SNG 4:15 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.

4:15

In 4:15 the man stopped describing the wonderful plants of the garden (4:13–14). He began to describe the spring inside the garden that gave it water.

4:15a–b

You are a garden spring, a well of fresh water: The phrases a garden spring and a well of fresh water use two different metaphors to express the same meaning. Both phrases describe an abundant source of fresh water that flows out and waters the garden to help the fruits and spices mentioned in 4:13–14 to grow. The water is a metaphor to describe the woman as a source of joy and life.

4:15a

You are a garden spring,

You are a garden fountain,
You are like a garden fountain

a garden spring: In this verse the man continued to speak to the woman. He compared her to a fountain (or spring) in a garden. In some languages it is necessary to make this comparison explicit, as many English versions do. For example:

You are like a garden fountain (NCV)

In Hebrew the word garden is plural, and the phrase a garden spring is literally “a fountain of gardens.” This phrase is a figure of speech to emphasize that the fountain produces abundant water. Another way to translate that meaning is:

You are like many springs that make the garden moist.

spring: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as spring refers to water that flows out from an opening in the ground. This type of spring is often called a “fountain” in English (as in the RSV). A spring produces a constant flow of fresh water. This is in contrast to a well where the water stays in one place and can become stagnant. Use a word in your language that refers to a natural spring, not a man-made fountain.

4:15b

a well of fresh water

you are a spring of fresh water,
and like a spring of running water,

a well of fresh water: As in 4:15a, the man continued to speak to the woman. He indicated that she was like a well of fresh water. In an ordinary well, the water does not flow or move, so the water can become dirty and stagnant. The woman is like an unusual well that produces flowing (fresh) water.

The phrase fresh water indicates that the water continues to flow inside the well, as if it were in a stream. It contrasts with water in an ordinary well that does not move or flow. Some scholars suggest that the source of the well is a spring, which causes the water in the well to keep moving.

Some ways to translate a well of fresh water are:

a well of living water (RSV)

a well that has flowing water

a spring of pure water

4:15c

flowing down from Lebanon.

that becomes streams flowing down Lebanon.
flowing from the Lebanon mountains.

flowing down from Lebanon: Here the man compared the woman to streams that flow from Lebanon. The author implies that the Lebanon mountains are the source of the best fresh water. (Those mountains were also the source of wonderful fragrances in 4:11c.) Some ways to translate the comparison are:

You are like a refreshing stream that flows from Lebanon.

and streams flowing from Lebanon. (NASB)

flowing: The word flowing has a similar meaning to “spring” in 4:15a and the well “of fresh water” in 4:15b. The phrase describes this water as being like water that comes down from the Lebanon mountains. It is clear, fresh and flowing.

from Lebanon: Here Lebanon is the source of flowing streams of water. In 4:11 Lebanon was the source of wonderful fragrances.

In 4:8 the man implied that the Lebanon mountains isolated the woman from him. Here the metaphor of the Lebanon mountains changes. The man describes the flowing streams from the Lebanon mountains as a source of life and joy. The reference to Lebanon in 4:8a–b and 4:15 form an inclusio.

Other ways to translate from Lebanon here are:

from the Lebanon Mountains. (GNT)

down the mountains in Lebanon.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / exmetaphor

מַעְיַ֣ן גַּנִּ֔ים בְּאֵ֖ר מַ֣יִם חַיִּ֑ים וְ⁠נֹזְלִ֖ים מִן־לְבָנֽוֹן

fountain_of garden well_of waters life(pl) and,flowing from/more_than Ləⱱānōn

Here the man continues the metaphor that he began in [4:12](../04/12.md) and speaks of the woman he loves as if she were a fountain in a garden, a well of living waters, and flowing streams from Lebanon. If you translated [4:12-14](../04/12.md) using the words “You are like”, you should do that here also. See how you translated the word “garden” in [4:12](../04/12.md). Alternate translation: [you are like a fountain of gardens, like a well of living waters, and like flowing streams from Lebanon]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

מַעְיַ֣ן גַּנִּ֔ים

fountain_of garden

The writer assumes that the readers will understand that a fountain refers to a spring or underground well that is dug in order to be used as a water source. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could include this information. Alternate translation: [a garden spring] or [a garden well]

Note 3 topic: translate-plural

מַעְיַ֣ן גַּנִּ֔ים

fountain_of garden

Here the author could be using the plural form gardens to: (1) designate the kind of fountain that would be found in gardens. Alternate translation: [a garden fountain] (2) designate a large garden. Alternate translation: [a fountain in a large garden]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

מַ֣יִם חַיִּ֑ים

waters life(pl)

Here the term living means that the water is fresh and flowing. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could include this information. Alternate translation: [fresh water] or [flowing water]

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 4:15

Hebrew word order