About Song of Solomon

Song of Solomon celebrates romantic love and marriage, while also picturing the love between God and His people.

Author: SolomonWritten: c. 965 BCReading time: ~2 minVerses: 13
LoveBeautyDevotionMarriageDesireCovenant

King James Version

Song of Solomon 6

13 verses with commentary

Others Ask Where the Beloved Has Gone

Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women?</strong> The daughters of Jerusalem respond to the bride's passionate description (5:10-16) by asking where they can find such a remarkable beloved. The Hebrew <em>anah halakh dodeikh</em> (אָנָה הָלַךְ דּוֹדֵךְ, where has your beloved gone?) reveals genuine interest sparked by the bride's testimony. By calling her <em>yaphah banashi...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

VI. (1-3) **Whither is thy beloved gone **. . . By a playful turn the poet heightens the description of the lover’s beauty by the impression supposed to be produced on the imaginary bystanders to whom the picture has been exhibited. They express a desire to share the pleasures of his company with the heroine, but she, under the figure before employed (Song of Solomon 4:12-16), declares that his af...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

21. (Compare Pr 16:1, 9; Psa 33:10, 11). The failure of man's devices is implied.

My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices</strong>—the bride answers with confidence and intimacy. The Hebrew <em>gan</em> (גַּן, garden) recalls Eden and represents a place of beauty, cultivation, and fruitfulness. Earlier (4:12-16), the bride herself was described as a garden; now her beloved enters his own garden. The phrase <em>la'arugot habosem</em> (לַעֲרוּגוֹת ה...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**22. desire--**that is, to do good, indicates a kind disposition (Pr 11:23); and the poor thus affected are better than liars, who say and do not.

I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies.

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KJV Study Commentary

The bride affirms with confidence: 'I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies.' This verse echoes 2:16 but reverses the order—there, 'My beloved is mine, and I am his'; here, 'I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine.' The subtle shift prioritizes belonging to the beloved before claiming him as one's own. This may reflect maturing love—earlier emphasis on possession (...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**23. The fear ... life--**(Compare Pr 3:2). **abide--**or, "remain contented" (1Ti 4:8). **not visited with evil--**(Pr 10:3; Psa 37:25), as a judgment, in which sense visit is often used (Psa 89:32; Jr 6:15).

Solomon Praises His Beloved Again

Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners.

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KJV Study Commentary

The bridegroom declares: <strong>Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem</strong>. <em>Tirzah</em> (תִּרְצָה) was an early northern capital of Israel (1 Kings 14:17), whose name means 'delight' or 'pleasantness.' Jerusalem (יְרוּשָׁלַםִ) was the royal city, the place of God's temple and presence. Comparing the bride to these two capital cities emphasizes both her beauty and h...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(4) **Beautiful **. . . **as Tirzah.**—There is no sufficient reason for the employment of Tirzah side by side with Jerusalem in this comparison but the fact that they were both capitals, the one of the northern, the other of the southern kingdom. This fixes the date of the composition of the poem within certain limits (see *Excursus *I.). Jeroboam first selected the ancient sanctuary of Shechem f...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**24. bosom--**literally, a wide dish in which the hand was plunged in eating (Mt 26:23). Compare Pr 26:15, the sentiment expressed with equal irony and less exaggeration.

Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead. overcome: or, puffed me up

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me</strong> (הָסֵבִּי עֵינַיִךְ מִנֶּגְדִּי שֶׁהֵם הִרְהִיבֻנִי)—the bridegroom is overwhelmed by the bride's gaze. The Hebrew <em>hirhivuni</em> (הִרְהִיבֻנִי) means 'they have overwhelmed/overpowered me.' This isn't fear but the overpowering effect of love's intensity. The bride's devoted eyes—those 'doves' eyes' focused exclusively on...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(5) **Overcome.**—Marg., *puffed up; *Heb. *hirîbunî, *from the verb *rahab, *a word whose root-idea seems to be to show spirit against oppression or prejudice. (See Isaiah 3:5; Proverbs 6:3.) The *Hiphil *therefore = make me spirited, or bold. (Comp. Psalm 138:3.) The LXX. and Vulg., however, followed by many moderns, take it in the sense of *scare *or *dazzle.* For the rest of the description, s...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

25. Such is the benefit of reproof; even the simple profit, much more the wise.

Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, whereof every one beareth twins, and there is not one barren among them.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing</strong>—the bridegroom continues his detailed admiration (repeating 4:2) with imagery celebrating cleanliness, order, and health. Sheep emerging from washing are white, clean, and uniform. Teeth represent both beauty and function—attractiveness and ability to nourish oneself. The Hebrew <em>rechelim</em> (רְחֵלִים) specificall...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

26. Unfilial conduct often condemned (Pr 17:21-25; 20:20; De 21:18, 21).

As a piece of a pomegranate are thy temples within thy locks.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>As a piece of a pomegranate are thy temples within thy locks</strong> (כְּפֶלַח הָרִמּוֹן רַקָּתֵךְ)—this exact phrase repeats from 4:3, demonstrating love's delight in recurring contemplation of the beloved's beauty. The pomegranate (רִמּוֹן, <em>rimmon</em>) was highly valued in Israel for beauty, flavor, and symbolic significance. Its deep red color represented vitality and life. The 't...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

27. Avoid whatever leads from truth.

There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number</strong>—the bridegroom contrasts the multitude of potential lovers (sixty queens, eighty concubines, countless virgins—categories of women in a royal harem) with his exclusive choice. The numbers (60, 80, innumerable) suggest abundance and possibility. In Solomon's actual life, he eventually had 700 wives an...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(8) **There are threescore queens.**—Presumably a description of Solomon’s harem (from comp. with Song of Solomon 8:11-12), though the numbers are far more sober than in 1Kings 11:3. Probably the latter marks a later form of the traditions of the grand scale on which everything at the court of the monarch was conducted, and this, though a poetic, is a truer version of the story of his loves. The c...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**28. ungodly witness--**(Compare Margin), one false by bad principles (compare Pr 6:12). **scorneth judgment--**sets at naught the dictates of justice. **devoureth--**literally, "swalloweth," as something delightful.

My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>My dove, my undefiled is but one</strong> (אַחַת הִיא יוֹנָתִי תַמָּתִי)—following the enumeration of many potential lovers, the bridegroom declares his bride is unique. <em>Yonati</em> (יוֹנָתִי, my dove) emphasizes purity, faithfulness, and singular devotion. <em>Tammati</em> (תַמָּתִי, my perfect/undefiled one) means complete, whole, without blemish—morally and relationally pure. The wo...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(9) **My dove . . . is but one.**—“While the monarch’s loves are so many, *one *is mine, my dove, my perfect one: *one, *the delight of her mother, the darling of her who bore her.” It is impossible not to see in this a eulogy on monogamy, which, in practice, seems always to have been the rule among the Jews, the exceptions lying only with kings and the very rich. The eulogy is made more pronounce...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

29. Their punishment is sure, fixed, and ready (compare Pr 3:34; 10:13).

Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?

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KJV Study Commentary

Others ask about the bride: 'Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?' The verse employs escalating cosmic imagery: 'morning' (shachar, שַׁחַר) suggests dawn's first light; 'fair as the moon' (yaphah khalevanah, יָפָה כַלְּבָנָה) indicates reflected beauty; 'clear as the sun' (barah kachamah, בָּרָה כַּחַמָּה) describes...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(10) **Who is she.**—This verse is supposed to be spoken by the admiring ladies. The paragraph mark in the English Version should rather be at the beginning of the next verse. (Comp.— “But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun! Arise, fair sun,” &c*—Romeo and Juliet.*) But the poet heightens his figure by combining both the great lights of heaven with...
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The Bride Returns to the Garden

I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded.</strong> The bride (or possibly bridegroom) describes descending to inspect gardens. The Hebrew <em>el-ginnat egoz yaradti lir'ot be-ibbey hanahal lir'ot hafarechah hagofen heneitsu harimonim</em> (אֶל־גִּנַּת אֱגוֹז יָרַדְתִּי לִרְאוֹת בְּאִבֵּי הַנַּחַ...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(11-13) **I went down into the garden . . .**—For a discussion on this obscure passage in its entirety, see *Excursus *III. (11) **Nuts.**—Heb. *egôz; *only here. (Comp. Arabic *ghaus *= the walnut, which is at present extensively cultivated in Palestine.) **Fruits.**—Heb. *ebi=green *shoots; LXX. ἐν γεννήμαι*.* **Valley.**—Heb. *nachal*; LXX., literally, χειμάρρου*, the torrent-bed. *It is the He...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 20 Pr 20:1-30. **1. mocker--**scorner. Such men are made by wine. **strong drink--**made by spicing wine (compare Is 5:11, 22); and it may include wine. **raging--**or boisterous as a drunkard. **deceived--**literally, "erring," or reeling.

Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib. Or ever: Heb. I knew not made: or, set me on the chariots of my willing people

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib.</strong> One of Scripture's most enigmatic verses. The Hebrew <em>lo yadati nafshi samatni markevot ammi-nadiv</em> (לֹא יָדַעְתִּי נַפְשִׁי שָׂמַתְנִי מַרְכְּבוֹת עַמִּי־נָדִיב) has sparked centuries of interpretive debate. Literally: "I did not know—my soul set me [as] chariots of my willing people" or "chariots of Ammi...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2. (Compare Pr 19:12). Men who resist authority injure themselves (Ro 13:2).

Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies. of: or, of Mahanaim

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies.</strong> The chorus calls for the Shulamite's return, met with defensive question. The Hebrew <em>shuvi shuvi hashulammit shuvi shuvi venechez-bakh mah-techezu bashulammit kimcholat hamachanayim</em> (שׁוּבִי שׁוּבִי הַשּׁוּלַמִּית שׁוּבִי שׁוּבִ...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**3. to cease from strife--**or, better, "to dwell from or without strife," denoting the habit of life. **fool ... meddling--**(Pr 17:14).

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