Song of Solomon 6:4–9a

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The Renewal of Love

The Lover to His Beloved:

^6:4My darling, you are as beautiful as Tirzah,⁹

as lovely as Jerusalem,¹⁰

as awe-inspiring¹¹ as bannered armies!

^6:5Turn your eyes away from me—

they overwhelm¹² me!

Your hair is like a flock of goats

descending from Mount Gilead.

^6:6Your teeth are like a flock of sheep

coming up from the washing;

each has its twin;

not one of them is missing.

^6:7Like a slice of pomegranate

is your forehead¹³ behind your veil.

^6:8There may be sixty¹⁴ queens,

and eighty concubines,

and young women¹⁵ without number.

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Footnotes

9 He compares her beauty to two of the most beautiful and important cities in the Israelite United Kingdom, namely, Jerusalem and Tirzah. The beauty of Jerusalem was legendary; it is twice called “the perfection of beauty” (Ps 50:2; Lam 2:15). Tirzah was beautiful as well—in fact, the name means “pleasure, beauty.” So beautiful was Tirzah that it would be chosen by Jeroboam as the original capital of the northern kingdom (1 Kgs 15:33; 16:8, 15, 23). The ancient city Tirzah has been identified as Tel el-Far`ah near Nablus: see B. S. J. Isserlin, “Song of Songs IV, 4: An Archaeological Note,” 90 (1958): 60; R. de Vaux, “Le premiere campagne de fouilles a Tell el-Far`ah,” 54 (1947): 394–433.
10 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
11 The literary unity of 6:4–10 and boundaries of his praise are indicated by the repetition of the phrase אֲיֻמָּה כַּנִּדְגָּלוֹת (’ayummah kannidégalot, “majestic as bannered armies/stars in procession …”) in 6:4 and 6:10 which creates an inclusion. His praise includes his own personal statements (6:4–9a) as well as his report of the praise given to her by the maidens, queens, and concubines (6:9b–10). His praise indicates that he had forgiven any ingratitude on her part.
12 The verb רָהַב (rahav) should be nuanced “overwhelm” or “arouse” rather than “storm against,” “make proud,” “confuse,” “dazzle,” or “overcome” ( 923 רָהַב).
13 Alternately, “your cheeks” or “your temple.” See 4:3.
14 The sequence “sixty … eighty … beyond number” is an example of a graded numerical sequence and is not intended to be an exact numeration (see W. G. E. Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry [], ).
15 The term עַלְמָה (’almah, “young woman”) refers to a young woman who is of marriageable age or a newly married young woman, usually before the birth of her first child ( עַלְמָה; 761 עַלְמָה) (e.g., Gen 24:43; Exod 2:8; Ps 68:26; Prov 30:19; Song 1:3; 6:8; Isa 7:14). The only other use of the term “young women” (עֲלָמוֹת) in the Song refers to the young women of Solomon’s harem (Song 6:8). The root עלם denotes the basic idea of “youthful, strong, passionate” ( III). While the term עַלְמָה may be used in reference to a young woman who is a virgin, the term itself does not explicitly denote “virgin.” The Hebrew term which explicitly denotes “virgin” is בְּתוּלָה (bétulah) which refers to a mature young woman without any sexual experience with men (e.g., Gen 24:16; Exod 22:15–16; Lev 21:3; Deut 22:23, 28; 32:25; Judg 12:12; 19:24; 2 Sam 13:2, 18; 1 Kgs 1:2; 2 Chr 36:17; Esth 2:2–3, 17, 19; Job 31:1; Pss 45:15; 78:63; 148:12; Isa 23:4; 62:5; Jer 2:32; 31:3; 51:22; Lam 1:4, 18; 2:10, 21; 5:11; Ezek 9:6; Joel 1:8; Amos 9:13; Zech 9:17; בְּתוּלָה; 143 בְּתוּלָה). The related noun בְּתוּלִים (bétulim) means “state of virginity” (Lev 21:13; Judg 11:37–38; Ezek 23:3, 8; Sir 42:10) and “evidence of virginity” (Deut 22:14–15, 17, 20) ( בְּתוּלִים).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love,

lovely as Jerusalem,

awesome as an army with banners.

Turn away your eyes from me,

for they overwhelm me—

Your hair is like a flock of goats

leaping down the slopes of Gilead.

Your teeth are like a flock of ewes

that have come up from the washing;

all of them bear twins;

not one among them has lost its young.

Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate

behind your veil.

There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,

and virgins without number.

My dove, my perfect one, is the only one,

the only one of her mother,

pure to her who bore her.

The young women saw her and called her blessed;

the queens and concubines also, and they praised her.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,

as lovely as Jerusalem,

as majestic as troops with banners.

Turn your eyes from me;

they overwhelm me.

Your hair is like a flock of goats

descending from Gilead.

Your teeth are like a flock of sheep

coming up from the washing.

Each has its twin,

not one of them is missing.

Your temples behind your veil

are like the halves of a pomegranate.

Sixty queens there may be,

and eighty concubines,

and virgins beyond number;

but my dove, my perfect one, is unique,

the only daughter of her mother,

the favorite of the one who bore her.

The young women saw her and called her blessed;

the queens and concubines praised her.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,

lovely as Jerusalem,

awe-inspiring as an army with banners.

Turn your eyes away from me,

for they captivate me.

Your hair is like a flock of goats

streaming down from Gilead.

Your teeth are like a flock of ewes

coming up from washing,

each one having a twin,

and not one missing.

Behind your veil,

your brow is like a slice of pomegranate.

There are sixty queens

and eighty concubines

and young women without number.

But my dove, my virtuous one, is unique;

she is the favorite of her mother,

perfect to the one who gave her birth.

Women see her and declare her fortunate;

queens and concubines also, and they sing her praises:

NLTNew Living Translation

You are beautiful, my darling,

like the lovely city of Tirzah.

Yes, as beautiful as Jerusalem,

as majestic as an army with billowing banners.

Turn your eyes away,

for they overpower me.

Your hair falls in waves,

like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead.

Your teeth are as white as sheep

that are freshly washed.

Your smile is flawless,

each tooth matched with its twin.

Your cheeks are like rosy pomegranates

behind your veil.

Even among sixty queens

and eighty concubines

and countless young women,

I would still choose my dove, my perfect one—

the favorite of her mother,

dearly loved by the one who bore her.

The young women see her and praise her;

even queens and royal concubines sing her praises:

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

You are beautiful, my beloved, as Tirzah,

lovely as Jerusalem,

overwhelming as an army with banners.

Turn away your eyes from before me,

for they overwhelm me.

Your hair is like a flock of the goats

that moves down from Gilead.

Your teeth are like a flock of the ewes

that have come up from the washing,

all of them bearing twins,

and there is none bereaved among them.

Your cheeks behind your veil

are like halves of a pomegranate.

Sixty queens there are, eighty concubines,

and maidens beyond number.

My dove, she is the one;

my perfect, she is the only one;

she is the favorite of her mother who bore her.

Maidens see her and consider her fortunate;

queens and concubines praise her:

KJV 1900King James Version

Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah,

Comely as Jerusalem,

Terrible as an army with banners.

Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me:

Thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead.

Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing,

Whereof every one beareth twins, and there is not one barren among them.

As a piece of a pomegranate are thy temples within thy locks.

There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines,

And virgins without number.

My dove, my undefiled is but one;

She is the only one of her mother,

She is the choice one of her that bare her.

The daughters saw her, and blessed her;

Yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.

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