Most likely this verse intends to explain why the young man longs for his lover to come to him. He is thoroughly captivated by her beauty.

Again poetic features are prominent. The first line is repeated and then its sense is developed in the second line—a poetic device called heightening. This draws attention to the line, adds emphasis, and creates a beautiful rhythm. In the last two lines there is also repetition of phrases and grammatical parallelism, so that the structure of the verse is quite neat:

You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride
You have ravished my heart
With one look from your eyes
With one jewel from your necklace

You have ravished my heart features a Hebrew verb whose meaning has been uncertain since the very earliest of the ancient translations into Syriac and Latin. The Hebrew root may mean “aroused.” Pope considers this to be the correct sense, based on a usage in the Jewish Mishnah. The same root can mean “inflame” as in Exo 3.2, while other scholars render it “capture.” This latter is similar to usage in Egyptian poems. In view of evidence from other love poems we accept this latter sense, “captured,” as giving the meaning best. Good News Translation is similar with “… have stolen my heart.”

The heart is the center of a person’s being, so the phrase means that the young woman has won the man’s love and affection. Idiomatic phrases in various languages will express this sense appropriately.

My sister, my bride are parallel terms for his beloved. They do not indicate family relationship or married state; both are terms of affection. Note how often the terms are used together in this section—in verses 9, 10, and 12, and in 5.1. In some cultures and social settings, it is possible to refer to a lover as a sister, but in others this is unnatural or even forbidden. If the term will be misunderstood in this context, another term of endearment can be substituted, or the original can be maintained, with a footnote explaining its use in Hebrew culture. For bride see 4.9.

With a glance of your eyes is literally “with one of your eyes” (so Revised English Bible). However, the expression seems very idiomatic, probably meaning something like “with just one glance.” In 1.15 and 4.1 the young man has spoken of the gentleness of his lover’s eyes and their dove-like quality. Here he speaks of the effect these eyes have on him. The idiom itself is very brief, and so we cannot determine exactly what kind of a look she gives him. A more general form is to say “the way you look at me.”

With one jewel of your necklace is linked to the statement about her eyes and shares with it the numeral one. Based on Aramaic usage, we can determine that one jewel actually refers to one strand of beads rather than one bead on a strand. This fits well with the figure in verse 4 about the necklace of many strands, which the young woman is wearing.

We can take a more meaning-based approach in translating this:

• My sister, my bride, the way you look at me, the necklace you wear, these make me love you.

Or we can remain closer to the form of the Hebrew text and say:

• You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride!
You have captured it with just one glance,
With just one strand of your necklace.

• You have stolen my heart, my dearest, my bride
You have stolen my heart,
With one look from your eyes
With one bead from your necklace.

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 .