The verse begins with a motive clause for … to explain why the young man wants her to come outside with him. It is springtime, and this is, of course, the traditional time for lovers in many cultures. Lo translates the same Hebrew word lying behind the interjection “behold” in the previous verses; it calls the young woman’s attention to the fact that spring is here. In some languages a conjunction expressing reason may not be required.

New Jerusalem Bible renders the Hebrew particle (lo in Revised Standard Version) by “now,” though this hardly seems strong enough: “For now the winter is past.” It is better to find a word that draws attention to the situation. In English “look!” is quite acceptable: “[Just] Look! Winter is past!”

The winter is past indicates that it is now spring, when life is renewed in a new cycle. It symbolizes the traditional time for love. The Hebrew term for winter is another word in the Song that only occurs once in the Old Testament.

In combination with the next phrase, the rain is over and gone, we can fix the time of the year as April-May. Winter in Israel is characterized by strong, cold rains. The special Hebrew term used here for rain applies more to heavy than to light rain. In areas where there is no cold winter-time leading into spring, the translator will have to find an appropriate term. What is in focus here is that the wet, rainy time is over; the sun has begun to shine, so the two lovers can go outside and enjoy the countryside. It is also the time when everything is green and the flowers are blooming. In many cases we may be able to say “the rainy season is over” or “the season of cold, wet weather is over.”

In English the singular form rain can refer to the rain that falls on any one occasion. Here the sense is rather of a period or season of rain, so a plural form “rains” may prove better.

By using the double expression over and gone, the young man stresses that there is no reason why she cannot join him in the fields. We may look for some emphatic way to express this: “Winter’s finally over” or “Winter’s completely over.” In languages with serial verbs, two verbs can be joined together to mark the finality of the season, something along the lines of “The rain stopped finish.” In languages where there are not many expressions for the weather, the two lines may have to be rendered as one. On the other hand, the translator may want to introduce two parallel lines with approximately the same meaning:

• Look, the rains have stopped!
The rainy season is over.

We can also express the same idea negatively:

• Look, winter is over!
There’s no more rain!

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Zogbo, Lynell. A Handbook on the Book of Song of Songs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1998. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .