The Hebrew of the middle part of Song of Songs 5:1 is translated in many English translations (Authorized Version, Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version, Christian Standard Bible, Common English Bible, New Living Translation and the New American Bible among others) as “I ate my honeycomb with my honey.”
Rob Koops remarks on this: “One wonders if they missed the double meaning of ‘my honey,’ (=my loved one) or saw it, chuckled, and left it in the text. I’m not sure how widely ‘honey’ or ‘my honey’ is used in English for a loved one, but for some of us this is quite common.”
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “myrrh” in English is translated as “bitter medicine” in Michoacán Nahuatl and as “myrrh perfume” in Tzotzil (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.).
In Mark 15:23, Usila Chinantec translates it as “the herb myrrh which is useful so that one not feel pain in his body.” (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
Myrrh is probably the most precious spice in the Bible. It was worth more than its weight in gold. Our experts agree that the Hebrew word mor refers to the resin of one of the Commiphora genus, either myrrha, abyssinica or schimperi, all of which grew in what is now Yemen, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Madagascar. Other kinds of myrrh may have come from India (Commiphora erythraea, Commiphora opobalsamum). A more difficult question is the meaning of the word deror in Exodus 30:23. In the other places where it occurs it means “freedom” or “liberty.” This is the basis for the word “liquid” in some versions, but there is no certainty that “free” means “liquid.” The fact that myrrh was sometimes mixed with wine may suggest that deror means “liquid” here, but on the other hand, the weight of the myrrh is given in dry measure rather than liquid measure, which argues against it.
The myrrh plant is a bush or shrub with thick thorny branches that project and bend at odd angles. The leaves come in sets of three. The fruit is oval like a plum. The wood and bark have a pleasant smell. The gum oozes naturally from the branches, though some harvesters incise the branches to increase the flow. The sap or gum is clear or yellowish brown when it comes out, but gets darker as it dries. The taste of the gum is bitter (note the similarity of mor to the Hebrew word mar meaning “bitter”). In markets the gum is often found mixed with that of the kataf bush (bisabol).
God prescribed myrrh as an ingredient of the holy anointing oil (Exodus 30:23), and it is used as perfume in Esther, Psalms, Proverbs, and eight times in Song of Songs. It was brought as an expensive gift by the Magi to the new King (Matthew 2:11). As Jesus was dying on the cross, sympathetic bystanders may have offered it to him mixed with wine (Mark 15:23; see the parallel account in Matthew 27:34). Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes to prepare Jesus’ body for burial (John 19:39). In ancient Egypt myrrh was burned on the altars of the sun god, and in Persia it was attached to the crowns of kings when they appeared in public. Romans burned myrrh at funerals and cremations, which helps to explain its inclusion in the list of spices in Revelation 18:13. Today it is used in perfumes, lotions, and even in toothpaste.
Varieties of myrrh grow in the Horn of Africa and Madagascar, so people from those areas should have no difficulty finding words for it. As to whether the myrrh in Exodus 30:23 was liquid or solid, there seems to be no consensus, and the translator may be forgiven for simply ignoring the Hebrew word deror . Possible transliterations are Hebrew mor, Arabic mar, French mireh, and Spanish/Portuguese mirra.
The Hebrew word bosem, which is often rendered “balm” (derived from “balsam”), can refer to any type of aromatic healing substance, but it also designates the product of a particular tree, the balsam or opobalsamum Commiphora gileadensis. Arabs call it balasam or balasham. In the Talmud it is called afarsimon. Excavations near En Gedi have uncovered an ancient processing plant for balsam oil.
The opobalsamum tree likes a desert or semi-desert climate. It grows to 2‑3 meters (7‑10 feet) tall and has small, wrinkled, three-part leaves, white flowers, and pea-sized red berries that have a fragrant yellow seed inside. The bark of younger branches is gray, turning brown with age. The resin appears by itself in green droplets from the stems and branches, but collectors also make cuts in the branches to speed the process. The droplets turn from green to brown, clump together, and fall to the ground, where they are collected.
