Song of Solomon 1:6
Look not upon me
Meaning not with scorn and disdain because of her meanness;
nor as prying into her infirmities to expose her;
nor with joy at her trials and afflictions;
neither of these can be supposed in the daughters of Jerusalem
addressed by her:
but rather, not look on her as amazed at her sufferings,
as though some strange thing had befallen her; not at her blackness only,
on one account or another, lest they should be stumbled;
but at her beauty also; because I [am] black;
or "blackish" somewhat black,
but not so black as might be thought, or as she was represented:
the radicals of the word being doubled, some understand it as diminishing;
but rather it increases the signification;
see ( Psalms 14:2 ) ( Proverbs 8:31 ) ; and so it may
be rendered "very black" exceeding black;
and this she repeats for the sake
of an opportunity of giving the reason of it,
as follows;
because the sun hath looked upon me;
and had burnt her, and made her black;
which effect the sun has on persons in some countries,
and especially on such who are much abroad in the fields,
and employed in rural services; as she was,
being a keeper of vineyards,
as in this verse, and of flocks of sheep, as in the following.
This may be understood
of the sun of persecution that had beat upon her,
and had left such impressions on her,
and had made her in this hue, and which she bore patiently;
nor was she ashamed of it;
nor should she be upbraided with it, nor slighted on account of it,
see ( Matthew 13:6 Matthew 13:21 ) ;
my mother's children were angry with me;
by whom may be meant carnal professors, members of the same society,
externally children of the same mother, pretend to godliness,
but are enemies to it: these were "angry"
with the church for holding and defending
the pure doctrines of the Gospel;
for keeping the ordinances as they were delivered;
and for faithful reproofs and admonitions to them and others,
for their disagreeable walk: and these grieved the church,
and made her go mourning, and in black;
and more blackened her character and reputation
than anything else whatever: though it may be understood
of any carnal men, who descend from mother Eve,
or spring from mother earth, angry with the church
and her members preciseness in religion; and particularly
violent persecutors of her, who yet would be thought to be religious,
may be intended;
they made me the keeper of the vineyards;
this is another thing that added to her blackness,
lying abroad in the fields to keep the "vineyards" of others,
by which may be meant false churches, as true ones
are sometimes signified by them; and her compliance
with their corrupt worship and ordinances,
which was not voluntary, but forced;
they made me, obliged her, and this increased her blackness;
as also what follows; [but] mine own vineyard
have I not kept;
which made her blacker still; her church state,
or the spiritual affairs of her own,
her duty and business incumbent on her,
were sadly neglected by her:
and this sin of hers she does not pretend to extenuate
by the usage of her mother's children;
but ingenuously confesses the fault was her own,
to neglect her own vineyard and keep others,
which was greatly prejudicial to her, and was resented by Christ;
upon which it seems he departed from her, since she
was at a loss to know where he was, as appears
from the following words.
With the Romans,
neglect of fields, trees, and vineyards,
came under the notice of the censors, and was
not to go unpunished
In modern Western culture, many women go
to great lengths to tan and darken their skin. However,
the opposite was true of women in the ancient Near East.
Dark or tanned skin was undesirable because it indicated
a woman had spent significant time working in the sun,
something that servants or poor women did.
More affluent women would not labor in the sun;
they would stay indoors more
or have nicer clothing that covered their skin.
The Shulammite woman did not want to be stared at
because of her tanned skin.
In Song of Solomon 1:5 we read,
"Dark am I, yet lovely, / daughters of Jerusalem, / dark
like the tents of Kedar, / like the tent curtains of Solomon.”
The tents of Kedar were made from the wool of black goats.
The curtains of Solomon is a difficult phrase to render
from the Hebrew text.
Many believe the correct understanding is
instead “the tents of Salma.”
If so, the word picture is fitting.
The Salma people lived in the same general region as Kedar and likely
also constructed their tents with black wool.
Otherwise, the curtains of Solomon were likely purple,
the color of royalty,
a color that would not fit the description in verse 6.
Regardless, the Shulammite is telling the other women
not to think poorly of her because of her tanned skin.
Some have also sought meaning in Song of Solomon 1:6
based on the identity of Shulammite.
The term Shulammite
has been interpreted in different ways. Two of the most likely
interpretations are that Shulammite means
“O perfect one”
or that it refers to an area called Shunem (as the LXX chooses).
If this latter interpretation is correct, the Shulammite was from Shunem,
a village near Jezreel inhabited by the Jews during Solomon’s time.
The woman would likely have had an
olive complexion, though darker than some
due to her working out of doors.
Though the woman in Song of Solomon had some concerns about her
appearance, she was clearly loved by Solomon and desired by him.
The Song of Solomon offers a great example of how,
though imperfect,
a man and woman accept and love one another unconditionally
and pursue love and intimacy in the context of marriage.
