Song of Solomon 4:1
New International Version
How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from the hills of Gilead.

New Living Translation
You are beautiful, my darling, beautiful beyond words. Your eyes are like doves behind your veil. Your hair falls in waves, like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead.

English Standard Version
Behold, you are beautiful, my love, behold, you are beautiful! Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead.

Berean Standard Bible
How beautiful you are, my darling—how very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead.

King James Bible
Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.

New King James Version
Behold, you are fair, my love! Behold, you are fair! You have dove’s eyes behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats, Going down from Mount Gilead.

New American Standard Bible
“How beautiful you are, my darling, How beautiful you are! Your eyes are like doves behind your veil; Your hair is like a flock of goats That have descended from Mount Gilead.

NASB 1995
“How beautiful you are, my darling, How beautiful you are! Your eyes are like doves behind your veil; Your hair is like a flock of goats That have descended from Mount Gilead.

NASB 1977
“<,>How beautiful you are, my darling, How beautiful you are! Your eyes are like doves behind your veil; Your hair is like a flock of goats That have descended from Mount Gilead.

Legacy Standard Bible
“Behold, you are beautiful, my darling, Behold, you are beautiful! Your eyes are like doves behind your veil; Your hair is like a flock of goats That have leapt down from Mount Gilead.

Amplified Bible
“How fair and beautiful you are, my darling, How very beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are like those of a dove; Your hair is like [the shimmering black fleece of] a flock of [Arabian] goats That have descended from Mount Gilead [beyond the Jordan].

Christian Standard Bible
How beautiful you are, my darling. How very beautiful! Behind your veil, your eyes are doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
M How beautiful you are, my darling. How very beautiful! Behind your veil, your eyes are doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead.

American Standard Version
Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; Thine eyes are as doves behind thy veil. Thy hair is as a flock of goats, That lie along the side of mount Gilead.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Behold, you are beautiful my intimate one, behold, you are beautiful! Your eyes are of a dove; outside of your silence, your hair is like a flock of goats that goes up from Mount Gelad

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Behold, thou art fair, my companion; behold, thou art fair; thine eyes are doves, beside thy veil: thy hair is as flocks of goats, that have appeared from Galaad.

Contemporary English Version
My darling, you are lovely, so very lovely--as you look through your veil, your eyes are those of a dove. Your hair tosses about as gracefully as goats coming down from Gilead.

Douay-Rheims Bible
How beautiful art thou, my love, how beautiful art thou! thy eyes are doves' eyes, besides what is hid within. Thy hair is as flocks of goats, which Come up from mount Galaad.

English Revised Version
Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thine eyes are as doves behind thy veil: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that lie along the side of mount Gilead.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Look at you! You are beautiful, my true love. Look at you! You are so beautiful. Your eyes behind your veil are like doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats moving down Mount Gilead.

Good News Translation
How beautiful you are, my love! How your eyes shine with love behind your veil. Your hair dances like a flock of goats bounding down the hills of Gilead.

International Standard Version
Look at you! You are beautiful, my darling. Look at you! You are so beautiful. Your eyes behind your veil are doves, your hair is like a flock of goats coming down from Mt. Gilead.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; Thine eyes are as doves behind thy veil; Thy hair is as a flock of goats, that trail down from mount Gilead.

Literal Standard Version
Behold, you [are] beautiful, my friend, behold, you [are] beautiful, | Your eyes [are] doves behind your veil, | Your hair as a row of the goats that have shone from Mount Gilead,

Majority Standard Bible
How beautiful you are, my darling—how very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead.

New American Bible
How beautiful you are, my friend, how beautiful you are! Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead.

NET Bible
Oh, you are beautiful, my darling! Oh, you are beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are like doves. Your hair is like a flock of female goats descending from Mount Gilead.

New Revised Standard Version
How beautiful you are, my love, how very beautiful! Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats, moving down the slopes of Gilead.

New Heart English Bible
Look, you are beautiful, my love. Look, you are beautiful. Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is as a flock of goats, that descend from Mount Gilead.

Webster's Bible Translation
Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.

World English Bible
Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are like doves behind your veil. Your hair is as a flock of goats, that descend from Mount Gilead.

