The big picture
A woman's beauty is praised from her feet upwards through crafted objects, animals, and landscapes. Heshbon, a city known here for pools, and Bath-rabbim, its gate, give one image its setting. Lebanon, a northern region, Damascus, a city beyond it, and Carmel, a prominent mountain, add height and dignity. Desire becomes explicit, and the woman answers that she belongs to her beloved. She invites him into fields, villages, and vineyards. She takes the lead in seeking time together.
In this chapter
- Craft and Landscape Praise Her Bearing Song of Solomon 7:1-5
Praise begins with her feet in sandals.
- Desire Is Spoken and Then Answered Song of Solomon 7:6-10
The man calls love delightful and compares the woman's stature to a palm tree.
- She Invites Him Into Growing Country Song of Solomon 7:11-13
The woman calls her beloved to go with her into fields and stay among the villages.
Central truth
Praise of the woman's body leads to shared desire, and she invites her beloved to spend time with her among fields and vines.
Scripture beside the summary
Song of Solomon · King James Version · 13Song of Solomon 7:1-5
Craft and Landscape Praise Her Bearing
Praise begins with her feet in sandals. She is addressed with royal dignity. Curves of her body are compared to jewels shaped by a craftsman, a filled cup, and wheat surrounded by lilies. Her breasts resemble twin deer. Neck, eyes, nose, head, and hair receive images of ivory towers, clear pools, a mountain, and rich colour. The king is held by the sight. The images praise her body through richness and grace. They express delight, not a set of measurements that every woman must meet.
In everyday life
A sculptor's partner watches her descend the studio steps in new shoes and admires the poise of her stance. He compares the line of her movement with a carefully made figure, then stops drawing to greet her. Art gives him a way to speak his delight. The song's bodily praise is more intimate and uses ancient royal landscapes.
Notice
Song of Solomon 7:1 The feet are praised as part of a figure addressed with princely honour. The description begins with movement and skilled adornment, not only a face held still.
Song of Solomon 7:1-5
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.
Song of Solomon 7:6-10
Desire Is Spoken and Then Answered
The man calls love delightful and compares the woman's stature to a palm tree. Fruit clusters picture her breasts, and climbing the tree expresses his desire for physical closeness. Fragrance and the sweetness of wine continue the intimate language. The voice then turns towards the beloved, though the exact handover is not fully marked. The woman states that she belongs to him and that his desire is directed towards her. The words openly express desire for her body. She also speaks, so the desire is met by her own voice.
In everyday life
Two spouses pause on the beach path, each reaching for the other's hand at the same moment. One speaks of wanting time alone together, and the other answers with equal warmth. The invitation is heard and returned. The song goes further through intimate images of the woman's body and the lover's desire to embrace her.
Notice
Song of Solomon 7:10 The woman names his desire towards her after stating her own belonging. Her voice confirms an answering relationship within the more physical language that precedes it.
Song of Solomon 7:6-10
King James Version6How 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.
8I 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.
Song of Solomon 7:11-13
She Invites Him Into Growing Country
The woman calls her beloved to go with her into fields and stay among the villages. She wants an early visit to the vineyards to see fresh grapes and pomegranate blossom. There she promises her love. Fragrant mandrakes and fruits kept for him, old and new, complete the invitation. She does not wait for someone else to choose the place. She names the time and says what she wants to share. The chapter ends with her desire and care. Fresh growth in the land gives that desire its setting.
In everyday life
An orchard owner lays out a picnic and asks her husband to leave early for the orchard where they first spent time together. She has saved his favourite fruit and planned the quiet route herself. He puts aside the day's errands and joins her. The poem's invitation also promises intimate love within its fragrant vineyard imagery.
Notice
Song of Solomon 7:12 She chooses an early visit to the vines and promises love there. The final invitation is hers to give, not only to receive.
Song of Solomon 7:11-13
King James Version11Come, 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.
KJV words made clear
- cunning
- Skilled or expertly made in this older use.
- mandrakes
- Fragrant plants associated in the ancient world with love and fertility.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
