H1730 H1730
Beloved or lover (especially in Song of Solomon); a paternal uncle; love or caresses as an abstract noun.
Dod is one of those Hebrew words whose semantic range spans the deeply intimate and the solidly familial. In the Song of Solomon it is the woman's signature word for her lover -- 'my beloved' (dodi) -- recurring over twenty-five times with an intensity that finds echoes in Arabic habib and Hindi preetam. Yet the same root designates a father's brother in legal texts like Leviticus, where Hindi renders it chacha and Swahili mjomba, kinship terms with no romantic overtone at all. In its third sense, the plural dodim becomes an abstract noun for love or caresses, as in Proverbs 7:18 and Song 1:2.
3. love, lovemaking — Love, caresses, or lovemaking as an abstract noun, typically in the plural form dodim. Proverbs 7:18 invites 'let us take our fill of love (dodim),' while Song 1:2 declares 'your love (dodekha) is better than wine.' Spanish distinguishes this with the plural 'amores,' Hindi with 'प्रेम' (prem, the concept of love), and Swahili with 'upendo' (love as a state). The shift from a concrete person (sense 1) to an abstract quality is marked both by the plural morphology and by the translators' consistent choice of abstract nouns rather than personal epithets. 8×
AR["الْحُبِّ","حُبًّا","حُبِّي","دُودَيِكْ","دُودِيكَ"]·ben["আমার-প্রেম","তোমার-প্রেম","প্রেমে","প্রেমের"]·DE["Geliebter","[דדים]"]·EN["love","my-loves","your-loves"]·FR["[דדים]","mes-amours","tes-amours","tes-amours,","דדים"]·heb["דודיי","דודייך","דודיך","דודים"]·HI["अपने-प्रेम","तेरे-प्रेम","प्रेम","प्रेम-का","प्रेम-से"]·ID["cinta","cintaku","cintamu","kasih","percintaan;"]·IT["[דדים]","diletto","diletto-mio","diletto-tua","diletto-tuo"]·jav["katresnan","sih-kula","sih-panjenengan","sihipun-panjenengan"]·KO["내-사랑-을","네-사랑-을","네-사랑-이","사랑-으로","사랑의"]·PT["amores","de-teus-amores","meus-amores","teus-amores"]·RU["ласки-мои","ласки-твои","любви","любовью"]·ES["amores","mis-amores","tus-amores"]·SW["upendo","upendo-wako","upendo-wangu","wa-upendo"]·TR["aşkları","aşkın","sevgilerimi","sevgilerin","sevgilerini","zamanı"]·urd["اپنی-محبت","تیری-محبت","تیری-محبت-کو","عشق-کے","محبت-کا","محبتوں-سے"]
▼ 2 more senses below
Senses
1. beloved, lover — A beloved person, romantic lover, or darling. This is the dominant sense, concentrated almost entirely in Song of Solomon, where the woman addresses her partner as dodi ('my beloved') in passages like Song 1:13-14, 2:3, and 2:8-10. Cross-linguistic evidence confirms the romantic register: Spanish renders it 'amado,' Hindi uses 'प्रीतम' (preetam, a poetic term for a lover), Arabic 'حَبِيب' (habib), Korean '사랑하는 자,' and Swahili 'mpenzi.' The consistency across these unrelated language families underscores that the romantic connotation is unmistakable in context. 35×
AR["دُودِي","لِ-دُودِي","يَا-حَبِيبِي"]·ben["আমার-প্রিয়","আমার-প্রিয়কে","আমার-প্রিয়ের","আমার-প্রিয়ের-জন্য","হে-আমার-প্রিয়"]·DE["mein-Geliebter","zu-mein-Geliebter"]·EN["my-beloved","to-my-beloved"]·FR["Mon-bien-aimé","de-mon-bien-aimé!","mon-bien-aimé","mon-bien-aimé,","à-mon-bien-aimé;"]·heb["דודי","ל-דודי"]·HI["अपने-प्रीतम-के-लिए","मेरा-प्रीतम","मेरे-प्रिय","मेरे-प्रीतम","मेरे-प्रीतम-की"]·ID["Kekasihku","bagi-kekasihku","hai-kekasihku","kekasihku"]·IT["diletto-mio","per-diletto-mio"]·jav["Kekasih-kula","dhateng-kekasih-kula","kekasih-kula"]·KO["내-사랑하는-자-가","내-사랑하는-자-를","내-사랑하는-자-에게","내-사랑하는-자-의","내-사랑하는-자여","내-사랑하는-자요"]·PT["Meu-amado","ao-meu-amado","meu-amado"]·RU["Возлюбленный-мой","возлюбленного-моего","возлюбленному-моему","возлюбленный-мой"]·ES["Mi-amado","a-mi-amado","amado-mío","es-mi-amado","mi-amado"]·SW["mpenzi-wangu","ya-mpenzi-wangu"]·TR["sevgilim","sevgilime","sevgilimi","sevgilimin"]·urd["اپنے-محبوب-کے-لیے","میرا-محبوب","میرے-محبوب","میرے-محبوب-نے","میرے-محبوب-کی"]
2. uncle, father's brother — A paternal uncle or close male kinsman. This sense appears in legal and narrative material: Leviticus 10:4 (Uzziel the uncle of Aaron), Leviticus 20:20 and 25:49 (laws about a kinsman's obligations), and 1 Samuel 10:14-16 (Saul's uncle questioning him). The multilingual evidence draws a sharp line from the romantic sense: Spanish gives 'tío,' Hindi 'चाचा' (chacha, specifically a father's brother), Arabic 'عَمّ' (paternal uncle), and Swahili 'mjomba' or 'baba mdogo' -- all precise kinship terms that leave no romantic ambiguity. 18×
AR["أَعْمَامِهِنَّ","عَمَّهُ","عَمُّ","عَمُّ-","عَمُّهُ","عَمِّ","عَمِّكَ","عَمِّهِ","عَمِّي"]·ben["কাকা","কাকা-","কাকার-আমার","চাচা","চাচা-তাঁর","তাঁর-কাকার","তাঁর-চাচাকে","তাদের-চাচাদের","তার-খুড়ার","তার-চাচা","তার-চাচার","তোমার-কাকার"]·DE["David","Geliebter","[דדי]","[דדך]","der-uncle-von","ihr-uncles","sein-uncle","uncle-sein","uncle-von"]·EN["his-uncle","my-uncle","the-uncle-of","their-uncles","uncle-his","uncle-of","your-uncle"]·FR["David","[דד]","[דדו]","[דודו]","le-uncle-de","leur-uncles","mon-oncle","oncle","son-uncle","uncle-de","uncle-son"]·heb["דּוֹד","דּוֹדוֹ","דד","דדו","דדו-ו","דדיהן","דוֹדוֹ","דוד","דודו","דודי","דודך"]·HI["अपने-चाचा","अपने-चाचा-की","अपने-चाचाओं-के","उसका-चाचा","उसके-चाचा","उसके-चाचा-का","चाचा","चाचा-","चाचा-उसका","चाचा-तेरे","चाचा-ने","चाचा-मेरे"]·ID["paman","paman-paman-mereka","pamanku","pamanmu","pamannya"]·IT["Davide","[דד]","[דדו]","[דודו]","diletto","il-uncle-di","loro-uncles","suo-uncle","suo-zio","uncle-suo","zio-di"]·jav["nak-sanakipun","pak-likipun","paman","paman-","paman-Kawula","paman-panjenengan","pamanipun","sadhèrèk-sepuh"]·KO["그의-삼촌","그의-삼촌을","그의-삼촌의","그의-삼촌이","나의-삼촌의","네-삼촌이","삼촌","삼촌-의-","삼촌들-그들의","삼촌이"]·PT["seu-tio","seus-tios","tio-de","tio-dele","tio-meu","tio-seu","tio-teu"]·RU["дяде-своему","дядей-их","дяди","дяди-его","дяди-моего","дяди-своего","дяди-твоего","дядю-его","дядя","дядя-","дядя-его","родственник-его"]·ES["mi-tío","su-pariente","su-tío","sus-tíos","tu-tío","tío-de","tío-de-"]·SW["ami","ami-wa","ami-zao","baba-mdogo-wa-","baba-yake-mdogo","kwa-sababu","mjomba-wa","mjomba-wako","mjomba-wangu","ndugu-yake"]·TR["amca","amcalarının","amcamın","amcanın","amcası","amcası-","amcasına","amcasını","amcasının"]·urd["اُس-کا-چچا","اپنے-چچا","اپنے-چچا-کی","اپنے-چچاؤں-کے","چچا","چچا-اُس-کا","چچا-اُس-کے","چچا-تیرا","چچا-میرے","چچا-میرے-کے","چچا-نے"]
Lev 10:4, Lev 20:20, Lev 25:49, Lev 25:49, Num 36:11, 1 Sam 10:14, 1 Sam 10:15, 1 Sam 10:16, 1 Sam 14:50, 2 Kgs 24:17, 1 Chr 27:32, Esth 2:7 (+6 more)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† דּוֹד n.m. Ct 1:2 beloved, love (pl.), uncle (NH id., Syriac ܕܳܕ, ܕܳܕܳܐ; Assyrian dâdu DlHA 19)—abs. דּוֹד Ct 5:9(×2); cstr. דּוֹד 1 S 10:14 + 3 times; דֹּד Lv 10:4 Est 2:15; sf. דּוֹדִי Is 5:1 (but cf. infr.) + 26 times all Ct; דֹּדִי Je 32:8 + 2 times; דֹּדְךָ Je 32:7; דּוֹדֵךְ Ct 5:9(×2) + 2 times; דּוֹדוֹ Am 6:10 1 S 10:16, דֹּדוֹ Lv 20:20 + 4 times; דּוֹדָהּ Ct 8:5; pl. דּוֹדִים Ct 5:1;…