---
title: "Song of Solomon 4 - Study King James Bible with keil and delitzsch old testament commentary"
description: "Read Song of Solomon 4 with keil and delitzsch old testament commentary commentary. 1 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount G"
image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/song-of-solomon/4"
---

[ Read](/kjv/song-of-solomon/4)[ Commentary](/study/song-of-solomon/4)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/song-of-solomon/4) Audio

 1 Behold, thou *art* fair, my love; behold, thou *art* fair; thou *hast* doves’ eyes within thy locks: thy hair *is* as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.*

 2 Thy teeth *are* like a flock *of sheep that are even* shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none *is* barren among them.

 3 Thy lips *are* like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech *is* comely: thy temples *are* like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks.

 4 Thy neck *is* like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.

 5 Thy two breasts *are* like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies.

 6 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.*

 7 Thou *art* all fair, my love; *there is* no spot in thee.

 8 ¶ Come with me from Lebanon, *my* spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards.

 9 Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, *my* spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck.*

 10 How fair is thy love, my sister, *my* spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!

 11 Thy lips, O *my* spouse, drop *as* the honeycomb: honey and milk *are* under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments *is* like the smell of Lebanon.

 12 A garden inclosed *is* my sister, *my* spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. **

 13 Thy plants *are* an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard,*

 14 Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:

 15 A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.

 16 ¶ Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, *that* the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.
 
[Song of Solomon 3](/study/song-of-solomon/3) [Song of Solomon 5](/study/song-of-solomon/5)

## Commentary

 To verse 1
 
1a Lo, thou art fair, my friend! yes, thou art fair! 

Thine eyes are doves behind thy veil. 

The Gr. Venet. translates, after Kimchi, “looking out from behind, thy hair flowing down from thy head like a mane.” Thus also Schultens, *capillus plexus*; and Hengst., who compares πλέγμα , [1 Timothy 2:9](/kjv/1-timothy/2/9), and ἐμπλοκὴ τριχῶν , [1 Peter 3:3](/kjv/1-peter/3/3), passages which do not accord with the case of Shulamith; but neither צמם , Arab. ṣmm , nor ṭmm signifies to plait; the latter is used of the hair when it is too abundant, and ready for the shears. To understand the hair as denoted here, is, moreover, inadmissible, inasmuch as מבעד cannot be used of the eyes in relation to the braids of hair hanging before them. Symm. rightly translates צמה by κάλυμμα veil (in the Song the lxx erroneously renders by σιωπήσεως behind thy silence), [Isaiah 47:2](/kjv/isaiah/47/2). The verb צמם , (Arab.) ṣmam , a stopper, and (Arab.) alṣamma , a plaid in which one veils himself, when he wraps it around him. 

(Note: Regarding this verbal stem and its derivatives, see Theé's *Schlafgemach der Phantasie*, pp. 102-105.) 

The veil is so called, as that which closely hides the face. In the Aram. צמם , Palp. צמצם , means directly to veil, as *e.g.*, *Bereshith rabba* c. 45, *extr.*, of a matron whom the king lets pass before him it is said, פניה צימצמה . Shulamith is thus veiled. As the Roman bride wore the *velum flammeum*, so also the Jewish bride was deeply veiled; cf. [Genesis 24:65](/kjv/genesis/24/65), where Rebecca veiled herself (Lat. *nubit*) before her betrothed. בּעד , constr. בּעד , a segolate noun, which denotes separation, is a prep. in the sense of *pone*, as in Arab. in that of *post*. Ewald, sec. 217*m*, supposes, contrary to the Arab., the fundamental idea of covering (cogn. בגד ); but that which surrounds is thought of as separating, and at the same time as covering, the thing which it encompasses. From behind her veil, which covered her face (*vid*., Bachmann, under [Judges 3:23](/kjv/judges/3/23)), her eyes gleam out, which, without needing to be supplemented by ` עיני , are compared, as to their colour, motion, and lustre, to a pair of doves. 

From the eyes the praise passes to the hair. 

1b Thy hair is like a flock of goats 

Which repose downwards on Mount Gilead. 

The hair of the bride's head was uncovered. We know from later times that she wore in it a wreath of myrtles and roses, or also a “golden city” ( עיר שׁל זהב ), *i.e.*, an ornament which emblematically represented Jerusalem. To see that this comparison is not incongruous, we must know that sheep in Syria and Palestine are for the most part white; but goats, for the most part, black, or at least dark coloured, as *e.g.*, the brown *gedi Mamri*. 

(Note: Burns, the Scottish poet, thinking that goats are white, transfers the comparison from the hair to the teeth: 

“Her teeth are like a flock of sheep, 

With fleeces newly washen clean, 

That slowly mount the rising steep; 

And she's twa glancin', sparklin' een.”) 

The verb גּלשׁ is the Arab. jls , which signifies, to rest upon; and is distinguished from the synon. *q'd* in this, that the former is used of him who has previously lain down; the latter, of one who first stands and then sits down. 

(Note: Ḳ'ad cannot be used of one who sits on the bed farash ; in jalas lies the direction from beneath to above; in ḳ'ad (properly, to heap together, to cower down), from above to beneath.) 

The nejd bears also the name jals , as the high land raising itself, and like a dome sitting above the rest of the land. One has to think of the goats as having lain down, and thus with the upper parts of their bodies as raised up. מן in מהר is used almost as in מדּלי מר , [Isaiah 40:15](/kjv/isaiah/40/15). A flock of goats encamped on a mountain (rising up, to one looking from a distance, as in a steep slope, and almost perpendicularly), and as if hanging down lengthwise on its sides, presents a lovely view adorning the landscape. Solomon likens to this the appearance of the locks of his beloved, which hang down over her shoulders. She was till now a shepherdess, therefore a second rural image follows:

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/song-of-solomon/4#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/song-of-solomon/4#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/song-of-solomon/4","name":"Song of Solomon 4 - Study King James Bible with keil and delitzsch old testament commentary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/song-of-solomon/4#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read Song of Solomon 4 with keil and delitzsch old testament commentary commentary. 1 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount G","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/song-of-solomon/4#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/song-of-solomon/4"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/song-of-solomon/4#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary","name":"keil and delitzsch old testament commentary"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/song-of-solomon","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/song-of-solomon","name":"Song of Solomon"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/song-of-solomon/4","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/song-of-solomon/4","name":"4"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]}
```