Does Song of Solomon 1:5 say Solomon was Black?

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Does Song of Solomon 1:5 Say Solomon Was Black?

Introduction

A passage sometimes cited to claim that King Solomon was Black is Song of Solomon 1:5–6:

“I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.” (KJV)

This study examines the Hebrew text, its grammar, and ancient Jewish interpretation to show that these verses describe a woman speaking of her own sun-darkened complexion, not Solomon describing himself.

1. Who Speaks in Song of Solomon 1:2–6?

The Hebrew grammar shows that the speaker is feminine.

• 1:2 “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth” uses feminine first-person forms.

• 1:5 “שְׁחוֹרָה אֲנִי וְנָאוָה” (shechorah ’ani vena’avah, “I am dark and lovely”) — both adjectives are feminine.

• The same voice continues through verse 6.

The reference in 1:4 — “the king has brought me into his chambers” — confirms that the woman is speaking about the man (the king).

Those who claim Solomon is speaking in verse 5 face a serious textual problem. Verses 2–6 form a single speech. If Solomon were the speaker, then he would be the one saying:

“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.” (1:2)
“Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers.” (1:4)

If the “king” in verse 4 were Solomon, Solomon would be describing himself being brought into another king’s chambers, requesting affection from a male lover. Grammatically and contextually, this makes no sense. The only coherent reading is that the woman speaks throughout 1:2–6.

2. Who Is the Woman?

The text leaves her unnamed. Later traditions variously identified her—sometimes allegorically with Israel, sometimes imaginatively with the Queen of Sheba—but no explicit identification appears in the Hebrew.

3. “I Am Black and Beautiful”: Translation and Lexicon (1:5–6)

שְׁחוֹרָה אֲנִי וְנָאוָה — shechorah ’ani vena’avah.

The conjunction ו may be rendered “and” (NRSV, NJPS) or “but” (KJV). Either way, the line is self-affirming: “I am dark and beautiful.”

Verse 6 explains the cause:

“אַל־תִּרְאוּנִי שֶׁאֲנִי שְׁחַרְחֹרֶת, שְׁזָפַתְנִי הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ.”
“Do not gaze at me because I am dark; the sun has tanned me.”

The verb שְׁזָפַתְנִי (shezafatni) means “to scorch or tan.” Her complexion results from sun exposure, not from ancestry or race.

4. Classical Jewish Interpretation: Targum and Rashi

A. The Targum on Verses 5–6

The Targum Shir haShirim reads the passage metaphorically, linking Israel’s sins and repentance to spiritual “darkness” and renewal.

On 1:5:

“When the House of Israel made the [Golden] Calf, their faces grew dark like the children of Cush (Ethiopians) who dwell in the tents of Qedar. And when they turned in repentance and their guilt was pardoned, the splendor of their faces’ glory increased like the angels, because they made the curtains for the Tabernacle and the Presence of the Most High dwelt among them.” — Targum to Song 1:5

Even taken literally, this would mean the Israelites became dark like the Ethiopians, implying they were not originally so. Either way, the Targum’s focus is Israel’s moral state, not Solomon’s complexion.

On 1:6:

“The Assembly of Israel said to the nations: ‘Do not despise me because I am darker than you, because I have done according to your deeds and have bowed down to the sun and the moon. For false prophets caused the powerful fury of the Most High to be drawn down upon me. They taught me to worship your idols and walk according to your laws. But the Lord of the World, who is my God, I did not serve nor keep His commands and His Law.’” — Targum to Song 1:6

Here again, “darkness” symbolizes idolatry and disobedience—Israel’s moral lapse, not physical color.
Thus, both Targumic explanations exclude a racial meaning and make no reference to Solomon himself.

B. Rashi

Rashi interprets the verse similarly:

“My blackness and my ugliness are not from my mother’s womb, but from the sun’s tanning, for that blackness can easily be whitened by staying in the shade.”

Both Rashi and the Targum present moral or situational darkness, never a racial identity.

5. Further Context and Hebrew Israelite Claims (1:13)

Some Hebrew Israelite writers assert that the King represents Jesus the Messiah and that Solomon speaks metaphorically.
However, this interpretation fails when compared with the Hebrew of verse 13:

“A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me, that lies all night between my breasts.”

The noun שָׁדַיִם (shadayim) means female breasts, never a male chest.
It appears elsewhere in the Song with the same meaning:

• 4:5 “Your two breasts are like two fawns…”

• 7:3 “Your two breasts are like two fawns…”

Thus the speaker in 1:13 is undeniably female.
If Solomon—or Christ—were speaking, the line would describe a man referring to his own breasts, which is linguistically impossible.
This confirms that the woman—not Solomon—is speaking in 1:2–6.

6. Description of the Man (5:10–11)

Later the woman describes her beloved:

“My beloved is white [radiant] and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.
His head is as the most fine gold; his locks are wavy, and black as a raven.”

(a) “White and Ruddy”

Hebrew צַח וְאָדוֹם (tsach ve’adom) means “radiant and ruddy.”
Tsach = bright/gleaming; adom = reddish, healthy complexion (cf. 1 Sam 16:12 on David).
This expresses vigor and beauty, not ethnicity.

(b) “Locks”

קְוֻצּוֹתָיו (qevutsotav) = “locks/curls of hair.”
The Septuagint uses βόστρυχοι (“curls”).
No lexicon associates the term with dreadlocks; it simply describes wavy hair.
Hence, the verse portrays thick, black curls—not a race-specific hairstyle.

7. Translation Comparison

The language is poetic and aesthetic, not racial or genealogical.

8. Summary

1. Speaker: Feminine grammar proves the woman speaks in 1:2–6.

2. Continuity: If Solomon were the speaker, he would be requesting a man’s kisses—an incoherent reading.

3. Meaning of “black”: Sun-darkened skin, not ethnicity.

4. Targum & Rashi: Metaphorical, moral readings; Israel’s sin and repentance, not Solomon’s complexion.

5. Verse 13: “My breasts” (שָׁדַיִם) confirms a female voice.

6. Description of the man: Radiant and ruddy, with black curls.

7. No biblical text identifies Solomon’s race or skin color.

9. Conclusion

Read in Hebrew and context, Song of Solomon 1:5–6 does not claim that Solomon was Black.
It presents a woman rejoicing in her sun-darkened beauty while addressing the king she loves.
Later she depicts him as radiant and ruddy with dark wavy hair.

The Targum, Rashi, and the grammar all show that these verses are metaphorical and poetic, not racial.
Claims that Solomon described himself as a Black man misread both the grammar and the literary imagery.
The Song celebrates mutual love and beauty—not ethnicity.

References (illustrative)

1. Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS).

2. HALOT & BDB Lexica for שָׁחוֹר, שַׁד, צַח, אָדוֹם, קְוֻצּוֹת.

3. Targum Shir haShirim, trans. P. Alexander et al., The Aramaic Bible 17A (Liturgical Press, 2003).

4. Rashi, Commentary on Song of Songs 1:5–6, 5:10–13.

5. Michael V. Fox, The Song of Songs and the Ancient Egyptian Love Songs (1985).

6. J. Cheryl Exum, Song of Songs (Old Testament Library, 2005).

7. Tremper Longman III, Song of Songs (NICOT, 2001).

8. Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, Vol. 3 (2019).
   
   
   

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