Song of Solomon 5:9-16
This Is My Beloved and My Friend
9How is your beloved better than others, O most beautiful among women? How is your beloved better than another, that you charge us so?
10My beloved is dazzling and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand.
11His head is purest gold; his hair is wavy and black as a raven.
12His eyes are like doves beside the streams of water, bathed in milk and mounted like jewels.
13His cheeks are like beds of spice, towers of perfume. His lips are like lilies, dripping with flowing myrrh.
14His arms are rods of gold set with beryl. His body is polished ivory bedecked with sapphires.
15His legs are pillars of marble set on bases of pure gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, as majestic as the cedars.
16His mouth is most sweet; he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
Berean Standard Bible
The daughters of Jerusalem ask the woman why her beloved is better than another beloved. Their question may sound impatient, but it gives her a chance to say what she sees. She does not answer with a vague claim that he is special because she feels that way. She begins describing him.
His head is purest gold, his hair is black as a raven, his eyes are like doves beside streams, and his cheeks are like beds of spice. His arms are rods of gold set with beryl, his body is polished ivory with sapphires, and his legs are pillars of marble on bases of gold. The language is a gallery of images, each one trying to carry more beauty than an ordinary sentence can hold.
The description is not a biological report. It is the kind of praise a lover gives when a person has become incomparable in his or her eyes. The woman is not weighing him against a market standard. She is speaking from attention, memory, and longing. Her beloved has a face, a voice, a scent, and a presence that cannot be replaced by a general idea of attractiveness.
The final words change the emphasis: “This is my beloved, and this is my friend.” The poem has celebrated desire, but it will not leave the relationship there. Friendship means companionship, trust, recognition, and a shared life beyond the moment of physical attraction.
Her answer also shows that love can become a form of testimony. When others ask what is so good about this person, she has something to say. She knows him well enough to name particular qualities, and she is not embarrassed to say that he is hers in the sense of chosen belonging.
Questions
1 What question do the daughters of Jerusalem ask?
AnswerThey ask why the woman's beloved is better than another beloved. Their question invites her to explain her admiration.
2 How does she describe him?
AnswerShe uses images of gold, jewels, spices, doves, ivory, marble, cedars, and other beautiful things to express his striking appearance.
3 Are her comparisons meant as a literal portrait?
AnswerNo. They are poetic images of extravagant admiration. The important point is her delighted attention to the person she loves.
4 What two names does she give him at the end?
AnswerShe calls him her beloved and her friend. The relationship includes desire, companionship, trust, and the joy of knowing him well.
What This Means for Us
Attraction may begin a relationship, but friendship helps it endure. A spouse or close companion should not be valued only for appearance or what the relationship can provide. Love grows deeper when two people learn each other's character and become glad to be together.
Ask what makes a person close to you a good friend, not only what makes that person attractive or useful. Say one of those qualities aloud. Specific gratitude is one way companionship gets renewed.
Prayer
Father, thank You for love that can also become friendship. Help us notice character, keep company with one another faithfully, and speak gratitude with joy. Amen.