11 His head is as the finest gold, His flowing locks are black as the raven.
Hor. Od. i. 13, v. 2; iv. 10; v. 4; Tibul. Eleg. 111, 4; vv. 29, 30. [HE: xaH], bright, white; compare Lam. iv. 7, where it stands in parallelism with [HE: zak/^e], clear; from the same passage we also see that the predicates [HE: xaH], white, and [HE: 'odam/], red, are not restricted to the countenance, but refer to all the parts of the body which the Oriental costume left exposed, to the carnation as it were of the picture. [HE: d.ogv.l] denom. from [HE: d.ogel], banner; prop. to be furnished with a banner, i.e. his singular beauty renders him as distinguished above multitudes, just as a standard-bearer is marked above all other soldiers. [HE: min/], more, above, vide supra, ver. 9, [HE: r^eboboh] indefinitely for a large number, see Gesen. xxiv. 60.
11. His head is as pure gold. That is of consummate excellency. Having characterized his whole person as charming, the Shulamite describes the beauty of the individual parts of his body, and begins with his head. Gold is frequently used, both in Scripture and in profane writers, to denote consummate excellency and beauty. Thus the illustrious personages are called gold and fine gold in Lam. iv. 1; and Theocritus (Idyl. iii. 28.) calls the beautiful Helen golden. The words [HE: k.etem/ p.oz] are variously rendered. The Sept. has [GR: chrysi/ou kaipha/z], gold of Cephaz, Aquila and Sym. [GR: li/thea tou= chryusi/ou=], so the Syriac [SY: b'pE' ddahb=a'], a precious stone of gold. The Chald. has [HE: d^ehab Tob]; so the Vulg. aurum optimum. The Rabbins too vary in their explanations of these words. Ibn Ezra takes [HE: k.etem/] to be a diadem, and [HE: p.oz], precious stones. Rashi indefinitely [HE: sgvlt mlkym/], choice things, which kings treasure up. Rashbam explains [HE: k.otem/] by a heap of gold, and [HE: p.oz] by [HE: zhb mvpz], and says it is called [HE: p.oz], "because its colour is like pearl." The majority of modern commentators, after the Sept., Vulg., Chald., take [HE: k.etem/] as a poetical expression for gold, and derive it from [HE: k.otam/], to hide, to conceal; like [HE: s^egvOr], gold (Job. xxviii. 15), from [HE: sogar], to shut up, to conceal, because precious metals are generally kept shut up or concealed. This meaning and derivation of the word are supported by the fact that treasures and precious things are generally expressed in Hebrew by words whose roots signify to conceal; comp. [HE: 'vOxor], a treasure (1 Kings vii. 51; xiv. 26), from [HE: 'oxar], to shut up; [HE: maT^emvOn/], a treasure, gold (Isa. liv. 2; Prov. ii. 4), from [HE: Toman/], to hide; [HE: xopv.n/], riches (Job xx. 26), from [HE: xopan/], to conceal. As for [HE: p.oz], it is translated by some purified, pure, from [HE: p.ozaz], to separate, to purify (Gesenius, &c.); and by others solid, massy, from [HE: p.ozaz], to be strong, solid (Rosenmüller, &c.). But [HE: p.oz] never occurs as an adjective to [HE: k.etem/], or to [HE: zohob] ([HE: zohob mv.poz], 1 Kings x. 18, is a contraction of [HE: zohob m^e'v.poz], comp. Jer. x. 9); the word itself invariably means gold (see Job xxvii. 17; Ps. xix. 11; xxi. 4; cxix. 27; Prov. viii. 19; Cant. v. 15; Isa. xiii. 12; Lam. iv. 2.); and accordingly ought to be rendered so here: "thy head is as gold, gold." As this, however, would produce tautology, it is therefore best to take [HE: p.oz] as a contraction of [HE: 'v.poz] (a variation of [HE: 'vOp.yr]; see Gesenius, s. v.; Henderson on Jer. x. 9, and Stuart on Dan. x. 5), with which this word goes together, 1 Kings x. 18; Jer. x. 9; Dan. x. 5. As [HE: 'v.pon] = [HE: k.etem 'vOpiyr], is regarded as the best gold; hence the rendering of the Vulg. aurum optimum, and Chald. [HE: d^ehab Tob].
Black as the raven, i. e. of the purest and most jet black, so highly esteemed by the Orientals as well as by the classical writers. Thus Hafiz, as quoted by Dr. Good:—
"Thy face is brighter than the cheek of day.
Blacker thy locks than midnight's deepest sway."
And Ossian, Fingal, 2: "Her hair was the wing of the raven." Comp. also Anac. xxix.; Ovid. Am. El. xiv. 9. [HE: t.al^eh.al.iym/], is rendered by the Sept. [GR: e)latai/], the young leaves of the palm; so the Vulg. sicut elatæ palmarum; similarly
