Song of Solomon 5:8-16

8 Make this promise, O women of Jerusalem— If you find my lover, tell him I am weak with love.

9 Why is your lover better than all others, O woman of rare beauty? What makes your lover so special that we must promise this?

10 My lover is dark and dazzling, better than ten thousand others!

11 His head is finest gold, his wavy hair is black as a raven.

12 His eyes sparkle like doves beside springs of water; they are set like jewels washed in milk.

13 His cheeks are like gardens of spices giving off fragrance. His lips are like lilies, perfumed with myrrh.

14 His arms are like rounded bars of gold, set with beryl. His body is like bright ivory, glowing with lapis lazuli.

15 His legs are like marble pillars set in sockets of finest gold. His posture is stately, like the noble cedars of Lebanon.

16 His mouth is sweetness itself; he is desirable in every way. Such, O women of Jerusalem, is my lover, my friend.

Song of Solomon 5:8-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO SONG OF SOLOMON 5

This chapter begins with Christ's answer to the church's request; in which he informs her, that he was come into his garden, as she desired, and gives an account of what he had done there; and kindly invites his dear friends to feast with him there, So 5:1; Then she relates her case and circumstances, which followed upon this, her sleepy frame, and ungrateful carriage to her beloved; which he resenting, withdrew from her, and this gave her sensible pain, So 5:2-6; what treatment she met with from the watchmen; her charge to the daughters of Jerusalem; and the questions they asked about her beloved, So 5:7-9; which put her upon giving a large description of him, by each of his parts, head, hair So 5:10-15; And the chapter is concluded with a general commendation of him and his loveliness, and a claim of interest in So 5:16.