Song of Solomon 1:11
in Song of Solomon 1We will make you ornaments of gold, studded with beads of silver.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
We will make thee plaits of gold With studs of silver.
KJV
We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver.
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This verse in Song of Solomon 1
Commentary
12 notes on this verseLet us hear what the bride says before that the bridegroom comes to earth, suffers, descends to the lower world, and rises again. "We will make for you likenesses of gold with ornaments of silver while the king sits at his table." Before the Lord rose again and the gospel shone, the bride had not gold but likenesses of gold. As for the silver, however, which she professes to have at the marriage, she not only had silver ornaments, but she had them in variety—in widows, in the continent and in the married.
This site's exposition
I compare you, my darling
on Song of Solomon 1:9-11
The bride is compared to "a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots," praise drawn from Solomon's trade in Egyptian horses and chariots (1 Kings 10:28-29). Verse 10 carries the picture into her own ornaments, "your neck with strings of jewels". Verse 11 answers with "ornaments of gold, studded with beads of silver".
This site's exposition
ornaments of gold
The promise adds silver and gold to the jewels already praised in verse 10. Adam Clarke had seen Eastern shawls, handkerchiefs and headdresses worked at the borders with gold, silver and coloured silk. The effect, he wrote, was splendid.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Logically they said "golden ornaments" and not gold itself, since the bridegroom's presents are greater, and his servants' do not have equal splendor. Hence we show the divine Gospels greater respect, though we also respect the law and the prophets and the writings of the …
The Father will then be revealed by the Son, "when He shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and all power;" that is, in such wise that there shall be no more need of any economy of similitudes, by means of angelic rulers, and authorities, and powers. Of whom that is not unfitly understood, which is said in the Song of Songs to the bride, "We will make thee borders of gold, with studs of silver, while the King sitteth at His table;" that is, as long as Christ is in His secret place: since "your life is hid with Christ in God; when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." Before which time, "we see now through a glass, in an enigma," that is, in similitudes, "but then face to face."
The Medieval Church3 voices
A commentator
Robert of TombelaineCommentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 1 · Written in the 11th century.
proposed
Little chains are bound as necklaces around the neck; because both wisdom and devotion are joined to preachers from the Holy Scriptures; for by the little chains, Holy Scripture is understood. These are rightly said to be golden and inlaid with silver; because Holy Scripture …
There comes about in our case too what follows: "And the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment." In accord with our capacity will the world be filled with the renown of our devotion, by which we prove that we venerate and love …
A commentator
Bernard of ClairvauxSermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 41 · Written before 1153.
proposed
2. There follows: "We will make you chains of gold, studded with silver." If he had said, "I will make," in the singular, and not in the plural, "we will make," I would have pronounced absolutely and without doubt that the Bridegroom also spoke this. …
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver. Christ here in his own name, and in the name of the other two divine Persons, promises to the church a greater glory than as yet she had enjoyed; and seems to have respect to the Gospel dispensation; for by "golden borders" studded with "silver" may be meant the ordinances of the Gospel, preferable to those under the law; and therefore said to be of "gold and silver", for their glory, splendour, and durableness: or else the doctrines of the Gospel, being of more worth than thousands of gold and silver; and being called "borders", or rather "rows" (e), may denote their orderly disposition and connection, their harmony and agreement with and dependence on each other: and the Gospel is full of silver "specks" or "studs" of exceeding great and precious promises; a variety of them useful and pleasant; a greater measure of the grace of the Spirit may be here promised: or the "borders" may intend the groundwork of the church's faith and hope, the justifying righteousness of Christ, more clearly revealed; and the "studs of silver" the curious work of sanctification, more enlarged and increased; and so take in both Christ's righteousness imputed to her, and his grace implanted in her; but perhaps these phrases may be best of all understood of the New Jerusalem state, and of the ultimate glory of the saints in heaven, sometimes set forth by such similes, Isa 54:11. […]
17 The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir. Here the conference is carried on between Christ and his spouse, and endearments are mutually exchanged. Believers take a great complacency in Christ, and in communion with him.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Borders of gold - I have observed several of the handkerchiefs, shawls, and head attire of the Eastern women, curiously and expensively worked in the borders with gold and silver, and variously coloured silk, which has a splendid effect.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
"The Jews acknowledged God as king, and Messiah as king, in interpreting the Song, but did not know that these two are one" [LEIGHTON]. make--not merely give (Eph 2:10). borders of gold, with studs of silver--that is, "spots of silver"--Jesus Christ delights to give more "to him that hath" (Mt 25:29).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Circlets of gold we will make for you. I and My tribunal decided before Pharaoh’s arrival that I should entice him and harden his heart to pursue you with all the best of his hidden treasures; so that we should make circlets of golden ornaments for you.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Your cheeks are comely with rows of gems. Rows of earrings and a golden forehead plate. 44 Alternatively, ornaments in the shape of turtledoves [=תורים] (Ibn Ezra)
While the king was at his table. The congregation of Yisroel replies and says, “All this is true. You bestowed good upon me, but I repaid You with evil, for while the King was still at the table of His wedding banquet..” 47 At Mount Sinai.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תּוֹרֵ֤י | torei | necklaces of | H8447 → | |
| זָהָב֙ | zahav | gold | H2091 → | 389 times |
| נַעֲשֶׂה־ | naaseh- | we will make | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לָּ֔ךְ | lakh | for you | ||
| עִ֖ם | ʾim | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| נְקֻדּ֥וֹת | nekudot | <the> beads of | H5351 → | |
| הַכָּֽסֶף׃ | hakasef | <the> silver | H3701 → | 403 times |
תּוֹרֵ֤יnecklaces of
toreiH8447 →
זָהָב֙gold
zahavH2091 →389 times
נַעֲשֶׂה־we will make
naaseh-H6213 →2628 times
לָּ֔ךְfor you
lakh
עִ֖םwith
ʾimH5973 →1050 times
נְקֻדּ֥וֹת<the> beads of
nekudotH5351 →
הַכָּֽסֶף׃<the> silver
hakasefH3701 →403 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 1:26Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the…
it leads to
- Colossians 3:10
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
- Ephesians 4:24
and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
- Psalms 8:4–8
what is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for him?
- Genesis 3:22
Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. And now, lest he reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life,…
- Psalms 100:3
Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
- Colossians 3:10
Through
Philippians 3:21who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.
it leads to
- 1 John 3:2
Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as…
- Colossians 3:4
When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
- 1 John 3:2
Through
Psalms 149:4For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He adorns the afflicted with salvation.
it leads to
- Psalms 147:11
The LORD is pleased with those who fear Him, who hope in His loving devotion.
- Psalms 147:11
Where this verse is studied
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About Song of Solomon
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, ON THE TRINITY 1:8.16; Bede, Homilies on the Gospels 2:4; Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 41; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Against Jovinianus 1.30; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Robert of Tombelaine, Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 1 and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 1.