Song of Songs 4

Okay, so the original Hebrew says only, “Your hair is like a flock of goats.” People who don’t herd goats probably need a little help seeing the beauty of the description. A herd of goats bounding gracefully down a hillside is a wonderful sight to a shepherd. It’s a bit like watching synchronized swimming, but with goats.

It’s unclear what the man is describing. Some say it’s her temples. But it’s hard to imagine why a guy in love would compliment her temples. But sweet cheeks are another matter, and seemingly the better guess. Among the body parts men love about women and compliment, temples may rank just a little above wrists and elbows.

This verse, like many others, is a compliment, though it might not sound like one today. The man is describing the woman’s neck as gracefully constructed and beautifully adorned with jeweled necklaces.

Feeding. Deer and gazelle “browse,” eating leaves and other vegetation above the ground. “Grazing” is eating vegetation on the ground. Sheep graze.

Ancient name for the Anti-Lebanon Mountains of Lebanon.

Senir was the Amorite name for Mount Hermon, on the borders of Lebanon, Syria, and Israel (Deuteronomy 3:9).

Henna is a shrub or small tree that blossoms into fragrant flowers from a range of colors between white and red.

Nard, which has the earthy fragrance of cyprus, was one of the most expensive perfumes and anointing oils available. Nard was extracted from spikenard plants native to India’s Himalayan Mountains, some 2,500 miles (4,000 km) east of what is now Israel. It took about a year’s salary for the average working man to buy a flask of 16 ounces (half a liter), Mark 14:5.

Saffron is a kind of crocus with a sweet, flowery fragrance. Calamus is literally “cane” and possibly sweet cane with a woodsy aroma. Cinnamon goes nicely with toast and butter.

Myrrh comes from dried sap of an evergreen shrub, Commiphora abyssinica, which grew in parts of Egypt and neighboring nations in Africa. People mixed it with olive oil and other scents and spices, to create perfume. People used these scented oils in place of soap and deodorant, neither of which seems to have been invented in King Solomon’s day, some 3,000 years ago.