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Journey of a Passage

Song of Songs 4:1–7

Praise from eyes to breasts: veil, goats, towers, fawns

The first praise poem (wasf): doves' eyes behind her tsammah (veil, or "locks" in the KJV), hair like goats on Gilead, teeth like shorn ewes, lips like scarlet thread, temples like pomegranate, neck like David's tower, breasts like twin fawns. The library's Greek and the Vulgate render tsammah as "what is hidden within." 4Q106 is reported to preserve parts of 4:1–7.

Same letters, different readings: the consonants agree, but ancient readers vocalized or interpreted them differently

The family tree

Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.

✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives

  • Same line, through lost copies
  • Translation
Hebrew
  1. The poem as first composedUnknown (proposals from the 10th to the 3rd century BC)
  2. 4Q106 (4QCant-a), Qumran Cave 4late 1st century BC – 1st century AD (reported)Descends, through lost copies, from The poem as first composed
  3. Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from The poem as first composed
Greek
  1. Greek Song of Songs (library: Giguet's French)Greek translation 1st century BC – 1st century AD (debated); French 1872Translated from the Greek Song (Asma)
Latin
  1. Latin Vulgate (Clementine)Jerome c. AD 390s, from Hebrew; edition 1592Translated from the Hebrew text Jerome used
English
  1. King James Bible1611Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

Every witness, in order

  1. Unknown (proposals from the 10th to the 3rd century BC)

    The poem as first composed

    – No copy survives

    No original survives. The oldest Hebrew copies of the Song are four Qumran manuscripts: 4Q106, 4Q107, 4Q108 (Cave 4) and 6Q6 (Cave 6), late 1st century BC to 1st century AD (reported).

  2. late 1st century BC – 1st century AD (reported)

    4Q106 (4QCant-a), Qumran Cave 4

    ⓘ Reports what manuscripts containedDescends, through lost copies, from The poem as first composed

    How the site knows this: Reported in scholarship; not checked by the site.

    Reported to preserve parts of chapters 3–4 and 6–7 and to pass from 4:7 to 6:11 without 4:8–6:10 (Tov 1995). Exact text: C check against DJD XVI / DJD III (S-C04).

  3. Jerome c. AD 390s, from Hebrew; edition 1592

    Latin Vulgate (Clementine)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Hebrew text Jerome used

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).

    Quam pulchra es, amica mea! quam pulchra es! Oculi tui columbarum, absque eo quod intrinsecus latet. Capilli tui sicut greges caprarum quæ ascenderunt de monte Galaad. Dentes tui sicut greges tonsarum quæ ascenderunt de lavacro; omnes gemellis fœtibus, et sterilis non est inter eas. Sicut vitta coccinea labia tua, et eloquium tuum dulce. Sicut fragmen mali punici, ita genæ tuæ, absque eo quod intrinsecus latet. Sicut turris David collum tuum, quæ ædificata est cum propugnaculis; mille clypei pendent ex ea, omnis armatura fortium. Duo ubera tua sicut duo hinnuli, capreæ gemelli, qui pascuntur in liliis. Donec aspiret dies, et inclinentur umbræ, vadam ad montem myrrhæ, et ad collem thuris. Tota pulchra es, amica mea, et macula non est in te.

    Latin numbering: Song 4:1–7. Jerome translated the Song from Hebrew (c. AD 390s); the Clementine edition prints the title outside the verses and joins English 1:1-2.

  4. AD 1008

    Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

    ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from The poem as first composed

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

    הִנָּ֨ךְ יָפָ֤ה רַעְיָתִי֙ הִנָּ֣ךְ יָפָ֔ה עֵינַ֣יִךְ יוֹנִ֔ים מִבַּ֖עַד לְצַמָּתֵ֑ךְ שַׂעְרֵךְ֙ כְּעֵ֣דֶר הָֽעִזִּ֔ים שֶׁגָּלְשׁ֖וּ מֵהַ֥ר גִּלְעָֽד׃ שִׁנַּ֙יִךְ֙ כְּעֵ֣דֶר הַקְּצוּב֔וֹת שֶׁעָל֖וּ מִן־הָרַחְצָ֑ה שֶׁכֻּלָּם֙ מַתְאִימ֔וֹת וְשַׁכֻּלָ֖ה אֵ֥ין בָּהֶֽם׃ כְּח֤וּט הַשָּׁנִי֙ שִׂפְתֹתַ֔יִךְ וּמִדְבָּרֵ֖יךְ נָאוֶ֑ה כְּפֶ֤לַח הָֽרִמּוֹן֙ רַקָּתֵ֔ךְ מִבַּ֖עַד לְצַמָּתֵֽךְ׃ כְּמִגְדַּ֤ל דָּוִיד֙ צַוָּארֵ֔ךְ בָּנ֖וּי לְתַלְפִּיּ֑וֹת אֶ֤לֶף הַמָּגֵן֙ תָּל֣וּי עָלָ֔יו כֹּ֖ל שִׁלְטֵ֥י הַגִּבּוֹרִֽים׃ שְׁנֵ֥י שָׁדַ֛יִךְ כִּשְׁנֵ֥י עֳפָרִ֖ים תְּאוֹמֵ֣י צְבִיָּ֑ה הָרוֹעִ֖ים בַּשּׁוֹשַׁנִּֽים׃ עַ֤ד שֶׁיָּפ֙וּחַ֙ הַיּ֔וֹם וְנָ֖סוּ הַצְּלָלִ֑ים אֵ֤לֶךְ לִי֙ אֶל־הַ֣ר הַמּ֔וֹר וְאֶל־גִּבְעַ֖ת הַלְּבוֹנָֽה׃ כֻּלָּ֤ךְ יָפָה֙ רַעְיָתִ֔י וּמ֖וּם אֵ֥ין בָּֽךְ׃

    How beautiful you are, my darling… your eyes are doves behind your veil; your hair like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead

    Hebrew numbering: Song 4:1–7.

  5. 1611

    King James Bible

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

    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. Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them. Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks. Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men. Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies. Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense. Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.

  6. Greek translation 1st century BC – 1st century AD (debated); French 1872

    Greek Song of Songs (library: Giguet's French)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Greek Song (Asma)

    How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

    Que tu es belle, ô ma bien-aimée! que tu es belle! Tes yeux sont ceux des colombes, sans parler de tes beautés cachées. Ta chevelure est comme la toison des troupeaux de chèvres qu’on voit en Galaad. Tes dents sont comme la laine des brebis sortant du lavoir après la tonte; toutes ont deux petits, et nulle n’est stérile. Tes lèvres sont comme un ruban écarlate, et ton langage est plein de grâce; tes joues sont comme la peau de la grenade, sans parler de tes beautés cachées. Ton cou est comme la tour de David, qu’il a bâtie pour être un arsenal; mille boucliers y sont suspendus, et tous les dards des vaillants. Tes deux mamelles sont comme deux faons jumeaux du chevreuil, paissant parmi les lis, Jusqu’à ce que se lèvent les premières brises du jour, et que les ténèbres se dissipent. J’irai à la montagne de myrrhe et à la colline d’encens. Tu es toute belle, ô ma bien-aimée; et il n’est point de tache en toi.

    Greek (digital file) numbering: Song 4:1–7. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text (D check). Giguet also inserts speaker labels such as (Épouse) and (Époux); these are interpretation, not Greek text. A C check needs a critical Greek edition.

What changed, and why

Tsammah: "veil" (Isaiah 47:2) is most likely; the KJV's "within thy locks" is an older guess; the Greek/Latin "apart from what is hidden" is a modest paraphrase.

"The tower of David builded for an armoury (talpiyyot)": talpiyyot is rare ("in courses," "for weapons"?). No excavated tower is identified with it; the modern "Tower of David" in Jerusalem is a later citadel with that name from tradition.

"No spot (mum) in thee" (v. 7): the word for a sacrificial or priestly blemish, used here as love's praise.

What the evidence shows

  • Strongly supportedTsammah probably means "veil."
  • Conflicts with current evidenceAn excavated tower can be identified with the "tower of David" of 4:4.
  • Strongly supported4Q106 preserves parts of 4:1–7. Reported; C check.

Sources

    Related lessons

    • Song of Songs 4: A Garden Enclosed →The man praises the woman from head to breast in a sequence of images: dove's eyes behind her veil, hair like goats streaming down Gilead, teeth like shorn ewes, lips like scarlet thread, temples like pomegranate halves, a neck like David's tower hung with shields, breasts like twin fawns; "thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee" (4:1–7). He calls her from Lebanon, Amana, Senir and Hermon, from the dens of lions (v. 8). She has "ravished" his heart with one glance (v. 9); her love is better than wine, her lips drip honey (vv. 10–11). She is "a garden inclosed… a spring shut up, a fountain sealed," an orchard of pomegranates and every spice (vv. 12–15). She answers: "Awake, O north wind… Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits" (v. 16).
    • Investigation: Geography as Poetry →The Song draws its images from a real map: an oasis by the Dead Sea, the snowy northern mountains, the goat-covered hills of Gilead, two royal cities, a green ridge by the sea, the pools of a Transjordanian town, and the Aramean capital. Some names are secure, some regional, some unknown. This investigation lists them and how the site's Atlas marks them.