King James Version

Song of Solomon 4:10

In Song of Solomon 4 of Song of Solomon.

How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!

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Hebrew

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מַהmahhowמָהparticle, interrogative — “how”H4100properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?); but also exclamation, what! (including how!), or indefinitely what (including whatever, and even relatively, that which); often used with prefixes in various adverbial or conjunctive senseshow (long, oft, (-soever)), (no-) thing, what (end, good, purpose, thing), whereby(-fore, -in, -to, -with), (for) why.יָּפ֥וּyafvbe beautifulיָפָהverb, qal, perfect, 3rd person, common, plural — “be beautiful”, a completed actionH3302properly, to be bright, i.e. (by implication) beautifulbe beautiful, be (make self) fair(-r), deck.דֹדַ֖יִךְdodayikhuncleדּוֹדnoun, common, masculine, plural, construct, suffix, pronominal, 2nd person, feminine, singular — “uncle”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH1730(figuratively) to love; by implication, a love-token, lover, friend; specifically an uncle(well-) beloved, father's brother, love, uncle.אֲחֹתִ֣יachotisisterאָחוֹתnoun, common, feminine, singular, construct, suffix, pronominal, 1st person, common, singular — “sister”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH269a sister (used very widely (like brother), literally and figuratively)(an-) other, sister, together.כַלָּ֑הkhalahbrideכַּלָּהnoun, common, feminine, singular, absolute — “bride”, the ordinary formH3618a bride (as if perfect); hence, a son's wifebride, daughter-in-law, spouse.מַהmahhowמָהparticle, interrogative — “how”H4100properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?); but also exclamation, what! (including how!), or indefinitely what (including whatever, and even relatively, that which); often used with prefixes in various adverbial or conjunctive senseshow (long, oft, (-soever)), (no-) thing, what (end, good, purpose, thing), whereby(-fore, -in, -to, -with), (for) why.טֹּ֤בוּtovvbe betterטוֹבverb, qal, perfect, 3rd person, common, plural — “be better”, a completed actionH2895to be (transitively, do or make) good (or well) in the widest sensebe (do) better, cheer, be (do, seem) good, (make) goodly, [idiom] please, (be, do, go, play) well.דֹדַ֨יִךְ֙dodayikhuncleדּוֹדnoun, common, masculine, plural, construct, suffix, pronominal, 2nd person, feminine, singular — “uncle”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH1730(figuratively) to love; by implication, a love-token, lover, friend; specifically an uncle(well-) beloved, father's brother, love, uncle.מִיַּ֔יִןmiyayinfrom wineיַיִןpreposition, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “from wine”, the ordinary formH3196wine (as fermented); by implication, intoxicationbanqueting, wine, wine(-bibber).וְרֵ֥יחַvereychaand savourרֵיחַconjunction, noun, common, masculine, singular, construct — “and savour”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH7381odor (as if blown)savour, scent, smell.שְׁמָנַ֖יִךְshemanayikholiveשֶׁמֶןnoun, common, masculine, plural, construct, suffix, pronominal, 2nd person, feminine, singular — “olive”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH8081grease, especially liquid (as from the olive, often perfumed); figuratively, richnessanointing, [idiom] fat (things), [idiom] fruitful, oil(-ed), ointment, olive, [phrase] pine.מִכָּלmikalfrom allכֹּלpreposition, noun, common, masculine, singular, construct — “from all”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH3605properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense)(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-) thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).בְּשָׂמִֽיםbesamimsmellבֶּשֶׂםnoun, common, masculine, plural, absolute — “smell”, the ordinary formH1314fragrance; by implication, spicery; also the balsam plantsmell, spice, sweet (odour).

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

How fair is thy love, my sister, my bride! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all manner of spices!

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

How fair is thy love, my sister, my bride! How much better is thy love than wine! And the fragrance of thine oils than all manner of spices!

Young’s Literal Translation

How wonderful have been thy loves, my sister-spouse, How much better have been thy loves than wine, And the fragrance of thy perfumes than all spices.

World English Bible

How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, the fragrance of your perfumes than all kinds of spices!

Darby Translation

How fair is thy love, my sister, [my] spouse! How much better is thy love than wine! And the fragrance of thine ointments than all spices!

Douay-Rheims

How beautiful are thy breasts, my sister, my spouse! thy breasts are more beautiful than wine, and the sweet smell of thy ointments above all aromatical spices.

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

How fair is thy love, my sister, my bride! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all manner of spices!

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

How beautiful are thy breasts, my sister, my spouse! how much more beautiful are thy breasts than wine, and the smell of thy garments than all spices!

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Τί ἐκαλλιώθησαν μαστοί σου ἀδελφή μου, νύμφη; τί ἐκαλλιώθησαν μαστοί σου ἀπὸ οἴνου, καὶ ὀσμὴ ἱματίων σου ὑπὲρ πάντα ἀρώματα;