Song of Songs 1:8

American Standard Version (1901)

If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, Go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, And feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

אִם־לֹ֤א תֵדְעִי֙ לָ֔ךְ הַיָּפָ֖ה בַּנָּשִׁ֑ים צְֽאִי־לָ֞ךְ בְּעִקְבֵ֣י הַצֹּ֗אן וּרְעִי֙ אֶת־גְּדִיֹּתַ֔יִךְ עַ֖ל מִשְׁכְּנ֥וֹת הָרֹעִֽים׃

Transliteration

If-not tēdʿî to-you the-yāfāh in-the-nāšîm go-out-for-you in-ʿiqbê the-ṣōʾn and-rĕʿî ʾet-gĕdiyyōtayik upon miškĕnôt the-rōʿîm

Grammar Details

• *ʾim-lōʾ*: conditional particle with negative - if not
• *tēdʿî*: imperfect verb, 2nd feminine singular - you know
• *lāk*: preposition with 2nd feminine singular suffix - for yourself
• *ha-yāfāh*: adjective, feminine, singular with definite article - the beautiful one
• *ba-nāšîm*: preposition with noun, feminine, plural with definite article - among women
• *ṣĕʾî-lāk*: imperative verb, feminine singular with preposition and 2nd feminine singular suffix - go out for yourself
• *bĕ-ʿiqbê*: preposition with noun, masculine, plural construct - in the tracks of
• *ha-ṣōʾn*: noun, masculine, singular collective with definite article - the flock
• *û-rĕʿî*: conjunction with imperative verb, feminine singular - and pasture
• *ʾet-gĕdiyyōtayik*: direct object marker with noun, feminine, plural with 2nd feminine singular possessive suffix - your young goats
• *ʿal miškĕnôt*: preposition with noun, feminine, plural construct - by/near the dwellings of
• *hā-rōʿîm*: participle, masculine, plural with definite article - the shepherds

Word Meanings

• *ʿiqbê*: tracks/footsteps/traces
• *miškĕnôt*: dwellings/tents/habitations
• *rōʿîm*: shepherds/those who pasture

