What happensPermalink
The daughters of Jerusalem offer to help search, but the woman says her beloved has gone to his garden and reaffirms, “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.” The man praises her as beautiful as Tirzah and Jerusalem, formidable as an army with banners, and greater than queens, concubines, and maidens without number. He calls her his one and only. In a difficult final scene, she descends to a nut orchard, says desire set her among princely chariots, and is called back as the Shulammite.
Why it mattersPermalink
The anxiety of chapter 5 gives way to confidence in mutual belonging, whether or not the lovers have physically reunited. Against a royal world of many women, the man’s “one” emphasizes exclusive devotion. The final verses are among the Song’s most obscure, so detailed reconstructions should be held lightly; their emotional movement is clearer than their precise action.
Key versePermalink
Who is this who looks down like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awesome as an army with banners?