Song of Solomon 1:15
in Song of Solomon 1How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold, thou art fair, my love; Behold thou art fair; Thine eyes are as doves.
KJV
Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes.
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This verse in Song of Solomon 1
Commentary
14 notes on this verseSo that it may be that which is said in the Song of Songs: "You are wholly beautiful, my love, and there is no spot in you." And again: "Behold, you are fair, my near one, behold, you are fair, your eyes are doves." You who are fair and strong, when you have become like him of whom it is sung, "In your beauty and your comeliness," you will hear from the Bridegroom: "Forget your people and your father's house, and the King will desire your beauty."
This site's exposition
How beautiful you are, my darling!
on Song of Solomon 1:15-17
"How beautiful you are, my darling" is doubled for emphasis, and she answers with "How handsome you are, my beloved," so the praise is returned. "The soft grass is our bed" and "our rafters are fragrant firs" furnish the outdoors as a house, standing trees for a roof.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
But this beauty of the "cheeks," that is of modesty and chastity, is compared to "turtledoves." They say that the nature of turtledoves is of such a sort that neither the male woos more than one female nor the female puts up with more than one male, so that if it should happen that one is cut off and the other survives, marital love would be snuffed out along with the spouse. Therefore most aptly the image of a turtledove is applied to the church, because it does not know any husband after Christ, or because a multitude marked by continence and modesty much like turtledoves flit about in her.
When her own beauty is manifest, the loveliness of her eyes is extolled. The bridegroom says that her eyes are those of a dove that seem to convey this meaning: when the pupils of the eye are clear, the faces of those gazing at them are clearly reflected. Persons skilled in studying natural phenomena say that the eye sees by receiving the impression of images emanating from visible objects. For this reason the beauty of the bride's eyes is praised since the image of a dove appears in her pupils. Whenever a person gazes upon an object he receives in himself the image of that object. He who no longer attends to flesh and blood looks toward the life of the Spirit. As the apostle says, such a person lives in the Spirit, conforms to the Spirit, and by the Spirit puts to death the deeds of the body. This person has become wholly spiritual, neither natural nor carnal.
A commentator
Origen of AlexandriaCOMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 10:173 · Written before 253.
proposed
Our eyes [are not] such as the eyes of Christ's beautiful bride must be, of which eyes the bridegroom says, "Your eyes are doves." He is hinting, perhaps, at the perceptive power of spiritual people, because the Holy Spirit came upon the Lord as a dove, and the Lord is in each one. Nevertheless, even in our condition, we will not hesitate to examine the words of life that have been spoken, and to attempt to grasp their power which streams forth into him who has apprehended them with faith.
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Robert of TombelaineCommentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 1 · Written in the 11th century.
proposed
The Bridegroom calls His bride beautiful twice, because to her whom He grants love of God and of neighbor, He implants a twofold beauty, in which He delights and which He praises. Her eyes are rightly said to be those of doves, because while she …
Since the image of a dove is placed before us by God so that we may learn the simplicity favored, let us look diligently at its nature, so that from each one of its examples of innocence we may take the principles of a more …
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
Behold, you are beautiful, my friend, etc. Behold, you are beautiful in pure works, by which you conduct yourself soberly, justly, and piously in this age. Behold, you are beautiful in the simplicity of heart, because for the sake of the intention of eternity, you …
A commentator
Bernard of ClairvauxSermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 45 · Written before 1153.
proposed
"Behold, you are beautiful, my love, behold you are beautiful; your eyes are as doves" (Song 1:15). Beautifully, most excellently, from love, the presumption of the bride; from love, the indignation of the bridegroom. The outcome of the matter proves this. For presumption was followed …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Behold - This is the speech of Christ. The words are doubled to manifest his fervent affection for her. Doves eyes - Which are mild and harmless, chaste and faithful.
Behold, thou art fair, my love,....
To show that there is a real beauty in holiness, that all who are sanctified are thereby beautified; they are truly fair. That he takes great delight in that good work which his grace has wrought on the souls of believers; so that though they have their infirmities, whatever they think of themselves, and the world thinks of them, he thinks them fair.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Thou hast doves’ eyes - The large and beautiful dove of Syria is supposed to be here referred to, the eyes of which are remarkably fine.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
fair--He discerns beauty in her, who had said, "I am black" (So 1:5), because of the everlasting covenant (Ps 45:11; Eph 1:4,5). doves' eyes--large and beautiful in the doves of Syria.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִנָּ֤ךְ | hinakh | here you | H2005 → | 316 times |
| יָפָה֙ | yafah | [are] beautiful | H3303 → | 42 times |
| רַעְיָתִ֔י | ra'yati | O friend my | H7474 → | 9 times |
| הִנָּ֥ךְ | hinakh | here you | H2005 → | 316 times |
| יָפָ֖ה | yafah | [are] beautiful | H3303 → | 42 times |
| עֵינַ֥יִךְ | ʾeinayikh | eyes your | H5869 → | 887 times |
| יוֹנִֽים׃ | yonim | [are] doves | H3123 → | 31 times |
הִנָּ֤ךְhere you
hinakhH2005 →316 times
יָפָה֙[are] beautiful
yafahH3303 →42 times
רַעְיָתִ֔יO friend my
ra'yatiH7474 →9 times
הִנָּ֥ךְhere you
hinakhH2005 →316 times
יָפָ֖ה[are] beautiful
yafahH3303 →42 times
עֵינַ֥יִךְeyes your
ʾeinayikhH5869 →887 times
יוֹנִֽים׃[are] doves
yonimH3123 →31 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
Song of Solomon 4:7You are altogether beautiful, my darling; in you there is no flaw.
it leads to
- Song of Solomon 4:1
How beautiful you are, my darling—how very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ephesians 5:25–27
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her
- Jude 1:24
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy—
- Colossians 1:22
But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in His presence—
- Psalms 45:11
and the king will desire your beauty; bow to him, for he is your lord.
- Song of Solomon 4:1
Through
Song of Solomon 4:1How beautiful you are, my darling—how very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead.
it leads to
- Song of Solomon 6:5
Turn your eyes away from me, for they have overcome me. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down from Gilead.
- Song of Solomon 6:7
Your brow behind your veil is like a slice of pomegranate.
- Song of Solomon 6:5
Through
Song of Solomon 5:12His eyes are like doves beside the streams of water, bathed in milk and mounted like jewels.
it leads to
- Hebrews 4:13
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
- Hebrews 4:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
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About Song of Solomon
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Homilies on the Gospels 1:12; Bede, Commentary on the Song of Songs; Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs; Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 45; Gregory of Nyssa, HOMILIES ON THE SONG OF SONGS 4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Homily 61, on Psalm 15 (Alternate Series); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 2:7; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 10:173 and Robert of Tombelaine, Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 1.