Song of Solomon 5:11 New English Translation

¹¹His head is like the purest gold.^[a]
His hair is curly^[b]—black like a raven.

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Footnotes

Song of Solomon 5:11 tn Heb “his head is gold of pure gold.” In the genitive construct phrase כֶּתֶם פָּז (ketem paz, literally, “gold of pure gold”) the genitive noun פָּז (paz, “pure gold”) functions as an adjectival genitive modifying כֶּתֶם (“gold”), that is, “pure gold.” The repetition of two different words for “gold” suggests that the phrase should be nuanced “the purest gold.” This phrase is a predicate nominate in a metaphorical statement: “his head is (like) the purest gold.” In the OT gold is frequently used in comparisons to emphasize the idea of beauty, value, or rarity (Job 28:12-19; Pss 19:11; 119:127; Prov 8:19; Isa 13:12; Lam 4:2). Palestine had no known sources of gold, but had to import it, making it a rare and precious commodity (Ruth V. Wright and R. L. Chadbourne, The Gems and Minerals of the Bible, 65).
Song of Solomon 5:11 tn Literally “his locks [of hair] are curls.” The Hebrew adjective תַּלְתָּל (taltal) is a hapax legomenon whose meaning is somewhat unclear. BDB suggests that תַּלְתָּל is from the root תּלל (“mound, heap”; BDB 1068 s.v. I תּלל) which is related to Arabic tl “mound, hill, top” (E. W. Lane, Arabic-English Dictionary, 311) and Akkadian tilu “hill, mound” (AHw 3:1358). On the other hand, HALOT suggests that תַּלְתָּל means “date-panicle” and that it is related to the Akkadian noun taltallu “pollen of date-palm” (HALOT 1741 s.v. תַּלְתַּלִּים). The term occurs in Mishnaic Hebrew as תַּלְתָּל “curls, locks” (Jastrow 1674 s.v. תַּלְתָּל). It is used in the same way in the Song. The form tltl is a reduplicated pattern used for adjectives denoting an intense characteristic (S. Moscati, Comparative Grammar, 78-79, §12.9-13). It functions as a predicate adjective to the subjective nominative קוּצוֹתָיו (qutsotayv, “his locks of hair”).

Song of Solomon 5:11 in all English translations

New English Translation (NET)