The Curtains of Solomon — Song of Songs 1:5

“O daughters of Jerusalem,

I am dark but lovely,

like the tents of Kedar,

like the curtains of Solomon.”

(Song of Songs 1:5)

In verse 4, for the first time,

הַמֶּלֶךְ

(hammelekh)

“the king”

appeared.

Then we open verse 5 and find:

כִּירִיעוֹת שְׁלֹמֹה

(kiri'ot shelomoh)

“like the curtains of Solomon”

Here appears the proper name,

שְׁלֹמֹה

(Shelomoh) — Solomon

Ah, so the king really is Solomon!!

But when we move closer and look again,

what is actually written is not Solomon himself, but

“the curtains of Solomon.”

We stop again.

So, back to the personal references we have been following.

From verse 2:

him 👉 his mouth 👉 you 👉 your love

Verse 3:

your perfume 👉 your name 👉 the young women

Verse 4:

me 👉 we 👉 me 👉 we

and then,

“the king.”

Now in verse 5,

אֲנִי

ani — “I”

is explicitly stated.

Then we find:

בְּנוֹת יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם

benot Yerushalayim — “daughters of Jerusalem”

Who are these daughters of Jerusalem?

The young women in verse 3.

The “we” in verse 4.

The daughters of Jerusalem in verse 5.

Are they the same people?

Or are they different?

The text has not answered us yet.

Today, too, we follow the words without rushing to an answer.