Song of Songs 1 — Hebrew and Greek compared
Disparate in this chapter: 1:2, 1:4
Each card keeps the independently rendered source readings above their shared comparison and reception notes. The badge records the source’s governing classification; disparate readings are marked in red. Each reading retains its original reference.
Chapter 1
Longing, beauty and the beloved
Hebrew source [BHS1] • Greek source [LXX1]
Verse 1:1 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:1] The Song of Songs, which belongs to Solomon.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:1] The Song of Songs, which belongs to Solomon.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: The title associates the song with Solomon; the possessive construction alone does not resolve authorship, dedication or collection. Rabbinic reception: Rashi on 1:1 reads Solomon as a sacred designation for the King to Whom peace belongs and the song as Israel’s address to God. This is his interpretive reading, distinguished from the grammatical title. [RASHI1]
Verse 1:2 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:2] Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your caresses are better than wine.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:2] Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your breasts are better than wine.
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: Hebrew dodekha denotes expressions of love; Greek mastoi explicitly names breasts. The shift from him to your remains in both; the images are not harmonized.
Verse 1:3 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:3] Your oils are good to smell;
your name is oil poured out. That is why young women love you.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:3] The fragrance of your perfumes surpasses all spices;
your name is perfume poured out. That is why young women loved you,
Classification & Notes
Divergent. Text: Greek explicitly compares the fragrance with all spices and continues into the next verse. Hebrew plays on shemen, oil, and shem, name.
Verse 1:4 Disparate
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:4] Draw me after you;
let us run! The king has brought me into his chambers. Let us exult and rejoice in you;
let us celebrate your caresses more than wine. Rightly do they love you.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:4] They drew you;
after you we shall run into the fragrance of your perfumes. The king brought me into his chamber. Let us exult and rejoice in you;
we shall love your breasts more than wine. Uprightness loved you.
Classification & Notes
Disparate. Text: Greek changes the imperative draw me to they drew you, adds fragrance, has breasts rather than caresses, and makes uprightness the subject of loved. Hebrew rightly may alternatively describe those who love as upright. Singular and plural voices are retained.
Verse 1:5 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:5] I am black and beautiful, daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like Solomon's curtains.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:5] I am black and beautiful, daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like Solomon's tent coverings.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Both have and, not an imposed contrast between dark skin and beauty. Greek derrheis specifies skins or coarse tent coverings rather than generic curtains.
Verse 1:6 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:6] Do not stare at me because I am dark, because the sun has gazed upon me. My mother's sons were angry with me;
they made me keeper of the vineyards. My own vineyard I have not kept.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:6] Do not look at me because I have been darkened, because the sun looked upon me. My mother's sons fought against me;
they made me a keeper in vineyards. My own vineyard I did not keep.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The sun's gaze is personified. Greek explicitly describes conflict where Hebrew has anger. The vineyard image is retained without replacing it with an interpretation of the body.
Verse 1:7 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:7] Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture, where you make the flock rest at noon. Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your companions?
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:7] Tell me, you whom my soul loved, where you pasture, where you rest at noon, lest I become like a woman covering herself beside your companions' herds.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The flock in the Hebrew rest clause is an implied object. The difficult covering or veiling image is retained; no identification as a prostitute is inserted.
Verse 1:8 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:8] If you do not know, most beautiful among women, go out in the tracks of the flock and pasture your young goats beside the shepherds' dwellings.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:8] If you do not know yourself, beautiful among women, go out along the heels of the flocks and pasture your young goats beside the shepherds' tents.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Greek explicitly says know yourself; Hebrew's idiomatic lakh need not be a reflexive object. The Greek superlative force is conveyed by the surrounding comparison, without adding most to its wording.
Verse 1:9 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:9] I compare you, my companion, to my mare among Pharaoh's chariots.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:9] I have compared you, my companion, to my mare among Pharaoh's chariots.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Both retain the female horse and the royal chariot image.
Verse 1:10 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:10] Your cheeks are beautiful with rows of ornaments, your neck with strings of beads.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:10] How beautiful your cheeks have become, like turtledoves, and your neck like necklaces!
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew torim is taken as ornament rows; Greek trygones explicitly gives turtledoves. Greek also uses like before necklaces.
Verse 1:11 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:11] We will make you rows of gold ornaments with studs of silver.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:11] We will make you likenesses of gold with dots of silver.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: The Greek does not reproduce the Hebrew noun for ornament rows. Likenesses is retained without specifying the design.
Verse 1:12 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:12] While the king was at his reclining place, my nard gave its fragrance.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:12] While the king was reclining, my nard gave its fragrance.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Nard, the aromatic substance, is retained; no modern substitute is introduced.
Verse 1:13 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:13] My beloved is to me a bundle of myrrh;
he spends the night between my breasts.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:13] My kinsman is to me a bundle of liquid myrrh;
he will lodge between my breasts.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Greek adelphidos is rendered kinsman throughout, preserving its kinship language where Hebrew dod means beloved in the poem. This does not establish a literal family relationship. Greek stakte specifies flowing myrrh.
Verse 1:14 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:14] My beloved is to me a cluster of henna in the vineyards of En-gedi.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:14] My kinsman is to me a cluster of henna in the vineyards of En-gedi.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: Beloved and kinsman retain the recurring lexical distinction; the floral comparison and location agree.
Verse 1:15 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:15] Look, you are beautiful, my companion! Look, you are beautiful;
your eyes are doves.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:15] Look, you are beautiful, my companion! Look, you are beautiful;
your eyes are doves.
Classification & Notes
Same. Text: Both give the direct metaphor eyes are doves, without adding like.
Verse 1:16 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:16] Look, you are beautiful, my beloved, and delightful! Our bed, too, is leafy green.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:16] Look, you are beautiful, my kinsman, and indeed lovely! Moreover, our bed is shaded.
Classification & Notes
Different. Text: Hebrew gives luxuriant greenness; Greek gives shade. The unusual Greek pros is taken adverbially as moreover; its construction remains a specialist review question.
Verse 1:17 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
[1:17] The beams of our houses are cedars;
our rafters are cypresses.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
[1:17] The beams of our houses are cedars;
our ceiling panels are cypresses.
Classification & Notes
Similar. Text: The architectural nouns differ slightly. Cypress is a conventional identification of the second Hebrew timber; precise species is uncertain.