Song of Solomon 1:5

“I [am] black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, etc.] The church having obtained of Christ, what she wanted, turns to the daughters of Jerusalem, the same perhaps with the virgins her companions; they seem to be young converts, it may be not yet members of the visible church, but had a great respect for the church, and she for them; and who, though they had but a small knowledge of Christ her beloved, yet were desirous of knowing more of him, and seeking him with her; (see <220309>Song of Solomon 3:9-11 <220508>Song of Solomon 5:8,9 <220601>Song of Solomon 6:1); to these she gives this character of herself, that she was “black” in herselff22, through original sin and actual…”

“This section is made by the Targumist and other Jewish interpreters to adumbrate the condition of Israel in the wilderness; by some Christian expositors, that of the Gentile Church on her first conversion. Song of Solomon 1:5 I am black ... - Dark-hued, as the tents of Kedar with their black goats’ hair coverings, rough and weather-stained, “but comely (beautiful) as the rich hangings which adorn the pavilion of Solomon. Kedar was the name of an Arab tribe Genesis 25:13; Psalms 120:5. The word itself signifies “dark” or “black.” Possibly “tents of Kedar” stand here poetically for shepherds’ tents in general Isaiah 60:7. Song of Solomon 1:6 Look not upon me - In wonder or scorn at my swarthy…”

“Black - I confess, as to myself, I am contemptible and deformed. She alludes to the complexion of Pharaoh's daughter. Comely - Yet I am glorious within, and comely through the beauty which my husband hath put upon me, by his graces conferred upon me, in justification and sanctification. Daughters - By which she understands particular believers, whose mother, Jerusalem is called, Gal 4:26. The tents - Of the wild Arabians, the posterity of Kedar, Gen 25:13, who dwelt in tents, and were black and uncomely. The curtains - As the hangings wherewith Solomon's house was furnished, which none can doubt were most beautiful and glorious. So these two last clauses answer to the two first, and that in…”

“1:5-11 If the Song is a three-character drama and the shepherd is her lover, the couple was apart while she was in the king’s palace, and in this passage she wants to be sure of where to find him when she leaves there. On two occasions, she is frantic about losing him again (3:1-4; 5:2-8). At other times, her concern is more subtle (2:14). 1:5-6 The woman’s dark skin color has nothing to do with her race; her complexion has been darkened by the sun. Even so, she retains her self-respect and asserts her beauty. She is wholesome-looking from tending vineyards and goats (see also 1:8). • Solomon had caretakers of his fields, vineyards, herds, and flocks; the herders lived in dark goats’-hair…”

“black: Isa 53:2; Mat 10:25; Co1 4:10-13; Jo1 3:1 comely: Psa 90:17, Psa 149:4; Isa 61:10; Eze 16:14; Mat 22:11; Luk 15:22; Rom 13:14; Co2 5:21; Eph 5:26 O ye: Psa 45:9; Luk 13:34; Gal 4:26 as the tents: Psa 120:5 Song of Solomon (Canticles) 1:6”

“After this choral song, Shulamith, who has listened to the singers not without being examined by their inquisitive glances as a strange guest not of equal rank with them, now speaks: 5 Black am I, yet comely, ye daughters of Jerusalem, As the tents of Kedar, as the hangings of Solomon. From this, that she addresses the ladies of the palace as "daughters of Jerusalem" (Kerı̂ ירושׁלים, a du. fractus; like עפרין for עפרון, Ch2 13:19), it is to be concluded that she, although now in Jerusalem, came from a different place. She is, as will afterwards appear, from Lower Galilee; - and it may be remarked, in the interest of the mystical interpretation, that the church, and particularly her first…”