Song of Solomon 1:6
Look not upon me
Meaning not with scorn and disdain because of her meanness;
nor as prying into her infirmities to expose her;
nor with joy at her trials and afflictions;
neither of these can be supposed in the daughters of Jerusalem
addressed by her:
but rather, not look on her as amazed at her sufferings,
as though some strange thing had befallen her; not at her blackness only,
on one account or another, lest they should be stumbled;
but at her beauty also; because I [am] black;
or "blackish" somewhat black,
but not so black as might be thought, or as she was represented:
the radicals of the word being doubled, some understand it as diminishing;
but rather it increases the signification;
see ( Psalms 14:2 ) ( Proverbs 8:31 ) ; and so it may
be rendered "very black" exceeding black;
and this she repeats for the sake
of an opportunity of giving the reason of it,
as follows;
because the sun hath looked upon me;
and had burnt her, and made her black;
which effect the sun has on persons in some countries,
and especially on such who are much abroad in the fields,
and employed in rural services; as she was,
being a keeper of vineyards,
as in this verse, and of flocks of sheep, as in the following.
This may be understood
of the sun of persecution that had beat upon her,
and had left such impressions on her,
and had made her in this hue, and which she bore patiently;
nor was she ashamed of it;
nor should she be upbraided with it, nor slighted on account of it,
see ( Matthew 13:6 Matthew 13:21 ) ;
my mother's children were angry with me;
by whom may be meant carnal professors, members of the same society,
externally children of the same mother, pretend to godliness,
but are enemies to it: these were "angry"
with the church for holding and defending
the pure doctrines of the Gospel;
for keeping the ordinances as they were delivered;
and for faithful reproofs and admonitions to them and others,
for their disagreeable walk: and these grieved the church,
and made her go mourning, and in black;
and more blackened her character and reputation
than anything else whatever: though it may be understood
of any carnal men, who descend from mother Eve,
or spring from mother earth, angry with the church
and her members preciseness in religion; and particularly
violent persecutors of her, who yet would be thought to be religious,
may be intended;
they made me the keeper of the vineyards;
this is another thing that added to her blackness,
lying abroad in the fields to keep the "vineyards" of others,
by which may be meant false churches, as true ones
are sometimes signified by them; and her compliance
with their corrupt worship and ordinances,
which was not voluntary, but forced;
they made me, obliged her, and this increased her blackness;
as also what follows; [but] mine own vineyard
have I not kept;
which made her blacker still; her church state,
or the spiritual affairs of her own,
her duty and business incumbent on her,
were sadly neglected by her:
and this sin of hers she does not pretend to extenuate
by the usage of her mother's children;
but ingenuously confesses the fault was her own,
to neglect her own vineyard and keep others,
which was greatly prejudicial to her, and was resented by Christ;
upon which it seems he departed from her, since she
was at a loss to know where he was, as appears
from the following words.
With the Romans,
neglect of fields, trees, and vineyards,
came under the notice of the censors, and was
not to go unpunished
In modern Western culture, many women go
to great lengths to tan and darken their skin. However,
the opposite was true of women in the ancient Near East.
Dark or tanned skin was undesirable because it indicated
a woman had spent significant time working in the sun,
something that servants or poor women did.
More affluent women would not labor in the sun;
they would stay indoors more
or have nicer clothing that covered their skin.
The Shulammite woman did not want to be stared at
because of her tanned skin.
In Song of Solomon 1:5 we read,
"Dark am I, yet lovely, / daughters of Jerusalem, / dark
like the tents of Kedar, / like the tent curtains of Solomon.”
The tents of Kedar were made from the wool of black goats.
The curtains of Solomon is a difficult phrase to render
from the Hebrew text.
Many believe the correct understanding is
instead “the tents of Salma.”
If so, the word picture is fitting.
The Salma people lived in the same general region as Kedar and likely
also constructed their tents with black wool.
Otherwise, the curtains of Solomon were likely purple,
the color of royalty,
a color that would not fit the description in verse 6.
Regardless, the Shulammite is telling the other women
not to think poorly of her because of her tanned skin.
Some have also sought meaning in Song of Solomon 1:6
based on the identity of Shulammite.
The term Shulammite
has been interpreted in different ways. Two of the most likely
interpretations are that Shulammite means
“O perfect one”
or that it refers to an area called Shunem (as the LXX chooses).
If this latter interpretation is correct, the Shulammite was from Shunem,
a village near Jezreel inhabited by the Jews during Solomon’s time.
The woman would likely have had an
olive complexion, though darker than some
due to her working out of doors.
Though the woman in Song of Solomon had some concerns about her
appearance, she was clearly loved by Solomon and desired by him.
The Song of Solomon offers a great example of how,
though imperfect,
a man and woman accept and love one another unconditionally
and pursue love and intimacy in the context of marriage.
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