Song 7:6 | KingComments | STEP | The description of her neck also fits her character as the prince’s daughter ( ). She is no longer obstinate, reluctant to bow under the yoke of the Lord, but powerful in faith. Her neck is a paragon of beauty. Earlier, her neck has been compared to the tower of David ( ), a kind of weapon storage-place, which speaks of defensive power. Here her neck is compared to “a tower of ivory”, which speaks of royal glory. In the groom’s description by the bride she compares his belly to carved ivory ( ). Ivory is mentioned in connection with the kingship of Solomon, king of peace ( ; ). Solomon made “a great ivory throne” ( ; ). We can therefore connect ivory with the kingship of Christ which He exercises in peace. That the bride’s neck is compared to a tower of ivory indicates that Jerusalem will share in the reign of the Lord Jesus. That is what the Lord says to His disciples: “And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” ( ). Now there is still rejection, but soon He will reign and then they may reign with Him. The throne and the twelve thrones speak of this. It is the throne of His glory, the throne which will be established on earth in the glory of the kingdom of peace, when “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” ( ). The thrones they will sit on relate to their government over Israel, that is to say their rule over Israel. They will be distributers of blessings for Israel. Her eyes are not compared here to doves, as has happened before ( ), but to the rest of the pure and quiet water of “the pools in Heshbon”. It is not water from the depths or from a fountain that springs up, but water that is open and pure before the light of the sky. Her eyes radiate the peace of God’s Word, of which the pools are a picture. Everywhere she looks, she sees purity, cleanliness, everything is in accordance with God’s Word. There is nothing that disturbs this peace, for everything bears the hallmark of the prince of peace. The pools are located “by the gate of Bath-rabbim”, which means ‘daughter of many’. If everything is in accordance with God’s Word, there is no desolation or death anymore. The LORD will increase the men of the house of Israel “like a flock” ( ; cf. ). A great multitude of redeemed people, which have been brought back to the land by the LORD, shall bear witness to the great redemption which He has brought about. This is the fulfillment of His Word. The “nose”, which used to rise in pride to express contempt for the LORD (cf. ; ), is now compared to “the tower of Lebanon”. The tower is a castle, a fortress and at the same time a lookout post for watchmen. The nose is to smell. It is said of the Messiah that “He will delight [or: His smell shall be] in the fear of the LORD” ( ), that is to say, the air which He breathes is permeated by the fear of the LORD. The same goes for the bride’s nose. Everything that threatens this fear of the LORD, that pollutes the air, she smells. The big threat in the end time is Damascus, the capital of Syria. From her tower she looks down on it in the kingdom of peace. Syria, in the person of the king of the north, is the leader of Assyria, who will attack, overwhelm and destroy Israel in the end time. This enemy is judged by Christ Himself ( ). We need to know our enemy and where he is. In recognizing the enemy, the sense of smell may be more important than seeing or hearing. Smell is not linked to words we hear or deeds we see, but to an inner discernment. That goes far beyond what we see or hear. It is about being able to distinguish between what is of God and what is not of God. Someone may look neat and what he says may sound good, but it may not smell well because there is no fear of God in it. The description of the bride ends with the head and hair ( ). Her “head” is compared to “Carmel”. Carmel is the place where Elijah stood before God and gained victory over all that is evil ( ). It is the place of mighty prayers and the blessing that follows. The fact that her head was like Carmel means that she was aware of the power of prayer. As a result, she has gained victories and received blessing. The blessing is that Jerusalem will be given “the majesty of Carmel” ( ). Her “flowing locks” has a purple color, which is the color of royal garment. That also fits her description as a prince’s daughter. By speaking of “flowing locks” the emphasis is on her long hair “as a glory to her” ( ). This speaks of the fact that her royal dignity also has the aspect of submission to the authority of the king and that she dedicates herself to him. This aspect arouses such great admiration in him that it makes him a captive. It captivates him, all his attention goes out to that. The same it is with us when we show our royal dignity in our submission to the Lord Jesus and to each other. Subservience is a special feature of our dignity. We show our submission to Him by being obedient to everything He says to us in His Word. When we submit out of love, it fascinates Him so much that He only pays attention to that. All other proofs of love result from this. After listing the bride’s beauties in her public appearance as a prince’s daughter, the groom, in awe, exclaims that she is “beautiful” and “delightful” ( ; ; ). He has that intimate relationship of love with her. He finds his full joy in her. Whatever he might desire, she transcends everything. To him she is full of pleasure. Here he is not talking about her, but to her. For the Lord Jesus, the bride, His earthly bride Jerusalem, is really everything. She is exceptionally beautiful and delightful to Him. She is beautiful in her appearance, she is delightful in her behavior. To Him she is the “sweetest”. His heart is full of her and goes out to her. She is His “love”, with all her “charms”. He enjoys every part of the city. There is nothing left that disturbs. Everything is perfectly in accordance with His desires. He describes in the following verses the full enjoyment He finds in her.

