army

The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin that is translated as “army” in English is translated in Chichewa as “group of warriors.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

sky

Greek, Hebrew, Latin and Aramaic all have one term only that refers to what can be expressed in English as “sky” or “heaven(s)” (as a physical and spiritual entity). While there is a slight overlap between the meaning of the two English terms, “sky” (from Old Norse sky meaning “cloud”) typically refers to the physical entity, and “heaven” (from Old English heofon meaning “home of God”) typically refers to the spiritual entity. While this enriches the English lexicon, it also forces English Bible translators to make decisions that can be found only in the context in the Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic texts. Most versions tend to use “heaven(s)” even if the meaning is likely “sky,” but the Contemporary English Version (NT: 1991, OT: 1995, DC: 1999) is an English translation that attempted to be more specific in the separation of the two meanings and was used as the basis for the links to verses used for this and this story (“heaven”).

Norm Mundhenk (in The Bible Translator 2006, p. 92ff. ) describes the difficulty that English translations face (click or tap here to see more):

“A number of years ago an old lady asked me a question. What did Jesus mean when he said, ‘Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away’? I do not remember what answer I gave, but I was surprised at how concerned she seemed to be about the verse. It was only later, after I had left her, that I suddenly realized what it was that she was so concerned about. She knew that death could not be far away, and all her life she had looked forward to being with God in heaven. But this verse said that ‘heaven will pass away’! What did that mean for her hopes? In fact, of course, in this verse Jesus was talking about the skies or the heavens, not about Heaven as the place of God’s presence. If I had realized the problem in time, I could easily have set the lady’s mind at rest on this question that was troubling her so much. However, I suspect that she is not the only person to be misled by the wording of this verse. Therefore, it is very surprising to find that even today many English versions (including the New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Good News Translation) still say ‘heaven and earth’ in verses like Matt 24:35 and its parallels (Mark 13:31 and Luke 21:33). The Contemporary English Version (CEV) and Phillips’ translation seem to be aware of the problem, and in Mark 13:31 both of these have ‘earth and sky’ instead of ‘heaven and earth.’ But in some other passages (such as Matt 5:18) the traditional wording is still found in both of those translations. The New Century Version (NCV) does have ‘earth and sky’ more consistently, and the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) has ‘sky and earth’ in these passages. (Although ‘sky and earth’ is closer to the Greek, it seems more natural in English to say ‘earth and sky’; but either way, at least the meaning is correct.)

“Louw and Nida’s Lexical Semantics of the Greek New Testament (publ. 1992) suggests that the Greek expression being translated here, ho ouranos kai he ge is ‘a more or less fixed phrase equivalent to a single lexical unit’ and that it means everything that God created, that is, the universe. They then quote Mark 13:31 as an example, using ‘heaven and earth’ in their translation of it. However, they go on to say that there ‘may be certain complications involved in rendering ho ouranos kai he ge as ‘heaven and earth,’ since ‘heaven’ might be interpreted in some languages as referring only to the dwelling place of God himself. The referents in this passage are ‘the sky and the earth,’ in other words, all of physical existence, but not the dwelling place of God, for the latter would not be included in what is destined to pass away.’ In my opinion, English itself is one of the languages where the word ‘heaven’ will be interpreted as referring only to the dwelling place of God himself, and translations into English should not use ‘heaven’ in these passages. It is probably because these passages are so very familiar that translators do not realize the meaning they are giving their readers when they use the expression ‘heaven and earth’ here. In modern English we might talk about a rocket ‘soaring into the heavens,’ but we would certainly not describe it as ‘soaring into heaven,’ because ‘heaven’ is not another way of referring to the sky or to outer space.

“In fact, it is surely important in all languages to have some way of distinguishing the concept of ‘sky’ from the concept of ‘dwelling place of God.’ In these passages translators should never use a term meaning ‘the dwelling place of God.’ It may not be necessary to use a term meaning ‘sky’ either, if there is some other expression in the language which gives the correct meaning of ‘everything that has been created’ or ‘the universe.’ There are of course places in the New Testament where Heaven, as the place where God lives, is contrasted with the earth. In these passages, translators should be careful to give the correct meaning. A good example of this is in the Lord’s Prayer, in Matt 6:10: ‘Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ Similarly, 1 Cor 15:47 says that ‘the first man [a reference to Adam] was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.’ Passages like these are referring to Heaven, not to the sky. Other NT passages where heaven refers to God’s dwelling place, in contrast with earth, are Matt 5:34-35, 16:19, 18:18, Acts 7:49, James 5:12, and Rev 5:3.
“Sometimes in the New Testament, the word ‘heaven’ is used because of the Jewish reluctance to use the name of God. ‘Heaven’ in these cases is used in place of ‘God’ and refers to God himself. This is the case in the many references in Matthew to ‘the kingdom of heaven’ where other gospels have ‘the kingdom of God’ (e.g., compare Matt 4:17 with its parallels in Mark 1:15 and Luke 10:9). It is also most likely the case in references like Matt 16:1, Luke 20:4, 5, John 3:27, and even perhaps Col 1:5.

“There are some places, such as Matt 11:25, where God is called ‘Lord of heaven and earth.’ Since God is of course the Lord of Heaven as well as of the universe, it may not matter so much which interpretation is given in these passages (others are Luke 10:21 and Acts 17:24). Nevertheless, the intended meaning here is likely to be ‘the universe.’ This is because this expression in Greek, as Louw and Nida say, is a set expression referring to everything that has been created. Acts 17:24 in fact combines the idea of the creation of the universe with the idea of God as Master or Lord of the universe. (…)

“Old Testament background The use of ‘heaven and earth’ in the New Testament is very similar to what we find in the Old Testament, because it is largely based on the Old Testament.

“The Old Testament begins with the story of creation, which is presented as the creation of the heavens and the earth, with lights to shine in the heavens and give light to the earth. Birds are created to live in the heavens, animals to live on earth, and fish to live in the sea (Gen 1:1-2:4).

“As we can see from the way the creation story is told, it is meant to be understood as the creation of the universe. Although in English the regions above the earth have traditionally been called ‘the heavens’ in the story of creation, they cannot be called ‘Heaven,’ in the sense of the place where God dwells. In terms of modern English, it would probably be better to say ‘the sky and the earth’ or ‘the earth and the sky.’ The story of creation then becomes an important theme throughout the Old Testament. (…)

“In most passages, whether in the Old Testament or the New Testament, when ‘heaven and earth’ or ‘the heavens and the earth’ are mentioned, the meaning is the created universe. It is not a reference to Heaven, as the dwelling place of God. In English, translators have not been careful to keep this distinction clear, and this is probably true in many other languages as well. However, as we have seen, this can lead to real confusion for ordinary Bible readers. It is better if translators find ways to make the meaning clear in these passages. ‘Heaven’ should be mentioned only in passages which clearly mean the dwelling place of God. In other passages, an expression should be used which means only ‘sky.’ Or else, the whole expression ‘heaven and earth’ can be translated in a way to show that the whole universe is meant.”

Other languages that have a semantic distinction similar to English include:

  • Hungarian: ég — “sky”; menny — “heaven”
  • Tagalog: kalawakan — “sky”; langit/kalangitan — “heaven”
  • Swedish: sky — “sky”; Himmel — “heaven”
  • Loma: “up” — “sky”; “God’s place” — heaven”
  • Mossi: saase — “sky”; nyingeri — “the up above”(source for Loma and Mossi: Bratcher/Nida)
  • Roviana: mamaṉa — “sly”; maṉauru — “heaven” (an old word, meaning “empty, open space of the sky”) (source: Carl Gross)
  • Kayaw: mô̄la or “canopy-under”/mô̄khû̄la or “canopy-above-under” — “sky” (atmosphere where there is just air); mô̄khû̄ or “canopy-on/above” — “heaven” (invisible abode of God and angels)
  • Burmese: မိုး ကောင်း ကင်/moe kaungg kain — “sky”; ကောင်း ကင်/kaungg kain — “sky” or “heaven”; ကောင်း ကင်ဗုံ/kaungg kain bone — “heaven”
  • Mairasi: Sinyavi — an indigenous term that is used for both “sky” and heaven”; Surga — loanword from Sanskrit via Indonesian referring to “heaven” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Noongar: worl — “sky”; Boolanga-Yirakang Boodjer — “Country of God” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)

Many languages follow the original biblical languages in not making that distinction, such as:

In some languages, such as Wandala, the vocabulary for terms for either “heaven” or “sky” is much richer than just to include those two distinction. While zhegela, the term that is specifically used for the physical sky was only used in early translations of the New Testament for “sky,” other terms such as samaya (used for both “sky” and “heaven”), zlanna (specifically used for the perfect abode of God and the goal of the faithful, as in Matthew 8:11), kwárá (a locational term used to speak of a chief’s rule [lit., “voice”] such as Matthew 3:2), or sleksire (“chieftaincy,” “kingship,” or “royalty” [originally from slekse “chief”] and used where there are no locational overtones, such as in Matthew 16:28) are used. (Source: Mona Perrin in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 51ff.)

The English translation by Sarah Ruden (2021) uses “sky” throughout. Ruden explains (p. li): “The Greek word ouranos refers evenhandedly to the physical sky and the place—often pictured as a royal court — where supreme divinity resides. ‘Sky’ seems generally better, first of all in avoiding the wackier modern imagery that comes with the English ‘heaven.’ And even when a supernatural realm is meant, ‘sky’ will often do, because the divine realm was thought to be located there, in addition to the weather and the heavenly bodies, whereas ‘heaven’ to us is fundamentally a religious term, and the ancients did not tend to separate linguistic domains in this way. I have retained the plural ‘skies’ where I see it in the Greek, because it is a Hebraism familiar in English translations of scripture and (I hope) not too archaic or jarring.”

Translation commentary on Song of Songs 6:10

The song praising the young woman ends on this note. The final clause repeats 6.4b, rounding off the inclusio for this subsection. Note that some translations divide the text differently. Good News Translation separates this verse from the previous unit and ties it with what follows (uniting verses 10-12). New International Version and New Jerusalem Bible isolate it from both the previous and following verses. Elsewhere in the Song questions are most often used as discourse openers, suggesting therefore that verse 10 begins a new section. However, the inclusio “terrible as an army with banners” speaks strongly in favor of its connection to what goes before. For this reason we link this verse with 6.4-9.

The next problem is to determine who is speaking. Bible en français courant and some commentators regard the statement as spoken by the group of women in verses 8 and 9 above, and so end verse 9 with a colon introducing their direct speech. This is certainly a possible interpretation, and if accepted it will have some bearing on the text division. Their speech would be like the refrains that act as closing statements elsewhere. Verse 11 would begin a new unit.

Others see the speech as by the young man, as a final conclusion to his praise of his lover’s unique beauty. This is the approach we will adopt here. In 3.6 a similar rhetorical question was asked by the young woman, so this can be the young man echoing that earlier form. Note, however, that in 3.6 as well the identification of speaker was open to some discussion. Since it is not possible to draw any hard and fast conclusions, the best solution seems to be to regard the speech as either by the young man or by the young women, and indicate the alternative in a footnote.

Who is this …? introduces a rhetorical question. The use of feminine grammatical forms indicates that the focus is on the young woman. The speaker is showing his (or their) delight at her striking beauty. If rhetorical questions can convey wonder and amazement, the translator is urged to preserve the question form, as in Good News Translation and Revised Standard Version. In many languages, however, it will be necessary to modify it to a statement: “This is the one who…” or “She is the one….” Better yet the clause can be rendered as an exclamation. We can also say “Just look at this beautiful woman, gazing down…!” Compare this same feature in 3.6.

Because the comparisons that follow concern the young woman, we can make this clear: “Who, then, is this woman who…?”

That looks forth like the dawn: looks forth is a participle of the Hebrew verb meaning “look down from above.” It is used in the Old Testament to speak of a mountain that overlooks a plain (1 Sam 13.18), of God looking down from heaven (Psa 14.2), or of someone looking out of a window (2 Sam 6.16). In comparing her to the sun and moon, the young man is suggesting that she “shines down on the earth” as they do, bringing warmth and light. Like the dawn seems to refer to the morning star, the last star to remain visible in the morning, though it could also possibly describe the daylight, which chases the darkness away. In any event the young man speaks of his lover as the source of warmth and light. Good News Translation suggests that her “glance” is like the dawn, but this is difficult to understand.

Fair as the moon can be translated “beautiful as the moon.” The adjective “beautiful” is also used in verse 4.

Bright as the sun recalls the description in verse 9, where the daughter is “flawless” in her mother’s eyes. The same adjective is used here. In that context we decided the best translation was “chosen” or “favorite,” but here “pure” seems a more likely interpretation. The sun is indicated by a rare poetic term (in Isa 24.23 and 30.26 it appears in conjunction with “moon” also). It is the sun’s heat which the poet seems to be thinking of, because of the root meaning “hot.” We can render its meaning as “sun’s rays,” giving a possible translation “pure as the sun’s rays.”

Terrible as an army with banners: see comments on verse 4. Good News Translation omits this expression without an adequate explanation and so destroys the inclusio. New English Bible, which omit the phrase from verse 4, preserve it here and translate freely as “majestic as the starry heavens.” We suggest keeping the inclusio by using the same wording used in 6.4. As in verse 4 it will again be necessary to add a footnote to indicate the problem in the Hebrew text.

For translation we can suggest:

• Young man
“Look who’s shining down like the morning star,
beautiful as the full moon,
pure as the sun’s rays,
astonishing to behold.”

• Young man
“Who is this beautiful woman
Shining down like the morning star,
Lovely as the moon, pure as the sun’s rays,
And totally captivating?”*
Footnote: * Hebrew uncertain.

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 6:10

6:10

This verse is a rhetorical question. Scholars differ about who asked the question. (Some versions indicate the speaker by punctuation or by headings, and some do not indicate the speaker.) The main views about who asked the question are:

(1) The “maidens,” “queens” and “concubines” (6:9) asked the question. For example, the New Century Version has the heading:

The Young Women Praise the Woman (New Century Version)

Other versions introduce the question with a colon or with a comma and quotation marks after mentioning the women as the speaker. For example:

queens and…concubines sing her praises: “Who is this, arising like the dawn…” (New Living Translation (2004))

(2) The man asked the question. For example, the Good News Translation has a heading in 6:4 that indicates that the man speaks in 6:4–12. The heading says:

The Man

(3) A chorus or friends asked the question. For example, the God’s Word has the heading (4:10):

The chorus of young women (God’s Word)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with a majority of English versions. Since 6:9 mentioned that the women praised the bride, it is natural for 6:10 to tell what they said when they praised her. Some versions that follow interpretation (1) indicate that the man speaks in 4–10, but in verse 10 he quoted what the women said to praise the woman.

6:10a–d

Who is this who shines like the dawn, as fair as the moon, as bright as the sun, as majestic as the stars in procession?: This verse is a long rhetorical question that has four parts. It functions as an exclamation to praise the woman and her beauty. Some ways to translate this long rhetorical question are:

• Translate it as a question and a response. For example:

Who is this young woman? She looks like the dawn. She is beautiful like the moon, pure like the sun, awe-inspiring like those heavenly bodies. (God’s Word)

• Translate it as an exclamation and one or more statements. For example:

This lovely woman is amazing! She is glorious like the dawn, lovely as the moon, bright like the sun, and majestic like the stars arranged in the sky.

Translate the verse in a natural way in your language. In the question the Jerusalem women used four figures of speech to describe the woman. They compared her beauty to the dawn, the sun, the moon, and the stars arranged in the sky. They did this to indicate how glorious the woman was. They did not intend to give a realistic description.

For another example of how to translate this verse, see the General Comment on 6:10 at the end of the notes for 6:10d.

6:10a

Who is this who shines like the dawn: This is a rhetorical question. The first part of the question, Who is this, is also used to begin the rhetorical questions in 3:6 and 8:5. The form of the word this obviously refers to the woman. In 3:6 and 8:5 she came up from the wilderness.

Here the women praised her by comparing her to the way the dawn comes and shines in the sky. In some languages people do not say that the dawn “shines” or “looks down (forth)” from the sky. They use other ways to describe the dawn. For example:

like the sun brightening the sky in the early morning
-or-
glows/shines like the dawning day
-or-
brings light/whiteness ⌊to the earth⌋

like the dawn: The dawn is the time of day before the sun rises. There is glowing light and color in the sky which show that the sun is about to come up. Languages have different ways to describe this time of day. There may be poetic ways to describe the brightness and colors in the sky at this time.

Refer to the dawn in a natural and poetic way. See the preceding note for more translation examples.

6:10b

as fair as the moon: The expression fair as the moon indicates that the woman is as beautiful as the moon (probably a full moon). Some other ways to translate this comparison are:

glorious as the moon (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
as lovely as the moon
-or-
As beautiful as the full moon (New American Standard Bible)

6:10c

as bright as the sun: The phrase bright as the sun is a figure of speech. It compares the woman to the way the sun shines with strong light. It implies that she was beautiful and majestic like the sun.

The comparison does not imply that the woman really shone with a bright light or that she looked like the sun. It implies that she was like the sun that blesses people. The man felt blessed when he was with her.

Some other ways to translate the comparison are:

bringing light/blessing like the sun does
-or-
as radiant/dazzling as the sun

bright: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as bright is literally “pure” in Hebrew. But when it is used to describe the sun, it refers to a radiant light.

6:10d

In the Hebrew text the phrase in 6:10d is identical to the phrase in 6:4c. The two phrases form an inclusio for 6:4–10. In Hebrew the phrase in both verses is literally “majestic as hosts with banners.” However, the contexts are different, and many scholars interpret the phrase in a different way here: There are different ways to interpret both the word “terrible” and the phrase “an army with banners:”

as majestic as the stars in procession: The Hebrew phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as as majestic as the stars in procession is literally “hosts with banners.” The author also used it in 6:4, but he uses it a different way here. In 6:4 it referred to an army, but here it refers to the sun, moon, and stars. (For information on how it is used in 6:4, see the note on 6:4c.)

In Hebrew the same word is used to refer to many soldiers and to the many stars in the sky. In this context the author has already mentioned the dawn, the sun, and the moon, so it is best to translate “hosts” here as referring to the stars. In the OT when the sun and moon occur with another noun, that noun usually refers to the “stars.”

In many languages it is necessary to use a different word than you used in 6:4. For example:

awe-inspiring as the stars in procession (NET Bible)

majestic as the stars in procession: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as majestic occurs only three times in the Old Testament. Two of those are in the Song, in 6:4 and here in 6:10. In 6:4 it referred to being as awe-inspiring as an army of soldiers, Here it refers to being as awe-inspiring as the stars as they are arranged in the sky.

It is important to use a word that is appropriate to describe stars. So in many languages it is necessary to use a different word here than you used in 6:4. For example:

majestic as the starry heavens (Revised English Bible)
-or-
awesome as all the stars gathered in the sky
-or-
she dazzles like the groups/constellations of stars

Be sure to translate this as a compliment to the woman. The man used the word to indicate that the woman was awe-inspiring, and he respected and loved her.

As the note on 6:10 explained, this verse is a rhetorical question that functions as an exclamation. It expresses praise and awe that the woman was so beautiful. In some languages it is more natural to translate this as an exclamation. For example:

You glow like the dawn!

You are as beautiful as the moon

and bright as the sun—

You are as awesome as the stars in the sky!

General Comment on 6:10

These comparisons of the woman with the beautiful lights in the sky do not imply that she actually looks like those lights. The comparisons imply that the woman made the man feel the same awe as he felt when he looked at the lights in the sky. Another way to translate this meaning is:

When I look at you, I feel awed/amazed like someone looking at the sunrise, or the beautiful moon, or the brilliant sun, or the amazing/splendid arrangement of stars in the sky.

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