7:6
This verse is a summary of the description of the woman in 7:1–5. It emphasizes her great beauty.
7:6a
How fair and pleasant you are: The clause How fair and pleasant you are is part of an exclamation. The man used it to tell the woman that she was beautiful and delightful. Use a natural way in your language to give such a compliment to a woman. Some other ways to translate it in English are:
Oh, you are beautiful and delightful!
-or-
You are beautiful, so very desirable! (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
You are beautiful beyond description! You are the one in whom my heart delights.
fair…pleasant: The Hebrew words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as fair and pleasant have similar meanings. The word fair occurs often in the Song, for example, in 1:8; 4:1, 7, and 10; and in 6:4. It is good to translate the word in the same way or a similar way as you translated it in those verses.
The word pleasant refers to the woman only in this verse. It indicates that she is “pleasant, delightful, and lovely.”
Some other ways to translate fair and pleasant here are:
beautiful and pleasant (English Standard Version)
-or-
lovely and wonderful
In some languages it may be more natural to express the similar ideas with one emphatic phrase. For example:
You are incredibly beautiful…
-or-
You are so delightful
7:6b
O love, with your delights: There are two ways to interpret the Hebrew phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as O love, with your delights :
(1) The man addressed the woman as his beloved and then described her. For example:
my love, with your elegance. (God’s Word)
(2) The man spoke about love as a feeling or action. For example:
how complete the delights of your love (Good News Translation)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with the majority of English versions. The Song usually does not speak about love by itself as a quality. Here the man probably referred to the woman herself, as he spoke directly to her.
with your delights: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as delights means “delightful, charming.” It describes the woman herself, not the abstract quality of “love.” It implies that she gave the man great pleasure and delight.
Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
• Translate it as a statement. For example:
you are full of delights (New Century Version)
-or-
you delight ⌊me⌋ in so many ways
• Translate it as a direct address. For example:
my delight (New American Bible)
-or-
O wonderful Love/Beloved
• Translate it as an exclamation. For example:
how complete the delights of your love! (Good News Translation)
-or-
what rapture/happiness you give me with your love!
Use a natural way in your language for a man to tell a woman how much her love pleases and delights him.
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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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