Texts in Conversation
An obscure line in the Hebrew version of Song of Solomon names the speaker’s princely people. The Greek translation reads the puzzling words as a man’s name and translated it “Aminadab’s chariots,” a reading later interpreters made an elaborate allegory.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Song of Solomon 6:12
Song of Songs
Hebrew Bible
11 The Lover to His Beloved: I went down to the orchard of walnut trees, to look for the blossoms of the valley, to see if the vines had budded or if the pomegranates were in bloom. 12 I was beside myself with joy! There please give me your myrrh, O daughter of my princely people. 13 The Lover to His Beloved:(7:1) Turn, turn, O Perfect One! Turn, turn, that I may stare at you! The Beloved to Her Lover: Why do you gaze upon the Perfect One like the dance of the Mahanaim?
LXX Song of Songs 6:11
Septuagint
10 I went down into the garden of nut trees to look at the products of the brook, to see if the vine had blossomed, the pomegranates had bloomed. There I will give you my breasts. 11 My soul did not know: It made me Aminadab’s chariots. Daughters of Jerusalem 12 bReturn, return, O Shulammite. Return, return, and we will look at you. Woman
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Notes and References
... The Hebrew text of Canticles contains a number of obscure passages that the translator has reproduced word for word, resulting in a Greek text as enigmatic as its Hebrew model, such that we do not know how the translator understood these passages—or indeed whether he did understand them. Thus, in the well-known crux interpretum of Canticles 6.12, the translator has reproduced word for word the Hebrew text before him: [...] NRSV: Before I was aware, my fancy set me in a chariot beside my prince. [...] NETS: My soul was not aware; it made me as Aminadab's chariots. ...
Auwers, Jean-Marie
"Canticles (Song of Songs)" in Aitken, James K. (ed.) The T&T Clark Companion to the Septuagint
(p. 373) Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2015
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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