SNG 2:12 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=minor/spelling Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs.
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 Τὰ ἄνθη ὤφθη ἐν τῇ γῇ, καιρὸς τῆς τομῆς ἔφθακε, φωνὴ τῆς τρυγόνος ἠκούσθη ἐν τῇ γῇ ἡμῶν.
(Ta anthaʸ ōfthaʸ en taʸ gaʸ, kairos taʸs tomaʸs efthake, fōnaʸ taʸs trugonos aʸkousthaʸ en taʸ gaʸ haʸmōn. )

BrTr The flowers are seen in the land; the time of pruning has arrived; the voice of the turtle-dove has been heard in our land.

ULT The blossoms have appeared in the land;
⇔ the time of the song has arrived,
⇔ and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

UST The flowers are blooming throughout the country.
⇔ It is now time to sing;
⇔ we hear the doves cooing throughout our land.

OEB No OEB SNG book available

WEBBE The flowers appear on the earth.
⇔ The time of the singing has come,
⇔ and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET The pomegranates have appeared in the land,
⇔ the time for pruning and singing has come;
⇔ the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

LSV The flowers have appeared in the earth,
The time of the singing has come,
And the voice of the turtle was heard in our land,

FBV Flowers are blooming everywhere; the time when birds sing has come; the call of the turtledove is heard in the countryside.[fn]

2:12 The turtledove is a summer visitor to Israel. Its soft call “trrr-trrr” gives it its name, and is a sign that spring has come, like the arrival of the cuckoo in northern Europe.

T4T flowers are blooming throughout the country/land.
⇔ It is now time to sing;
⇔ we hear the doves cooing.

LEB • The blossoms appear[fn] in the land ;[fn] the time of singing[fn] has arrived ;[fn]
• the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

2:? Literally “is seen”

2:? Literally “on the earth”

2:? Most likely, a subtle word play occurs here since there are two different words in Hebrew spelled the same way: “pruning” and “singing.” The former plays upon the first line and the latter upon the third line

2:? Literally “the time of the song arrived”

BBE The flowers are come on the earth; the time of cutting the vines is come, and the voice of the dove is sounding in our land;

Moff the country’s a-flower,
⇔ ’tis the season for pruning
⇔ the ring-dove’s note is heard,

JPS The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

ASV The flowers appear on the earth;
⇔ The time of the singing of birds is come,
⇔ And the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land;

DRA The flowers have appeared in our land, the time of pruning is come: the voice of the turtle is heard in our land:

YLT The flowers have appeared in the earth, The time of the singing hath come, And the voice of the turtle was heard in our land,

Drby The flowers appear on the earth; The time of singing is come, And the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land;

RV The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

SLT The flowers were seen in the earth; the time of pruning came, and the voice of the turtle-dove was heard in our land.

Wbstr The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

KJB-1769 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

KJB-1611 The flowers appeare on the earth, the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps The flowres are come vp in the field, the tyme of the byrdes singing is come, and the voyce of the turtle doue is hearde in our lande.
(The flowers are come up in the field, the time of the birds singing is come, and the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land.)

Gnva The flowers appeare in the earth: the time of the singing of birdes is come, and the voyce of the turtle is heard in our land.
(The flowers appear in the earth: the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. )

Cvdl The floures are come vp in the felde, the twystinge tyme is come, the voyce of the turtle doue is herde in oure londe.
(The flowers are come up in the field, the tweeting time is come, the voice of the turtle-dove is herd/heard in our land.)

Wycl Flouris apperiden in oure lond, the tyme of schridyng is comun; the vois of a turtle is herd in oure lond,
(Flowers appeared in our land, the time of schriding is come; the voice of a turtle is herd in our land,)

Luth die Blumen sind hervorkommen im Lande, der Lenz ist herbeikommen, und die Turteltaube läßt sich hören in unserm Lande;
(the flowers are emerge in_the land, the/of_the springtime is come_over, and the turtledove lets itself/yourself/themselves hear/listen in ours land;)

ClVg Flores apparuerunt in terra nostra; tempus putationis advenit: vox turturis audita est in terra nostra;[fn]
(Flores they_appeared in/into/on earth/land our; time/season thinksionis he_arrived: voice a_turtleis heard it_is in/into/on earth/land our; )

2.12 Flores. Quasi: Istos, qui jam credunt, et jam bona operantur, potes dare in exemplum aliis: istos potes proponere aliis in exemplum qui jam patiuntur falcem vitia resecantem. Pro quiete tua non debes dimittere prædicationem, quia Christus, qui in magna quiete erat cum Patre, quietem quodammodo pro prædicatione intermisit. Tempus putationis. Jam inutilibus vanæ religionis amputatis sarmentis, futuro fidei fructu præparantur corda hominum, jam et vitia amputantur, quia venit tempus remissionis peccatorum. Vox turturis audita est. Spiritus sanctus, quando de occultioribus loquitur sacramentis, et quæ multi non capiunt, turturis appellatione signatur. Unde et Moysi apparet et uni: quando de humilibus quæ ad omnes usque perveniunt, per columbam assumitur, unde et circa Jordanem astantibus multis non in turture apparuit, sed in columba. Vox turturis, vox apostolorum, vel quorumlibet prædicatorum, qui suo cantu abscessum hiemis et veris adventum nuntiant, qui pro cantu humilem gemitum reddunt, qui pudicitiæ amatores sunt, qui semper in jugis montium, vel in verticibus arborum morantur, et conversationem fugiunt hominum, dum in mundo corpore positi, conversationem habent in cœlis, incolatus sui et patriæ sibi promissæ memores.

2.12 Flores. Quasi: Istos, who/which already they_believe, and already good(s) they_work, you_can dare in/into/on exemplum to_others: these you_can proponere to_others in/into/on exemplum who/which already they_suffer sickle vices resecantem. For quietly your not/no debes to_release preaching, because Christ/Messiah, who/which in/into/on big quietly was when/with Father, rest in_a_certain_way for preaching intermisit. Time/Season thinksionis. Now inutilibus vanæ religion amputatis sarmentis, future of_faith fruit beforeparantur hearts of_men, already and vices amputantur, because he_came time/season forgiveness of_sins/sinners. The_voice a_turtleis heard it_is. Spirit holy, when from/about occultioribus speaks sacraments, and which many not/no capiunt, a_turtleis appealsione is_signed. From_where/who and of_Moses appears and uni: when from/about humilibus which to everyone until they_arrive, through dove assumesur, from_where/who and around/about Yordan astantibus many not/no in/into/on a_turtlee appeared, but in/into/on dove. The_voice a_turtleis, voice of_the_apostles, or whoselibet preachers, who/which his_own cantu abscessum hiemis and in_spring arrival nuntiant, who/which for cantu humble gemitum they_return, who/which pudicitiæ lovers are, who/which always in/into/on always mountains, or in/into/on peaks/vertices arborum morantur, and conversation fugiunt of_men, while in/into/on to_the_world body placed, conversation they_have in/into/on heavens, incolatus self and homeland to_himself promissæ memores.

SOTN SIL Open Translation Notes:

Section 2:8–3:5: The man called the woman, but later she could not find him

The author began this scene at a different place and time from the ending of the preceding section (1:1–2:7). At the end of that section, the woman and man were together, but at the beginning of this section (2:8) the woman was in her room at home, and the man was coming to her over the hills.

There are two poems in Section 2:8–3:5. In the first poem (2:8–17) the man came and stood outside the woman’s room. She quoted what he said as he invited her to come out with him and enjoy a beautiful spring day. The second poem (3:1–5) describes a time when the woman searched for her beloved at night. This second poem has much in common with Section 5:2–6:3. See the discussion of similarities at the beginning of that section.

Both parts of this section (2:8–17 and 3:1–5) may describe what the woman imagined or what she dreamed. The descriptions may not refer to actual events in the poem.

Paragraph 2:8–17

This beautiful poem (2:8–17) describes springtime. In springtime, new plants begin to grow, flowers bloom, and fruit trees begin to blossom. In these lines springtime symbolizes that love was growing between the woman and the man. The woman first spoke to herself, but then she quoted the man as he invited her to come out of her house and go away with him.

