Song of Solomon 6:8-9, The One and Only

Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2011 in Bible Commentary | 0 comments

Even among sixty queens and eighty concubines and countless young women, I would still choose my dove, my perfect one.

//Five chapters of sappy love language we’ve endured before we get to this verse in chapter six of the Song of Solomon. Is this really Solomon speaking? Somebody has definitely caught his eye:

Your eyes are like doves behind your veil. Your hair falls in waves, like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead. Your teeth are as white as sheep, recently shorn and freshly washed. Your smile is flawless, each tooth matched with its twin. Your lips are like scarlet ribbon; your mouth is inviting. Your cheeks are like rosy pomegranates behind your veil. Your neck is as beautiful as the tower of David, jeweled with the shields of a thousand heroes. Your breasts are like two fawns, twin fawns of a gazelle grazing among the lilies …

… and then a bit later, today’s verse about all his other queens and concubines, which yanks us from our reverie with a cold, hard fact. This “perfect one” is one of a long string. Solomon has already run through 140 women, and he’s got another 859 to go after her. With lines like these, we shouldn’t be surprised.