the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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New King James Version
Song of Solomon 4:1
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Young Man
You are beautiful, my darling, beautiful beyond words. Your eyes are like doves behind your veil. Your hair falls in waves, like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead.Look, you are fair, my love; look, you are fair; Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is as a flock of goats, That lie along the side of mount Gilead.
How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, you are beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are like doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead.
The Lover to His Beloved:
Oh, you are beautiful, my darling! Oh, you are beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are like doves. Your hair is like a flock of female goats descending from Mount Gilead.Behold, thou [art] fair, my love; behold, thou [art] fair; thou [hast] doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair [is] as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.
Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is as a flock of goats, That descend from Mount Gilead.
"How fair and beautiful you are, my darling, How very beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are like those of a dove; Your hair is like [the shimmering black fleece of] a flock of [Arabian] goats That have descended from Mount Gilead [beyond the Jordan].
He
Behold, you are beautiful, my love, behold, you are beautiful! Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead.Mi frendesse, thou art ful fair; thin iyen ben of culueris, with outen that that is hid with ynne; thin heeris ben as the flockis of geete, that stieden fro the hil of Galaad.
Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thine eyes are as doves behind thy veil: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that lie along the side of mount Gilead.
How beautiful you are, my darling! How very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead.
He Speaks: My darling, you are lovely, so very lovely— as you look through your veil, your eyes are those of a dove. Your hair tosses about as gracefully as goats coming down from Gilead.
Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; Thine eyes are as doves behind thy veil. Thy hair is as a flock of goats, That lie along the side of mount Gilead.
See, you are fair, my love, you are fair; you have the eyes of a dove; your hair is as a flock of goats, which take their rest on the side of Gilead.
[He]
How beautiful you are, my love! How beautiful you are! Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gil‘ad.Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; Thine eyes are doves behind thy veil; Thy hair is as a flock of goats, On the slopes of mount Gilead.
My darling, you are so beautiful! Oh, you are beautiful! Your eyes are like doves under your veil. Your hair is long and flowing, like little goats dancing down the slopes of Mount Gilead.
Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thine eyes are as doves behind thy veil; thy hair is as a flock of goats, that trail down from mount Gilead.
Behold, thou art faire, my loue, behold thou art faire, thou hast doues eyes within thy lockes: thy haire is as a flocke of goats, that appeare from mount Gilead.
"How beautiful you are, my love! How beautiful you are! Your eyes are like doves behind your face-covering. Your hair is like a flock of goats coming down from Mount Gilead.
How beautiful you are, my love, how very beautiful! Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats, moving down the slopes of Gilead.
Beholde, thou art faire, my loue: behold, thou art faire: thine eyes are like the doues: among thy lockes thine heare is like the flocke of goates, which looke downe from the mountaine of Gilead.
BEHOLD, you are beautiful, my beloved; behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves eyes behind your veil; your hair is like a flock of goats, which come up from mount Gilead.
How beautiful you are, my love! How your eyes shine with love behind your veil. Your hair dances like a flock of goats bounding down the hills of Gilead.
HELo! thou art beautiful, my fair one, Lo! thou art beautiful, Thine eyes, are doves, from behind thy veil, - Thy hair, is like a flock of goats, which are reclining on the sides of Mount Gilead:
How beautiful art thou, my love, how beautiful art thou! thy eyes are doves’ eyes, besides what is hid within. Thy hair is as flocks of goats, which come up from mount Galaad.
Behold, you are beautiful, my love, behold, you are beautiful! Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats, moving down the slopes of Gilead.
O howe fayre art thou my loue, howe fayre art thou? thou hast doues eyes, beside that which lyeth hid within: Thy heerie lockes are lyke the wooll of a flocke of goates that be shorne vpon mount Gilead.
Behold, thou art fair, my companion; behold, thou art fair; thine eyes are doves, beside thy veil: thy hair is as flocks of goats, that have appeared from Galaad.
How beautiful you are, my darling.
Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is as a flock of goats, That descend from Mount Gil`ad.
Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.
Oh my! You are beautiful, my beloved! Oh my! You are beautiful! Your eyes are doves from behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats that move down from the mountains of Gilead.
Behold, you are beautiful, My love. Behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are as doves' from behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats which lie down from Mount Gilead.
Lo, thou [art] fair, my friend, lo, thou [art] fair, Thine eyes [are] doves behind thy veil, Thy hair as a row of the goats That have shone from mount Gilead,
O how fayre art thou (my loue) how fayre art thou? thou hast doues eyes besyde that which lyeth hid within.
The Man You're so beautiful, my darling, so beautiful, and your dove eyes are veiled By your hair as it flows and shimmers, like a flock of goats in the distance streaming down a hillside in the sunshine. Your smile is generous and full— expressive and strong and clean. Your lips are jewel red, your mouth elegant and inviting, your veiled cheeks soft and radiant. The smooth, lithe lines of your neck command notice—all heads turn in awe and admiration! Your breasts are like fawns, twins of a gazelle, grazing among the first spring flowers.
"How beautiful you are, my darling, How beautiful you are! Your eyes are like doves behind your veil; Your hair is like a flock of goats That have descended from Mount Gilead.
"How beautiful you are, my darling, How beautiful you are! Your eyes are like doves behind your veil; Your hair is like a flock of goats That have descended from Mount Gilead.
"Behold, you are beautiful, my darling,Behold, you are beautiful!Your eyes are like doves behind your veil;Your hair is like a flock of goatsThat have leapt down from Mount Gilead.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
my: Song of Solomon 4:9, Song of Solomon 4:10, Song of Solomon 1:15, Song of Solomon 2:10, Song of Solomon 2:14, Psalms 45:11, Ezekiel 16:14, 2 Corinthians 3:18
thou hast: Song of Solomon 5:12, Matthew 11:29, Philippians 2:3-5
thy hair: Song of Solomon 5:11, Song of Solomon 6:5, Song of Solomon 6:7, Song of Solomon 7:5
appear from: or, eat of, etc
mount: Numbers 32:1, Numbers 32:40
Reciprocal: Psalms 16:3 - the excellent Psalms 74:19 - turtledove Song of Solomon 1:8 - O thou Song of Solomon 1:9 - O my Song of Solomon 4:7 - General Song of Solomon 7:4 - thine eyes
Cross-References
And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."
And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, "For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed."
And he called his name Noah, saying, "This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD has cursed."
Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man intimately.
not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Behold, thou [art] fair, my love; behold, thou [art] fair,.... The same as in Song of Solomon 1:15; here repeated by Christ, to introduce the following commendation; to express the greatness of his love to his church; and show that he had the same opinion of her, and esteem for her, notwithstanding what had passed between that time and this;
thou [hast] doves' eyes within thy locks; the same comparison,
Song of Solomon 1:15- :; only with this difference, here her eyes are said to be "within [her] locks": which, whether understood of the ministers of the Gospel; or of the eyes of the understanding, particularly of, the eye of faith, as has been observed on the above place; do not seem so much to design the imperfection of the sight of the one or of the other, in the present state, as eyes within or under locks and in some measure covered with them, hinder the sight of them; as the modesty of either of them; locks being decently tied up, as the word signifies i, is a sign thereof, as the contrary is a sign of boldness and wantonness. Doves' eyes themselves are expressive of modesty and humility, and, this phrase added to them, increases the idea; such ministers, who have the largest gifts, greatest grace, light, and knowledge, are the most humble, witness the Apostle Paul; and this phrase expresses the beauty of them, not only in the eyes of Christ, but in the eyes of those to whom they publish the good tidings of salvation: and so it may denote what an exceeding modest grace faith is, which receives all from Christ, and gives him all the glory, and takes none to itself; and what a beauty there is in it, insomuch that Christ is ravished with it, Song of Solomon 4:9; and seems rather to be the sense here;
thy hair [is] as a flock of goats; like the hair of goats, so Ben Melech. Hair adds much to the comeliness of persons, and is therefore frequently mentioned, both with respect to the bride and bridegroom, in this song, Song of Solomon 5:1; and so in all poems of this kind k; and one part of the comeliness of women lies in their hair;
"let a woman, says Apuleius l, be adorned with ever such fine garments, and decked with gold and jewels, yet, without this ornament, she will not be pleasing; no, not Verus herself.''
The women m in Homer, are described by their beautiful hair; nor is it unusual to compare the hair of women, and represent it as superior to a fleece of the choicest flock n. And here the church's hair is said to be like the hair of goats, for that is the sense of the expression; and which is thought to be most like to human hair,
1 Samuel 19:13; and it is compared to that, not so much for its length and sleekness, as for its colour, being yellowish; which, with women formerly, was in esteem, and reckoned graceful o; this being the colour of the hair of some of the greatest beauties, as Helena, Philoxena, and others, whose hair was flaxen and yellow; hence great care was taken to make it look so, even as yellow as gold p: the Jewish women used to have their perukes, or false hair, of goats' hair, and still have in some places to this day q; and it should seem the Roman women also had, to which the poet r refers. And the church's hair here is said to be like the hair of a flock of goats,
that appear from Mount Gilead; or rather "on Mount Gilead", as Noldius: Gilead was a mountain in the land of Israel, beyond Jordan, famous for pasturage for cattle, where flocks of goats were fed, as was usual on mountains s; and, being well fed, their hair was long, smooth, neat, and glistering; and so to spectators, at a distance, looked very beautiful and lovely; especially in the morning at sun rising, and, glancing on them with its bright and glittering rays, were delightful. So R. Jonah, from the use of the word in the Arabic language, which signifies the morning, interprets it, which "rise early in the morning"; and which, as Schultens t observes, some render,
"leading to water early in the morning;''
the Vulgate Latin version is, "that ascend from Mount Gilead", from a lower to a higher part of it; which is approved of by Bochart u. Now the hair of the church may be interpreted either of believers, the several members of the church of Christ; the hairs of the head are numerous, grow upon the head, and have their nourishment from it; are weak in themselves, but depend upon the head, and are an ornament to it: so the saints, though few in comparison of the world, yet by themselves are a great number, which no man can number; these grow upon Christ, the Head of the church, and receive their nourishment from him; and, though weak in themselves, have strength from him, and have their dependence on him; and are an ornament and crown of glory to him; and who are cared for and numbered by him, so that no one can be lost; see Ezekiel 5:1. Or rather it may be interpreted of the outward conversation of the saints; hair is visible, is a covering, and an ornament, when taken care of, and managed aright, and has its dependence and is influenced by the head: the good conversation of the church and its members is visible to all, as the hair of the head, and as a flock of goats on Mount Gilead; and is a covering, though not from divine justice, yet from the reproaches of men; is ornamental to believers, and to the doctrine they profess; especially when their conversation is ordered aright, according to the weird of God, and is influenced by grace, communicated from Christ, the Head.
i ×צ××ª× "intra ligamina tua", some in Vatablus; "vittam suam", Cocceius; "constrictam comam tuam", Michaelis, so Jarchi. Vid. Horat. Carmin. l. 2. Ode 11. v. 23, 24. k Vid. Barthii Animadv. ad Claudian. Nupt. Honor. Ode 1. v. 12. l Metamorph. l. 2. m Juno, Iliad. 10. v. 5. Diana, Odyss. 20. v. 80. Minerva, Iliad. 6. v. 92. Latona, Iliad. 1. v. 36. 19. v. 413. Circe, Odyss. 10. v. 136, 220, 310. Calypso, Odyss. 5. v. 30. Helena, Iliad. 3. v. 329. & passim Thetis, Iliad. 18. v. 407. & 20. v. 207. Ceres, Odyss. 5. v. 125. Nymphs and others, Odyss. 6. v. 222, 238. & 12. v. 132. & 19. v. 542. So Venus is described by Claudian. de Nupt. Honor. v. 99. "Casariem tunc forte Venus subnixa corusco fingebat solio". n "Quae crine vincit Boetici gregis vellus", Martial. l. 5. Ep. 38. o "Nondum illi flavum", &c. Virgil. Aeneid. 4. prope finem. Vid. Horat. Carmin. l. 1. Ode 5. v. 4. Martial. Epigr. l. 5. Ep. 65. p "Aurea Caesaries", Virgil. Aeneid. 8. v. 659. Vid. Barthii Animadv. ad Claudian. de Rapt. Proserp. l. 3. v. 86. q Vid. Braunium de Vest. Sacerdot. l. 1. c. 9. p. 201. r "Hoedina tibi pelle", &c. Martial. Epigr. l. 12. Ep. 38. s Theocrit. Idyll. 3. v. 1, 2. t Animadv. in loc. u Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 5. col. 628.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Thou hast dovesâ eyes ... - Thine eyes are doves behind thy veil. So also in Song of Solomon 4:3; Song of Solomon 6:7; Isaiah 47:2, âveilâ is better than âlocks.â
That appear from ... - Or, âthat couch upon Mount Gilead.â The point of comparison seems to be the multitudinousness of the flocks seen browsing on the verdant slopes of the rich pasture-lands Numbers 32:1; Micah 7:14.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER IV
The bridegroom's description of his bride, her person, her
accomplishments, her chastity, and her general excellence,
1-16.
NOTES ON CHAP. IV
Verse Song of Solomon 4:1. Thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks — Perhaps this refers rather to a sort of veil worn by many of the Eastern women, but especially in Egypt. It is a species of black cloth made of the hair of some animal, probably the black goat; is suspended from the head by silken cords, one of which comes from the crown of the head, down the forehead, to the upper part of the nose, just under the eyes, at which place the veil begins; for the forehead and the eyes are uncovered, except the cord above mentioned, which is ornamented with gold, silver, and precious stones, according to the circumstances of the wearer. This partial veil not only covers all the face, the eyes and forehead excepted, but the neck also, and hangs loosely down over the bosom. One of them, lately brought from Egypt, now lies before me.
But the clause, within thy locks, ×××¢× ×××ª× mibbaad letsammathech, is not well translated, either by ourselves or by the versions. Jerome's translation is an indication of the meaning: Absque eo quod intrinsecus latet; without that, or independently of that, which lies hidden within. The Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic have, besides thy silence. Calmet contends that none of these gives the true meaning, and that the word tsemath has not the meaning of hair or locks wherever it occurs, and has quite a different meaning in Isaiah 47:2. St. Jerome on this place expresses himself thus: Nolentibus qui interpretati sunt transferre nomen quod in Sancta Scriptura sonat turpitudinem.-Ergo tsammathech, quod Aquila posuit, verenda mulieris appellanatur cujus etymologia apud eos sonat sitiens tuus. Calmet translates: Vous etes toute belle, won amie; vous etes toute belle: vos yeux sont des yeux de colombe; sans ce que la pudeur et la modestie tiennent cache. I leave the translation of these to the learned reader. See another description under Song of Solomon 4:7.
As a flock of goats — Because it was black and sleek, as the hair of the goats of Arabia and Palestine is known to be; which, with its fine undulation, is supposed to bear some resemblance to the curls or plaits of a woman's tresses. The mountains of Gilead were beyond Jordan, on the frontiers of Arabia Deserta.
