Translation
Your teeth
Go to footnote numberare like a flock of sheep,
just shorn
Go to footnote numbercoming up
from the washing place.
Go to footnote numberEach one bears twins;
Go to footnote numbernot one of them is barren.
Paraphrase
Your tendency to protect is as vital as the financial provision
of the big day when all the hard work pays off, a work characterized by integrity. Your tendency to protect brings about results that are balanced; it is
never fruitless.
Footnotes
1
Teeth were for protection, as in the case of an animal baring its teeth. Her role as protector is less tangible than his but there are still proper aspects to her protective role. He protects her and the children from visible dangers, but she protects him from himself and his own weaknesses so he can fulfill his role better (if done respectfully and if he allows her to do it).
2
Shearing of sheep was a time of celebration because all the hard work was paying off. It was the final product of tending the sheep for months and it would bring the owner much financial gain.
3
They did wash sheep! (I was shocked to learn this. Thank you NET Bible). But they did so just before shearing them, not after, as this verse would imply if taken literally. Washing always refers to purification or making something clean and free from impurities. Here it refers to work, so it points to working with integrity.
4: “each one bears twins”
The Hebrew verb means “to be double.” It is used here as a participle of a verb stem that shows causative active action – “to cause a double.” When used in this way, it means “to bear twins.”
Anything double, such as a set of twins, demonstrates a form of completeness because it shows balance. However, he is still describing her teeth, which are a picture of protection. Therefore, the ability to “bear twins” does not point to fertility or child birth in this case, but to her complete ability to produce desired results in the realm of protection. For instance we can see from other parts of this Song that the Shulammite wants to protect her daughters from being caught in an unhappy or harmful marriage. It is the mother’s protective nature that is being highlighted here.
Twins in this case seems to imply completeness, balance and companionship. Many things God has created function in pairs, and these are balanced. Atoms have positive and negative particles. Our bodies have systems that function in pairs; our circulatory system is paired to our lymph system, the muscular system is paired to the skeletal system. A marriage that is healthy is balanced and feels proper, a lack of balance likely indicates a lack of health.