The beloved describes her beloved's arms as bars of gold set with jewels and his belly as a plaque of ivory overlaid with sapphires, establishing his body as precious and carefully decorated. The reference to gold bars and jewels establishes the beloved's strength as precious and worthy of ornamentation, while the description of his belly as ivory overlaid with sapphires establishes his entire form as covered with valuable materials. The beloved's focus on his physical form and its decoration establishes her appreciation of his embodied presence and her recognition of his body as a locus of beauty. This verse theologically suggests that masculine beauty and embodied presence are worthy of aesthetic appreciation, and that the beloved celebrates her lover's form as thoroughly as he celebrates hers.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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