The Hebrew in Song of Songs 1:3 that is translated as “(perfume) poured out” in English is translated in Elhomwe idiomatically as “(perfume) sprinkled.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
In the SwedishBibel 2000 it is translated as Turak-balsam är ditt namn or “Turaq balm is your name.” Bertil Albrektson (in The Bible Translator 1996, p. 109ff.) explains: “Fox in his excellent study of Egyptian love songs and the Song of Songs is inclined to accept this solution: he translates ‘Oil of Turaq’ and explains it as ‘apparently a type of oil, perhaps named after a place.’ But even if one should arrive at this decision (which we have done, though not without hesitation), it remains to be determined whether the literal translation ‘Turak-balsam’ is sufficiently exotic and suggestive for an ordinary Swedish reader, or whether we should attempt to express the supposed connotations of the Hebrew term by writing something like den finaste balsam (‘finest ointment’).” (See also Translation commentary on Song of Songs 1:3)
The Hebrew in Song of Songs 1:10 that is translated as “strings of jewels” or similar in English is translated in the SwedishBibel 2000 as pärlor or “pearls.” Bertil Albrektson (in The Bible Translator 1996, p. 109ff.) explains: “The most recent dictionary of biblical Hebrew, the 3rd edition of Koehler-Baumgartner, suggests Muschelkette, ‘a string of shells.’ There is a later Hebrew verb of this root which means ‘string together, especially jewels or pearls’ (BOB), and the Arabic equivalent means ‘beads strung together,’ so when we choose pärlor, ‘pearls,’ we cannot be far wrong, and it carries the right overtones of elegance and luxury.”
The Hebrew in Psalm 121:1 that is translated as “I lift up my eyes to the hills” or similar in English was judged as too archaic an expression in a direct translation in Swedish and was instead translated as Jag ser upp emot bergen or “I look up at the mountains” from the 1970’s on. (See Bertil Albrektson in The Bible Translator 1978, p. 101ff. )
