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Song of Songs 4:1-3
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Song of Songs 4:1-3
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 4
The Beauty of the Woman
1 M(A), (B) How beautiful you are, my friend,
how beautiful you are!
Your eyes are doves
behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down Mount Gilead.[a]
2 Your teeth[b] are like a flock of ewes to be shorn,
that come up from the washing,
All of them big with twins,
none of them barren.
3 Like a scarlet strand, your lips,
and your mouth—lovely!
Like pomegranate[c] halves, your cheeks
behind your veil.
Footnotes
- 4:1 This section (vv. 1–7) begins a wasf, a traditional poetic form describing the physical attributes of one’s partner in terms of the natural world (cf. 5:10–16; 6:5b–7; 7:1–7). Veil: women of the region customarily veiled their faces for some occasions (cf. 4:3; 6:7; Gn 24:65–67; 38:14–19).
- 4:2 Teeth: praised for whiteness and evenness.
- 4:3 Pomegranate: a fruit with a firm skin and deep red color. The woman’s cheek (or perhaps her brow) is compared, in roundness and tint, to a half-pomegranate.
Song of Songs 4:1-3
New International Version
Song of Songs 4:1-3
New International Version
He
4 How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil(A) are doves.(B)
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from the hills of Gilead.(C)
2 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn,
coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin;
not one of them is alone.(D)
3 Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;
your mouth(E) is lovely.(F)
Your temples behind your veil
are like the halves of a pomegranate.(G)
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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