be.ter denotes cleft mountains in the verse's landscape comparison.

The attested use places the plural noun in a mountain landscape: Song of Songs 2:17 compares the beloved to a gazelle or young stag on mountains characterized as cleft or divided.

1. Cleft mountains in a landscape comparison · dominant

   In Song of Songs 2:17, the masculine plural absolute form occurs in the phrase concerning mountains, where the beloved is compared with a gazelle or young stag. The APB renders the setting as “the mountains of Bether,” so its specific English contribution is not fully isolated from the place-like phrase.

   Song of Songs 2:17

In the Anselm Project Bible: In Song of Songs 2:17, the APB presents the phrase as “the mountains of Bether.” It leaves uncertain whether the term is being rendered as a descriptive noun or retained as part of the mountain phrase.