Song of Solomon 1:3

Because of the savour of thy good ointments Lit. -For fragrance thy ointments are good," i.e. as R.V. Thine ointments have a goodly fragrance. This clause is a continuance of the praise begun in Song of Solomon 1:2, not the reason for it. The particle translated because ofin the A.V. stands here in its common sense of as to, or with regard to. Ointmentsmeans unguentsor perfumes.

the virgins Or maidens. There is probably here a reference to the Shulammite, for another word would probably have been used had the women of the hareem been meant. So noble is Solomon that even maidens as unsophisticated as she loved him. Or the reference may be to young women who were about to be taken into the hareem, hardly to slave girls already there, as Grätz suggests.