Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Song of Solomon 7:5
Thine head upon thee [is] like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king [is] held in the galleries.
5. Thine head upon thee is like Carmel ] Mount Carmel, looked at from the North especially, is the crown of the country, towering over sea and land in solitary majesty; hence the comparison to a head proudly held. The A.V. margin, following some Jewish authorities, renders ‘crimson,’ regarding karmel as equivalent to karml, and Ginsburg, adopting this explanation, thinks that the words mean that her hair was arranged in the form of a murex shell.
the hair of thine head ] The word translated ‘hair,’ which occurs nowhere else in the O.T., appears to mean flowing tresses.
like purple ] Apparently the text means to indicate that the bride’s hair was of that intense black which is sometimes called blue black. For argmn see note on Son 3:10.
the king is held in the galleries ] Better (cp. R.V.), a king is held captive in the tresses thereof. The word translated ‘tresses’ occurs in the O.T. three times only, Gen 30:38; Gen 30:41, and Exo 2:16, where it means ‘water troughs.’ The connexion between these and a woman’s hair is not obvious, unless it be that it flows down like water from a water trough. That is hardly satisfactory, but that tresses is intended seems certain. The idea of a lover being held captive in the hair of his lady is common in the love poetry of all lands. Cp. Lovelace’s poem To Althea from Prison:
“When I lie tangled in her hair,
And fettered to her eye,
The birds that wanton in the air
Know no such liberty.”
Budde and Siegfried take the ‘king’ here to mean as usual the young husband of the king’s week. But in that case it would more naturally be the king.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Compare and contrast with Son 5:15. The rendering in the margin takes Carmel as the name of a color, equivalent to carmine (rendered crimson in 2Ch 2:7, 2Ch 2:14; 2Ch 3:14). This interpretation is favored by the parallelism with purple, but removes a beautiful image.
Purple – A deep violet black.
The king … – Rather, A king is bound in the tresses or windings of thy hair. These last words indicate the kings approach.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Son 7:5
The King is held in the galleries.
The King is held in the galleries
Christ, the blessed King of Zion, condescends sometimes to be held and detained by His people in the galleries of Gospel-ordinances.
I. I will give some account of this royal King.
1. That he is a King appears from these particulars.
(1) From the Fathers designation and ordination.
(2) From the prophecies that went of Him before His actual manifestation in our nature (Gen 49:10; Luk 1:32-33; Psa 132:11; Isa 9:6).
(3) From the types and shadows that prefigured Him. He was typified by Melchizedek, who is called the King of righteousness and the King of peace; by David; and by Solomon.
(4) From the princely titles that are given Him in Scripture. He is called the Prince of peace, the King of righteousness, and the King of kings and Lord of lords; and it is God the Fathers will that every one should confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord.
(5) From the princely prerogatives and royalties that are assigned Him by His Father (Psa 89:20).
2. As He is a King, so He is the King by way of eminency and excellency.
(1) He is the King eternal (1Ti 1:17; Isa 9:6).
(2) He is called the King immortal (1Ti 1:17).
(3) He is the King invisible (1Ti 6:16).
(4) He is the only blessed and happy King (1Ti 6:15).
(5) He is the absolute and universal King. His kingdom is universal in respect of all persons, places, times.
II. The galleries wherein this royal King trysts and keeps company with His people.
1. I will only mention these few galleries.
(1) There is the secret gallery of meditation, wherein David found God s lovingkindness to be better than life, and had his soul satisfied as with marrow and fatness.
(2) There is the gallery of prayer, wherein Jacob wrestled with the angel of the Covenant, and, like a prince, prevailed for the blessing.
(3) There is a gallery of reading of the Scriptures, wherein the Ethiopian eunuch got such a discovery of the promised Messiah as made him go on his way rejoicing.
(4) There is a gallery of Christian converse anent soul-matters; wherein the disciples going to Emmaus had such a meeting with Christ as made their hearts burn within them.
(5) There is the gallery of preaching, or of hearing of the Word preached; by, the foolishness of which God sayeth them that believed. Here it was that Lydia s heart was opened.
(6) The Sacraments of the New Testament, baptism and the Lords Supper, are galleries wherein Zion s King displays His glory before His people.
2. Why are these ordinances compared to galleries?
(1) Galleries are magnificent apartments of royal and stately buildings. So there is a Divine magnificence in the ordinances of the Gospel when countenanced with the presence of the great Master of assemblies.
