SNG 4:4 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 4:1–7 The man told his bride how beautiful she is

In 4:1–7 the man used figures of speech to tell his bride how beautiful and majestic she was.Bergant (page 42) explains the two aspects of the description in this way: “It is a descriptive song that uses metaphors and similes both representationally (highlighting physical similarity) and presentationally (eliciting an emotional response).” This type of physical description of one’s beloved is called a “wasf” (an Arabic word). It was a common type of poetry in the ancient Near East. Such figures of speech were common in the love poetry of nearby cultures. The man also describes his bride in 6:4–10 and 7:1–9. In one example (5:10–16) the woman describes the man. He first praised her eyes and hair, then he praised her mouth, lips, and teeth. He described her temples and neck and then her breasts. Paragraph 4:1–7 begins and ends with similar statements that summarize her beauty:

:1 How beautiful you are, my darling—

how very beautiful!

:7 You are altogether beautiful, my darling;

there is no flaw in you.

Cultures have different ideas about what is beautiful. In some cultures the figures of speech that the man used to describe the woman may seem strange or insulting, but in his culture, they were powerful ways to praise her. Sometimes they described the man’s feelings about her instead of describing her appearance. For example, in 4:4 the man compared the woman’s neck (or her necklaces) to the tower of King David. Her neck did not look like the tower, but to him she seemed as majestic as that tower where warriors’ shields hung to represent their power.

Standards for respectful speech and actions in the Song

In 4:1–7 the man often referred to the woman’s body. In most cultures certain parts of the body are “private” or “sexual,” and those parts should not be uncovered in public. In some cultures, women must be covered from the waist to the ankles.In some cultures certain references may embarrass people who read or hear them. It may not be modest to mention a woman’s breasts or her belly or navel (as in some verses of the Song). Other cultures have different standards. Scholars are not sure about the specific standards in Israel when the Song was written, but the Song does not violate the standards of modesty in the OT. Two facts about the Song may help to indicate the standards of modesty in Israel’s culture in OT times:

The Song refers to parts of the female body more than 40 times, but only three of these mention areas below the waist.Two of these references are to the feet, which were usually uncovered. The other is to “rounded thighs” in 7:1. It probably refers to the general shape of the thighs, which may be obvious even when a woman is fully clothed. This may imply that the area below the waist was the “private” area, which must be covered in public.
In 8:8–10 both the woman and her brothers spoke casually about her breasts. This probably indicates that in that culture a woman did not always cover her breasts. For example, it was common to breast-feed babies openly (as in 8:1 and other OT verses).

These two facts imply that the author described the woman’s body in a more modest way than some scholars assume. When the man described the woman’s beauty (as in 4:1–7 and 7:1–9), he did it in a proper way. He did not describe “private sexual” parts. In some languages it may be helpful to include a footnote to explain that cultures have different standards of what is proper, decent, and respectful. Translate in a way that does not violate your culture’s standards.

4:4

In 4:4 the man used a simile that has two parts. He began by comparing the woman’s neck to the tower of David (4:4a–b). Then he compared her jewelry to shields, which were hanging on the tower (4:4c–d).

4:4a

Your neck is like the tower of David,

Your neck is like David’s tower,
Your neck is majestic like the tower of David,

4:4b

built with rows of stones;

built with great care.
so beautifully designed.

4:4a–b

Your neck is like the tower of David, built with rows of stones: Here the man compared the woman’s neck to the tower of David. The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as rows of stones seems to describe the way that the tower was built, but the meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown.The Hebrew word consists of the prefixed preposition le translated as with plus the unknown root word translated rows of stones. It occurs only here in the OT. There are at least three ways to interpret it:

