Song of Songs 6 Footnotes

6:8 While many scholars understand the three categories of women: “queens,” “concubines,” and “young women” as status distinctions within the structure of Solomon’s harem (1Kg 11:3), the text offers no evidence to support the view. One example of an allegorical reading proposes that they represented states of holiness; the queens were “perfected souls,” the concubines symbolized “those who are progressing in their sanctification,” and the young women represented “those who are seeking God.” This interpretation depends on reading the Hebrew ‘almah as “virgin,” in the restrictive sense (see Is 7:14); normally it simply means a young woman up to the age of marriage. The groom mentioned three classes of women for comparative purposes, drawing on the images of stateliness, royalty, and beauty to describe his beloved.

6:11 “Walnut grove” is literally “garden of nuts” (or “nut orchard”). The word nut (Hb ’egoz) may here be a euphemistic term denoting either male or female sexual organs. The context, in the words of the bride, suggests that the verse referred to the male’s private parts in a subtle description of sexual intimacy. The wording prompted the early church fathers to suggest that the hard outer covering of the nut signified the Mosaic law, and the wholesome, nutritious center Jesus Christ. In considering passages of this sort, it is well to recall that the composer of the Song discreetly substituted colorful poetic images for any explicit sexual language that may be inferred, allowing for interpretation at a variety of levels.

6:12 In what is perhaps the most enigmatic verse in the book, the wide variety of interpretations and suggested emendations fail to yield a scholarly consensus. The mention of chariots seems awkward in the broader context, and the structure of the last phrase (Hb ammi-nadib) makes it unclear to whom the chariots belong. The Greek OT and Vg read the proper name Amminadab. However, the biblical text does not establish any connection with love and a character named Amminadab. Possible translations include “like the chariots of Amminadib” (KJV), or “in a chariot beside my prince” (RSV). The word translated “nobleman” can be vocalized as the preposition “with me,” contributing to the uncertainty of the rendering.