Era 6 · The First KingsSong of Songs
Song of Songs 1: Your Love Is Better Than Wine
A woman's voice opens the poem: kisses, a king's chambers, dark and lovely, and a shepherd she longs to find
"The song of songs, which is Solomon's" (1:1). Shir ha-shirim is a Hebrew superlative, like "holy of holies": the finest of songs. The second phrase, asher li-Shlomo, can mean "by Solomon," "for Solomon," "about Solomon" or "in Solomon's collection." It is a heading, not a signature.
Then a woman speaks, with no one introducing her: "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee" (vv. 2–3). She moves from "him" to "you" in one breath. "Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee" (v. 4).
"I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept" (vv. 5–6). She is darkened by work in the sun; her brothers set her to work; her "own vineyard" (herself) she has not kept.
"Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon" (v. 7). She does not want to wander "as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions." Someone answers: "If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents" (v. 8).
A man's voice: "I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots" (v. 9), her cheeks and neck adorned with jewels (vv. 10–11). She answers: "While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me… as a cluster of camphire (henna) in the vineyards of En-gedi" (vv. 12–14). "Behold, thou art fair, my love… thou hast doves' eyes" (v. 15). "Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green. The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir" (vv. 16–17).
Read 1:2–17 straight through: kisses and wine, the king's chambers, the vineyards, the noon pasture, the mare and the chariots, myrrh and henna, cedar beams. The voices change without warning.
The Hebrew has no speaker names. Readers work out who is speaking from the grammar, which marks gender in "you" and "my" forms and in many verbs.
| Lines | Proposed voice | Clue in the Hebrew |
|---|---|---|
| 1:2–4 | The woman (with a group, "we") | She speaks of "him" and to "you" (masculine: dodekha, "your love"). "We will rejoice" (v. 4) may be a chorus or the woman including her companions. |
| 1:5–7 | The woman | "I am black" (shechorah, feminine); she addresses the daughters of Jerusalem, then "you whom my soul loves" (masculine). |
| 1:8 | The man, or the chorus | "Fairest among women" (feminine address). Whether the man or the daughters answer is not marked. |
| 1:9–11 | The man (v. 11 perhaps a group: "we will make") | "My love" (ra'yati, feminine: "my darling"). |
| 1:12–14 | The woman | "My beloved" (dodi, masculine) is "unto me" a bundle of myrrh. |
| 1:15 | The man | "You are fair" (yafah, feminine). |
| 1:16–17 | The woman (vv. 16–17), or both | "You are fair" (yafeh, masculine), "my beloved" (dodi). "Our bed," "our house": shared. |
These labels are the site's editorial suggestion, following the grammar where it is clear. Where the grammar is not clear, the label says so. No ancient Hebrew manuscript carries them.
| Verses | What it says | What to notice |
|---|---|---|
| 1:1 | Title: the Song of Songs, which is Solomon's | Superlative; the Solomon link is a heading with several possible senses. |
| 1:2–4 | Kisses, love better than wine, scented oils, the king's chambers | "Your love" (dodekha). The Greek and Latin read the same letters as "your breasts": see the passage page. |
| 1:5–6 | Dark and lovely; Kedar's tents and Solomon's curtains; the brothers and the vineyards | Her skin is darkened by the sun; the Hebrew joins the words with ve ("and" or "but"). |
| 1:7–8 | Where do you pasture at noon? Follow the flock's tracks | Pastoral setting; the noon rest in the heat. |
| 1:9–11 | A mare among Pharaoh's chariots; jewelled cheeks and neck | A mare among stallions would cause a stir: a compliment about her effect, not her shape. |
| 1:12–14 | Nard at the king's table; myrrh between her breasts; henna of En-gedi | Imported aromatics and a famous oasis. |
| 1:15–17 | Mutual praise; doves' eyes; a green couch; cedar beams and cypress rafters | Outdoors or indoors? The images blend. |
Kedar, curtains and the sun
Kedar was an Arabian tribal confederation of the Syrian desert (Genesis 25:13; Isaiah 21:16–17; Jeremiah 49:28), known from Assyrian records as a nomadic people living in tents of black goat-hair, still the material of Bedouin tents. "The curtains of Solomon" are royal hangings. The comparison is visual: dark like Kedar's tents, beautiful like Solomon's curtains. The woman explains her darkness by the sun and outdoor labor (v. 6). The verse is about sun-darkened skin and social status (field work versus a sheltered life); it is not a statement about ethnicity or race, and it is not a condemnation of dark skin.
Aromatics and En-gedi
Nard (spikenard) was an expensive oil from a Himalayan plant, imported by long-distance trade; myrrh is a resin from Arabia and East Africa, worn in small sachets; kofer is henna, whose fragrant white flower clusters grow in warm places. En-gedi, the spring oasis on the western shore of the Dead Sea, was famous in later centuries for balsam and dates; an Iron Age and Persian-period settlement (Tel Goren) has been excavated there. The poem uses real places and goods as images of delight; no find at En-gedi is connected with these verses.
