dove / pigeon

The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated as “dove” or “pigeon” in English is translated in Pijin with the onomatopoeia kurrukurru. (Source: Bob Carter)

In Matumbi is is translated as ngunda, a kind of dove that has the reputation to be monogamous. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)

 

In the fifteenth century the English word “pigeon” meant a young dove, the word “dove” being reserved for the adult birds. In modern English the words are used almost interchangeably. As a general rule, “pigeon” is used for domesticated forms of these birds, and for the larger variety of wild forms, while “dove” is used mainly for wild varieties. However, there are many exceptions to this general rule.

Pigeons and doves are both included in a bird family known scientifically as the Colombidae, consisting of well over two hundred species. In Israel and the Middle East are found the true Colombidae, which are easily distinguished from the genus Stretopelia, that is, the turtle doves.

The most common of the true Colombidae in the Middle East is most certainly the Asiatic Rock Dove Columba livia. This bird was first domesticated around 4500 B.C. in Mesopotamia. By 2500 B.C. it was kept as a domestic bird in Egypt, and by 1200 B.C. there is evidence that its homing abilities were already well known. It is this bird that is the ancestor of the domestic homing pigeons that people keep, some of which have escaped, returned to the wild, and now populate city streets all over the world. The ledges of modern buildings are a good substitute for the rock ledges that were its original nesting sites. It is likely that the Canaanites and the Israelites also kept these birds for both food and sacrifice. It is this bird that is called yonah in the Hebrew Bible and peristera in the Greek New Testament.

There are also three types of turtledove found in the land of Israel, two of which are resident species; the third is a migrant that arrives in spring and spends the summer in Israel. This migrant, the true Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur, and one of the species now resident, the Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto, are what the Bible writers called tor in Hebrew and trugōn in Greek. (Both the Hebrew and Greek names are based on the sound the turtledove makes.)

In biblical Hebrew the word gozal generally refers to a nestling of any bird species. In Genesis 15:9 it obviously refers specifically to a young pigeon. Nestling rock pigeons were collected from the rock ledges. Pigeons and doves were kept in cages and dovecotes, and wild ones were trapped in nets. This enabled the Jews to have a handy stock of birds for sacrificial purposes.

The rock pigeon is a blue-gray color with a pinkish sheen to the neck feathers. It has a black tip on its tail. Its call is a repeated moaning oom (the Hebrew name yonah is related to a verb meaning “to moan”) or a rapid cooing coo-ROO-coo-coo, usually repeated two or three times. The call is uttered with the beak closed, into the chest. The male’s sexual display starts with flying wing claps, and then when it lands next to the female, it begins bowing and turning with chest puffed and tail spread.

This type of pigeon lives in large colonies, and when a group is in flight, they maneuver as a single unit, often gliding short distances together with their wings held in a V shape.
The turtledove is a smaller blue-gray bird with a pinkish chest. It arrives in Israel in April, and its rhythmic call yoo-ROO-coo, yoo-ROO-coo, yoo-ROO-coo, repeated for two or three minutes at a time on sunny days, can be heard all over.

Doves are seed eaters, and this fact may be significant in the Flood narrative. The raven, a carrion eater, does not return to the ark, since food is available. The dove returns at first, and when it finally stays away, this is an indication that seeds of some sort are once again available to it, and the earth is again dry.

As seed-eaters, doves and pigeons are ritually clean birds for Jews. Their swift flight means that they are symbolic of speed in some biblical contexts, especially in Psalms. The fact that these birds court, mate, and nest repeatedly throughout the year resulted in their being a symbol of affection, sexuality, and fertility in the ancient Egyptian, Canaanite, and Hebrew cultures. This symbolism is important in the Song of Solomon.

A very ancient belief that the dove has no bile and is therefore devoid of anger led to its becoming a symbol of peace and gentleness. (In actual fact doves and pigeons are aggressive, often attacking other birds, especially at food sources.)

The name yonah for the pigeon and dove is associated with moaning and groaning in pain or sorrow. This is often the symbolism in prophetic poetry.

