Song of Solomon 6:8

“There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number.] In this verse and (<220609>Song of Solomon 6:9) the church is commended as she stood related to others; and is compared with them, and preferred to them. The words may be considered either as an assertion, “there are”, etc. or as a supposition, “though there be”, etc. yet Christ’s church is but one, and excels them all. “Queens” are principal and lawful wives of kings; “concubines”, secondary or half wives, as the wordf395 signifies; who were admitted to the bed, but their children did not inherit: “virgins”, unmarried persons, maids of honour, who waited on the queen. The allusion is to the custom of kings…”

“The section might be entitled, “Renewed declaration of love after brief estrangement.” Song of Solomon 6:4 Tirzah ... Jerusalem - Named together as the then two fairest cities of the land. For Jerusalem compare Psalms 48:2. “Tirzah” (i. e., “Grace” or “Beauty “)was an old Canaanite royal city Joshua 12:24. It became again a royal residence during the reigns of Baasha and his three successors in the kingdom of the ten tribes, and may well therefore have been famed for its beauty in the time of Solomon. Terrible as ... - Awe-inspiring as the bannered (hosts). The warlike image, like others in the Song, serves to enhance the charm of its assured peace. Song of Solomon 6:5 Even for the king the…”

“Threescore - A certain number for an uncertain. The sense seems to be this, there are many beautiful queens and concubines in the world, in the courts of princes, but none of them is to be compared with my spouse. Song of Solomon (Canticles) 6:9”

“6:8-9 If the Song were an allegory of the Lord’s love for his people, it would provide a very weak parallel, since Solomon’s excesses in marrying do a poor job of picturing God’s love and faithfulness (see 1 Kgs 11:1-13). • sixty queens: Many of Solomon’s wives were obtained by marrying into international treaties (see 1 Kgs 11:1-3, 8). • Concubines were wives who had secondary status, lower than a wife but higher than a slave. Concubines were acquired by war, debt repayment, or purchase. • In the anthology view, the reference to queens and concubines simply means that the woman herself is more desirable than all other women.”

“Kg1 11:1; Ch2 11:21; Psa 45:14; Rev 7:9 Song of Solomon (Canticles) 6:9”

“8 There are sixty queens, And eighty concubines, And virgins without number. 9 One is my dove, my perfect one, - The only one of her mother, The choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her and called her blessed, - Queens and concubines, and they extolled her. Even here, where, if anywhere, notice of the difference of gender was to be expected, המּה stands instead of the more accurate הנּה (e.g., Gen 6:2). The number off the women of Solomon's court, Kg1 11:3, is far greater (700 wives and 300 concubines); and those who deny the Solomonic authorship of the Song regard the poet, in this particular, as more historical than the historian. On our part, holding as we do the Solomonic…”