It means that woman’s neck is similar in some way to the impressive way that the tower of David was designed and constructed. For example:
Your neck is like David’s beautifully-designed tower. (GW) (CEV, GW, NIV, NLT, GNT)
It means “built in rows.” This may refer to the woman’s necklaces as being like rows of shields (4:4c–d) or like the way the tower was built with rows of stones. (These rows are called “courses” in some English versions.) For example:
Your neck is like the tower of David, built in courses… (NRSV) (BSB, ESV, NCV, NET, NJB, NRSV, REB, NIV)
It describes the function of the tower, either as a storage place for weapons or as a defensive structure. For example:
Your neck is like the tower of David, built for an arsenal… (RSV) (NJPS, RSV)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). The woman’s beautiful neck and necklaces were like the tower of David, which was tall, majestic, and beautiful. The shields that hung from it were also beautiful. They were probably decorated with gold and jewels that shone in the sun like the woman’s necklaces described in 4:4c–d.At first glance, it appears by the ending on this word le-talpiyyot, a plural suffix -ot, that this is a plural noun. However, as Bloch and Bloch point out (pages 170–172), there is a class of words that have a plural marker but that function adverbially. They point out that in this context with the word “to build” it would have been more common to use the preposition be rather than le. Also, it is very common in Hebrew constructions using “to build” plus an adverbial to use the preposition le attached to the adverb. This explanation does not pinpoint the exact meaning of le-talpiyyot, but it does narrow it down in context to some quality of beauty that both the tower and her neck have in common. A generic sort of quality such as “beautifully,” “masterfully,” or “elegantly” seems as good an option as any. Such a description would function in a similar manner to the description of her thighs in 7:1, “the work of a master hand.”

Because the BSB does not follow interpretation (1), the Notes uses the NIV as the source text for the Notes and Display of 4:4a–b.

(NIV) Your neck is like the tower of David, built with elegance: In this comparison the author indicates that the woman’s neck was beautiful and elegant. Some other ways to translate this meaning are:

Your neck is more graceful than the tower of David. (CEV)

Your neck is as beautiful as the tower of David (NLT)

(NIV) the tower of David: The phrase tower of David refers here to one of the towers that King David caused to be built. It does not refer to the tower near Jerusalem that is known today as the “tower of David.” That tower was built a long time after the Song of Songs was written. The tower in this verse refers to an older tower. Scholars do not have any information about this tower except what is said here in the Song, and the Bible does not refer to it anywhere else.

The Song implies that the tower was large, impressive, and beautiful. Probably David did not actually build it himself. He provided the money and instructions for it to be built. Some other ways to translate the phrase the tower of David are:

the tower that David built

the tower which David caused to be built

tower: A tower in ancient Israel was a building that was much taller (and often not as wide) as the buildings around it. Most towers were made of stone, but some of the towers that King David built were made of white marble. Marble is a beautiful, smooth, expensive stone. It is also hard and durable.

A tower was usually used to watch for signs that enemies were coming to attack. It was also a place that was hard for enemies to enter, so it protected the soldiers and other people during battle. In some languages it may be helpful to make the meaning more explicit. For example:

watchtower

tall building where men guarded the city

(NIV) built with elegance: The meaning of the Hebrew word that the NIV translates as built with elegance is unknown. However, the context indicates that the tower was beautiful and well-built. Another way to translate this meaning is:

beautifully designed (GW)

4:4c

on it hang a thousand shields,

A thousand small shields hang on the tower.
Costly necklaces decorate it as the tower is decorated with many costly shields

4:4d

all of them shields of warriors.

Each of them is a warrior’s shield.
that belonged to famous warriors.

4:4c–d

In 4:4c–d the author continued to compare the woman’s neck to the watchtower. Here he compared the jewelry on her neck to the shields that hung from the tower. These shields were impressive and beautiful. They were probably decorated with gold and jewels to make them shine in the sun. The woman’s jewelry was also impressive and beautiful. Translate in a way that communicates that picture.

on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as shields refers to small round shields that soldiers (warriors) carried in battle. The phrase on it hang a thousand shields indicates that a thousand of these shields were hanging from the tower. The text indicates that the woman’s necklaces or ornaments and these shields were similar to each other in some way.

Some other way to translate the whole comparison are:

Your neck is like the tower of David, round and smooth, with a necklace like a thousand shields hung around it. (GNT)

Your neck is as beautiful as the tower of David, jeweled with the shields of a thousand heroes. (NLT)

all of them shields of warriors: The phrase all of them shields of warriors is parallel to a thousand shields. It repeats the idea of shields and adds the information that they were warriors’ shields. It was common to hang shields on walls for decoration. They were considered beautiful ornaments.For example, Ezekiel 27:11 says, “Men of Arvad and Helech manned your walls all around, and the men of Gammad were in your towers. They hung their shields around your walls; they perfected your beauty.” Another reference to ornamental shields is found in 1 Maccabees 4:57.

