The Challenge of Hebrew Bible Love Poetry: A Pleonastic Approach to the Translation of Metaphor—Part 2

Part 1 of this article made a case for “pleonastic” translation, i.e., adding pleonasms (synonymous adjectives) to metaphorical nouns to bridge the cultural distance between the ancient Israelite text and the present-day reader. Part 2 exemplifies this approach with a translation of some of the body-description verses from the Song of Songs (esp. 7.2-6 [English 7.1-5]). Introductory considerations concerning this biblical book are offered, addressing, e.g., life-setting, register, and hermeneutical key. Rooted in translation theory and metaphor theory, this article draws attention to the various aspects of the Song of Songs and proposes a “dynamic equivalent” way (following Nida and Taber’s call for clarity) to provide present-day readers with a comprehensible translation of its ancient metaphors. This results in a respectful translation with additional pleonasms and other types of elucidations.