SNG 1:15 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: .
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Ἰδοὺ εἶ καλὴ ἡ πλησίον μου, ἰδοὺ εἶ καλὴ· ὀφθαλμοί σου περιστεραί.
(Idou ei kalaʸ haʸ plaʸsion mou, idou ei kalaʸ; ofthalmoi sou peristerai. )

BrTr Behold, thou art fair, my companion; behold, thou art fair; thine eyes are doves.

ULT Behold you, beautiful, my darling!
⇔ Behold you, beautiful!
⇔ Your eyes are doves.
⇔ 

UST My dear one, you are beautiful;
⇔ you are very beautiful!
⇔ Your eyes are as gentle and beautiful as doves.

OEB No OEB SNG book available

CSB How beautiful you are, my darling. How very beautiful! Your eyes are doves. Woman

NLT How beautiful you are, my darling, how beautiful! Your eyes are like doves. Young Woman

NIV How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes are doves.

CEV My darling, you are lovely, so very lovely--your eyes are those of a dove.

ESV Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves.

NASB “How beautiful you are, my darling, How beautiful you are! Your eyes are like doves.”

LSB “Behold, you are beautiful, my darling, Behold, you are beautiful! Your eyes are like doves.”

WEBBE Behold,[fn] you are beautiful, my love.
⇔ Behold, you are beautiful.
⇔ Your eyes are like doves.

1:15 “Behold”, from “הִנֵּה”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.

WMBB (Same as above including footnotes)

MSG The Man Oh, my dear friend! You’re so beautiful!
And your eyes so beautiful—like doves!

NET Oh, how beautiful you are, my beloved!
⇔ Oh, how beautiful you are!
⇔ Your eyes are like doves!

LSV Behold, you [are] beautiful, my friend,
Behold, you [are] beautiful, your eyes [are] doves!

FBV Look at how very beautiful you are, my darling, how beautiful! Your eyes are as gentle as doves.

T4T You whom I love, you are beautiful;
⇔ you are very beautiful!
⇔ Your eyes are as delightful/charming as doves.

LEB • Look! You are beautiful, my beloved. Look! You are beautiful;
• your eyes are doves.

NRSV Ah, you are beautiful, my love; ah, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves.

NKJV Behold, you are fair, my love! Behold, you are fair! You have dove’s eyes.

NAB How beautiful you are, my friend, how beautiful! your eyes are doves!

BBE See, you are fair, my love, you are fair; you have the eyes of a dove.

Moff “How fair you are, my dear
⇔ how fair with dove-like eyes!”

JPS Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thine eyes are as doves.

ASV ⇔ Behold, thou art fair, my love;
⇔ Behold thou art fair;
⇔ Thine eyes are as doves.

DRA Behold thou art fair, my beloved, and comely. Our bed is flourishing.

YLT Lo, thou [art] fair, my friend, Lo, thou [art] fair, thine eyes [are] doves!

Drby Behold, thou art fair, my love; Behold, thou art fair: thine eyes are doves.

RV Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thine eyes are as doves.
(Behold, thou/you art fair, my love; behold, thou/you art fair; thine/your eyes are as doves. )

SLT Behold thee fair, my friend; behold thee beautiful; thine eyes are doves’.

Wbstr Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes.

KJB-1769 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes.[fn]
(Behold, thou/you art fair, my love; behold, thou/you art fair; thou/you hast doves’ eyes. )

1.15 my love: or, my companion

KJB-1611 Behold, thou art faire, [fn]my loue: behold, thou art faire, thou hast doues eyes.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)

1:15 Or, my companion.

Bshps Oh howe fayre art thou my loue, Oh howe fayre art thou? thou hast doues eyes.
(Oh how fair art thou/you my love, Oh how fair art thou? thou/you hast doves eyes.)

Gnva My welbeloued, beholde, thou art faire and pleasant: also our bed is greene:
(My well-beloved, behold, thou/you art fair and pleasant: also our bed is green: )

Cvdl O how fayre art thou (my loue) how fayre art thou? thou hast doues eyes.
(Oh how fair art thou/you (my love) how fair art thou? thou/you hast doves eyes.)

Wycl Lo, my derling, thou art fair, and schapli; oure bed is fair as flouris.
(Lo, my darling, thou/you art fair, and shapely; our bed is fair as flouris.)

Luth Siehe, meine Freundin, du bist schön, schön bist du; deine Augen sind wie Taubenaugen.
(See/Look, my girlfriend, you(sg) are beautiful, beautiful are you(sg); your eyes are as/like pigeon_eyes.)

