en_tn_condensed/sng/02/08.md

2.7 KiB

General Information:

Here begins Part Two of the book.

General Information:

It is not clear whether the woman is speaking to herself or to the daughters of Jerusalem.

Listen

Possible meanings are 1) "Listen carefully to what I am about to say." You could use a word in your language that tells the hearer to listen carefully, or 2) "Listen so you can hear him coming."

my beloved

This phrase refers to the man whom the woman loves. In some languages it may be more natural for her to refer to him as "my lover." See how you translated this in Song of Songs 1:13. AT: "my dear one" or "my lover"

leaping ... jumping ... gazing ... peering

The woman shows that she is excited to see the man come by using as few words as possible to describe what he is doing. Your language may have a different way of showing that the speaker is excited about what is happening.

leaping over the mountains, jumping over the hills

"leaping on the mountains, running quickly on the hills." The woman speaks of the man as if he were "a gazelle or a young stag" (verse 9) coming quickly toward her over rough ground. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor)

like a gazelle or a young stag

Gazelles and young stags move quickly over rough ground. The woman imagines the man coming as fast as he can to be with her. You could translate using animals in your language that people think of as fast. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-simile)

a gazelle

This is an animal that looks like a deer and moves quickly. Translate as the singular of "the gazelles" as in Song of Songs 2:7.

a young stag

"a young male deer"

look

"listen carefully" or "what I am about to say is important." You could use a word in your language that tells the hearer to listen carefully.

behind our wall

"on the other side of our wall." The woman is in a house and the man is outside the house.

our wall

The word "our" refers to the woman and the other people in the house with her. If she is speaking to herself, it is inclusive, but if she is speaking to the daughters of Jerusalem, whether she is referring to herself and her companions or to herself only in plural, as in "We are glad ... We rejoice ... let us celebrate" (Song of Songs 1:4), it is exclusive. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-exclusive)

gazing through the window

"he stares in through the windows"

peering through the lattice

"he peeks through the lattice"

lattice

a cover for a window or some other entrance that someone has made by weaving long strips of wood together. Lattices have holes that people can look through.

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