Male lover
“How beautiful you are!
My love!
How very beautiful!
Your eyes are doves
Behind your veil.
Your hair is
Like a flock of goats,
Moving down the slopes of Gilead.
Your teeth are
Like a flock of shorn ewes,
That was come up from the washing.
They all bear twins.
Not one among them is bereaved.
Your lips are
Like a crimson thread.
Your mouth is lovely.
Your cheeks are
Like halves of a pomegranate,
Behind your veil.
Your neck is
Like the tower of David,
Built in courses.
On it hang a thousand bucklers.
All of them are shields of warriors.
Your two breasts are
Like two fawns.
There are twins of a gazelle,
That feed among the lilies.”
This male lover, either a shepherd or a king, describes his female lover by starting out saying how beautiful she is. Then he goes into a vivid description of her starting with her eyes that are hidden behind the veil that was common for unmarried women. They were like doves. Her hair was like a flock of goats coming down the mountain of Gilead. I am not sure how this was a complement. These goats were happy unblemished twins, while Gilead was east of the Jordan River. Her teeth were like a flock of young sheep that had just been washed. Her cheeks, although covered with the veil, were like half pomegranates, a fruit tree that was planted for domestic usage in Babylon. Her neck was like the tower of David since it had over 1,000 little shields on it. It is hard to image that many little trinkets around her neck. Her breasts were like twin young gazelles. I am not sure how he was able to make that comparison.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 