swear, vow

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “swear (an oath)” or “vow” is translated as “God sees me, I tell the truth to you” (Tzeltal), “loading yourself down” (Huichol), “to speak-stay” (implying permanence of the utterance) (Sayula Popoluca), “to say what he could not take away” (San Blas Kuna), “because of the tight (i.e. “binding”) word which he had said to her face” (Guerrero Amuzgo), “strong promise” (North Alaskan Inupiatun) (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida), “eat an oath” (Nyamwezi — source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext), or sswa nak/”drink an oath” (Jju — source: McKinney 2018, p. 31).

In Bauzi “swear” can be translated in various ways. In Hebrews 6:13, for instance, it is translated with “bones break apart and decisively speak.” (“No bones are literally broken but by saying ‘break bones’ it is like people swear by someone else in this case it is in relation to a rotting corpse’ bones falling apart. If you ‘break bones’ so to speak when you make an utterance, it is a true utterance.”) In other passages, such as in Matthew 26:72, it’s translated with an expression that implies taking ashes (“if a person wants everyone to know that he is telling the truth about a matter, he reaches down into the fireplace, scoops up some ashes and throws them while saying ‘I was not the one who did that.'”). So in Matthew 26:72 the Bauzi text is: “. . . Peter took ashes and defended himself saying, ‘I don’t know that Nazareth person.'” (Source: David Briley)

See also swear (promise) and Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’, or ‘No, No’.

Jerusalem

The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:


“Jerusalem” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)


“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

Translation commentary on Song of Songs 5:8

Here we come to another refrain addressed to the daughters of Jerusalem. This one differs from the others, however, both in content and context. In previous passages (2.7; 3.5; 5.1) refrains have occurred when the lovers are locked in embrace. In the first two refrains the daughters are asked not to disturb the love scene. The third refrain encourages the lovers to enjoy their love. Here the scene is completely different; the young woman is alone, and she requests the women of Jerusalem to help find her lover.

The role the refrain plays here is also slightly different from what we have seen before. Previously refrains have been used to end poems. While this present refrain does end the “dream sequence” (5.2-7), it does not end a poem; rather it serves as a link between two subunits. The young woman requests the help of the daughters (5.8), and the daughters respond (5.9). Their response draws out the feelings of the young woman, who goes on to describe her lover (5.10-16). The dialog between the two parties continues in 6.1-3.

Once again we note the literary role of the daughters. They are not actually at the scene of the events described in 5.2-7, nor do they really participate in the story line. Their function in the poem is to move the story along by drawing out the feelings of the main characters.

O daughters of Jerusalem is a vocative form. It may be placed at the beginning of the sentence, if this is the more natural place to introduce the persons addressed: “O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my lover….”

If you find my beloved: a conditional clause introducing the young woman’s request. In some languages a word meaning “when” may be used in such instances to express a condition that will probably occur. Note that the keyword find, occurring in verses 6 and 7, occurs here as well.

That you tell him I am sick with love: the phrase that you tell him is literally “what should you tell him?” The interrogative “What?” may be for emphasis. But many translations, going back to Septuagint times, ignore the fact that the clause begins with “What?” They translate it as a statement rather than as a question.

Fox takes the Hebrew mah (“What?”) to be a negative particle and translates “I ask you to promise … not to tell him that I am sick with love.” He argues that in the refrains in 2.7 and 3.5 there is a negative element present, and so one is required here. Furthermore, in 8.4 and in two other Old Testament passages (1 Kgs 12.16 and Job 16.6), this same word is clearly negative in meaning.

Although there is some justification for Fox’s view, the wider question is whether the young woman is likely to want her lover to know how she feels. Is she really embarrassed about what she feels and has done? Throughout the Song she speaks freely and openly about her longing for him (see 2.5). So we suggest following the traditional interpretation, which can then be translated “If you find my beloved, what should you tell him? Tell him I am sick with love [or, longing] for him.” If this kind of question is not natural in the translator’s language, then it can be replaced with a request formula, such as “If you find my lover, please tell him how deeply I long for him.”

In translating sick we may need to be careful not to give the impression that she is physically unwell or has some disease. Here I am sick is an idiomatic way of saying she longs for his love. We may say “I am dying for his love.” Good News Translation “I am weak from passion” is slightly unnatural in English and does not really convey the meaning here. It should not be used as a model.

With the conclusion of this verse we have reached the end of the dream narrative. It summarizes the young woman’s deep disappointment at not being able to be with her lover.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Zogbo, Lynell. A Handbook on the Book of Song of Songs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1998. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .