His arms are rods of gold set with beryl. His body is an ivory panel bedecked with sapphires.
Parallel translations
- WEB His hands are like rings of gold set with beryl. His body is like ivory work overlaid with sapphires.
- KJV His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.
- NKJV His hands are rods of gold Set with beryl. His body is carved ivory Inlaid with sapphires.
- NASB “His hands are rods of gold Set with topaz; His abdomen is panels of ivory Covered with sapphires.
- NLT His arms are like rounded bars of gold, set with beryl. His body is like bright ivory, glowing with lapis lazuli.
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
His hands and body are likened to gold set with gems and polished ivory adorned with sapphires, picturing strength, splendor, and worth. The beloved is admired as precious and majestic.
Overview
The imagery of gold, beryl, ivory, and sapphire piles up to convey richness and dignity. The bride sees her beloved as costly and magnificent in every part. In the broader biblical pattern, such language of glory and beauty anticipates the surpassing worth of Christ, in whom believers find every treasure.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Exod 24:10and they saw the God of Israel. Under His feet was a work like a pavement made of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself.
- Isa 54:11“O afflicted city, lashed by storms, without solace, surely I will set your stones in antimony and lay your foundations with sapphires.
- Exod 28:20and in the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. Mount these stones in gold filigree settings.
- Song 7:2Your navel is a rounded goblet; it never lacks blended wine. Your waist is a mound of wheat encircled by the lilies.
- Isa 9:7Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.
- Isa 52:13Behold, My Servant will prosper; He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
- Ezek 1:26–28Above the expanse over their heads was the likeness of a throne with the appearance of sapphire, and on the throne high above was a figure like that of a man.
- Ezek 1:16The workmanship of the wheels looked like the gleam of beryl, and all four had the same likeness. Their workmanship looked like a wheel within a wheel.
- Ps 99:4The mighty King loves justice. You have established equity; You have exercised justice and righteousness in Jacob.
- Exod 39:13and the fourth row had a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. These stones were mounted in gold filigree settings.
- Exod 15:6Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has shattered the enemy.
- Ps 44:4–7You are my King, O God, who ordains victories for Jacob.
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 5:14 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.