Referenced Verses

• Song 5:9 : 9 What is thy beloved more than [another] beloved, O thou fairest among women? What is thy beloved more than [another] beloved, That thou dost so adjure us?
• Song 6:1 : 1 Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? Whither hath thy beloved turned him, That we may seek him with thee?
• Song 6:4-9 : 4 Thou art fair, O my love, as Tirzah, Comely as Jerusalem, Terrible as an army with banners. 5 Turn away thine eyes from me, For they have overcome me. Thy hair is as a flock of goats, That lie along the side of Gilead. 6 Thy teeth are like a flock of ewes, Which are come up from the washing; Whereof every one hath twins, And none is bereaved among them. 7 Thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate Behind thy veil. 8 There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, And virgins without number. 9 My dove, my undefiled, is [but] one; She is the only one of her mother; She is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and called her blessed; [Yea], the queens and the concubines, and they praised her. 10 Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, Fair as the moon, Clear as the sun, Terrible as an army with banners?
• Song 7:1-9 : 1 How beautiful are thy feet in sandals, O prince's daughter! Thy rounded thighs are like jewels, The work of the hands of a skilful workman. 2 Thy body is [like] a round goblet, [Wherein] no mingled wine is wanting: Thy waist is [like] a heap of wheat Set about with lilies. 3 Thy two breasts are like two fawns That are twins of a roe. 4 Thy neck is like the tower of ivory; Thine eyes [as] the pools in Heshbon, By the gate of Bath-rabbim; Thy nose is like the tower of Lebanon Which looketh toward Damascus. 5 Thy head upon thee is like Carmel, And the hair of thy head like purple; The king is held captive in the tresses [thereof] . 6 How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights! 7 This thy stature is like to a palm-tree, And thy breasts to its clusters. 8 I said, I will climb up into the palm-tree, I will take hold of the branches thereof: Let thy breasts be as clusters of the vine, And the smell of thy breath like apples, 9 And thy mouth like the best wine, That goeth down smoothly for my beloved, Gliding through the lips of those that are asleep. 10 I am my beloved's; And his desire is toward me. 11 Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; Let us lodge in the villages. 12 Let us get up early to the vineyards; Let us see whether the vine hath budded, [And] its blossom is open, [And] the pomegranates are in flower: There will I give thee my love. 13 The mandrakes give forth fragrance; And at our doors are all manner of precious fruits, new and old, Which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.
• Jer 6:16 : 16 Thus saith Jehovah, Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way; and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls: but they said, We will not walk [therein] .
• John 21:15 : 15 So when they had broken their fast, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, [son] of John, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
• 1 Cor 11:1 : 1 Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.
• Eph 5:27 : 27 that he might present the church to himself a glorious [church], not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
• Heb 6:12 : 12 that ye be not sluggish, but imitators of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
• Heb 11:4-9 : 4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had witness borne to him that he was righteous, God bearing witness in respect of his gifts: and through it he being dead yet speaketh. 5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God translated him: for he hath had witness borne to him that before his translation he had been well-pleasing unto God: 6 And without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing [unto him] ; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that seek after him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned [of God] concerning things not seen as yet, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. 8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out unto a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9 By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as in a [land] not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10 for he looked for the city which hath the foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11 By faith even Sarah herself received power to conceive seed when she was past age, since she counted him faithful who had promised: 12 wherefore also there sprang of one, and him as good as dead, [so many] as the stars of heaven in multitude, and as the sand, which is by the sea-shore, innumerable. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For they that say such things make it manifest that they are seeking after a country of their own. 15 And if indeed they had been mindful of that [country] from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better [country], that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God; for he hath prepared for them a city. 17 By faith Abraham, being tried, offered up Isaac: yea, he that had gladly received the promises was offering up his only begotten [son] ; 18 [ even he] to whom it was said, In Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 accounting that God [is] able to raise up, even from the dead; from whence he did also in a figure receive him back. 20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even concerning things to come. 21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, [leaning] upon the top of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, when his end was nigh, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones. 23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months by his parents, because they saw he was a goodly child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; 25 choosing rather to share ill treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 26 accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he looked unto the recompense of reward. 27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of the blood, that the destroyer of the firstborn should not touch them. 29 By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were swallowed up. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been compassed about for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the harlot perished not with them that were disobedient, having received the spies with peace. 32 And what shall I more say? for the time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah; of David and Samuel and the prophets: 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, waxed mighty in war, turned to flight armies of aliens. 35 Women received their dead by a resurrection: and others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 36 and others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 37 they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword: they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated 38 (of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves, and the holes of the earth. 39 And these all, having had witness borne to them through their faith, received not the promise, 40 God having provided some better thing concerning us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
• Heb 13:7 : 7 Remember them that had the rule over you, men that spake unto you the word of God; and considering the issue of their life, imitate their faith.
• Jas 2:21 : 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son upon the altar?
• Jas 2:25 : 25 And in like manner was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way?
• Jas 5:10 : 10 Take, brethren, for an example of suffering and of patience, the prophets who spake in the name of the Lord.
• 1 Pet 3:6 : 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose children ye now are, if ye do well, and are not put in fear by any terror.
• Rev 19:7-8 : 7 Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8 And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright [and] pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
• Ps 16:3 : 3 As for the saints that are in the earth, They are the excellent in whom is all my delight.
• Ps 45:11 : 11 So will the king desire thy beauty; For he is thy lord; And reverence thou him.
• Ps 45:13 : 13 The king's daughter within [the palace] is all glorious: Her clothing is inwrought with gold.
• Prov 8:34 : 34 Blessed is the man that heareth me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at the posts of my doors.
• Song 1:15 : 15 Behold, thou art fair, my love; Behold thou art fair; Thine eyes are [as] doves.
• Song 2:10 : 10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
• Song 4:1 : 1 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; Thine eyes are [as] doves behind thy veil. Thy hair is as a flock of goats, That lie along the side of mount Gilead.
• Song 4:7 : 7 Thou art all fair, my love; And there is no spot in thee.
• Song 4:10 : 10 How fair is thy love, my sister, [my] bride! How much better is thy love than wine! And the fragrance of thine oils than all manner of spices!