Song of Songs 1 Chapter Introduction

Translation Issues in This Chapter

Metaphors

In the ancient Near East, it was common to describe a woman by using metaphors involving animals. In many cultures today, such metaphors could be considered offensive. Cultures vary in the metaphors of beauty they use to describe women. (See: figs-metaphor)

The lines indicating who is speaking and who is being spoken to

Throughout the poem, the author does not identify the speakers or their audience. To help readers understand the poem, some translations attempt to identify the speaker and the audience. It is not always certain who the speaker is, so sometimes translations disagree about the identity of the speaker. Before each speech, the UST places a header to identify the speaker and the audience. You may wish to do the same in your translation.

“I am black”

In the ancient Near East, wealthy people usually had lighter skin because they did not need to work outside, where the sun darkened their skin. Because this young woman had to work outside in the sun, her skin became dark. This is why she says “I am black” in [1:5–6](../01/05.md).