Song of Songs 1 Footnotes

1:4 The reader cannot take for granted the identity of the “king.” Some commentators suggest the epithet referred to Solomon, while others propose that the royal title “king” reflected wedding festival language, in which the bridegroom was accorded the status of “king.” The “king” could have been an unidentified third party, although this option seems unlikely. An allegorical reading correlates the “king” with God, or Jesus. In a literal reading, the Song is a celebration of the tenderness of marriage which is, after all, a serious biblical concern (e.g., Eph 5:21-33).

1:5 Controversy surrounds the identity of the “Daughters of Jerusalem,” mentioned several times in the Song (elsewhere, “young women,” 2:7; 3:5,10; 5:8,16; 8:4). Those who maintain an allegorical approach associate the daughters with followers of the church, the population of Jerusalem, the nations of the world as enemies, or members of the synagogue. The “daughters” could refer to the female members of Israel, to friends of the bride, or, as contemporary scholars suggest, the sheltered, pampered, curious young women of aristocracy. But the Song is a drama, with various spoken (or chanted) parts, and the “daughters” may have been included simply as dramatic foil for the other speakers, especially the bride.

The uncertain meaning of the Hebrew term shechorah, “dark” yields several opinions. The word could have reflected the natural pigment of the bride’s skin, or referred to skin overexposed to the sun as a result of outdoor labor (v. 6). It remains unclear whether the bride was uncomfortable with her darkened complexion or whether she associated the color of her skin with beauty. Most translators render the conjunction as “but,” suggesting that the bride, self-conscious that her skin color identified her with the lower class, affirmed her attractive appearance despite outdoor work. Eager to avoid any racial misunderstandings, other scholars translate the simple conjunction “dark, and beautiful.” Later in the book (5:10), health and beauty are described as white and ruddy skin, further substantiating the possibility that the term shechorah designated a sunburn or tan.