Bible Study Song of Solomon 6
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Song of Solomon 6 · WEB

Where Has Your Beloved Gone?

Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.

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Where has your beloved gone, most beautiful among women? Where has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you? *She:*
2My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
3I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine. He browses among the lilies. *He:*
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 as 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; none is bereaved among them.
7Your temples are like a piece of a pomegranate behind your veil.
8There are sixty queens, and eighty concubines, and virgins without number.
9My dove, my undefiled, is but one. She is the only one of her mother. She is the choice one of her who bore her. The daughters saw her, and called her blessed; yes, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.
10Who is she who looks out like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, clear as the sun, and awesome as an army with banners? *She:*
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 among the chariots of my noble people. *Friends:* **13a** Return, return, Shulamite! Return, return, that we may look at you. *He:* **13b** Why do you desire to look at the Shulamite, as at the dance of Mahanaim?
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Summary

Song of Solomon 6 opens with the friends' question about where the beloved has gone, and the woman answers from peaceful certainty: she knows where he is, and she knows she is his. The mutual possession formula (v. 3) is repeated — the panic of chapter 5 has resolved into confidence. The beloved then offers his own praise of the woman: she is beautiful as two royal cities, awesome as an army under banners, and uniquely chosen above queens and concubines. The chapter closes with the woman called a "Shulamite" — her identity affirmed in the community of witnesses.

Themes

  • Recovery of peace and certainty after the anguish of chapter 5
  • The mutual possession formula deepened — confidence after crisis
  • The beloved's uniqueness — chosen above all others, the one among many
  • The royal comparison — beauty that commands as well as attracts
  • The woman's identity named: the Shulamite

Key verses

  • Song 6:10 — “Who is she who looks out like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, clear as the sun?”
  • Song 6:3 — “I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine. He browses among the lilies.”
  • Song 6:9 — “My dove, my undefiled, is but one. She is the only one of her mother.”

Context & background

Song of Solomon 6 marks a shift from chapter 5's anguish to confident peace. The mutual possession formula of 6:3 echoes 2:16 but is reversed — "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine" (2:16) becomes "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine" with the same words — the relationship is stable from both directions. The comparison to Tirzah (v. 4) refers to the ancient capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, modern Tell el-Far'ah North in the West Bank — its name means "pleasing." Jerusalem (v. 4) was the southern capital. Comparing the woman to two royal cities suggests that her beauty commands the same awe as a great city. "Awesome as an army with banners" is a military image — her beauty is not passive but overwhelming, like an advancing army that cannot be opposed. The "Shulamite" designation (v. 13) has been interpreted as a reference to a woman from Shunem (a town in the Jezreel Valley, modern northern Israel) or as a feminine form of Solomon's name (Shelomoh/Shulamit — "his peace," "her peace").

Cross-references

  • 1 Peter 3:3-4 — inner beauty of great worth in God's sight — v. 9's "undefiled"
  • Ephesians 1:4 — "he chose us in him before the creation of the world" — v. 9's "chosen one"
  • Isaiah 62:4-5 — "you will be called Hephzibah ('my delight is in her')... as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride" — vv. 8-9
  • Psalm 45:11 — "the king is enthralled by your beauty" — vv. 4-9
  • Zephaniah 3:17 — "the LORD your God is with you... he will take great delight in you" — v. 9's praise

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    Where does the woman say her beloved has gone (v. 2)?

  2. Observe

    How does the beloved describe the woman's uniqueness in verses 8-9?

  3. Interpret

    What does "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine" (v. 3) reveal after the crisis of chapter 5?

  4. Interpret

    What does it mean to be the uniquely "chosen one" of verse 9 in the allegorical reading?

  5. Apply

    How does the recovery of peace in this chapter inform one's own seasons after crisis?

  6. Apply

    What does it mean for one's life to "look out like the dawn" (v. 10)?

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