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Song of Songs 6

The poem moves from a search for the beloved to mutual belonging and praise that sets the woman apart.

The woman’s companions ask where her beloved has gone and offer to help find him. She answers that he is in his garden and declares their mutual belonging. The beloved praises her beauty with images of cities, flocks, and banners, singling her out among queens and concubines. The poem then moves to a grove and a call for the Shulammite to return. Some speaker changes and the scene involving chariots are uncertain.

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1Where has your beloved gone, you fairest among women? Where has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you?
2My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to pasture his flock in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
4You are beautiful, my love, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners.
5Turn away your eyes from me, for they have overcome me. Your hair is like a flock of goats, that lie along the side of Gilead.
6Your teeth are like a flock of ewes, which have come up from the washing, of which every one has twins; not one is bereaved among them.
7Your temples are like a piece of a pomegranate behind your veil.
8There are sixty queens, eighty concubines, and virgins without number.
9My dove, my perfect one, is unique. She is her mother’s only daughter. She is the favorite one of her who bore her. The daughters saw her, and called her blessed. The queens and the concubines saw her, and they praised her.
10Who is she who looks out as the morning, beautiful as the moon, clear as the sun, and awesome as an army with banners?
11I went down into the nut tree grove, to see the green plants of the valley, to see whether the vine budded, and the pomegranates were in flower.
12Without realizing it, my desire set me with my royal people’s chariots.
13Return, return, Shulammite! Return, return, that we may gaze at you. Lover Why do you desire to gaze at the Shulammite, as at the dance of Mahanaim?
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Key verses
Song of Songs 6:3Her declaration of mutual belonging answers the opening search with confidence in the bond between the lovers.
Song of Songs 6:4The beloved begins his praise by comparing her beauty to great cities and the imposing sight of an army.
Song of Songs 6:8The many queens and concubines form the backdrop for the next verse’s claim that this woman is unique.
Where this chapter reaches

The royal setting, queens, and concubines connect with 1 Kings, which describes Solomon’s court and names Tirzah as a royal city. Revelation shares the imagery of a woman associated with the sun and moon, though each book places those images in a different setting.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

How does the woman’s declaration of mutual belonging shape your reading of the praise that follows?

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What effect does the contrast between the many queens and the one beloved have on you?

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Questions people ask about Song of Songs 6

Who is the Shulammite in Song of Songs 6?

The Shulammite is the woman called to return in verse 13, understood as the poem’s central female lover. The title’s origin is uncertain. It may indicate a place of origin or carry a wordplay related to Solomon’s name. This chapter supplies no further biography or firm identification.

Why does Song of Songs 6 mention sixty queens and eighty concubines?

Verse 8 presents a large royal household, followed by the claim that the beloved woman is unique. The contrast makes her stand out amid many admired women. The chapter does not identify the ruler or establish whether these numbers record an actual court. Mentioning concubines does not make their presence a command or ideal.

What does Song of Songs 6:12 mean?

Verse 12 is difficult because its wording and its connection to the surrounding scene are uncertain. In the supplied translation, desire places the speaker with royal chariots after a visit to the grove. The verse suggests sudden movement or elevation, but the precise event and even the speaker’s identity remain debated.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).