Song of Solomon 1:6
What does Song of Solomon 1:6 mean?
A plain-English look at Song of Solomon 1:6 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Song of Solomon 1:6 means
She asks others not to stare at her darkened skin. The sun scorched her because her brothers were angry and made her work outdoors as a vineyard keeper. “Mine own vineyard have I not kept” likely means her own appearance and personal care were neglected through forced labor. The verse reveals a story of hardship shaping her beauty, as duty to others left little time for self-adornment. It invites compassion and shows how love sees beyond surface standards to the worth refined through responsibility and endurance.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Look not upon me, because I am swarthy, Because the sun hath scorched me. My mother’s sons were incensed against me; They made me keeper of the vineyards; But mine own vineyard have I not kept.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Look 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.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Look not upon me, because I am swarthy, Because the sun hath scorched me. My mother’s sons were incensed against me; They made me keeper of the vineyards; But mine own vineyard have I not kept.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Let not your eyes be turned on me, because I am dark, because I was looked on by the sun; my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vine-gardens; but my vine-garden I have not kept.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862Fear me not, because I <FI>am<Fi> very dark, Because the sun hath scorched me, The sons of my mother were angry with me, They made me keeper of the vineyards, My vineyard--my own--I have not kept.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Shew me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou liest in the midday, lest I begin to wander after the flocks of thy companions.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Look 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 keeper of the vineyards; Mine own vineyard have I not kept.
Context
This personal history clarifies the claim of verse 5. With her vulnerability exposed, the poem naturally turns to the question of how she can be with the one she loves. Verse 7 will ask where to find him, showing that love seeks presence, not merely praise. The sequence—identity, backstory, and pursuit—keeps the narrative moving from self-description to action and sets up the beloved’s gracious response that restores confidence and direction.
v.5I am black, but comely, Oh ye daughters of Jerusalem, As the tents of Kedar, As the curtains of Solomon.
v.6This passage
v.7Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, Where thou feedest thy flock, Where thou makest it to rest at noon: For why should I be as one that is veiled Beside the flocks of thy companions?
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Jeremiah 8:21
For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt: I mourn; dismay hath taken hold on me.
- Psalms 69:8
I am become a stranger unto my brethren, And an alien unto my mother’s children.
- Song of Solomon 8:11
Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; He let out the vineyard unto keepers; Every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver.
- Luke 12:51
Think ye that I am come to give peace in the earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:
- Matthew 10:35
For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law:
- Matthew 10:22
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.
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