Commentary - Song of Solomon 6:4-10

Bird's-eye view

In this portion of the Song, the king responds to his beloved, the Shulamite, after she has sought and found him. His praise for her is immediate, effusive, and startling in its imagery. He is utterly captivated by her beauty, which he compares to great cities and formidable armies. This is not the language of sentimental weakness; it is the language of overwhelming power. The king is undone by her. This passage is a torrent of high praise, establishing not only the beloved's beauty but her unique, set apart status among all other women. The ultimate point here, as with the rest of the Song, is to display the white hot love that Christ has for His bride, the Church. This is how He sees her, in all her sanctified glory, and this is how He speaks of her.

The structure of the praise moves from general declarations of her beauty and power (v. 4) to a specific catalog of her features (vv. 5-7), reminiscent of earlier praises but with a renewed intensity. It then culminates in a declaration of her absolute uniqueness, setting her above all rivals, even queens and concubines (vv. 8-9). The passage concludes with a rhetorical question from the "daughters," echoing the king's awe and underscoring the public, acknowledged nature of her splendor (v. 10). This is a love that is not hidden, but which shines forth like the dawn, moon, and sun.

Outline

Context In Song of Solomon

This passage follows a period of separation and searching. In the previous chapter, the Shulamite had delayed in opening the door to her beloved, and he had withdrawn. She then frantically sought him throughout the city, enduring hardship at the hands of the watchmen (Song 5:2-7). Her search concluded with a lengthy and beautiful description of her beloved to the daughters of Jerusalem (Song 5:10-16). Our text is Solomon's response upon their reunion. His words are not a rebuke for her earlier hesitation but a flood of adoration. This context is crucial. The praise is not given in a vacuum but against the backdrop of reunion and reconciliation. It shows us that the covenant love between Christ and His Church is not fragile; it is robust enough to overcome our faltering and to respond with grace and overwhelming affection.

Verse by Verse Commentary

4 “You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling, As lovely as Jerusalem, As majestic as an army with banners.

The king begins his praise with three powerful similes. First, she is as beautiful as Tirzah. Tirzah was an ancient Canaanite city known for its beauty, and it later became the first capital of the northern kingdom of Israel. The name itself means "delightful" or "pleasant." He then raises the stakes: she is as lovely as Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the great city, the center of Israel's worship and national life, the city of God. So her beauty is not just quaint or rustic; it has a civic, glorious, and central quality to it. But he is not finished. The third simile is the most striking: she is as "majestic as an army with banners." In the ancient world, an army arrayed for battle with its banners flying was a terrifying and awesome sight. This is not a demure, soft, or weak beauty. This is a beauty that has power, order, and authority. It is a beauty that inspires awe, and even a holy fear. This is how Christ sees His Church. She is not a disorganized rabble, but a disciplined, glorious, and conquering army. Her beauty is a weapon.

5 Turn your eyes away from me, For they have overwhelmed me; Your hair is like a flock of goats That have leapt down from Gilead.

The power of her beauty, concentrated in her eyes, is so potent that the king claims to be overwhelmed by it. He tells her to turn her eyes away. This is high poetic language, of course, a lover's hyperbole meant to convey the profound effect she has on him. He is not actually rejecting her, but rather declaring his complete surrender to her charms. Her gaze has conquered him. This is the effect that a pure and devoted Church has on her Lord. He is not indifferent to her worship and her love; He is captivated by it. He then returns to a description he has used before (Song 4:1), comparing her hair to a flock of goats moving down the slopes of Gilead. This image conveys a sense of shimmering, dark, and abundant life, a cascade of beauty.

6 Your teeth are like a flock of ewes Which have come up from their washing, All of which bear twins, And not one among them has lost her young.

This is another repeated image (Song 4:2), and the repetition is significant. In covenantal love, the lovers have their established praises, their inside language of affection. He is not just rattling off compliments; he is reaffirming his consistent and settled admiration for her. Her teeth are white, clean, and perfectly matched, like freshly washed ewes. But the image goes further. They are all bearers of twins, and none are barren. This speaks of perfect symmetry, completeness, and abundant fruitfulness. There is no loss, no gap, no imperfection. In the mouth of Christ, this is a picture of His Church, which He is cleansing with the washing of water by the word (Eph. 5:26). She is being made complete, fruitful, and without spot or blemish.

