SNG 4:12 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.

4:12–15

In 4:12–15 the man described the woman as an ideal garden with abundant water. The description uses hyperbole, since no real garden in ancient Israel had such a variety of plants growing together in one place. When the author describes the garden, he probably implies the effect that the woman herself had on the man. The author probably does not refer here to the effects of specific body parts related to sexual intimacy.

The author related these verses to the previous ones by using common themes and words. In 4:12 he repeated the phrase, my sister, my bride, that was used twice in the preceding verses. He also continued to speak of fragrances, and he concluded 4:15 with the Lebanon theme.

4:12a

My sister, my bride, you are a garden locked up,

My sister, my bride, you are a locked garden,
You are a like a private garden, my beloved bride.

In 4:12 the man continued his theme of the woman being hard to reach, which he described in 4:8. But here the man used the metaphors of a “locked garden” and a “sealed fountain” to describe her.

My sister, my bride, you are a garden locked up: Here the man described the woman with the metaphor of a beautiful garden that is locked up. No one was able to enter and come to her. Some scholars think that her beloved already came to her and had sexual relations with her. However, it is more likely that she was still a virgin. As in 2:14 and 4:8, the man again gently encouraged her to give herself totally to him. In 4:16 she will respond and invite him to “enter her garden” to be intimate with her.

In some languages it is more natural to change the order of the words in this sentence. For example:

My bride, my sister is a garden that is locked.

This statement is a metaphor. Other ways to translate the metaphor are:

Use a simile. For example:
My sister, my bride, you are like a garden that is locked.
Use a simile and indicate the implied meaning. For example:
My sister, my bride, you are as private as a locked garden.

My sister, my bride: The phrases My sister and my bride are parallel terms that the man used to express affection to his bride. The word bride also implies a marriage celebration. For a more detailed discussion of My sister, my bride, see the note on this phrase in 4:10a.

garden: In the land where the man and woman lived,The setting of the Song of Songs was somewhere in the Ancient Near East. a garden was like a park that had trees and flowers. The man did not refer here to a small garden with a few vegetables. The type of garden to which the man compared his bride was unusually beautiful. The trees in the garden were filled with delicious fruit, and its flowers included fragrant herbs. It was an imaginary garden, where everything was ideal. Use an appropriate word in your language for such a garden.

In 4:12 the man referred to the woman as if he were talking about her to others. But in 4:13 it is clear that he spoke directly to her when he said “your shoots.” In many languages it is more natural to indicate in both verses that the man spoke directly to her. For example:

You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride…

4:12b

a spring enclosed,

you are a locked spring,
You are like an enclosed pool.

4:12c

a fountain sealed.

you are a sealed fountain.
You are like a spring that is protected with a seal/lock.

4:12b–c

a spring enclosed, a fountain sealed: The phrases a spring enclosed and a fountain sealed have similar meanings. Literally, they indicate that no one but the owner of the spring or fountain can take any of its water. Figuratively, they indicate that the woman was private. No one could come to her without permission. She was the source of refreshment for the man, and he was the only one who had a right to enjoy lovemaking with her.

In some languages it may be more natural to translate the figure of speech about the private spring and fountain only once. For example:

You are like a spring that is only for me.

a spring enclosed: There is a textual issue here with the word that the BSB translates as spring:The RSV follows an alternate textual reading gan “garden” which is found in some ancient versions (Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate). The Masoretic Hebrew text has gal “spring.” It is possible that there was a copyist’s error since the words gan and gal look similar in Hebrew.

The Hebrew text has the word gal, which means “spring” or “pool.” For example:
you are a spring enclosed… (NIV) (BSB‘ ESV, NCV, NET, NIV, NJPS, NLT)
Other ancient versions have a word that means “garden.” For example:
a walled garden… (GNT) (RSV, CEV, GW, NAB, NASB, REB, GNT)

The decision about which text to follow is difficult, since either approach makes sense in the context. It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), which follows the Hebrew text. It fits both the sounds of the poetry and its meaning especially well.There are two reasons that the Hebrew text seems correct: 1) The sounds of gal naʿul “a pool/fountain locked” links it with the sounds of the previous gan naʿul “a garden locked,” and 2) the meaning of gal “pool/fountain” links it with the word “spring” which follows. So both the poetic assonance and semantic cohesion is strengthened when following option (1).

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / infostructure

גַּ֥ן ׀ נָע֖וּל אֲחֹתִ֣⁠י כַלָּ֑ה גַּ֥ל נָע֖וּל מַעְיָ֥ן חָתֽוּם

garden locked sister_of,my bride spring locked fountain sealed

If it would be more natural in your language, you could change the order of these phrases. Alternate translation: [My sister, my bride; you are a locked garden, a locked spring, a sealed fountain]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

גַּ֥ן ׀ נָע֖וּל אֲחֹתִ֣⁠י כַלָּ֑ה

garden locked sister_of,my bride

The man is speaking of the woman as if she were a locked garden. He uses garden as a poetic way of referring to the woman herself, and by saying she is a locked garden he means that the woman is both beautiful and seemingly inaccessible like a locked garden. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [You are like a locked garden, my sister, my bride]

Note 3 topic: translate-unknown

גַּ֥ן ׀ נָע֖וּל אֲחֹתִ֣⁠י כַלָּ֑ה

garden locked sister_of,my bride

The word translated as garden refers to a large, enclosed area where bushes, flowers, plants, and trees grow. If your readers would not be familiar with this type of garden, you could use the name of something similar in your area, or you could use a more general term. Alternate translation: [A locked park where many trees and plants grow is my sister, my bride]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

אֲחֹתִ֣⁠י

sister_of,my

See how you translated the phrase my sister in [4:9](../04/09.md).

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / exmetaphor

גַּ֥ל נָע֖וּל מַעְיָ֥ן חָתֽוּם

spring locked fountain sealed

The man continues to draw an extended comparison between the woman he loves and a garden by speaking of her as if she were a locked spring and a sealed fountain within a locked garden. The man means that the woman’s body is beautiful and inaccessible like a locked spring or a sealed fountain. You could explain this comparison if it would be helpful to your readers. If you used the alternate translation, “You are like a locked garden, my sister, my bride”, then you should use the alternate translation which follows. Alternate translation: [you are like a locked spring; you are like a sealed fountain]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

גַּ֥ל נָע֖וּל מַעְיָ֥ן חָתֽוּם

spring locked fountain sealed

The phrases a locked spring and a sealed fountain mean basically the same thing. The second phrase emphasizes the meaning of the first by repeating the same idea using different words. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could combine the phrases and show the emphasis in some other way.

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 4:12

Hebrew word order