8:12a

But my own vineyard is mine to give: In this verse the phrase my own vineyard is a metaphor. It does not refer to a literal vineyard. It refers to the woman herself and especially to her sexuality. When she said that the vineyard was for herself, she implied that she owned it. She alone would decide who to love, since she was now mature.

Some ways to translate this part of the verse are:

• Keep the metaphor. For example:

But I tend my own vineyard myself. (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
I, too, have a vineyard, and I myself decide what to do with its fruit.

• Use a simile. For example:

I myself am like the owner of a vineyard, and I decide what to do with all its fruit.

• Make the meaning of the metaphor more explicit. For example:

I alone decide whom I will love, just as the owner of a vineyard decides what to do with its fruit.

But my own vineyard: The phrase But my own vineyard is similar to the phrase in 1:6, where the woman referred to her body as “my own vineyard.” In that context her brothers made her work in the fields, and she was not able to take care of her body. Here in 8:12, the woman also compared her body to a vineyard. In this context she indicated that her own body belonged to her.

is mine to give: The Hebrew phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as is mine to give is literally “is before me.” It implies that the woman should be the one to decide who to give her love to.

For more examples, refer to the first note on 8:12a.

8:12b

the thousand shekels are for you, O Solomon: The word O is not in the Hebrew text here. The Berean Standard Bible seems to use it here to imply that the woman spoke what she thought of saying to Solomon. If a phrase like O Solomon wrongly implies that he was with her, you should translate in a different way. For example:

Solomon can keep his silver (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Solomon can take the thousand pieces of silver ⌊from others⌋
-or-
That 25 pounds is yours, Solomon (God’s Word)

the thousand shekels: The phrase, the thousand, refers to the thousand shekels of silver in 8:11c. The tenants paid these silver pieces to Solomon. The text may also imply that the tenants paid this amount for the opportunity of caring for his harem.

Some other ways to translate the thousand shekels are:

his thousand coins… (Good News Translation)
-or-
a thousand pieces of silver (New Living Translation (2004))

for you, O Solomon: Here the woman seemed to speak directly to Solomon, but he was not with her when she spoke. She was thinking about what she would like to say to him. It is important to remember that the woman’s beloved contrasts with Solomon. He was not Solomon. In many languages it is more natural not to use direct speech or not to use a word like O. See the note above for translation examples.

In some languages it may be more natural to place Solomon at the end of the clause. For example:

The thousand shekels can remain with Solomon
-or-
keep your thousand pieces, O Solomon (Revised English Bible)

Remember that the author mentioned Solomon here only as an illustration. He was not the woman’s beloved.

8:12c

and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit: This clause is similar to 8:12b, and it includes some implied information from 8:12b and from 8:11d:

and the keepers of the fruit ⌊may have⌋ two hundred ⌊shekels of silver⌋.

Some other ways to translate this part of the verse are:

and two hundred shekels belong to those who maintain it for its fruit. (NET Bible)
-or-
and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit. (New International Version)
-or-
and two hundred for the caretakers of its fruit. (New American Bible)

for those who tend its fruit: The phrase those who tend its fruit refers literally to men who take care of the grapevines and grapes in the grape farm. However, here it probably refers figuratively to the men who take care of women in Solomon’s harem, who were Solomon’s wives and concubines.

Some other ways to translate those who tend its fruit are:

those who take care of its fruit (God’s Word)
-or-
those who guard the fruit
-or-
those who care for its vines (New Living Translation (2004))

© 2017 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.