Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Song of Solomon 5:16 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 16. 16His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse closes with sweetness, total desirability, and the names beloved and friend.
The chorus asks what is so different; she answers with his body
This verse is one part of that explanation in Song of Solomon 5:9-6:3. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Song of Solomon 5:9-6:3
Read Song of Solomon 5:16 with 5:9-6:3. This verse closes with sweetness, total desirability, and the names beloved and friend. The complete unit establishes this movement: Asked what distinguishes her beloved, the woman answers with an extravagant male wasf, calls him both beloved and friend, and then locates him through garden imagery before affirming mutual belonging.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The daughters' challenge gives the woman space to articulate why this particular beloved matters, and her speech moves from bodily admiration to friendship and restored mutuality. Within that movement, this verse closes with sweetness, total desirability, and the names beloved and friend.
Follow the Context
- The daughters ask what makes the beloved exceptional.
- The woman describes complexion, head, hair, eyes, cheeks, lips, hands, torso, legs, appearance, and mouth.
- She concludes that he is altogether desirable and her friend.
- The daughters offer to seek with her.
- She answers that he is in his garden and renews mutual-belonging language.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“this is my beloved, and this is my friend”
In plain language: the woman joins erotic love with companionship
closes with sweetness, total desirability, and the names beloved and friend. Erotic attraction and companionship belong together in the woman's summary.
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
Calling someone altogether lovely does not require ignoring danger, incompatibility, or a need for boundaries.
What Remains True
Erotic attraction and companionship belong together in the woman's summary.
How It Can Shape Life
- Cultivate friendship, speech, and trust alongside attraction.
Teach It Back
Explain how Song of Solomon 5:16 contributes to Song of Solomon 5:9-6:3. Include what the surrounding lines add, the stated uncertainty, and what this verse does not authorize.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
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 5:9-6:3 — Describing the Absent Beloved Until the Garden ReturnsSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Mouth can mean palate, speech, or kisses, and total desirability remains the speaker's perspective.
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 5:9-6:3, 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, 5:9-6:3
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. 1248-1250, translation and notes on 5:9-6:3
Open source ↗