---
title: "Clarke"
description: "Verse Song of Solomon 6:1. Whither is thy beloved gone — These words are supposed to be addressed to the bride by her own companions, and are joined to th"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/song-of-solomon/6"
---

Verse [Song of Solomon 6:1](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/6/1). ***Whither is thy beloved gone*** — These words are supposed to be addressed to the *bride* by her own *companions*, and are joined to the preceding chapter by the *Hebrew* and all the *versions*.

Verse [Song of Solomon 6:2](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/6/2). ***My beloved is gone down into his garden*** — The answer of the *bride* to her *companions*.

Verse [Song of Solomon 6:4](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/6/4). ***Beautiful - as Tirzah*** — This is supposed to be the address of Solomon to the bride. Tirzah was a city in the tribe of Ephraim, ([Joshua 12:24](../../../kjv/joshua/12/24),) and the capital of that district. It appears to have been *beautiful* in *itself*, and *beautifully* *situated*, for *Jeroboam* made it his residence before *Samaria* was built; and it seems to have been the ordinary residence of the kings of *Israel*, [1 Kings 14:17](../../../kjv/1-kings/14/17); [1 Kings 15:21](../../../kjv/1-kings/15/21); [1 Kings 16:6](../../../kjv/1-kings/16/6). Its *name* signifies *beautiful* or *delightful*.
***Comely as Jerusalem*** — This was called *the perfection of beauty*, [Psalms 48:2-3](../../../kjv/psalms/48/2-3); [Psalms 50:2](../../../kjv/psalms/50/2). And thus the poet compares the bride's beauty to the *two finest places* in the land of Palestine, and the *capitals* of the *two kingdoms* of *Israel* and *Judah*.
***Terrible as*****an army*****with banners.*** — This has been supposed to carry an allusion to the *caravans* in the East, and the manner in which they are conducted in their travels by night. The caravans are divided into *companies*, called *cottors*, according to *Thevenet;* and each company is distinguished by the *form* of the *brazier* in which they carry their *lights*. After night, these braziers are placed on the ends of long poles, and carried by a person who walks at the head of the company. Some have *ten* or *twelve* lights, and are of different forms; some *triangular*, or like an N; some like an M, by which each pilgrim readily knows *his own company*, both by *night* and *day*. A whole caravan, composed of many thousands of *hadgees* or *pilgrims*, divided into various *cottors* or companies, each having its own distinguishing brazier or *light*, must necessarily produce a very *splendid*, if not a *terrible*, appearance.

Verse [Song of Solomon 6:5](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/6/5). ***Turn away thine eyes*** — As the sight of so many fires after night was extremely *dazzling*, and the *eye* could not *bear* the sight, so the *look* of the bride was such as pierced the heart, and quite overwhelmed the person who met it. Hence the bridegroom naturally cries out, "Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me."
***Thy hair*****is*****as a flock of goats*** — See on [Song of Solomon 4:1](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/4/1).

Verse [Song of Solomon 6:6](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/6/6). ***Thy teeth*** — See on [Song of Solomon 4:2](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/4/2).

Verse [Song of Solomon 6:7](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/6/7). ***As a piece of a pomegranate*** — See on [Song of Solomon 4:3](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/4/3).

Verse [Song of Solomon 6:8](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/6/8). ***There are threescore queens*** — Though there be *sixty* *queens*, and *eighty concubines*, or *secondary wives*, and *virgins* *innumerable*, in my *harem*, yet thou, *my dove, my undefiled, art* אצת achath, ONE, the ONLY ONE, she in whom I delight beyond all.

Verse 9. ***The daughters saw her, and blessed her*** — Not only the *Jewish women in general* spoke well of her on her arrival, but the *queens* and *concubines praised her* as the most accomplished of her sex.
With this verse the *fourth night* of the marriage week is supposed to end.

Verse 10. ***Looketh forth as the morning*** — The bride is as lovely as the *dawn* of day, the *Aurora*, or perhaps the *morning star*, VENUS. She is even more resplendent, she is as *beautiful as the* MOON. She even surpasses *her*, for she is as *clear* and *bright* as the SUN; and *dangerous* withal to look on, for she is as formidable as the vast collection of lights that burn by night at the head of every company in a numerous caravan. [Song of Solomon 6:4](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/6/4). The comparison of a fine woman to the splendour of an unclouded *full* *moon* is continually recurring in the writings of the Asiatic poets.

Verse 11. ***I went down into the garden of nuts*** — I believe this and the following verse refer at least to the preparations for a farther consummation of the marriage, or examination of the advancement of the bride's pregnancy. But many circumstances of this kind are so interwoven, and often *anticipated* and also *postponed*, that it is exceedingly difficult to arrange the whole so as to ascertain the several parts, and who are the actors and speakers. But other writers find no difficulty here, because they have their system; and that explains all things.
It is probably not the *hazel* but the *almond nut*, that is referred to here.

Verse 12. ***The chariots of Amminadib.*** — Probably for their great speed these chariots became proverbial. The passage marks a strong agitation of mind, and something like what we term palpitation of the heart. As I am not aware of any *spiritual* meaning here, I must be excused from commenting on that which is *literal*. *Amminadib* signifies *my noble* or *princely people*; but it may here be a proper name, and Amminadib might be celebrated for his skill and rapidity in driving, as Jehu was.

Verse [Song of Solomon 6:13](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/6/13). ***Return, O Shulamite*** — This appears to be addressed to the bride, as now the confirmed, acknowledged *wife* of *Solomon; for* שולמית shulammith, appears to be a *feminine* formed from שלמה *shelomoh*, or שלמון *shelomon*, as we form *Charlotte* from *Charles; Henrietta*, from *Henry; Janette*, from *John*, c.
***The company of two armies.*** — Or the *musicians of the camps*. She is as terrible as hosts of armed men, on the ground of what is said on [Song of Solomon 6:4-5](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/6/4-5). The two armies may refer to the *choirs* of the bride's *virgins*, and the bridegroom's *companions* but the similitude is not very perceptible. The *Targum* explains it of "the camps of Israel and Judah:" as if the bridegroom should say, "My beloved possesses all the perfections both of the Israelitish and Jewish women." But how little satisfaction do the best *conjectures* afford!
With this chapter the *fifth night* is supposed to end.

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