Song of Songs 4:3

Song of Songs 4:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks.
• New International Version (NIV)Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon; your mouth is lovely. Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Your lips are like a scarlet thread, and your mouth is lovely. Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Your lips are like a strand of scarlet, And your mouth is lovely. Your temples behind your veil Are like a piece of pomegranate.

Context of Song of Songs 4:3

1“How fair and beautiful you are, my darling, How very beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are like those of a dove; Your hair is like [the shimmering black fleece of] a flock of [Arabian] goats That have descended from Mount Gilead [beyond the Jordan]. 2Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn ewes Which have come up from washing, All of which bear twins, And not one among them has lost her young. Your lips are like a ribbon of scarlet, And your mouth is lovely. Your temples are like a slice of the pomegranate Behind your veil. 4Your neck is like the tower of David, Built with rows of [glistening] stones, Whereon hang a thousand shields, All of them shields of warriors. 5Your two breasts are like two fawns, Twins of a gazelle Which feed among the lilies.

Song of Songs 4:3 word by word

כְּח֤וּט הַשָּׁנִי֙ שִׂפְתֹתַ֔יִךְ וּמִדְבָּרֵ֖יךְ נָאוֶ֑ה כְּפֶ֤לַח הָֽרִמּוֹן֙ רַקָּתֵ֔ךְ מִבַּ֖עַד לְצַמָּתֵֽךְ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Thy lipsשָׂפָהώâphâh ώepheth · lipsH8193
• like a threadחוּטchûţ · threadH2339
• of scarletשָׁנִיshânîy · scarletH8144
• and thy speechמִדְבָּרmidbâr · mouthH4057
• comelyנָאוֶהnâ'veh · lovelyH5000
• thy templesרַקָּהraqqâh · templeH7541
• like a pieceפֶּ֫לַחpelach · millstoneH6400
• of a pomegranateרִמּוֹןrimmôn rimmôn · pomegranateH7416
• withinבַּ֫עַדbe‛ad · about/through/forH1157
• thy locksצַמָּהtsammâh · veilH6777

Commentaries on Song of Songs 4:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet - Both lips and cheeks were ruddy; sicut fragmen mali punici - Vulgate. Like the section of a pomegranate, that side cut off on which is the finest blush. This is a good and apt metaphor. But the inside may be referred to, as it is finely streaked with red and white melting into each other. She had beautiful hair, beautiful eyes, beautiful cheeks and lips, and a most pleasing and dulcet voice. Within thy locks - See…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3Pomegranates have a rosy look and are among the most abundant fruits in the Middle East.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. thread--like a delicate fillet. Not thick and white as the leper's lips (type of sin), which were therefore to be "covered," as "unclean" (Le 13:45). scarlet--The blood of Jesus Christ (Is 6:5-9) cleanses the leprosy, and unseals the lips (Is 57:19; Ho 14:2; He 13:15). Rahab's scarlet thread was a type of it (Jos 2:18). speech--not a separate feature from the lips (Zep 3:9; Col 4:6). Contrast "uncircumcised lips" (Ex 6:12). Maurer and Burrowes…Read the comment
• Rashi on Tanakh · v. 3Your lips are like a scarlet thread beautiful to promise and to keep their promise, as the Spies did to Rahab the harlot, i.e., they said to her, (Josh. 2:18): “you shall bind this line of scarlet thread, etc.,” and they kept their promise.Read the comment

In the dictionaries

• Color; Colors
• Ethics of Jesus
• Hair
• Pomegranate
• Temples
• Veil (1)
• Worm; Scarlet-Worm
• Veil
• veil, veiled, unveiled

Commentaries on Song of Songs 4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary