A change of speaker requires a marginal note or some other device to indicate that the young man is now speaking. This is his first speech, responding to the young woman’s inquiry in verse 7. Some commentators have felt the tone of voice at this point is not sufficiently friendly to be the words of her lover, and so they suggest that these are the words of the “daughters of Jerusalem.” Bible en français courant attributes them to the shepherd companions. However, the young woman has just addressed her lover directly in the previous lines. There seems no reason to think the person responding with “you” is anyone other than her lover. The speaker calls the woman “the most beautiful of women”—this is hardly a harsh statement! We therefore understand these words to be those of the young man.

The verse begins with a conditional clause, If you do not know. We may understand that the young man strongly suspects she really does know where he will be. If a conditional is used in this same way in the translator’s language, it can be retained. Otherwise we can render this sense by a rhetorical question, “Don’t you know where I pasture my sheep, most beautiful of women?” or “Are you sure you don’t know where I pasture my sheep?” A more neutral response is “Let me tell you….”

O fairest among women: in verse 7 the young woman calls her lover “you whom my soul loves.” He responds by calling her “the most beautiful of women.” This expression is one of several terms of affection for her. It occurs also in 5.9 and 6.1. Our translation should use a term that refers to her matchless beauty. The Hebrew expression is very brief, “the beautiful [one] among women.” Some languages, however, may require a much longer expression to express the same thought. Others will use a relative clause to make such a statement, “you who pass all others in beauty” or “you who are more beautiful than all other women.” To avoid such a complex structure, we may say “My beautiful one, you are more lovely than all others!” In some languages interrupting an already lengthy clause with a vocative expression will be quite unnatural, so this direct address may have to come at the beginning or end of the clause.

Follow in the tracks of the flock: the imperative follow appears to introduce the consequence of the conditional clause begun in the previous line, so we can say “then follow….” He instructs her to go in the tracks of the flock, where the word tracks refers to the footprints left behind by the sheep, rather than the path or trail used. Essentially he is saying that she can easily find him if she follows the tracks left by the flocks. Of course, unless his flock is somehow distinctive or alone, she would not be able to tell which flock is his. However, in poetry this kind of neat logic is not necessary.

And pasture your kids: in responding to her question the young man also uses the verb “to shepherd.” He remarks that, when she takes her flock out later, she can follow the trail left by the sheep. Kids here refers to young goats; it is the only time in the Song when he speaks of his lover as being a shepherd like himself. Often the two kinds of animals are looked after together, but here the young woman and the young man each seem to have a separate herd. On the other hand, in poetry these two can be used as parallel terms for “flock.” If the language does not distinguish between sheep and goats, we can use a general term like “flock” or “animals.”

Beside the shepherds’ tents: again we meet the preposition ʿal rendered beside as in the previous verse. Good News Translation suggests “near.” The text seems to indicate that the various flocks and shepherds are close to one another, something that would make it difficult for the lovers to meet in secret. Another possible sense of the preposition is “to” as in Gen 24.49; 2 Sam 2.19; Pro 26.11; Isa 66.20. Yet another usage is found in Psa 14.2, where ʿal means “overlooking.” If the young woman hopes to be unseen by the other shepherds, then the preposition cannot mean beside or “close to.” Perhaps our best translation is “not far from.”

Tents translates a different Hebrew word from that used in verse 5. Here the term mostly applies to temporary dwellings, such as the Israelites lived in during the wilderness wanderings. Many cultural groups make similar temporary shelters when farming or hunting. We can use any general word that describes a temporary shelter.

The entire phrase can be given as “not far from where the other shepherds are camped.”

For translation of the whole verse:

• Don’t you know where I pasture my sheep,
you whose beauty surpasses all others?
Then follow the tracks of the flock
and pasture your kids
not far from where the shepherds are camped.

We can ask what is the significance of this first dialog between the lovers. Is the young man really a shepherd? And does the young woman really have a flock of goats? We note that the theme of “seek” and “find,” which will occur again and again throughout this book, is indirectly brought to the forefront in this dialog. Perhaps the role of this poem is to introduce us to some of the imagery that will appear later. For the time being the poem reads as if we are talking about real sheep and goats, but later in the book we find more figurative language, where “grazing” and “shepherding” become metaphors for lovemaking.

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 .