For this verse it is best to understand the singer as the prophet Isaiah, the beloved as the LORD, and the vineyard as a figure of speech for Israel.

Let me sing for my beloved: The Hebrew phrase rendered Let me sing expresses a desire to sing. It is a polite way of getting the attention of the audience. New International Version simply says “I will sing” (similarly Revised English Bible), while Good News Translation has “Listen while I sing.” The phrase sing for can mean “sing [a song] to” (so New Jerusalem Bible), but the more likely meaning is “sing on behalf of” (so Bible en français courant, which has “sing a few strophes in the name of”) rather than “sing for the benefit of.” Many versions prefer the sense “sing on behalf of.” The prophet is acting as a representative for his friend, the LORD. My beloved (New International Version “the one I love”) is potentially misleading as a translation. The Hebrew word rendered beloved is masculine, and its meaning is close to “friend” in modern English. In many modern languages “my [special/good] friend” is an appropriate rendering that avoids possible misconceptions. Contemporary English Version, Bible en français courant, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch have “my friend.” Good News Translation omits for my beloved, but we do not recommend this.

A love song concerning his vineyard: The Hebrew text here allows various renderings. A love song is literally “song of my friend/love.” The second noun (“friend/love”) describes the first one (“song”), and the possessive pronoun “my” applies to the whole unit of thought, so it may be rendered “my love-song” (New Revised Standard Version). It is not clear why Revised Standard Version omits the pronoun “my.” For the whole line New Revised Standard Version has “my love-song concerning his vineyard,” and Revised English Bible says “my love song about his vineyard.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has an alternative interpretation with “A song of my lover about his vineyard,” which means the friend (the LORD) composed the song rather than the prophet (similarly New Jerusalem Bible, Nouvelle Bible Segond). Bible en français courant gives another understanding of this line with “it is the song about my friend and his vineyard” (similarly Good News Translation). All the above renderings are valid translation options, but we recommend simplicity, so that the readers are not distracted from the song that follows. For vineyard see the comments on 1.8.

My beloved had a vineyard. These words begin the song. Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation indicate the beginning of the song with a colon. For clarity some languages may need to begin with “And this is how the song goes:….” It may also be helpful to add quote marks around the actual song. Beloved should be rendered by the same word that was chosen in the first line. In Hebrew vineyard is marked as the topic of the song. A rendering that expresses this more clearly in English is “There was a vineyard that belonged to my friend.”

This vineyard was located on a very fertile hill. This renders a special Hebrew idiom. The whole phrase is literally “on a horn, a son of oil.” Very few English translations admit that the meaning of the phrase is unclear; only New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has a footnote indicating its rendering is not certain. The Hebrew word rendered “horn” can be applied to a hill or outcrop, but it should not be translated “mountain [peak].” If the use of “hill/mountain” gives the wrong connotation, a simple word like “place” is acceptable. “Oil” can be understood as a symbol of wealth and having abundant crops. Israel was known for its olive oil and this could be behind the idiom “son of oil.” Strictly speaking, however, we do not know the precise meaning of this idiom. It is even possible that “son of oil” is actually the name of a place, Ben-Shamen (which is a transliteration of the Hebrew here), but no version adopts this reading. We suggest following the traditional understanding but adding a footnote to indicate that the meaning of the Hebrew here is unclear.

Some translation examples for this verse are:

• Listen to what I sing on behalf of my friend.
A love poem it is, a poem about his vineyard:
My friend had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.

• Listen to my song for my friend. It is a lovely poem about his vineyard. It goes like this: “My friend had a vineyard set on a fertile hillside.

• May I sing you a song for my friend? It is a love song about his vineyard: “My friend had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .