Look not... — i.e., with disdain, as in Job 41:34 (Heb. 26).
Black. — Literally, blackish.
The sun... — The word translated looked upon occurs only twice besides (Job 20:9; Job 28:7). The “all-seeing sun” is a commonplace of poetry; but here with sense of scorching. The heroine goes on to explain the cause of her exposure to the sun. Her dark complexion is accidental, and cannot therefore be used as an argument that she was an Egyptian princess, whose nuptials with Solomon are celebrated in the poem.
Mother’s children — i.e., brothers, not necessarily step-brothers, as Ewald and others. (Comp. Psalms 50:20; Psalms 69:8.) The reference to the mother rather than the father is natural in a country where polygamy was practised.
Mine own vineyard... — The general sense is plain. While engaged in the duties imposed by her brothers, she had been compelled to neglect something — but what? Some think her beloved, and others her reputation; Ginsburg, literally, her own special vineyard. But the obvious interpretation connects the words immediately with the context. Her personal appearance had been sacrificed to her brothers’ severity. While tending their vines she had neglected her own complexion.