7 Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate Behind your veil.

Again, this is a familiar praise (Song 4:3). The temples, or cheeks, have a rosy blush, like the rich, seed-filled interior of a pomegranate. The detail about the veil is important. Her full beauty is partially concealed, which only makes it more alluring. There is a modesty and a mystery to her. This is not the brazen beauty of the world, which puts everything on display. This is a holy beauty, reserved for her husband. The Church's true glory is likewise veiled from the world, seen and appreciated fully only by her Lord. The world may see the outward structures, but Christ sees the heart, the hidden blush of sincere devotion.

8 There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, And maidens without number; 9 She is the only one, my dove, my perfect one; She is the only one of her mother; She is the pure one of her who bore her. The daughters saw her and called her blessed, The queens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying,

Here the king moves from describing her features to declaring her status. He sets her in the context of a royal court, filled with other women of rank and beauty: sixty queens, eighty concubines, and innumerable virgins. This is the world of political alliances and royal harems. But against this backdrop of multiplicity, his beloved is utterly unique. "She is the only one." The Hebrew is emphatic: "one is she." In the midst of many, she stands alone. He calls her "my dove, my perfect one," indicating her gentleness and her completeness. She is the "only one of her mother," meaning she is as precious as an only daughter. All other claimants to the king's affection fade into the background. She has no rivals. This is a profound statement of monotheistic, covenantal love. Though the world is full of other "gods" and other allegiances, Christ has only one Bride. The Church is His unique treasure. And this uniqueness is publicly acknowledged. The other women, her ostensible rivals, do not resent her; they see her worth and praise her. They call her blessed. True, God-given glory is not a cause for envy among the righteous, but for celebration.

10 ‘Who is this that looks down like the dawn, As beautiful as the full moon, As pure as the sun, As majestic as an army with banners?’

The passage concludes with the words of praise from the queens and concubines, posed as a rhetorical question. "Who is this?" Her appearance is so stunning that it demands an explanation. Her glory is described in a fourfold crescendo of cosmic imagery. She "looks down" or "shines forth" like the dawn, bringing with her the hope and promise of a new day. She is beautiful like the moon, which rules the night with a gentle, reflected light. She is pure (or bright, clear) as the sun, the source of all light and life in our sky. Her purity is not just an absence of stain; it is a brilliant, radiant quality. And finally, the poem circles back to the opening image, "majestic as an army with banners." Her beauty is not just natural and celestial; it is militant and triumphant. This is the Church as she will be on the last day, rising in splendor, reflecting the glory of Christ the Sun of Righteousness, and taking her place as the triumphant army of God. The question "Who is this?" will be on the lips of all creation, and the answer will be: this is the Bride, the Lamb's wife.

Application

First, we must understand that this is how God sees His people in Christ. We are so accustomed to our own sins and failings that we find such language hard to believe. But this is God's poetry, not ours. He sees us not as we are in our lingering sin, but as we are in Christ, and as we will be in glory. The Church is beautiful to Him, lovely, and majestic. We should therefore learn to see the Church this way ourselves, and not be consumed with a carping, critical spirit toward our brothers and sisters.

Second, this passage teaches us the nature of true beauty. It is a beauty that has power. It is not weak or insipid. The Shulamite's beauty overwhelmed the king. A holy life, a church living in righteousness and love, has a formidable power in the world. It is an army with banners, a force to be reckoned with. We should cultivate this kind of robust, God-glorifying beauty in our lives and in our congregations.

Finally, we see the uniqueness of the Bride. In a world that promotes a thousand different spiritualities and objects of worship, we must hold fast to the truth that Christ has one Bride, and He is utterly devoted to her. Our love for Him must mirror His for us. We are to be His "only one," with no rivals in our hearts. And as we live this out, our light will shine in the darkness, and the world, like the queens and concubines, will be forced to ask, "Who is this?"