This second and parallel description of the woman’s lover likens him to a cluster of henna blossoms. The henna plant is a fragrant shrub that grows in tall clusters. Its flowers produce a red or yellow dye often used for beauty purposes. Henna is also known as “cypress flower.” If henna is not known, translators can use a general term such as “fragrant flowers,” or use the name of a local plant with these same properties. Good News Translation “wild flowers” may or may not have the qualities of the henna, and so it is probably not a good model to follow.

This verse has the same basic structure as the previous verse, but we note that in Hebrew we have a simple location phrase, in the vineyards of En-gedi. En-gedi is an oasis on the southwestern shores of the Dead Sea; it is known as a refreshing and fertile place because it is watered by a spring. En-gedi, ending in -di, repeats the sounds of the previous words dodi li (“my lover to me”), thus giving a kind of internal rhyme.

On a first reading this phrase seems to be showing the location or origin of the henna blossoms; this is how Revised Standard Version understands it. But, following the pattern in verse 13, we can also understand that the young man is in the vineyards of En-gedi. We have already noted that the word vineyard has strong sexual overtones. Further the word En-gedi means literally “spring of a young goat.” Later in the poem the young man calls his lover “a garden fountain, a well flowing with water” (4.15). In 1.8 the young woman is described as shepherding a flock of goats. As the phrase in the vineyards of En-gedi parallels the phrase “between the breasts” in the previous verse, it is likely that this expression too refers to a part of the woman’s body. Thus we presume vineyards of En-gedi is a euphemism, possibly referring to the woman’s genital region.

In translation we may need to add the word “fragrance” to make clear that henna blossoms carry this sense. When rendering the place name En-gedi, it may be useful to add a footnote indicating its location, and also perhaps noting that it has a euphemistic meaning linked with fertility.

As was the case with the previous verse, we may have to turn this metaphor into a simile, introducing comparison words such as “like” or “as.” We may also have to make clear the basis of the comparison. If we decide that the sweet smell of the henna is being emphasized, we can say “My beloved is as fragrant as…” or “My lover is sweet-smelling, like henna….”

We can say:

• My lover is like [a bunch of] fragrant [henna] flowers in the vineyards of Engedi.*

• My beloved is as fragrant as the flowers in the vineyards of the oasis at Engedi.

The footnote can say something like:
*An oasis west of the Dead Sea [known for its fertility].

Alternatively we can follow Good News Translation.

Verses 12-14 form a unit and can be translated as such in poetic form. If parallel structures are appreciated, the parallelism in verses 13 and 14 can be highlighted:

• As my king lay on his bed,
My fragrance filled the air!
My lover is like a sachet of myrrh
Sleeping close to me all the night.
My lover is like a cluster of henna,
Blooming in the vineyards of Engedi.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Zogbo, Lynell. A Handbook on the Book of Song of Songs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1998. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .