8:10 The woman spoke
8:10a–b
In 8:10a the poet used the image of a “wall” to imply that the woman was pure and chaste. In 8:10b he used the image of a “tower” to indicate that she was physically mature.
I am a wall: Here the young woman responded to what her brothers said. She used a wall as a figure of speech in the same way as her brothers did to indicate that she was chaste. She did not allow men to be sexually intimate with her. It is good to translate this figure of speech in a similar way to what you did in 8:9a. For example:
• Use a simile. For example:
I am like a wall
-or-
I am like a barrier
• Use a figure of speech and indicate the meaning. For example:
If I ⌊protect my purity⌋ like a wall ⌊protects a city/home⌋
• Translate the meaning without the figure of speech. For example:
If I am chaste/pure
-or-
If I have kept/protected myself from having sexual relations ⌊with anyone⌋
and my breasts are like towers: The woman used a hyperbole, my breasts are like towers, to respond to what her brothers said in 8:8. (They said “she has no breasts.”) Here in 8:10 the woman disagreed with them. She said that her breasts were large and beautiful like towers. She implied that she was fully mature and ready for marriage.
Some other ways to translate this meaning are:
• Translate the hyperbole and indicate its meaning. For example:
My breasts are large like towers/buildings.
• Translate the meaning without the figure of speech. For example:
My breasts are fully mature.
• Use an appropriate figure of speech or other way to describe mature breasts in your language.
My breasts show that I am ready for love.
am…are: The Berean Standard Bible includes the verbs am and are. In Hebrew, there is no verb. Scholars differ about the time that the woman referred to.
(1) She referred to the time period when she was speaking. At that time, she was like a wall, and her breasts were mature. For example:
I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers. (New International Version)
(2) She referred to a time before she was speaking. At that time, she was like a wall, and her breasts were mature. For example:
I was a wall, and my breasts were like fortress towers. (NET Bible)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). She was probably telling her brothers that now she is mature, yet still chaste.
8:10c
So: In this context the Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So introduces the result of the woman’s being chaste (“like a wall”) and being ready for love (implied by her mature breasts). He could be confident that she was completely true to him. He was the only one who would enjoy her love.
Some other ways to translate the connection between 8:10b and 8:10c are:
So (God’s Word)
-or-
As a result
-or-
Thus (New International Version)
I have become in his eyes like one who brings peace: This clause tells about what the man thought about the woman. There are two ways to interpret it:
(1) The man thought that the woman caused him to have peace. For example:
Thus I have become in his eyes like one bringing contentment. (New International Version)
(2) The man thought that he caused the woman to have peace. For example:
My lover knows that with him I find contentment and peace. (Good News Translation)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). To the man the woman was a person who caused him to have peace. Some other ways to translate this meaning are:
So he thinks of me as a person who makes him feel content.
-or-
So I was to him, as one who brings happiness. (New Century Version)
-or-
so he looks at me and thinks, “She makes me happy/content.”
one who brings peace: This phrase indicates that the woman caused the man to feel peaceful, contented, and happy. For translation examples, see the preceding note on “I was in his eyes as one who brings peace.”
peace: The Hebrew word shalom that the Berean Standard Bible translates as peace refers to well-being, contentment, and completeness. It does not indicate only that a person does not have conflict with other people. It implies here that the woman made him content, complete, and blessed.
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