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Chapter 4

The Beauty of the Woman

M(A), (B) 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.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 4:1 This section (vv. 1–7) begins a wasf, a traditional poetic form describing the physical attributes of one’s partner in terms of the natural world (cf. 5:10–16; 6:5b–7; 7:1–7). Veil: women of the region customarily veiled their faces for some occasions (cf. 4:3; 6:7; Gn 24:65–67; 38:14–19).

Love’s Inquiry

W Tell me, you whom my soul loves,
    where you shepherd,[a] where you give rest at midday.
Why should I be like one wandering
    after the flocks of your companions?

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Footnotes

  1. 1:7 Shepherd: a common metaphor for kings. Here and elsewhere in the Song (3:1; 5:8; 6:1), the woman expresses her desire to be in the company of her lover. The search for the lover and her failure to find him create a degree of tension. Only at the end (8:5–14) do the lovers finally possess each other.