(2) Galleries are lightsome and pleasant apartments. O how pleasant and lightsome are ordinances to a gracious soul!
(3) Galleries are places of walk and converse, as is plain from. Eze 41:15. So it is in Gospel-ordinances that Christ doth walk and converse with His people.
(4) Galleries are places of public feasting and entertainment of friends. So it is in the mount of Gospel-ordinances that the Lord has provided for His people a feast of fat things, etc.
III. The holding of the King in the galleries.
1. What does it suppose and imply on the believers part?
(1) It necessarily supposes a meeting with Christ in the galleries; for no person can hold that which they never had.
(2) It supposes a high esteem of Christ, a love to, and liking of, His company.
(3) On the believer s part, this holding of Christ supposes a fear of losing Him or of being deprived of His company.
(4) It supposes a seeming willingness in Christ to withdraw from His people after their sweetest enjoyments.
(5) It implies a holy solicitude, and earnest desire of soul, to have His presence continued.
(6) It implies an ardent breathing of soul after more and more nearness to Christ, and further discoveries of Him.
(7) It implies a firm resolution not to part with His company.
(8) It implies a cleaving or adhering to Christ with the whole strength and vigour of the soul. How, or wherein does the soul put forth its strength in cleaving to Christ? I answer, it does it by these three especially.
(i.) By the lively exercise of faith. Hence faith is called an apprehending of Christ, and a cleaving to Him.
(ii.) The soul binds or holds Christ in the galleries by sincere and ardent love.
(iii.) The soul cleaves to Christ by fervent and ardent prayer.
2. What does it imply on Christs part?
(1) It implies amazing grace and condescendency toward the work of His own hands.
(2) It implies Christs great delight in the society of His people.
(3) It implies that there are certain cords which have a constraining power to stay Him in His peoples company: and sure they must be strong cords indeed wherewith Omnipotency is bound.
(i.) He is bound by the cord of His own faithfulness, which He has laid in pawn in the promise.
(ii.) He is bound in the galleries by the cord of His own love.
(iii.) He is bound to them by the bond of marriage.
IV. The application of the doctrine.
1. The first use is of information. Is it so that Zions King is sometimes held in the galleries of Gospel-ordinances? Then,
(1) See hence the happiness and dignity of the saints of God beyond the rest of the world.
(2) See hence why the saints put such a value and estimate on Gospel-ordinances.
2. By way of trial and examination. You have been in the galleries of the King of Zion; but that is not enough: and therefore let me ask, Have you been in the galleries with the King? and have you been holding the King in the galleries?
(1) What did you hear in the galleries? what said the King unto you?
(2) What did you see in the galleries? Many sights are to be seen in the galleries of ordinances, and particularly in that of the Lords Supper. Here the Lamb of God is to be seen, which taketh away the sin of the world, and in a crucified Christ, who is evidently set forth in that ordinance, all the Divine attributes and perfections shine with a greater lustre than in the large volume of the creation.
(3) What have you tasted in the galleries? for galleries are for feasting and entertainment of friends. Now, did the King say to you, or is He yet saying it, Eat, O friends, drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved? Did He make you to eat of the fatness of His house, and to drink of the rivers of His pleasures?
3. Use third may be in a short word directed to two or three sorts of persons.
(1) To you who know nothing of this doctrine, never met with the King in the galleries.
(2) To you who have had a comfortable meeting with Him.
(3) To those who perhaps are complaining, I sought Him, but I found Him not. (E. Erskine.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 5. Thine head – like Carmel] Rising majestically upon thy neck, and above thy shoulders, as Mount Carmel does in its district. Carmel was the name of the mountain where Elijah had his contest with the prophets of Baal. See 1Kg 18:19, &c.
The hair of thine head like purple] Ornamented with ribbons and jewellery of this tint.
The king is held in the galleries.] Or is detained in the antechamber. His heart is captivated by thy person and conduct. Some understand the ringlets of the bride’s hair.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thine head, which may signify the churchs mind or understanding, which is seated in the head,
upon thee, which is upon thee, or above the rest of thy body,
is like Carmel, eminent and pleasant to the eye, and fruitful as Mount Carmel was, as hath been formerly noted; which may note that her mind was adorned and replenished with knowledge and other excellent gifts of the Holy Ghost. Or, as others render it, like crimson or purple, which is called Carmel, 2Ch 2:7; 3:14, because those fishes out of which they had their purple were taken in the sea bordering upon Mount Carmel. And so the same thing is repeated in the next clause in other words.
