Song of Songs 6:4c

• KJV: Terrible as an army with banners
• NIV: As majestic as troops with banners
• NASB: As awesome as an army with banners

Don’t get me wrong; I’ve seen my wife be frightening when one of our children is threatened. She responds with the wrath of a mamma bear (see Lily on How I Met Your Mother). Pit bulls are sent off whimpering and great white sharks vacate the immediate vicinity, but only after vacating their bladders.

But I wouldn’t dare call her terrible. Especially not to praise or flatter. Especially not to mamma bear’s face.

Yet as Carr points out, “The adjective occurs only here and at Habakkuk 1:7 where it is used of the Babylonian armies. A related noun means ‘terror’, ‘dread’, or ‘awe’.”

Thankfully, though, the original Hebrew doesn’t contain “army” here; the translators inject it (or “troops” per the NIV) in an attempt to offer some context for the banners. Really, the wording is more like “terrible [or whatever] as bannered” which is confusing but at least doesn’t elicit images of bloodshed.

Having just mentioned cities of beauty, “as bannered” is more than likely a reference to a city decorated, like for a massive city-wide festival. And the focus on physical beauty is reinforced by realizing the root word translated as banners means simply “to look on”, as banners in cities (or armies) can be looked on with awe.

With this in mind, we can see that he’s commenting on her capacity to leave someone in awe by being just so incredibly gorgeous, like city decorated to the brim, with confetti and banners, and colors, and smiles. The wonders of a great festival are all consolidated into the wonder of one woman.

So what this means in today’s terms, more or less, is “You’re so hot you make me drool.” I’d go with that. Though mamma bear probably doesn’t want to hear that any more than “terrible as an army with banners.” Just wait until she calms down, buddy. Or follow the pitbull’s lead.

Originally posted 2016-09-26 08:00:06.