Title/Superscription, 1
1:1 Solomon’s Most Excellent Love Song.
The Desire for Love, 2-4
The Beloved to Her Lover:
1:2 Oh, how I wish you would kiss me passionately!
For your lovemaking is more delightful than wine.
1:3 The fragrance of your colognes is delightful;
your name is like the finest perfume.
No wonder the young women adore you!
1:4 Draw me after you; let us hurry!
May the king bring me into his bedroom chambers!
The Maidens to the Lover:
We will rejoice and delight in you;
we will praise your love more than wine.
The Beloved to Her Lover:
How rightly the young women adore you!
The Country Maiden and the Daughters of Jerusalem, 5-6
The Beloved to the Maidens:
1:5 I am dark but lovely, O maidens of Jerusalem,
dark like the tents of Qedar,
lovely like the tent curtains of Salmah.
1:6 Do not stare at me because I am dark,
for the sun has burned my skin.
My brothers were angry with me;
they made me the keeper of the vineyards.
Alas, my own vineyard I could not keep!
I am dark but lovely – The alternative translation, ‘dark and lovely’ is grammatically possible, but does not suit the context.
Mariottini notes:
‘Many people object to translating the Shulammite words as “black but beautiful” because such a translation may suggest blackness is not beautiful. Critics complain this translation may point to some kind of racial prejudice.’
But this unease is based on a superficial reading of the text. As Mariotinni and others observe, the context makes clear that her dark skin is not related to her enthnicity, but to the fact that she had been sent outside to work by her brothers. As a result, her skin has become deeply tanned.
Whereas in some modern cultures a tan would suggest health and attractiveness, here it is indicative of a life spent toiling outdoors.
Nevertheless, she claims, her beauty shines through.
The comment of John Gill will strike most modern readers as a specimen of overwrought spiritualizing:
She was black in herself, through original sin and actual transgression, but comely in the eyes of Christ, called by him his fair one, the fairest among women through the imputation of his righteousness to her and through the sanctifying influences of his Spirit.
(An Exposition of the Old Testament)
The tents of Qedar were made from black goat’s hair.
The tent curtains of Salmah were, perhaps, the luxurious curtains or wall hangings found in Solomon’s palace.
My brothers were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards. Alas, my own vineyard I could not keep! – According to Mariottini:
‘The symbolism behind the vineyard is probably a reference to her virginity, that is, that she gave herself sexually to her shepherd lover and as a result her brothers punished her for her indiscretion.’
(Rereading the Biblical Text)
But this involves quite a lot of guesswork.