---
title: "Clarke"
description: "Verse Song of Solomon 5:1. I am come into my garden — באתי bathi, I came, or have come; this should be translated in the past tense, as the other preterit"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/song-of-solomon/5"
---

Verse [Song of Solomon 5:1](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/5/1). ***I am come into my garden*** — באתי *bathi*, I came, or have come; this should be translated in the *past* tense, as the other *preterite* verbs in this clause. I think the latter clause of the preceding verse should come in here: "Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits. I have come into my garden, my sister, callah, or spouse; I have gathered my myrrh," c. I have taken thee for my spouse, and am perfectly satisfied that thou art pure and immaculate.
***Eat, O friends-drink abundantly*** — These are generally supposed to be the words of the *bridegroom*, after he returned from the *nuptial* *chamber*, and exhibited those *signs* of his wife's *purity* which the customs of those times required. This being a cause of universal joy, the entertainment is served up and he invites his companions, and the friends of both parties, to eat and drink abundantly, as there was such a universal cause of rejoicing. Others think that these are the words of the bride to her spouse: but the original will not bear this meaning; the verbs are all plural.

Verse [Song of Solomon 5:2](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/5/2). ***I sleep, but my heart waketh*** — This is a *new part*; and some suppose that the *fifth* day's solemnity begins here. *Though I* *sleep, yet so* impressed is *my heart* with the excellences of my beloved, that my imagination presents him to me in the most pleasing *dreams* throughout the night. I doubt whether the whole, from this verse to the end of the *seventh*, be not a *dream*: several parts of it bear this resemblance; and I confess there are some parts of it, such as her hesitating to rise, his sudden disappearance, &c., which would be of easier solution on this supposition. Or part of the transactions mentioned might be the *effects of the dream* she had, as rising up suddenly, and going out into the street, meeting with the watchmen, &c., before she was well awake. And her being in so much *disorder* and *dishabille* might have induced them to treat her as a *suspicious person*, or one of questionable *character*. But it is most likely the whole was a *dream*.
***For my head is filled with dew*** — She supposed he had come in the night, and was standing without, *wet*, and exposed to the inclemency of the weather.

Verse [Song of Solomon 5:3](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/5/3). ***I have put off my coat*** — The bride must have been in a *dream* or in much *disorder of mind* to have made the frivolous excuses here mentioned. The words relate to the case of a person who had gone to take rest on his bed. As they wore nothing but sandals, they were obliged to wash their feet previously to their lying down. I have washed my feet, taken off my clothes, and am gone to bed: I cannot therefore be disturbed. A Hindoo always washes his feet before he goes to bed. If called from his bed, he often makes this excuse, *I shall daub my feet*; and the excuse is reasonable, as the floors are of earth; and they do not wear shoes in the house. - WARD.

Verse [Song of Solomon 5:4](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/5/4). ***My beloved put in his hand*** — If it were a *real scene*, which is mentioned in this and the two following verses, it must refer, from the well-known use of the *metaphors*, to matrimonial endearments. Or, it may refer to his *attempts to open the door*, when she hesitated to arise, on the grounds mentioned [Song of Solomon 5:3](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/5/3). But this also bears every evidence of a *dream*.

Verse [Song of Solomon 5:5](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/5/5). ***My hands dropped*****with*****myrrh*** — It was a custom among the Romans, as *Brissonius, Isidore*, and others relate, to conduct the bride to the house of the bridegroom with lighted torches; and those who brought her *anointed the door-posts with fragrant oils*, whence the name *uxor*, or as it was formerly written *unxor*, for a *wife* or *married* woman, because of the *anointing* which took place on the occasion; for sometimes the bride herself *anointed* the *door-posts*, and sometimes those who brought her; probably both at the same time. The same custom might have existed among the Jews. See *Vossius' Etymologicon*.

Verse [Song of Solomon 5:7](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/5/7). ***Took away my veil*** — They tore it off rudely, to discover who she was. See on [Song of Solomon 5:2](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/5/2). To tear the veil signifies, in Eastern phrase, to deflower or dishonour a woman.