Read as love poetry, chapter 1 sets up the book's world: a woman who speaks first and freely, a beloved who is both "king" and shepherd in her imagery, a chorus of "daughters of Jerusalem," and the language of taste and scent. The king may be a real king, a lover called "king" in affection (as brides and grooms were later called king and queen in Jewish wedding custom), or a deliberate contrast with the shepherd.
Egyptian love songs of the New Kingdom (13th–12th centuries BC) also open in mid-desire, alternate a woman's and a man's voice, call the lovers "sister" and "brother," and compare love to wine and perfume. These are comparable texts, not sources: they show that songs of desire with these features existed in the region centuries before the Song.
The Targum reads the chapter as Israel's history: the kisses are God's speaking "face to face" with Israel at Sinai, and "I am black, but comely" (1:5) is Israel blackened by the golden calf but made beautiful by repentance. Song of Songs Rabbah similarly reads the kisses as the giving of the Torah. These readings are first attested in rabbinic literature of late antiquity.
Origen (c. 240) read the kisses as the Word's direct illumination of the bride, who is the church or the individual soul; Bernard of Clairvaux began his 86 sermons (1135–1153) with "Let him kiss me" and read the kiss as the incarnation. Many Christian readers took the dark-and-lovely bride as the church gathered from the nations. These are later readings, not the poem's original setting.
1:2: "your love" or "your breasts"?
The Hebrew consonants DDYK can be read dodekha, "your love(-making)," addressed to a man (so the Masoretic vowels and the KJV), or daddayikh, "your breasts," addressed to a woman. The library's Greek (Giguet: "tes mamelles sont meilleures que le vin") and the Vulgate (meliora sunt ubera tua vino) read "breasts," and both repeat it in v. 4. Since v. 2 begins "let him kiss me," the woman is speaking, and "your love" (to a man) fits the context; the Greek and Latin made the speaker a man praising the woman, or read the line Christologically ("breasts" as nourishing teaching in some later Christian readings). This is a difference of vowels, not of letters, and a good example of how translators decide who speaks.
1:5: "black, but comely" or "black and comely"?
The Hebrew joins the words with ve-, which can mean "and" or "but." The library's Greek has "and" (Giguet "noire, et je suis belle"), the Vulgate "but" (nigra sum, sed formosa), the KJV "but." Many modern versions prefer "dark and lovely" (NRSV "black and beautiful"). The choice matters: "but" can suggest that darkness is a defect to be overcome, which the Hebrew does not require. The woman's own explanation (v. 6) is the sun and her brothers' orders.
Solomon in the Song
Solomon is named in 1:1 (heading), 1:5 ("curtains of Solomon"), 3:7, 9, 11 (his litter and wedding day) and 8:11–12 (his vineyard). "The king" appears in 1:4, 12 and 7:5. Whether the woman's beloved is Solomon, a shepherd contrasted with Solomon, or a lover she calls "king" is one of the book's oldest questions. See "Who Wrote the Song?" and "One Drama or Many Songs?"
What the evidence shows
- The Hebrew of the Song has no speaker labels.Source: The site's library: Westminster Leningrad Codex, KJV, Clementine Vulgate, Giguet's French of the Greek; J. C. Exum, Song of Songs: A Commentary (Old Testament Library, 2005)
- The library's Greek and the Vulgate read "your breasts" in 1:2 where the Masoretic vowels read "your love."Source: The site's library: Westminster Leningrad Codex, KJV, Clementine Vulgate, Giguet's French of the Greek
- Asher li-Shlomo (1:1) means Solomon wrote the Song. The phrase can mean by, for, about, or belonging to Solomon.
- Song 1:5 is a statement about race. The woman attributes her darkness to the sun and field labor (1:6).
- The Targum reads 1:5 of Israel's sin with the golden calf and repentance. Later Jewish reception; C check on the Targum text.Source: Targum of the Song of Songs (Aramaic; date debated, often placed in the 7th–8th centuries)
Continue the journey
Journey of a PassageSong of Songs 1:1: "The song of songs, which is Solomon's"The heading: shir ha-shirim asher li-Shlomo.More from this lesson
Echoes Across Civilizations
Optional: how other ancient peoples told similar stories. Open one to compare, then come back to the lesson.
Songs of love in the ancient worldEgyptian · Sumerian · Assyrian
Did other ancient peoples sing love poems like the Song of Songs?
- Egyptian: New Kingdom love songs (Papyrus Chester Beatty I verso, Papyrus Harris 500, the Cairo jar, Turin papyrus) Possible historical contact
- Sumerian: Songs of Inanna and Dumuzi Shared literary world
- Assyrian: Love lyric of Nabu and Tashmetu Resemblance only
Why this matters to the rest of Scripture
- Solomon "spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five": the background of the heading.
- A royal wedding song: the king's beauty, his bride, myrrh and fine robes.
- Genesis 25:13; Isaiah 60:7Kedar, the Arabian people of the black tents.
- David at the strongholds of En-gedi.
- Myrrh, aloes and cinnamon on a bed: the same luxuries in a warning poem.