The author probably focused here on the beauty of the ornamental shields that he compared to the beauty of the woman’s jewelry and to her own beauty. The magnificence of the tower with military shields suggests that the woman was like a beautiful queen.

See the preceding note for examples of how to translate this comparison.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / simile

כְּ⁠מִגְדַּ֤ל דָּוִיד֙ צַוָּארֵ֔⁠ךְ בָּנ֖וּי לְ⁠תַלְפִּיּ֑וֹת

[is]_like,the_tower_of Dāvid neck_of,your built to,layers

The writer is saying that the woman’s neck is Like the tower of David which was a tall fortress built of layers or rows. A long neck was considered beautiful in the writer’s culture. King David built some of his towers of beautiful marble rock. It is probable that this tower was made from marble since it is compared to the beauty of the woman’s neck. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state that explicitly. Alternate translation: [Your neck is long and beautiful like the tower of David] or [Your neck is beautiful like the tower of David]

Note 2 topic: translate-unknown

כְּ⁠מִגְדַּ֤ל דָּוִיד֙

[is]_like,the_tower_of Dāvid

The tower of David was a tall building built for defense. Towers were significantly taller than other buildings and often were not wide. If your readers would not be familiar with this type of structure, you could use the name of something similar in your area, or you could use a more general term. Alternate translation: [Like the tall, narrow defense structure of David is] or [Like David’s tall, thin rock defense building is]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

כְּ⁠מִגְדַּ֤ל דָּוִיד֙ צַוָּארֵ֔⁠ךְ בָּנ֖וּי לְ⁠תַלְפִּיּ֑וֹת

[is]_like,the_tower_of Dāvid neck_of,your built to,layers

If your language does not use a passive form like built of layers, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. If you must state who did the action, the context implies that David instructed men to build it. Alternate translation: [Your neck is like the tower of David that men built in layers] or [Your neck is like the tower of David that David had men build of layers]

בָּנ֖וּי לְ⁠תַלְפִּיּ֑וֹת

built to,layers

Alternate translation: [built using rows of stones]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / simile

אֶ֤לֶף הַ⁠מָּגֵן֙ תָּל֣וּי עָלָ֔י⁠ו כֹּ֖ל שִׁלְטֵ֥י הַ⁠גִּבּוֹרִֽים

a_thousand (the),shield[s] hung on/upon/above=him/it all shields_of of,the_warriors

In the writer’s culture it was a common practice to hang shields on walls as decorations. Here the man compares the beauty of the woman’s neck with shields hanging on the tower of David. This comparison probably included the decorations of the woman’s necklaces which probably went around her neck many times. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state that explicitly. Alternate translation: [The beauty of your neck jeweled in necklaces is like a thousand warriors‘ shields hanging from a tower]

Note 5 topic: translate-numbers

אֶ֤לֶף

a_thousand

In the writer’s culture, the number a thousand was often used to represent a very large, but not precise, amount. This is how the number is being used here. Alternate translation: [with many]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

אֶ֤לֶף הַ⁠מָּגֵן֙ תָּל֣וּי עָלָ֔י⁠ו כֹּ֖ל שִׁלְטֵ֥י הַ⁠גִּבּוֹרִֽים

a_thousand (the),shield[s] hung on/upon/above=him/it all shields_of of,the_warriors

The phrase all the shields of the warriors is parallel to the statement a thousand shields hanging on it and adds the additional information that the shields belonged to the warriors. Hebrew poetry often used this kind of parallel statement, in which the second line gives additional information, so it would be good to show this to your readers by including both phrases in your translation rather than combining them. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could connect these two parallel phrases with “each of which” or “each one” in order to show that the second phrase is not repeating the first one but rather saying something additional. Alternate translation: [a thousand shields hanging on it, each of which belongs to the warriors] or [a thousand shields hanging on it, each one belonging to the warriors]

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 4:4

Hebrew word order