See in Reader
998 B
General Information:
The young woman continues to describe the man.
His arms are rounded gold set with jewels
"His arms are cylinders of gold that have jewels all over them." The woman uses this image to say that his arms are beautiful and precious. The first readers would have understood this as a metaphor for the male body part (See: Song of Solomon 5:3), but this would be difficult to bring out in translation. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor)
his abdomen is ivory covered with sapphires
"his belly is smooth ivory that has sapphires all over it." The woman uses this image to say that his belly is beautiful and precious. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor)
ivory
the white tusk or tooth of an animal that is similar to bone. People use ivory to make smooth and shiny pieces of art.
sapphires
valuable stones that are either 1) blue or 2) clear and either blue or golden