Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Song of Solomon 1:5 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 5. 5I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse answers the daughters of Jerusalem by claiming dark beauty through Kedar and curtain images.
She names her own beauty before anyone else can manage it
This verse is one part of that explanation in Song of Solomon 1:5-6. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Song of Solomon 1:5-6
Read Song of Solomon 1:5 with 1:5-6. This verse answers the daughters of Jerusalem by claiming dark beauty through Kedar and curtain images. The complete unit establishes this movement: The woman insists on her beauty while naming sun-darkened skin, other women's gaze, angry brothers, imposed vineyard labor, and the cost of being unable to keep her own vineyard.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Before the lovers praise one another, the collection lets the woman name her own beauty and the labor and family pressures behind others' judgment. Within that movement, this verse answers the daughters of Jerusalem by claiming dark beauty through Kedar and curtain images.
Follow the Context
- She calls herself dark and beautiful.
- Kedar's tents and Solomon's curtains supply contrasting or paired comparisons.
- She asks the daughters not to stare at her sun-darkened skin.
- Her brothers' anger and assigned vineyard work explain lost care of her own vineyard.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“black, but comely”
In plain language: dark and beautiful, with no necessary contrast between the two
answers the daughters of Jerusalem by claiming dark beauty through Kedar and curtain images. The woman defines herself as dark and beautiful rather than accepting another person's hierarchy of skin and beauty.
Why it matters: The wording carries interpretive or ethical risk requiring the complete unit and stated limits.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
Dark skin is not a curse, defect, moral stain, or proof of modern racial identity.
What Remains True
The woman defines herself as dark and beautiful rather than accepting another person's hierarchy of skin and beauty.
How It Can Shape Life
- Reject colorism and let people name their own embodied dignity.
Teach It Back
Explain how Song of Solomon 1:5 contributes to Song of Solomon 1:5-6. Include what the surrounding lines add, the stated uncertainty, and what this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Song of Solomon 1:5-6 — Dark and Beautiful Under the SunSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The conjunction can mean and or but, and the second comparison may involve Solomon or Salmah.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Song of Solomon 1:5-6, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Song of Songs
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, speaker-gender signals, wordplay, poetic clauses, and translation questions.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Song.xml, 1:5-6
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: The Song of Songs with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level textual, grammatical, literary, historical, and translation alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible Song of Songs PDF, printed pp. 1228-1229, translation and notes on 1:5-6
Open source ↗