Like purple; which colour was anciently much esteemed and commended, as by sacred, so also by profane writers.
The king is held in the galleries; in which he walketh, and having once espied thee, is captivated by thee, and unable or unwilling either to depart or to take off his eyes from thee, as if he were fast bound and chained to thee. The galleries may note either the ordinances, or rather the churches, in which Christ walketh, Rev 2:1, in which Christ and believers converse together.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. upon theethe headdress”upon” her.
Carmelsignifying awell-cultivated field (Isa 35:2).In So 5:15 He is compared tomajestic Lebanon; she here, to fruitful Carmel. Herheaddress, or crown (2Ti 4:8;1Pe 5:4). Also the souls won byher (1Th 2:19; 1Th 2:20),a token of her fruitfulness.
purpleroyalty (Re1:6). As applied to hair, it expresses the glossy splendor ofblack hair (literally, “pendulous hair”) so much admired inthe East (So 4:1). While theKing compares her hair to the flowering hair of goats (the token ofher subjection), the daughters of Jerusalem compare it toroyal purple.
galleries(so So1:17, Margin; Re 21:3).But MAURER translateshere, “flowing ringlets”; with these, as with “thongs”(so LEE, from the Arabictranslates it) “the King is held” bound (Son 6:5;Pro 6:25). Her purple crowns ofmartyrdom especially captivated the King, appearing from Hisgalleries (Act 7:55; Act 7:56).As Samson’s strength was in his locks (Jud16:17). Here first the daughters see the King themselves.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thine head upon thee [is] like Carmel,…. Set with hair, thick and long, as Carmel with plants and trees. Now Christ is the church’s Head in various senses; he is her federal and representative Head in eternity and time; her political Head, as a King to his subjects; an economical Head, as the husband to the wife, as parents to their children, and a master to servants; and, as such, may be compared to Carmel; for the multitude dependent on him, whom he represents, and is connected with under various relations; for his height, being higher than the kings of the earth, and all other heads; and for fruitfulness, all the fruits of the church, and of all true believers, coming from him. Some render the word, “as crimson”, or “scarlet” b; which may set forth his royal dignity and majesty, this colour being wore by kings and great personages; or the ardent love of Christ to his body, the church, and the members of it; or his bloody sufferings for them;
and the hair of thine head like purple; purple coloured hair has been in great esteem. Of this colour was the hair of King Nysus, according to the fable c; and so the hair of Evadne, and of the Muses d, were of a violet colour; the hair of Ulysses is said e to be like to the hyacinth flower, which is of a purple or violet colour; and Milton f calls the first Adam’s hair hyacinthine locks; and here, in a figurative sense, the second Adam’s hair is said to be like purple. By which believers that grow on Christ, the Head of the church, nay be meant, who have their dependence on him, and their strength and nourishment from him; see So 4:1; and these may be said to be like “purple”, because of their royal dignity, being made kings unto God by Christ; and because of their being washed in the purple blood of Christ; and because of the sufferings they endure for his sake; and especially such may be so compared, who have spilt their blood and laid down their lives on his account;
the king [is] held in the galleries; the same with the Head of the church, the King of Zion, and King of saints, whose kingdom is a spiritual and everlasting one: and by the “galleries” in which he is held may be meant the ordinances of the Gospel; where Christ and his people walk and converse together; where he discloses the secrets of his heart to them, leads them into a further acquaintance with his covenant, and the blessings and promises of it; and from whence they have delightful views of his person and fulness; see the King in his beauty, and behold the good land which is afar off: the same word as here is rendered “rafters”, and by some “canals”, in So 1:17;
[See comments on So 1:17]. Now Christ being said to be “held in [these] galleries” may signify his fixed habitation in his house and ordinances; where he has promised to dwell, and delights to be; and where he is as it were fastened to them, and hatred in them.
b “veluti coccinum”, Pagninus, Vatablus, Mercerus; “simile est coccineo”, Junius Tremellius “est ut coccus”, Piscator; so Ainsworth; “sicut carmesinum”, Schindler. c Ovid. Metamorph. l. 8. Fab. 1. v. 301. De Arte Amandi, l. 1. & de Remed. Amor. l. 1. v. 68. Hygin. Fab. 198. Pausan. Attica, p. 33. d Pindar. Olymp. Ode 6. Pyth. Ode 1. v. 2. e Homer. Odyss. 6. v. 231. & 23. v. 155. f Paradise Lost, Book 4.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
5 a a Thy head upon thee as Carmel.
