complete verse (Song of Solomon 4:7)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Song of Solomon 4:7:

  • Kupsabiny: “You are so very beautiful, my beloved!
    You have not even one flaw!” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “My darling you are very charming.
    There is not any defect in you.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “How beautiful (are) you (sing.) (are), my beloved. You (sing.) have-no defects.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “My darling, you are completely beautiful;
    your body is perfectly formed!” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Song of Songs 4:7

The opening phrase marks the end of the inclusio: it is a repetition from verse 1, closing off the subsection begun there. In place of the exclamation “Behold” (“How”), this verse adds the qualifier all and the final comment there is no flaw in you. As the Revised Standard Version translation here shows, the Hebrew text begins with You and ends with you, forming a chiastic structure. The term of endearment, my love, stands in the middle, the place of prominence.

In the phrase You are all fair, the word all means “every part of you.” It refers back to the list of the young woman’s physical attractions. We can translate as “everything about you.”

Fair: see comments on 1.8. The meaning is that she is very beautiful.

My love: refer to notes on 1.9.

There is no flaw in you: in Lev 24.19, 20 the word “disfigurement,” or “blemish,” describes imperfections. Here that same Hebrew term is used in the negative to indicate that the young woman is perfect, without fault, in the eyes of her lover.

We may translate as:

• Everything about you is beautiful, my love;
Your beauty is perfect!

• My love, every part of you is beautiful;
There is no blemish anywhere.

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 4:7

4:7

This verse is similar to 4:1, and it ends the inclusio, which began there. In 4:1 the man said in a general but emphatic way, “You are beautiful” In 4:7, he elaborated on “you are beautiful” by saying “You are altogether beautiful” and “in you there is no flaw.”

After the man described her in 4:1–6, he concluded that she was perfect. The two lines, 4:7a and 4:7b, have a similar meaning, but 4:7b intensifies 4:7a by adding “no flaw.”

4:7a

You are altogether beautiful, my darling: The Hebrew phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as You are altogether beautiful is more literally, “all of you ⌊is⌋ beautiful.” It indicates that the man considered the woman to be beautiful in every way. He probably referred specifically to physical beauty here. He implied that all of the woman’s physical characteristics were beautiful. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

Every part of you is fair, my darling… (Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures)

This phrase summarizes the woman’s beautiful features, which the man described specifically in 4:1–6. It may also imply good character qualities. For example, in 4:1 the phrase your eyes are like doves may refer to the woman’s gentleness or modesty. In 4:4, her neck being like a tower may imply noble character. In 4:5 the comparison of her breasts to fawns may imply “innocence” or “life-giving energy.”

beautiful: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as beautiful in this verse is the same word that it translates as “beautiful” in 4:1. It is helpful to translate this word in the same way in both 4:1 and 4:7 to make it clear that these verses are an inclusio. They indicate the beginning and end of a unit in the Song.

my darling: The phrase my darling also occurs in 4:1, and you may translate it in the same way here. See the note on 4:1a–b.

4:7b

in you there is no flaw: The phrase in you there is no flaw has a similar meaning to 4:7a, but it is stated in a negative way. It indicates that the woman was completely beautiful, and each of her features was beautiful. There was nothing about her that was not lovely, and none of her features reduced her beauty. Some other ways to translate this meaning are:

There is no blemish/fault in you.
-or-
beautiful without a flaw. (Revised English Bible)
-or-
beautiful in every way. (New Living Translation (2004))

General Comment on 4:7

The two clauses in this verse are parallel and have almost the same meaning. The repetition of the meaning makes it more emphatic. It indicates that the woman is wonderful in every way. Some ways to translate this meaning are:

• Use two statements with the same meaning. For example:

How beautiful you are, my love; how perfect you are! (Good News Translation)

• Use one emphatic statement. For example:

My darling, you are lovely in every way. (Contemporary English Version)

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