ClVg Sponsa Ecce tu pulcher es, dilecte mi, et decorus ! Lectulus noster floridus.[fn]
(The_bride Behold you(sg) beautiful you_are, beloved my, and beautiful ! Lectulus our floridus. )

1.15 Ecce tu pulcher es, dilecte mi et decorus. Audiens sponsa se per dilectionem sponsi meruisse, ut ab ipso sponso laudaretur, sponso vicem in laudibus tribuit: non quod ei, quod non habet, suo præconio largiatur, sed intelligens decorem ejus, per quem et ipsa decora facta est, ait: Ecce tu pulcher es, etc. Lectulus noster floridus. Aliquando Ecclesia quasi in lectulo cum sponso quiescit, tempore scilicet pacis, ubi Dei pulchritudinem liquidius aspicit, et prolem fidelium flore fidei redolentem, ex aqua et Spiritu sancto gignit. Aliquando cum sponso insurgente tentatione in acie consistit. Vel, lectulus, pusilli fideles, qui Deo sunt quies et magistris suis, per hoc, saltem, quod peccare mortaliter nolunt, qui florent initiis bonorum operum, per quod dant spem fructus, id est majorum operum. Quietam in sponso vitam agere volens quales domus sint, in quibus eum suscipere velit insinuat. Pax Ecclesiæ, virtutibus floret et spirituali prole multiplicatur.

1.15 Behold you(sg) beautiful you_are, beloved mi and beautiful. Listenens bride himself through love grooms meruisse, as away himself sponso to_praisetur, sponso turn in/into/on praises gives: not/no that to_him, that not/no has, his_own I_begnio largiatur, but intelligent beauty his, through which and herself decorative facts it_is, he_said: Behold you(sg) beautiful you_are, etc. Lectulus our floridus. Aliquando Assembly/Church as_if in/into/on bed when/with sponso rests, at_the_time namely of_peace, where of_God beauty liquidius aspicit, and prolem faithful flore of_faith redolentem, from water and By_Spirit holy produces. Aliquando when/with sponso insurgente temptation in/into/on acie consists. Or, lectulus, pusilli faithful, who/which to_God are quies and teacherss to_his_own, through hoc, at_least/after_all, that to_sin mortaliter they_do_not_want, who/which florent initiis of_goods works, through that dant hope fruit, that it_is of_elders works. Quietam in/into/on sponso life to_act willing what_kind home let_them_be, in/into/on to_whom him to_undertake wants suggests. Peace Assemblies/Churches, virtues floret and spiritual prole multipliesur.

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 1:2–2:7: The woman and man admired each other

In Section 1:2–2:7, the woman and man praised each other, and they became more confident that they loved each other. In the introduction (1:2–4) the woman spoke about her desire for the man. Then she spoke of her humble life working in the family vineyard (1:5–6), and she seemed to question whether she was worthy for him to love her. Then he praised her, and she praised him. When she spoke at the end of the section (2:3–6), she felt secure that he loved her.

In this section, the woman used several comparisons to speak of her feelings about the man. She spoke as though he were a shepherd (1:7–8) or a king (1:4; 1:12), implying that he was like a shepherd or king to her in certain ways. He was also like a bag of myrrh (1:13), henna blossoms (1:14), and an apple tree (2:3–4) to her. The woman compared herself to “a rose of Sharon,” and “a lily of the valleys” (2:1). The man compared her to “a mare of Pharaoh’s chariots” (1:9). The Notes will discuss the meaning of each of these comparisons as it occurs in its section.

Lines 1:2–4 are the introduction to Section 1:2–2:7. In these lines, the poet summarizes the Song’s message and introduces its main characters: the woman, the man, and a group of young women. In the Song the woman spoke more often than the man spoke. After the title (1:1), she began the Song by saying that she wanted him to kiss her. She referred to him only as “him” or “you.” In Hebrew poetry, the authors do not introduce their characters as they do in stories, but in some languages it may be more natural to introduce them and identify them. Some ways to do this are:

Provide headings to identify the characters. Some headings may apply only to a verse or part of a verse. For example:
1:4e The Woman commented about the young women of Jerusalem You may need to use a different form the first time a character is introduced. For example:
1:2–4b A woman speaks to the man she loves
Use a speech introducer in the first part of the verse. If you use this option, you may want to indicate in some way that the speech introducer is not in the text itself. For example:
1:4e (The woman said to her beloved,) “Rightly do they love you.”
1:2a [There were a certain woman and man. She said to/about him,] “Let him kiss me…

Choose an option that fits your situation, and use it consistently throughout the book. You should also decide how you will refer to the speakers in the headings. Some ways to do that are:

woman, man, women (GNT)

beloved, lover, friends (NIV)

bride, groom, companions (REB)

she, he, others (ESV)

The woman often referred to the man as “my beloved” (RSV), and she also called him “the one whom my soul loves,” “the king,” and “my friend.” The man often referred to her as “my love” and also as “fairest among women,” “my dove,” “my sister,” “my bride,” and “queenly maiden.”

