Translation
Your cheeks
Go to footnote numberare beautiful with ornament
Go to footnote numberyour neck
Go to footnote numberwith strings
of jewels.
Go to footnote numberParaphrase
You protect what is yours, yet you do so with beauty, with classy elegance; and you hold to your priorities with elegant dignity.
Footnotes
1
Cheeks were associated with teeth because they concealed the jaw. For the people of that day, the word pictures of teeth, jaw, and cheeks were basically the same. Teeth were associated not with eating, but with defense, as in an animal baring its teeth or using its teeth to fight off an attacker coming for its young.
Implications for marriage: Both the man and the woman have protective roles to play especially when there are children in the picture. The father is the first line of defense, protection is one of his key roles, but the mother is the last line of defense (don’t mess with mama bear). And in the marriage they should both work to protect each other.
2: “with ornament”
One does not usually ornament the cheeks, so translations that say “earrings” are likely trying to rectify what is seen as a contradiction. However, it is the set of symbols that matter, not the literal meaning. Since cheeks represent protection, it is saying that her way of protecting is classy and elegant. The symbolic meaning of all types of jewelry was the same. Back then the act of wearing jewels was a demonstration of wealth, and the larger or more engraved those jewels, the greater the wealth. There was also a sense of class and style, as well as the desire to adorn, or make more beautiful.
3: “neck”
The term used here can mean either the neck in general or the back of the neck; context must guide the reader in knowing which one is in view. The imagery of the back of the neck is mostly negative, having to do with being conquered by enemies, enslaved (think of the foot on the back of the neck), burdened down (think of a yoke across the back of the neck) and forced to submit to a tyrant. It does not fit for him to tell her that her burdens are lovely, and the idea of forced submission does not fit either. The Song deals honestly with hard times and difficulties in other places, but here it does not seem to fit. Therefore, I have taken the word to mean the neck in general. The same is true in 4:4. There are similarities in the starting points of the imagery of the neck and the back of the neck, but they take the reader different directions.
4
Jewels, like earrings, were a sign of wealth, class, style, and dignity.