mandrake

The Hebrew that is translated in English typically as “mandrake” is translated in various French translations (Traduction Œcuménique de la Bible, Nouvelle Français courant, Parole de Vie) as pommes d’amour or “love apples” which indicates the function as an aphrodisiac (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin). Likewise, in a number of German translations (Luther, Gute Nachricht Bibel), Liebesäpfel with the same meaning is used. Incidentally, in both German and French the respective terms also refer to candy apples .

In Elhomwe it is translated as woohura, a traditional medicine that “turns infertility to fertility” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext) and in Nyamwezi as ntalantu’, a plant that “is known to have many medicinal purposes for womanhood, one of those is fertility” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext).

 

Commentators do not agree on the identity of the Hebrew word duda’im. While many assert that the word must refer to Mandragora or Mandrake Mandragora autumnalis, Zohary (Plants of the Bible. Cambridge University Press, 1982) says it cannot be so since mandragora has never grown in Mesopotamia, where the story of Genesis 30:14ff. takes place. In Song of Songs 7:13 duda’im refers to some sort of “choice fruit” associated with apples, and cultivated on river banks (not dug up in the fields, as was the case with duda’im in Genesis). Whatever the original plant was (in Mesopotamia), when the story was told in Israel they used a word that was known to the hearers, namely duda’im. In Genesis the context implies, though not directly, that duda’im has something to do with fertility. And the most popular conception-inducing plant in Bible times, according to scholars, was the mandragora (mandrake). The translators of the Septuagint and the Targum, with their own ideas about love and fertility, took duda’im in its Holy Land setting rather than trying to establish the identity of the plant in the Mesopotamian context. The English versions have copied the Septuagint, using “mandrake.”

The mandrake is a stemless herb related to the potato and tomato but grows lower to the ground. Its leaves are dark green, reaching 30 centimeters (1 foot) long and 10 centimeters (4 inches) wide, spreading out rose-like from the center. Purple or blue flowers appear on stalks out of the center and develop into yellow fruits that, when ripe, look like eggs in a bird’s nest. They have a distinct smell that some find sweet and others unpleasant. The mandrake’s large root is often forked, giving the appearance of a human body, which is perhaps the basis for its widespread reputation as a love potion throughout the Middle East and Europe, and for its name, the “love apple.”

The supposed magical properties of mandrakes are many and bizarre. It is said to scream when pulled out of the earth. The leaves are said to shine in the dark. In the Middle Ages Germans dressed them up and made sacrifices to them, lest the spirits be offended. French people believed little elves lived inside them and required daily offerings. As recently as 1630, three women in Hamburg were executed for witchcraft on the grounds that they had mandrake roots in their homes. Arabs call mandrakes the Devil’s candles.

The options to translate “mandrake” are:
1. Translate using a similar plant, such as the wild garden egg (so Berom of Nigeria) plus a footnote. In Hausa of Nigeria gautan daji (or yalo) would be a possible model in some places.
2. Translate using a functional equivalent, that is, some local plant known as an aid to conception, as Tiv of Nigeria has done (mkehem).
3. Create a descriptive expression such as “love flower” (Contemporary English Version) or “love fruit.”
4. Transliterate from Hebrew duda’im or a major language and write a footnote saying that this plant may have been considered an aid to conception. When transliterating, it may be useful to add “root of” as a tag, showing that it was the root of the plant that was effective.

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

complete verse (Song of Solomon 7:13)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Song of Solomon 7:13:

  • Kupsabiny: “That tree of friendship is giving out its scent,
    and the fruits are near us.
    They are good and of different kinds.
    My beloved, I have kept (them) all for you!” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The mandrakes send out their fragrance.
    and at our door are all kinds of delicacies
    both new and old,
    I have stored up for you, my beloved.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The fragrance/sweet-smell of the mandrakes/[mandragora] plant gives-off-(its)-smell, and near our (incl.) door are all the good fruits, the old and the new. For I have-reserved/saved-up these for you (sing.), my beloved.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The mandrakes/love-apples are producing a fragrant odor,
    and we are surrounded by delightful pleasures ,
    new ones and old ones,
    pleasures that I have been saving to give to you, who love me.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Song of Songs 7:13

Mandrakes: the very sweet-smelling flowers of a plant that produces a fruit believed to arouse sexual desire and promote fertility (Gen 30.14-16). We note that in Hebrew even the name for mandrakes (dudaʾim) sounds similar to the word “love” (dod). Translators will probably need to point out that mandrakes are flowers, or “sweet-smelling flowers.” An alternative is to use a term like “love apples,” as in Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, or another appropriate expression. If necessary we can put information about these flowers in a footnote.

Give forth fragrance: another reference to the early spring season, when the flowers are in bloom; it symbolizes the time for making love. On fragrance see comments on 3.6; 4.14.

Two translation suggestions are:

• The sweet-smelling [mandrake] flowers give off their fragrance.

• The fragrance of love flowers fills the air.

Over our doors are all choice fruits: in 1.17 the young woman described the lovers’ secret meeting place as a shelter covered with cedar and pine. As they lay there she pretended they were in their own home. In this verse she refers to the doors of their “house,” noting that above the doors there are “all kinds of delicacies” (rendered in Revised Standard Version as all choice fruits). Since this meeting place does not have real doors, translators may have to speak of fruits or delicacies “around us” or “above us,” or even “in our house.” Contemporary English Version says “right at our doorstep.” Though many translations render the Hebrew word here as “fruit,” it is clear that the young woman is referring to the pleasure or love she has “stored up” for her lover. Translators can say explicitly “we are surrounded by pleasure” or “we are surrounded by wonderful delights.”

New as well as old: this is an unusual phrase if it is to describe fruits or delicacies. Most commentators think old means fruit that appeared on the vines and trees early in the season, while new indicates the fruit about to appear and to ripen. New American Bible here says “fresh and mellowed.” If the vague phrase “delicacies” refers to things other than fruit, then this explanation is not very helpful. Some scholars suggest it is idiomatic and probably means “all kinds of…,” and so it would strengthen the word “all” in the previous clause. This is probably correct in this setting, and so we recommend it for translation. The phrase appears to qualify choice fruits and not what follows.

Good News Translation links the phrase with what follows, and so says “the old delights and the new.” This seems to be a reference to sexual delights, some of which have been tried (“old”) and some not yet tried (“new”). Our preference is to translate as “all kinds of….” This will mean omitting any reference to “new and old.”

Which I have laid up for you, O my beloved: Revised Standard Version treats this as a relative clause, though Hebrew grammar does not require this. It may well be an independent clause, especially if “new and old” describe the previous term “delicacies.” Laid up is the verb “to treasure,” “hide,” so the question is “What does she store up for him?” The term “my love,” which functions as the inclusio for this subsection, may serve a double purpose. It appears as a vocative, “My lover!” yet it may also mean “my love” and thus indicate what she has been saving for him.

We may translate as “O my beloved, I have saved myself for you” or “I have saved my love for you.”

The verse as a whole can be rendered:

• The sweet-smelling flowers send out their fragrance.
All kinds of delights surround us,
And I have saved my love for you!

• Mandrakes* give off a fragrant smell,
At our door, every delicious fruit awaits us,
And I have saved myself for you.
Footnote: * The mandrake fruit is thought to be a love drug.

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 7:13

7:13a

The mandrakes send forth a fragrance: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as mandrakes refers to a certain kind of plant that has sweet-smelling flowers. The phrase The mandrakes send forth a fragrance indicates that the scent of the mandrake plants was in the air.