1 The church’s love unto Christ. 5 She confessed her deformity, 7 and prayeth to be directed to his flock. 8 Christ directed her to the shepherds’ tents: 9 and shewing his love to her, 11 giveth her gracious promises. 12 The church and Christ congratulate one another.
Son 1:1 Solomon’s Song of Songs.
The expression implies that this song is of peculiar excellence. The Jews considered the Song of Solomon the most excellent of all Bible songs. The original title presumably compared the song with the other 1,004 composed by Solomon (1 Kings 4:32).
The Bride Confesses Her Love
Son 1:2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth— for your love is more delightful than wine.
The speaker is evidently the Shulamite maid. Her speech continues to the end of v. 7, except for interruptions by the ladies of the court indicated by the “we” of v. 4.
Your love. The change in person from the third in line 1 to the second here is common in Hebrew poetry. The word translated “love” is in the plural, indicating the many attentions and manifestations of love. Wine. Heb. yayin, the juice of the grape see (Gen. 9:21; Sam. 1:14; Isa. 5:11; etc.).
Son 1:3 Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the young women love you!
Among the Orientals perfume and ointment were very precious.
For Solomon’s bride the name of her beloved meant more to her than any perfume, however sweet. Virgins. Heb. ‘alamoth, “young women” (see on Isa. 7:14). Solomon’s bride is probably thinking of herself, though in modesty she does not definitely name herself. She says only that Solomon is the kind of man that a young woman like herself would love.
Son 1:4 Take me away with you—let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers. We rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. How right they are to adore you!
This address is probably by the bride’s attendants. Into his chambers. Some see in vs. 2–4 an allusion to a bridal procession and in this phrase a description of the entry into the palace.
We rejoice. Presumably the bride’s attendants speak again.
How right they are to adore you. These could be words of approval spoken by the bride, who believes that all should feel kindly affection toward a man as charming as her beloved. She feels that all will approve her decision to marry Solomon
Son 1:5 Dark am I, yet lovely, daughters of Jerusalem, dark like the tents of Kedar, like the tent curtains of Solomon.
She probably means no more than that she is dark complexioned.
Kedar. Nomadic tribes of Ishmael (Gen. 25:13) inhabiting the Arabian deserts (see Isa. 21:16; Isa. 42:11). Bedouins usually lived in tents made of black goat’s hair.
Son 1:6 Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by the sun. My mother’s sons were angry with me and made me take care of the vineyards; my own vineyard I had to neglect.
Don’t stare at me. This is evidence that her blackness was due to the sun rather than to her race. The LXX here reads, “the sun has looked unfavorably upon me.”
My mother’s sons. It seems that the bride’s older brothers had left their little sister to take care of the vineyards, thus causing her to become sunburned. My own vineyard I had neglected. That is, her own personal beauty (see ch. 8:12). Her brothers had not allowed her the leisure or the opportunity to give attention to her appearance.
Son 1:7 Tell me, you whom I love, where you graze your flock and where you rest your sheep at midday. Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your friends?
Your flock. Some have suggested that Solomon disguised himself as a shepherd when he came to her home to court her.
Rest at midday. In hot countries the shepherds seek a place where they can retire for shelter both for themselves and their flocks during the burning heat of the noon-day sun.
Why should I be like a veiled woman?
Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other
Son 1:8 If you do not know, most beautiful of women, follow the tracks of the sheep and graze your young goats by the tents of the shepherds.
Another voice is introduced. It may be that of Solomon, or it may be the playful response of the court ladies telling the Shulamite to be patient.
In due time her lover will appear. In the meantime, she is to continue watching her flocks.
Son 1:9 I liken you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.
Solomon compares his bride with her ornaments to a decked-out royal mare. The comparison seems crude to a Western mind, but it is entirely appropriate in Oriental thinking.
Son 1:10 Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, your neck with strings of jewels.
Son 1:11 We will make you earrings of gold, studded with silver.
Son 1:12 While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.
The plant Nardostachys jatamansi, from the roots of which the Hindus extracted the aromatic perfume, grows in the upper pasturelands of the Himalayas at an elevation of 3,353 m. to 5,182 m.
Son 1:13 My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts.
Myrrh was extracted from the aromatic resin of what was probably the Arabian Balsamodendron myrrha tree. The Hebrew women are reported to have worn under their dresses, on occasions, a bottle or little bag of myrrh suspended from their necks.
Son 1:14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi.
The plant grew in southern Palestine and produced odoriferous yellow and white flowers. The flowers and twigs were sometimes ground into powder, from which the women made a reddish orange dye to stain their hands and feet.
En-gedi. Literally, “fountain of the kid.” It was a district to the west of the Dead Sea, about midway between the mouth of the Jordan and the southern extremity of the lake. A copious spring known today as ‘Ain Jidi, still flows in the region.
Son 1:15 How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes are doves.
Son 1:16 How handsome you are, my beloved! Oh, how charming! And our bed is verdant.
It would be natural for the bride to describe her present felicities in figures borrowed from her familiar associations.
Son 1:17 The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are firs.