Verse [Song of Solomon 5:8](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/5/8). ***I*****am*****sick of love.*** — "I am exceedingly concerned for his absence; and am distressed on account of my thoughtless carriage towards him." The latter clause may be well translated, "What should ye tell him?" Why, "that I am sick of love." This ends the transactions of the *third day* and *night*.

Verse 9. ***What*****is*****thy beloved more than*****another*****beloved*** — This question gives the bride an opportunity to break out into a highly wrought description of the beauty and perfections of her spouse.

Verse 10. ***My beloved*****is*****white and ruddy*** — *Red* and *white*, properly mixed, are essential to a *fine complexion*; and this is what is intimated: he has the *finest complexion among ten thousand* *persons*; not one in that number is equal to *him*. Literally, "He bears the standard among ten thousand men;" or "He is one before whom a standard is borne," i.e., he is *captain* or *chief* of the whole.

Verse 11. ***His head*****is as*****the most fine gold*** — He has the most beautiful head, fine and majestic. Gold is here used to express *excellence*.
***His locks*****are*****bushy*** — *Crisped* or *curled*. This may refer to his mustachios.
***Black as a raven.*** — His hair is black and glossy.

Verse 12. ***His eyes*****are*****as*****the eyes*****of doves*** — See on [Song of Solomon 4:1](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/4/1).
***Washed with milk*** — The *white* of the eye, *exceedingly white*. By the use of *stibium*, in the East, the eye is rendered very *beautiful*; and receives such a *lustre* from the use of this article, that, to borrow the expression of a late traveller, "their eyes appear to be swimming in bliss." I believe this expression to be the meaning of the text.
***Fitly set.*** — Or, as the *margin*, very properly, *sitting in* *fullness*; not sunk, not contracted.

Verse 13. ***His cheeks*****are*****as a bed of spices*** — Possibly meaning a *bed in the garden*, where odoriferous herbs grew. But it has been supposed to refer to his *beard*, which in a *young well-made man* is exceedingly beautiful. I have seen young Turks, who had taken much care of their beards, mustachios, c., look majestic. Scarcely any thing serves to set off the human face to greater advantage than the *beard*, when kept in proper order. Females admire it in their *suitors* and *husbands*. I have known cases, where they not only *despised* but *execrated* Europeans, whose faces were close shaved. The men perfume their beards often and this may be what is intended by *spices* and *sweet-smelling myrrh*.
***His lips*****like*****lilies*** — The שושנם *shoshannim* may mean any flower of the *lily* kind, such as the *rubens lilium*, mentioned by *Pliny*, or something of the *tulip* kind. There are tints in such flowers that bear a very near resemblance to a fine *ruby lip*.

Verse 14. ***His hands - gold rings set with the beryl*** — This really seems to refer to *gold rings* set with precious stones on the fingers, and perhaps to circlets or bracelets about the wrists. Some suppose it to refer to the roundness and exquisite symmetry of the hand and fingers. תרשיש *tarshish*, which we translate *beryl,* a gem of a sea-green tint, had better be translated *chrysolite*, which is of a *gold* colour.
***His belly - bright ivory overlaid*****with*****sapphires.*** — This must refer to some *garment* set with *precious stones* which went round his waist, and was peculiarly remarkable. If we take it *literally*, the sense is plain enough. His belly was beautifully white, and the blue veins appearing under the skin resembled the sapphire stone. But one can hardly think that this was intended.

Verse 15. ***His legs*****are as*****pillars of marble*** — Exquisitely turned and well-shaped; the *sockets of gold* may refer to his *slippers*. On these a profusion of gold and ornaments are still lavished in Asiatic countries.
***His countenance*****is*****as Lebanon*** — As Lebanon exalts its head beyond all the other mountains near Jerusalem, so my beloved is tall and majestic, and surpasses in stature and majesty all other men. He is also as *straight* and as *firm* as the *cedars*.

Verse [Song of Solomon 5:16](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/5/16). ***His mouth*****is*****most sweet*** — His eloquence is great, and his voice is charming. Every word he speaks is sweetness, mildness, and benevolence itself. Then, her powers of description failing, and metaphor exhausted she cries out, "The whole of him is loveliness. This is my beloved, and this is my companion, O ye daughters of Jerusalem."

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