Song of Solomon 4:2

“Thy teeth [are] like a flock [of sheep], etc.] That is, like the teeth of a flock of sheep; as her eyes were like the eyes of doves, and her hair like the hair of goats: and Galen long ago observed, that human teeth are much like the teeth of sheep, in figure, order, and structure, as well as are small and white; neatly set, innocent and harmless, not ravenous and voracious, cropping herbs and grass onlyf215; the whiteness of the teeth is chiefly intended, in which the beauty of them lies, for which they are sometimes comparedf216 to Parian marble for whiteness. The Targum interprets these teeth of the priests and Levites; but it is much better to understand them of the ministers of the…”

“Whereof ... - Or, “all of them are equal pairs, and none is bereft among them,” i. e., none has lost her mate. The points of comparison in this simile are of course brilliant whiteness, regularity, and completeness of number. return to 'Top of Page'”

“A flock - Numerous, and placed in due order. Even - Smooth and even, as also clean and white. Twins - Which seems to denote the two rows of teeth. Barren - Not one tooth is lacking. Song of Solomon (Canticles) 4:3”

“4:2 Your smile is flawless, each tooth matched with its twin: Her teeth are matched on both sides, with none missing. In an age when dental care was not what it is today, a woman with all her teeth was quite a prize!”

“teeth: Sol 6:6; Jer 15:16; Joh 15:7; Col 1:4-6; Th1 2:13; Pe2 1:5-8 and none: Exo 23:26; Deu 7:13, Deu 7:14 Song of Solomon (Canticles) 4:3”

“2 Thy teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep Which comes up from the washing All bearing twins, And a bereaved one is not among them. The verb קצב is, as the Arab. shows, in the sense of tondere oves, the synon. of גּזז. With shorn (not to be shorn) sheep, the teeth in regard to their smoothness, and with washed sheep in regard to their whiteness, are compared - as a rule the sheep of Palestine are white; in respect of their full number, in which in pairs they correspond to one another, the one above to the one below, like twin births in which there is no break. The parallel passage, Sol 6:6, omits the point of comparison of the smoothness. That some days after the shearing the sheep were…”