1:15a–b

How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how very beautiful!: Here the man spoke directly to the woman with an exclamation that emphasizes her beauty. He repeated the word beautiful to emphasize it. In some languages, this repetition is not natural. If that is true in your language, use a different way to translate the emphasis. For example:

You are a very beautiful woman.

you are really lovely

1:15a

How beautiful you are, my darling!

Oh, you^(sing) are beautiful, my dearest,
How lovely you^(sing) are, my darling!
My dearest, you^(sing) are so beautiful,

my darling: See 1:9a–b for a discussion of my darling. In some languages a direct address comes first in the sentence. For example:

My darling, how beautiful you are…

1:15b

Oh, how very beautiful!

oh, you^(sing) are beautiful!
You^(sing) are truly gorgeous/lovely!
you^(sing) are so very beautiful!

Oh: The Hebrew word hinneh that the BSB translates as Oh means “Look!” It calls attention to the woman’s beauty and emphasizes it. Consider how to do that in a natural way in your language. Some languages may use an emphatic word or phrase. For example:

Behold, you are beautiful…! (RSV)See also NIV, NJPS, NRSV, REB.

Look at you! You are beautiful…! (GW)

Wow/Ah, you are so beautiful!

1:15c

Your eyes are like doves.

Your^(sing) eyes are doves.
Your^(sing) eyes are as gentle as doves.
Your^(sing) eyes are gentle, yes, as gentle and beautiful as doves.

Your eyes are like doves: The clause Your eyes are like doves is a simile. It indicates that the woman’s eyes reminded the man of doves in some way. It does not imply that her eyes looked like doves. It implies that her eyes had a quality that reminded him of doves.

Scholars do not know exactly how the woman’s eyes were like doves. But in this context it is obvious that the simile was a compliment to describe her beautiful eyes. Doves are gentle birds, and gentle eyes are beautiful.

Some ways to interpret the compliment are:

Her eyes were gentle and beautiful like doves.
Her eyes caused the man to feel more intense love for her. Doves were sometimes used as symbols of love.
Her eyes were lively or sparkling like a dove’s lively movements.

English versions do not make explicit which interpretation they follow. It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). It seems to be the most natural interpretation based on the common characteristics of doves.

In some languages it may be necessary to make this interpretation explicit so that people will not understand a wrong meaning. For example:

Your eyes show that you are as gentle as a dove.

your eyes, they are beautiful like doves.

In some areas doves are not known. If that is true in your language, some other ways to translate it are:

Use a bird in your area that is known as gentle and beautiful.
Use a more general phrase. For example:
a shy, beautiful bird

doves: doves are small birds that people raised in that culture for meat. In the Bible doves are often used as a metaphor to describe gentleness, human mourning, or beauty. A man could use “dove” or “my dove” as a name for his beloved as he spoke to her in a loving way.

General Comment on 1:15

In some languages you may want to use parallel phrases to translate 1:15c, just as in 1:15a–b. For example:

^15aHow beautiful you are, my darling!

^15bOh how very beautiful!

^15cYour eyes are like doves,

yes, just like doves.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

הִנָּ֤⁠ךְ & הִנָּ֥⁠ךְ

here,you & here,you

The man is using the term Behold to focus the woman’s attention on what he is about to say. Your language may have a comparable expression that you can use in your translation. Alternate translation: [Look at you! … Look at you!]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

הִנָּ֤⁠ךְ יָפָה֙ רַעְיָתִ֔⁠י הִנָּ֥⁠ךְ יָפָ֖ה עֵינַ֥יִ⁠ךְ יוֹנִֽים

here,you beautiful my_friend_of,O here,you beautiful eyes_of,your doves

The man uses the phrase Behold you, beautiful two times for emphasis. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could combine the phrases and express emphasis in a way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: [Behold you, beautiful, my darling! Your eyes are doves]

רַעְיָתִ֔⁠י

my_friend_of,O

See how you translated the phrase my darling in [1:9](../01/09.md)

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

עֵינַ֥יִ⁠ךְ יוֹנִֽים

eyes_of,your doves