Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Song of Solomon 7:5 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 5. 5Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king is held in the galleries.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse compares head and hair to Carmel and purple while saying a king is held in the tresses or galleries.
Read It With
- Song of Solomon 7:1-10
Read Song of Solomon 7:5 with 7:1-10. This verse compares head and hair to Carmel and purple while saying a king is held in the tresses or galleries. The complete unit establishes this movement: A speaker describes the woman's movement and body from feet to hair, then voices desire to climb the palm; her reply claims mutual belonging and names his desire as directed toward her.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The body praise begun by public looking develops into one speaker's desire and then yields to the woman's explicit self-placement and initiative. Within that movement, this verse compares head and hair to Carmel and purple while saying a king is held in the tresses or galleries.
Follow the Context
- Feet, curved thighs, navel, belly, and breasts are praised with craft, drink, grain, lilies, and gazelles.
- Neck, eyes, nose, head, and hair become towers, pools, mountain, purple, and royal captivity.
- The speaker praises the woman's stature as palm and breasts as clusters.
- He declares intent to climb and grasp and imagines scent and wine-like kisses.
- The woman responds that she belongs to her beloved and his desire is toward her.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“the king is held in the galleries”
In plain language: royal power is pictured as captivated by her flowing hair or tresses
compares head and hair to Carmel and purple while saying a king is held in the tresses or galleries. The woman's hair and bearing captivate royal power rather than being controlled by it.
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
A captivated king does not authorize hair control, fetishization, stalking, or possession.
What Remains True
The woman's hair and bearing captivate royal power rather than being controlled by it.
How It Can Shape Life
- Recognize attraction without turning fascination into restraint.
Teach It Back
Explain Song of Solomon 7:5's contribution to Song of Solomon 7:1-10: compares head and hair to Carmel and purple while saying a king is held in the tresses or galleries. Include what the surrounding lines add, the stated uncertainty, and what this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Song of Solomon 7:1-10 — A Toe-to-Head Wasf and the Woman's ReplySources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Galleries may mean tresses, flowing locks, or another channel; the identity of the king is uncertain.
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 7:1-10, 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, 7:1-10
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. 1253-1256, translation and notes on 7:1-10
Open source ↗