Song of Solomon 5:8-16 - Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

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Bible Comments

Song of Solomon 5:8 to Song of Solomon 6:3. Descriptive Poem (Wasf) : The Strength and Beauty of the Bridegroom. On this view, Song of Solomon 5:8 f. is taken as an introduction to the praises of the beloved, and whether there is any real connexion with the dream poem is uncertain.

Song of Solomon 5:8. sick: from the disappointment and delays of love.

Song of Solomon 5:9. Or, What kind of a beloved is thy beloved?

Song of Solomon 5:10. dazzling white (Lamentations 4:7) and ruddy (1 Samuel 16:12). chiefest: the most conspicuous or distinguished.

Song of Solomon 5:11. bushy: the word occurs only here; probably curly or wavy.

Song of Solomon 5:12. Perhaps this should read: His eyes are like a pair of doves sitting by the water courses; Which are as if bathed in milk and sitting by full streams.

Song of Solomon 5:13. spices: better balsam shrubs (Song of Solomon 6:2). banks of sweet herbs: towers of perfume (mg.) is the literal rendering, but to follow the versions requires only a slight change in the pronunciation, viz. producing sweet odours (cf. Psalms 133:2). lilies: scarlet flowers (see Song of Solomon 2:1).

Song of Solomon 5:14. His fingers are cylinders of gold set with topaz (mg.) ; his body was as beautiful as a piece of ivory work studded with sapphires.

Song of Solomon 5:15. He is strong, handsome, and attractive in speech.

Song of Solomon 5:16 b, c. surely a full answer to the question of Song of Solomon 5:9.

Related Commentaries of Song of Solomon 5:8

Song of Solomon 5:8-16

8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.

9 What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?

10 My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefestc among ten thousand.

11 His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy,d and black as a raven.

12 His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set.

13 His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers:e his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.

14 His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.

15 His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.

16 His mouthf is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.