We say that the head is “on the man” (2Ki 6:31; Judith 14:18), for we think of a man ideally as the central unity of the members forming the external appearance of his body. Shulamith’s head ruled her form, surpassing all in beauty and majesty, as Carmel with its noble and pleasing appearance ruled the land and sea at its feet. From the summit of Carmel, clothed with trees) Amo 9:3; 1Ki 18:42), a transition is made to the hair on the head, which the Moslem poets are fond of comparing to long leaves, as vine leaves and palm branches; as, on the other hand, the thick leafy wood is called ( vid., under Isa 7:20) comata silva (cf. Oudendorp’s Apuleii Metam. p. 744). Grtz, proceeding on the supposition of the existence of Persian words in the Song, regards as the name of a colour; but (1) crimson is designated in the Heb.-Pers. not , but , instead of ( vid., under Isa 1:18; Pro 31:21); (2) if the hair of the head (if might be directly understood of this) may indeed be compared to the glistening of purple, not, however, to the listening of carmese or scarlet, then red and not black hair must be meant. But it is not the locks of hair, but the hair in locks that is meant. From this the eulogium finally passes to the hair of the head itself.
5 a b The flowing hair of thy head like purple –
A king fettered by locks.
Hitzig supposes that reminded the poet of (carmese), and that thus he hit upon (purple); but one would rather think that Carmel itself would immediately lead him to purple, for near this promontory is the principal place where purple shell-fish are found (Seetzen’s Reisen, IV 277 f.). (from , to dangle, to hang loose, Job 28:4, Arab. tadladal ) is res pendula , and particularly coma pendula . Hengst. remarks that the “purple” has caused much trouble to those who understand by the hair of the head. He himself, with Gussetius, understand by it the temples, tempus capitis ; but the word is used (Son 4:3) for “temples,” and “purple-like” hair hanging down could occasion trouble only to those who know not how to distinguish purple from carmese. Red purple, (Assyr. argamannu , Aram., Arab., Pers., with departure from the primary meaning of the word, ,drow eht ), which derives this name from = , material of variegated colour, is dark-red, and almost glistening black, as Pliny says ( Hist. Nat. ix. 135): Laus ei (the Tyrian purple) summa in colore sanguinis concreti, nigricans adspectu idemque suspectu (seen from the side) refulgens, unde et Homero purpureus dicitur sanguis . The purple hair of Nisus does not play a part in myth alone, but beautiful shining dark black hair is elsewhere also called purple, e.g., in Lucian, in Anacreon. With the words “like purple,” the description closes; and to this the last characteristic distinguishing Shulamith there is added the exclamation: “A king fettered by locks!” For , from , to run, flow, is also a name of flowing locks, not the ear-locks (Hitz.), i.e., long ringlets flowing down in front; the same word (Son 1:17) signifies in its North Palest. form ( Chethb ), a water-trough, canalis . The locks of one beloved are frequently called in erotic poetry “the fetters” by which the lover is held fast, for “love wove her net in alluring ringlets” (Deshmi in Joseph and Zuleika).
(Note: Compare from the same poet: “Alas! thy braided hair, a heart is in every curl, and a dilemma in every ring” ( Deut. Morg. Zeit. xxiv. 581).)
Goethe in his Westst. Divan presents as a bold yet moderate example: “There are more than fifty hooks in each lock of thy hair;” and, on the other hand, one offensively extravagant, when it is said of a Sultan: “In the bonds of thy locks lies fastened the neck of the enemy.” signifies also in Arab. frequently one enslaved by love: asiruha is equivalent to her lov.
(Note: Samaschshari, Mufassal , p. 8.)
The mention of the king now leads from the imagery of a dance to the scene which follows, where we again hear the king’s voice. The scene and situation are now manifestly changed. We are transferred from the garden to the palace, where the two, without the presence of any spectators, carry on the following dialogue.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(5) Carmel.Marg., crimson, from reading charml, which preserves the parallelism with the next clause better. But the whole passage deals in the authors favourite figures from localities; and certainly the comparison of a finely-set head to a mountain is at least as apt as that in the preceding verse, of the nose to a tower in Lebanon. Besides, there may be a play on words, which in turn may have suggested the allusion to purple in the next clause, or possibly the vicinity of Carmel to Tyre may have led to the thought of its famous dyes.
