5:8a
O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you: The phrase O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you, repeats 2:7a–b. It is good to translate it as you did there. For more information, see the Notes on 2:7a–b. This phrase also occurs in 3:5 and 8:4.
In some languages it is more natural to begin the verse with the direct address to the daughters of Jerusalem. For example:
Jerusalem women, I adjure you…
5:8b–c
if you find my beloved, tell him I am sick with love: When the woman said to the Jerusalem women, if you find my beloved, she implied that she wanted them to help her search for him. She told them a message that they should tell the man if they see him. The words of the message are in 5:8c.
Some other ways to translate 5:8b–c are:
it you find the one I love, please say to him, “She is weak with desire.” (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
if you find my beloved, tell him that I am faint from wanting his love.
tell him I am sick with love: In some languages it may be helpful to translate this indirect quote as a direct quote. For example:
tell him, “The woman you love says that her desire for your love is so strong that she feels faint/sick.”
-or-
Say to him, “Your beloved says that she is faint with desire for you.”
sick with love: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sick can refer to a feeling of weakness or to an actual sickness. In this context the woman indicated that she was so overwhelmed by her feelings of love that she felt weak. She did not imply that she was sick with an illness. She might feel faint or dizzy because of her strong feelings of love. She could be “cured” by seeing her beloved again and enjoying his love.
Some other ways to translate this are:
faint with love (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
lovesick (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
weak with desire (Contemporary English Version)
The phrase sick with love also occurs in 2:5c.
General Comment on 5:8
It is possible that 5:8 is still part of the woman’s dream. The dream may continue to the end of the section in 6:3.
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