Many Hebrew words have more than one distinct meaning. In English we call these words homographs. Dogs bark (make noise) and trees are covered with bark (outer layer of wood). I read a novel (fiction book) that was novel (new, surprising). Is your knowledge current (up to date) about the North Atlantic current (flow of water)? Do you have a black suit (clothing) to suit (match) your tastes? To understand English or Hebrew you must learn to select from context which meaning of a word is intended.[1] Interpretation is further complicated when words are spoken since there are words that are spelled differently but sound the same.[2] Polysemy is defined as the coexistence of many possible meanings for a word or phrase. Using polysemy an author can construct a sentence that is intentionally ambiguous. Hebrew and English are full of polysemy.
Let me illustrate with a famous verse that has two words with multiple meanings:
רֹאשׁ (Rosh) means both “poison/venom” (Deut 29:18) and “head, ruler, chief, foremost, peak” (Gen 40:13)
שׁוּף (Suph) has a primitive root meaning “to gape/snap at” hence to “bruise, break, cover” (Genesis 3:15, Job 9:17) and figuratively “to overwhelm” (Psalm 139:11).”[3]
In Genesis 3:15 God uses these words when he prophesies about the conflict between Jesus, the seed of the woman (Eve), and the seed of the serpent (Satan):
Gen 3:15 (NIV) “he shall bruise (שׁוּף) your head (רֹאשׁ) and you shall bruise (שׁוּף) his heel”
I can understand the reason the NIV is trying to consistently translate שׁוּף as bruise within the same verse. However, as in the sentences in the first paragraph of this post, there are other alternatives. When I choose different plausible meanings for these words I can construct an alternate translation:
Gen 3:15 (mine) “he shall cover (שׁוּף) your venom (רֹאשׁ) and you shall snap at (שׁוּף) his heel”
Perhaps “covering the venom” was an idiom for “defanging” a snake? Jesus destroys the serpent by taking his venom away, but the serpent poisons and kills Jesus by biting his heel. This is an example where both my translation and the NIV translation make sense independently but work together synergistically to give a more complete picture. This prophesy was fulfilled by Jesus, when he died and took our sin, our “poison”, upon himself. When we look to him on the cross in faith we are saved. This is explained further by Jesus in John 3:13-18 and this poison metaphor is related back to the incident with the bronze serpent from Numbers 21:6-9. The snake bit Israelites looked up in faith to the bronze serpent on the pole and were healed from the venom.
Another kind of polysemy happens in Hebrew when a single word means two opposing concepts:
חֶסֶד (chesed) means both “lovingkindness/goodness/covenant faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6) and its opposite “disgrace/shame/abomination” (Leviticus 20:17)
הָלַךְ (Hālach) means “to walk” either “to come/enter” (Gen 11:31) or “to go/depart” (Gen 21:1)
These very common Hebrew words present their own challenge to interpreters since they have to decide from context which meaning is intended.
One familiar example of polysemic phrases is double entendre. This is when a word or phrase is chosen because it has a second risqué (sexual) or ironic meaning. For example Much Ado About Nothing was chosen by Shakespeare as a name for a play because of the Elizabethan use of “no-thing” as slang for vagina.[4] Shakespeare’s comedies are full of double entendres. A more modern example is the hit TV show The Office. Michael teaches his coworkers to put the phrase “that’s what she said” after a thousand innocent phrases making them sound bawdy: “I can’t believe you came!” (spoken when Michael shows up unexpectedly to a wedding), which is followed by “that’s what she said!” and laughter. “I know it’s hard” (spoken to during an emotional break-up moment)… you get the idea. Each of these is exploiting a ribald polysemy. Even innocent phrases like: “visitor center” and “bitter sweet chocolates” are turned into comical double entendres when the response is “But I only just met her!” [hear “visit-her center”, “bit-her sweet chocolates”…].
Polysemes are a fairly universal feature of language (except perhaps in very technical languages, like computer codes), so not surprisingly Hebrew is full of polysemes. The technique of using the multiple meanings of a single word or phrase poetically is called “Janus parallelism”. I will cite many examples of this from the Bible’s most cherished love poem entitled Song of Songs for Solomon. The Song of Songs is a love song between a simple country bride and a majestic king. Song of Songs is a Hebrew idiom, like Holy of Holies (the most holy place), that means “the best of Solomon’s love songs”.
