Song of Solomon 4:4
in Song of Solomon 4Your neck is like the tower of David, built with rows of stones; on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thy neck is like the tower of David Builded for an armory, Whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, All the shields of the mighty men.
KJV
Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.
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This verse in Song of Solomon 4
Commentary
12 notes on this verseThy neck is like the tower of David - It is certain that bucklers were frequently hung about towers, both for their ornaments, and to have them at hand when their use was required; see Eze 27:10. But the allusion here may be to those pillars which are often seen in armouries on which weapons of various kinds are hung, formed into a great variety of shapes and very splendid. Whoever has seen the armoury in the tower of London, or such like places, has most probably seen something very similar to that of which the poet speaks.
This site's exposition
How beautiful you are, my darling
on Song of Solomon 4:1-5
The chapter opens the poem's first full song of praise, moving downward from "Your eyes are like doves behind your veil". Its images come from a shepherd's world, goats "streaming down Mount Gilead". The likeness lies in the impression, adorned dignity in a neck like "the tower of David".
This site's exposition
on it hang a thousand shields
Adam Clarke noted that shields were hung on towers both as ornament and to keep them ready for use, as Ezekiel 27:10 describes. The tower bears David's name. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown recalled that David was a man of war whose battles prepared for Solomon's reign of peace.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church4 voices
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Septem Donis, Collation 5 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
"Thy neck is as the tower of David, which is built with bulwarks: a thousand bucklers hang upon it, all the armor of valiant men." This was said to the bride or mother Church, whose neck is like the tower of David. It is called …
As the tower of David, your neck, etc. And we have said above about the neck, which signifies the holy teachers who continuously enrich the Church by nourishing it with spiritual sustenance and strengthen it in faith through the words of holy exhortation. But also, …
A thousand shields hang from it, etc. The thousand shields hanging from the tower of David are innumerable defenses of divine protection, by which the holy preachers are assisted by the Lord so that they cannot be overcome by enemies, and they also teach their …
A commentator
Robert of TombelaineCommentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4 · Written in the 11th century.
proposed
For we stretch out the neck when we wish to see farther ahead. Therefore the holy preachers are fittingly called eyes for one reason, teeth for another, cheeks for yet another, and the neck for still another. Rightly, then, the neck of holy Church is …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
This is generally applied to the grace of faith, by which we are united to Christ, as the body is united to the head by the neck; this is like the tower of David, furnishing us with weapons of war, especially bucklers and shields, as the soldiers were supplied with them out of that tower, for faith is our shield ( Eph. vi.
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4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Thy neck - This may represent the grace of faith, by which we are united to Christ, as the body is to the head by the neck. By which Christians receive their spiritual food, and consequently their strength and ability for action.
Thy neck is like the tower of David, builded for an armoury,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
He was a man of war, preparatory to the reign of Solomon, the king of peace. So warfare in the case of Jesus Christ and His saints precedes the coming rest. Each soul won from Satan by Him is a trophy gracing the bride (Lu 11:22); (each hangs on Him, Isa 22:23, 24); also each victory of her faith.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The “tower of David” may be that mentioned in Neh 3:25-27; Mic 4:8. For the custom of hanging shields and other weapons in and upon buildings suited for the purpose, see Eze 27:10-11.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כְּמִגְדַּ֤ל | kemigdal | [is] like [the] tower of | H4026 → | 48 times |
| דָּוִיד֙ | david | David | H1732 → | |
| צַוָּארֵ֔ךְ | tzavarekh | neck your | H6677 → | 42 times |
| בָּנ֖וּי | banui | built | H1129 → | |
| לְתַלְפִּיּ֑וֹת | letalpiyot | to layers | H8530 → | |
| אֶ֤לֶף | ʾelef | <the> thousand | H505 → | 505 times |
| הַמָּגֵן֙ | hamagen | <the> shield[s] | H4043 → | |
| תָּל֣וּי | talui | [is] hung | H8518 → | |
| עָלָ֔יו | ʾalav | on it | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כֹּ֖ל | kol | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| שִׁלְטֵ֥י | shiltei | [the] shields of | H7982 → | |
| הַגִּבּוֹרִֽים׃ | hagiborim | the warriors | H1368 → | 158 times |
כְּמִגְדַּ֤ל[is] like [the] tower of
kemigdalH4026 →48 times
דָּוִיד֙David
davidH1732 →
צַוָּארֵ֔ךְneck your
tzavarekhH6677 →42 times
בָּנ֖וּיbuilt
banuiH1129 →
לְתַלְפִּיּ֑וֹתto layers
letalpiyotH8530 →
אֶ֤לֶף<the> thousand
ʾelefH505 →505 times
הַמָּגֵן֙<the> shield[s]
hamagenH4043 →
תָּל֣וּי[is] hung
taluiH8518 →
עָלָ֔יוon it
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
כֹּ֖לall
kolH3605 →5413 times
שִׁלְטֵ֥י[the] shields of
shilteiH7982 →
הַגִּבּוֹרִֽים׃the warriors
hagiborimH1368 →158 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
1 Peter 1:5who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
it leads to
- Philippians 1:6
being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
- Ephesians 2:8
For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,
- 2 Thessalonians 2:13–14
But we should always thank God for you, brothers who are loved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning to be saved by the sanctification of the Spirit and by…
- Romans 8:31–39
What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
- Job 19:25
But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth.
- Philippians 1:6
Through
Nehemiah 3:19And next to him, Ezer son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the Ascent to the Armory, near the angle in the wall.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 26:9
Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and the angle in the wall, and he fortified them.
- 2 Chronicles 26:9
Through
Song of Solomon 7:4Your neck is like a tower made of ivory; your eyes are like the pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath-rabbim; your nose is like the tower of Lebanon, facing toward Damascus.
it leads to
- Psalms 144:12
Then our sons will be like plants nurtured in their youth, our daughters like corner pillars carved to adorn a palace.
- Song of Solomon 4:8–9
Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, come with me from Lebanon! Descend from the peak of Amana, from the summits of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of the lions, from the mountains…
- Psalms 144:12
About Song of Solomon
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 11 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; Bonaventure, Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 5; Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes; 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Robert of Tombelaine, Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4.