Song Of Solomon 4:3 - Exposition

Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy mouth is comely; thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate behind thy veil. Scarlet ; that is, shining, glistening red colour. Thy mouth ( מִדְבָּרֵךְ ). Thy mouth as speaking. So the LXX ; Jerome, and Venetian, "thy speech," eloquium, conversation. But this is questioned, as it should then be דְּבוּרֵךְ . The word midhbar undoubtedly means "the mouth," from davar, "to speak," with the מ preformative, as the name of the instrument. It is the preterite for פִיךְ , but perhaps as referring specially to speech. Thy temples ; Latin tempora, from the adjective רַק , "weak," meaning the thin, piece of skull on each side of the eyes, like the German schlafe, from schlaff, "slack." The inside of the pomegranate is of a red colour mixed and tempered with the ruby colour. Ginsburg, however, thinks that the cheeks are intended, and that the comparison is with the outside of the pomegranate, in which the vermilion colour is mingled with brown, and resembles the round cheek; but then why say, " piece of a pomegranate"? פֶלַת , from the root "to cut fruit" (see 1 Kings 4:1-34 :39), certainly must refer to the cut fruit and the appearance of the inside. The meaning may be a segment, that is, so as to represent the roundness of the cheek. Possibly the reference may be to blushes on the bride's cheek, or to ornaments which appeared through the veil. We can scarcely expect to make out every particular in an Eastern description.