This poem begins and ends in a similar way. At the beginning (2:8–9) the man came to the woman over the mountains like a gazelle or stag. At the end (2:17) he again roamed on the mountains like a gazelle or stag.

In these lines the woman spoke. However, from 2:10b through 2:14 she quoted what the man said. Then she continued speaking in 2:15–17.

2:12a–13c

In verses 12a–13c the man described how beautiful the countryside is in the springtime. He wanted the woman to imagine the sights (2:12a, 13a–b), sounds (2:12b–c), and smells (2:13c) of spring. He implied that it is a wonderful time for the woman to come and enjoy spring with him.

2:12a

The flowers have appeared in the countryside;

Flowers are blossoming on the earth.
Beautiful flowers cover the land,

The flowers have appeared in the countryside: The Hebrew verb that the BSB translates as have appeared is more literally “have been seen.” It indicates that people can see flowers sprouting and blooming in the springtime. Wildflowers are common in Palestine during that time.

Some other ways to translate The flowers have appeared in the countryside are:

Flowers/Blooms are covering the earth.

Flowers bloom throughout the land.

In some languages there may be an idiom to describe this season when many flowers start to bloom. For example:

wildflowers spring up in the fields.Ariel and Chana Bloch, The Song of Songs, page 59.

flowers: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as flowers can refer to any blossom. It includes blooms on flowering trees, bushes, and vines.

2:12b–c

In some languages it may be more natural to combine 2:12b and 2:12c. See the General Comment on 2:12b–c at the end of 2:12c for an example.

2:12b

the season of singing has come,

It is the time to sing!
birds are singing their songs,

the season of singing has come: There are three ways to interpret the Hebrew word that the BSB translates as singing here:

It means “singing.” For example:
the season of singing has come (NIV) (BSB, CEV, ESV, GW, NCV, NIV, NJB, NLT, REB, RSV, GNT)
It means “pruning” (of grapevines). Some ancient versions (Greek and Latin) follow this interpretation. For example:
the time has arrived for pruning the vines (NASB) (NAB, NASB, NJPS)
It means both singing and pruning. This demonstrates special artistic skill on the part of the poet. Several scholars follow this view. For example:
the time for pruning and singing has come (NET) (NET)

It is recommended that you follow option (1). This has the best support from English versions. It also seems to fit the context best. It parallels 2:12c “the cooing of turtledoves is heard in our land.” There are also several other reasons for following this option.(a) There is some doubt whether pruning was done at this time of the year. (b) To go outside to hear the singing seems like a reason that is more likely to appeal to the woman than to go outside because it was the time of pruning. (c) The poet does not introduce grapevines until 2:13b. (d) The flowers referred to in 2:12a are probably wildflowers rather than blossoms in the vineyard, so they have nothing to do with pruning in 2:12b.

singing: Here singing probably refers to the singing of birds, since the following line refers to the voice of the “turtledove” (a kind of bird). However, the context may also imply that spring is a joyful time and therefore a time for human singing.

Some other ways to translate “the season of singing has come” are:

This is the time for singing (GNT)

The time has come to sing

2:12c

and the cooing of turtledoves is heard in our land.

The voice of the turtledove is heard across the countryside.
and doves make their pleasant sounds in the fields.

and the cooing of turtledoves is heard in our land: This clause is passive. In some languages it may be more natural to translate it using an active clause. For example:

You can hear turtledoves cooing in our land.

People hear the song of the turtledove throughout our land.

turtledoves: The “turtledove” is a small songbird of the pigeon family. During the cold winters of Palestine, it migrates to a warmer climate. But each springtime it returns in the month of April. People thought of the sound of the turtledoves as a sign that springtime had come.

If people in your area are not familiar with the “turtledove,” some other ways to translate it here are:

General Comment on 2:12b–c

Substitute a bird in your area that fits this context. It should be a bird that sings when the time of nice weather arrives. It should be a bird that people like, not one that disturbs them.
Use a more general term. For example:
songbird (GW)
singing birds

In some languages it is helpful to combine 2:12b and 2:12c. For example:

^12b–cBirds sing sweetly in the fields.

Parallel SNG 2:12