The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “ivory” in English was translated in the 1900 Kalaallisut (Greenlandic) translation (a newer version was published in 2000) as tûgânigdlo or “(narwhal) tusks.” “The word tûgâĸ (modern tuugaaq) ‘tusk’ does not refer specifically to the tusk of an elephant; rather, it is most closely associated with the noun tûgâlik (modern tuugaalik) ‘narwhal,’ which literally means ‘tusked one.’ The narwhal (Monodon monoceros) is a medium-sized whale with a single long tusk, and is native to the Arctic region, including Greenland. The use of the word tûgâĸ (modern tuugaaq) as an equivalent of ‘ivory’ has the unmistakable effect of situating the Greenlandic version in an Arctic context.” (Source: Lily Kahn & Riitta-Liisa Valijärvi in The Bible Translator 2019, p. 125ff.)
In Newari it is translated as “elephant tusks” (source: Newari Back Translation).
In Gbaya, the notion of the strength of the arm in Song of Songs 5:14 is emphasized with réɓété, an ideophone used to describe something strong or robust like the arm of a strong man with with kini-kini, an ideophone used to describe something rounded (as in rounded muscles).
Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many Central 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)
Although the first definite reference to elephants in the Bible is in the Greek deuterocanonical book of 1 Maccabees, ivory (literally “tooth”) is mentioned first in the time of Solomon. By this date there were already ivory trade routes from the Sudan down the Nile and by sea from where Djibouti is now on the African Red Sea coast to where Eilat is now on the Gulf of Aqaba. Some of the ivory may have been made from the teeth of the hippopotamus but two references, 1 Kings 10:22 and 2 Chronicles 9:21, specifically refer to elephant ivory (literally “elephant’s tooth”). Ivory was probably known even much earlier than this since ornaments dating from around 2300 B.C. have been found in Palestine.
The Indian Elephant Elephas maximus was domesticated and trained for use in war very early well before the second millennium B.C. When Alexander the Great extended his empire into India in the fourth century B.C. he obtained war elephants to incorporate into his army. The idea of using elephants in war then spread to the Middle East. There was a smaller variety of this elephant found in Syria and Mesopotamia. By the third century B.C. domestic Indian elephants had been introduced into Egypt. Ptolemy II is reported to have had ninety-six elephants, four to a chariot, and later that same century when Ptolemy IV defeated the Seleucid king of Syria, Antiochus III, he is reported to have captured Syrians’ elephants. However, the Seleucid kings continued to use war elephants, and the next king, Epiphanes, attacked Egypt with elephants. He and his son then used them in their campaign against the Jews. According to 1Maccabees each elephant with thirty-two soldiers mounted on it, besides the Indian handler went into battle ahead of one thousand Syrian soldiers and five hundred horsemen. One of Maccabeus’ brothers was able to kill the largest elephant by getting under it and stabbing it, but he was himself killed when the elephant fell on him. At a later time probably because the Indian elephants were difficult to obtain the African Elephant Loxodonta africana was tamed for use in war. Coins show that the elephants used by the Roman Emperor Hadrian to cross the Alps were African probably brought from North Africa.
Elephas is the word most commonly used in the deuterocanonical books although elephantarchēs which means commander of an elephant squadron is used in 2 Maccabees 14:12 and 3 Maccabees 5:4 and 3 Maccabees 5:45 and thērion which means “monster” is used in 2 Maccabees 15:20f.
Elephants are the largest land animals on earth, the males of the Indian species being about 3 meters (10 feet) in height and weighing almost 4,000 kilograms (8,800 pounds). The African species is about half a meter (20 inches) higher and weighs up to 6,000 kilograms (13,200 pounds). The elephant’s trunk is basically an elongated nose, but it has muscles that make it a very useful feature. With it the elephant can not only smell but can pull down branches to eat, pick berries off bushes, draw up water to squirt into its mouth or over its body, and can use it as a weapon. On either side of the trunk the males grow long tusks that are often over 2 meters (6 feet) in length. These are used for digging up roots, gouging bark off trees, and lifting logs. These tusks are made of ivory. Elephants have large ears, which they use to fan themselves.
They are a dark gray color and have no fur. Their body looks almost hairless but in fact they are covered with bristly hairs. They feed on vegetation such as leaves roots shoots bark and fruit.
There are local words for elephant in most African, Middle Eastern, and Asian languages, and many international languages use a word derived from the Greek name elephas. In some areas even though there are no elephants, the fossilized bones of mammoths, the ancient relative of the elephant, are known, and this local name is used for modern elephants too. In most other areas the word for elephant is a word that is borrowed from the dominant language of the area.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Song of Solomon 5:14:
Kupsabiny: “His hands/arms are powerful and he wears golden necklaces. His body is smooth like round, smooth stones and he is decorated with amazing stones.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “His arms are like a rod of gold set with topaz. His belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “His forearms (are) like rods of gold with precious/[lit. expensive] stones. His body (is) just like a shined tusk/[lit. eye-tooth] of an elephant which was-decorated with sapphire/[safiro] stone.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “His arms are like gold bars/rods that are decorated with precious stones/jewels. His body is like a column/pillar of ivory that is decorated with sapphires/valuable blue stones.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
His arms, or “His hands,” are likened to rounded gold. If “hands” is the base meaning (so Good News Translation, Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), then rounded refers to the fingers. General Hebrew usage, however, like many other languages, can apply the term for “hand” to the entire arm. Retaining arms with Revised Standard Version and New American Bible is suggested. On the other hand, as we noted earlier, “hand” is a euphemism for the penis. This double meaning was probably clear to ancient readers and hearers but will be difficult to render in most translations.
In 1 Kgs 6.34 (“folded”); Est 1.6 (“rings”), the term rounded appears. In the first reference it describes part of the doors in Solomon’s Temple, perhaps the hinges; in the second it describes how the curtains in the royal palace are attached, so probably means “curtain rods.”
Rounded gold probably refers both to shape and color, so we accept that the topic is his bronzed arms. The reference to roundness may refer to the curve of his muscles on the upper arm, while gold can describe their color. Other possibilities are that the roundness refers to something worn around the arm like a bracelet rather than the arm itself.
Set with jewels: it is difficult to know whether jewels is used literally or figuratively. His arms may be decorated with arm bands studded with jewels. Good News Translation translates “hands” literally and so sees these as rings: “he wears rings set with gems.”
The kind of jewels (Hebrew tarshish) in mind here is uncertain. From the book of Jonah we know there is a place called Tarshish, and so some regard it as the place from which some precious stone originated. Hence Jerusalem Bible “jewels of Tarshish.” This rendering conveys very little to most readers. Suggested identities of the stone in question are beryl, chrysolite, ruby, topaz, or lapis lazuli. In view of the uncertainty about the kind of stone involved here, we are probably best advised to keep the translation general: “His arms are like golden cylinders [or, bars]; he wears armbands studded with precious stones.”
Of course the other possibility is that this is an extended metaphor. This means that his arms are compared to gold rods that are themselves set with precious stones. Then we need to look for the basis of comparison. Goulder suggests that his hands are the rods, and his fingernails are the jewels. Another possibility is that his arms are the golden rods, and the jewels are his joints or muscles. Since it is impossible to determine the basis of comparison, it may be better to leave this unstated and translate the text rather literally, “His arms are like golden cylinders decorated with precious stones.”
His body: the Hebrew term regularly means a person’s intestines or internal organs, or the womb of the female. However, in Dan 2.32 there is an Aramaic term that is similar and which appears to represent that part of the body between the chest and the thighs. The term body is obviously too general. “Chest” or “torso” may be reasonable alternatives. Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, King James Version all use “belly.” But this is not the kind of word people use in modern English, especially in a poetic context.
Ivory work: the noun ivory, “elephant tusk,” presents no difficulty in terms of the meaning itself. However, the term translated work in Revised Standard Version is a problem because this is the only time we find it in the Old Testament. A wide variety of suggested meanings will be found in translations. In the Mishnah the word is used to indicate a “block or bar of some substance.” This is what we find in Jerusalem Bible and New English Bible. Ivory also represents high quality and expensive decoration; see Amos 6.4. Its underlying meaning therefore is that the young man represents something of high quality and of great value.
Encrusted with sapphires: the young woman says that the her lover’s body is encrusted or “covered” (Good News Translation) with sapphires. The Hebrew term sappirim may come from the Sanskrit word for lapis lazuli. Blue precious stones adorn the ivory. In the earlier reference to his eyes, the comparison with doves continued with an extended simile. So here the additional information applies to ivory and not to the man’s arms. Actually both phrases here picture something rare and valuable.
For translation we suggest:
• His chest is like smooth ivory decorated with sapphires.
Given the wide range of possible meanings and the uncertainty of the metaphors, a rather literal translation is recommended for this verse:
• His arms are like golden rods
Set with precious stones;
His chest as beautiful as smooth ivory
Decorated with sapphires.
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 .
In 5:14–15 the author compared the man to a statue, and he used poetic figures of speech. He did not intend for readers to interpret the figures of speech literally.
5:14a
His arms are rods of gold: This clause is a metaphor that compares the man’s arms to rods of gold. The word rods implies that the man’s arms were well-shaped and powerful. The word gold implies that his arms were precious like gold. It may also imply that the color of his skin was beautiful like gold.
Some other ways to translate the metaphor are:
• Use a simile. For example:
His arms are like rounded bars of gold (New Living Translation (2004))
• Use a simile and make the meaning more explicit. For example:
His arms are as ⌊precious/beautiful⌋ as golden bars/poles.
Translate the metaphor in a natural and appealing way in your language.
arms: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as arms can refer to either a person’s hand (from the wrist to the fingertips) or to his arm (from the shoulder to the fingertips). Scholars differ about whether it refers to the man’s arms or to his hands in this context.
(1) It refers to his arms. For example:
His arms are rods of gold… (New International Version)
(2) It refers to his hands. For example:
His hands are golden, rounded… (New Jerusalem Bible)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). The meaning arms fits the description of being like rounded gold. It is also more parallel to “legs” in the next verse (5:15), since both arms and legs are larger limbs of the body.
5:14b
set with beryl: The phrase set with beryl indicates here that jewels, such as beryl, were embedded in the gold. Some other ways to translate this phrase is:
covered with jewels (Contemporary English Version) -or-
with inlaid jewels -or-
adorned/decorated with jewels
beryl: The exact meaning of the Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as beryl is uncertain. Some English versions use a general term, such as jewels (Revised Standard Version). Other versions use a specific type of jewel, such as chrysolite, beryl (Berean Standard Bible), or topaz. In this verse the author did not focus on a specific jewel but on the beauty and value that the jewels added to the gold and to the man’s glory. It is fine to use a general term here.
5:14c
His body is an ivory panel: In this phrase the author continued to compare the man’s body to a statue. People sometimes used ivory to carve statues. Ivory comes from the tusks (teeth) of elephants, and it is valuable and beautiful. The phrase His body is an ivory panel indicates that the man’s body was as beautiful as ivory.
Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
His body is like polished ivory (New International Version) -or-
His body is ⌊beautiful/precious⌋ like the tusk/teeth of elephants
His body:
The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as His body has several meanings. In this context it probably refers to the outside of the man’s body, especially the stomach or abdominal area, possibly up to the chest. Some other ways to translate it are:
His abdomen (NET Bible) -or-
His torso/belly
an ivory panel: The phrase ivory panel indicates that people work on the ivory in some way to make it more beautiful. They may polish it or carve it. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
bedecked with sapphires: The phrase bedecked with sapphires indicates that the ivory in 5:14c was decorated with the blue jewels called sapphires. It probably implies that the sapphires were embedded in the ivory. Some other ways to translate this meaning are:
decorated with sapphires (Contemporary English Version) -or-
covered with sapphires (God’s Word) -or-
adorned with beautiful/precious stones -or-
glowing with lapis lazuli (New Living Translation (2004))
sapphires: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sapphires refers to a blue gem stone, probably “lapis lazuli,” as in the New Living Translation (2004). If lapis lazuli is not known in your area, some other ways to translate it are:
• Use a different precious stone that is blue or bluish. For example:
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