is known for its forests of cedar trees. Cedar trees have a very pleasant smell. The phrase the smell of your garments is like the smell of Lebanon probably means that the woman’s clothes smelled like cedar wood. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could include this information. Alternate translation: [and the smell of your garments is like the smell of Lebanon’s pleasant-smelling cedar]

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.