Song 6:13 – TIPs

virgin

The Hebrew and Greek that is mostly translated as “virgin” in English can be translated as “woman that is untouched” in Batak Toba or “a woman with a whole (i.e. unopened) body” in Uab Meto.

“Similar words for ‘girl,’unmarried young woman,’ suggesting virginity without explicitly stating it, are found in Marathi, Apache, or Kituba. Cultural features naturally influence connotations of possible renderings, for instance, the child marriage customs in some Tboli areas, where the boy and girl are made to sleep together at the initial marriage, but after that do not live together and may not see each other again for years. Hence, the closest attainable equivalent, ‘female adolescent,’ does not imply that a young girl is not living with her husband, and that she never had a child, but leaves uncertain whether she has ever slept with a male person or not. Accordingly, in Luke one has to depend on Luke 1:34 to make clear that Mary and Joseph had not had sexual intercourse. A different problem is encountered in Pampanga, where birhen (an adaptation of Spanish virgen — ‘virgin’), when standing alone, is a name of the ‘Virgin Mary.’ To exclude this meaning the version uses “marriageable birhen,” thus at the same time indicating that Mary was relatively young.” (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel, see here)

In Navajo (Dinė), the term that is used is “no husband yet” (Source: Wallis, p. 106) and in Gola the expression “trouser girl.” “In the distant past young women who were virgins wore trousers. Those who were not virgins wore dresses. That doesn’t hold true anymore, but the expression is still there in the language.” (Source: Don Slager)

The term in Djimini Senoufo is katogo jo — “village-dance-woman” (women who have been promised but who are still allowed to go to dances with unmarried women). (Source: Übersetzung heute 3/1995)

In Igbo translations, typically a newly-created, multi-word phrase is used that very explicitly states that there has not been any sexual relations and that translates as “a woman (or: maiden) who does not know a man.” This is in spite of the fact that there is a term (agb͕ọghọ) that means “young woman” and has the connotation of her not having had sexual relations (this is for instance used by the Standard Igbo Bible of the Bible Society of Nigeria for Isaiah 7:14). Incidentally, the euphemistic expression “know” (ma in Igbo) for “having sex” has become a well-known euphemism outside of Bible translation. (Source: Uchenna Oyali in Sociolinguistic Studies Vol. 17 No. 1-3 (2023): Special Issue: Gender and sexuality in African discourses )

In Chichewa, it is translated as namwali which is used to refer to a girl who has reached puberty stage and is ready to get married. Apart from the physical aspect, the word also has social implications in the sense that it is used to recognize the fact that the girl has become responsible enough to make informed decisions and take care of herself and others. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

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)

complete verse (Song of Solomon 6:13)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Song of Solomon 6:13:

Kupsabiny: “Please turn around, come back, oh,
you girl who is so beautiful.
Come back, return and come to dance
so we can look carefully at you!
Why do you want to look at me
while some are dancing/singing
who have arranged themselves in two lines?” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Come back, come back, O Shulammite!
Come back, back that we may look upon you.
Why would you look upon me
as on the dance of Mahanaim?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “[You (sing.)] come-back/[lit. return], young-lady/unmarried-woman of Shulam, [you (sing.)] come-back/[lit. return] so we (excl.) can-see you (sing.).
Why do- [intensifier] you (plur.) -want to see the young-lady/unmarried-woman of Shulam dancing in-the-middle of the onlookers/watchers/audience?” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “You who are the perfect one,
come back to us, in order that we may see you!
Why do you want to look at this woman who is perfect,
like you like to watch two rows/lines of people dancing?” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Song of Songs 6:13

Return, return, O Shulammite, return, return …: repeating the opening imperative adds emphasis to it. The Hebrew verb used can mean “turn,” “return,” “repent,” “go back.” Our question is about its particular sense in this context. If we consider the young man to be speaking, are we to assume that his lover is far away, in some distant place? We have seen elsewhere (2.10, 13; 4.8) that imperatives like these are more likely expressions of the young man’s desire to have his lover close to him than actual calls for her to come. With this understanding, “come” or “come back” (Revised English Bible) in an acceptable translation of the imperatives here.

Some versions interpret the verb to refer to the dancing movements of the young woman. Good News Translation translates “Dance, dance,” and Bible en français courant “turn around, turn around!” But the majority of commentators reject this interpretation.

O Shulammite: various proposals have been made for the meaning of this word. Some see a connection to a Mesopotamian goddess of love and war, Shulmanitu, others a connection to Solomon, and still others a connection to a town called Shunem. The noun has the definite article attached, meaning that it is not a person’s name. The most likely sense is that the term comes from the Hebrew root shlm “be perfect,” “be complete.” Thus it depicts a person (female) who is perfect. “Perfect one” gets the idea across well.

That we may look upon you: the first plural we may look seems to suggest a group of people speaking to the young woman. As we have seen above, this is certainly a possibility, in which case the line can be translated rather literally. However, we have also seen in 1.2-4 how the Song mixes plural and singular forms. If the preferred sense is that the young man is speaking to his lover, the first plural form actually carries singular meaning, and we can say “Let me look at you.”

Why should you look upon the Shulammite…?: as we have seen above, this line can be interpreted in various ways, depending on who is speaking. Here again commentators and translations differ. The opening clause is literally “What will you see [look at].” We can note that the pronoun you is masculine plural; but unfortunately no masculine plural group is identified in this context. The statement can be addressed to the young man, assuming a plural form for a singular person.

If, on the other hand, the young woman is responding to her lover, she is teasing him. Good News Translation “Why would you want to watch me…?” takes the term that Revised Standard Version renders as the Shulammite to be a way she refers to herself. She asks him this question knowing full well that he adores her and enjoys looking at all her physical qualities. If we decide to interpret in this way, you must be rendered by a singular form in languages that make that distinction.

If Shulammite is the term the young woman uses to refer to herself, presumably it is because her lover has described her in those terms. Thus we can render its sense as “your perfect one.”

As upon a dance before two armies is another problem text. The Hebrew text may be understood literally as “like the dance of two camps,” but it is quite uncertain. Jerusalem Bible suggests “dancing as though between two rows of dancers”; Good News Translation and New English Bible are similar. New American Bible thinks it means “as the dance of two companies.” One possible meaning here is that the phrase is the name for a certain type of dance. New Jerusalem Bible takes it to be a dance connected with a place Mahanaim, and the New Revised Standard Version footnote suggests this meaning also. These last two suggestions have the merit of fitting the grammatical construction more closely, as “dance” is a dependent noun, literally “a dance of….” On the other hand the Hebrew root for dance has several meanings: “writhe in pain or joy,” “twist,” “dance,” “whirl about,” “give birth.” Furthermore the possibility that the phrase is an idiom or euphemism needs to be considered, even though we cannot decide with any measure of certainty.

Added to the above difficulties is the fact that the meaning of the Hebrew preposition k- (normally “like,” “when”), which is used at the beginning of the phrase as upon a dance, is also a problem. Fox sees this as a note of contrast and tentatively translates “Why would you gaze at the perfect one as if she were a camp dancer?” Some wish to modify the text to “in.” (Pope has “In the Dance of the Two Camps.”) The one thing that is certain is that the entire expression is very difficult to understand, so whatever translation we give will be largely the result of guesswork. Lacking any convincing alternative, perhaps we are best advised to take a very conservative position such as that found in Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version and not introduce yet another possible but uncertain translation. We will again need a footnote to remind the reader that our translation is not certain.

A possible translation, following a rather formal rendering, may be:

• Young man
“Come, Come back, O perfect one!
So I* can gaze at you.”

Young woman
“Why do you want to gaze at me
As I dance between the rows?”**
Footnote 1: * The Hebrew text has “we.”
Footnote 2: ** The meaning of this line is uncertain in Hebrew.

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 6:13

6:13–7:13

The verse numberings were added to the Hebrew text by men who copied it hundreds of years after the text itself was first written. In this verse the numbering is different from the numbering in most English versions, including the Berean Standard Bible. The Hebrew text numbers this verse as 7:1, but the Berean Standard Bible numbers it as 6:13. Because of that, each Hebrew verse in chapter 7 is one number higher than the Berean Standard Bible text. The Berean Standard Bible’s 6:13–7:13 are 7:1–14 in Hebrew. The Notes continues to use the numbering of the Berean Standard Bible.

6:13a–b Friends spoke to the woman

Most English versions indicate that friends (probably consisting of Jerusalem women or other friends) speak in 6:13a–b.

6:13a

Come back, come back, O Shulammite!: This line is parallel to 6:13b. The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Come back occurs twice here and twice in 6:13b for emphasis. There are different ways to interpret the word in this context:

(1) It means “return, come back.” For example:

Come back! Come back, young girl from Shulam… (New Jerusalem Bible)

(2) It means “dance.” For example:

Dance, dance, girl of Shulam. (Good News Translation)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). But interpretation (2) is also acceptable. Although 6:13d refers to a dance, the text does not explicitly say that the woman actually danced. Interpretation (1) implies that the women were asking her to return to them and not to go away.

In some languages, repeating the phrase Come back may not emphasize it, or the repetition may not be natural. If that is true in your language, use a different type of emphasis. For example:

• Use punctuation for emphasis. For example, the New Revised Standard Version has an exclamation mark:

Return, return, O Shulammite! (New Revised Standard Version)

• Use a word or phrase that adds emphasis. For example:

Please return, O Shulammite!
-or-
Oh return to us, woman from Shulam!

• Use two different words or phrases. For example:

Come back, Shulam woman, return to us!

In some languages it may be more natural to begin the verse with the direct address to the woman. Use a natural way in your language to address her. Some other ways to translate 6:13a are:

Shulam woman, come back!
-or-
Please return, lady from Shulam!
-or-
Come back, return, Shulam girl!

O: The exclamation O in the Berean Standard Bible indicates that the women spoke directly to the Shulammite. It also adds emphasis to the women’s request that she return. Use a natural way in your language to emphasize the request. See the examples in the preceding note.

Shulammite: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Shulammite probably indicates that the woman is from the town of Shulam. (Shulammite is not her name.) For example:

Come back! Come back, young girl from Shulam… (New Jerusalem Bible)

It is possible that the word Shulam is derived from the Hebrew root meaning “whole,” “complete” or “perfect.” However, in this context the word has the definite article, so it is more likely that it is a title indicating that she is from Shulam.

6:13b

Come back, come back, that we may gaze upon you: This line is parallel to 6:13a. It adds the new phrase that we may gaze upon you. The author repeated the friends’ request (Come back, come back) from 6:13a, so that the phrase come back occurs four times. This repetition emphasizes that the Jerusalem women really wanted the woman to return. They wanted to look at her and enjoy her beauty.

In some languages it may not be natural to repeat the phrase come back so many times. Use a natural way in your language to emphasize it. For example:

Please come back! We really want to look at you.

come back, that we may gaze upon you: The reason that the friends want the woman to return is so that they can look at her or “gaze at” her again. Some other ways to translate the reason for the request are:

please return so that we may enjoy/gaze-at ⌊your great beauty⌋.
-or-
come back to us, so that we may gaze at you.
-or-
please return and let us ⌊have the pleasure of⌋ seeing you

6:13c–d The woman replied to the friends

Scholars differ about who spoke in 6:13c–d.

(1) The woman spoke in 6:13c–d. For example, the Good News Translation has the heading:

The Woman (Good News Translation)

(2) The man spoke in 6:13c–d. For example, the English Standard Version has the heading:

He (English Standard Version)

(3) The chorus continued to speak in 6:13c–d. For example, the New Jerusalem Bible has the heading:

Chorus (New Jerusalem Bible)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). About half the English versions and several commentaries follow this option. The chorus spoke to the woman, so it makes sense for her to be the one who responded.

It may seem odd that the woman did not say “me” but just spoke of herself as “the Shulammite.” It is possible that she did that to express modesty or uncertainty about why they wanted to look at her. In the Song she was usually the one who spoke to the women of Jerusalem or to another group of friends. (For example, see 1:5–6; 2:7; 3:5; 5:8–16; 6:2–3; 8:4.)

6:13c–d

Why do you look at the Shulammite, as on the dance of Mahanaim?: Here the woman asked a rhetorical question. Scholars are not sure about what the question implies, but the meaning is probably similar to the meaning of her statement in 1:6a, “Do not stare at me.” In 6:4–9 the man praised her, and in 6:10 the women praised her. In that culture, it often made a moral woman feel uneasy if she received too much praise.

In some languages a rhetorical question with Why may wrongly imply that the woman was angry with the other women. Some other ways to translate the meaning are:

• Use a different type of rhetorical question. For example:

Should you look at this girl from Shulam, as though I were an entertainer?

• Make the meaning more explicit with a statement and a question. For example:

What pleasure will you get from looking at me? I am only ⌊an ordinary⌋ girl from Shulam.
-or-
I’m only a girl from Shulam. Why do you look at me as if I were an entertaining dancer?

• Use a statement. For example:

There is no reason to keep looking at me, since I am just a young girl from Shulam.
-or-
You should not gaze at me as though I were a camp dancer. I am only a girl from Shulam.

Use a natural way in your language to communicate the meaning that the woman implied.

as on the dance of Mahanaim?: There is an ellipsis in this part of the verse. The full form is:

as ⌊though you are looking⌋ upon a dance before two armies

The woman used the phrase to describe the way the other women looked at her. The meaning of the Hebrew phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as as on the dance of Mahanaim is uncertain. Some ways to interpret it are:

(1) It means “a dance before two armies.” This implies performing a dance for soldiers. For example:

as upon a dance before two armies (English Standard Version)

(2) The word “Mahanaim” refers to the name of a place. Although the place name means “two groups,” the whole phrase means “the dance of Mahanaim.” For example:

as on the dance of Mahanaim (New International Version)

(3) It means “two groups of dancers.” It refers to dancing with other people in two groups. (or to two rows of people watching the dance). For example:

as she moves so gracefully between two lines of dancers (New Living Translation (2004))

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). However, it is not possible to be certain about the correct option, and any of the three options is acceptable. In some languages interpretation (1) may be confusing, and a literal translation of 6:13c–d may imply an immoral action. If that is true in your language, you may follow interpretation (2) or (3) instead.

The dance that the woman referred to was probably beautiful and entertaining. But the woman did not want the other women to look at her as though she were an entertainer.

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Verse: Song of Solomon 6:13