SNG 4:16 Parallel Verse View

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

OET (OET-RV) Wake up, north wind, and come, south wind.
⇔ Blow on my garden and let its spices flow.
⇔ Let my dearest come to his garden and eat its delicious fruit.

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 Ἐξεγέρθητι βοῤῥᾶ, καὶ ἔρχου Νότε, καὶ διάπνευσον κῆπόν μου, καὶ ῥευσάτωσαν ἀρώματά μου.
(Exegerthaʸti boɽɽa, kai erⱪou Note, kai diapneuson kaʸpon mou, kai ɽeusatōsan arōmata mou. )

BrTr Awake, O north wind; and come, O south; and blow through my garden, and let my spices flow out.

ULT Awake, north wind, and come, south wind;
⇔ blow on my garden and let its spices flow.
⇔ 
¶  Let my beloved come to his garden
⇔ and eat its delicious fruit.

UST I want the north wind and the south wind to come
⇔ and blow on me,
⇔ so that the fragrance of my body will spread through the air and attract the man I love.
⇔ You whom I love, I am like your garden.
⇔ I want you to come and enjoy my body,
⇔ like someone comes into a garden and enjoys eating the delicious fruit that grows there.

OEB No OEB SNG book available

WEBBE Awake, north wind, and come, you south!
⇔ Blow on my garden, that its spices may flow out.
⇔ Let my beloved come into his garden,
⇔ and taste his precious fruits.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Awake, O north wind; come, O south wind!
⇔ Blow on my garden so that its fragrant spices may send out their sweet smell.
⇔ May my beloved come into his garden
⇔ and eat its delightful fruit!

LSV Awake, O north wind, and come, O south,
Cause my garden to breathe forth, its spices let flow,
Let my beloved come to his garden,
And eat its pleasant fruits!

FBV Wake up, north wind! Come, south wind! Blow on my garden so its scent may be carried on the breeze. Let my love come to his garden and eat its best fruits.

T4T I want the north wind and the south wind to come,
⇔ and blow on my garden,
⇔ in order that the fragrance of the spices will spread through the air.
⇔ Similarly, I want the one who loves me to come and enjoy cuddling up to me
⇔ like [MET, EUP] someone comes into a garden and enjoys eating the fruit that grows there.

LEB • Awake, O north wind! Come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden! Let its fragrances[fn] waft forth![fn]
• Let my beloved come to his garden,
• let him eat his choice fruit!

4:? Or “perfumes”

4:? Or “His perfumes can waft down”

BBE Be awake, O north wind; and come, O south, blowing on my garden, so that its spices may come out. Let my loved one come into his garden, and take of his good fruits.

Moff O north wind, waken,
⇔ O south wind, blow
⇔ and breathe on my garden
⇔ to waft out the perfume!”
¶ 
⇔ Let my darling come into his garden,
⇔ let him taste the choice fruits that are his!

JPS Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his precious fruits.

ASV ⇔ Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south;
⇔ Blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out.
⇔ Let my beloved come into his garden,
⇔ And eat his precious fruits.

DRA Arise, O north wind, and come, O south wind, blow through my garden, and let the aromatical spices thereof flow.

YLT Awake, O north wind, and come, O south, Cause my garden to breathe forth, its spices let flow, Let my beloved come to his garden, And eat its pleasant fruits!

Drby Awake, north wind, and come, [thou] south; Blow upon my garden, [that] the spices thereof may flow forth. Let my beloved come into his garden, And eat its precious fruits.

RV Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his precious fruits.
(Awake, Oh north wind; and come, thou/you south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his precious fruits. )

SLT Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south, blow upon my garden; its spices shall flow out. My beloved shall come to his garden, and he shall eat his most precious fruits.

Wbstr Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.

KJB-1769 ¶ Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.
(¶ Awake, Oh north wind; and come, thou/you south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits. )

KJB-1611 ¶ Awake, O Northwinde, and come thou South, blow vpon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out: let my beloued come into his garden, and eate his pleasant fruits.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)

Bshps Up thou north winde, come thou south winde and blowe vpon my garden, that the smell therof may be caryed on euery side: yea that my beloued may come into his garden, and eate of the sweete fruites that growe therein.
(Up thou/you north wind, come thou/you south wind and blow upon my garden, that the smell thereof may be carried on every side: yea that my beloved may come into his garden, and eat of the sweet fruits that grow therein.)

Gnva Arise, O North, and come O South, and blowe on my garden that the spices thereof may flow out: let my welbeloued come to his garden, and eate his pleasant fruite.
(Arise, Oh North, and come Oh South, and blow on my garden that the spices thereof may flow out: let my well-beloved come to his garden, and eat his pleasant fruit. )

Cvdl Vp thou northwynde, come thou southwynde, and blowe vpo my garde, that the smell therof maye be caried on euery syde: Yee that my beloued maye come in to my garden, & eate of the frutes and apples that growe therin.
(Vp thou/you north wind, come thou/you south wind, and blow upon my garde, that the smell thereof may be carried on every side: Ye/You_all that my beloved may come in to my garden, and eat of the fruits and apples that grow therein.)

Wycl Rise thou north wynd, and come thou, south wynd; blowe thou thorouy my gardyn, and the swete smellynge oynementis therof schulen flete.
(Rise thou/you north wind, and come thou/you, south wind; blow thou/you through my garden, and the sweet smelling ointments thereof should flete.)

Luth Stehe auf, Nordwind, und komm, Südwind, und wehe durch meinen Garten, daß seine Würzen triefen! Mein Freund komme in seinen Garten und esse seiner edlen Früchte.
(Stand on/in/to, north_wind, and come, south_wind, and woe through my garden, that his seasoning dripping/oozing! My friend come in his garden and eat his precious/fine fruit.)

ClVg Sponsa Surge, aquilo, et veni, auster: perfla hortum meum, et fluant aromata illius.][fn]
(The_bride Get_up, to_the_north, and I_came, auster: perfla hortum mine, and flow spices of_that.] )

4.16 Surge. Et cum talis sit hortus, surge, id est, discede vel impugna. Surge. Horto consito et irrigato, restabat ut omnibus firmiter et ordinate compositis, nequaquam adversariis illius, tentandi negaretur accessus, sed potius monstraretur, quia quo amplius flagellantur, eo amplius interna fluctuum illius suavitas panditur. In aquilone, mundi adversa; in austro, blandimenta intellige, quia gemina expugnatione probatur Ecclesia. Surge, permittentis est, non imperantis. Perfla. Alter vexando, alter recreando. Perfla, id est, infer tribulationem, vel persequendo, ut Ecclesia in utroque pulsata et probata mirum odorem constantiæ suæ et abundantioris virtutis ubique diffundat, et in fine mundi positos inenarrabili fragrantia suæ suavitatis satiabit.

4.16 Get_up. And when/with such be garden, get_up, that it_is, discede or impugna. Get_up. Horto consito and irrigato, restabat as to_all firmiter and ordinate compositis, by_no_means adversariis of_that, tentandi negaretur accessus, but rather mountaintraretur, because where more flagellantur, by_him more internal of_waves of_that suavitas panditur. In north, world adversa; in/into/on south, blandimenta intellige, because gemina expugnatione approved Assembly/Church. Get_up, persender it_is, not/no to_the_rulers. Perfla. Alter vexando, the_other recreando. Perfla, that it_is, infer tribulationm, or persequendo, as Assembly/Church in/into/on both pulsata and approvesa strange smell constantiæ his/her_own and abundantioris of_virtue everywhere diffundat, and in/into/on fine world placed inenarrabili fragrantia his/her_own sweetness satiabit.

SOTN 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 4:16–5:1 The man and woman united in marriage

These two verses (4:16 and 5:1) can be considered the climax of the Song. In 4:16 the woman spoke for the first time since 3:5. She responded to the man’s praise in 4:1–15, and she indirectly invited him to enter the “garden.” Here the garden is a poetic way for the woman to refer to herself. The woman invited the man to come “into her garden,” and in 5:1 he did come in.

In Hebrew the word used for “awake” in 4:16 is the same word that was used in 2:7c–d. There the woman told the other women not to stir up nor awaken love until the right time. In 4:16–5:1 the time became right for love to awaken. The man and woman were married, and it was time to fulfill their desires for each other.

4:16a

Awake, O north wind,

North wind, wake up!
The north wind

4:16b

and come, O south wind.

South wind, come!
and the south wind must both start gently blowing!

