7:12

Grape buds and blossoms show that spring (the season of new growth) has come. This new growth symbolizes the new love that was “growing” between the man and woman. This theme is also found in 2:10–13.

7:12a

Let us go early to the vineyards: The Hebrew clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Let us go early to the vineyards is literally “let us rise early to the vineyards.” It indicates that the woman wanted the man to go with her to the vineyards early in the morning.

Some other ways to translate the clause are:

We will get up early and look at the vines (Good News Translation)
-or-
Let’s go to the vineyards early. (God’s Word)
-or-
Then early in the morning we can visit the grape farms.

early: The word early here refers to early in the morning, just after daybreak. Use an appropriate word in your language to refer to this time of day.

to the vineyards: A “vineyard” is a farm where people plant and cultivate grapes. They often use the grapes to make wine. The vineyard was a quiet place. There the man and woman could be alone together and enjoy a beautiful spring morning.

Some ways to translate 7:12a are:

in the early morning we will go to the vineyards… (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
Let us get up early and go to the vineyards… (New Living Translation (2004))

7:12b–c

In 7:12b–c the woman listed two things for her and the man to enjoy looking for when they are in the countryside together. They will look at the grapevines to see the buds and blossoms on them. The buds and blossoms are beautiful. They develop into grapes that are sweet to eat and are also used to make wine.

to see if the vine has budded, if the blossom has opened: This clause is similar to 6:11c (“to see if the vines were budding”). It gives a purpose for going to the vineyards. The woman suggested that she and the man should go to where the grapevines were planted to see whether the vines had buds and whether some of the buds had blossoms. Another way to translate this purpose is:

We will see whether the vines have new growth/buds

the vine has budded: The word vine refers specifically to a grape vine. The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as has budded can refer generally to new signs of growth. The words budded and “blossom” (7:12c) refer to two stages that grapevines go through before they produce grapes. They produce small buds, and then the buds develop and open into blossoms. The woman wanted to see if the grapevines had new buds. Describe this in a natural way in your language.

Some translation options for 7:12c are:

to see if their blossoms have opened…. (NET Bible)
-or-
to see whether the grapevines have blossomed yet.

7:12d

if the pomegranates are in bloom: This clause tells another thing that the woman and the man can look at in the countryside. They can look at the pomegranate trees and see if they are blooming. Some other ways to translate the clause are:

We can also see if the pomegranate trees are blooming.
-or-
We can look for the first blooms on the pomegranate trees.

The phrase the pomegranates are in bloom is similar to 6:11d, and you may translate in a similar way in both places.