Young's Literal Translation
Lo, thou art fair, my friend, lo, thou art fair, Thine eyes are doves behind thy veil, Thy hair as a row of the goats That have shone from mount Gilead,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Solomon Admires His Bride
1How beautiful you are, my darling— how very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead. 2Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep coming up from the washing; each has its twin, and not one of them is lost.…

Cross References
Song of Solomon 1:15
How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves.

Song of Solomon 5:12
His eyes are like doves beside the streams of water, bathed in milk and mounted like jewels.

Song of Solomon 6:5
Turn your eyes away from me, for they have overcome me. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down from Gilead.

Song of Solomon 6:7
Your brow behind your veil is like a slice of pomegranate.

Jeremiah 22:6
For this is what the LORD says concerning the house of the king of Judah: "You are like Gilead to Me, like the summit of Lebanon; but I will surely turn you into a desert, like cities that are uninhabited.

Micah 7:14
Shepherd with Your staff Your people, the flock of Your inheritance. They live alone in a woodland, surrounded by pastures. Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.


Treasury of Scripture

Behold, you are fair, my love; behold, you are fair; you have doves' eyes within your locks: your hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.

thou art fair

Song of Solomon 4:9,10
Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck…

Song of Solomon 1:15
Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes.

Song of Solomon 2:10,14
My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away…

thou hast

Song of Solomon 5:12
His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set.

Matthew 11:29
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

Philippians 2:3-5
Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves…

thy hair

Song of Solomon 5:11
His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven.

Song of Solomon 6:5,7
Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead…

Song of Solomon 7:5
Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king is held in the galleries.

appear from

Numbers 32:1,40
Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle; …

Jump to Previous
Appear Beautiful Darling Descend Descending Dove Doves Eyes Fair Flock Friend Gilead Goats Hair Love Mount Moving Rest Row Shone Side Slopes Trail Veil Within
Jump to Next
Appear Beautiful Darling Descend Descending Dove Doves Eyes Fair Flock Friend Gilead Goats Hair Love Mount Moving Rest Row Shone Side Slopes Trail Veil Within
Song of Solomon 4
1. Christ sets forth the graces of the church
8. He shows forth his love to her
16. The church prays to be made fit for his presence














IV.

(1) Locks.--Heb., tsammah, only besides in Song of Solomon 6:7 and Isaiah 47:2. The derivation, and the existence of cognate Arabic words, leave no doubt that it means veil. So, in Isaiah 47:2, the LXX. understood it, though here they have given the strange and meaningless translation, "out of thy silence," which the Vulg. has still further mystified into "from that which lies hid within," a rendering which has been a fruitful source of moral allusion to the more hidden beauties of the soul. If the veil was worn in ancient times in Palestine, as by Eastern ladies now, covering the lower part of the face, but allowing the eyes to be seen, the description is very appropriate.

That appear.--Marg., that eat of; Heb., galash: only here and in the corresponding passage, Song of Solomon 6:5. The word has had a variety of most contradictory interpretations. The Authorised Version follows the LXX., and has the support of Ewald's great authority. The marginal eat of rests only on the existence of cognates in Syriac and Arabic = obtained, collected (see Lee's Heb. Dict.), which would rather point to such a rendering as, "which they obtain from mount Gilead." The Vulg., qu? ascenderunt, is followed by some commentators, though the bulk give the exactly opposite: "come down," or "run down," or "hang down from." In such a difficulty only the context can decide, and any translation suggesting the dark hair flowing in masses round the shoulders is allowable. At the same time, from a tendency of the author to accumulate, and sometimes to confuse, his figures (Song of Solomon 4:12; Song of Solomon 4:15, Song of Solomon 5:12-13), probably here it is the long, soft, delicate, generally black hair of the Oriental goat which is compared to that of the lady, as well as the general appearance presented by the whole flock suspended on the mountain side. . . .

