your lips distill nectar / honey and milk are under your tongue

In Gbaya, the notion of the good fragrance of her lips in Song of Songs 4:11 is emphasized with ɓisisi, an ideophone used to describe something very fragrant.

The taste of her tongue is emphasized with dɔk-dɔk, an ideophone used to describe the taste of sweetness.

Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. Since the subject matter of Songs of Songs is particularly conducive to the use of ideophones, there are a total of 30 ideophones in the Gbaya Bible in that short biblical book alone. (Source: Philip Noss)

your lips distill nectar (your lips drip honey)

The interconfessional Chichewa translation (publ. 1999) uses the ideophone mvee in Song of Songs 4:11 to describe the thick and rich honey dripping from the lips. Mvee is generally used for dense, viscous abundance (oozing / glistening) as well as for sensory overload (sweetness / richness / seduction. (Source: Ernst Wendland)

Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)

complete verse (Song of Solomon 4:11)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Song of Solomon 4:11:

  • Kupsabiny: “Oh my maiden, honey drips from your mouth
    and your tongue is sweet as if it is dripping liquid honey and milk.
    Your clothes brings out a sweet smell like the cedars of Lebanon.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “From your lips drops sweetness as from the honeycomb.
    Oh my bride
    milk and honey are under your tongue.
    The fragrance of your dress is like the cedar of Lebanon.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Your (sing.) kisses (are) like/as-if sweetness of honey, my girlfriend. Yes, your (sing.) tongue (is) like/as-if having honey and milk. The fragrance of your (sing.) clothing (is) just like the fragrance of the the cedar/[sedro] tree of Lebanon.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Being kissed by you is as enjoyable as eating honey;
    your kisses are as sweet as milk mixed with honey.
    The aroma of your clothes
    is like the aroma of cedar trees in Lebanon.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Song of Songs 4:11

The young man describes in more detail the thrill of being with his beloved. He again describes her mouth, but the description here goes far beyond the one in 4.3.

Your lips distil nectar must mean that her lips, which is to say, her kisses, are as sweet and as pleasant as nectar. Again there is a possibility that the word translated lips refers to what she says, but kisses is a much more likely interpretation in this context. Nectar may be rendered “honey” (Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible) or “honeycomb” (Revised English Bible). In describing the action here, it will probably be better to use a verb like “drip with” or “pour forth” rather than distil. The Hebrew expression is marked by repetition of the two sounds p and t. Good News Translation offers “the taste of honey is on your lips” and is a good model. In some languages it may be better to turn the metaphor into a simile, “Your lips taste as sweet as honey” or “Your kisses, I’ll compare them to honey!”

My bride: see notes on verse 8.

Honey and milk are under your tongue: these two substances represent sweetness and luxury, as they do in the descriptions of the land of Canaan (Exo 3.8; Pro 5.3-6; 24.13-14). The connection with the phrase under your tongue and the previous phrase about her lips indicate a reference to the young woman’s kisses and possibly also to what she says. This latter is a common meaning in the Egyptian love poems. How we translate honey and milk will depend on how we understand the phrase under your tongue. If this is a reference to kisses, we may say “wonderful,” “sweet,” or give the basis of comparison, “Your kisses are as sweet as milk and [or, mixed with] honey.” We can also draw out the point of the comparison in each element, “Your kisses are as smooth as milk, as sweet as honey.” If the reference is to the young woman’s words, again we must find appropriate terms: “When you talk, your words are as sweet as milk and honey.”

Translating literally is perhaps our best choice here. “Milk and honey” is a key phrase in the Old Testament, and its meaning may be readily understood. This verse also leads up to more hidden references to lovemaking, so a direct translation may preserve this feature and express the young man’s deep passion better than explanatory phrases.

The scent of your garments is like the scent of Lebanon: her clothes have an aroma that thrills him. The scent of Lebanon is an unusual phrase, since Lebanon is not normally associated with spices and aromatics but with timber. There is a suggestion that the cedar trees of Lebanon could be smelled some distance away; others suggest that the clothes may have been kept in a cedar chest and so had a pleasant smell about them. Another possible approach is to understand the Hebrew term lebonah as “frankincense,” a change that has some merit. On the other hand Lebanon is a keyword in this short unit. So we recommend following the standard rendering.

Revised Standard Version translates the Hebrew literally by repeating scent. This shows how rhythmic the Hebrew is at this point. Of course, if such repetition is not appreciated, it can be eliminated. For example, we can follow New International Version, “The fragrance of your garments is like that of Lebanon.”

In translation we can say:

• The scent of your clothes is like [the smell of] frankincense.

• Your garments have the fragrance of Lebanon’s cedar.

