Hebrew word · H1570
גָּלַשׁ
shegalshu
to step down
Occurs only here and in the near-repeat at 6:5. Usually understood as 'go down, come down, stream/skip down (a slope)'. The exact movement is not known.
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament.
What it means
1) to sit, sit up, (possibly also) recline
1a) (Qal)
1a1) of flocks of goats
1a2) of a woman's hair (simile)
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of Song of Songs 4:1
- Range of meaning
Occurs only here and in the near-repeat at 6:5. Usually understood as 'go down, come down, stream/skip down (a slope)'. The exact movement is not known.
- Against the English
BSB 'streaming down'; WEB and NASB 'descend(ed)'; ESV 'leaping down'; NIV 'descending'; NLT 'winding down'; KJV 'appear'; YLT 'have shone'. Each guesses at a slightly different picture.
- How it drifted
Not drift, but uncertainty. KJV's 'appear' follows the ancient Greek version.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The ancient Greek version has 'were revealed/uncovered', and the Latin Vulgate has 'went up'. Clearly the early translators were unsure too. Comparisons with words in related languages (Ugaritic, Arabic) have been proposed, but none settles the question.
Similar words
Where it appears
Song of Songs · 2
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Song of Songs 4:1 שֶׁגָּלְשׁ֖וּ that <they> have descended
How beautiful you are, my darling—how very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead.
Here: 'That streamed down.' The verb occurs only here and in 6:5, so its exact shade is uncertain. Context suggests the goats' rippling movement down a slope, the way loosened hair falls over the shoulders.
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Song of Songs 6:5 שֶׁגָּלְשׁ֖וּ that they have descended
Turn your eyes away from me, for they have overcome me. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down from Gilead.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.