Song of Solomon 4:2
in Song of Solomon 4Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep coming up from the washing; each has its twin, and not one of them is lost.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thy teeth are like a flock of ewes that are newly shorn, Which are come up from the washing, Whereof every one hath twins, And none is bereaved among them.
KJV
Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them.
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This verse in Song of Solomon 4
Commentary
3 notes on this verse[There is a] pleasing comparison to those that are shorn; for we know that goats both feed in high places without risk and securely find their food in rugged places, and then when shorn are freed from what is superfluous. The church is likened to a flock of these, having in itself the many virtues of those souls which through the laver lay aside the superfluity of sins and offer to Christ the mystic faith and the grace of good living, which speak of the cross of the Lord Jesus.
This site's exposition
thou hast doves’ eyes within thy locks
on Song of Solomon 4:1-5
The chapter opens the poem's first full praise song, an ordered description from the eyes downward, and the form is stated once: the images compare the bride to the best of a shepherd's world, a flock of goats streaming dark down Gilead, shorn ewes white from the washing with never a lamb lost, a thread of scarlet, the tower of David hung with the shields of mighty men. The comparisons are of impression rather than outline, as Delitzsch insists: the teeth are not like sheep in shape but in matched whiteness and completeness, the neck not like a tower in size but in adorned dignity. The exposition reads the frankness of verse 5 as the married love it celebrates, with the site's surface kept plain and the poem's own decorum trusted.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The Chaldee paraphrase applies it to the priests and Levites, who fed upon the sacrifices as the representatives of the people. Faith, by which we feed upon Christ, meditation, by which we ruminate on the word and chew the cud upon what we have heard, in order to the digesting of it, are the teeth of the new man. These are here compared to a flock of sheep.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Behold you are beautiful my beloved. He praised them and appeased them, and their sacrifices pleased Him.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
On that day King Solomon sacrificed a thousand burnt offerings on the altar and his offering was accepted with favor by YY.
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. 3 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
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שִׁנַּ֙יִךְ֙ | shinayikh | teeth your | H8127 → | 55 times |
| כְּעֵ֣דֶר | keeder | [are] like [the] flock of | H5739 → | 38 times |
| הַקְּצוּב֔וֹת | haketzuvot | <the> shorn [ewes] | H7094 → | |
| שֶׁעָל֖וּ | shealu | that <they> have come up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הָרַחְצָ֑ה | harachtzah | the washing | H7367 → | |
| שֶׁכֻּלָּם֙ | shekulam | that all of them | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מַתְאִימ֔וֹת | matimot | [are] bearing twins | H8382 → | |
| וְשַׁכֻּלָ֖ה | veshakulah | and [is one] deprived of offspring | H7909 → | |
| אֵ֥ין | ʾein | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| בָּהֶֽם׃ | bahem | among them |
שִׁנַּ֙יִךְ֙teeth your
shinayikhH8127 →55 times
כְּעֵ֣דֶר[are] like [the] flock of
keederH5739 →38 times
הַקְּצוּב֔וֹת<the> shorn [ewes]
haketzuvotH7094 →
שֶׁעָל֖וּthat <they> have come up
shealuH5927 →890 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הָרַחְצָ֑הthe washing
harachtzahH7367 →
שֶׁכֻּלָּם֙that all of them
shekulamH3605 →5413 times
מַתְאִימ֔וֹת[are] bearing twins
matimotH8382 →
וְשַׁכֻּלָ֖הand [is one] deprived of offspring
veshakulahH7909 →
אֵ֥יןthere not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
בָּהֶֽם׃among them
bahem
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
Jeremiah 15:16Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became my joy and my heart’s delight. For I bear Your name, O LORD God of Hosts.
it leads to
- Revelation 10:9–10
And I went to the angel and said, “Give me the small scroll.” “Take it and eat it,” he said. “It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as…
- Ezekiel 3:1–3
“Son of man,” He said to me, “eat what you find here. Eat this scroll, then go and speak to the house of Israel.”
- Psalms 119:101–103
I have kept my feet from every evil path, that I may keep Your word.
- Job 23:12
I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread.
- Psalms 19:10
They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
- Revelation 10:9–10
Through
John 15:7If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
it leads to
- Psalms 37:4
Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.
- 1 John 5:14
And this is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
- John 14:13
And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
- Psalms 37:4
Where this verse is studied
No study on the site is anchored to this verse yet.
Also on Song of Solomon 4: 1 study that walk through this chapter ▾
About Song of Solomon
This page draws on Ambrose of Milan, On the Mysteries 7:38; Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.