The speaker in this subsection is again the young man, so we need no change in the notes in the margin to identify a change of speaker.

This verse is probably the most difficult one to understand in this section. Some of the problems lie with the text itself, and others with its interpretation. The first problem is that the Hebrew text does not have the verb Come in the first line but rather the word ʾitti, with me. With the exception of Traduction œcuménique de la Bible and New Jerusalem Bible, most versions prefer to take this word as ʾethi “come.” We recommend following this view here. The meaning of this verse is not greatly affected one way or the other, since even reading with me, we would need to provide a verb such as Come. The sense is “Come [to be] with me.”

From Lebanon may be translated literally, or expanded as in Good News Translation to “Lebanon Mountains,” even though Lebanon is not intended as a geographical reference here—the young woman is not in a foreign country. Lebanon is mentioned together with Amana, Senir, and Hermon (Senir is another name for Hermon, see Deut 3.9), all of which are peaks in this mountain area. Together they picture a region that is rough and inhospitable. Thus they not only indicate that she is somehow far away from her lover, but also that he cannot get close to her. It indicates how inaccessible she is to him. Our translation ought to make clear that she is out of reach. One way of doing this is to preserve Lebanon in the first phrase, and render Lebanon in the second line as “where I cannot reach you.”

My bride brings us to a Hebrew term that is used six times in this brief unit but is not found anywhere else in the Song. Reference to the young woman as bride (King James Version “spouse”) does not mean that the two are married or that this is a wedding song. The term bride is used in a similar way to “sister,” another affectionate term for his beloved; their use together in verse 9 makes that clear. Jerusalem Bible suggests “promised bride,” and Bible en français courant “my promised one” or “fiancée,” but there is no evidence in the text to suggest that this is correct. There are, however, a number of languages in the world where the term “wife” is the same as that for “fiancée”; speakers of these languages naturally understand the term “bride” as “young woman promised in marriage.”

This way of speaking about the young woman may raise some difficulty for the translator, but we can look for a term of endearment that has not been used up until now, such as “sweetheart,” “darling,” or “dearest.” Many cultures, however, have no special terms that can be used publicly. Despite this, translators should be able to find a word or term that can express the man’s deep love for the young woman.

Depart from the peak of Amana: Revised Standard Version has a footnote at this point indicating that the opening imperative may also be rendered “Look.” Although the word itself has both meanings, the context appears to rule out the sense “Look” in favor of its other meaning “Leave,” “Come down.” Jerusalem Bible does not agree with this conclusion and prefers “Lower your gaze.” We believe Good News Translation “Come down” is the best way to convey the sense here. New Jerusalem Bible “trip” may be inspired by the jumping of the gazelles and stags in previous verses, but it creates an odd image, if we imagine the young woman to be at the top of a mountain! A neutral verb such as “Descend” or “Come down” is more appropriate.

From the peak of Amana is parallel to [the mountains of] Lebanon in the previous clause. The word peak is literally “the head” of the mountain, so we are referring to the very top.

From the peak of Senir and Hermon: Senir in Deut 3.9 is the Amorite name for Hermon, so the two names are probably used as alternative names for the same mountain. Because they refer to the same place, it is possible to omit one of the names in translation, or to indicate in a footnote that the same place is designated. Mention of these other mountains to the north of Israel further makes obvious that they are not geographical references but are together images to show the young woman is so far from her lover that he cannot reach her. What separates them is not distance but other barriers both physical and social. In 2.9, 14 she is pictured in her own home behind a wall, out of his reach. If she is to come to him, then she will have to leave her home. Her “home” is therefore a possible meaning present in these references to mountains. Though it is theoretically possible to translate these verses without keeping the place names, most versions do keep them. We can make the underlying theme more obvious by adding a descriptive term like “far away”: “Come down from the top of Amana, Senir, and Hermon, mountains [or, places] so far away from me.”

From the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards describes the hideouts where wild animals live, and adds to the feeling that the young man is cut off from his beloved. A minor textual change is suggested in the case of the mountains [of leopards]. The parallelism of the verse indicates that dens should have a balancing term in the following clause. By changing the Hebrew hrry “mountains of…” to hry “lairs of…,” this is achieved. Good News Translation simplifies the references with “where the lions and leopards live.” These animals probably have no special significance other than the fact that they live in places hard for people to reach or dangerous to be in. However, some see this as a possible reference to the woman’s family who would oppose the young couple being together; this too seems an unlikely explanation.

Translation can be “Come down from the mountain tops of Amana, of Senir and Hermon, [come away] from the lions’ dens and leopards’ lair.”

Rhythm, alliteration, and repetition in this passage are striking. The Hebrew preposition for “from” occurs six times.

Come to me from Lebanon, sweetheart
From Lebanon, [you will] come
[You will] come down from the top of Amana
From the top of Senir [which is] Hermon
From the dens of lions
From the lairs of leopards.

The translator may be able to retain some of the poetic features through the use of repetitive words or phrases, or through simple rhythm:

• Come with me from Lebanon, my sweetest
Come with me, oh, come!
Come down from the far away mountain tops
of Amana, Senir, and Hermon.
Come away from the lions’ dens and the leopards’ lair.
Come, my sweetest, oh, come!

The last line does not appear in the Hebrew, but we use this example to show that translators may take the liberty of repeating phrases and lines to fit the rhythm of poetic forms in their language.

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 .