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

1Look at you! You are beautiful, my true love. Look at you! You are so beautiful. Your eyes behind your veil are like doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats moving down Mount Gilead. 2Your teeth are like a flock of sheep about to be sheared, sheep that come up from the washing. All of them bear twins, and not one has lost its young. Your lips are like scarlet thread. Your mouth is lovely. Your temples behind your veil are like slices of pomegranate. 4Your neck is like David’s beautifully-designed tower. A thousand round shields belonging to soldiers are hung on it. 5Your breasts are like two fawns, like twin gazelles grazing 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

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