Taking the verse as a whole, we note that the first and second lines have much in common. Two different words are used in Hebrew to refer to honey, one referring to the honeycomb, and one to honey itself. While this is not repetitive in Hebrew, it may appear so in the translation. We can therefore combine these two lines if necessary, keeping the word “honey” in only one line:

• Oh, my bride, your lips are sweet.
Your kisses as smooth as milk,
As sweet as honey,
And the scent of your clothes
Like the scent of Lebanon.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Song of Songs 4:11

4:11a

Your lips, my bride, drip sweetness like the honeycomb: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as drip has several meanings. Here it means “to drip” or “to drop.” Literally, it indicates that sweet nectar dripped from the bride’s lips. Figuratively, it indicates that the bride’s kisses were very sweet. Some other ways to translate the meaning are:

Your lips are as sweet as nectar, my bride. (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
The taste of honey is on your lips, my darling; (Good News Translation)

Your lips, my bride, drip sweetness: The phrase Your lips…drip sweetness is a metaphor that describes how “sweet” the bride’s kisses are. The man meant that her kisses gave him great pleasure. Some ways to translate the metaphor are:

• Keep the metaphor. For example:

My bride, your lips drip honey (New Century Version)
-or-
Your lips are a honeycomb (Contemporary English Version)

• Use a simile. For example:

Your lips, my bride, are as sweet as honey. (New Living Translation (1996))
-or-
Your lips taste like honey

• Translate the meaning without a figure of speech. For example:

Your lips/kisses are wonderfully sweet.

Your lips: The phrase Your lips is probably a figure of speech that uses lips to represent kisses. Some ways to translate this figure of speech are:

When I kiss you
-or-
Your lips/kisses

my bride: For information on how to translate my bride, see the notes on 4:8a–b.

drip sweetness: The words drip sweetness are a figure of speech. Since the woman’s “lips” refer figuratively to kisses here, the phrase drip sweetness indicates that the woman’s kisses gave the man great pleasure

sweetness: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sweetness refers specifically to “honey” or to a “honeycomb.” It does not refer to the nectar of flowers. However, if honey is unknown in your area, you may use a word that refers to the nectar of flowers.

4:11b

This part of the verse is parallel to 4:11a and has a similar meaning.

honey and milk are under your tongue: The phrase honey and milk are under your tongue is a metaphor. It indicates that the woman’s mouth was delightful. As with “lips” in 4:11a, the phrase under your tongue refers to the sweetness and pleasure that the woman’s kisses gave the man. It probably does not refer to her sweet speech, and it does not indicate that she was literally holding honey and milk in her mouth.

Honey and milk were luxury items. Here they imply that the woman’s love was an experience of luxurious delight.

Some ways to translate the metaphor are:

• Use a metaphor. For example:

Your tongue is milk and honey for me. (Good News Translation)

• Use a simile. For example:

Your mouth is as delightful as milk and honey.
-or-
Your tongue is like milk and honey.

• Translate the meaning more directly. For example:

Your mouth is full of delights.

Translate the meaning in a natural way in your language.

honey and milk: In other parts of the OT the phrase “milk and honey” was used to describe the land of Israel as a fruitful place with abundant food. Here in the Song the word order is changed to honey and milk. These terms were also used in other love poetry of the Near East to express the joy and beauty of love. See the preceding note for translation examples.

honey: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as honey is a general word that refers to sweet substances. These substances can be added to food to make it sweeter. These sweeteners include bees’ honey from honeycombs as well as date or grape syrups. Use an appropriate word in your language.

4:11c

the fragrance of your garments is like the aroma of Lebanon: Here the man compared the fragrance of the woman’s clothing to the pleasant scent of the region of Lebanon. Lebanon was famous for its cedar trees, so some scholars think the fragrance refers to the fragrance of the cedar trees. Others think that it refers more generally to the many pleasing scents of Lebanon.

Some ways to translate this clause are:

• Use a general way in your language to refer to a pleasant smell. For example:

Your clothes smell sweet/good like ⌊the region of⌋ Lebanon.

• Use a more specific comparison that refers to the mountains or cedars of Lebanon. For example:

Your clothes smell like the cedars of Lebanon. (New Century Version)
-or-
The scent of your clothing is like that of the mountains and the cedars of Lebanon.

Choose a comparison that is pleasing in your language.

Lebanon: The land of Lebanon represented what was beautiful and fragrant. It was especially famous for its fragrant cedar trees. Refer to the notes on Lebanon in 4:8a–b and 4:8b for more information. It is important to notice the fragrance theme that is prominent throughout the Song.

garments: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as garments refers in general to clothing. It is good to use a general term in your language. For example:

clothing
-or-
clothes

like the aroma of Lebanon: The region of Lebanon is mentioned several times in 4:8–15. It forms a poetic Lebanon theme that helps give unity to lines 4:8–15. Here in 4:11 it forms an inclusio with 4:8, where the man said to the woman, “Come with me from Lebanon.” In 4:11, the man implied that the woman figuratively came from Lebanon, and she still smelled like that wonderful place.

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