Song of Solomon 5:9
in Song of Solomon 5How is your beloved better than others, O most beautiful among women? How is your beloved better than another, that you charge us so?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? What is thy beloved more than another beloved, That thou dost so adjure us?
KJV
What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?
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This verse in Song of Solomon 5
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Section 5:9–6:3: The bride’s commendation of the beloved. In the allegorical interpretations of Jewish expositors all is here spoken by exiled Israel of the Holy One whose praise she sings “by the waters of Babylon” Psa 137:1. Christian interpreters apply the description directly to the Incarnate Son, partly in His Eternal Godhead, but chiefly in His risen and glorified Humanity.
This site's exposition
How is your beloved better than others
The daughters answer with a question asked twice, and its second form, "How is your beloved better than another," presses her to back her charge. The question draws out the portrait of verses 10 to 16, and her loss turns into praise.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
How is your beloved better than another beloved, etc. It is open for a faithful brother to say to another faithful brother: I beseech you, because I find that you are fervent in the love of the Redeemer, also speak to me of Him, confirm …
A commentator
Robert of TombelaineCommentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 5 · Written in the 11th century.
proposed
But the Saints themselves, if they are still with us, both pray for those who ask them to pray and, when asked to carry the message, out of humility inquire as though they did not know, saying: What is your beloved more than another beloved, …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
We should always be ready to instruct and assist those that are enquiring after Christ. Experienced Christians, who are well acquainted with Christ themselves, should do all they can to make others acquainted with him. She assures them, in general, that he is one of incomparable perfections and unparalleled worth (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women?....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2469: “The Incomparable Bridegroom and His Bride” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
THIS morning, [See sermon # 694, Volume 12, "Sin Laid on Jesus."] we had the great privilege of preaching the doctrine of Substitution and of directing the minds of God's people to the solid rock of the meritorious Sacrifice of Christ whereon all their hopes of Heaven must be built. What we have to say, tonight, is less doctrinal and more practical—therefore let us guard ourselves at the outset. If we should, with very much earnestness, urge Believers to good works, let nobody suppose that, therefore, we imagine that men are saved by works!
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2469: “The Incomparable Bridegroom and His Bride” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
THIS morning, [See sermon # 694, Volume 12, "Sin Laid on Jesus."] we had the great privilege of preaching the doctrine of Substitution and of directing the minds of God's people to the solid rock of the meritorious Sacrifice of Christ whereon all their hopes of Heaven must be built. What we have to say, tonight, is less doctrinal and more practical—therefore let us guard ourselves at the outset. If we should, with very much earnestness, urge Believers to good works, let nobody suppose that, therefore, we imagine that men are saved by works! Let no one, for a moment, dream that in urging the Believer to bring forth fruit to righteousness, we are at all teaching that salvation is the work of man! I have no doubt that all of us who know anything of true religion are of the same opinion as that celebrated Scotch Divine, old David Dickson, who was asked, when dying, what was the principal subject on which his thoughts were engaged. He answered, "I am gathering up all my good works and all my bad works, tying them into one bundle and throwing them all, alike, down at the foot of the Cross and am resting alone upon the finished work of Jesus." It is related of that mighty master in Israel, James Durham, that his experience at the last was very much akin to that of his friend, Dickson, for he said, "Notwithstanding all my preaching and all my spiritual experiences, I do not know that I have anything to hang upon excepting this one sentence spoken by Christ, 'Him that comes to Me I will in no wise cast out.'" "Ah," replied someone who stood by Mr. Durham at the time, "you might well hazard a thousand souls, if you had them, upon the strength of that one precious text." Having said so much by way of caution, I want to address some earnest words to the people of God upon certain practical Truths of God that arise out of our text.
What is thy beloved more than another beloved - This question gives the bride an opportunity to break out into a highly wrought description of the beauty and perfections of her spouse.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
My beloved is pure white. White, as in, “they were whiter צַחוּ than milk.” 37 Eichah:1.
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
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מַה־ | mah- | how [is]? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| דּוֹדֵ֣ךְ | dodekh | lover your | H1730 → | 61 times |
| מִדּ֔וֹד | midod | more than a lover | H1730 → | 61 times |
| הַיָּפָ֖ה | haiyafah | O beautiful [one] | H3303 → | 42 times |
| בַּנָּשִׁ֑ים | banashim | among <the> women | H802 → | 781 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | how? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| דּוֹדֵ֣ךְ | dodekh | [is] lover your | H1730 → | 61 times |
| מִדּ֔וֹד | midod | more than a lover | H1730 → | 61 times |
| שֶׁכָּ֖כָה | shekakhah | that thus | H3602 → | |
| הִשְׁבַּעְתָּֽנוּ׃ | hishba'tanu | you have adjured us | H7650 → | 186 times |
מַה־how [is]?
mah-H4100 →752 times
דּוֹדֵ֣ךְlover your
dodekhH1730 →61 times
מִדּ֔וֹדmore than a lover
midodH1730 →61 times
הַיָּפָ֖הO beautiful [one]
haiyafahH3303 →42 times
בַּנָּשִׁ֑יםamong <the> women
banashimH802 →781 times
מַה־how?
mah-H4100 →752 times
דּוֹדֵ֣ךְ[is] lover your
dodekhH1730 →61 times
מִדּ֔וֹדmore than a lover
midodH1730 →61 times
שֶׁכָּ֖כָהthat thus
shekakhahH3602 →
הִשְׁבַּעְתָּֽנוּ׃you have adjured us
hishba'tanuH7650 →186 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
Isaiah 53:2He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him.
it leads to
- Philippians 2:6–7
Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
- Isaiah 52:14
Just as many were appalled at Him—His appearance was disfigured beyond that of any man, and His form was marred beyond human likeness—
- Isaiah 11:1
Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.
- John 1:10–14
He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.
- Mark 6:3
Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t His sisters here with us as well?” And they took offense at Him.
- Philippians 2:6–7
Through
Song of Solomon 6:1Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? Which way has he turned? We will seek him with you.
it leads to
- Song of Solomon 1:8
If you do not know, O fairest of women, follow the tracks of the flock, and graze your young goats near the tents of the shepherds.
- Song of Solomon 1:8
Through
Psalms 45:13All glorious is the princess in her chamber; her gown is embroidered with gold.
it leads to
- Revelation 19:7–8
Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him the glory. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready.
- Isaiah 61:10
I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom…
- Revelation 19:7–8
About Song of Solomon
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; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2469: “The Incomparable Bridegroom and His Bride” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Robert of Tombelaine, Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 5.