Song of Solomon 6

Others

6 Where has your beloved gone,
O most beautiful among women?
Where has your beloved turned,
that we may seek him with you?

Together in the Garden of Love

She

My beloved has gone down to his garden
to the beds of spices,
to graze in the gardens
and to gather lilies.
I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;
he grazes among the lilies.

Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other

He

You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love,
lovely as Jerusalem,
awesome as an army with banners.
Turn away your eyes from me,
for they overwhelm me—
Your hair is like a flock of goats
leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
that have come up from the washing;
all of them bear twins;
not one among them has lost its young.
Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
behind your veil.
There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,
and virgins without number.
My dove, my perfect one, is the only one,
the only one of her mother,
pure to her who bore her.
The young women saw her and called her blessed;
the queens and concubines also, and they praised her.
“Who is this who looks down like the dawn,
beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun,
awesome as an army with banners?”

She

I went down to the nut orchard
to look at the blossoms of the valley,
to see whether the vines had budded,
whether the pomegranates were in bloom.
Before I was aware, my desire set me
among the chariots of my kinsman, a prince.

Others

Return, return, O Shulammite,
return, return, that we may look upon you.

He

Why should you look upon the Shulammite,
as upon a dance before two armies?

(ESV)

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Song of Solomon 6 Commentary

by Brad Boyles

The theme of this chapter is most definitely reconciliation. As Hank has written, any successful marriage must involve lots of forgiveness. But there are several contextual questions I asked as I read this chapter. Take this statement by Solomon as an example…

“There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and maidens without number; but my dove, my perfect one, is unique…”

It’s no secret Solomon had lots of women. Was he comparing her to all the others? A closer look reveals there is no language of relationship to any of these he is describing. He goes from 60 to 80 to “all women” in his description. This was a common literary effect that illustrated the simple truth he felt in his heart. His beloved was far above any other woman. He affirms this in the next verse (9) by affirming that she is literally the best of the best. So, yes, there may be a general comparison but there is no indication that Solomon is directly comparing her to the women he has been in a relationship with.

Verses 11 and 12 seem really out of place. It goes from Solomon praising his beloved to talking about his stroll through the garden and the chariots of his kinsmen. Commentators agree on the difficulty of these passages and there is not really a good interpretation. The most likely scenario is that these verses are another example of the extreme love that these two have for each other.

We know it’s love because it’s not just words being spoken. It’s not just an attraction. There has been a conflict and forgiveness. The love that is promoted so much in our world today is a truly shallow emotion compared to what we read here in Song of Solomon.