The Hebrew, Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated as “soul” in English is translated in Chol with a term that refers to the invisible aspects of human beings (source: Robert Bascom), in Yagaria with oune or “shadow, reflection” (source: Renck, p. 81), and in Elhomwe as “heart” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext).
The Mandarin Chineselínghún (靈魂 / 灵魂), literally “spirit-soul,” is often used for “soul” (along with xīn [心] or “heart”). This is a term that was adopted from Buddhist sources into early Catholic writings and later also by Protestant translators. (Source: Zetzsche 1996, p. 32, see also Clara Ho-yan Chan in this article )
In Chichewa, moyo means both “soul” and “life.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Song of Solomon 3:4:
Kupsabiny: “But when I had left those people, I suddenly met with the one my stomach loves! I quickly took his hand and I went with him to the house of my mother, to the bedroom where she gave birth to me.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “As soon as I passed them I met my lover. I held him and would not let him go till I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the room of the one who gave me birth.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Not long-after I left the guards, I saw/found my beloved/darling. I hugged/embraced him hard/tightly, and I did- not -let- him -go until I brought him to the house of my mother, there in the room where I was-born.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “As soon as I walked past them, I found the one whom I love. I clung to him and would not let him go until I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the room where my mother had conceived me (OR, where I was born).” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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 important aspect of addressing someone else in one’s or someone else’s family is by selecting the correct word when referring to them. One way to do this is through the usage of an appropriate title within a conversation as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
When the speaker humbly refers to his or her mother in the presence of respected interlocutor(s), haha (母) is often used as in the case of Abraham referring to his mother before Abimelech (Genesis 20:12). This form is very appropriately chosen as Abraham is speaking to Abimelech the king of Gerar. While haha can carry this humbling effect in reference to the speaker’s mother, in some types of dialogues/utterances such as in poetry (Song 3:4) and proverbial teachings (e.g. “honor your father and mother” in Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16 et al.), haha is used without the humbling effect. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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 Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “take” or “bring” in English is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-tsure (お連れ), combining “bring” (tsure) with the respectful prefix o-. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Note again how closely this verse is tied to the previous verse. Them refers back to the night watchmen, of course, but even more striking is the immediate repetition of the verb “find” and the phrase “the one whom my soul loves.”
In Hebrew this verse is poetic and rhythmic; the sounds i, t, and sh are prominent throughout. We also find parallel structures, based on similar adverbial prepositions.
Note how the adverbial clauses surround two independent clauses that present the most important part of the message, “I held him and I would not let him go.”
The introductory adverb Scarcely describes the passing of a very short distance and time. We can say “just after,” “as soon as” (as in Good News Translation), as well as “hardly,” “scarcely.”
Had I passed them indicates that she walked on beyond them. Good News Translation reads “as soon as I left them,” and New American Bible is similar. New English Bible suggests “left them behind.”
When I found him whom my soul loves: on found see comments on verse 3. Here, however, the verb is not used figuratively. Comments on verse 1 above refer to the phrase him whom my soul loves.
I held him uses the verb found before in 2.15. A good phrase in English that conveys the force of the action here is “I threw my arms around him.”
And would not let him go: the Hebrew verb form suddenly changes from a perfect to an imperfect. This change suggests that she held on to him and refused to let him go. Note that these are parallel lines; both mean the same, though one expresses the idea positively and the other negatively. The repetition conveys the young woman’s intense emotion. Most languages will appreciate this literary feature, which can be easily rendered in the translation.
Revised Standard Version follows the Hebrew form rather closely. The translator must find the most natural way to relate these events. This may be by using two independent clauses: “I passed them. Right after that, I found….” But in many languages the first clause will be better expressed as a subordinate one, with the second clause remaining independent: “Having just passed them, I found…,” or “Just after I left them, I found my lover.”
Until I had brought him tells the reader why she refused to let go. Her plan was to take him home with her; another reason is no doubt her longing to be close to him. Rendering the verb here as a past perfect (“had brought”) may indicate that she succeeded in taking him home. However, at this point she seems still to be out in the town, so we can indicate her situation more accurately as “Until I could bring him….”
Into my mother’s house: commentators have a variety of suggestions as to the meaning of this phrase. Fox notes, however, that my mother’s house seems to be a typical expression for an unmarried woman’s home. He cites examples in Gen 24.28 and Ruth 1.8, and shows Egyptian parallels. Its meaning is well indicated by “my home.”
Into the chamber of her that conceived me is grammatically parallel to the previous clause:
to [the] house [of] my mother
to [the] room [of] my conceiving
At first glance it seems that these are equivalent expressions (“house” equals “room”; “mother” equals “the one conceiving me”). This is the meaning adopted by Revised Standard Version and many others (Jerusalem Bible, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible). If we accept this approach, then we can if necessary condense the lines into one, merely saying “until I could take him home” or “until I could take him home to my mother.” However, there is another element here. The second parallel line builds on the first line. “House” in line 1 becomes “room” in line 2. The sense is then “… bring him home, in fact to the room….”
A major problem for interpreters is to explain why the young woman is taking her young man home, and especially (if this is the meaning) into her mother’s bedroom. If they are young lovers, as we suppose, and given the secret nature of their relationship, this seems an odd thing to do. Some translations go even further in the interpretation. Bible en français courant claims that it is not just the mother’s room but the room where the daughter was actually conceived. Good News Translation states that this is “the room where I was born.”
There are further complications. It is important to note that the Hebrew form “my conceiving” is ambiguous: it can mean the mother conceives the daughter (as Revised Standard Version has rendered), but it can also mean the daughter herself is conceiving. Since there is no time marker on this verb form to tell whether it is past, present, or future, the text can mean then “until I conceive” or “until I get pregnant.” The young woman would hold on to her lover until she could take him home and actually conceive a child. With this interpretation we can translate as “[I vowed] I would never let him go until I could take him home, to the room where I could conceive.”
There is still another possibility. “The room of my conceiving” can be a euphemism referring to the young woman’s womb. She can be saying that she won’t let her lover go until he makes love to her. This interpretation makes sense in the context, especially since nowhere else in the Song do fertility or children seem to be a concern. If the expression is a euphemism, it can be rendered by a euphemism in the translation. In English we may say “until I could take him home, where we could really become one.”
These last solutions do raise one problem, however. It is that most scholars see this last line as merely completing a parallel line in the poem. The grammatical parallelism perhaps suggests that they should be parallel in meaning as well. It is possible that the poet meant this line to be ambiguous, with one meaning having a hidden sexual sense.
These suggestions leave us with several possibilities for translation. We can follow the more traditional rendering, retaining the parallelism (“the one conceiving me”), in which case we can reduce the two parallel lines:
• … I held him. I would not let him go!
Until I could take him home with me!
If we do decide to incorporate some of the nontraditional possibilities for interpretation, the traditional interpretation can be put in a footnote:
• Having just passed them,
I found the one I adore.
I held him! I wouldn’t let him go,
Until I could take him home with me,
Until he would be completely mine.*
Footnote: * Literally “until I could take him to my mother’s house, to the room of my conceiving.” “My conceiving” can mean “where my mother conceived me” or “where I will [or, can] conceive.”
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 .
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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 Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a third person singular and plural pronoun (“he,” “she,” “it” and their various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. While it’s not uncommon to avoid pronouns altogether in Japanese, there are is a range of third person pronouns that can be used. In these verses a number of them are used that pay particularly much respect to the referred person (or, in fact, God, as in Exodus 15:2), including kono kata (この方), sono kata (その方), and ano kata (あの方), meaning “this person,” “that person,” and “that person over there.”
The text does not give any response to the question that the woman asked the watchmen in 3:3. It does not say whether or not they offered her any help, but probably they did not. By not focusing on the watchmen, the author probably emphasized the fact that the woman was totally focused on her search for her beloved.
I had just passed them: The phrase I had just passed them refers to the time after the woman asked the watchmen her question in 3:3. When they did not answer, she left them and continued to look for her beloved. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
As soon as I left them (Good News Translation) -or-
Then I passed them. Immediately… -or-
Scarcely had I passed them (Revised Standard Version)
3:4b–f
From the beginning of chapter 3 until this verse, the woman’s search for her beloved became more intense. She searched and longed for her beloved. But here in 3:4b she found him. Her relief and joy was especially strong after her intense search.
In each line of 3:4c–f the woman seemed to express more intimacy with the man. She embraced him (3:4c–d) and brought him into her mother’s chamber (3:4f). Lines 3:4c and 3:4d are parallel, but 3:4d is more intense and specific. Lines 3:4e and 3:4f are also parallel, and 3:4f is more intense and specific.
3:4b
when I found the one I love: This line is closely connected with 3:4a. It indicates that immediately after the woman left the watchmen, she found her beloved. Connect this line with 3:4a in a natural way in your language. Some other ways to translate it are:
immediately I saw my love! -or-
As soon as I had left them, I found the one I love (New Century Version, 3:4a–b)
3:4c
I held him: The phrase I held him indicates that the woman held onto the man tightly. It implies that she was happy and relieved to be with him. She did not want to risk being separated from him again. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
I held onto him tightly (NET Bible) -or-
I clung to him -or-
I grabbed/gripped him
3:4d
and would not let go: This clause is parallel to 3:4c and adds emphasis. It means that the woman would not stop holding on to the man. She kept clinging to him. It implies that she felt an intense desire to keep him with her. Other ways to translate this clause are:
I did not loosen my hold on him -or-
and I kept holding him tightly
3:4e–f
until I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the chamber of the one who conceived me: The clauses in 3:4e and 3:4f are parallel and have a similar meaning. In 3:4e the woman said that she brought the man into her mother’s house. In 3:4f she brought him even into her mother’s bedroom.
3:4e
until I had brought him to my mother’s house: This clause tells the place where the woman brought her beloved. She was determined to bring him to her mother’s house, so she held him tightly until they arrived. Some other ways to translate the clause are:
then I brought him to my mother’s house. (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
⌊ I did not stop holding him⌋before I took him ⌊with me⌋ into my mother’s house
to my mother’s house: There is uncertainty about what my mother’s house implies here. Scholars also have different ideas about why the young woman took the man there. Here are some important facts to consider:
(a) The phrase my mother’s house is a common way to refer to the place (house) where an unmarried woman lives.
(b) Marriage plans were made at the mother’s house. The text may imply that the woman and man went there to make preparations for their marriage, which happens in 3:6–11.
(c) Her mother’s house in her “chamber” (3:4f) is the place where the man and woman will be intimate with each other after they marry.
These three suggestions about what the phrase mother’s house implies here may all be true. The phrase probably refers to the house where the woman and her mother lived. There plans could be made for the marriage of the man and woman.
3:4f
to the chamber of the one who conceived me: The phrase to the chamber of the one who conceived me is parallel to the phrase “into my mother’s house” in 3:4e. In 3:4f the woman used a more specific phrase, and the meaning is more intense. It implies that the woman hoped that in the future she and the man would be intimate with each other there. The next section (3:6–5:1) figuratively describes their wedding and their intimate union as a married couple.
Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
into the room where my mother conceived me. -or-
into my mother’s bedroom, where I had been conceived. (New Living Translation (1996))
the chamber of the one who conceived me: The word chamber means “room.” The phrase the chamber of the one who conceived me refers to the bedroom of the woman’s mother. It may also imply that the woman was conceived in this room and/or that she was born in that room. It may also imply that her mother’s blessing was on her daughter’s relationship with her beloved.
Another way to translate the chamber of the one who conceived me is:
the room of the one who conceived me (New International Version)
General Comment on 3:1–4
This dream in 3:1–4 is told from the woman’s point of view. In these verses she searched for him and committed herself to him again. The woman’s dream ends here in 3:4. The man did not speak often in this section (2:8–3:5), but he spoke more often in the next section, especially in 4:1–15.
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