I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
Black ... as the tents of Kedar - from the root kaadar, to be black (Psalms 120:5). She draws the image from the black goat-skins with which the Scenite Arabs ("Kedar" was in Arabia Petraea) cover their tents (contrasted with the splendid state tent in which the King was awaiting His bride, according to Eastern custom); typifying the darkness of man's natural state. To feel this, and yet also feel one's self in Jesus Christ ... Comely ... as the curtains of Solomon - marks the believer, (Romans 7:18, etc.) "I am chief:" so she says not merely, 'I was,' but "I am;" still black in herself, but comely through His comeliness put upon her.
Curtains - first, the hangings and veil in the temple of Solomon; then, also, the "fine linen which is the righteousness of saints," the white wedding garment provided by Jesus Christ (Isaiah 61:10; Matthew 22:11). Historically, the dark tents of Kedar represent the original state of Israel, a wandering tribe of the desert, until God put His comeliness on her: then, in the New Testament, the Gentiles who, though once dark, yet were among the earliest inquirers after Jesus Christ (Matthew 2:1-23) - namely, the wise men from the East.
Daughters of Jerusalem - professors, not primarily the bride, or "the virgins," yet not enemies; invited to Gospel blessings (Song of Solomon 3:10-11); so near to Jesus Christ as not to be unlikely to find Him (Song of Solomon 5:8); desirous to seek Him with her (Song of Solomon 6:1). In Song of Solomon 7:8-9, the bride's Beloved becomes their Beloved; not, however, of all of them. They are the pagan nations about to be brought into the Kingdom of God (Hengstenberg). (Song of Solomon 8:4; cf. Luke 23:27.)