‏ Song of Solomon 7:6

Neck, Eyes, Nose, Head and Hairlocks

The description of her neck also fits her character as the prince’s daughter (Song 7:4). She is no longer obstinate, reluctant to bow under the yoke of the Lord, but powerful in faith. Her neck is a paragon of beauty. Earlier, her neck has been compared to the tower of David (Song 4:4), a kind of weapon storage-place, which speaks of defensive power. Here her neck is compared to “a tower of ivory”, which speaks of royal glory.

In the groom’s description by the bride she compares his belly to carved ivory (Song 5:14). Ivory is mentioned in connection with the kingship of Solomon, king of peace (1Kgs 10:22; 2Chr 9:21). Solomon made “a great ivory throne” (1Kgs 10:18; 2Chr 9:17). We can therefore connect ivory with the kingship of Christ which He exercises in peace.

That the bride’s neck is compared to a tower of ivory indicates that Jerusalem will share in the reign of the Lord Jesus. That is what the Lord says to His disciples: “And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Mt 19:28).

Now there is still rejection, but soon He will reign and then they may reign with Him. The throne and the twelve thrones speak of this. It is the throne of His glory, the throne which will be established on earth in the glory of the kingdom of peace, when “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isa 11:9b). The thrones they will sit on relate to their government over Israel, that is to say their rule over Israel. They will be distributers of blessings for Israel.

Her eyes are not compared here to doves, as has happened before (Song 1:15 ; Song 4:1), but to the rest of the pure and quiet water of “the pools in Heshbon”. It is not water from the depths or from a fountain that springs up, but water that is open and pure before the light of the sky. Her eyes radiate the peace of God’s Word, of which the pools are a picture. Everywhere she looks, she sees purity, cleanliness, everything is in accordance with God’s Word. There is nothing that disturbs this peace, for everything bears the hallmark of the prince of peace.

The pools are located “by the gate of Bath-rabbim”, which means ‘daughter of many’. If everything is in accordance with God’s Word, there is no desolation or death anymore. The LORD will increase the men of the house of Israel “like a flock” (Eze 36:37-38; cf. Zec 8:4-5). A great multitude of redeemed people, which have been brought back to the land by the LORD, shall bear witness to the great redemption which He has brought about. This is the fulfillment of His Word.

The “nose”, which used to rise in pride to express contempt for the LORD (cf. Psa 10:4; Eze 23:25), is now compared to “the tower of Lebanon”. The tower is a castle, a fortress and at the same time a lookout post for watchmen. The nose is to smell. It is said of the Messiah that “He will delight [or: His smell shall be] in the fear of the LORD” (Isa 11:3), that is to say, the air which He breathes is permeated by the fear of the LORD. The same goes for the bride’s nose.

Everything that threatens this fear of the LORD, that pollutes the air, she smells. The big threat in the end time is Damascus, the capital of Syria. From her tower she looks down on it in the kingdom of peace. Syria, in the person of the king of the north, is the leader of Assyria, who will attack, overwhelm and destroy Israel in the end time. This enemy is judged by Christ Himself (Dan 11:45).

We need to know our enemy and where he is. In recognizing the enemy, the sense of smell may be more important than seeing or hearing. Smell is not linked to words we hear or deeds we see, but to an inner discernment. That goes far beyond what we see or hear. It is about being able to distinguish between what is of God and what is not of God. Someone may look neat and what he says may sound good, but it may not smell well because there is no fear of God in it.

The description of the bride ends with the head and hair (Song 7:5). Her “head” is compared to “Carmel”. Carmel is the place where Elijah stood before God and gained victory over all that is evil (1Kgs 18:19-24 ; 37-45). It is the place of mighty prayers and the blessing that follows. The fact that her head was like Carmel means that she was aware of the power of prayer. As a result, she has gained victories and received blessing. The blessing is that Jerusalem will be given “the majesty of Carmel” (Isa 35:2).

Her “flowing locks” has a purple color, which is the color of royal garment. That also fits her description as a prince’s daughter. By speaking of “flowing locks” the emphasis is on her long hair “as a glory to her” (1Cor 11:15). This speaks of the fact that her royal dignity also has the aspect of submission to the authority of the king and that she dedicates herself to him.

This aspect arouses such great admiration in him that it makes him a captive. It captivates him, all his attention goes out to that. The same it is with us when we show our royal dignity in our submission to the Lord Jesus and to each other.

Subservience is a special feature of our dignity. We show our submission to Him by being obedient to everything He says to us in His Word. When we submit out of love, it fascinates Him so much that He only pays attention to that. All other proofs of love result from this.

After listing the bride’s beauties in her public appearance as a prince’s daughter, the groom, in awe, exclaims that she is “beautiful” and “delightful” (Song 7:6; Song 1:15 ; Song 4:1; Psa 45:11a). He has that intimate relationship of love with her. He finds his full joy in her. Whatever he might desire, she transcends everything. To him she is full of pleasure. Here he is not talking about her, but to her.

For the Lord Jesus, the bride, His earthly bride Jerusalem, is really everything. She is exceptionally beautiful and delightful to Him. She is beautiful in her appearance, she is delightful in her behavior. To Him she is the “sweetest”. His heart is full of her and goes out to her. She is His “love”, with all her “charms”. He enjoys every part of the city. There is nothing left that disturbs. Everything is perfectly in accordance with His desires. He describes in the following verses the full enjoyment He finds in her.