As the tents of Kedar,
But comely as the pavilions of Solomon.
6 Disdain me not because I am dark,
discoloured rustic girl. The Shulamite repels these disdainful looks, for she knows that, though swarthy, she is comely, else the king would not have noticed her. A similar idea occurs in Theocritus (Idyl. x. 26-29), where Bambyce, though sun-burnt, is called beautiful.
[GR: Bomby/ka chari/essa, Sy/ran kale/onti to\ pa/ntes,
I)schna\n, a(lio/kauston; e)gô\ de\ mo/nos meli/chlôron.
Kai\ to\ i)/on me/lan e)nti\, kai\ a( grapta\ y(a/kinthos.
A)ll' e)/mpas e)n toi=s stefa/nois ta\ pra=ta le/gontai.]
"Charming Bambyce, though some call you thin,
And blame the tawny colour of your skin;
Yet I the lustre of your beauty own,
And deem you like Hyblaean honey-brown.
The letter'd hyacinth's of darksome hue,
And the sweet violet a sable blue;
Tet these in crowns ambrosial odours shed,
And grace fair garlands that adorn the head."
Compare also Virgil, Eclog. x. 38. The comparison between the dark complexion and the tents of the Kedareens, and between the comeliness and the pavilions of Solomon, arose from the custom of nomades and travellers in the East of carrying with them moveable tents, which were temporarily pitched for the purpose of the pernoctation or protection against meridian sun. The tents of the Kedareens, a nomadic tribe of North Arabia (Gen. xxv. 13; Isa. xxi. 17), were and still are to this day made of coarse cloth, obtained from the shaggy hair of their black goats (Rosenmüller, Orient. iv. 939; Saalschütz, Archäologie der Hebräer, Erster Theil, p. 63). Whereas, the curtains of which Solomon's pavilion was constructed were, most probably, very fine and beautiful. From this passage, confirmed by chap. iii. 6, and vi. 12, we see that this scene took place in the royal tent of Solomon, pitched in the open air of some favourite spot to which the king resorted in the summer. It is still the custom of Oriental potentates to go once a-year to some attractive neighbourhood, where they erect their magnificent tents, which serve as their temporary abodes. (Morier, Zweite Reise in Persian, p. 223; Jaubert, Voyage, p. 334). [HE: S/^eHvOroh], swarthy, refers to [HE: '=oho:lEy qEdor], the tents of Kedar, and [HE: no'voh], comely, to [HE: y^eri`vOt S/^elmOhO] the pavilion of Solomon. [HE: no'=voh], a contraction of [HE: no'=a:voh], from the root [HE: no'=oh], is formed from the Pilel. The third radical, which this conjugation requires to be doubled, appears in this and in two other words, under the form [HE: vh]. Compare [HE: S/oHah], to bow, Pilel, [HE: S/oHa:voh], hence the reflexive [HE: hiS/^et.aHa:voh], to bow, or prostrate oneself; [HE: m^eTaHa:viym/], archers, Gen. xxi. 16; Gesen. § 75, Rem. 18 ; Ewald, § 121 c. [HE: y^eri`oh], prop. a vail, a curtain of a tent, Exod. xxvi. 12, and metonomically for the tent itself, 2 Sam. vii. 2; 1 Chron. xvii. 1, and like here, in parallelism with [HE: 'hOel], Jer. iv. 20; x. 20; xi. 29. The Septuagint, followed by the Vulgate, erroneously renders [HE: k.iy^eriy`vOt S/^elmOhO], [GR: ô(/s de/r)r(eis Solomô\n], as the skins of Solomon, and Bishop Foliot refers it to the beautiful skin of Solomon's body, with which the Church compares herself to set forth her comeliness. Hodgson, misunderstanding the figure, absurdly renders [HE: k.^e'oho:lEy qEdor], like the spices of Kedar, and makes the Shulamite compare herself to the odoriferous trees and beautiful figures in the ([HE: y^eriy`vOt]), fine tapestry.
6. Disdain me not. In repelling these disdainful looks the Shulamite states first that her dark complexion is adventitious, being merely sun-burnt, and as Rashi remarks, [HE: nvH] lhtlbn/ kSy`mvd bxl], will be white again under the protection of the shade: and secondly, how she came to be so much exposed to the sun, and this she ascribes to the anger of her brothers. This anger, however, as it appears from ii. 8-17, was merely a fraternal solicitude for her reputation, which induced them to give her employment in the vineyards, in order to prevent her meeting her beloved in the field. [HE: 'al t.ir^e'v.niy] (i.q. [HE: 'al t.ir^e'a:ynoh 'Otiy], Ewald, § 248),