Hair.Heb. dallath, most probably = flowing tresses. For comparison
Carmine purpurea est Nisi coma.
Et pro purpureo dat pnas Scylla capillo.
(Comp. in Lucian., and in Anacreon.) So Collins:
The youths whose locks divinely spreading,
Like vernal hyacinths in sullen hue.
Ode to Liberty.
The king is held (Marg., bound) in the galleries.For galleries, see Note on Son. 1:17. Translate A king caught and bound by thy tresses, i.e., they are so beautiful that a monarch would be caught by them.
(Comp.
When I lie tangled in her hair
And fettered in her eye.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. Like Carmel This beautiful promontory, jutting boldly into the sea, seems to have received its name from “the crimson fringes of the evening” lingering so long upon its summit. The fish found near it, which yields colouring matter, may take its name from the mountain.
Like purple Pliny says, that the ancient purple was glossy, and inclining to black. The curious linguist will find in all ancient tongues the Greek as well as the Hebrew a singular poverty and obscurity of words to express colours, and here “Carmel” may mean “purple,” which the following clause only makes more emphatic. The king, etc. Hebrew, The king is charmed with thy flowing ringlets.
Son 7:5. Thine head upon thee, &c. Thine head upon thee riseth eminent and majestic, like Carmel; and the tresses of thy head shine like scarlet. Michaelis, however, thinks that the word rendered purple, does not here signify the purple colour, but the murex, or Tyrian shell-fish, which produces that colour. Houbigant renders the whole passage, The tresses of thy hair are like the royal purple, which hangs in festoons from the ceiling. See New Translation.
Son 7:5 Thine head upon thee [is] like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king [is] held in the galleries.
Ver. 5. Thine head upon thee is like Carmel. ] This head is Christ himself, for he is the sole head of his Church: “God hath put all things under his feet” – hence he is here compared to Carmel, because he is high over all – “and given him to be head over all things” – that is, over all persons – “to the Church.” Eph 1:18 ; Eph 1:22 Angels are under Christ as a head of government, of influence, of confirmation, not of redemption, as the saints are. The angels are great friends to the Church, but not members of it. Heb 2:16 The Church Christ sanctified and washed with his blood. Eph 5:26 Not so the angels. He was but a poor patron of the Pope’s headship that said – and, as he thought, very wisely too – that he had read in some vocabulary that Cephas signified a head, therefore Peter was head of the Church. But if that should have been granted him, yet it would not follow that the Pope is therefore so too; for Bellarmine, a a better scholar by far, is forced to say, Forte non est de iure divino Rom. pontificem Petro succedere, perhaps it is not by any divine right that the Pope succeedeth Peter. And again, Rom. pontificem Petro succedere non habetur expresse in Scripturis, it is not expressly set down in the Scriptures that the Pope succeedeth Peter.
And the hair of thine head like purple.
The king is held in the gallaries, a De Rom. Pontif., lib. ii. cap. 12.
b Rex Platon., page 123.
c T Y – Plutarch.
held in the galleries = captivated by the ringlets.
Carmel = the [mount] Carmel.
head: Isa 35:2, Eph 1:22, Eph 4:15, Eph 4:16, Col 1:18, Col 2:19
Carmel: or, crimson, Mic 7:14
the hair: Son 4:1, Son 5:11, Rev 1:14
the king: Son 1:17, *marg. Gen 32:26, Psa 68:24, Psa 87:2, Mat 18:20, Mat 28:20
held: Heb. bound
Reciprocal: Jos 19:26 – Carmel Son 1:12 – the king Son 3:4 – I held Son 4:9 – thou hast Son 7:10 – his Eze 41:15 – galleries Eze 42:3 – gallery against
Son 7:5-6. Thy head is like Carmel Eminent and pleasant to the eye, and fruitful as mount Carmel was: which may denote that her mind was replenished with knowledge, and other excellent gifts of the Holy Ghost. The hair of thy head like purple Which colour was anciently much esteemed. The king is held in the galleries In which he walks, and, having once espied thee, is unable to take off his eyes from thee. How fair, &c., for delights For those various and lovely features which are in thee.
7:5 Thy head upon thee [is] like Carmel, and the hair of thy head like purple; the king [is] {c} held captive by [its] locks of hair.
(c) He delights to come near you, and to be in your company.
Mt. Carmel was majestic (cf. Isa 35:2; Jer 46:18), as was she. In Solomon’s day, people considered purple threads most beautiful, precious, and regal.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)