Does the Song approve Solomon's many wives and concubines? Study Song of Songs 6 with context, apologetic analysis, and cross-references.
Dr. Lucas D. Shallua Commentary · SONG OF SONGS 6 — REFOUND BELONGING AND THE UNIQUENESS OF THE BELOVED
The women may be part of a comparative royal scene rather than the lover's household. If Solomon's harem is intended, the unique beloved contrasts with and implicitly critiques quantity without mutual exclusivity.
Repetition creates reassurance and continuity. Familiar words can carry renewed significance after absence and tension.
The Hebrew is obscure, and proposed translations differ too widely for certainty. The safest reading acknowledges sudden movement or exaltation connected with desire and the orchard visit.
She is the central woman, but the title's origin is uncertain. Shunem, Shulem, relation to Solomon's name, and “peaceful one” have all been proposed.
The transition from chapter 5 is emotional rather than fully narrated. The beloved's garden may be literal, erotic, or both; the woman now knows where he belongs despite the previous search. References to sixty queens, eighty concubines, and innumerable maidens may evoke Solomon's court, provide a conventional scale of comparison, or critique royal accumulation by emphasizing one chosen woman. The poem does not clearly state that the male lover possesses this harem.
The chapter preserves textual difficulty rather than smoothing every line into an obvious story, which is typical of ancient lyric poetry and manuscript transmission. Honest uncertainty about verse 12 and the Shulammite title is more faithful than allegorical confidence. The contrast between one beloved and a royal multitude also gives the poem ethical depth within a culture familiar with elite polygyny.
This study preserves the hard questions, explanations, context, apologetic note, and references from Dr. Shallua's Commentary.