Pigeons and doves are found worldwide, except in some snow-bound regions and on some remote islands. Almost everywhere they live there is more than one species, and in almost all locations the domestic pigeon is one of these species. As a general rule, the word for the smaller wild dove should be used wherever possible, but in those contexts where both pigeons and doves are mentioned in connection with sacrifices, the word for the domestic pigeon can be used as well as the one for the wild dove.

In 2 Kings 6:25 there is a Hebrew expression that literally means “dove’s dung”. This seems to be a reference to some kind of food that is eaten only in emergencies. Suggestions about what this may refer to have varied from “chickpeas” (which do look somewhat like a dove’s droppings) to “locust-beans”, “wild onions”, and the roots of certain wild flowers. In view of the lack of certainty, it is probably best to translate it literally as “dove’s dung” and include the footnote, “This is probably some kind of wild food eaten only in emergencies.”

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

complete verse (Song of Solomon 2:14)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Song of Solomon 2:14:

  • Kupsabiny: “Oh, my dove who is hiding yourself,
    you have hid yourself in the caves in the hills.
    Now show yourself,
    and let us speak just a little for me to hear your voice.
    Your voice is sweet
    and your appearance/face is so very beautiful.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “You are like a dove that lives in a cleft,
    in rocky outcrops.
    Let me see your face,
    Let me hear your voice,
    because it is so delightful to hear your voice
    and your face is so very beautiful.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (sing.) (are) like a dove hiding in the hole/opening of a cliff/slope/mountain-side. Show to me your (sing.) lovely face and let- me -hear your (sing.) gentle voice.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “You are like a dove that is hiding far from me in an opening/crack in the rocky cliff.
    Show me your face,
    and allow me to hear your voice,
    because your voice is sweet-sounding
    and your face is lovely.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

please (adverb / Japanese honorifics)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

The concept of “please” is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-kure (おくれ) with the respectful prefix o-. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Song of Songs 2:14

The term my dove is used elsewhere by the young man when addressing his lover (5.2; 6.9). We can be fairly certain, then, that the young man is still speaking. The major problem here is to determine whether this is a quotation of what he said, or if this is a new speech. As noted in the introductory remarks, Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation, and Bible en français courant include it as part of the reported speech. New Jerusalem Bible includes it but leaves a line between verses 13 and 14 to show there is a new thought. New International Version ends the quote of the young woman in verse 13 and starts an entirely new section at verse 14, where it identifies the young man as speaker.

We suggest following the approach of Good News Translation and New Jerusalem Bible because there is clear evidence of a break after verse 13. We have already seen that the bracket surrounding verses 10b-13 has brought this unit to a close. In verse 14 we note a move away from the springtime theme and what appears to be a new expression of address, O my dove. Whether this new paragraph should be part of the quote is difficult to determine. While it seems acceptable for the young woman to quote the young man’s request that she go away with him, it seems odd to think she would quote his flattery (your voice is sweet, and your face is comely). At the very least, some indication can be given that a new paragraph is beginning.

O my dove is regarded by many translations as a vocative, that is, a form of address to the speaker’s lover (Revised Standard Version, Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, and others). Good News Translation “You are like a dove that hides…” is an example of those translations that see my dove as the subject of the sentence. If we accept this interpretation it means a shift in person (from third to second) in the middle of the verse: “My dove is in the clefts of the rocks… Show me your face.” Such changes of person certainly do occur in the Song, but this change complicates the translator’s task. Certainly from a translation viewpoint a vocative makes more sense.

In the clefts of the rock is the first of two adverbial phrases describing where doves are known to nest. In these poetic phrases the young man draws attention to the fact that his lover is out of reach. Places difficult to reach in the rocky hills illustrate that the young woman is locked away behind walls; he cannot even see her (verse 9). The comparison between the dove and the young woman is based on the fact that doves in the Near East live in cliffs and openings in mountainous rocky areas (Jer 48.28). Good News Translation understands the young woman to be hiding among the rocks, but this is not in keeping with her personality as we know it—she is anything but shy.

