Song-of-solomon 1:5
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
I am black, but comely, O you daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
American King James Version (AKJV)
I am black, but comely, O you daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
American Standard Version (ASV)
I am black, but comely, Oh ye daughters of Jerusalem, As the tents of Kedar, As the curtains of Solomon.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
I am dark, but fair of form, O daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
Webster's Revision
I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
World English Bible
I am dark, but lovely, you daughters of Jerusalem, like Kedar's tents, like Solomon's curtains.
English Revised Version (ERV)
I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
Clarke's Song-of-solomon 1:5 Bible Commentary
I am black, but comely - This is literally true of many of the Asiatic women; though black or brown, they are exquisitely beautiful. Many of the Egyptian women are still fine; but their complexion is much inferior to that of the Palestine females. Though black or swarthy in my complexion, yet am I comely - well proportioned in every part.
As the tents of Kedar - I am tawny, like the tents of the Arabians, and like the pavilions of Solomon, probably covered by a kind of tanned cloth. The daughters of Jerusalem are said to represent the synagogue; the bride, the Church of Christ. It is easy to find spiritual meanings: every creed will furnish them.
Barnes's Song-of-solomon 1:5 Bible Commentary
This section is made by the Targumist and other Jewish interpreters to adumbrate the condition of Israel in the wilderness; by some Christian expositors, that of the Gentile Church on her first conversion.
Songs 1:5
I am black ... - Dark-hued, as the tents of Kedar with their black goats' hair coverings, rough and weather-stained, "but comely (beautiful) as the rich hangings which adorn the pavilion of Solomon. Kedar was the name of an Arab tribe Genesis 25:13; Psalm 120:5. The word itself signifies "dark" or "black." Possibly "tents of Kedar" stand here poetically for shepherds' tents in general Isaiah 60:7.
Wesley's Song-of-solomon 1:5 Bible Commentary
1:5 Black - I confess, as to myself, I am contemptible and deformed.She alludes to the complexion of Pharaoh's daughter. Comely - Yet I am glorious within, and comely through the beauty which my husband hath put upon me, by his graces conferred upon me, in justification and sanctification. Daughters - By which she understands particular believers, whose mother, Jerusalem is called, Galatians 4:26 .The tents - Of the wild Arabians, the posterity of Kedar, Genesis 25:13 , who dwelt in tents, and were black and uncomely.The curtains - As the hangings wherewith Solomon's house was furnished, which none can doubt were most beautiful and glorious. So these two last clauses answer to the two first, and that in the same order in which they lie.