The opening phrase marks the end of the inclusio: it is a repetition from verse 1, closing off the subsection begun there. In place of the exclamation “Behold” (“How”), this verse adds the qualifier all and the final comment there is no flaw in you. As the Revised Standard Version translation here shows, the Hebrew text begins with You and ends with you, forming a chiastic structure. The term of endearment, my love, stands in the middle, the place of prominence.

In the phrase You are all fair, the word all means “every part of you.” It refers back to the list of the young woman’s physical attractions. We can translate as “everything about you.”

Fair: see comments on 1.8. The meaning is that she is very beautiful.

My love: refer to notes on 1.9.

There is no flaw in you: in Lev 24.19, 20 the word “disfigurement,” or “blemish,” describes imperfections. Here that same Hebrew term is used in the negative to indicate that the young woman is perfect, without fault, in the eyes of her lover.

We may translate as:

• Everything about you is beautiful, my love;
Your beauty is perfect!

• My love, every part of you is beautiful;
There is no blemish anywhere.

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 .