Fifteen verses of this chapter are the words of the Lord.   Only the last verse is a response from Israel.

הִנָּךְ יָפָה רַעְיָתִי הִנָּךְ יָפָה עֵינַיִךְ יוֹנִים מִבַּעַד לְצַמָּתֵךְ שַׂעְרֵךְ כְּעֵדֶרהָעִזִּים שֶׁגָּלְשׁוּ מֵהַר גִּלְעָד׃   4:1

Song 4:1   Behold, you are beautiful, My beloved companion.

                               Behold, you are beautiful.

                     Your eyes are of doves through your veil.

                               Your hair is as if of a flock of kids

                       that drop down out of Mount Gilead.

שִׁנַּיִךְ כְּעֵדֶר הַקְּצוּבוֹת שֶׁעָלוּ מִן־הָרַחְצָה שֶׁכֻּלָּם מַתְאִימוֹת וְשַׁכֻּלָה אֵין בָּהֶם׃   4:2

Song 4:2   Your teeth are like a flock of sheared ewes

                               when they come up from the washing,

                      such that all of them are joined,

                               and none among them is transposed.

I would imagine that the phrase none of them is transposed means her teeth are straight.

                                                                                                                                   [Return to Song 6:6]

כְּחוּט הַשָּׁנִי שִׂפְתֹתַיִךְ וּמִדְבָּרֵיךְ נָאוֶה כְּפֶלַח הָרִמּוֹן רַקָּתֵךְ מִבַּעַד לְצַמָּתֵךְ׃   4:3

Song 4:3   Your lips are like a wisp of scarlet,

                               and your mouth is beautiful.

                     Your brow is like a slice of the pomegranate through your veil.

כְּמִגְדַּל דָּוִיד צַוָּארֵךְ בָּנוּי לְתַלְפִּיּוֹת אֶלֶף הַמָּגֵן תָּלוּי עָלָיו כֹּל שִׁלְטֵי הַגִּבּוֹרִים׃   4:4

Song 4:4   Your neck is as the tower of David, built for turrets,

                               a thousand of each shield hanging on it,

                      all the shields of mighty men.

Don’t you think this is a strange simile?  A woman’s neck compared to the tower of David, built for turrets?  I think if I told that to my beloved, she’d shriek in shock.  This verse pretty much convinces me that Israel is indeed the bride.  That’s the only way I can ascribe a positive and meaningful value to this verse.

שְׁנֵי שָׁדַיִךְ כִּשְׁנֵי עֳפָרִים תְּאוֹמֵי צְבִיָּה הָרוֹעִים בַּשּׁוֹשַׁנִּים׃   4:5

Song 4:5   Your two breasts are like two fawns,

                               twins of a gazelle, feeding among the lilies.

עַד שֶׁיָּפוּחַ הַיּוֹם וְנָסוּ הַצְּלָלִים אֵלֶךְ לִי אֶל־הַר הַמּוֹר וְאֶל־גִּבְעַת הַלְּבוֹנָה׃   4:6

Song 4:6   While this day will breathe and the shadows take flight,

                               I will go Myself to the mount of myrrh and the hill of frankincense.

כֻּלָּךְ יָפָה רַעְיָתִי וּמוּם אֵין בָּךְ׃   4:7

Song 4:7   All of you is beautiful, My beloved companion,

                               and there is no spot on you.

Love is certainly blind, even God’s love, in the author’s view.

אִתִּי מִלְּבָנוֹן כַּלָּה אִתִּי מִלְּבָנוֹן תָּבוֹאִי תָּשׁוּרִי מֵרֹאשׁ אֲמָנָה מֵרֹאשׁ שְׂנִיר וְחֶרְמוֹן מִמְּעֹנוֹת אֲרָיוֹת   4:8

 מֵהַרְרֵי נְמֵרִים׃

Song 4:8   With Me from Lebanon, bride,

                               with Me from Lebanon, come, behold,

                      from the top of Amanah, from the top of Senir and Herman,

                               from the habitations of lions, from the mountains of leopards.

 לִבַּבְתִּנִי אֲחֹתִי כַלָּה לִבַּבְתִּינִי (בְּאַחַד) [בְּאַחַת] מֵעֵינַיִךְ בְּאַחַד עֲנָק מִצַּוְּרֹנָיִךְ׃   4:9

Song 4:9    You have ravished My “heart,” My beloved bride.

                               You have ravished My “heart” at once because of your eyes,

                     because of one necklace from your neck.

As I have translated the word in the parentheses, it is not an error.  The words corresponding to the second line are usually translated as something like “You have ravished my heart with one of your eyes, ....”  The word in the parentheses can be translated as with one, because of one, or at once.  I used the last translation because it sounds  better that one of your eyes.  The word is labeled an error because it is masculine whereas eyes is feminine.  With my translation, the word may be masculine.  So the “correction” in the brackets is probably not necessary.

מַה־יָּפוּ דֹדַיִךְ אֲחֹתִי כַלָּה מַה־טֹּבוּ דֹדַיִךְ מִיַּיִן וְרֵיחַ שְׁמָנַיִךְ מִכָּל־בְּשָׂמִים׃   4:10

Song 4:10   How beautiful are your loving gestures, My beloved bride!

                               How much better are your loving gestures than wine,

                        and the fragrance of your ointments than all the spices!

נֹפֶת תִּטֹּפְנָה שִׂפְתוֹתַיִךְ כַּלָּה דְּבַשׁ וְחָלָב תַּחַת לְשׁוֹנֵךְ וְרֵיחַ שַׂלְמֹתַיִךְ כְּרֵיחַ לְבָנוֹן׃   4:11

Song 4:11   Your lips, bride, could drip honey.

                               Honey and milk are under your tongue,

                        and the scent of your garments is like the aroma of Lebanon.

גַּן נָעוּל אֲחֹתִי כַלָּה גַּל נָעוּל מַעְיָן חָתוּם׃   4:12

Song 4:12   My beloved, the bride, is a locked garden,

                               a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.

שְׁלָחַיִךְ פַּרְדֵּס רִמּוֹנִים עִם פְּרִי מְגָדִים כְּפָרִים עִם־נְרָדִים׃   4:13

Song 4:13   Your plant shoots are a preserve of pomegranates with choice fruit,

                               henna plants with spikenard plants,

נֵרְדְּ וְכַרְכֹּם קָנֶה וְקִנָּמוֹן עִם כָּל־עֲצֵי לְבוֹנָה מֹר וַאֲהָלוֹת עִם כָּל־רָאשֵׁי בְשָׂמִים׃   4:14

Song 4:14   spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,

                               with all the trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloe trees,

                       with all the choicest of spices,

מַעְיַן גַּנִּים בְּאֵר מַיִם חַיִּים וְנֹזְלִים מִן־לְבָנוֹן׃   4:15

Song 4:15   a fountain of gardens, a well of waters,

                               living and flowing forth from Lebanon.

עוּרִי צָפוֹן וּבוֹאִי תֵימָן הָפִיחִי גַנִּי יִזְּלוּ בְשָׂמָיו יָבֹא דוֹדִי לְגַנּוֹ וְיֹאכַל פְּרִי מְגָדָיו׃   4:16

Song 4:16   Awake, north! And come, south!

                               Energize my garden!

                       May its spices flow forth.

                               May my Beloved come to His garden,

                        and eat His choicest fruit.

[Return to Song Chapters]   [Prev.:  Song 3]   [Next:  Song 5]