5:12
The clause in 5:12 is a simile that has several parts. Scholars interpret the simile and its parts in different ways. The simile is a poetic way for the woman to describe her feelings about her beloved’s eyes. It implies that when the woman looked at the man’s eyes, they seemed as beautiful and gentle to her as doves bathing in milk beside a flowing stream. She did not imply that the man’s eyes actually looked like doves.
5:12a–b
His eyes are like doves beside the streams of water, bathed in milk and mounted like jewels: Here the woman compared the man’s eyes to doves bathing in milk beside a stream. Doves are beautiful, gentle birds. The word streams probably implies a beautiful place. The phrase bathed in milk implies luxury and beauty. It does not imply that the man or the dove really bathed in milk.
It is also possible that the doves represent the pupils of the man’s eyes, since 5:12c says they bathe in milk (the white part of the eye). There is something about the man’s eyes that reminds the woman of doves bathing in milk.
Some other ways to translate the comparison are:
His eyes are a pair of doves bathing in a stream flowing with milk. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
His eyes are like doves beside the water-courses, bathing themselves in milk (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
His eyes have the charm of doves perched/sitting beside a stream. Their centers/irises seem to swim in milk.
doves beside the streams of water: The Hebrew phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as streams of water probably refers to smaller bodies of moving water, rather than to springs or a well.
The doves are beside streams of water, (The man’s eyes are not beside streams of water.) The phrase streams of water may imply that the man’s eyes seemed deep, fresh, or transparent in some way.
5:12b
bathed in milk: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as bathed is an active verb, and it refers to an action. It is not a passive verb, so it is helpful to translate the word as an action (done by the doves). For example:
bathing in milk (God’s Word)
Because the Berean Standard Bible uses a passive verb, the New Jerusalem Bible will be used as the source text for 5:12b.
The figure of doves being bathed in milk is probably a poetic way to describe the pupils/irises surrounded by the white part of the man’s eyes. It may also be a symbol of abundance. The doves probably represent the pupils/irises of the man’s eyes swimming, or “bathing”, in the whites of his eyes. Translate this figure of speech in a natural way in your language.
5:12c
mounted like jewels: The Hebrew phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as mounted like jewels is literally “sitting on fullness.” The meaning of this phrase is uncertain. There are two main ways to interpret it:
(1) The phrase refers to doves sitting beside a pool, stream, or other source of water. It may also refer figuratively to the man’s eyes. For example:
sitting beside a full pool. (English Standard Version)
(2) This phrase refers to the man’s eyes. They are set in his face (or in his eye sockets) like jewels. For example:
mounted like jewels. (New International Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). The Hebrew form of the word that means “sitting” agrees with the form of the word for doves. Also, the phrase “sitting on fullness” (sitting beside a pool) is parallel to “beside springs of water” (5:12b). Because the Berean Standard Bible follows interpretation (2), the Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures is used for the source line for 5:12d in the Display.
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