Song of Solomon 7:5
in Song of Solomon 7Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel, the hair of your head like purple threads; the king is captured in your tresses.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thy head upon thee is like Carmel, And the hair of thy head like purple; The king is held captive in the tresses thereof.
KJV
Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king is held in the galleries.
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This verse in Song of Solomon 7
Commentary
12 notes on this verseThine head upon thee is like Carmel,.... Set with hair, thick and long, as Carmel with plants and trees.
This site's exposition
Your neck is like a tower made of ivory
on Song of Solomon 7:4-5
Her eyes are "like the pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath-rabbim," real geography, Heshbon known for its pools. Her nose is "like the tower of Lebanon, facing toward Damascus," a known height borrowed for dignity. The one line about him follows: "the king is captured in your tresses".
This site's exposition
the king is captured in your tresses
John Gill pictured Mount Carmel covered with plants and trees, a head of thick, long hair. Albert Barnes noted a second reading in which Carmel names a colour, crimson, matching purple in the next line. He took purple as a deep violet black.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"The hair of your head like purple, a king caught in its tresses." Your hair was previously loose and hence was compared with the flocks of goats emerging in Gilead, whereas now it is caught up, and not only caught up but also wondrously dyed, …
The Medieval Church2 voices
Your head is like Carmel, etc. In the head of the bride, the soul of the faithful is rightly understood, because just as the members are ruled by the head, so are thoughts arranged by the mind. Hence, even the thoughts themselves, which emerge countless …
A commentator
Robert of TombelaineCommentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 7 · Written in the 11th century.
proposed
The head of the Church is Christ, who is fittingly called Carmel, because through the passion He endured, He was exalted to the glory of the Father. Of Him it is written: "And in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
His design to visit the church, with the blessed effect thereof, ver. 8-9. She professes her faith, and desire, ver. 10. She invites him to communion with her, ver. 11.
quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-10/11-anchored-1-7
Carmel - Eminent and pleasant to the eye, and fruitful as mount Carmel was. Which may denote that her mind was replenished with knowledge, and other excellent gifts of the Holy Ghost. Purple - Which colour was anciently much esteemed.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The more we get above this world, and the nearer to heaven, and the more secure and serene we become by that means, the more amiable we are in the eyes of the Lord Jesus. The hair of the head is said to be like purple. This denotes the universal amiableness of a believer in the eyes of Christ, even to the hair, or (as some understand it) the pins with which the hair is dressed.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Compare and contrast with Son 5:15. The rendering in the margin takes “Carmel” as the name of a color, equivalent to “carmine” (rendered “crimson” in 2Ch 2:7, 2Ch 2:14; 2Ch 3:14). This interpretation is favored by the parallelism with “purple,” but removes a beautiful image. Purple - A deep violet black. The king ... - Rather, “A king is bound in the tresses or windings of thy hair.” These last words indicate the king’s approach.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
But MAURER translates here, "flowing ringlets"; with these, as with "thongs" (so LEE, from the Arabic translates it) "the King is held" bound (So 6:5; Her purple crowns of martyrdom especially captivated the King, appearing from His galleries (Ac 7:55, 56). As Samson's strength was in his locks (Jud 16:17).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Shine head - like Carmel - Rising majestically upon thy neck, and above thy shoulders, as Mount Carmel does in its district. Carmel was the name of the mountain where Elijah had his contest with the prophets of Baal. See 1Ki 18:19, etc. The hair of thine head like purple - Ornamented with ribbons and jewellery of this tint. The king is held in the galleries - Or is detained in the antechamber. His heart is captivated by thy person and conduct. Some understand the ringlets of the bride’s hair.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רֹאשֵׁ֤ךְ | roshekh | head your | H7218 → | 599 times |
| עָלַ֙יִךְ֙ | ʾalayikh | on you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כַּכַּרְמֶ֔ל | kakarmel | [is] like <the> Carmel | H3760 → | |
| וְדַלַּ֥ת | vedalat | and [the] hair of | H1803 → | |
| רֹאשֵׁ֖ךְ | roshekh | head your | H7218 → | 599 times |
| כָּאַרְגָּמָ֑ן | kaargaman | [is] like <the> purple wool | H713 → | |
| מֶ֖לֶךְ | melekh | [the] king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| אָס֥וּר | ʾasur | [is] bound | H631 → | |
| בָּרְהָטִֽים׃ | barehatim | by the tresses | H7298 → |
רֹאשֵׁ֤ךְhead your
roshekhH7218 →599 times
עָלַ֙יִךְ֙on you
ʾalayikhH5921 →5755 times
כַּכַּרְמֶ֔ל[is] like <the> Carmel
kakarmelH3760 →
וְדַלַּ֥תand [the] hair of
vedalatH1803 →
רֹאשֵׁ֖ךְhead your
roshekhH7218 →599 times
כָּאַרְגָּמָ֑ן[is] like <the> purple wool
kaargamanH713 →
מֶ֖לֶךְ[the] king
melekhH4428 →2525 times
אָס֥וּר[is] bound
ʾasurH631 →
בָּרְהָטִֽים׃by the tresses
barehatimH7298 →
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
Colossians 1:18And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence.
it leads to
- Ephesians 1:22–23
And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church,
- Revelation 1:5
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by…
- Ephesians 4:15–16
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head.
- 1 Corinthians 15:20–23
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
- Matthew 28:18
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.
- Ephesians 1:22–23
Through
Ephesians 1:22And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church,
it leads to
- Colossians 1:18
And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence.
- Colossians 2:10
And you have been made complete in Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
- 1 Corinthians 15:25–27
For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
- Colossians 1:18
About Song of Solomon
This page draws on 12 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; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on the Song of Songs; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Robert of Tombelaine, Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 7 and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 7.