TEXT [Commentary]

black diamond   III.   Third Love Poem: Teasing Lovers (1:7-8)

7 Tell me, my love, where are you leading your flock today?

Where will you rest your sheep at noon?

For why should I wander like a prostitute[*]

among your friends and their flocks?

Young Man

8 If you don’t know, O most beautiful woman,

follow the trail of my flock,

and graze your young goats by the shepherds’ tents.

NOTES

1:7 wander. In the Heb. the woman simply asks why she should be like a prostitute. The NLT introduces the idea of wandering, since that is the implication of the comment. If the man does not give her directions, then she will have to proceed from tent to tent and look like a prostitute who is trying to get a customer.

like a prostitute. Lit., “like a veiled woman” (cf. NLT mg). The NLT rightly understands that the veil is a prostitute’s veil in this context (Gen 38:14-15) and so makes the ancient implication clear to the modern reader. An alternate understanding of the line is provided by G. R. Driver (1974) and J. A. Emerton (1993). Preferring the other of the two ancient Semitic roots spelled ‘th as the source of the word ‘otyah, they interpret the phrase as indicating that the woman does not want to be left “picking lice,” an expression equivalent to our “twiddling thumbs.” The NEB has adopted this reading.

COMMENTARY [Text]

In this poem, we get our first interchange between the young woman and the young man. Indeed, this is the first time that we hear directly from the young man. The woman invites him to an intimate noontime meeting, and he responds with a provocative tease. Her invitation has a playful tone about it as well, with sexually charged overtones. She asks for directions as to where she might meet him at noon and then implies that she would still try to find him anyway. She fears lest she look like a paid woman (a prostitute) who goes out to the shepherds during their breaks in her attempt to find him. The man responds to her question indirectly, leaving an air of mystery, but also implying that he desires her company.