The Lover to His Beloved:
8:13 O you who stay in the gardens,
my companions are listening attentively 12 for your voice;
let me be the one to 13 hear it! 14
1 tn The word “sheep” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.
2 tn Grk “because they know.”
3 tn Grk “And I have.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
4 tn Or “that do not belong to”; Grk “that are not of.”
5 sn The statement I have other sheep that do not come from this sheepfold almost certainly refers to Gentiles. Jesus has sheep in the fold who are Jewish; there are other sheep which, while not of the same fold, belong to him also. This recalls the mission of the Son in 3:16-17, which was to save the world – not just the nation of Israel. Such an emphasis would be particularly appropriate to the author if he were writing to a non-Palestinian and primarily non-Jewish audience.
6 tn Grk “they will hear my voice.”
7 tn Grk “voice, and.”
8 tn The word “and” is not in the Greek text, but must be supplied to conform to English style. In Greek it is an instance of asyndeton (omission of a connective), usually somewhat emphatic.
9 tn Or “drive away”; Grk “cast out.”
10 sn A quotation from Isa 54:13.
11 tn Or “listens to the Father and learns.”
12 tn The term מַקְשִׁיבִים (maqshivim) is in the Hiphil stem which denotes an intense desire to hear someone’s voice, that is, to eagerly listen for someone’s voice (e.g., Jer 6:17) (HALOT 1151 s.v. קשׁב 1). The participle functions verbally and denotes a continual, ongoing, durative action.
13 tc The editors of BHS suggests that גַם אָנִי (gam ’ani, “me also”) should be inserted. Although there is no textual evidence for the insertion, it seems clear that the 1st person common singular referent is emphatic in MT הַשְׁמִיעִינִי (hashmi’ini, “Let me hear it!”).
14 tn The imperative הַשְׁמִיעִינִי (hashmi’ini) functions as a request. The lover asks his beloved to let him hear her beautiful voice (e.g., Song 2:14).