In Bible times, balsam oil was used in holy anointing oil, as medicine, and as an ingredient of perfume.
A generic word or phrase for sweet-smelling substances is appropriate to render bosem, although where a specific name for the balsam tree is available, as in southwestern Arabia and Somalia, this could also be used. At least one hundred species of the genus Commiphora are spread throughout dry areas of the world. Translators in some areas will know the plants; others may know only the dried resin of Commiphora sold in spice markets.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Song of Solomon 5:1:
Kupsabiny: “I have arrived in my garden, oh, my girl, yes, my maiden! I have gathered oil that smells sweet and other things for spicing food, I am eating honey-comb and honey, I am drinking wine and drinking my milk. You people who love one another, just eat. And drink well you who have come to love one another much.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “My darling, my bride, I came into my garden, I have gathered my fragrant spices with myrrh. I have eaten honeycomb and honey. I drank wine and milk. Eat my friend, drink my friend, drink until you are filled with love.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “I entered into my garden/field, to my beloved girlfriend. I gathered my myrrh/[mira] and perfumes. I ate my honey and drank my wine and milk. You (plur.) who love-each-other, [you (plur.)] eat and drink.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “My bride, you who are dearer to me than my sister, I have come to cuddle up to you ; it will be as though I will be gathering myrrh with my other spices, and eating my honey and my honeycomb, and drinking my wine and my milk. You two who love each other, enjoy your lovemaking; enjoy all that you want to.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
Here we have an example of a chapter division that does not reflect a break in thought or in continuity. 5.1 belongs with what comes before it and flows from it. In 4.16 we hear the young woman inviting her lover to come into his garden. In 5.1 we have the young man’s response, echoing her invitation:
(4.16) “Let my beloved come to his garden”
(5.1) “I come to my garden, my sister, my bride….”
His response is followed by a call that signals the end of the section and of the entire poem.
The first four lines of this verse are spoken by the young man, so we may indicate this in the margin.
The young man accepts his lover’s invitation (4.16) and enters the garden. The two main verbs, “come” and “eat,” are echoed in his response and repeated for emphasis.
What we find in this verse is a collection of images for lovemaking. The text itself is very poetic, including alliteration, parallelism, and even rhyme. The words “I” and “my” in English appear in Hebrew as pronoun suffixes (-i) on almost every verb and noun. As the Revised Standard Version translation shows, lines 2, 3, and 4 are grammatically parallel.
I come to my garden is the young man’s joyful response to the his lover’s call in 4.16, that he enter “his garden.” It is a garden no longer locked but open to him. We have already observed how the suffix “my” begins to dominate the text from here on. It reminds us that the young man is taking the invitation seriously; everything about her he calls “my” or “mine.” In some languages it may be very difficult to communicate this idea. We may have to use a longer phrase, “your garden, which belongs to me,” though such expressions certainly disrupt the poetry of the passage. Another possibility is to include a clause near the beginning of the poem such as “You are mine,” and then proceed to translate the rest of the metaphors without the possessive “my”: “I have entered your garden. You are mine.” Admittedly this changes the focus of the passage, but it may be the only way to express the images clearly.
All the verbs in this series (come … gather … eat … drink) are in the perfect aspect in Hebrew. Normally we assume that this verb form denotes completed action; thus “I have come,” “I have gathered,” and so on. But grammatical rules do not always apply so strictly in poetry, so we may use present forms, “I come,” “I gather,” and so on. Good News Translation gives the first verb in the perfect, “I have entered,” but renders the other verbs as progressives. “I am gathering … eating … drinking.” This allows the emphasis on the present action. Since the final line is a call to the young lovers to enjoy their love, this is an effective way to render the passage and a good model to follow.
My sister, my bride: refer to comments in 4.9, 12 above.
I gather my myrrh with my spice: the Hebrew verb rendered gather has several meanings, and Pope further demonstrates its relationship to similar sounding words, “lion” (occurring in 4.8) and “honey” (4.11; 5.1c). Here, however, the sense behind Revised Standard Versiongather is “picking with a view to eating.”
My myrrh with my spice: myrrh and spice refer to the spiced fruits found in the young woman’s garden (see 4.14 for comments). It is clear that these terms have sexual associations, but again it seems best to translate the literal meaning of the words and leave the explanation of these aspects to a brief note in the Introduction to the book.
The preposition with connects these noun phrases and the rest of the noun phrases that follow. If a literal translation of this word is awkward, we can substitute a simple conjunction “and,” as Good News Translation and Revised English Bible have done, “my myrrh and my spice.” In some languages the repetition of the possessive pronoun my may not be appropriate, in which case we can follow Good News Translation, “my myrrh and spice.” In other languages heavy or long noun phrase objects are preferred at the beginning of a sentence. If that is so we can reverse the order: “my myrrh and my spice, I gather [them].”
As noted above, each of the parallel lines contains the preposition with, a form of expression already seen in 4.13-14. In that passage the subject matter was the same, a description of the woman’s “garden” and all its delights. That list, containing many unusual or rare words, was both repetitive and rhythmic. Here too it seems that the reason for pairing the words my myrrh with my spice, my honeycomb with my honey, and my wine with my milk is to establish rhythm and to express the overflowing joy and pleasure the lovers feel. In translating these lines the translator should strive for poetic effect. In this verse it may be hard, for example, to reduce a clause like “myrrh and spices” to one general term “spices” without disrupting the rhythm established in the rest of the poem. This and the following lines must be translated together for the translation to be effective.
I eat my honeycomb with my honey: the verb eat echoes the second verb in the young woman’s invitation (4.16). To speak of “eating and drinking” means to enjoy love. In some languages these two verbs may not carry these same associations, so it may be necessary to use other verbs that can have a double meaning, such as “relish,” “taste,” or “enjoy.” Alternatively we can add a few descriptive words to express this meaning; for example, “eat with pleasure.”
Honeycomb here may not refer to the place where bees store their honey, but may be a figure referring to the honey taken directly from it. The term then describes the same substance as the following term honey. It is also very close to the Hebrew word translated “nectar” in 4.11. Several translations follow Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version. New English Bible, however, suggests “my honey and my syrup,” while New American Bible has “my honey and my sweetmeats.” A possible solution is to say “I eat honey from my honeycomb.”
I drink my wine with my milk: although the verb drink has not been used in the woman’s invitation, it is understood because “honey” and “milk” are referred to together in 4.10-15. My wine and my milk are ways of speaking about her and her love (see 4.10).
To preserve the parallelism and rhythm in this passage will not be easy. If vocabulary is available, these three lines can be translated rather literally, following Revised Standard Version. If not, we may be forced to reduce the numerous phrases to more general ones.
• I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride!
I gather my exotic spices.
I eat my delicious honey.
I drink my wine and my milk.
• I have entered my garden, my sister, my bride.
[You are mine!]
I delight in gathering your spices,
Eating your sweet honey,
Drinking your milk and wine.
Eat, O friends, and drink repeats in imperative form the two key verbs, eat and drink. They call for full enjoyment of the delights of the garden. This final part of the verse is as poetic as the first part. The i sound continues, this time coupled with u. Further there is rhyme at the ends of the lines.
Though seemingly straightforward this last part of the verse raises some problems for interpretation. The first problem is to determine who is speaking. Does the speech of the young man continue? Or is this call from an unknown third person, perhaps the daughters of Jerusalem? Second, there is an ambiguous grammatical structure, since the words translated in Revised Standard Version as vocatives, O friends and O lovers, can be interpreted as direct objects of the verbs eat and drink. This gives an altogether different meaning: “eat the love[s that the beloved offers]” and “drink the caresses.” Actually the two problems are related. How we solve one will influence how we solve the other.
In Hebrew the two imperatives eat and drink are plural forms, so it is possible to think of the two lovers being called by some unknown persons. Good News Translation is one of many translations that takes this view. We have seen that the daughters appear at intimate moments, and it is the lovers who address them (2.7; 3.5). But here it is the daughters who are speaking, encouraging the lovers to enjoy their love.
However, if the words translated as friends and lovers in Revised Standard Version are actually objects of the verbs eat and drink, then the meaning is something like “eat your fill of love” and “drink deep of caresses.” On the other hand, we have seen elsewhere that the lovers sometimes use plural forms when addressing one another (see discussion under 1.2-4). It is quite possible therefore that the young man is saying to his beloved “Let us be filled with love. Let us get drunk on caresses.”
This latter is the solution we recommend; but translators should note that there is no final solution to this problem, and so a footnote pointing out the difficulty is also recommended. The footnote can say “the probable meaning of a difficult Hebrew text.”
Drink deeply represents the imperative form of two verbs “drink” and “get drunk,” so we can express its meaning as “drink your fill of…” or “get drunk on….” In societies where excessive drinking or drunkenness are problems, this idiom will need to be rendered with care to avoid giving a very negative sense. Perhaps we can say “until love fills you beyond measure.”
If we decide it is the young man speaking to his lover, we may say:
• Eat until you are full, my love; drink your fill of love.
• Eat, my beloved; drink all the love you want.
• My love, eat and drink all the love you want.
If we decide that others are speaking, we can say:
• Friends, be satisfied with love!
Lovers, drink deeply of love
Drink your fill!
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 .
A new chapter begins here, but the original Hebrew text did not indicate chapter breaks. In the final verse of chapter 4, the woman spoke to the man, and in 5:1 he responded. Because of that, it is more natural to include 5:1 in the same section as 4:16. It is recommended that you not begin a new section until the beginning of 5:2.
5:1a–d
In 5:1a–d the man gladly accepted the woman’s invitation to enter her garden. He referred back to the way he described her and the garden in 4:9–15. At that time, the woman was like a locked garden that the man could not enter. But here in 5:1 he said “my” eight times. He implied that now the woman was his wife, and he was free to enjoy the sensual pleasures that she offered him. The garden with its fruit and spices symbolizes the woman.
I have come…I have gathered…I have eaten…I have drunk: There are several ways to translate the Hebrew form of the verbs come, gathered, eaten, and drunk. This form does not indicate whether the actions are past, present or future. Here the verbs probably refer to what the man was about to do. He implied that he will now have sexual relations with his wife to complete their marriage. This interpretation fits well with 5:1e–f, where their wedding guests told them to “eat…and drink deeply.”
Some other ways to translate these verbs are:
I am here in my garden…I gather my myrrh…and eat my honeycomb with my honey. I drink my wine with my milk. (New Living Translation (1996)) -or-
I have entered my garden…I am gathering my spices and myrrh; I am eating my honey and honeycomb; I am drinking my wine and milk. (Good News Translation)
5:1a
I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride: Here the man responded to the woman’s invitation in 4:16. It is the fourth time that he used the phrase my sister, my bride to refer to the woman. The first time is in 4:9a. You should translate the phrase in the same way here. In many languages it is more natural to begin the verse with this phrase. For example:
My bride, my very own, I come to my garden. (Contemporary English Version)
Notice that the Contemporary English Version used the phrase “my very own” instead of my sister, since the woman was not literally his sister. The Contemporary English Version also put the phrase “My bride” first. Use a natural way in your language for a man to address the woman he loves and has just married.
I have come to my garden: The phrase I have come indicates here that the man accepted the woman’s invitation in 4:16. She already opened her locked garden to him, and now he entered. The garden represents the woman herself. When the man said I have come, he accepted her invitation to be intimate with her. In some languages it is necessary to make this meaning more explicit. For example:
I have come to ⌊you⌋, my ⌊private⌋ garden -or-
⌊ you are like⌋my ⌊own⌋ garden, ⌊and⌋ I have come in
my garden: Here there is a contrast with the way the man used the word garden in 4:12–15. In 4:12 he spoke of the woman as “a locked garden.” He implied that he still could not enter it. Here in 5:1 he spoke of her as my garden. In some languages it may be helpful to indicate that he spoke about the woman as his garden. See the preceding note for examples.
5:1b–d
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: These three clauses use figurative ways to describe the sexual union that the man had with the woman. The man compared it to enjoying the delights of a garden. Scholars differ about when the man and woman had this sexual union. The man implied that they united in this way as he spoke in 5:1b–d. However, it probably happened very soon after he spoke.
In some languages present tense may not be natural for these actions, since they did not happen at exactly the same time as the man spoke. If that is true in your language, it may be more natural to refer to the man’s intention to do the actions instead of referring to the actions themselves. For example:
I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride, to gather my myrrh with my spice, to eat my honeycomb with my honey, to drink my wine with my milk.
I have gathered my myrrh…spice: The phrase I have gathered my myrrh and spice refers literally to harvesting some of the resin of the myrrh tree and the spice tree. The spice tree is the same tree as the frankincense tree from 4:14c. However, in this context the phrase has a figurative meaning. The man used the gathering of myrrh and spice as a figure of speech to refer to enjoying the love of his bride.
In some languages a literal translation may give a wrong meaning. Some other ways to translate the figure of speech are:
• Use a more general figure of speech that refers to enjoying a garden. For example:
I come to my garden and enjoy its spices. (Contemporary English Version)
• Use a simile. For example:
I come to ⌊my love⌋ and delight in her like a man enjoying the sweetest spices.
• Translate the meaning without the figure of speech. For example:
I delight in the sweet kisses/charms of my love.
5:1b
with my spice: The words with my spice refers back to the frankincense in 4:14c. The spices were locked up in the garden, but now they are his to enjoy. The spice probably refers to the fragrance of the woman’s perfume.
5:1c
I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey: This is the second of the three clauses that describe the man partaking of the garden’s delights. The phrase I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey is a metaphor. It refers back to 4:11a–b where honey symbolized the woman’s sweet kisses. So here it probably refers specifically to her sensual kisses and more generally to their lovemaking. The word my indicates that her kisses and her lovemaking are now his to enjoy.
As in 5:1b, there are several ways to translate this metaphor, and you can translate it in a similar way as you translated it there. For example:
I have enjoyed ⌊your charms⌋ like a man eating his honeycomb with its honey. -or-
⌊ Loving⌋you is as sweet as eating honey with the honeycomb. -or-
Your ⌊kisses⌋ are as sweet to me as honey and the honeycomb.
I have eaten: The man said I have eaten to respond to what the woman said in 4:16f. She invited him to come to her garden and “eat its choicest fruits.”
5:1d
I have drunk my wine with my milk: Here the man used a third clause to describe how he enjoyed the garden’s delights. It is a figurative way to speak about enjoying the woman’s charms. You should continue to use the same tense of the verb have drunk as you used for the verbs “have gathered” and “have eaten” in 5:1b and 5:1c.
As in 5:1b and 5:1c, there are several ways to translate this metaphor. It is probably good to translate it in a similar way as you translated the metaphors there. Some ways to translate it are:
I have drunk in ⌊the charms of my loved-one⌋ like someone drinking the best wine and milk. -or-
⌊ My love⌋⌊nourishes⌋ me like the best milk and wine.
my wine with my milk:wine was mentioned in 4:10 and milk in 4:11. The man used drinking wine and milk in a figurative way. He described how he felt when he and the woman showed their love to each other. He felt joyful and refreshed as if he were drinking wine and milk. In the Song wine is a symbol of love (see, for example, 1:2 and 4:10). The word my indicates that now the woman’s lovemaking belonged to the man to enjoy.
5:1e–f The women of Jerusalem gave their blessing to the couple
5:1e–f
At the end of 5:1d the man finished speaking. The author did not indicate explicitly who spoke in 5:1e–f and to whom they spoke. Some English versions indicate the speakers in the margin or in footnotes, and some versions do not identify the speakers. The main views about the speakers and who they spoke to here are:
(1) A group of wedding guests (probably the Jerusalem women or other friends) spoke to the couple. For example:
Their Friends Speak (Contemporary English Version) -or-
Young Women of Jerusalem (New Living Translation (2004))
(2) The author of the Song spoke to the couple. For example:
The Poet to the Couple (NET Bible)
(3) The man (groom) spoke to the wedding guests. The versions that follow this view generally indicate it without a heading. For example:
Eat, my friends! (God’s Word)
It is recommended that you follow option (1), along with the majority of English versions. Some commentators and versions identify these guests specifically as the Jerusalem women. Others suggest friends or other guests. It is likely that the women of Jerusalem were the speakers, since they spoke to the woman in other parts of the Song (for example, in 1:5; 2:7; 3:5; 3:11; 5:8–16; and 6:1–3).
5:1e
Eat, O friends, and drink: Here the wedding guests encouraged the newly married couple to eat and drink to celebrate their marriage. The words Eat and drink have the same meaning as in 5:1b–d. The verbs are a tactful way to say, “enjoy sexual relations with each other.” The guests encouraged the couple to enjoy their love-making. Translate this meaning in an appropriate way for your culture.
In some languages it is more natural to put the direct address to the couple in a different place in the sentence. For example:
Friends, eat and drink… -or-
Eat, lovers, and drink (Good News Translation)
O friends: The word friends refers here to the newly married couple, and you should make that clear in a natural way in your language. The word O is not in the Hebrew text, but some English versions add it to indicate that the wedding guests spoke directly to the bride and groom and called them friends.
5:1f
drink freely, O beloved: The meaning of 5:1f is similar to the meaning of 5:1e, and the author repeats the meaning to emphasize it. However, in this context there are two different ways to interpret the Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as beloved. In other verses of the Song and in other books of the OT, this plural form of the word means “love, expressions of affection.” There are two ways to interpret it here:
(1) The word means “love” or “lovemaking.” For example:
Drink deep of love! (Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures)
(2) The word means “lovers.” For example:
…drink your fill, O lovers. (New International Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with the majority of English versions. In Song 1:2, 1:4, 4:10, and 7:12 the Berean Standard Bible also translates it as “love” rather than “lovers.”
Since the Berean Standard Bible follows interpretation (2) here, the Display will use the New International Version as the source line for 5:1f.
(New International Version) drink your fill of love: This phrase is a figure of speech. It indicates that the bride and groom should delight in making fervent love with each other. Some ways to translate the figure are:
• Translate the figure of speech directly (drinking love). For example:
Yes, drink deeply of your love! (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
Drink deep of love! (Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures)
• Use a figure of speech that has the same meaning in your language. For example:
make love with each other to your heart’s content
• Translate the meaning directly. For example:
love each other freely -or-
delight yourselves in loving each other
Some English versions translate the idea of being “drunk” with love (for example, God’s Word and New Revised Standard Version). However, such a comparison may cause problems, since the point of comparison is not clear. Because of that, it may cause people to misunderstand the verse, especially in cultures where drinking too much wine has damaged people’s lives.
(New International Version) love: The word love can also be translated as “lovemaking” in this context. For more information, see the note on “your love” in 1:2b. It is also helpful to read the note there on “your love is better than wine.”
General Comment on 5:1
When the wedding guests told the man and woman to “drink freely of love (New International Version),” it was their blessing on their sexual relationship as husband and wife. This verse (5:1) is a climax to this section and to the book. There is another type of climax in 8:6–7.
Remember that the language in 4:1–5:1 describes the feelings of love and lovemaking in beautiful and delicate ways. The author describes romantic love in a powerful way, but he does not use vulgar words or phrases that would make modest people feel ashamed. It is important for translators also to find artistic ways to communicate the beauty of the Song and to use modest language that is appropriate for the cultural context.
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