Song of Solomon 5

I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.

I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.

I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?

My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him.

I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.

I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.

The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.

I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.

What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?

My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.

His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven.

His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set.

His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.

His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.

His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.

His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.

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Song of Solomon 5:12

“His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set.”

Study Summary

The beloved describes her beloved's eyes as like doves beside streams of water, bathed in milk, sitting beside a pool, establishing his eyes as gentle, beautiful, and engaged with natural beauty. The dove imagery echoes the beloved's own eyes as described by the lover, suggesting visual correspondence and mutual beauty between the lovers. The reference to eyes bathed in milk and sitting beside pools establishes eyes as sources of reflected light and clarity, suggesting that the beloved's lover is characterized by openness and truthfulness. This verse theologically suggests that mutual beauty and aesthetic appreciation characterize both lovers, and that the beloved sees her lover with the same attentive appreciation he extends to her.

Community Reflections

Emre Yilmaz (test user)7h ago

The promise of restoration — Song of Solomon 5

God is faithful in every circumstance.. We bring nothing; He provides everything.. Following God is costly, but the reward is eternal.. It implies covenant loyalty, steadfast love that never wavers.. God is faithful in every circumstance.. Faith isn't the absence of doubt — it's choosing to believe despite it.. The contrast between human weakness and divine strength is so vivid in this passage. God is faithful in every circumstance.. God is faithful in every circumstance.. God is faithful in every circumstance.. The thread of covenant runs through every book of the Bible.. His timing, His methods, His purposes — all beyond our comprehension, yet perfectly good.. God is faithful in every circumstance.. God is faithful in every circumstance.. God is faithful in every circumstance.. I notice the repetition here is deliberate — the author wants us to feel the emphasis, to let the truth sink deep into our hearts.. God…

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