Song of Solomon 6:4-7

The Bride's Powerful Beauty. There is much uncertainty as to the best way of dividing this chapter, and especially as to the position of Song of Solomon 6:10; this would go well before Song of Solomon 7:1; a place at the beginning of this song has also been suggested for it. This small piece consists largely of quotations from or reminiscences of other poems (cf. Song of Solomon 4:1; Song of Solomon 2:3).

Song of Solomon 6:4. The originality of these two names has been questioned. Tirzah is the name of a famous and beautiful city of the N. Kingdom, whose precise site is not settled (p. 30): in 1 Kings 14:16 we are told from the time of Jeroboam I to Omri it was a royal residence; the name means pleasure or beauty. If it is original, the use of this old name may have come from the desire of the writer to avoid the (at this period) hated name of Samaria. On the beauty of Jerusalem, see Lamentations 2:15; Psalms 48:3. Terrible or awe-inspiring as bannered (hosts) ; she is dignified, standing on guard, as inaccessible as a well-arranged army. The chief weapon of the virgin is her eyes, which she uses with terrible effect to terrify or confuse. For the remainder of the passage, see Song of Solomon 4:1.