Song of Solomon 1:9
in Song of Solomon 1I compare you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I have compared thee, O my love, To a steed in Pharaoh’s chariots.
KJV
I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots.
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This verse in Song of Solomon 1
Commentary
13 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
This and the next Cant. 1:15–2:7 sections are regarded by ancient commentators (Jewish and Christian) as expressing “the love of espousals” Jer 2:2 between the Holy One and His Church, first in the wilderness of the Exodus, and then in the wilderness of the world Eze 20:35-36. Son 1:9 Or, to a mare of mine in the chariots of Pharaoh I liken thee, O my friend. (The last word is the feminine form of that rendered “friend” at Son 5:16.)
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".
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Here in figurative fashion he referred by "Pharaoh" to the implacable foe of our nature, the noxious enemy common to us all whom he drowned in the holy waters of baptism like Pharaoh. My mare, then, which I used when I overwhelmed Pharaoh's chariots, I …
A commentator
Gregory of ElviraEXPLANATION OF THE SONG OF SONGS 2:24-27 · Written before 392.
proposed
"My horses are with Pharaoh's chariots," it says. The horses of the Lord, that is, the people of the Gentiles, were formerly with Pharaoh's chariots, that is, in the power of the devil, since they had not yet believed in Christ. He forewarns them, therefore, …
But let us now see whether he is saying in the mystical interpretation that "the chariots of Pharaoh and his four-horse chariots" which he himself leads and drives to persecute God's people and to oppress Israel are the souls that have been placed under that spiritual "Pharaoh" and under spiritual wickedness. For it is certain that the temptations and tribulations that the demons stir up against the saints they stir up through some souls that have been made fit and convenient for this purpose.
The Medieval Church2 voices
I have likened you, my friend, to my horse-drawn chariots of Pharaoh. For indeed, He calls His cavalry the army of the children of Israel, whom He freed from Egyptian bondage, leading them across the Red Sea into the desert, and brought into the land …
A commentator
Robert of TombelaineCommentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 1 · Written in the 11th century.
proposed
All who serve lust, who serve pride, who serve greed, who serve envy, who serve deceit, are still under the chariot of Pharaoh, that is, under the rule of the devil; but everyone who is fervent in humility, in chastity, in teaching, in charity, has …
6 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
Bernard of ClairvauxSermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 39 · Written before 1153.
proposed
"To my company of horsemen amid Pharaoh's chariots have I likened you, O my love." For a start we are free to infer from these words that the Fathers prefigured the Church, and that the mysteries of our salvation were foreshown to them. The grace …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Egypt was famous for the best horses. Solomon had his thence; and Pharaoh, no doubt, had the choicest the country afforded for his own chariots. The church had complained of her own weakness, and the danger she was in of being made a prey of by her enemies: "Fear not," says Christ; " I have made thee like a company of horses;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
I have compared thee, O my love,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The ardor and beauty of the bride are the point of comparison; (So 1:5) "comely." Also, like Pharaoh's horses, she forms a great company (Re 19:7, 14). As Jesus Christ is both Shepherd and Conqueror, so believers are not only His sheep, but also, as a Church militant now, His chariots and horses (So 6:4).
A commentator
Hudson Taylor1832–1905
Union and Communion; or, Thoughts on the Song of Solomon (1893)
proposed
Those selected for Pharaoh's own chariot would not only be of the purest blood and perfect in proportion and symmetry, but also perfect in training, docile and obedient; they would know no will but that of the charioteer.
I have compared thee - to a company of horses - This may be translated, more literally, “I have compared thee, to my mare, in the chariots or courses of Pharaoh;” and so the versions understood it. Mares, in preference to horses, were used both for riding and for chariots in the East. They are much swifter, endure more hardship. and will go longer without food, than either the stallion or the gelding. There is perhaps no brute creature in the world so beautiful as a fine well-bred horse or mare; and the finest woman in the universe, Helen, has been compared to a horse in a Thessalian chariot, by Theocritus. Idyl. 18: ver. 28: - Ὡδε και ἁ χρυσεα Ἑλενα διαφαινετ’ εν ἡμιν, Πιειρη, μεγαλη, ἁτ’ ανεδραμεν ογμος αρουρᾳ, Η καπῳ κυπαρισσος, η ἁρματι Θεσσαλος ἱππος. “The golden Helen, tall and graceful, appears as distinguished among us as the furrow in the field, the cypress in the garden, or the Thessalian horse in the chariot.” This passage amply justifies the Hebrew bard, in the simile before us. See Jer 6:2.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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)
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
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לְסֻסָתִי֙ | lesusati | to mare my | H5484 → | |
| בְּרִכְבֵ֣י | berikhvei | among [the] chariots of | H7393 → | |
| פַרְעֹ֔ה | faroh | Pharaoh | H6547 → | |
| דִּמִּיתִ֖יךְ | dimitikh | I liken you | H1819 → | 30 times |
| רַעְיָתִֽי׃ | ra'yati | O friend my | H7474 → | 9 times |
לְסֻסָתִי֙to mare my
lesusatiH5484 →
בְּרִכְבֵ֣יamong [the] chariots of
berikhveiH7393 →
פַרְעֹ֔הPharaoh
farohH6547 →
דִּמִּיתִ֖יךְI liken you
dimitikhH1819 →30 times
רַעְיָתִֽי׃O friend my
ra'yatiH7474 →9 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 1:15
How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves.
- 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.
- 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—
- Ephesians 5:25–27
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her
- 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—
- Song of Solomon 1:15
Through
Song of Solomon 2:10My beloved calls to me, “Arise, my darling. Come away with me, my beautiful one.
it leads to
- Song of Solomon 2:13
The fig tree ripens its figs; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come away, my darling; come away with me, my beautiful one.”
- Song of Solomon 4:7–8
You are altogether beautiful, my darling; in you there is no flaw.
- Song of Solomon 2:13
Through
Song of Solomon 2:2Like a lily among the thorns is my darling among the maidens.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:12
Conduct yourselves with such honor among the Gentiles that, though they slander you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.
- 1 Peter 2:12
Where this verse is studied
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On this verse
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About Song of Solomon
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on the Song of Songs; Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 39; Gregory of Elvira, EXPLANATION OF THE SONG OF SONGS 2:24-27; Hudson Taylor, Union and Communion; or, Thoughts on the Song of Solomon; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 2:6; Robert of Tombelaine, Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 1 and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 1.