Song of Solomon 4:4

Tower of David. — This is not likely to be identified, when even the towers of Phasaelus and Hippicus, minutely described by Josephus, cannot be found. The structure at the north-west angle, known since the Crusades as the “Tower of David,” is Herodian. No clue would be given by the words in the text, “builded for an armoury,” even were it certain that this is their right rendering. The LXX. regard the Heb. thalpiôth as a proper name. Rabbinical authority is in favour of “as a model for architects,” but most modern commentators, though differing as to the etymology, agree in giving the sense of the English Version, which the context seems to require. (Comp. Ezekiel 27:11 : “They hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have made thy beauty perfect.”) The shields and targets made by Solomon for the house in the forest of Lebanon may have suggested this addition to an image which is repeated in Song of Solomon 7:7, and, indeed, is too common to need remark. “Her snowy neck like a marble tower” (Spenser). “Her neck is like a stately tower” (Lodge).