Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageTell me, O you whom my very being loves — where do you shepherd your flock? Where do you rest them at midday? Why should I wander like a veiled woman among the flocks of your companions?
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GTell me, you whom my whole being loves — where do you pasture your flock? Where do you let them rest at noon? Why should I be like one who wanders veiled beside the flocks of your companions?
KJV
King James VersionTell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?
BSB
Berean Standard BibleTell me, O one I love, where do you pasture your sheep? Where do you rest them at midday? Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your companions?
Footnotes
נַפְשִׁי = the Hebrew nephesh — not merely "soul" in the Western philosophical sense but the whole living person: the breathing throat, the hungry self, the totality of one's being. The F.O.G renders "whole being" to honour this fullness; F.O.G Message uses "very being" for its depth and resonance with Ps 42. עֹטְיָה = "one who veils herself," likely a woman of ill repute (cf. Gen 38:14–15, where Tamar veils herself to be mistaken for a prostitute) or possibly a mourning woman; either way the image carries the ache of being unrecognised, unclaimed, and vulnerable.
