Song of Solomon 6

The chapter opens with the women of Jerusalem asking where the beloved has gone. The bride answers with confident joy, and the king praises her beauty again, calling her unique among all women. It ends with a puzzling scene in the nut garden and a cry for the Shulammite to return. Throughout, love is shown as belonging, longing and delighted admiration.

Song of Solomon 6:1

The women of Jerusalem, who had earlier heard her lovesick cry, now ask where her beloved has gone. They offer to help look for him. Her longing has stirred others to take his worth seriously.

Song of Solomon 6:2

She knows exactly where he is. He has gone to his garden, to the spice beds and the lilies. The garden pictures her own life as the place where he delights to walk. Her search has become confident rest.

Song of Solomon 6:3

She repeats her earlier words with the order reversed. Now she puts herself first: ‘I belong to my beloved.’ Love that has passed through absence and testing becomes more settled and more surrendered. He still pastures his flock among the lilies.

Song of Solomon 6:4

The king speaks. He compares her to Tirzah and Jerusalem, two renowned and lovely cities. Then he says she is awe-inspiring, like an army with banners. Her beauty is both delightful and overwhelming.

Song of Solomon 6:5

He asks her to look away because her gaze has overwhelmed him. The poem is bold about the power of love. Her flowing hair is like dark goats streaming down the slopes of Gilead, a rich pastureland east of the Jordan.

Song of Solomon 6:6

Her teeth are compared to freshly washed sheep. They are clean, matched in pairs, and none is missing. This is simple, rural praise for health and wholeness. The language repeats his earlier words about her.

Song of Solomon 6:7

Her brow, seen behind the veil, is like a slice of pomegranate. The image suggests a soft blush and a modest hidden beauty. The veil does not hide her worth. It adds to the delight of seeing her.

Song of Solomon 6:8-9

The king may have many queens, concubines and maidens, yet she stands alone in his eyes. She is his ‘dove’, pure and complete, and the pride of her mother. Love at its truest is faithful and singular. Even the other women honor her.

See also: Proverbs 31:28-29.

Song of Solomon 6:10

The admiring women now ask who this is. They picture her rising like the dawn, then as fair as the moon, bright as the sun, and awe-inspiring like a procession of stars. The images grow steadily brighter. Her beauty fills the sky.

Song of Solomon 6:11

A speaker, most likely she, says she went down to a nut grove in the valley. She went to look for spring growth on the vines and pomegranates. It is a quiet scene of expectancy, watching for new life to appear.

Song of Solomon 6:12

This is one of the hardest verses in the book, and translators differ widely. In the BSB’s reading, her desire carries her, almost unaware, into a royal setting among chariots. Love can lead us somewhere we did not plan to go.

Song of Solomon 6:13

Voices call her to return so they may gaze on her. She responds by asking why they look at her. The ‘dance of Mahanaim’ may refer to a lively dance. The name Mahanaim means ’two camps’. The scene ends with admiration and an open question.

See also: Genesis 32:1-2.