I want to say, up front, that the Song of Songs is erotic literature. While explicit in English, it is even more sexually explicit in Hebrew. It has been suggested that the Jewish Rabbi’s discouraged their disciples from studying the Song of Songs until they were 30 years old.[5] The Rabbi’s thought that disciples needed to be sufficiently mature to be able to look beyond references to human sexuality to appreciate the deeper message of God’s desire for intimacy with his people. Certainly a sacred view is upheld in the copious commentary on the Song of Songs in the Jewish Book of Legends. This quote perhaps best summarizes the reverence that these Rabbinical Jews felt for the Song of Songs:
“Behold, thou art fair, My love, behold, thou art fair” (Song 1:15, 4:1). “R. Akiva (90AD) said: The entire world, all of it, is not equal in worth to the day on which the Song of Songs was given to Israel. Why? Because all other books in the Writings are holy, whereas the Song of Songs is holy of holies.” [Sefer Haaggadah, p 484#136].
In fact, Song of Songs holds a prominent position in the Jewish liturgy, portions of which are sung on the 8th day of the Passover Celebration.
In the Bible, Solomon is lauded for his unrivaled wisdom and intellect. His genius is especially evident in the Song of Songs which is filled with multiple meanings and double entendre. In a number of places the powerful Janus parallelism presents a conundrum for translators because both meanings are relevant to the poem. The result is that a translator chooses just one meaning and non-Hebrew speakers simply miss half of the content.
Here are five examples:
- זָכַר (zāchar) means “remember” (Gen 40:23) and “male” (Gen 1:27)
verse 1:4: (S. Levanon translation) “Draw me, after you let us run; The king has brought me to his chambers, Let us be glad and let us rejoice in you, Let us recall זָכַר your love more than wine, (More than) smooth-wine, they love you.”
“The Hebrew זָכַר zāchar typically means “remember,” thus our rendering “recall.” But a homonymous root, which serves as the basis for the common word zākār “male,” bears a sexual connotation. Accordingly, a second meaning is evident as well, something like “let us make-love your love.”[6]
- דֶּגֶלֹ (degel) means “banner/standard” or an Assyrian/Akkadian verb dagālu “see/observe”.
Songs 2:4 (NIV) Let him lead me to the banquet hall, and let his banner דֶּגֶלֹ over me be love.
Songs 2:4 (S. Levanon translation) “He brought me to the house of wine, And his glance דֶּגֶלֹ toward me is love.”
“If taken from the Hebrew noun דֶּגֶלֹ (degel), then “his banner.” But we have chosen to relate the word here to the Akkadian verb dagālu “see.” Of course, both meanings could be inherent, given the thread of polysemy that permeates the book.”[7]
- זָמַר (zāmar) means both “pruning” (Lev 25:3) and “singing” (Job 35:10).
Songs 2:12 (NIV) Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing זָמַר has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.
Songs 2:12 (S. Levanon translation) The blossoms appear in the land, The time of pruning/singing זָמַר has arrived; The voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.”
“In one of the most brilliant of all passages in the Song—indeed, in the entire Bible—we are treated here to a dazzling display of the poet’s talent with this Janus parallelism. The Hebrew word zāmîr, placed in the middle stich, means both “pruning” and “singing”; with the first meaning it looks back to the first stich and the key word “blossoms,” while with the second meaning it looks forward to the third stich with the key phrase “voice of the turtledove.” [8] Here the Levanon translation attempts to portray both meanings in the English translation because choosing just one, like the NIV, falls sadly short of the beauty of the Hebrew.
- בֶּתֶר (Bether) means “parts/cleaves in two” (Gen 15:2) or may be a place name “Bether”.
Songs 2:17b (NASB) Turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.
Songs 2:17b (S. Levanon translation) “Turn, liken yourself, my beloved, to a gazelle, Or to a fawn of the hinds, Upon the mountains of cleavage (בֶּתֶר). “
“Hebrew beter (here in pausal form bāter) has elicited much discussion. We prefer to derive the word from the verbal root b-t-r “cleave,” thus our rendering “cleavage,” and to see here a reference to the female lover’s breasts, imagined as mountains. That is to say, she invites her beloved to her breasts, echoing the sentiment expressed in 1:13.”[9]
- דֹּד (dod) has many meanings: דֹּדֶיךָ “your love” (Songs 1:2), דּוֹדִי “my beloved” (Songs 1:13), דּד “your uncle” (Lev 10:4), דֹדַיִךְ “your breasts – dual form” (Eze 23:21), דֹדִים “your lovemaking – plural form” (Prov 7:18).
Because of this, occasionally, it is mistranslated into English. For example:
Songs 2:10 (NIV) “How beautiful is your love (דֹדַיִךְ), my sister, my bride! How much better is your love (דֹדַיִךְ) than wine, And the fragrance of your oils than all kinds of spices!
The dual form in Hebrew is clearly referring to breasts (or nipples).
Songs 2:10 (my translation) “How beautiful are your breasts, my sister, my bride! How much better are your breasts than wine, And the fragrance of your oils than all kinds of spices!
In Hebrew the “better than” construction literally reads “more good than wine”. It is a superlative comparison and could mean: “your breasts are more intoxicating than wine”, “your breasts are sweeter than wine”, “your nipples are redder than wine” etc. At this point, I have to pause and ask, why don’t any of our modern translations get this verse right? I looked at all the English translations I could find. Not one was correct. Then I translated the Septuagint from Greek. The Septuagint (and Vulgate Latin) both translate this verse correctly (note that μαστοί (mastoi) is the word for breasts!):
Songs 4:10 LXX τί ἐκαλλιώθησαν μαστοί σου, ἀδελφή μου νύμφη; τί ἐκαλλιώθησαν μαστοί σου
Songs 4:10 How made beautified breasts your, sister my bride; how made beautified breasts your
ἀπὸ οἴνου, καὶ ὀσμὴ ἱματίων σου ὑπὲρ πάντα τὰ ἀρώματα;
from wine, and scent garments your, above all the perfumes.
Songs 4:10 (mine LXX) How beautiful are your breasts, sister my bride; how much more alluring than wine are your breasts and the scent of your garments above all the perfumes.
My Greek (LXX) and Hebrew translations are quite close. While I cannot truly ascribe the motive, clearly the English translations are wrong and appear to be censoring God’s Word making it less sexually explicit. This angers me. If God is not ashamed to have it in His word, perhaps we shouldn’t stand as judge over his word presuming to be “more pure” than He is? This is a love poem from a husband to his bride and in this verse the groom speaks to his bride expressing his joy and pleasure with her breasts. I find it reassuring to know that God approves of men taking delight in their wives’ breasts. Further, God is teaching men to express our delight verbally and thereby help dispel the insecurities of our brides. Many of the double meanings in the Song of Songs are sexual double entendre, but not intended for humor, rather to express sexual intimacy, one of God’s greatest gifts to mankind.
Sometimes double meanings give a rich layer of potential meanings for deep allegorical interpretation.
אַף (aph) means “yes/surely/furthermore” or “nose/anger/wrath”.
Songs 1:16a (NIV) “How handsome you are, my beloved! Oh [אַף], how charming!”
Compare to the translation from the Jewish Book of Legends (Sefer Haaggadah) pp 341#52:
Songs 1:16a “Behold, thou are fair, my Beloved, pleasing even in wrath [אַף]”
Jewish Book of Legends commentary continues: “The congregation of Israel said: Master of the Universe, the wrath You bring upon me is pleasing. Why? Because You thus restore me to Yourself, bringing me back to the right way.” There is great wisdom to realize that it is much better that God expresses his anger immediately so that we repent of our sin and return to him, rather than to let our sin fester until it destroys us. Notice that our modern English translations choose the former translation, “yes” and translate it with the exclamation “oh”, while the Rabbi here is considering the latter meaning, “wrath”.
As with most polysemy, to the Hebrew reader both meanings coexist for consideration.
I am only scratching the surface about this topic, but wanted to give a flavor of the sort of Rabinnical commentary that exists on many, many verses of the scripture. Polysemy opens a way for an infinite God to expand language dramatically for communicating his purposes. What I find is that those who look deeper into the scriptures, constantly find that God has put more there to be found.
Imagine, just for a moment, how much more Jesus saw when he read the scriptures as a young man.
[1] Homographs are words that have different meanings and are spelled the same. Heteronym is a type of homograph that is spelled the same but pronounced differently (bass (note), bass (fish); tear (rip), tear (eye)). So polysemy and homograph are synonyms both describing a single word (same spelling) with multiple meanings.
[2] Homonyms have different meanings and sound the same. All of the examples of polysemy chosen above are also homonyms. Homophones are a type of homonym that is spelled differently but still sounds the same (base, bass; maul, mall). The different spelling means they are not polysemic, but in fact different words. For interpreting the spoken word the listener must learn to select the correct homophone from context.
[3] https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7779.htm quote from Strongs exhaustive concordance.
[4] Williams, Gordon (1997). A Glossary of Shakespeare’s Sexual Language. Althone Press. p. 219.
[5] “…the Jewish doctors advised their young people not to read it till they were thirty years old.” – Puritan Commentator Matthew Henry
[6] S Levanon, faculty University of Washington. Recent SoS Translation from Hebrew with notes. http://faculty.washington.edu/snoegel/PDFs/articles/Song%20of%20Songs%20Translation.pdf
[7] S Levanon, ibid. pg 192. For example, see Numbers 1:52 for the use of דֶּגֶל as “standard” or “banner”. See Songs 5:10 for דָּגוּל as “outstanding”.
[8] S Levanon, pg 193. See also C. H. Gordon, “New Directions,” BASP 15 (1978): 59–66.
[9] S Levanon, ibid. pg 194.
Atheist to Elder 