With one of thine eyes,
With one of the chains of thy neck.
10 How sweet is thy love, O my sister, my betrothed!
- ference of opinion exists as to the
signification of [HE: lib.Eb] here. The Sept. has [GR: e)kkardi/ôsas ê(ma=s], thou hast unhearted us; the Vulg. Vulnerasti cor meum; Ibn Ezra, [HE: lqHt lby], thou hast taken away my heart; Gesenius, De Wette, &c. adopt this rendering. Against this however it is urged, that it is incompatible with the context. The beloved here accounts for his extraordinary strength and courage, which would enable him to rescue his beloved one from her critical position; and to say, "Thou hast deprived me of all heart," would be a positive contradiction. To be in such an unusually courageous frame, the individual must have been full of heart, and not disheartened. Hence Herder, Ewald, Döpke, Lee, Meier, &c., translate [HE: lib.ab^et.iniy], thou hast put heart into me; thou hast made me bold. This is confirmed by Sym., Syriac, Arabic, and Chald. [HE: 'aHvOtiy], my sister, does not imply that the betrothed was related to her beloved, but is used as an expression of endearment, Prov. vii. 14; Tobit vii. 12; the Apoc. Esth. xv. 8, and soror in Latin. Good's rendering of [HE: 'aHOtiy kal.oh] by my sister-spouse, and his remark that the pronoun "my" between the two substantives, being a useless interpretation of the versions, are gratuitous. [HE: k.ol.oh] has no suffix here, not because it is to be joined with [HE: 'a:HOty], but because this word, like [HE: 'ob] in Chald., never takes the suffix 1 pers.; and versions therefore made in languages whose idioms allow of the suffix are right in so expressing it.
With one of thine eyes, &c. It is customary with Eastern women to unveil one of their eyes in conversation, in which case a part of their neck ornaments becomes also visible. Niebuhr, Travels in Arabia, i. 262; see Kitto, Cyclop. Bib. Lit. Art. Veil, figure 536, and infra, viii. 9. The Anonymous MS., however, explains [HE: b.^e'eHad mE`Eynayik/^e] by [HE: bhbTh 'Ht] [HE: S't mbTt by b'Hd m`ynyk/], one look of thine eyes. The rendering at once (Hodgson, Good) is incongruous. The attempt of the Masorites to substitute [HE: b.a'aHat], fem. for [HE: b.^e'eHad], mas, having evidently arisen from their anxiety to avoid the apparent incongruity of coupling a masculine numeral with a feminine noun, is unnecessary. The true solution lies in the fact, that members of the human body, although usually feminine, are most of them employed occasionally as masculine. Job xxi. 20; Zech. iv. 10; and infra, vi. 5; Gesen. § 107, 4 b; Ewald, § 174 d. [HE: `a:noqo] is not look (Vulg.), nor turn (Percy, Good), nor stone (Ewald, Magnus), but chain. This is evident from Judg. viii. 26, and Prov. i. 9, the only two passages where this word occurs again (except as a proper name), and is translated by the Sept. (Judg. and Prov.) [GR: kloio/s], necklace, Aquila, [GR: peritrachê/lios], [GR: plo/kamos], neckband, neck-work; Sym. [GR: kloio/s], [GR: o(rmi/skos], necklace; Vulg. (Judg. and Prov.) torques. So Ibn Ezra, [HE: mny Hly qSvrym/= `l hxv'r], a kind of ornamental band, tied round the neck, Rashi, Rashbam, Gesenius, De Wette, Döpke, Lee, Philippson, Meier, Hengstenberg, &c. The objection urged by Hitzig, that an inanimate ornament could not effect such great things, is obviated by a reference to the Book of Judith, xvi. 9, where we are informed that the fair one succeeded in captivating even the savage Holofernes with her sandals: [GR: to\ sanda/lion au)tê=s ê(/rpasen o)fthalmo\n au)tou=]. Besides, the meaning here is, that the slightest view of her is sufficient to inspire him with vigour and courage. The termination [HE: —vOn/] in [HE: x.av.orvOn/], like [HE: v.n/], in Syriac, forms the diminutive; and, like diminutives in other languages, is expressive of affection; Gesen. § 86, 2, 4; Ewald, 5, 167 a. The plur. termination [HE: —oyik/^e] in [HE: mixa:v.^erOnoyik/^e], is to be accounted for on the score that the Hebrews sometimes use plural forms for certain members of the body. Comp. [HE: p.oniym/=], face, Gesen. § 108, 2 a; Ewald, § 178 a.
10. How sweet is thy love, &c. Here
