1:10–11
In 1:10–11, the man compared the woman’s beautiful jewelry with the elaborate ornaments that a chariot horse wore. The main focus is not on the beauty of the woman’s body, but on the jewelry that added to her own beauty.
1:10a–b
The poetic lines in 1:10a and 1:10b are parallel. Both lines describe parts of the woman’s body that are decorated with jewelry, making her look even more beautiful. The parallel parts are marked below with underlining or with bold type:
10a
Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments :
10b
your neck with strings of jewels.
In 1:10b there is an ellipsis, and the words “are beautiful” are understood. In some languages, this ellipsis may not be natural. If that is true in your language, other ways to translate it are:
• Supply implied words in the second line, either the same words or other words with the same meaning. For example:
10a Earrings adorn your cheeks,
10b and your neck ⌊is beautiful⌋ with strings of jewels.
• Combine 1:10a and 1:10b. For example:
10 Your cheeks and neck are beautiful, decorated with beads and jewels.
1:10a
Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments: This clause indicates that the sides of the woman’s face were beautifully decorated with jewelry. The ornaments may be strings of beads or possibly earrings. It was probably not simply her hair that decorated her cheeks.
A good way to translate this is to use a general term for jewelry which hangs down both sides of a woman’s face. If you do not have a general term in your language, you could use a more specific term such as “earring.” For example:
Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings. (New International Version)
1:10b
your neck with strings of jewels: The strings of jewels are probably necklaces that are made of beads.
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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
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