The big picture
Song of Solomon 7 opens in verse 1 with “How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince’s daughter! the joints of thy thighs are…”, reaches its middle movement near verse 7 with “This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes.”, and closes in verse 13 with “The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and…” Repeated or prominent terms include beloved, breasts, clusters, head, nose. Together, those details trace this chapter’s own movement from its opening to its conclusion.
Scripture beside the summary
Song of Solomon · King James Version · 13Song of Solomon 7:1-7
1–7: How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince’s daughter! the joints…
Song of Solomon 7:1–7 opens with “How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince’s daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like…” and reaches “This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes.” by its final verse. That movement develops the focus on Song of Solomon 7 develops its own movement around beloved, breasts, clusters, head, nose, with particular weight carried by breasts, head, tower.
Context that brings the passage to life
“How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince’s daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the…” The line’s distinctive content terms include beautiful, cunning, daughter. Its relationship to verses 2 shows what work it does in this passage.
Song of Solomon 7:1-7
King James Version1How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince’s daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman.
2Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor: thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies.
3Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins.
4Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim: thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus.
5Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king is held in the galleries.
6How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!
7This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes.
Song of Solomon 7:8-13
8–13: I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs…
Song of Solomon 7:8–13 opens with “I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy…” and reaches “The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old…” by its final verse. That movement develops the focus on Song of Solomon 7 develops its own movement around beloved, breasts, clusters, head, nose, with particular weight carried by beloved, smell, vine.
Context that brings the passage to life
“I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as…” The command cannot be understood from the verb alone. Its recipient, purpose, and place in the larger covenant or argument define the responsibility.
Song of Solomon 7:8-13
King James Version8I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples;
9And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved, that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak.
10I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.
11Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages.
12Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves.
13The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Song of Solomon 7:1 begins with “How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince’s daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman.”
Where the chapter turns
Song of Solomon 7:7 forms a natural hinge: “This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes.”
The final note
Song of Solomon 7:13 leaves the reader with “The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words beloved, breasts, clusters, head, nose, palm help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
What links this event with creation?
Waters overwhelm the inhabited world, reversing the separations that made life possible.
What details show continuity rather than total abandonment?
The named household and preserved kinds of living creatures survive within the ark.
KJV words made clear
- thee
- you
- thou
- you
- thy
- your
Text first
Where readers differ
The chapter summary begins with what the passage says and how its parts fit together. It does not assume one denomination has already settled every question. Where a conclusion depends on a tradition, literary theory, or historical reconstruction, that dependence is named openly.
The KJV text is presented first. Interpretive conclusions are labeled, and differences are introduced only when they help a reader understand why serious communities do not always reach the same answer.
Comparative interpretive notes for this chapter are in preparation. Until reviewed notes are ready, this page separates the KJV text from summary and application without claiming that serious readers agree on every question.