Verse 1. - Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thine eyes are as doves behind thy veil; thine hair is as a flock of goats, that lie along the side of Mount Gilead. We commence, at this verse, the loving converse of the bridegroom with the bride, which we must suppose is heard as they travel together in the bridal procession. The words of adoring affection are chiefly spoken by the bridegroom, as is natural in the circumstances, and the reference to the journey, and its consummation in ver. 8, make it certain that the intention is to carry us in thought to the palanquin and the breathings of first love in bridal joy. The poetry is exquisite and truly Eastern, while yet absolutely chaste and pure. The praise of the eyes is common in all erotic poetry. Her eyes gleam, in colour, motion, and lustre, like a pair of doves from behind the veil; showing that the bride is thought of as travelling. The bride was always deeply veiled (see Genesis 24:65), as the Roman bride wore the velum flamineum. The LXX. have mistaken the meaning, rendering, ἐκτὸς τῇς σιωπήσεώς. The veil might typify silence or reserve, but the word is tsammah, which is from a root "to veil," and is righty rendered by Symmachus κάλυμμα. The hair was long and dark, and lay down the shoulders uncovered and free, which added much to the graceful attraction of the bride. In later times it was customary for the hair to be adorned with a wreath of myrtle or roses, or a golden ornament representing Jerusalem. The goats in Syria and the neighbouring countries are mostly black or dark brown, while the sheep are white. Delitzsch says, "A flock of goats encamped upon a mountain (rising up, to one looking from a distance, as in a steep slope and almost perpendicularly), and as if hanging down lengthwise on its sides, presents a lovely view adorning the landscape." It would be especially lovely amid the romantic scenery of Gilead. The, verb rendered "lie along" is otherwise taken by the LXX., ἀπεκαλύφησαν, and by the Vulgate ascenderunt. The rabbis differ from one another in their renderings. One says, "which, look, down;" another, "make bare," "quit," or "descend;" another, "are seen." The modern translators vary. Luther says, "shorn;" Houbigant, "hang down;" Kleuken and Ewald, "shows itself;" Gesenius and others, "lie down;" Ginsburg, "rolling down," "running down." Our Revised Version gives, lie along, which is a very probable meaning. The reference is to the luxuriance and rich colour of the hair. Gilead would be a recollection of the bride's native place.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
How
הִנָּ֨ךְ (hin·nāḵ)
Interjection | second person feminine singular
Strong's 2005: Lo! behold!

beautiful [you are],
יָפָ֤ה (yā·p̄āh)
Adjective - feminine singular
Strong's 3303: Fair, beautiful

my darling!
רַעְיָתִי֙ (ra‘·yā·ṯî)
Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 7474: A female associate

How
הִנָּ֣ךְ (hin·nāḵ)
Interjection | second person feminine singular
Strong's 2005: Lo! behold!

very beautiful!
יָפָ֔ה (yā·p̄āh)
Adjective - feminine singular
Strong's 3303: Fair, beautiful

Your eyes
עֵינַ֣יִךְ (‘ê·na·yiḵ)
Noun - cdc | second person feminine singular
Strong's 5869: An eye, a fountain

are [like] doves
יוֹנִ֔ים (yō·w·nîm)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 3123: A dove

behind
מִבַּ֖עַד (mib·ba·‘aḏ)
Preposition-m
Strong's 1157: In up to, over against, at, beside, among, behind, for

your veil.
לְצַמָּתֵ֑ךְ (lə·ṣam·mā·ṯêḵ)
Preposition-l | Noun - feminine singular construct | second person feminine singular
Strong's 6777: (woman's) veil

Your hair
שַׂעְרֵךְ֙ (śa‘·rêḵ)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person feminine singular
Strong's 8181: Hair

is like a flock
כְּעֵ֣דֶר (kə·‘ê·ḏer)
Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 5739: An arrangement, muster

of goats
הָֽעִזִּ֔ים (hā·‘iz·zîm)
Article | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 5795: Female goat

streaming down
שֶׁגָּלְשׁ֖וּ (šeg·gā·lə·šū)
Pronoun - relative | Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 1570: To recline

Mount
מֵהַ֥ר (mê·har)
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 2022: Mountain, hill, hill country

Gilead.
גִּלְעָֽד׃ (gil·‘āḏ)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 1568: Gilead -- a region in Palestine, also the name of several Israelites


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OT Poetry: Song of Solomon 4:1 Behold you are beautiful my love (Song Songs SS So Can)
Song of Solomon 3:11
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