Clefts in Hebrew is a rare word, found only here and in Jer 49.16 and Obadiah 3. Although the root meaning is debated, a related word in Arabic suggests that it means “a hiding place.” This provides a reasonable parallel with the following term covert.

This combination of a vocative O followed by two noun phrases describing a location may prove difficult to translate in many languages. First, as there is no verb, we may need to provide one. We do not think the young woman is being shy, so we do not want to follow Good News Translation “like a dove that hides….” It is better to say “is far away” or “is out of reach.” If we want to be completely clear, we may add “far away from me.”

Second, we may need to modify the structure. We can use a relative clause; for example, “My dove, who is out of reach in the cleft of the rock…” or “My dove, you who are far away….” In many languages this style may be too heavy for poetry, so we may have to break the sequence and introduce direct address: “O my dove, you are far away in the cleft of the rock….” In some languages even this may not be clear enough, in which case we may introduce a more recognizable vocative such as “my love” and then include the comparison: “O my love, you are like a dove, far away from me among the rocks….” Though this is further from the form of the original, it reflects the meaning well. Alternatively we can omit the vocative noun yet make the comparison clear: “You are out of reach like a dove in the cracks in the face of the rock…,” though this loses much of the tenderness of the young man’s statement.

In the covert of the cliff again describes places that are difficult to get to, in this case holes in the steep cliff face. We recall that the young woman was in the house and the young man looking in from outside, unable to reach her. We presume that this is the sense being conveyed by these two phrases. She is like a dove that lives in places hard to reach.

The two location phrases emphasize how far away the young woman seems to be. We can render this idea by making the basis of the comparison clear each time: “far away in the cracks of the rock, out of reach in the holes in the cliff.” If this is too repetitive or there is difficulty in finding terms similar in meaning, these lines can be combined into one. We suggest:

• O my dove,
You are far away in the cleft of the rock,
Out of reach in the caves on the mountain side.

Or more freely:

• O my love, you are out of reach,
like a dove in the cracks in the face of the rock,
like a dove in the caves on the mountain side.

Following the two parallel phrases (in the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the cliff) we hear the young man begging his lover to come out. His appeal is made up of two parallel clauses, in which face and voice are in a chiastic structure.

Let me see your face: this is literally “Show me your appearance [or, form].” The Hebrew term used means much more than face; it includes the entire external appearance of a person or thing. “Let me see you” is the better translation, as in New American Bible.

Let me hear your voice can then be rendered “Let me hear you.” Voice includes what a person says as well as the tone of voice.

One other possible treatment of these two phrases is to say “Show yourself to me; speak to me.”

For your voice is sweet: in the second half of the chiastic structure, the order of the terms face and voice is now reversed. For your voice is sweet provides the reason; it tells why he longs to see her and to be with her. The opening Hebrew conjunction can be rendered as “for” or “because”; but as this is poetry, in many languages an introductory conjunction will not be necessary. Sweet in some contexts relates to taste, but here it describes sound, so we can say “sweet-sounding,” or follow Good News Translation “enchanting,” or New English Bible “pleasant.” Another possibility is to use a verb phrase in place of a noun phrase and say “you sound sweet” or “your voice sounds so pleasant.”

And your face is comely: refer to comments above with regard to face as meaning “appearance.” For comely see comments on 1.5.

Good News Translation simplifies the chiastic structure, with its plea and motive elements, by combining four clauses into two. They present a parallel structure rather than a chiastic one:
Let me see your lovely face
and hear your enchanting voice.

This is one form we can adopt, although it seems to lack some of the intensity conveyed by the repetitive “Let me see you. Let me hear you.”

We suggest a translation as follows:

• Let me see you, let me hear you,
because your voice is so delightful
and your appearance beautiful.

• Show yourself to me, speak to me,
[because] you sound so delightful
and look so beautiful.

Alternatively we can keep very close to a literal translation, if this will be appreciated:

• Let me see your face,
Let me hear your voice,
Your voice, so sweet …
Your face, so lovely ….

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 .