“Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep Which have come up from their watering place, All of which bear twins, And not one among them has lost her young.
Parallel translations
- WEB Your teeth are like a newly shorn flock, which have come up from the washing, where every one of them has twins. None is bereaved among them.
- KJV Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them.
- BSB Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep coming up from the washing; each has its twin, and not one of them is lost.
- NKJV Your teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep Which have come up from the washing, Every one of which bears twins, And none is barren among them.
- NLT Your teeth are as white as sheep, recently shorn and freshly washed. Your smile is flawless, each tooth matched with its twin.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
He compares her white, even teeth to a freshly washed flock. It praises her health and flawless beauty.
Overview
Her teeth are like newly shorn, washed ewes, each matched and none missing, a picture of wholeness and beauty. The imagery, drawn from pastoral life, conveys purity and perfection. The praise of her unblemished beauty anticipates the bride made spotless, presented faultless before her Lord (Eph. 5:27).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Song 6:6Your teeth are like a flock of ewes, which have come up from the washing; of which every one has twins; no one is bereaved among them.
- Col 1:4–6having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which you have toward all the saints,
- Jer 15:16Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by your name, Yahweh, God of Armies.
- John 15:7If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.
- 2 Pet 1:5–8Yes, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence; and in moral excellence, knowledge;
- 1 Th 2:13For this cause we also thank God without ceasing, that, when you received from us the word of the message of God, you accepted it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which also works in you who believe.
- Deut 7:13–14He will love you, bless you, multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your livestock and the young of your flock, in the land which he swore to your fathers to give you.
- Exod 23:26No one will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days.
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Christ at the center
The poetry of covenant love between bride and bridegroom pictures, at its highest, the love of Christ for his church — the Bridegroom who gave himself for his bride.
How Song of Songs 4:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.