What are the banner-bearers in Songs 6:4 and 6:10, and why is the word feminine?

Question

In Song of Songs 6, verses 4 and 10, the woman is described as כַּנִּדְגָּלֽוֹת אֲיֻמָּ֖ה, "awesome as the banner-exalting [ones]", with the participle "banner-exalting" being feminine plural. I think this word is usually interpreted as something like "an army bearing banners" - but why is it feminine?

[Forgive me if this is a basic question, I haven't studied Hebrew.]

Song of Songs 6:4 You are as beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah, as lovely as Jerusalem, as awesome as banner-bearers.

Song of Songs 6:10 Who is this that looks down like the morning, as beautiful as the moon, as pure as the sun, as awesome as banner-bearers?

Answer 1

I would suggest an approach to meaning and context based on parallelism. Here are the 4 parallel parts of the verse

• dawn
• moon
• sun
• the flags/banners = constellations

In the context of astral objects, I would interpret the-flags as meaning the constellations which take on various shapes and help navigation at night. [I don't have any further evidence except the parallel structure itself]

The verse describes a woman; military matters, although justified as stand-alone items, linguistically would not fit into context. I would then loosely translate (preserving idiom) as follows:

• gazed at like a dawn
• attractive and soft like the moon
• clear (commanding respect) as the sun
• able to guide in dark situations

The emphasis would be not only on a good lover but on a helpmate.

Answer 2

The word נִדְגָּל is an adjective which means to be bannered, it comes from the same root as the word דֶּגֶל which means flag. In Hebrew almost every adjective can also be used as a noun. Thus, as this word is also an adjective, it can be conjugated to any grammatical case. The word כַּנִּדְגָּלוֹת just means like נִדְגָּלוֹת. Thus, the word means something roughly like "like bannered ones."

We have to remember that Song of Songs is written in poetry, so it is often missing some words. The word דגל (flag/banner) is often used in the context of war in the Bible, such as how the Israelites would go to war or camp such as in Numbers 1:52. The use of the female plural form is used to indicate a deeper meaning. One possible explanation is that it refers to some ancient practice of woman carrying banners. This is possible, as it would seem to fit someone like Deborah; however, it does not have much evidence to support it. Another, more plausible, explanation which is of Ibn Ezra, is that this word is conjugated in female plural to refer to מחנות which means camps. Thus this phrase would mean "the bannered camps." Another word which also could be used similarly is צבאות which means "armies" or "hosts." Both these words are grammatically female and plural. Almost every commentator agrees that in context, this word has something to do with armies and camps, which is also hinted at by the previous word אימה which means "awesome". Thus, the use of the feminine word is most likely due to these other words which it is based on.

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Answer 3

Song of Solomon 6:4 English Standard Version

You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners.

The image here does not focus on the individual banner bearers but on the army as a whole with billowing banners. It generates a sense of awesomeness and victory. It adds to the woman's winsome appearance.

Why is the word feminine?

This feminine word was chosen to compare the awesomeness to the beautiful woman. However, the gender of a Hebrew word does not always relate to its meaning. Sometimes, it is just random.