4:16a–c

Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind. Breathe on my garden: Here the woman replied to the man indirectly by calling to the wind. She used a figurative way to invite him to be intimate with her. When she told the winds to blow on the locked garden, she indicated that she was opening the garden so the man could enter and enjoy its fruits. The garden represents the woman herself. She called the winds to blow so that her fragrance would reach the man and make him want to come to her.

In this verse the woman speaks directly to the north and south winds. In some languages speaking to the wind may imply a wrong meaning or it may not be natural. If that is true in your language, you may translate the meaning indirectly. For example:

How I wish the north and south winds would blow! I wish they would come and blow on my garden!

Let the north wind blow, the south wind too! Let them spread the aroma of my garden (CEV)

In some languages it may be helpful to make the figurative meaning more explicit. For example:

The north and south winds should arise and blow to spread the fragrances of my garden to my beloved!

Awake…come: The woman calls to the winds to Awake and come. In some languages, there may be a more natural way to speak about the wind rising. Use a natural way in your language. For example:

O winds, be stirred, start blowing/breathing…

The winds should rise and fly/come

north wind…south wind: Scholars are not sure why the author mentioned the directions north and south to describe the winds. The words north and south may represent winds from all directions, or it may be a poetic way to talk about wind here. Use a natural way in your language to speak about the wind. Other ways to translate these winds in this context are:

O north wind, rise and blow!

O south wind, come!

O winds, come from all directions,

come and blow!

4:16c–d

Breathe on my garden and spread the fragrance of its spices: Here the woman called on the wind to blow on her garden so that its fragrance would spread. She specifically wanted her beloved (4:16e–f) to smell the sweet odors and come to her. So 4:16d is the purpose for the action in 4:16c. Some other ways to translate the action and purpose are:

Use a purpose connector. For example:
Blow on my garden so that its fragrant spices may send out their sweet smell. (NET)
Translate the clauses as separate actions. For example:
blow on my garden; fill the air with fragrance. (GNT)

Translate the actions in a natural way in your language.

4:16c

Breathe on my garden

Blow across my garden
They must breathe on my garden,

Breathe on my garden: The phrase Breathe on my garden indicates that the woman wanted the wind to blow on her garden so that the good odors of the fruits and flowers there will spread. Some other ways to translate the phrase are:

Waft over my garden!

Blow on/over my garden!

my garden: In 4:12 the man compared the woman to a garden. Here the woman used the phrase my garden in a figurative way to speak about herself. The fragrant garden represents the woman. Before 4:16 she was like a locked garden because she had not yet “opened” her body to anyone. In 4:16e, she will speak of herself as “his garden,” which will be a major change for them.

In some languages it may be necessary to indicate more explicitly that the woman compared herself to a garden here. For example:

I am like a garden that needs the wind to blow across it

4:16d

and spread the fragrance of its spices.

and spread its fragrance.
so that its fragrant spices may send out their sweet smell. (NET)

spread the fragrance of its spices: In this clause the woman continued to speak to the winds. She implied that the winds should spread the fragrances of her garden. The next clauses (4:16e–f) show that she wanted those odors to reach the man who was outside the garden. Some other ways to translate this clause are:

and spread its fragrance all around (NLT)

so that my beloved will smell its sweet odors

spread: The Hebrew verb that the BSB translates as spread means “to flow.” The woman wanted the odor of the perfume to flow through the air. The context implies that she wanted it to reach her beloved. She hoped that the odor would attract him to come to her.

the fragrance of its spices: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as the fragrance of its spices is literally “its spices” or “its perfumes.”The ESV, GW, NAB, NASB, NJPS, and REB translate literally in this way. However, the author refers to the sweet odor of the spices. In many languages it is clearer to refer directly to the fragrance (BSB) or “sweet smell.” It is the odor of the spices and not the spices themselves that the woman wanted the wind to spread. The garden’s fragrance represents the woman’s perfume or her sweet odor in general.

4:16e

Let my beloved come into his garden

It is time for my love to come to his garden
My beloved, come now and enter your garden.

Let my beloved come into his garden: Here the woman shifted from speaking to the wind (4:16a–d) to speaking to her beloved. She used an indirect way to tell him that she desired his love. In some languages this indirect request may not be clear or it may imply a wrong meaning. If that is true in your language, you may communicate the meaning more directly. For example:

Come into your garden, my love (NLT)

My love, I am your garden. Come in

Let…come: The verb Let…come is a request. The woman used it to invite the man into her garden. The garden is a symbol for the woman herself, so the request implies that she wanted the man to show his love for her. Translate this desire in a natural way in your language. See the examples in the preceding note.

his garden: The words “my garden” (4:16c) and his garden (4:16e) both refer to the woman. They do not refer to two different gardens. Here the woman changed from referring to herself (or her body) as “my garden,” to saying that she was his garden. This change shows that the woman agreed to be united with the man in the sexual union that a husband and wife share. This shift from “my garden” to his garden implies that they were now husband and wife.

4:16f

and taste its choicest fruits.

and eat some of its delicious fruits.
Taste its best fruits.

and taste its choicest fruits: In this part of the verse the woman continued her indirect request for the man to unite with her in marital relations. She offered her husband the freedom to eat the best fruits of her garden. This offer is a metaphor and a euphemism. It means that she invited her husband to enjoy her as they had sexual relations together. Use an appropriate way for a modest woman to invite her husband to make love to her.

Some other ways to do this in English are:

enjoy my best fruits

share the pleasure of the finest fruit of my love

In some languages it may be helpful to include a footnote in your translation. For example:

The woman here invites the man to have marital relations with her.

taste: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as taste is used here as a euphemism to refer to enjoying making love.

its choicest fruits: A similar phrase to its choicest fruits also occurred in 4:13b. There the man described the woman as a garden and mentioned her “choicest fruits.” So here in 4:16 she quoted the man and invited him to come and eat those fruits. The phrase choicest fruits figuratively refers to the woman’s sensual charms and her lovemaking. Some other ways to translate it are:

its greatest pleasures

its sweet delights

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / apostrophe

ע֤וּרִי צָפוֹן֙ וּ⁠ב֣וֹאִי תֵימָ֔ן הָפִ֥יחִי גַנִּ֖⁠י יִזְּל֣וּ בְשָׂמָ֑י⁠ו

awake north_wind and,come south_wind blow_upon garden_of,my wafted_abroad spices_of,its

The woman is speaking to the wind which she knows cannot hear her. She is doing this to communicate her strong desire that the pleasant smell of her body will flow through the air and attract the man she loves so that he will come to her. If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate these words as a wish or desire. Alternate translation: [I wish that the north wind and south wind would come and blow on my garden and let its spices flow]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / go

וּ⁠ב֣וֹאִי & יָבֹ֤א דוֹדִ⁠י֙

and,come & come lover_of,my

Your language may say “go” rather than come in a context such as this. Use whichever is more natural. Alternate translation: [and go … Let my beloved go]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / exmetaphor

ע֤וּרִי צָפוֹן֙ וּ⁠ב֣וֹאִי תֵימָ֔ן הָפִ֥יחִי גַנִּ֖⁠י יִזְּל֣וּ בְשָׂמָ֑י⁠ו יָבֹ֤א דוֹדִ⁠י֙ לְ⁠גַנּ֔⁠וֹ וְ⁠יֹאכַ֖ל פְּרִ֥י מְגָדָֽי⁠ו

awake north_wind and,come south_wind blow_upon garden_of,my wafted_abroad spices_of,its come lover_of,my to,his_of,garden and,let_him_eat fruit(sg) its_excellence(s)_of,of

Here the woman continues the “garden” metaphor (from [4:12](../04/12.md)) by referring to her body as my garden and then his garden. The woman calls to the wind to blow on her garden so that its spices flow into the air and attract the man she loves. She invites him to come to his garden (a poetic way of inviting him to come and enjoy her body). You should translate the term garden here the same way you did in [4:12](../04/12.md) because both uses refer to the woman’s body. In [4:13](../04/13.md) the man spoke of her body as “an orchard of pomegranate trees with delicious fruits,” and here the woman invites the man to come to his garden and eat its delicious fruit. If you translated [4:12-15](../04/12.md) as a comparison, you should also translate the sentence Let my beloved come to his garden and eat its delicious fruit as a comparison.

יִזְּל֣וּ בְשָׂמָ֑י⁠ו

wafted_abroad spices_of,its

Alternate translation: [and carry the pleasant smell of its spices through the air] or [and make the pleasant smell of its spices flow through the air]

Parallel SNG 4:16